Youngest on Top - Chapter 47

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 47

* * *

‘This… this can’t be real.’

What kind of miracle was this?

Beneath the silver dome lay a beef steak.
A generous, appetizing cut at that!

The Shedmen quickly scanned the other plates.
All of them held steaks comparable in size to his own.

“H-how is this possible…?”
“Why is there steak…!”

The Reyatan Priests scrambled in confusion.
It made no sense.

‘Artemia clearly didn’t move even when she received rotten meat!’
‘We confirmed she had no contact with the merchant guild!’
‘She couldn’t possibly afford meat of this quality. So how…!’

“What’s the matter?”

It was Anatullio High Priest’s voice.
His expression remained utterly composed.

The Shedmen forced the corners of his mouth upward.

“Ah, it’s nothing. The food looks absolutely delicious.”

The Reyatan Priests whispered among themselves, stealing glances at the Artemisia Temple priests.

“What on earth is this?”
“It must have been prepared in advance.”
“Beef of this quality?!”
“It’s surely cheap cuts. With how much we’ve renovated the temple, there’s no way we could afford premium beef.”

True to his cheap palate, he must have thought this was something fine.
That’s why he presented it with such pride.

The Shedman let out a scoff and picked up his knife.

“Then shall we taste the meat offered by Artemisia?”

The Shedman laughed and offered the food to his guests.
Powerful men who had eaten only fine cuisine their entire lives had discerning palates.
Cheap meat would be obvious at a glance.

The Shedman watched the guests begin eating their steaks with a smirk.
And he too placed the meat in his mouth, but….

“…!!!”

The Shedman’s eyes bulged wide open.
The same was true for everyone else.
The Reyatan Priests, the invited guests, and even Count Noris all had their eyes wide with astonishment.

“Extraordinary. The steak seems to melt the moment it touches the teeth.”
“The texture is one thing, but the umami coating the tongue…!”
“The juices… the juices…!”

With each chew, rich, savory juices flowed forth abundantly.
The luxurious flavor without any sauce, the meat that melted like cotton candy…!
Even the guests accustomed to lavish cuisine their entire lives ate the meat ravenously, like starving men.

“This is impossible. Such a taste exists?”
“What magic was used? Spices? Or something in the cooking process?”

The reaction was tremendous.

“Oh my! What are you doing?! Take your hands off my steak!”
“Let’s share it. I barely chewed it before it disappeared…!”
“What? And what about me! When I was pregnant with Casey, I craved strawberries and bought some, but you ate them all without telling me. You’ve always been like this, only knowing how to eat!”
“How long are you going to bring that up?!”

The Baron and Baroness, famous as a lovey-dovey couple, began to quarrel—

“Mother, fatty food isn’t good for a woman’s body. Give it to your father who works outside.”
“Mother-in-law, your daughter-in-law knows how to eat meat too.”
“What, what did you say?”
“And I do more work outside than he does. If you treasure your son so much, why don’t you just give him your own food?”
“Yeah, Mom. If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me.”
“What’s the point of giving birth to children! Is your mouth not a mouth?!”

Suddenly, family problems came to light—

“You’re not eating it? Then I will.”
“No, you brat! I was saving that!”
“I thought you weren’t going to eat it.”
“You’ve been like that since Academy days. You even copied the love letter I wrote to Catherine before I could send it…!”
“Why are you bringing that up here?!”

The childhood friends who had known each other for thirty years now glared at each other like mortal enemies.

The faces of the Reyatan Priests turned pale yellow.
There was nothing to say now.
They couldn’t claim the food was tasteless.
They couldn’t say they had hidden the meat they brought and served cheap cuts instead.

‘We can’t even say it wasn’t what we brought!’

Because that would mean they had brought meat inferior to this as a gift.
Yet since the Artemisia Temple had served something even better, they would end up looking magnanimous instead.

A Reyatan Priest whispered anxiously to Shedmon Elder.

“The guests’ reactions are extraordinary. What should we do now?”
“….”

The Shedmen Elder ground his teeth with a sharp, audible click.

‘Damn it! Damn it all…!’

He’d intended to humiliate them, yet found himself powerless to act.
Even Count Noris wore an expression of profound astonishment.

“Elder, is Count Noris not renowned as a connoisseur?”
“….”
“If this occasion were to spark his interest in Artemisia, given his appreciation for fine cuisine…!”
“Silence.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m well aware of it already, so hold your tongue!”

The Shedmen Elder glared at Anatullio High Priest with murderous intensity.

* * *

I savored the sight of the bald head trembling with delight.
The way it flushed crimson all the way to the crown was almost miraculous.
It was like watching a circus performance—thoroughly entertaining.

‘I─diot.’

I stifled a giggle.
They must have thought themselves terribly clever.
But having endured Parmanace, I could see their scheme was pathetically shallow.

‘The arson plot, for instance.’

Certainly, had it succeeded, Artemisia would have been utterly ruined.
But if the temple had truly burned to ashes, there was no way they could have escaped scrutiny.

‘A proper investigation would have followed.’

They would have examined residual divine energy or conducted thorough interrogations to identify the culprits.

Would a traitor like Gawain have any loyalty to Reyatan?
The moment things get dangerous for him, he’ll spill everything.
He actually did exactly that after getting caught.

‘This situation is no different.’

If I’d properly recognized that he had money, I wouldn’t have devised such a plan in the first place.
Frankly, I could just acquire new sacrifices whenever needed.

‘I was so eager to dismiss him that I didn’t want to look too closely. That’s why I refused to see things properly.’

Besides, now there’s no one left to leak our internal information.
I purged Gawain along with all the parasites lurking within our ranks.

I gazed up at the empty sky while savoring the delicious meat.

“Is that why the priests serving such a foolish god act this way?”

Reyatan was exactly like that.
Foolish.
Hot-tempered.
Desperate to dismiss other gods—especially handsome ones.
So in the heavens,

“Ugh, who is that? Sounds like Reyatan.”
“Oh my, that’s quite harsh. Not quite Reyatan level.”
“Well, well, let’s say not Reyatan exactly, just somewhat similar.”

The phrase “Is that guy Reyatan?” had become an insult.
So it was only natural that the priests of such a god would behave this way.

When one accepts a god’s divinity, one comes to resemble that god.

‘Then what about the Trainee Priests who’ve just begun accepting Reyatan’s divinity?’

Children are inherently impulsive by nature.
And with bodies easily influenced because they’re young, they’ve now accepted Reyatan’s divinity as well.
If that’s the case….

‘A good idea just came to me.’

I smirked and glanced casually at the adjacent table.

“Does it taste good?”

I asked the one who looked the simplest.
The child’s voice trembled as he shouted.

“Not really!”

Right on cue.
I knew he’d be exactly like Reyatan.
From the very beginning, the distinguished guests had been

“With such high-quality food, the Artemisia Trainee Priests certainly appear more refined than the Reyatan Trainee Priests.”

─making remarks that clearly bothered them.

“But you still emptied your entire bowl.”
“That was just out of courtesy!”
“Courtesy?”
“You couldn’t have prepared such fine meat! So it must have been brought by the distinguished guests!”

The simple-looking one crossed his arms and let out a hollow laugh.

“The meat only became edible because we cooked it well. You should be grateful to the distinguished guests for providing the meat.”

The other Reyatan Trainee Priests chimed in noisily in agreement.
Like how one dog starts barking and the others follow suit.
Truly befitting priests who had accepted Reyatan’s divinity.

“Right, how fortunate indeed. If we’d used ingredients Artemisia prepared directly, we would have been embarrassed.”
“If our competition opponent loses face, our own level appears diminished as well.”

I tilted my head and replied.

“That’s not a gift from the guest. (That’s not meat the guest gave us.)”
“L-liar! If that weren’t the case, there’s no way you could have obtained such high-quality meat—.”
“It’s not a lie.”

I grinned wickedly.
I was grateful they reacted exactly as I’d anticipated.

“You brought it yourselves. (You’re the ones who brought it.)”
“…What?”
“The meat that was inside that blue box! That’s what it is. (The meat that was in that blue box! That meat.)”
“Then… that completely rotten… blegh!”

One of the children who heard my words began retching.
True to form as a simple Reyatan Priest, they’d immediately made the connection.
The other children’s faces had turned pale.

‘So you all saw the state of that meat?’

It was so spoiled and reeked so putridly that I couldn’t even bring myself to eat it.
It didn’t seem like it would end with just a simple stomach ache.

Despicable creatures, all of them.
They were retching just at the thought of it, yet they tried to make us eat it?

‘They don’t deserve forgiveness.’

I deliberately hopped down from my chair and approached the retching children.

“Why are you spitting it out? It’s delicious meat! (Why are you spitting it out? It’s tasty meat!)”

I grabbed the meat and thrust it toward the Reyatan child.

“You need to eat lots of meat so the baby grows big and strong! Here! (You need to eat lots of meat so the baby grows big and strong! Here!)”
“Get it away! Why are you putting rotten meat near me!”
“Huh? Rotten? What do you mean?”

The Reyatan Trainee Priests flinched.
Some of them covered their mouths with both hands in shock.

I opened my eyes wide.

“This is the meat that Reyatan requested for the banquet. So why did you spit it out?”
“That is, well, you see…!”
“Did you perhaps bring rotten meat?”

As I spoke, I glanced toward the central table.
The Shedman and Helene’s complexions had turned ashen.
Helene slammed the table with a bang and stood up.

“That’s impossible!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We prepared the finest meat possible for the sake of harmony. Yet we’re subjected to such misunderstanding….”

Helene bit her lip as if distressed.

“I’m truly so upset….”
“I see. Then continue eating.”
“…What?”
“Since it’s good meat, let the Reyatan people eat plenty of it.”

If that’s the case, they should eat more, shouldn’t they?
But no one moved their hands willingly.
Because that rotten meat would be floating around in their minds.

The Reyatan Priests and Trainee Priests whispered with pale faces.

“Um, what’s going on? That meat was completely rotten.”
“We prepared different meat! Otherwise….”
“I confirmed it, Elder. We certainly had no contact with any merchant guild.”
“Could it be from the Whitepearl merchant guild?”
“Didn’t you see that we didn’t bring any cargo!”
“So, so you’re saying it really is the meat we brought?”
“Could it be that you cooked it as is? Did you cover it with sauce to hide it?”
“Do we really have to eat this? I, I don’t want to…!”

They whispered in an incredibly small voice from the corner, but with my heightened hearing from divine power, I heard it all.
It was amusing watching them all trembling because they didn’t want to eat.

You gave us gifts of grace, didn’t you?
So why don’t you want to eat it?
That’s exactly what I thought.

As the Reyatan people stopped eating the meat, the guests’ expressions turned sour.

“So this meat was brought from Reyatan. But why can’t they eat it the moment they find that out….”
“Surely they didn’t bring spoiled meat as a gift, did they?”
“The taste is clearly not spoiled….”

It was strange that no one from Reyatan ate any more.
The Trainee Priests looked absolutely miserable.
Some were even sniffling, saying “Sniff, Mom….”

The guests clicked their tongues at the sight.

“I thought the Reyatan Trainee Priests were dignified, but it seems they’re not.”
“Rather, the Artemisia Trainee Priests remain quiet despite the commotion.”

That’s because they’re too busy eating.
Since we were truly impoverished, this delicious meat was a first for us.

Still, the children didn’t eat hastily—they chewed thoroughly and ate slowly.
That was because beforehand, I had shaken the morning bread of justice and said,

“What did Sae say happens if you gobble down the meat without chewing?”
“You get indigestion!”
“You get indigestion!”
“How many times did Sae say to chew?”
“Twenty times, chew thoroughly!”
“Chew thoroughly!”
“What happens if you only chew ten times?”
“You die by Sae’s hand before choking to death on the meat!”
“Die by Sae’s hand… so if you chew less than ten times─ Ack! I’m sorry! Ack! Ack!”

─is what I had said.
I was worried they might get indigestion while distracted by the delicious meat.
With the intense competition coming tomorrow, getting indigestion could actually put their bodies in real danger.

In any case, I must have appeared quite composed to the distinguished guests.
Sure enough, I could hear them conversing.

“Impressive—maintaining such equanimity even in these circumstances.”
“Artemia has trained her Trainee Priests exceptionally well.”
“Well, this is the Octagon Temple, after all. They must possess the profound cultivation accumulated over all these centuries…”

The evaluation of Artemia’s Trainee Priests skyrocketed.
Naturally, our Temple Priests were beaming with pride.

“Oh, our precious little treasure!”
“Coo coo, how beautiful!”
“What a darling! What a fine child!”

The moment I returned to the central table, Debon Elder laughed heartily and rubbed his cheeks against mine.

“How can you be so clever? I simply cannot resist giving my precious treasure kisses!”
“Ugh… your whiskers are prickly…”

Devon rubbed his bristly cheek against mine repeatedly, and the stubble tickled.
But Devon continued his antics, murmuring “Smooch, smooch, my adorable little one! My beloved little one!”
The other Temple Priests joined in as well.

“Come here! I too cannot resist giving kisses!”
“I want to as well, please!”
“Anyone not at the central table, back off!”
“Why must you establish hierarchy over kisses!”

Someone save me…!

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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