Youngest on Top - Chapter 67

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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 67

“Dadim!”

I jolted awake.

The High Priest and the other High Priests were glaring at Admiral Ekellan as if they wanted to kill him.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the White Pearl Eastern Branch.
The branch employees couldn’t hide their disappointment upon learning that Admiral Ekellan had concluded a direct trade contract with Artemisia Temple.

“What a shame. If we had distributed it, the commission would have been substantial.”
“If we distributed it throughout the entire navy, how much would it have been?”

Gerald frowned at his employees’ remarks.

“Is that all you can think of from this situation? This is where the difference between genius and mediocrity becomes apparent.”
“Sir? Is there something more important than sales?”
“What matters isn’t numbers.”

Gerald genuinely marveled.

‘What matters is that the baby priest has won Admiral Ekellan’s favor.’

It was absurd.
To have won the heart of that mad admiral.

‘At first, he seemed to despise her intensely…’

How on earth had she won him over?
He was curious about that method.

‘If things go wrong, he really would hang her from the ship’s railing.’

Gerald’s worry that Saelika might be hung from the ship’s railing was no mere excessive fantasy.
There had actually been instances where several priests from a certain temple in the Southern Region were hung upside down from the ship’s railing.

‘But he broke through that barrier and won over their heart?’

Winning someone’s heart.
As a businessman, it was the ability Gerald coveted most.

“…I suppose I underestimated that baby priest after all.”

I hadn’t even recognized his true worth, and now that the Admiral had claimed him, I figured I should just wash my hands of it.

‘My eye for talent has dulled. I discovered him first, yet I’m falling behind the Admiral.’

Now the House of Ekellan, the great lords of the Southern Region, would support Artemisia Temple.
The future of Artemisia Temple would transform into something unimaginable compared to now.
All because of that young priest.

“I can’t afford to sit this out.”

Gerald nodded to himself.
If the game was expanding, merely dipping a toe in like now wouldn’t suffice.
There was only one way.

“All in.”

Yet it was a strange thing.
The decision came from tapping the calculator, but oddly enough, it felt refreshing.

That bittersweet emotion that lingered, the one I thought would fade away soon.
It had been washed clean away.

Gerald chuckled softly.

That baby priest hadn’t only won over Admiral Ekellan’s heart.
Without realizing it, my own heart had gone to that child as well.

* * *

Things had become busier.

It was good that I decided to process the food ingredients and supply them directly to the Southern Navy.
Given the enormous scale of the navy, the cost of raw materials was cheap, so massive profits would accumulate.

Of course, the good news wasn’t limited to dealings with the navy alone.
The profit margins from the contract to supply the White Pearl Eastern Branch had also grown compared to before.

‘The contract conditions with White Pearl have shifted to favor our side.’

What was surprising was that Gerald reached out again to adjust the contract conditions.
And in a way that favored us even more.

As a result, a contract that was already favorable to us became even more so.
Why was that?

‘Did they become anxious because we’re now dealing directly with the navy? Or were they worried we might partner with another merchant house?’

Either way, it was a blessing.

“My little fortune! My little fortune! My money-bringing fortune! Come here! I can’t help myself without giving you a kiss!”
“Ugh…”

Debon Elder was so delighted he didn’t know what to do with himself.
Now whenever he saw me, his mouth would stretch wide as a basin as he clapped his hands and shouted “money-bringing fortune.”
Anyone watching would think money fell whenever he clapped in front of me.

It was understandable.
This transaction brought massive profits, but the best part was something else entirely.

‘It’s that this isn’t a one-time deal.’

Hill processed foods weren’t something sold once or twice and done.
This was a business that would continuously pour in enormous profits going forward.

Debon would surely appreciate that aspect most of all.
Even when money came in before, he must have harbored considerable worry on the other hand.
Wondering how long this windfall would last.

Accidentally discovered gold, donations, and guild dividend payments were all one-time affairs.
Since no one could know if money would come in again next time, it must have been unsettling.

Now I had completely relieved myself of that burden.

Beyond the money, there was another excellent advantage.

‘By using Heal on food ingredients, I can train the apprentice priests as well.’

What was the fastest and most effective way to train Heal?
Obviously, by actually curing sick patients.

But it was a method I couldn’t easily attempt.
There were often cases where using Heal clumsily failed to improve a patient’s condition.
And naturally, that would cause complications.

‘But food is different.’

Even if I applied Heal clumsily, I could simply discard it.
Since I was using food that was originally meant to be discarded—on the verge of spoiling—there was no burden whatsoever.

Earning money and training simultaneously—truly killing two birds with one stone!

‘Hehe. I’ll make them all practice Heal while they’re rolling around sleeping.’

Everything was going so well—so what exactly was the problem?
That was…

“Apple, try wearing this, will you?”
“…I’m not an apple.”
“Why aren’t you an apple? You’re carrying two of them around right here.”

Admiral Ekellan poked my plump cheeks repeatedly.

“They’re perfectly ripe apple-colored.”

…Should I hit him?
My cheeks were flushed warm for a different reason now.
From irritation.

I clenched my apple-seed-sized fists tightly, but held back.

‘The Admiral is a wing. A great wing to make the Temple soar. I mustn’t break it.’

Ever since visiting the hotel where Admiral Ekellan stayed, he would come to the Temple whenever he had a spare moment and speak to me.
There was never any particular business to attend to.

All he did was urge me to open the gifts he brought along (though admittedly, not as many as before),
pester me to share a meal with him (I couldn’t join him every time, but we did eat together fairly often),
or pinch my cheeks.

In other words, he came without any particular purpose!

‘Sigh, but I can’t exactly forbid him from coming.’

He was certainly an important patron, but fundamentally, the Temple was a place where people came to meet the divine.
I couldn’t turn people away without good reason.

‘Of course, I did try to stop the High Priest, Randel, Sirius, and Devon.’

When they actually tried to ban him from entering, I was horrified and quickly stopped them.

“No way! The Admiral has to come!”

‘What if we lose our backing!’

“S-Sae!”
“The Admiral is Sae’s friend. Friends spend time together!”
“Y-You have to choose your friends carefully!”
“Hmph, teaching children to be selective about friendships—how admirable. Then perhaps I’ll go have a meal with my friend Sae.”
“Admiral Ekellan…!”
“Our Sae likes me, doesn’t he? He wants to be with me, doesn’t he?”

For some reason, the adults all became dejected while the Admiral grew triumphant.

‘I said friend, not that I liked him or wanted to be with him…’

Of course, I didn’t voice this thought aloud.
Once, I did ask the Admiral something.

“Why do you keep coming back?”
“Apple won our bet against me.”

The Admiral cut a small piece of apple pie with his fork and brought it to my lips.
I opened my mouth and ate it in one bite.

“I’ve never lost a bet before. Apple is the first.”

The Admiral chuckled and winked at me.

‘What is this, like “you’re the first woman to slap my cheek”?’

Aside from the strange answer, the Admiral’s winking face was undeniably handsome.
The cool lines of his mouth, the subtly curved corners of his eyes, and those violet irises that blinked and vanished before reappearing.
It was a smile like a refreshing sea breeze.
A face persuasive enough to make even nonsensical words seem reasonable.

‘…They say he’s a flirt, so he’s probably been slapped plenty of times.’

The Adjutant, who had witnessed the Admiral’s wink, muttered with a look of disgust.
His voice dripped with exasperation.

“Constantly buying apple pie for Apple…. Such terrible taste.”

That was fine with me.
I wasn’t an apple, and apple pie was delicious.

‘…Right, it really was delicious.’

Gulp!
I almost drooled.
I wiped my mouth and came to my senses.

“This isn’t the time for this!”

I needed to go and prepare.
Today was truly a busy day.
I had barely managed to send Admiral Ekellan away after persuading him, and now time was running short.

I crossed the garden in quick strides and headed to my room.
I opened wide the embroidered rabbit-patterned bag and began filling it with items I had set aside.

‘I’ll give him this, and this too… and this because it’s delicious.’

The bag swelled quickly, but I pressed everything down firmly to fit more.

‘Hmm, this will suit Teodor well too!’

That’s right.
Today was the day I was going to visit Teodor, Ilay’s younger brother.

* * *

Ever since I secretly followed Ilay and first met Teodor, I had been visiting him consistently.
I would go along on the days when Ilay returned home.

‘At first, I was anxious about being discovered by the adults.’

When Gawain caught me sneaking out, I was truly worried.

But I couldn’t stop going because of that.
Above all, healing that child was far more important.

‘Now, even if I’m discovered, I won’t be treated as a Parmanace spy.’

Of course, not being caught at all would be ideal.
And as I continued going, I naturally developed some skill in sneaking out.

‘I might be able to use this technique again someday.’

As I emerged with my bag packed full, Ilay, who had been waiting, took it from me.

“You don’t need to bring so much.”
“Teodor gets cold easily. This blanket is incredibly warm.”

Ilay took my hand without a word.
We left the temple through a hole beneath the wall where we would secretly come and go.

The moon shone brightly and the night breeze was refreshing.
Without a single cloud in the sky, moonlight illuminated the dark path with crystalline clarity.

Tap, tap, tap.
Only the sound of our footsteps echoed as we walked hand in hand.

After a long silence, Ilay finally spoke.

“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“You should open up to the adults at the temple.”

So he’d expected me to confess everything to the temple elders.

“It’s your decision to make.”
“….”
“And I understand why you’re not saying anything.”

Before, I would have hidden it because I couldn’t trust the adults.
Afraid that if my deception—entering the temple under false pretenses—was discovered, I’d be cast out.

But the real reason beneath that was that I didn’t want to burden the temple.
I’d never revealed that I was a trainee priestess of Artemisia.
Not even when debt collectors came looking for trouble.

“I’m not asking because I’m curious about you.”
“….”
“I just thought you should decide for yourself whether to tell or not.”

Ilay listened to my words in silence.

“Or maybe you wanted to tell, or maybe you felt like it would be okay to tell.”
“….”
“Or—.”

Pinch.
Ilay grabbed my nose between two fingers.
He shook it gently side to side without hurting me, and I squeezed my eyes shut while flailing my arms.

“Quite the audacious one.”

Ilay released my nose as he spoke.
An expression I rarely saw on his face had surfaced.
It looked like embarrassment mixed with anger.

I rubbed my reddened nose and glared at Ilay.

“You’re the audacious one, Ilay.”
“What, you little brat.”
“I’m not little. Sae is older than me.”
“But you act completely childish. Unlike me.”
“….”

He’d struck a nerve.
I could only clench my mouth shut.

That was true.
No matter how exhausted, hungry, or out of sorts Ilay became, he never acted childish.

No, he’d long since passed the age where he could afford to be childish.
He was considerably older than me.

‘So it’s only me who’s like this.’

Tears welled up, so I lifted my head.
I shook it slightly to keep them from falling.

Sigh. Is this how I have to live?

‘Artemia, whom I respect and love, I miss you….’

Tonight, the stars seemed to twinkle from particularly far away.

* * *

“Angel!”

As I stepped into the house, Teodor greeted me with a radiant smile.
He had promised to come on this day and had stayed awake waiting for me.

I quickly opened my bag and pulled out the things I had brought.
A soft blanket, chocolate and candy, toys.

Teodor delighted in the model ship toy that Admiral Ekellan had given me, moving it back and forth through the air.
Caught up in his excitement, he suddenly glanced at me as if second-guessing himself.

“Can I really keep this?”
“Of course!”
“Then I should say thank you.”

Ilay wrapped the blanket he had brought around Teodor’s shoulders as he spoke.

“Thank you, angel!”

Teodor beamed at us.
My heart felt tender.
Oh my, what an adorable little thing.

I rummaged through the pile of chocolates and found something.

“Here. Try this chocolate.”

It was my favorite chocolate.
Because—.

“It’s incredibly intense!”

Teodor tilted his head curiously and unwrapped the chocolate.
The moment he took a bite.

“Agh!”

He scrunched up his entire face and stuck out his tongue.

“W-what is this? What kind of flavor is this? It’s hot, and it feels like my mouth is on fire, but it’s also cold. Ugh!”

How could this be.
Teodor hated mint chocolate!

—————
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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