Youngest on Top - Chapter 76

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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 76

* * *

The year was drawing to a close.
The Temple was filled with warm, joyful laughter.

“Haha, I never thought such a day would come in my lifetime. Well, of course it was always meant to arrive someday.”
“I understand exactly what you mean. To think the day would come when I’d receive a New Year’s blessing from my child.”

A New Year’s blessing, commonly known as a Crepundia.
A Crepundia is when godchildren create talismans using their own sacred power and present them to their godparents.
It is a blessing that wishes for safety and happiness.

Of course, only godparents received them.
Besides godparents, they were also given to those in positions of authority whom one wished to thank specially.

For this generation of Trainee Priests, it was their first time receiving blessings.
Since the children had only just awakened their sacred power for the first time, everyone was experiencing this for the first time this year.

“I haven’t officially become a godparent yet, but… it still brings me joy.”

The godparent ceremony would take place after the New Year arrived, but the blessing ceremony was now.
So the children presented blessings to their prospective godparents.

“It feels like only yesterday when I first awakened my sacred power and gave blessings, and now I’m the one receiving them.”
“Hehe, you really feel the reward of having children.”
“The Trainee Priests were always impressive, but now I truly feel they are my own children.
“It’s so fulfilling and wonderful.”

One of the chattering Priests glanced toward Kaiser.

“Oh, Kaiser. You received one too, didn’t you?”

The other Priests chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“Sae truly crafted hers beautifully. The other children struggle to make even one, yet she creates them with such remarkable skill.”
“Hehe, I received one as well.”
“So did I. Isn’t it lovely?”

It was a crystalline formation of azure light, bearing an uncanny resemblance to Saelika’s eyes.

“Of course, it cannot compare to what she gave to Kaiser, whom she wishes to make her godfather.”
“She must have given him the most beautiful and largest one she crafted.”
“….”

Kaiser remained silent.
But since he frequently refrained from responding in such manner, no one paid it any mind.

“Oh, Randel!”

People greeted Randel as he approached from the distance.

“Did you receive a Crepundia from Sae as well?”
“The one she gave you, that is.”
“Show us! It must be something extraordinary.”
“After all, Sae follows and adores you so dearly.”

Randel nodded with a pleased expression.

“Sae’s sacred power is so pure and crystalline that her creation is particularly beautiful.”

Randel withdrew the Crepundia that Saelika had given him from his breast.

“Wow…!”
“This is…!”

It was more beautiful than any jewel.
A crystalline formation rippled with an ethereal azure radiance.
It seemed to contain the sky itself, yet also the sea.

“Truly magnificent. One can feel the heart of that child within it.”
“Creating something like this must have been arduous…. She must have poured her very soul into its making.”
“Randel, it seems this entire year shall be filled with nothing but happiness for you.”

Randel smiled.
He caressed the Crepundia with genuine tenderness.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Kaiser.
Their eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“Now I’m really curious about the Crepundia Kaiser received.”
“Since he’s asking to become a godparent, he must have put in considerable effort.”
“Kaiser participates in so many dangerous battles—that child must have poured even stronger wishes into it. He’s always so considerate.”
“I want to see it.”
“Just show us a little, won’t you?”

The Priesthood’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Kaiser slowly opened his mouth.

“…didn’t.”
“Pardon?”
“I didn’t receive one.”

‘What?’

I wanted to ask for clarification, but the moment he answered, Kaiser turned away coldly and sharply.
In Kaiser’s field of vision came Randel, holding the Crepundia that Saelika had given him.

Their eyes met.
Then.

Thump.

Randel’s lips curled upward in a smirk, as if finding it ridiculous.

‘That bastard…!’

Kaiser clenched his teeth.
Normally, he never lost when arguing with Randel.
Whenever Randel tried to irritate him, Kaiser responded without hesitation.
But for some reason, right now… he couldn’t say anything.

‘I absolutely didn’t lose.’

Why would I?
I’m absolutely not envious.
I absolutely don’t want it.
Absolutely.
Not in a million years!

‘…But why didn’t she give it to me alone?’

Wait, now that I think about it, something bothers me.

‘A godfather?’

Saelika had never once asked me to be her godfather.
She only said it was good.

Does she really want me to be her godfather?
Or did those idiots just misunderstand?

‘…Whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway.’

Whether she asks me to be her godfather or not.
I have no intention of becoming that child’s godfather.

Just then, Saelika approached from the other side.

“Kazamin!”

But the moment I saw Saelika’s face, words nearly burst out of me.

…Why didn’t she give Crepundia to me?
Why didn’t she ask me to be her godfather?

Saelika tilted her head, seeing Kaiser lost in thought and not responding.

“Kazamin?”

Kaiser ignored Saelika and strode away with long steps.

“Kazamin! Let’s go!”

The child followed after me.
I could feel her pattering footsteps chasing after me.
She wasn’t looking anywhere else—just following right behind me.

Suddenly, I felt something like a stone jutting from the ground beneath my feet.

‘She won’t see that rock and will just keep chasing after me.’

Without realizing it, I focused more intently on Saelika.
And my prediction proved correct.
The moment the child was about to stumble over the stone.

“You’re about to fall.”

I caught the child.
In one motion, I simply hoisted her onto my shoulder.

“Honestly, you’re too much trouble. This is driving me crazy.”
“Kazamin, did I get in your way?”
“Yeah.”
“…From now on, I won’t fall.”

Saelika hung limply from my shoulder, looking dejected.

‘Saying she won’t follow means she’ll never do it, even if it kills her. This reckless girl.’

I tapped the child’s cheek lightly and continued walking.

* * *

Some time had passed.
I opened my eyes at the strange sensation.
The room was pitch dark.

‘Is it night?’

This isn’t my room.
Fear suddenly gripped me.
Having fallen asleep and skipped meals, my resolve had weakened.
On top of that, I’d been pushing myself hard lately creating Crepundia, so frightening emotions came flooding in more easily.

‘It’s fine. It’s fine.’

I forced myself to retrace my memories.
I remember being cradled in Kaiser’s arms… but that’s where it gets fuzzy.
I must have fallen asleep in Kaiser’s embrace.

‘How foolish of me.’

To do something so careless when I needed to make a good impression.

‘Where am I?’

I’d assumed Kaiser had someone else carry me to my room.
Unable to see anything, I fumbled around in the darkness when my hand brushed against something.

‘…A person?’

Warmth flooded my palm.
I wasn’t alone on the bed.
Trying to calm my racing heart, I channeled my holy power to sharpen my vision.

“Kaza…”

It was Kaiser.

‘This is an opportunity.’

A chance to examine Kaiser’s condition more closely.

Kaiser’s body was currently contaminated by demonic corruption.
He was suppressing it with his own formidable holy power.
That holy power acted like thick armor, preventing the contamination from advancing, and blinded others to its presence.

‘If it weren’t for me, no one would ever have discovered this.’

Even I, who can read souls, only recognized it after making contact and spreading my divine power.
No one else would know—not even Quentin, who stands right beside Kaiser.

‘But leaving it as is will only make it worse.’

The more corrupted he became, the lower the purity of the divine power his Divine Heart could emit.
Corrupted divine power cannot heal a corrupted body.

Kaiser must know this truth as well.
Yet he showed no sign of it.

‘…Because if he collapses, the Temple collapses with him.’

Kaiser the Sacred Knight keeps Artemisia in her position within the Octagon.
In other words, if something happens to Kaiser, the Artemisia Temple will be shaken.

‘Fool. If you were corrupted, you should have returned to the Temple immediately for purification.’

He should have looked after his own body first.
How did he even fight monsters while corruption was still progressing?
At this rate….

Should I inform the High Priest now?

As I hesitated, I looked at Kaiser’s sleeping face.
He would certainly be disrespectful and unlucky toward the High Priest as well.
But Kaiser cared for this Temple in his own way.

And I didn’t want to disregard this man’s feelings.

I carefully opened Kaiser’s chest.
And I placed my hand on his chest where his Divine Heart lay.

“…What are you doing?”

A cold voice, like ice water poured over my head, made my ears shiver.
Kaiser’s long eyelashes lifted, and our eyes met—his burning red gaze fixed on me.

* * *

Kaiser felt a strange sensation even as he slept.

It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
It was refreshing, invigorating, and crystalline.

‘How long has it been since I felt something like this?’

It was an energy he could never have felt after being tainted by the demon.
His mind grew progressively clearer.
At the same time, a warmth both tender and gentle seeped into him.

This was unprecedented.
His own holy power had always been as cold as a winter waterfall.
But this warmth, this small and gentle touch against his chest—.

‘Against my chest?’

Kaiser’s eyes snapped open.
Upon opening them, he saw a small shadow with its hand pressed against his body.
More precisely—.
Against his Divine Heart!

The moment he realized this, Kaiser’s eyes flashed with intensity.

Boom—!

In an instant, a tremendous surge of power crashed down like a tidal wave upon the child.
Pushed back by the force, the child let out a cry of “Ack!”

“What are you doing?”

Kaiser flinched.
The instinctive attack had erupted at the thought of his Divine Heart being exposed so defenseless.
He had quickly restrained the force in his hands.
But it would have been unbearable pain for a Trainee Priest—.
The child seemed far too unharmed.
It was as if they had simply fallen on their backside.

Kaiser’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

“What exactly are you?”

There was no doubt that this child was a priest of Artemisia.
After all, I had awakened and was wielding Artemisia’s divine power.
But the sleeping bird had attempted to approach my Divine Heart and manipulate it.
And furthermore….

‘Even though I held back my strength, this child withstood my attack without flinching?’

In a body no bigger than a pea?

But that wasn’t the only strange thing.

‘I fell asleep with another person beside me. And so defenseless that they could have touched me without my noticing.’

That in itself was extraordinary.
On the battlefield against demons, sleeping in shifts was routine.
I remained sensitive not only to the presence of demons but to the presence of people as well.
Because of this, I never let my guard down whenever someone shared my space.

‘How on earth did this happen….’

I had never consumed anything strange or fallen victim to magic.
Rather, this child had fallen asleep first.

I recalled yesterday’s memories.

The child had been clinging to me, dangling from my arms, and fell asleep in my embrace.
So I had no choice but to enter the room and lay them on the bed.
The moment I tried to rise after laying them down, the child furrowed their brow with a small sound and stirred restlessly.
And they burrowed deeper into me, showing no sign of letting go.
So I had no choice but to stay pressed against them—.

‘I’ve lost my mind.’

Kaiser’s crimson eyes sharpened like a honed blade.
The child, receiving the full force of that gaze, flinched and trembled violently.
They looked like a frightened yellow chick.

“Do you know where you were aiming?”
“I… I do…”

The child answered while trembling with fear.

“The Divine Heart…”

So she knew and still touched it?
One wrong move and it could shatter.
In other words, she could lose her divine power entirely.

“What are you planning?”
“…”
“I don’t show mercy just because someone is a child. There are plenty of monsters wearing a child’s form, and even if she were truly a child—.”

Kaiser’s voice dropped to a dangerous tone.

“If it’s right to eliminate her, then I eliminate her.”
“…”
“There are countless ways to make you talk.”
“I… I…”
“What are you scheming?”

The child spoke while trembling violently, her face drained of all color.

“K-Kazamin… must not…”

Saelika’s trembling fingers fidgeted.

“P-please… Kazamin must… be saved…”

She couldn’t even meet his eyes properly.

“Kazamin… mustn’t… hurt…”

Kaiser couldn’t understand the child’s words.
The child approached him while shaking, reaching out her hand.

The child’s small, soft hand pressed against my chest.
Beneath it lay my heart and the Divine Heart.

Kaiser thought he should push the hand away, yet he could not move.
The touch was far too fragile and delicate.

Just as he belatedly tried to brush the child’s hand aside, a warm current surged through him.
Pure and untainted, a refreshing energy flowed in.

“I… I think it’s a little better now…”

His trembling voice remained unchanged.

“Kazamin, does it hurt?”

The child, who had offered a small, innocent smile, collapsed right there.

—————
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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