Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12

‘I know it’s petty, but I can’t help it.’

I snatched away her plate filled with meat.

“Ah!”

“Ahh…”

Sighs erupted from two places.

Looking to the side, I saw Leo staring at Vivian’s meat that I had taken with a face that looked like he was dying of pity.

At this rate, he seemed like he would offer his own portion of food to Vivian.

They say even dogs don’t bother you when you’re eating. Just as I was hesitating whether I had been too petty, Vivian, who had succumbed to her appetite, quietly opened her mouth.

“Th, that is… I mean, um… I did make it… but it’s no different from being my Mentor’s. I made it using the research tools that my Mentor lent me.”

“If your claim is true, then call the chef who cooked this steak and tell them, ‘The reason this steak is delicious isn’t because of your excellent cooking skills, but purely because the livestock farmer raised an excellent cow.'”

“…”

Vivian naturally couldn’t say anything.

Where on earth did she come up with such ridiculous logic?

Perhaps because my expression had turned sour, she began making excuses in a hurry.

“Making magical tools requires expensive research equipment, but I’m… a, a commoner so I don’t have anything…”

“And so.”

“And so… while studying under my Mentor and receiving research tools, I agreed to transfer the copyright and distribution rights of my inventions… to my Mentor.”

Copyright and distribution rights?

I wondered if there might be some hidden story behind it. But this is just the conclusion that her mentor is human trash!

I slammed the dining table and shouted.

“I’m making you a scouting offer. How much are you being paid?”

Vivian answered clearly with an innocent face.

“I’m an apprentice so I don’t receive money. I only get room and board provided…”

“…?”

What kind of bullshit is this?

So right now, he’s not even paying the kid, working her to the bone, and then stealing all the credit for himself? And then letting his own disciple starve to death?

“Why is a mage who supposedly receives room and board begging for food at the temple?”

“Th, that’s… because I’m such a big eater…”

My expression must have been so menacing that even Leo started glancing at me nervously.

But I was so heated up that I couldn’t manage my expression at all.

Just as I took a breath to pour out all kinds of evidence about how unfairly she was being treated.

“Just being able to make inventions like this is enough for me. Thanks to my Mentor, I can research alchemy to my heart’s content.”

Unlike magic, which performs miracles using only one’s own mana, alchemy is the study of creating magical tools using mana stones filled with mana.

Both are subjects that only mages born with mana can learn, but alchemy required a more scientific approach.

Along with abundant capital to freely smash precious mana stones.

For her, a poor commoner, to research alchemy, her mentor’s support would have been absolutely necessary.

Vivian’s green eyes, which had been avoiding my gaze all along, looked directly at me for the first time.

For a moment, I couldn’t say anything.

Because I realized intuitively. No matter what sweet conditions I offered, she wouldn’t budge.

Her eyes were shining with such conviction.

Even if she starved, she truly considered being able to make inventions like this a blessing.

But knowing her fate, I couldn’t just leave her be. For her sake, and for mine too.

‘I didn’t want to resort to this method.’

In the end, I played my trump card. You could call it a foul play.

“If that’s your will, I won’t force you to stop. But when you have time, try going to this place.”

I handed her a map I had prepared just in case.

“And if you want to change the owner of your leash, come find Belinda Blanche of the Blanche Family.”

Then I offered her the bowl of meat again. Of course, I didn’t forget the talent scouting comment.

“Unlike your mentor, I’m kind to capable and obedient dogs.”

Vivian, who had returned to her originally timid and meek self, still showed firm conviction in her eyes as she picked up the meat, but I was certain with a bitter heart.

That she would come looking for me before long.

* * *

When I returned after thoroughly enjoying my long-awaited outing, unexpected news was waiting for me.

“Miss Belinda, there’s a guest who has been waiting for you all this time.”

A guest looking for Belinda? Belinda’s personality was so damn awful that she didn’t have a single friend.

Recalling Belinda’s devastatingly poor human relationships, I opened the door to the drawing room where the guest was supposedly waiting.

“Lady Blanche?”

The low bass voice made me want to rub my ears, giving me goosebumps.

No, it wasn’t just because of the voice.

The drawing room was deeply shrouded in sunset light.

The man’s massive frame with his back to the tall window caught my attention.

Due to the backlighting, his features were obscured in pitch-black darkness, but that shadow.

The man’s shadow stretched long, reaching right to my feet, with two menacing horns protruding from it.

The only reason I didn’t scream was purely thanks to synchronization.

Unable to step inside, I stood still at the doorway and asked in a cowering voice.

Wh, who might you…?

“Who are you?”

Only then did the man step forward and stand under the chandelier.

A physique so large it felt intimidating.

A pitch-black knight’s uniform that covered his body without gaps.

And even a half-mask made of pitch-black iron with devil’s horns.

I swallowed my dry saliva.

Only after seeing the mask did I realize. That the man before me was a knight from the North.

“My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Allen Penandel.”

The insignia embroidered on the cloak draped diagonally over one shoulder caught my eye belatedly.

A black shield entwined with white vines.

A beat later, I recalled which family that emblem belonged to.

“I have come to find the young lady under orders from His Grace the Duke of Baluashten.”

The guardian of the massive barrier that blocked the nest of magical beasts at the northern end of the continent.

It was the emblem of the House of Baluashten, called the Demon Duke.

* * *

【Hirome】 Ending number 8, the Blue Flame Knight who stops the red moon.

An ending where you join the Knights of the House of Baluashten, which rules the vast northern territory, and rise in rank. You can see it easily by focusing Leo’s stats on swordsmanship and martial prowess and steadily clearing dungeons.

However, not much is known about the Duke of Baluashten even within the game, so all I know are the rumors spread in the Royal Capital.

The leader of the northern knights who can sever a magical beast’s throat in one strike.

The rumors about the duke who rules that barren and treacherous land couldn’t be gentle.

I heard that he always wears a mask to hide his hideous appearance.

His nature is so cruel that you’d suspect poison flows in his bloodline, and four years ago, he supposedly killed not only his parents and siblings, but even his older brother’s wife and children with his own hands to usurp the title.

And a subordinate of such a person is sitting in front of me.

My hand holding the teacup trembled so much that the contents spilled over.

…That’s all just delusion in my head.

Contrary to my shrunken feelings, my hand tilting the teacup was nothing but graceful.

‘I wish he would at least remove that terrifying mask.’

Knowing there was a strange rule that northern knights must always wear masks when outside the Duchy, I couldn’t bring myself to ask.

I opened my mouth with a trembling voice.

“So. What business brings an insignificant knight from some backwater northern village all the way here?”

Ah, Belinda. Please watch your tone.

Fortunately, the knight, Penandel, opened his mouth without showing any signs of displeasure.

Actually, since he was wearing a mask, I couldn’t tell what kind of mood he was in.

That made it even more frightening.

“I’ll get straight to the point. My lord desires ownership of Herington Mine. Therefore, I wish to propose a deal to the young lady.”

Herington Mine…

I’ve heard of it.

Since ‘ownership of Herington Mine’ was on my marriage dowry list, he must want to purchase it.

‘Word travels fast.’

There are even people coming to claim my dowry before I’m even married.

Curious about how much he would offer, I leisurely leaned back against my chair and took a sip of tea.

“I propose that you maintain a marriage with His Grace the Grand Duke for a certain period under mutual agreement, then divorce.”

…I spat out a little tea.

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