Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 149

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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 149

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People commonly think that priests devoted to religion would live pure lives, avoiding romantic relationships and serving only God for their entire lives.

However, the priests of 【Hirome】 were free to marry and start families.

The reason the Temple didn’t prevent priests from marrying was because divine power was a transferable force.

No matter how devout they were, in the end they were merely human beings drawn to the bonds of blood and flesh.

The Quest ‘Relic of the White-Robed Saint’ is a story that began when a woman called a saint chose the life of a mother over that of a priest.

“While traveling through the North, I happened to stop by a place called Porbett Village. There I saw a portrait of the White-Robed Saint, and somehow her face looked very familiar.”

The White-Robed Saint, who possessed immense divine power and led the fight against demons more than anyone else, earning people’s praise and respect.

Her seemingly perfect sense of duty, however, crumbled the day she held her newborn daughter in her arms.

She instinctively realized that she would pass on not only her immense divine power but also the life of a saint to her daughter.

In that moment, the duty and sacrifice she had taken for granted became heavy shackles.

‘I can’t let her live like me.’

‘I won’t let her spend her days covered in demon blood, endlessly cutting through corpses.’

‘Let her grow up peacefully, enjoying a simple life where she only worries about tomorrow’s weather.’

Such greed and desire led her to make the worst choice both as a saint and as a mother.

“Please raise this child with care. No one must ever know the child’s origins.”

“If it’s alright, please call the child Rosemary.”

In the end, the saint hid the fact of her childbirth and entrusted her daughter to a young couple in a small village, claiming it was to protect the child.

Just as the saint had hoped, her daughter grew up and aged day by day, enjoying an ordinary life.

No one knew that she was the owner of the relic left by the White-Robed Saint.

…Except for the players progressing through the Quest.

“She looked exactly like the young version of an old woman from the village where I previously stayed.”

In 【Hirome】, the player delivers the relic to the saint’s daughter and tells her about her mother’s life.

The saint’s daughter, now an eighty-year-old woman, is satisfied to learn that she wasn’t abandoned by her birth parents and willingly transfers the divine power obtained through the relic to the hero’s star.

That’s how it should have been originally.

Ophelia touched the Rosemary brooch pinned to her chest and continued speaking thoughtfully, as if recalling the past.

“Fortunately, Lady Rosemary understood the saint’s love contained in this brooch. Then she said she could die without regrets and chose me as the person to transfer her inherited divine power to.”

It wasn’t a completely implausible story. After all, the Quest proceeded that way too.

To transfer divine power, one needed intense desire and the awareness of approaching death.

It wasn’t particularly suspicious that the saint’s daughter, who didn’t have much time left to live, transferred her divine power to a benefactor who helped her let go of her final attachment, just as she had in 【Hirome】.

However, despite such thoughts, I couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling.

“Eventually, that’s how… I inherited the divine power of the White-Robed Saint and became a saint. Because of that, my travels were interrupted, and I was brought to the Grand Temple by the priests. I wanted to send a letter to the Marquess explaining the situation, but everyone was so fussy about keeping it confidential and conducting everything in utmost secrecy, ahem, cau-cautious.”

Ophelia, who had been speaking comfortably in front of me, belatedly became conscious of Giuseppe’s presence and awkwardly changed her words.

“Then I heard welcome news and came to see the Marquess without notice… What brings the Marquess to the Temple?”

At those words, I glanced at Giuseppe’s face and answered.

“I heard the High Priest had changed, so I came to see his face.”

“Ah, come to think of it, the amount donated to the Temple in the Blanche Family’s name was enormous.”

Ophelia nodded and looked around as if searching for someone, then asked.

“But did you come alone? The interior of the Grand Temple is so beautiful that it would be nice to show Leo around too. I heard that getting to tour inside the Grand Temple isn’t a common opportunity.”

“Leo is over there with his friends…”

I looked out the window where the children had been gathered together and gradually stopped speaking.

I stuck my head out the window and examined the beautifully maintained garden, but Leo’s shadow was nowhere to be seen.

“Leo?”

It seemed like the child’s cheerful response would come from somewhere far away at any moment, but only an eerily quiet silence echoed along the white temple walls.

“If it’s alright with you, shall I go look for him?”

Terry asked me, and I looked back at Giuseppe as if seeking permission.

He might find it uncomfortable for an outsider to wander around inside the Temple, but fortunately Giuseppe nodded his permission.

Terry shot out like an arrow, and I too began searching from the opposite direction where she had disappeared.

‘He’s not the type of child to disappear without saying anything.’

Perhaps he had been so absorbed in playing with his friends that he didn’t notice himself getting farther away?

After searching for Leo with Ophelia for quite a while like that.

When I was starting to feel anxious because Leo was nowhere to be found no matter how much we searched, the high white wall surrounding the Temple caught my eye.

“Marquess, I’ll search deeper inside! Maybe he went somewhere he shouldn’t have…”

Ophelia’s voice seemed to come from far away, as if submerged in water.

Without responding to her, I reached out and slowly traced the decorations carved into the wall.

Among the numerous dungeons that existed in 【Hirome】, there were cases where secret passages existed that allowed entry into dungeons like bugs, instead of going through the official route. The wall in front of me was exactly such a place.

A wall with a relief carving of a single ferry boat with lit lanterns advancing through a massive underground waterway.

In the game, pressing the lantern part of the wall decoration would allow entry into the dungeon within the Temple.

While walking along the wall just in case, something caught my foot.

“This is…”

The moment I discovered a single book lying forlornly under the wall.

You have entered the artificial dungeon ‘Underground Waterway Where Siren’s Song Flows.’

Avoid the siren’s enchantment within the time limit and find the relic ‘Lantern That Illuminates Darkness’ hidden in the deepest part of the dungeon.

*However, if you fail to find the relic within the time limit, you will be forcibly ejected.

Time Limit 04:59:59

A system window announcing dungeon entry suddenly appeared.

However, I was not transported to the dungeon.

This was a system window announcing Leo’s dungeon entry.

* * *

Dozens of minutes earlier, when Belinda was in the middle of her conversation with Giuseppe.

“So according to the adventure tales and ancient texts that the Southern High Priest told us, there’s supposed to be a hole somewhere in this wall that leads to the underground waterway?”

Asillia was sweating profusely as he pressed himself flat against the temple wall, examining it from various angles.

Leo’s group, who had been examining the outer walls of the Temple for weeks searching for the hole leading to the underground waterway, had concluded that the entrance was inside the Temple.

Just when they were about to give up on this adventure since they couldn’t freely enter the Temple, they were very fortunately able to set foot inside the Temple by following Belinda, who had received an invitation.

Asillia had no intention of missing this opportunity.

Following the Southern High Priest’s instructions, he diligently touched every decoration on the wall, working hard to find the hidden passage.

However, contrary to expectations, when he couldn’t find what he wanted and was gradually getting tired.

Ian, who had been reluctantly following Asillia and Leo while reading a book, spoke up.

“Just give up now. There’s no way such a hole would be out in the open.”

“The Southern High Priest really said it! Priests don’t lie!”

When Asillia raised his voice as if venting his frustration, Ian snapped his book shut and answered coldly.

“Let’s say the High Priest’s words are true. But would that really be a hole that just anyone can enter? The priests aren’t fools either, so they would have made special arrangements to prevent riffraff like us from entering freely. For example, maybe only people with tremendous divine power can use it.”

In other words, all this effort was futile.

Asillia, hurt by Ian’s words, furrowed his brow menacingly.

“You always have to say things that kill the mood like that.”

Leo, who had been diligently feeling the wall following Asillia, noticed that the atmosphere between the two was not good and cautiously intervened.

“Why don’t we go back to Lady Belinda and have some cold drinks… Ow!”

Leo, who had been gently trying to calm the two down, suddenly brought his hand to his neck and lowered his head. He felt a stinging heat sensation from the back of his neck.

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly acting like that?”

“Something bit my neck. Was I stung by a bee?”

Asillia, who had approached closer to examine Leo’s neck, witnessed an unbelievable sight and froze in place.

“Uh… Hey, but where did your hand go?”

“Hand? What hand all of a sudden… Huh?”

Leo blinked as he followed Asillia’s gaze to check his own hand pressed against the wall.

As if sinking into a swamp, Leo’s hand was slowly being sucked into the wall.

“What are you doing? Pull it out quickly!”

“I, I can’t pull it out?”

“What?”

Startled, Asillia quickly grabbed Leo’s arm and pulled with all his might, but it was useless.

In an instant, Leo’s entire body was sucked into the wall.

Asillia screamed and grabbed Leo’s hand with one hand and Ian’s pant leg with the other.

“Aaaaah! Leo! Never let go of my hand!”

“Hey, you bastard, Asillia! Let me go!”

“If we’re going to die, we should die together! Are you trying to run away alone like a coward!”

Ian struggled desperately, trying to shake off Asillia as he shouted.

“I need to let go so I can go get help, you…”

Idiot!

When Ian, who had momentarily lost his breath, opened his eyes again.

What greeted him was an underground tunnel stretching endlessly in the darkness.

“…Huh?”

Ian stared blankly up at the handful of light dimly streaming down from high above.

He couldn’t quite understand what had happened. No, it would be more accurate to say he didn’t want to understand.

“Why are we suddenly underground?”

Unlike the bewildered Asillia, the clever Ian immediately grasped the situation. His complexion began to turn increasingly pale.

“Ah! Could it be that we found a hole leading to the underground waterway?”

“You muscle-brained bastard!”

Ian, half in panic, finally grabbed Asillia by the collar and shook him.

This fool, dumber than a monkey, had finally caused an accident.

As far as Ian knew, sudden spatial teleportation meant only one thing.

They had entered a dungeon.

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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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