Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 196

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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 196

At my words, Cheri (presumably) hesitated, nodding his head up and down, then shaking it left and right.

Seeing the ambiguous head gesture somewhere between nodding and shaking, I couldn’t help but burst into a short laugh.

I thought it was quite earnest of someone who believed people wouldn’t recognize him just by putting on a mask.

Hiding his face and voice, and even restraining his ice aura just in case.

It was quite something for Cheri (presumably).

‘No wait, what am I being proud of him for.’

I firmly composed my crumbling expression and asked Cheri (presumably) again.

“Leo is doing well, right?”

Nod nod.

“You really won’t take off that hood?”

Nod nod.

To this naive man who thought he wouldn’t be caught if he only answered with head gestures, I told him the truth.

“If you wanted to pretend to be someone else, you shouldn’t have reacted to Leo’s name at least.”

“….”

“Won’t you show your face till the end?”

Only then did Cheri slowly pull back his hood.

The rain had completely stopped and even the wind had ceased, making the surroundings eerily quiet. It felt like we had entered the eye of a typhoon.

Above our heads, through the storm clouds scattered in a round shape like stage lighting, I could see the night sky tinged with dawn light.

Thanks to this, I could easily examine Cheri’s face.

Had it only been about a week since I left the Royal Capital? Yet my heart swelled slightly as if I was seeing him after years.

The moment I faced his features, Leo’s smiling face that I thought about every night lying in bed vividly came to mind, and longing rushed in like a tide.

I suppressed the gradually swelling emotions and deliberately asked in a cold voice.

“Cheri, don’t you have something to say to me?”

Before leaving the Royal Capital, I had made Leo promise me. Not to cause trouble.

I thought I had received the same promise from Cheri as well.

“Are you announcing that you’re going to cause trouble now?”

“That’s not it, but….”

Looking at it now, it seems that wasn’t an announcement that he would cause trouble, but that he had already caused it. Seeing that even Chaser was involved in this matter.

So naturally, I expected Cheri to make excuses about it.

“I missed you terribly.”

Before he said that with a completely nonchalant face.

“What…?”

At my reaction, Cheri made an ‘oops’ expression and this time actually put an excuse in his mouth.

“It was a mistake. I meant to only think it to myself.”

“….”

“Leo is healthy and doing well. He eats his three meals properly and hasn’t been late even once. He achieved excellent grades on this exam too.”

When Leo’s story came up, the tension left my stiffly rigid shoulders.

Cheri then told me about each of the mansion’s family members one by one.

“Vivian developed a new magic tool, and the response has been very good. Terry is also smoothly handling the mansion’s affairs and efficiently driving away the branch family members who have been snooping around the mansion while Lady Blanche is temporarily away.”

“I’m glad everyone seems to be doing well.”

When I answered pretending not to have heard Cheri’s slip of the tongue, he corrected his words.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been doing very well. Because I missed Lady Blanche terribly.”

Cheri’s expression, which had been somewhat businesslike throughout, crumbled a little.

“So I’m glad I came before it was too late. If Lady Blanche had been hurt even a little… I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself and would have committed an irreversible sin.”

In Cheri’s red eyes as he said this, an ominous light flashed for a moment. Just like that time in the Barrier Forest when he was half out of his mind.

I quickly covered his eyelids with my hand and shouted.

“C-calm down, Sir. I think another inner thought just slipped out by mistake.”

After a moment, I swallowed dry saliva and carefully lowered my hand, and a clear gaze faced me as usual, as if the ominous aura from before had been an illusion.

“That wasn’t a mistake, it was sincere.”

How could he now say such things so casually without even blushing once….

I had just gotten used to Cheri’s straightforward way of speaking, but in the time I hadn’t seen him, it had all gone back to square one.

Without realizing it, I turned my face away from Cheri’s upright gaze, and my eyes met Ophelia’s, who had been listening to our conversation with a flushed face.

She smiled awkwardly and slowly backed away while saying.

“P-please continue your conversation. I need to bind the Red Mage Tower Master even more securely….”

The Red Mage Tower Master was already firmly bound with sacred objects imbued with holy power, but Ophelia grabbed thick rope and unnecessarily wound it around the Magister’s body.

* * *

“Amazing, Ru!”

“Genius!”

“Truly the youngest Magister!”

Surrounding Chaser who had safely dismantled the explosive magic tool’s magic circle, the Magic Tower’s mages clapped enthusiastically.

Since they were all elderly men, they treated the young Chaser, who was not just young but practically a child, like a grandchild they had gained in their old age.

“Noisy.”

Chaser spoke in an irritated tone with his arms crossed.

Yet the mages couldn’t hide their proud expressions and strutted toward the priests standing a few steps away.

At that sight, Chaser pressed his forehead.

‘I shouldn’t have brought those old men.’

They were high-ranking mages who had been deeply impressed by Chaser’s magic in their home country and had supported him becoming the master of the Gray Tower.

Their magical skills were naturally outstanding, and since they knew the Red Mage Tower Master well, he had brought them on this journey, but it seemed to have been a big mistake.

As the pursuit of the Red Mage Tower Master turned into hand-to-hand combat with a dark mage organization, the mages who were good at ‘magic’ but physically no different from frail old men had suffered unexpected hardships.

That wasn’t the only unpleasant thing.

‘To send that Northern Town blockhead to Master’s side with my own hands.’

It was a bone-deep decision, but at the time there was no other choice. He was the only one who could dismantle the magic circle of the magic tool that could explode at any moment.

While anxiously waiting for news from Belinda.

Through the thinning rain, Belinda’s group came into view.

“Master!”

Running over with joy, Cesar standing behind her as if it were natural caught his eye.

Chaser deliberately smiled even brighter and naturally grasped Belinda’s hand tightly while whispering.

“Your clothes are all wet, Master. What if you catch a cold.”

Then he magically dried her clothes that had become heavy from the rain and summoned an umbrella.

He tilted it toward Belinda and stood close beside her.

“Ruisi, why use magic….”

The mage’s question about why use such a primitive tool when he could just repel rainwater with magic died down under Chaser’s sharp glare.

“Oh my back. My knees are aching because of the rain too, ahem.”

Fortunately, not being completely oblivious, the mage moved away from Chaser while pretending to rub his back.

“How’s the situation?”

It was Giuseppe who answered Belinda’s question.

Of the six dark mages, Giuseppe had examined the past of four in total.

Of those four, two had excellent swordsmanship skills and had escaped after breaking free from their bonds.

The only ones whose past he couldn’t peek into were the Red Mage Tower Master and the dark mage presumed to have made the explosive magic tool.

Though the whereabouts of the two who escaped was unsettling, they had safely captured the Red Mage Tower Master.

Everyone present instinctively felt that the end was truly not far away.

However, the problem arose when they examined the Red Mage Tower Master’s past to determine the location of the remaining explosive magic tools.

When Giuseppe, having finished his work, summoned the Meteor Spear to take the dark mage’s life.

“We’ll take custody of this criminal in the Mage Republic.”

Chaser had blocked the Red Tower Master’s path.

Immediately, the thread-like bond snapped and the priests and mages split apart.

“What are you saying! Dark mages must be executed on the spot according to the law!”

“Since he’s a criminal from the Mage Republic, wouldn’t it make sense for us to handle this? We’ll transport him back to our homeland to pay for his crimes.”

“Nonsense. As if we’d believe that! How can we trust the country that produces the most dark mages!”

“What kind of outrageous statement is that! You’re the ones making all sorts of excuses to frame innocent mages as dark mages – do you think we don’t know?”

“Are you daring to doubt the divine authority right now! The grace of treating your aching back out of pity – repay it immediately!”

“Bah, ptui! Take it back, you bastard!”

Heavy rain began pouring down again on the scene that had turned into a marketplace in an instant. They had left the eye of the storm.

The atmosphere gradually heated up, becoming sharp enough that they seemed ready to draw swords on each other at any moment.

And the moment golden light flickered in the eyes of Giuseppe and Chaser as they glared at each other silently.

“Stop, stop!”

Belinda, who had been barely suppressing her bubbling anger, shouted.

“You’re not children – what kind of behavior is this?”

She stepped forward with a fed-up expression and stood between Giuseppe and Chaser.

Then she shook her head and spoke firmly, as if scolding children.

“I’ll serve as witness, so shake hands and make peace.”

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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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