Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 211

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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 211

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The fire accident that would occur in early winter when the Star of the Hero turns twelve.

I was able to recall the cause of that accident when I caught sight of a certain phrase in the information Terry had brought me.

[We invite distinguished guests to the 50th anniversary celebration party of Eliza Trading Company.]

Ending number 22 of 【Hirome】. The one who pioneers the golden path.

This was an ending where the Star of the Hero, who had been showing their talents under the head of Eliza Trading Company—who had built up the company well but had no luck with children and couldn’t find a suitable successor—would gain the company head’s recognition at age 18 and inherit the company to become a great merchant.

When entering the great merchant route, the Star of the Hero would do odd jobs at the 50th anniversary celebration party, and while diligently distributing champagne glasses, would accidentally overhear a conversation between company employees.

“The aide planned fireworks behind the company head’s back? My goodness, hiring a mage from the Magic Tower costs more than a few coins. He must have really wanted to score points.”

“You think that penny-pincher would hire a mage from the Magic Tower? I heard he got a mage from the Adventurer’s Guild instead to cut costs.”

“…Could that mage be that man over there drinking with the aide?”

“I don’t know. If an accident happens like this…! Sh-should we tell the company head?”

“Are you crazy? Do you know how miserable life becomes if you get on the aide’s bad side? Just pretend you don’t know. There’s no guarantee an accident will definitely happen.”

Mages from the Adventurer’s Guild were specialized in combat, so their magic control wasn’t as delicate as that of Magic Tower mages. Especially if they were drunk, well, that said it all.

Fortunately, a choice would appear here: whether to inform the company head about this foreseeable accident or not.

Choosing the former would prevent the accident and earn the company head’s trust but gain the aide’s hatred, while choosing the latter would…

‘They said a fire would break out in the residential area.’

Fortunately, there were no casualties, so the aide desperately prevented any news from spreading and compensated the victims.

Therefore, the inside story of the fire accident was information that could only be discovered when entering the great merchant route.

Praising my exceptional memory, I hired several mages and stationed them throughout the northern residential area.

And just like in 【Hirome】, the moment five or six sparks scattered from the fireworks that shot up into the sky.

Whoosh! Bang!

The Magic Tower mages’ spells devoured the sparks and turned them into smoke.

One of them was Leo’s achievement.

When Giuseppe’s barrier blocked the magic Leo had cast, I thought we were in trouble, but fortunately Leo’s magic was incredibly powerful.

After confirming Giuseppe in the distance, who had been running toward us but gradually slowed to a stop, I conspicuously patted Leo’s head and praised the success of his magic.

Instead of being embarrassed by my praise, the modest Leo held up his wand triumphantly and said proudly:

“It’s all thanks to this magic wand!”

Leo then began explaining how amazing the magic wand he’d received as a birthday gift from Chaser was. The light from the continuing fireworks brightly colored Leo’s excited face.

Then Cheri, who had dropped down from a nearby building’s roof, reported on the situation in the area.

“All the sparks have been dealt with without incident.”

Only then did I feel relieved.

I looked back at Giuseppe, who seemed to have much to say, then patted Leo’s back and said:

“Leo, would you take another look around this area with the knight? There might be some embers we missed.”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

Leo grabbed the hand of Cheri, who was slowly turning to look at me, and led the way. He seemed to have cleverly noticed that I wanted to have a conversation with Giuseppe.

…In contrast, Cheri still seemed to have no sense of awareness whatsoever.

Once Leo and Cheri disappeared from view, I calmly began speaking.

“I’m saying this in case you misunderstand—I didn’t know the cause of the fire accident and choose not to tell the High Priest. I just… estimated the cause while looking into this matter.”

After briefly explaining the cause of the fire accident, I added the most important point:

“The High Priest doesn’t need to hold Eliza Trading Company responsible for today’s events either. By now, my aide should have stormed into the party venue and extracted a hefty sum from them.”

This was why I hired Magic Tower mages instead of barging into the party venue and babbling to the company head about the accident that would occur.

The head of Eliza Trading Company was meticulous but knew about trust, so creating a debt with them through this opportunity wouldn’t be bad either.

After finishing everything I had to say, I waited for Giuseppe to speak.

However, he just stood silently, looking up at a certain single-story house. It was a house that would have burned down completely if not for Leo’s magic.

Since it was magical fire, if it had caught flame, it wouldn’t have been easy to control the blaze even with the large amount of water I had stationed around the area.

I spoke up on behalf of Giuseppe, who remained silent.

“Is it someone you know’s house?”

“…It’s the house of children who run errands for the Temple.”

At those words, I couldn’t understand his feelings at all.

“High Priest, why didn’t you ask me for help?”

If it was the house of someone he cared about, wouldn’t he need my help even more? Especially since he believed that foreseen futures could only be broken by those who had escaped fate.

Only then did Giuseppe turn his head toward me.

“Compared to the world’s destruction, children losing their home is far too trivial a matter. As I said, if I borrowed your hand for such things, there would be no end to it. So even in the future, if it’s not related to destruction, I won’t ask for your help.”

He said that children losing their home was an insignificant matter.

But despite the cold from the sudden cold snap, his clothes and face were drenched in sweat.

He must have been running around for quite a while to prevent the future he had seen.

Even though he believed more than anyone that he couldn’t change the future with his own hands.

‘What would it feel like to know of future tragedies but be unable to change them?’

At that moment, I felt like I could see a little into Giuseppe’s heart, which had been unreadable until now.

The countless futures he could see.

Among them, there must have been fates he wanted to prevent with his own hands. Since he had said with his own mouth that if he borrowed my hand, there would be no end to it.

“…I think I’m finally starting to understand what kind of person you are.”

So perhaps he was just too tired.

Tired of seeing future tragedies he couldn’t change, and tired of himself for still running until his whole body was drenched in sweat trying to change the future anyway.

He called himself a servant of God, but he was someone who lived for humanity more than anyone else.

At my words, Giuseppe rarely frowned slightly.

Then, with a thoughtful expression, he stared at me intently and asked:

“May I ask you one question as well?”

When I nodded, Giuseppe continued:

“You said you awakened memories of another world through dreams.”

Not only Giuseppe, but Chaser and Cheri believed this as well.

That I, Belinda, had received memories of another world through a very long dream, rather than suddenly taking over Belinda’s body one day.

The reason I didn’t bother telling the truth was that whether I was Belinda or not no longer mattered.

“According to my research on those who don’t belong to fate, as recorded in the scriptures, there are various cases. Like you, some gain memories of other worlds through dreams, but there are also cases where people who lived in other worlds wake up one day in the body of someone from this world.”

“…”

“In my judgment, you seem closer to the latter than the former. You may not realize it, but the values you occasionally reveal are quite alien. As if you were someone who lived in another world.”

I had become confident in hiding my surprise or emotions from most situations.

But whether I maintained my usual expression at Giuseppe’s words… I wasn’t sure.

In the end, I gave up on managing my expression and answered:

“The High Priest would want me to tell the truth. But what good would that do now? Either way, the fact that I’m someone who doesn’t belong to fate remains unchanged.”

“It’s an important matter to me.”

Giuseppe said that, but I had no intention of telling him the truth.

“…Let’s say, as the High Priest suggests, that the me from another world woke up in Belinda’s body. This is purely hypothetical. In that case, the past me that the High Priest saw with his power of insight might not be the current me. But I think this way: what matters is the fact that I inherited everything Belinda had.”

Living as Belinda, the Royal Capital’s greatest scoundrel, was quite spectacular, but it wasn’t all bad.

The wealth of the Blanche family, the status of high nobility, and even noble bearing and beautiful appearance.

Not only that. Because I woke up in Belinda’s body, I gained the opportunity to form connections with the people who are by my side today.

“After receiving everything from Belinda, it would be too cowardly to say that only her sins weren’t my doing. When I’ve been enjoying all the good things. So her sins are mine too. If I must pay the price, I will.”

For a moment, I had the illusion that a golden gleam appeared in Giuseppe’s eyes.

But I continued speaking without hesitation:

“So the Belinda the High Priest saw through his power is me, and the Belinda standing before you now is also me.”

“Wait…!”

I firmly cut off his attempt to speak.

“I told you. Don’t let God’s power judge me—judge me with your own eyes.”

“….”

“What kind of person do you see me as, High Priest?”

As I asked that question, the final firework burst magnificently above my head.

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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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