Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 212

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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 212

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Divine authority is absolutely righteous.

Giuseppe’s life, built upon that obvious premise, had always been solid and unwavering.

He thought it would remain so forever.

However, at this very moment, the faith Giuseppe had believed in his entire life was swaying endlessly like a small boat caught in a storm.

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

Above Belinda’s head as she asked this, brilliant flames burst forth, pouring light over her face buried in darkness.

In that moment, Belinda was the only thing with color in his world painted in black and white.

Giuseppe held his breath and stared at that face as if seeing Belinda for the first time, then unconsciously stepped back.

In an instant, Giuseppe had a premonition.

The moment he acknowledged Belinda’s existence, the faith that had sustained him would crumble.

If divine authority wasn’t perfect, then all those evildoers he had judged with that authority might not have been evil at all…

At this terrible hypothesis, Giuseppe desperately channeled the power of divine insight into his eyes as a last struggle.

Then the flames that had kept him awake at night came rushing toward him.

However, the disaster that had remained unchanged despite a week of desperate efforts lost its power like a candle facing strong wind before Belinda.

The prophecy shattered into pieces like a lake with rough ripples, and pitch-black ash turned into white snowflakes.

There were no children’s cries, no people’s shouts, no flames devouring the siblings’ memories.

In the quiet alley, only Belinda stood.

In the end, even divine authority could not measure her.

Thus, having lost his power, Giuseppe looked at the woman before him with human eyes.

Fierce eyes filled with colorful flames.

Lips that spoke of human will instead of divine fate.

Belinda, seen through human eyes, was…

“I…”

A woman so strong and upright, so dazzlingly beautiful.

“I don’t know.”

She was neither evil, nor good, nor a gray existence.

She was simply Belinda Blanche.

At Giuseppe’s answer, Belinda smiled arrogantly as if it couldn’t be helped.

“Well, I’ll be satisfied with that answer for now.”

Perhaps it was because he had overused his divine insight all day. For a moment, her smile seemed blurry.

Because of this, he couldn’t tell whether what sat on her hair was snowflakes or ash from the prophecy.

Even knowing the answer, Giuseppe couldn’t stop his hand from reaching toward her hair.

Just as his hand was about to grasp the snowflake sitting on Belinda’s hair.

Smack.

Someone roughly knocked Giuseppe’s hand away.

Giuseppe and Belinda’s heads turned simultaneously.

“Cheri?”

Belinda called out to Cesar, surprised by his uncharacteristically sharp attitude, but Cesar looked even more bewildered himself.

With an expression that showed he didn’t understand his own actions, he offered an apology to Giuseppe.

“Sorry. Somehow I felt I couldn’t let that happen, so my hand moved on its own.”

Good heavens, was that supposed to be an excuse?

Worried this might cause a bigger disturbance, Belinda quickly stepped between Giuseppe and Cesar and asked.

“What about Leo?”

The answer came from an unexpected place.

“I’m here! But more importantly, Belinda, it’s snowing in the Royal Capital!”

Following the voice, she looked down to see Leo dangling like luggage from Cheri’s side. For some reason, it seemed he had come running in quite a hurry.

Belinda’s eyebrows shot up fiercely.

“My lord, who carries a child around like luggage? You should hold him preciously like a princess!”

It was Leo whose face turned pale at those words. Leo lifted his head sharply and waved both hands frantically as he desperately shouted.

“I’m not that much of a child anymore! I even caught up to Vivian’s height recently!”

“I was in a hurry… I’ll correct it.”

“I’m really fine. Like luggage instead of a princess… Aaah!”

Without giving him a chance to struggle free, Cesar lifted Leo up and cradled him preciously in both arms.

“Is this better?”

“Good. Very satisfactory.”

“…You’re both too much.”

Leo, held like a princess by Cesar, buried his face in his hands and mumbled.

Belinda playfully ruffled Leo’s hair and looked back at Giuseppe.

“Well then, High Priest, I’ll expect a better answer next time. It’s late, so we’ll be going now.”

As if not expecting an answer, Belinda left those words and turned away.

Giuseppe didn’t move from that spot until her retreating figure disappeared into the darkness.

After a while, he reached out his hand to catch the sleet.

Snow falling in the perpetually mild Royal Capital, especially in early winter, was a miraculous event like snow falling in a desert.

The sleet that touched his body temperature immediately melted and disappeared, but Giuseppe kept his eyes on the spot where the snowflake had landed for a long time.

As if trying not to forget the fact that he had just held a miracle in his hand.

He didn’t leave that place for a very long time, until the snow finally stopped.

* * *

Though it was late at night, the Grand Temple was brightly lit.

This was because the departure of the expedition that left every winter to help with repairs to the Barrier Forest and demon beast hunting in the North was not far off.

“High Priest, I heard it snowed just a while ago. Did you see it? It was so brief that I missed it.”

What greeted Giuseppe upon his return to the temple was Ophelia, who was taking on the role of leading an expedition for the first time this year.

Giuseppe examined the reports containing details about the expedition’s size and food supply plans with his usual expression.

It had been two years since Ophelia received the divine power transfer from the White-Robed Saint.

During that time, she had volunteered for the Barrier Forest expedition every winter and busily continued her service activities as a saintess, traveling throughout the kingdom.

Perhaps thanks to accumulating such practical experience, the documents Ophelia had prepared were flawlessly perfect.

While approving the documents, Giuseppe habitually thought about the future.

Next summer, when he mentioned the prophecy of destruction at the Council of Five Nations meeting, many things would change.

However, even if Giuseppe looked into the future six years from now through divine authority right now, he wouldn’t see a different ending than before.

The future of one not bound by fate cannot be seen, so the changes caused by them also cannot be observed.

Therefore, the only way to confirm whether they had escaped the fate of destruction was to face the day of disaster six years from now and see reality with his own eyes.

Before, no, even until this morning, he had been skeptical about whether escaping fate was possible.

Giuseppe smiled weakly and handed the processed documents to Ophelia as he spoke.

“I would like to observe the Barrier Forest through the Saintess’s eyes. Would you permit me to see the future?”

Rather than waiting until early spring when the expedition returned, he could gain information about the Barrier Forest’s condition by glimpsing Ophelia’s future.

That’s what he thought as he sought permission.

Suddenly, Ophelia hesitated and stared directly at Giuseppe.

The gaze they briefly met was sharp, as if trying to see through Giuseppe’s inner thoughts.

However, the next moment, as if the unease just now had been his misunderstanding, Ophelia smiled brightly and nodded.

“Of course.”

She extended her hand to Giuseppe without hesitation.

Giuseppe removed the gloves he was wearing.

This wasn’t the first time he had examined Ophelia with divine insight.

On the day she came to the temple claiming to have received the divine power transfer from the White-Robed Saint, Giuseppe had examined her past with divine insight.

It was to check for disqualifying factors – whether she was a criminal who had committed great sins, or if she had ever been involved with dark magic.

Fortunately, there were no noticeable problems, and she was able to successfully invoke the authority of the Saintess.

Soon Giuseppe’s hand and Ophelia’s fingertips made contact. Divine power dwelled in Giuseppe’s eyes, and just as some image was about to emerge in his mind.

As if someone had torn the portrait in his mind to shreds, harsh noise interfered with the prophetic image and pitch-black darkness spread before his eyes.

“…!”

“What’s wrong? Is something terrible going to happen?”

Ophelia asked worriedly, but Giuseppe couldn’t say anything.

Ophelia’s future was not visible.

There were three possible reasons.

Either the person didn’t belong to God’s ordained fate, was a Dark Mage, or when the other party had a higher level of divine power than Giuseppe, who possessed the power of divine insight.

And in Ophelia’s case….

“Your divine power feels remarkably stronger than before.”

Since even her past wasn’t visible, her level of divine power had undoubtedly grown higher than his.

“It’s all thanks to God’s gracious care.”

Ophelia spoke humbly as if embarrassed, but Giuseppe’s gaze didn’t leave her hands.

It was quite rare for a high-ranking priest’s divine power to increase so dramatically in such a short time.

If it were someone like Giuseppe who was born with abundant divine power through God’s love, divine power would often increase significantly, but since Ophelia had received her divine power through transfer, this didn’t apply to her.

However, there was one thing he could guess.

None other than increasing divine power through black magic.

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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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