Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 217

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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 217

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Ophelia was arrested by the Royal Knight Order that had been lying in wait and confined to the Western Tower of the Palace.

The reason this tower, mainly used to imprison royalty, was chosen was because revealing that the Saintess had conspired with dark mages could cause great chaos.

Moreover, since there was much information to extract from her as the leader of the dark magic sect, there was no immediate talk of deciding Ophelia’s fate.

And so one day, two days, three days, and then a week passed.

“The stairs are steep, so you must be careful.”

I climbed the stairs of the Western Tower, guided by Giuseppe.

How long had I climbed the spiral staircase that twisted round and round like a snail’s shell?

When I was out of breath, I was finally able to set foot at the top of the tower.

“Marquess’s Daughter, your hand.”

I accepted Cheri’s kind offer to support me, leaning against him briefly to catch my breath.

Then I stood before the heavy wooden door.

On that door, dozens of magic circles were layered upon each other in such a dizzying array that it was overwhelming just to look at.

It was sealing magic that Chaser had painstakingly crafted to prevent Ophelia from escaping the tower, or to prevent dark mages from rescuing her.

I reached out to Chaser’s messenger that had been flying around me. The yellow butterfly perched on my fingertip like a well-trained pet.

When I brought it close to the sealing magic circle, dozens of magic circles began rotating at different speeds.

Click. Creak.

When the magic circles stopped moving, the heavy door opened with a spine-chilling friction sound.

I took a breath and stepped inside.

The interior, with windows so small that proper sunlight couldn’t even enter, had a gloomy atmosphere.

In that bleak place with only a bed and a single chair, Ophelia was there.

“Belinda, you came.”

“…Yeah.”

She had become noticeably haggard in the past week, and after looking around, she spoke with an apologetic expression.

“I’d like to tell you to make yourself comfortable, but there’s only this one chair.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can stand like this.”

I looked down at Ophelia sitting in the chair.

Between her and me was a barrier created by Giuseppe with the Meteor Spear. That holy relic was the final bastion restraining Ophelia.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that barriers made with the Meteor Spear are the most solid in the world.

Since they cannot be damaged by a knight’s aura or a mage’s magic, the dark mages would have no way to rescue Ophelia either.

Hoping my expression was as resolute as my thoughts, I voiced the purpose of my visit.

“Ophelia, I heard you’ve been troubling the investigators.”

“Well. Isn’t it their job to verify the truth of my words?”

She laughed as if playing word games.

According to what I heard from Mikhail, Ophelia’s interrogation was facing difficulties.

Not because she kept her mouth shut, but rather because she talked too much.

She answered the interrogator’s questions earnestly, but the problem was that her words contained an appropriate mix of lies and truth.

So eventually, I came to be here.

To distinguish between the lies and truths she spoke.

Because no one knew Ophelia as well as I did.

“That interrogator was really hopeless. He had already decided on the answers before asking me. Belinda, do you also think I’m trying to destroy the world?”

That was exactly what the interrogator thought the Ascetic’s purpose was.

That the wicked leader of dark mages was leading the continent to destruction.

However, I couldn’t easily answer her question.

Did Ophelia really want the destruction of this world?

If so, there would have been no need to become an Ascetic. The world was destined for destruction even if left alone.

Eventually, I voiced my honest feelings.

“I don’t know. But I can guess that you’ve been planning something for a very long time. Ophelia, you’re more knowledgeable about this world’s affairs than anyone else.”

At my answer, Ophelia rose from her seat and approached me.

She placed her palm against the barrier and whispered in a much lower voice.

“Your intuition is right. I’m not trying to ruin this world. Rather, I’m trying to save it from destruction.”

“What?”

“So don’t worry too much. The world won’t be destroyed. Though it might be different from what you’re trying to achieve.”

Ophelia’s voice was so quiet that I couldn’t hear it unless I brought my head close.

Trusting the barrier, I took another step closer to her and listened carefully.

“I’ll tell you this specially, but actually, confining me here is meaningless. Even while I’m here, my plan is growing steadily. Because ‘that thing’ has already been born.”

Immediately after, a violet gleam appeared in Ophelia’s pink eyes.

Evidence of dark magic.

I was startled, but didn’t back away.

Even if it was dark magic, it couldn’t penetrate a barrier made with the Meteor Spear. The price would be insufficient for that.

However, as if mocking my expectations, the barrier melted away in an instant.

“Marquess’s Daughter, step back!”

I heard Cheri’s urgent voice. But it was already after Ophelia’s hands had pressed down on my shoulders.

“Why is the barrier… High Priest!”

Staggering with the feeling of the ground collapsing beneath my feet, I looked back at Giuseppe standing guard at the door.

And what I saw was Giuseppe’s calm appearance, as if he had expected this situation.

As if it was his own will that had brought down the barrier.

“Why…”

When Cheri urgently embraced me, it wasn’t Ophelia who was trapped in the barrier, but Cheri and me. I couldn’t believe the reality before my eyes.

Right then, the remnants of dark magic on my shoulders gathered at my feet and created a huge swamp.

It began to grab our ankles and gradually sink us downward.

Cheri drew his sword and swung it, but even his aura was powerless before the boundary made with a holy relic.

I looked with a bewildered face at Giuseppe slowly standing beside Ophelia. But he didn’t give me even a glance.

Ophelia placed her hand on the barrier confining Cheri and me and whispered.

“Belinda, when you return, please be my friend again in a world that won’t be destroyed.”

In front of Ophelia, who smiled bitterly, a system window visible only to me appeared.

Entering dungeon ‘Ruined Ancient Kingdom’.

‘A dungeon?’

You mean below this swamp is connected to a dungeon?

The moment I realized that, my body moved before I could think.

I snatched Chaser’s messenger and held it in my hand, urgently pouring out words.

“Leo, we will definitely return. I’ll promise with a pinky swear. So…”

I couldn’t even finish speaking.

Whoosh! Clang!

Finally, the barrier began to crack slightly as Cheri drew his magic sword and swung it.

He didn’t stop there and swung his sword several more times, and finally.

Crash!

At the same time the barrier shattered, Chaser’s messenger escaped from my hand and flew outside the barrier.

But unlike the butterfly, we had no time. Before we could even escape from the swamp, a sensation like the ground beneath us suddenly caving in overwhelmed us.

You have entered dungeon ‘Ruined Ancient Kingdom Sahra’.

Connection to the outside world is severed.

With that system window as the last thing I saw, everything before my eyes turned pure white.

* * *

“Leo!”

It was the moment Leo instinctively jerked his head to the side at the sound of someone shouting his name.

Whoosh-!

The wooden ball grazed Leo’s cheek dangerously close as it flew past and over the goalpost.

As cheers erupted from the opposing team, Asillia, her face flushed red and blue with anger, rode her horse over to Leo’s side.

“Are you crazy? Where the hell was your mind wandering! You almost got seriously hurt!”

“Ah, sorry.”

When Leo immediately apologized, Asillia, left with nothing to say, let out a deep sigh and patted Leo’s shoulder a couple of times.

“If we win this match, we’re in the semifinals. You know that, right?”

Only then did Leo notice the clearly exhausted faces of his teammates.

While Leo had been distracted looking at the spectator stands instead of properly focusing on the game, his teammates had been covering for his mistakes.

Leo, belatedly coming to his senses, nodded with an apologetic expression.

“Yeah, I’ll focus now.”

From then on, Leo concentrated on the game and raced across the sports arena in all directions.

Even so, whenever a set ended and they were given break time, he didn’t forget to glance at the spectator stands.

However, no matter how wide he opened his eyes to look, Belinda was nowhere to be seen.

It was unlike Belinda, who always came before the match started and claimed the front seat.

‘Maybe she’s busy with work.’

Leo deliberately turned his gaze away from the spectator stands, stroked Byeol-sa-tang’s neck, and began focusing on the game again.

‘Belinda will come, even if she’s late.’

And so the match ended.

Having achieved a miraculous comeback victory, Leo looked back with a bright expression toward the spot where Belinda always stood.

There stood a person familiar to Leo.

However, not only was this not the person Leo had been waiting for so eagerly, but it was also someone who least belonged in this place.

“Teacher?”

But you said you hated sweaty masochistic performances.

Leo dismounted his horse and approached Chaser.

The closer Leo got to Chaser, the faster his steps became, eventually turning into a run. This was because Chaser’s face, which never lost its composure in front of Leo, was frighteningly hardened.

“Teacher!”

Chaser extended his hand toward Leo, who had run over panting.

“Little sprout, this is a message from the Protagonist.”

At the tip of his index finger sat one of Chaser’s messenger birds, fluttering its tired wings.

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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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