Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 254

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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 254

* * *

The ones who brought Leo were the Harpers couple, and they were craftsmen who supplied accessories to the castle.

Many people had died or been injured in the previous day’s fire and rebellion.

The reason the Harpers couple brought home and cared for a child who had collapsed and been left behind in all that chaos was because they were kind people.

They soon realized that Endymion’s eyes were red but he wasn’t a demon beast, and that the child had lost his memory, which left them troubled.

They secretly inquired around the castle grounds, but couldn’t find any servant who had lost a child.

Just as they were wondering whether they should return the child to Baluashten Castle, the lord’s official notices spread throughout the village.

The content was that the lord, who had killed his entire family to seize power, was searching for a child with black hair and red eyes.

“Oh my, he’s definitely trying to kill that child. I heard that after killing his own family, he goes to the forest every day and slaughters demon beasts like a madman. If he finds that child, he won’t let him live.”

To the Harpers couple, who had only heard of the new lord’s cruelty, the notice searching for a child didn’t look like desperate longing to find family, but rather a cruel wanted poster.

In the end, the Harpers couple, who couldn’t hand over the child, decided to take him and leave the North.

Around that time, miraculously, the child’s eye color changed to blue, allowing them to avoid the eyes of the estate knights.

And so, on the day Endymion left the North in the arms of the Harpers couple, unable to remember anything.

“It’s a demon beast attack!”

“Protect the children first! Hide them under the carriages!”

“Hold out until the Royal Capital guards arrive!”

The merchant caravan they were traveling with was attacked by demon beasts.

Endymion hid in the nearby forest covered in white snow, just as the Harpers couple told him to.

His body trembled from cold and fear. The darkness of the forest, people’s screams, and the demon beasts’ roars could be heard all night long.

When the child could no longer endure and lost consciousness.

“There’s a survivor here!”

He was discovered by the Royal Capital guards.

Endymion thus became a nameless child and was sent to an orphanage in the Royal Capital.

‘If only the Harpers couple had been a little less kind.’

If they had been selfish people who got scared upon seeing Endymion’s red eyes and immediately reported the child…

It would be a lie to say he had never imagined such things.

But Leo conveyed his feelings to them with nothing but gratitude.

“Thank you for protecting me. Thanks to you, I was able to grow up safely, meet Lady Belinda, and find my real family too.”

Whatever the outcome, the Harpers couple’s goodwill and kindness had made the current Leo possible.

Just as Leo finished his brief moment of silence and was about to get up from his spot.

He heard a presence behind him, and Elsa appeared, breathing heavily.

“Flowers…”

After catching her breath for a moment, she placed the bundle of wildflowers she was holding in front of Leo.

“I’ll offer flowers. For the people who took care of you.”

Since the surroundings were full of grass, she must have wandered around quite a bit to pick flowers.

Leo looked up at Elsa’s calm face and smiled brightly. She hadn’t changed at all from before.

“Thank you.”

Their gazes met briefly. Both of them were startled as if burned and averted their eyes.

Soon, Leo saw that Elsa’s hands were a mess from picking flowers and carefully asked.

“Would it be okay if I treated your wounds?”

“It’s, it’s fine. I can do it myself.”

As if embarrassed to show her hands covered in dirt and scratches, she hurriedly hid them behind her back and quickly left the spot.

* * *

When Leo’s group arrived at Baluashten Castle, the castle’s knights rushed out to welcome Leo.

“The young master has returned!”

“Everyone gather! Young Master Leo is here!”

“Wooooah!”

The Northern knights, who had even abandoned their training, lifted Leo up and welcomed his return as if they had made a promise.

Seeing this, Asillia blinked and said.

“You’re really close with the Northern knights.”

Leo, who had been tidying his disheveled hair and thinking for a moment, readily spoke up.

Since he led the army across the Barrier Forest in the war three years ago, most knights already knew that Leo was of Baluashten bloodline.

“Well, actually, the Knight’s deceased brother turned out to be my real father.”

“…!”

The shock hit a beat later. Leo’s friends blinked stupidly and then showed various reactions.

“D-D-D-D-D-Duke of Baluashten is your uncle, Leo?”

“That’s not it, it means Leo is the grandson of the previous Duke of Baluashten!”

“Eek, he was already a noble, but now he’s become even more noble!”

Ian shook his head while listening to the chaotic conversation between Asillia and Edmund.

“It’s the same thing, you monkeys.”

“Please exclude me from those monkeys.”

Elsa added coldly.

The Northern knights, who were chattering among themselves about what made them so happy, began lifting Leo up again.

Elsa’s expression grew darker as she watched this.

“I only just became a Saintess candidate.”

After being forced to quit the Academy due to family circumstances, she discovered by chance that she possessed quite a lot of divine power.

She had been very happy when she awakened her divine power and was chosen by the masterless Comet’s Lance.

Although she was a Saintess candidate, it was a position comparable to most noble titles.

She had thought that if she honed her divine power and was recognized as a Saintess, she might be able to stand on equal footing with Leo.

‘He was a member of a ducal family…’

How foolish that thought had been.

The place where Leo stood was so high that it now seemed distant.

* * *

With Belinda’s capital, aid from various countries, and under Cesar’s command, the subjugation of demon beasts in the North was carried out very systematically.

The human boundary line, which had been limited to the Barrier Forest, moved north every month, and as a result, Baluashten Territory was gradually expanding.

Thanks to this, Leo’s group was able to safely travel to the frontier region where humanity had expanded its reach.

Cesar even provided Northern knights to accompany them to the frontier region.

…If only that Northern knight hadn’t been Cesar himself, Leo would have truly accepted Cesar’s goodwill with a happy heart.

“Leo, do something about this. Why is His Grace the Duke acting as our porter?”

“I’m grateful for the goodwill, but Edmund is on the verge of fainting.”

In the end, Leo had no choice but to step forward.

“Knight…”

“…”

“We all know you’re the Knight…”

“Ahem.”

Did he really think they wouldn’t recognize him just because he wore a Northern mask and pulled up a hood?

Cesar, who belatedly realized that this level of disguise couldn’t fool Leo, coughed repeatedly.

Leo pouted and asked.

“…Did Lady Belinda ask you to stop me, Knight?”

“She did write such a letter… But before that, I want to ask you something. Leo, do you think finding and destroying gates is your duty?”

At those words, Leo hesitated.

The hero’s duty planned by the First King.

Both Belinda and Chaser would usually keep their mouths shut tight about that topic. Leo knew it was consideration for him.

However, Cesar, who wasn’t good with words, didn’t know how to speak in roundabout ways.

After thinking for a moment, Leo shook his head.

“No. For me, destroying gates isn’t a duty but a means. It’s not something I have to do, but something I want to do.”

The words he couldn’t bring himself to say in front of the perceptive Belinda flowed smoothly before Cesar.

“I have something I want to do after closing the gates. And to be honest with you alone, Knight, if I can save the world through my efforts, I’ll save it as many times as needed.”

Three years ago, Belinda was Leo’s entire world. He had felt the fear that if he lost her, he would fall out of the world and be left alone.

But now he knows. How much his world is made up of so many people’s help and kindness.

His birth parents and the Harpers Couple, Belinda and Cesar. Even Chaser and his friends.

Belinda was still the biggest part of Leo’s world, but she wasn’t his everything.

Upon realizing this, Leo came to harbor the desire to become part of someone else’s world too.

That’s why he set out for the northern subjugation.

Because he too wanted to become part of his precious people and protect their world.

In the end, saving the world for Leo was the same as saving himself.

Then Leo looked up at Cesar with a slightly disappointed expression. Unlike Belinda, he was hurt that Cesar was trying to stop him.

Cesar was the Mentor who taught Leo swordsmanship. He learned the basics of swordsmanship and the mindset of protecting people from him.

He had never neglected any of the teachings he had given him.

‘Does the Knight find me unreliable?’

Yes, perhaps that might be understandable.

No matter how excellent Leo was, he hadn’t received even a single knight’s title after all.

“Knight, do you not trust me because I’m not a knight? Is that why you’re trying to stop the northern subjugation?”

At Leo’s question, Cesar answered immediately as if there was nothing to think about.

“Leo, I’ve never once thought of you as anything other than a knight.”

“What?”

“From the moment you told me you wanted to learn swordsmanship to protect others, you’ve always been a knight to me.”

“Then… why did you follow me?”

“Because I was worried.”

Cesar’s firm hand gently patted Leo’s shoulder.

“So I’ll only follow you as far as I can go with you. I won’t interfere with your adventure. But.”

Suddenly Cesar continued with a hardened face and lowered voice.

“Keep it a secret from the Marquess’s Daughter that I let you go quietly.”

At those words, Leo couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Not long after arriving at the frontier region, they exchanged simple farewell words.

“Don’t neglect your vigilance, but when you rest, rely on your companions, let them watch your back, and rest sufficiently.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind!”

Leo answered spiritedly and was about to run straight to his friends when he glanced back at Cesar and whispered in a small voice.

“I’ll come back with a big gift, Uncle.”

“…!”

Leaving behind Cesar who had a stunned expression for a moment, Leo headed north with his friends.

Cesar, who stood there for quite a while, finally managed to respond to his nephew’s greeting only after Leo’s party had disappeared beyond the horizon.

“Yes, be careful and come back safely.”

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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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