Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 255

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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 255

* * *

Originally, journeys to the North require experienced and capable guides.

Since the North was still uncharted territory without even maps, it was easy to get lost if one wasn’t careful.

However, this didn’t apply to Leo’s situation. Because…

“I have a map!”

“A map? Where did you get it?”

“That’s a secret. But the source is very reliable.”

Leo spoke triumphantly as he pulled out a palm-sized envelope from his chest.

To the beloved ‘Hero’s Star’ and his guardian.

From the past.

Leo opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

Asillia, who had been watching closely and trying to peek at the letter’s contents over Leo’s shoulder, frowned.

“What? There’s nothing written on it.”

“Well, I guess it’s already in my head.”

Losing interest at the vague answer, Asillia nodded with an attitude that said she didn’t care as long as he guided them.

Leo moved forward without hesitation and explained their destination.

“Where we’re heading is the Great Frozen Sea at the Far North. Though we have places to stop along the way. Dungeons where artifacts are hidden, places where ancient ruins are buried.”

“Ruins have already been discovered…?”

Edmund tilted his head as if finding it strange.

Usually, discovering ruins or dungeons required at least five years of thoroughly investigating the area. But it had only been three years since the northern lands were opened to humanity.

At Edmund’s sharp observation, Leo could only give another unclear answer.

“I just happened to come across this information somehow.”

But Leo had his reasons for answering that way.

‘I can’t say I can see things others can’t see.’

What Belinda called a system window – a translucent interface – was floating like a hologram above the letter Leo had unfolded.

More precisely, it was in the form of a map of the North, with locations of ruins, dungeons, hidden sacred artifacts and treasures marked throughout.

When he selected the closest ruins, a rough description of those ruins appeared. All of them were adventure records left by the First King before his ascension to the throne.

Leo explored various places with his friends, following in the First King’s footsteps.

The First King in the letter’s records seemed less like a king of a nation and more like a cheerful friend who simply loved adventure.

The places they reached following his guidance were sometimes dangerous enough to chill one’s heart, while others were peaceful enough to take leisurely naps.

The group, who had initially been somewhat awkward and distant with each other, eventually came to trust one another enough to sit around a campfire and share their deepest thoughts.

As the artifacts and treasures obtained from dungeon exploration increased, so did their laughter.

After a month of wandering endlessly through the North, they encountered demonic beasts for the first time.

* * *

It was hungry.

Always thirsty and starving, it devoured everything in sight, but there was no way to satisfy that endless craving.

But at some point, human-like thoughts began to form in its mind, dulled by hunger.

From then on, it no longer needed to hunt for food directly. Several demonic beasts around it became its limbs, bringing and offering prey to it.

But it still wasn’t enough. It needed to devour more, gain more power, and use that power to dominate even more demonic beasts.

Thus becoming a predator that would kill and devour everything in sight.

Grinning wickedly, just as it was about to open its ferocious maw toward the world.

Thunk!

A heavy arrow pierced through its head, sending it tumbling backward.

Behind it, Asillia’s sword, imbued with the Aura of Flames, began cutting down the surrounding demonic beasts one by one.

Asillia poked the demonic beast that Edmund had shot with her toe and muttered.

“What’s this? It looks different from the demonic beasts I know. It has multiple horns on its head too. Is it a mutant?”

“Th-there are so many demonic beasts around… Maybe it was a weak individual? Seeing how the others were trying to protect it.”

“…Don’t say things that make me feel bad. What kind of camaraderie do demonic beasts have? That would mean I just killed their friends!”

“Everyone focus. It’s not dead yet.”

As Elsa warned, the wound from the arrow hole in the demonic beast began to heal gradually.

Elsa immediately cast a barrier around the group to weaken the demonic beast’s curse. Then, as if to join the battle herself, she gripped the whip at her waist.

From then on, a far from easy battle ensued.

As if it were a special specimen, the demonic beast quickly self-healed minor wounds. Nevertheless, being a demonic beast, its inherent weaknesses were unavoidable.

Confirming that demonic beasts were vulnerable to divine power, Elsa moved from the rear to the front lines.

When her whip, imbued with divine power, blocked the demonic beast’s movements, Asillia and Leo unleashed their attacks. But it wasn’t enough to completely silence the demonic beast.

‘I need more powerful divine power.’

Should I try using Comet’s Lance, though I’m not skilled with it yet? The moment Elsa made that judgment and briefly relaxed her grip on the whip.

“Elsa!”

The demonic beast’s eyes, filled with killing intent, flashed right in front of her.

‘Ah, I made a mistake.’

The demonic beast’s claws rushed toward her shoulder.

Elsa instantly summoned Comet’s Lance and gripped it in her hand.

Give flesh to take bone. The moment the demonic beast’s claws dug into her shoulder, she would drive the lance into its heart.

Just as she clenched her jaw with that resolve.

“Stand back, Elsa.”

Leo’s holy sword, imbued with divine power and the aura of light, severed the demonic beast’s neck.

Leo, who had taken the demonic beast’s hot blood that would have splattered on Elsa, looked back at her with concern.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Elsa’s gaze turned to the holy sword Leo held. The dazzling afterimage of light still flickered before her eyes.

Then, taking in Leo’s appearance, covered in the demonic beast’s blood, Elsa bit her lips tightly and said.

“…Unnecessary kindness.”

“I know. Even if I hadn’t helped, you could have protected yourself. But I wanted to do this.”

Leo hesitated for a moment before carefully asking.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Friends. Though his appearance had changed this much, his inner self remained the same as before.

Elsa smiled bitterly and shook her head.

“…No.”

Saying this coldly, Elsa traced Leo’s cheek with her hand. The touch was so incredibly gentle and tender that Leo’s thoughts stopped for a moment.

“Commoners and nobles cannot be friends.”

Leaving those words behind, Elsa turned away coldly as if she had finished all her business.

Leo stared at Elsa’s retreating figure for a long time before touching the cheek her hand had caressed.

The shallow wound from the recent battle had completely disappeared.

* * *

When they were not far from their final destination, the Great Frozen Sea.

The group’s atmosphere was heavier than ever. It was because Elsa was treating Leo coldly one-sidedly.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Edmund arranged for Leo and Elsa to be alone together.

So the two sat in silence for a long time with a blazing campfire before them.

Crackle. How long did only the loud sound of sparks flying continue?

“Elsa, in your eyes, am I just a noble?”

That was the question that had created an invisible wall between Leo and Elsa for a very long time.

Even on the day Elsa left the Academy, the reason they ultimately couldn’t become friends.

Back then, Leo lacked courage, and Elsa had awakened to reality at too young an age.

And now, six years later, Leo had learned what he lacked and grown, but…

“Right, this isn’t the Academy. What I couldn’t do then, I can’t possibly do now.”

For Elsa, the walls of reality were still insurmountably high.

Leo gazed quietly at Elsa’s cold face that wouldn’t melt even in the heat of the bonfire and spoke calmly.

“But in my eyes, Elsa, you’re not just a commoner. You’re my hero who saved me from those mean kids, and the angel who saved me when I almost fell from that tree.”

At those words, confusion finally spread across Elsa’s face.

“You, you, you, h-how can you say such things with such a shameless face!”

“Ah, that was embarrassing to say. Sorry. There’s someone around me whose hobby is proposing, so they say things like this all the time. I guess I got influenced without realizing it.”

I had a feeling I knew who he was talking about.

The fact that the Duke of Baluashten made all sorts of proposals to Marquess Blanche whenever he visited the Royal Capital was already widely spread throughout the Royal Capital.

His proposal methods were so varied and romantic that there was even a book called 【The Duke’s 101 Ways to Propose】 circulating in the marketplace.

‘As expected of Baluashten blood.’

Elsa spoke coldly on purpose to suppress her heart that was fluttering as if being tickled.

“I can’t be friends with you.”

Right, she could never be friends with him.

Because Leo was a noble.

While she was merely a commoner.

Because she couldn’t stand on equal footing with him.

And most of all, because her feelings toward him were too heavy to just be friends…

“Then will you be my lover?”

Heavy.

Elsa’s head, which had been about to drop down, turned toward Leo.

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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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