Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 280

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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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Side Story Episode 23

However, the message that appeared in the system window was not what Ria had expected.

No matching target found for the provided information. Please re-enter the correct information value.

Ria interpreted the text floating in the air with a bewildered expression.

“Not the correct information?”

What could possibly be wrong?

After pondering, Ria wrote a name again on the now-clean summoning nameplate.

[Our mom’s friend Ophelia?]

Good. This time for sure…!

Ding.

No matching target found for the provided information. Please re-enter the correct information value.

Ria wrote again with an even more solemn expression.

[Ophelia that our mom knows…]

Ding.

Multiple matching targets exist for the provided information. More detailed information is needed to narrow the tracking range.

In the end, Ria reached a sad conclusion.

“As expected, Mom didn’t have any best friends or friends. Mom lied to us…”

At that moment, Theo stepped forward to defend their mother’s honor.

“That’s not it – we don’t know her surname. Just like we have Baluashten after our names, Mom’s friend might have a surname too.”

“Ah!”

Indeed, that was a plausible deduction.

Guardian had said that using the summoning nameplate required an ‘exact’ name.

Theo’s defense didn’t stop there.

“You know how Mom goes to the Great Frozen Sea alone every winter?”

“Yeah.”

“Brother Leo told me before that Mom goes there to meet an adult she’s close with who lives near the Great Frozen Sea.”

“Could that person be…?”

Theo nodded.

“Maybe Mom’s friend. So Mom’s friend lives at the Great Frozen Sea. Mom didn’t lie.”

Ria finally tried writing ‘Mom’s friend Ophelia who lives near the Great Frozen Sea,’ but the result didn’t change.

Ria’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.

“I guess we really need to know her surname. There’s no choice now.”

Huh? Is she giving up?

‘This quickly?’

It seemed unlike his sister, so Theo tilted his head in confusion.

“I have no choice but to go to the Great Frozen Sea myself and meet Mom’s friend!”

Ah, so that method existed.

Theo smiled brightly, jumped up, and loudly called for their mother.

“Mooom! Sister is, mmph!”

However, he didn’t get far before Ria caught him and covered his mouth.

“Don’t tattle, you tattletale!”

“Mmph! Mph mph mph! Mph!”

“I know too. But I can’t wait until I’m an adult! My eight years of life have already been so long, and I’d have to wait even longer than that. If I just keep waiting, I’ll grow old and die.”

“Mph mph! Mmph mph!”

“Tch, fine.”

Ria quickly brought over a Doberman-shaped backpack that had been carefully kept in one corner of the room and held it out.

“Instead, I’ll give you Guardian’s dimensional bag. So come with me.”

Theo’s purple eyes rolled around and fixed on the backpack.

‘Sister causes major accidents without me, so I have no choice.’

It’s definitely not because I want that bag.

“…Okay.”

The moment hesitant Theo nodded his head.

Shiver.

Something chilly brushed past the child’s back.

Theo quickly turned around, but as always, there was nothing there.

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

Ria followed Theo’s gaze and looked around one corner of the playroom.

Theo rubbed his arms where the hair was standing on end and answered with a frightened face.

“…It feels like someone’s watching.”

“Oh my, scaredy-cat. You’re always like that.”

Even as she said this, Ria opened the toy box for Theo, checked behind the door, and even searched thoroughly under the sofa to confirm no one was there.

“See? There’s nothing there.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“So, when would be good?”

The siblings put their heads together and pondered.

A day when all the adults would be frantically busy and wouldn’t have time to pay attention to them.

A day when the adults would have no choice but to let their guard down.

A day when the adults’ attention would be focused elsewhere.

“The Founding Day party!”

The twins’ eyes sparkled with excitement for adventure as they shouted simultaneously without either going first.

* * *

Blue Road, the massive highway connecting Winter Castle and the Great Frozen Sea in a straight line.

What traveled that road was surprisingly a crude iron carriage that moved without horses or a coachman.

The unpowered autonomous carriage, a joint invention by Chaser and Vivian, had contributed greatly to the duchy’s prosperity.

Not only did it transport supplies to the Green Mage Tower Branch built at the Great Frozen Sea, but it also carried magic stones from scattered mines day and night.

Having become an indispensable means of transportation, maintaining Blue Road and inspecting the condition of the unpowered carriages was one of the Ducal House’s important duties.

Fortunately, no particular problems had occurred over the past few years.

Perhaps that’s why they had let their guard down.

Early morning, in the middle of Blue Road.

Cesar carefully examined the remains of an unpowered carriage that barely had its frame left.

He was knowledgeable enough to roughly guess a monster’s form just by looking at claw marks left on rocks.

However, he couldn’t determine the identity of what had attacked the carriage the night before.

‘Corrosion from toxicity? No, it’s more like weathering.’

The carriage was roughly weathered as if it had aged instantly.

“Your Excellency, we found all the unpowered carriage’s cargo nearby. No items were stolen.”

Penandel, who had returned from patrolling the area, reported.

His words deepened Cesar’s concerns even further.

A carriage carrying precious supplies had been attacked, yet no cargo was missing.

He couldn’t gauge the enemy’s identity or purpose.

All he knew was that the opponent was dangerous enough to break the barrier protecting the mana-powered carriage.

“Suspend nighttime operations of mana-powered carriages for the time being. Also, investigate whether any new dungeons have appeared nearby.”

By the time they finished searching the area and sent word to the green Magic Tower of the Great Frozen Sea via the Vanguard Corps, the sun was already high in the sky.

Having rushed on horseback through the night dew as soon as he heard news of the carriage attack, he had essentially stayed up all night.

Cesar returned to Winter Castle with his exhausted body. In the distance, he could see Belinda coming out to greet him with the children.

“Daddyyy!”

The children ran over in a rush and were about to throw themselves into Cesar’s arms when they suddenly stopped.

Then they stared up at Cesar and chattered.

“It’s red-eyed Daddy.”

“It’s red Daddy.”

Cesar quickly stepped back from the siblings and checked his reflection in a window.

Fortunately, the curse hadn’t manifested outwardly. His eyes were just bloodshot from burst capillaries.

Unaware that they had made their father’s heart sink, the innocent twins circled around Cesar, screaming with laughter.

“Run away, it’s red Daddy!”

“Red Daddy is chasing us!”

A red daddy living in the North.

Belinda almost burst out laughing as she was reminded of a certain country that had been their northern neighbor in her past life.

“Ahem, hmm. Kids. Saying such things to Daddy—”

Though he belatedly tried to put on a stern expression, the children had already scattered in all directions, screaming with delight.

Watching the children with a shake of her head as if to say they were hopeless, Belinda grabbed Cesar’s arm and examined his complexion.

“You look very tired.”

“A little.”

From her husband’s expressionless face, Belinda could glimpse his distress.

Normally, he wouldn’t have been so shaken by the children’s “red Daddy” comment.

He seemed tired enough to momentarily think, “Maybe the curse has manifested.”

‘Well, we’ve both been incredibly busy strengthening the country’s foundation, with no time to breathe.’

After pondering, Belinda linked arms with Cesar and made a suggestion.

“We really haven’t had any time to rest. So, once we finish this banquet properly, shall we go on a date for the first time in ages?”

Cesar glanced at the siblings in the distance and coughed awkwardly a few times.

Then he whispered with a very serious expression.

“…Just the two of us?”

The children’s laughter carried over on the summer breeze from afar.

Worried the children might hear, Belinda also lowered her voice to respond.

“Yes, just the two of us.”

While the couple exchanged meaningful glances, the twins were also having their own meaningful conversation.

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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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