Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 287

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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 30

A scene of streets bright as day even in the dead of night, with starlight settling down.

The Steel City where non-powered carriages filled every road, and buildings taller than the Magic Tower stood dense like trees in a forest.

A world where people naturally carried magical tools in their hands.

Everything the children whispered about painted scenes of longing.

‘How on earth…’

There were many things she wanted to ask – how they knew about her previous world, whether they had really met Ophelia.

However, what first escaped from Belinda’s lips wasn’t about the circumstances.

“Did Ophelia… look happy?”

Her voice trembled slightly, but the children didn’t notice.

“Yes! Sister told us to tell Mom this too!”

Ria poked Theo’s side and spoke up.

“That day’s events became an unforgettable regret, and she still has nightmares every day.”

Theo, receiving Ria’s signal, quickly continued.

“But she said she’s grateful to be alive, and that she’s happy.”

Beyond the twins’ voices, Ophelia’s blood-curdling screams echoed.

“S-someone please kill me, please…”

“I’m just living to die.”

Thud. The comb fell from Belinda’s hand.

Since everything originated from the First King, she had believed without doubt that the First King’s magic would send Ophelia’s soul back home.

Even so, sometimes doubt would whisper to Belinda from a corner of her heart.

‘Are you really certain Ophelia returned to her original world? You didn’t even see it yourself.’

‘Aren’t you just believing that to ease the burden on your heart?’

Now she could finally answer that voice with confidence.

“Ah, she went back. She safely returned.”

Belinda covered her face and collapsed.

The siblings turned around in surprise, looking frightened and not knowing what to do.

Then they began frantically reflecting on what they might have done wrong.

“Mom, I actually secretly threw bell peppers under the table because I didn’t want to eat them.”

“I, I kept them in my mouth and spat them out later.”

“The flowerpot I broke in the Central Garden – it wasn’t Ker, it was me. I was practicing swordsmanship and…”

“I turned the grass pitch black while practicing magic… and I pretended not to know when Mom scolded Bero.”

The children, who had blurted out even wrongdoings that hadn’t been discovered yet, soon had tears welling up in their eyes.

“We did wrong. We won’t go on adventures anymore.”

“Don’t cry. W-when Mom cries, we get sad too.”

How could she scold these children who thought even her tears were their fault?

Belinda embraced the children with her tear-wet hands. Then she kissed the foreheads of the sniffling children one by one.

“I’m not crying because you did something wrong. I’m crying because I’m happy you met Ophelia.”

“Really…?”

“Of course. So will you tell me about the adventure you experienced?”

Ria and Theo’s faces brightened. The twins began chattering competitively.

“Sister Ria is studying to become a flower shop owner now!”

“Sister Ria is really amazing, you know? Everything she touches, all the plants wither, right? Total hands of destruction!”

“And also…”

“So then…”

The story of the greatest adventure the twin siblings experienced continued for quite a while after that.

* * *

Bread, the Duraham that Belinda had newly tamed, got along quite well with Lili.

No, actually they got along excessively well.

On the way back to Winter Castle.

Belinda’s expression gradually became strange as she looked at the two monsters visible through the carriage window.

She whispered to Cesar sitting across from her.

“Don’t Lili and Bread seem… excessively close?”

“So it wasn’t just my eyes seeing things.”

Cesar, who had been desperately wondering if he was mistaken, let out a sigh of relief.

As she said, Lili and Bread were beyond friendly and were even emitting a ticklish atmosphere.

When Bread abandoned his master Belinda and just followed Lili around, he thought that was understandable.

Since they were both humanoid monsters, he figured they had something in common.

‘But a Duraham dismounting from his horse and walking on two feet?’

According to Cesar, a Duraham was a monster where the horse and knight were practically one body, so unless their life was in danger, the knight would never dismount.

Belinda looked with an incredulous expression at Lili, who was sitting demurely on the horse instead of Bread.

It probably wasn’t just Belinda’s imagination that Jam, Bread’s black horse, also looked very confused.

However, what was most bewildering was Lili’s attitude.

The ruined queen who had sworn to curse any man unconditionally was no longer there.

“Come to think of it, Durahams don’t have heads.”

“…That’s right?”

“That means he’s neither handsome nor ugly, so he perfectly fits Lili’s ideal type.”

Isn’t that ideal type a bit too brutal?

But one must respect preferences.

While cheering for their happy future, the carriage soon reached the Barrier Forest.

Around that time, the children who had been sleeping with their heads on Cesar and Belinda’s laps woke up.

Ria became restless as soon as she saw the forest, as if her body was burning with impatience.

“I’m bored! I want to walk from here.”

“Ah, Sister! I want to go with you!”

The couple had no choice but to get out of the carriage following the children.

Ria stretched and then ran freely through the forest.

Theo, out of breath from chasing his sister, put his hands on his knees and panted heavily.

Ria had already disappeared far away, outside the forest.

“Tch. I told her to go together.”

Theo, who had been grumbling and chasing his sister with hurt feelings, suddenly froze in place.

“…”

Again. Once again he felt gazes.

But no matter how much he looked around, all he could see were blue-green trees.

After the forest grown with magic and divine power withered, only Theo feared the young forest cultivated by human hands.

If it had been before the adventure, he would have tried to flee from the forest immediately.

Because he had been simply afraid, not knowing the identity of the gazes and presences that only he could feel.

But…

“M-my name is Theodor Baluashten.”

For the first time, Theo spoke to ‘them’.

Once, Cesar had sat the siblings on his knees and said:

“Protecting the forest is still our family’s duty. However, now it’s not about protecting continental peace, but protecting the honor and beliefs of the dead.”

“Many knights of the North who died protecting people sleep in the forest.”

So if I really inherited a special ability.

If that was the power to become friends with ghosts as Mother advised, and if the souls of Northern Knights were staying in The Forest as Father said.

If That Person was still unable to leave The Forest because they were protecting people….

‘I want to tell them that the North is okay now.’

But since he didn’t know what a ‘not okay’ North meant, he couldn’t figure out how to say it.

Theo didn’t know about the time when the land Beyond the Forest was desolate, nor did he know the weariness of nights spent trembling in fear.

So the Child chattered about the North that he knew.

“You know, I’ve never encountered Demonic Beasts even once until now. So I don’t really know what they look like either. It’s not just me—all my friends are the same way.”

Theo, who had been speaking hesitantly, suddenly stuck his arm into his dimensional bag and pulled out a jet-black iron mask.

Holding the symbol of the Northern Knights in his hand, Theo proudly held it up for them to see.

“Do you see this? On festival days, everyone wears these to play. It’s the symbol of very, very brave knights. Everyone says they want to become Northern Knights when they grow up. Especially my Older Sister—she said her goal is to become the boss of the Northern Knights.”

As he spoke, the gazes pouring down on him no longer felt frightening.

Theo concluded his words in a voice more confident than before.

“So what I want to say is, please don’t worry too much anymore. From now on, my Older Sister and I will protect the North!”

The moment he politely bowed his head at the end, a strong wind blew and the trees in The Forest swayed noisily.

For an instant, through his squinted vision, he could see many, many people standing in The Forest.

“Huh?”

But when he rubbed his eyes and looked again, they had vanished like a mirage.

“Theo, you slowpoke! How long are you going to stay there?”

He heard his Older Sister’s voice from behind him. Theo, who had been staring blankly at The Forest, suddenly snapped to attention and ran toward his Older Sister.

“I was just about to go!”

After running for a while, Theo looked back at The Forest again.

However, he no longer felt any presence or gazes.

The Child realized that no one remained there anymore.

There was only a peaceful Forest that knew nothing of war.

– Side Story 3 Complete.

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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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