Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 76
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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 76
Chapter 10
“It’s time.”
Early morning.
The maids who had been helping with Belinda’s morning preparations, led by Mary, all stopped what they were doing and stepped back at those words.
Soon the door to the side room attached to Belinda’s room opened, and Leo emerged hesitantly, dressed nicely today as well under Terry’s coordination.
Leo’s appearance was utterly adorable as he wore a brimmed beret tilted at an angle and fidgeted with his hands inside the short cape he wore for warmth.
The maids, who had been giving him a standing ovation in their hearts without realizing it, quietly lowered their heads when they saw Belinda glaring at Leo with flashing eyes.
“Everyone leave except Jui-bam-tol.”
The maids glanced at each other for a moment, then withdrew without a word.
The maids had no choice but to pretend not to know about this tense tutoring time that had started at some point.
They didn’t know what happened in the room after all the employees left and only Leo and Belinda remained.
They only knew that Leo looked disheveled when he emerged from Belinda’s room after the brief private meeting of about 5 minutes.
The maids looked at Leo, who was tensely hunching his shoulders, with pity before closing the door.
Finally alone with Leo, Belinda slowly stretched out both arms.
And muttered ominously like a warning.
“Jui-bam-tol.”
“Y-y-y-yes!”
“Come here.”
Leo’s face instantly turned bright red.
The child walked carefully as if treading on thin ice and stood in front of Belinda.
As if she had been waiting, Belinda dropped to her knees and hugged Leo so tightly it seemed like his body would crumble.
“…!”
It was like a rite of passage that had been performed every morning for a week now, but Leo still couldn’t get used to it and stiffened up every time.
Nevertheless, Belinda didn’t give up hugging Leo for 5 minutes every morning.
Holding him tightly without saying anything, then giving him words of encouragement while thoroughly ruffling Leo’s hair had become their daily routine.
“Jui-bam-tol, struggle like a bug today as well.”
Just as Belinda, who had brutally conveyed the message to have a vigorous day, was about to let the child go.
For the first time, Leo’s two hands clumsily but surely wrapped around Belinda’s back in an embrace.
“B-Belinda, please have a good day too.”
At the response from the child who didn’t even know how to receive affection, Belinda hugged Leo tightly once more.
It was slow but a big first step.
* * *
The Kingdom of Jenos, founded 700 years ago right after the Bongma War, belonged to the Council of Five Nations organized to maintain peace on the continent.
Therefore, it was a non-aggression nation that was neither allowed to invade other countries nor be invaded, but thanks to this, the kingdom had enjoyed peace without experiencing even a single war since its founding.
Except for Baluashten Territory in the north, called humanity’s gatekeeper.
I clicked my tongue while looking at the vast Baluashten Territory marked on the map, occupying a quarter of the kingdom.
‘They say it’s a trip to enjoy winter, but there’s no need to go all the way to the north.’
I boldly deleted the north from my list of travel destination candidates.
Then my gaze wandered busily across the map in search of a suitable winter travel destination.
Although Leo’s stress levels were in the stable range, considering what happened last time, I was planning about a month-long winter trip to broaden the child’s horizons.
The Royal Capital wasn’t a region with much snow, so Leo said he had never seen snowy landscapes covered in snow.
So I was looking for a region with beautiful snow scenery if possible, but I couldn’t find any travel destinations that caught my eye.
I was wondering whether to give up on seeing snow and go to the warm south instead, when I was checking my remaining inheritance.
“…?”
Something was strange about my vault balance.
‘Did that bastard Schubel embezzle my money?’
Thinking he couldn’t possibly be that petty, I immediately checked the expense receipts from that period, only to confirm the bitter result that I was that very thief.
‘But it was spending without regrets.’
Besides, there are plenty of ways to make money.
I have information about the future, capital to invest anywhere, and even fairy luck!
I was graciously forgiving that thief’s crimes.
“Belinda, I’ve finally… completed it!”
Vivian, who had rushed into the study, respectfully presented something placed on a velvet cushion to me.
A completely black body.
Complex magic circles wrapped around the handle and barrel like vines.
And even delicate gold decorations added to it.
It was closer to a work of craftsmanship than a gun.
I carefully held Vivian’s creation.
It had considerable weight but wasn’t too heavy to hold with one hand, and above all, I liked how it fit perfectly in my grip.
“You’re skilled at holding a pistol.”
Terry, who had quickly run over as a spectator, spoke up.
Well, I’ve seen it countless times in movies and dramas, so striking a pose with it isn’t particularly difficult.
The problem is shooting skills, but there wasn’t a suitable place to practice right now.
I examined the gun from various angles and even pulled the trigger, then nodded with satisfaction.
“I should give you compensation.”
I took out a contract I had prepared for Vivian from the drawer.
I showed it to Vivian and pointed to the signature line.
“Sign here.”
She took out a spell pen from her pocket without complaint and signed the contract.
“Vivian.”
“Yes?”
I called Vivian with a deep sigh, but she just blinked as if she didn’t know what was wrong.
“Why did you sign as I told you to?”
“Well, because you told me to sign….”
Vivian mumbled, then belatedly checked what she was holding in her hand and nodded.
“Ah, I shouldn’t sign contracts with a spell pen.”
“….”
“Um… is my signature too crude?”
“….”
“Or maybe… I should use high-quality ink when signing contracts?”
“….”
At the series of wrong answers, I tapped the contract clauses with my neatly trimmed nails and gave her the correct answer.
“Why did you sign first without even checking the contract contents? I could have included toxic clauses to work you like a slave.”
I spoke more coldly than usual out of concern, but for some reason, instead of being discouraged, Vivian smiled brightly.
“That’s okay. If it’s you, Belinda, I’d be fine even if you exploited me!”
“…!”
Oh, human, human! After being treated like that by your trash mentor, you still haven’t come to your senses!
“Butler.”
“Yes.”
“Teach this incompetent house bug the bitter taste of the world.”
“Leave it to me. Now, now. Innocent little lamb who hasn’t been touched by any worldly grime, shall we learn about the real world together?”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that, if it’s Belinda, I trust anything….”
“Yes, yes. Please make your excuses to me.”
Vivian tried desperately to say something, but ended up being dragged away.
After hearing Terry’s crash course on fraudulent contracts that run rampant in back alleys, that kid won’t carelessly sign contracts without knowing how scary the world is anymore.
I carefully stored away the contract that Vivian had finished signing, then shifted my gaze to the newly acquired weapon.
It would be good to practice shooting whenever I had time, even if just to prepare for dangerous situations that might arise later.
However, I wondered how much help practicing with stationary targets would actually be.
‘Isn’t there somewhere suitable with manageable low-level monsters roaming around?’
As I pondered this, the daytime moon outside the window suddenly caught my eye.
A pale crescent moon. The moment I saw it, something flashed through my mind.
“Ah!”
There was one! A place filled only with harmless and insignificant monsters!
Moreover, it was near a famous tourist attraction, making it perfect as a winter travel destination.
‘It might even help raise Leo’s stats.’
【Hirome】 was a god-tier game that allowed exploring dungeons and hunting monsters.
Monster hunting proceeded as a turn-based dot game where you and the enemy took turns attacking in a friendly alternating manner, and victory sometimes resulted in stat increases at certain probabilities.
I was calculating the day when the full moon would rise when I spotted a group of maids laughing cheerfully as they crossed the garden.
Come to think of it…
“I should deal with the little rats before leaving the manor.”
I muttered this absentmindedly, then was startled and touched my lips.
There was no one around, so the Belinda translator wasn’t activated.
Yet Belinda’s speech pattern had come out so naturally like this.
“So this is why they say habits are frightening.”
It seemed that from concentrating so hard on speaking like Belinda all this time, her speech pattern had become ingrained in my mouth.
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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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