Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 87

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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 87

After hearing his continued story, I was shocked as if I had been struck in the head.

“A demon is sealed in the mountain?”

“Judging by the damage pattern on the mountain, it’s likely a large fire-attribute demon. Saint’s remains often contain divinity within themselves, so tombs sometimes serve as seals like this.”

“But now that seal is about to break.”

“Yes, the seal could break as early as tomorrow, and the aftermath could affect the village.”

The aftermath of a broken seal.

Those words struck my mind like lightning.

‘Ah, this is it.’

This must be the cause of the landslide. Finally, the future I knew seemed to be taking shape.

‘But why did the seal suddenly weaken?’

The saint’s remains weren’t damaged, so it was strange that a seal that had been fine all along suddenly weakened.

However, I could soon guess the reason without much difficulty.

Not long ago, hadn’t a major incident occurred at the temple? The theft of a sacred relic, no less.

The sacred relic must have been serving as part of the seal.

‘Wait. If the original future was that the seal breaks due to the stolen sacred relic, how was the awakened demon dealt with?’

The information I knew only mentioned a landslide, not that a demon had devastated the village.

That means someone defeated the large demon before rumors could spread.

Someone with such ability in this remote village…

‘There is one, Giuseppe.’

Giuseppe Aria Sernandel.

He was the former Knight Commander of the Holy Knights and one of the four Cardinals who ruled the Holy Empire, each responsible for law, military force, capital, and doctrine—he was the one who protected the empire through military might.

Such a person would somehow manage to defeat a large demon, but he couldn’t prevent the village from suffering damage in the process.

Finally, I could see a way to overcome the crisis at hand.

I had to immediately find the culprit who stole the sacred relic and return it to its original location to prevent the seal from breaking.

After carefully assessing the situation and making plans, I soon came to a decision.

‘I’ll have to bear enormous high risk, but this is the only way to prevent the landslide.’

That night, I quietly visited the temple where Giuseppe was staying.

* * *

No one could know from whose mouth the rumor had started.

But that rumor turned Porbett Village completely upside down like a drop of water splashed into boiling oil.

“Did you hear? The thief who stole the sacred relic this time is supposedly a noble from outside?”

“What are you trying to do! Running your mouth carelessly without knowing how scary nobles are.”

“No, listen. It’s a rumor with basis. Actually, that noble is apparently a very famous scoundrel in the Royal Capital. You must have heard of the Blanche family, right?”

Of course they had heard of it. Wasn’t the Blanche family the wealthiest family in the country?

“She’s the young lady of that Blanche family, and she’s famous for getting whatever she wants by any means necessary. This time the noble set her sights on the sacred relic, but no matter how noble she is, could she dare privately own a sacred relic? So she just went swish.”

“Swish?”

The man who was the village’s source of news concluded his words while mimicking stealing something and putting it in his inner pocket.

“She stole it.”

In truth, if you examined it piece by piece, it was an absurd story.

But due to the lockdown order, people’s dissatisfaction accumulated day by day, and they needed someone to blame or hold responsible for this situation.

In that sense, Belinda Blanche was easy prey to chew on.

Moreover, her past that spread through rumors was so colorful that even if all the villagers talked about her all day long, they never ran out of things to say.

Finally, when the marquess staying in the village subtly added his testimony about her, people’s dissatisfaction blazed up like fire on dry kindling.

“A truly terrifying woman. She dared to shout in front of me that she could buy this entire village if it meant claiming the sacred relic. Good heavens.”

And Belinda’s subsequent actions, like a drop of rainwater overflowing a dam, caused people’s dissatisfaction to burst forth openly.

“Did you hear? The inn where that noble was staying! That woman apparently caused a huge commotion, kicking out all the guests at the inn and demanding to use all the rooms by herself.”

“Oh my, oh my. What about Peter? He suddenly lost all his customers.”

“Ah, Peter’s fine. That woman generously paid for all the rooms.”

“That’s actually good…? No, I mean, well, right! What about the guests who were kicked out? They must be people who came from far away to visit the shrine, and now they have nowhere to stay.”

“That’s why I’m asking, do you have a spare room at your house?”

Thus, news of her misdeeds came several times a day, and it reached its peak that evening.

“Priest Mellio, don’t my words make sense?”

Belinda appeared before Priest Mellio, who had been practically living in the village square to calm people’s anxieties.

Armed with hunting clothes and a pistol, she emanated a terrifying aura like a lioness out hunting.

“Pardon? I don’t understand what you mean…”

“I went back and forth to the temple several times looking for you, but you were absent every time. Yet instead of coming to find me, you’re here stretching out your legs comfortably and lounging around.”

“I didn’t know you had come looking for me…”

“How can a priest be so shameless? If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to lift my face from the guilt of failing to protect the sacred relic, but you certainly have thick skin.”

Everyone in the square heard those words.

To them, Belinda was the thief who stole the sacred relic.

So when that thief sarcastically asked the owner why he couldn’t protect the precious item, it was natural for indignation to surge.

But the opponent was a high-ranking noble. Their reality was that they couldn’t dare voice a single complaint against her.

Moreover, didn’t she have a terrifying-looking guard knight by her side?

Therefore, the villagers could only swallow their indignation and glare at Belinda with hostile eyes as she said her piece and turned away.

Then, someone rolled a small stone toward Belinda. It was a very timid but brave act of defiance.

Belinda glanced down at the pebble that had rolled to her shoes, then sneered and muttered.

“How pathetic.”

Finally, those words threw a spark onto kindling soaked with oil.

“You thief! Return our village’s sacred relic!”

“Apologize to Priest Mellio! Do you know how hard the priest works for our village!”

Belinda walked forward confidently and elegantly, looking only ahead without pretending to hear the outcry pouring from the villagers.

When people’s resentment reached its peak at that sight, and Cesar prepared for any potential physical threats, it happened.

“P-please don’t!”

A young voice pierced through the people’s outcry and rang out.

People’s gazes turned to the boy who was gripping Belinda’s collar tightly and shouting with all his might.

“Lady Belinda just… just has a somewhat unfortunate way of speaking!”

Leo’s voice echoed several times in the quieted square.

The child, with tears welling up in his eyes, blushed under people’s gazes but didn’t stop his defense.

“Sh-she visited the temple several times to meet Priest Mellio, but when she couldn’t meet him each time, she spoke that way out of disappointment. And since Priest Mellio doesn’t sleep properly and only stays in the square, she meant it would be good to rest at the temple, mmph.”

Belinda covered Leo’s mouth as he earnestly defended his master.

“How impudent.”

She continued to cover the child’s mouth and drag him away while muttering fiercely.

“For the crime of speaking out of turn, when we get back I’ll twist and wring your entire body until you can’t breathe.”

“Mmph, mmph mmph mmph…!”

“Shut your mouth.”

“My goodness, how can she be so cruel!”

People were appalled by Belinda’s cruelty, showing no mercy even to her only ally, but they didn’t know.

The fact that Leo was held in Belinda’s arms for so long that his face turned red at the inn that day.

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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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