Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 97

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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 97

 

Chapter 11

 

The Royal Capital, which I returned to after a long time, was as bustling as ever.

 

Aside from the fact that a month had passed, not much had changed, yet things I hadn’t noticed before began to catch my eye one by one.

 

For example, the clock tower hands in the town square had been newly cast six years ago.

 

Among the five branching paths from Gold Street, the second road was the oldest.

 

Like this, the common knowledge and experience gained through Belinda’s third memory fragment added new information.

 

Of course, regardless of my perception, there were things that had genuinely changed.

 

“Hey there, no cutting in line!”

 

“Don’t fight and get in line!”

 

“I’ve never heard of this mage before – are these products really safe?”

 

“They’re certified by the Magic Tower, so surely there won’t be any problems?”

 

Sellit Street, where high-end clothing stores lined up in a row.

 

The workshop across from Bluebird Clothing Store at the very end was packed with people like a mountain of humanity.

 

Before I could even unpack from my trip, Terry dragged me out to the street where I discovered Vivian’s shop enjoying a boom and my mouth fell open.

 

Currently, the only product Vivian could sell at her workshop was ‘Cecil’s Lullaby.’ Yet so many people had flocked here.

 

Moreover, hadn’t the manufacturing method for ‘Cecil’s Lullaby’ already spread throughout the slums?

 

“Nothing beats the original, you know. Besides, anyone with half a brain wouldn’t want to mess with manufacturing methods floating around the slums, right? Even if it’s a product made with the same recipe, it looks suspicious somehow.”

 

Indeed. So that’s why so many people flocked to Vivian’s workshop.

 

This must be how it feels when stocks you invested in after spotting their potential early hit it big.

 

I nodded with a pleased heart and looked around for the protagonist of all this buzz.

 

“Where’s Vivian?”

 

“She’s on the second floor of the workshop.”

 

Following where Terry’s finger pointed, I could see orange hair peeking out from the second-floor window like in a wartime situation, observing the outside situation.

 

When I went up to the workshop’s second floor to meet her, Vivian, who belatedly noticed me, screamed as if gasping for breath and ran over.

 

“Be, Be, Be, Be, Belinda! I heard you returned! But I couldn’t leave the shop right now…”

 

Vivian’s hairstyle as she spoke was a bit different from usual.

 

They say you can tell her confidence by looking at her hair, and today she had her twin tails tied up high.

 

“Be, Belinda, would you like to look around inside the shop?”

 

Vivian bounced around busily like a hopping rabbit, explaining various places to me in detail.

 

Unlike when I first bought and sold this shop, Vivian’s touch was evident everywhere in the store.

 

I could tell how carefully she had tended to and cleaned this place.

 

Finally finishing the shop tour, Vivian added awkwardly.

 

“Oh, of, of, of course, everything was given by you, Belinda.”

 

“Did I give you charity? We made a deal and exchanged payment for it.”

 

I asked casually, riding this momentum.

 

“So, how is my potion coming along?”

 

About two months remained until the start of 【Hirome】.

 

It wouldn’t be strange to hear news that the ‘Spring of All Things’ was completed soon.

 

But somehow, no answer came back from Vivian.

 

When I glanced back, the twin tails that had been tied up high had somehow drooped down and were dangling by her ears.

 

“…?”

 

Vivian answered with a more deflated expression than before.

 

“Well… it’s almost complete, but… there’s one problem.”

 

“A problem?”

 

“…Would you like to see it directly?”

 

Vivian led me to the research room on the second floor and pointed to a small cauldron hanging over the fireplace.

 

“This is the prototype of the healing potion.”

 

Inside the pitch-black cauldron, liquid that sparkled like melted silver was gently boiling.

 

It looked like something that would kill you from mercury poisoning with just one sip, identical to the ‘Spring of All Things’ I’d seen in 【Hirome】.

 

“The potion itself is completed. But…”

 

Vivian scooped the potion and transferred it to a palm-sized bowl.

 

Soon after, the potion’s surface cooled and became sticky, then solidified so hard that it wouldn’t flow even when the bowl was turned upside down.

 

“When it cools, it hardens like this, and no matter how much heat is applied, it won’t return to liquid form.”

 

Vivian sighed and tossed the thing that had hardened like stone along with the bowl to one side.

 

Clang.

 

The mountain of bowls piled up on one side showed how many trials and errors Vivian had gone through.

 

If it hardened when removed from fire, it would be impossible to carry the potion around.

 

‘What exactly is the problem?’

 

I compared what was bubbling in the iron cauldron with the ‘Spring of All Things’ in my memory.

 

The only difference was that the prototype before my eyes was bubbling in an iron cauldron, while the finished product was contained in an extremely luxurious and ornate crystal bottle.

 

Yes, if there was a difference, it was only the crystal bottle…

 

I spoke the thought that suddenly occurred to me without hesitation.

 

“What if you work on the storage method?”

 

“Storage method…?”

 

Vivian, who had been stirring the cauldron gloomily with her twin tails hanging down low, turned her head toward me.

 

“For instance, storing it in a bottle that can maintain the proper temperature.”

 

I spoke casually while thinking of something like a thermos, but suddenly sparks flew from Vivian’s eyes.

 

“Such… such a revolutionary method!”

 

Vivian hurriedly grabbed a quill and began writing something non-stop.

 

“Right, that’s much more efficient than changing the medicine’s properties. Ah, why didn’t I think of this? So first, a fire magic circle on the magic stone…”

 

Before I knew it, Vivian’s twin tails had risen back up to the top of her head.

 

It seemed the day when I’d have the completed ‘Spring of All Things’ in my hands wasn’t far off.

 

* * *

 

Mary was the one who welcomed Belinda’s return more than anyone.

 

Upon hearing that Belinda was looking for her, she ran to her young mistress’s room without even noticing that one of her shoes had come off.

 

“Ah, Miss!”

 

Mary bowed before her, almost with tears glistening in her eyes.

 

As soon as she saw Belinda’s face, the hardships of the past month flashed through her mind. Now the suffering was over.

 

‘Now that Miss has returned, those people surely won’t be able to do anything to me.’

 

However, Mary’s heart, which had been filled with hope, burst and disappeared with one sharp remark from Belinda.

 

“What an unseemly appearance. Moreover, the annex was in a terrible state. Mary, truly disappointing.”

 

“No, no, Miss! I was just organizing the annex by myself…”

 

“Alone? I clearly told you to manage the servants well. Why are you saying you organized the annex by yourself?”

 

Ah, this isn’t right. Cold sweat flowed down her bowed neck.

 

During the month Belinda was away from the annex, the reason Mary could persevere despite being ignored by her colleagues was because she expected to be compensated for all this suffering when the manor’s owner returned.

 

Because of that, she had forgotten.

 

That her master was none other than Belinda Blanche.

 

“It seems the position of manager was beyond your capabilities. Seeing that you couldn’t properly manage even one annex.”

 

No. It can’t end like this!

 

Mary immediately knelt down and bowed her head.

 

While Belinda was away from the manor, naturally she hadn’t received any significant information fees from Schubel.

 

Furthermore, her colleagues’ harassment had grown increasingly severe, and if Belinda cast her out like this, she would lose everything.

 

“Miss! If you just give me any task, I will definitely accomplish it! Please give me just one more chance!”

 

When she pleaded desperately, Belinda spoke in a much gentler voice than before.

 

“Mary, you know well that I’m not such a generous master. But yes, I’ll give you a special final chance.”

 

“Ah…!”

 

“Find out about Schubel.”

 

“Yes, yes?”

 

Mary unconsciously raised her head to look at Belinda, only to discover the cold sneer on her face.

 

She hurriedly bowed her head again, but had already seen that chilling smile that made her knees weak. Mary’s clasped hands trembled violently.

 

“Anything will do. What that bastard ate that day, how he felt, where he went – just tell me whatever you know.”

 

Click.

 

Belinda’s bright red shoes approached right in front of Mary.

 

A neatly manicured fingertip lifted Mary’s chin.

 

“Can you do it?”

 

At that moment, Mary’s mind raced quickly.

 

“Yes, yes! I’ll do it! I can do it!”

 

She had clearly realized who was holding her lifeline.

 

“This is an advance payment. You’re a quick-witted child, so you’ll know well how to use it.”

 

Clang. A bracelet made of large pearls was thrown in front of the kneeling Mary. The lustrous sheen flowing over the milky gems made it look extremely expensive at first glance.

 

“You’d better think carefully about who’s protecting you right now.”

 

“Yes, I’ll engrave it deep in my heart.”

 

Only after making that pledge of loyalty was Mary able to leave Belinda’s room.

 

Finally, Mary had become a double agent according to Belinda’s plan.

 

But Belinda knew well that a child like Mary wasn’t an employee worth keeping close.

 

She would be loyal to her now because her life was hanging by a thread, but once she became comfortable, she would soon compare which rope would be more beneficial to her.

 

So there was only one thing Mary needed to do.

 

Deliver the information she wanted to Schubel when she wanted it.

 

That alone made Mary worth keeping around.

 

‘Well, her hair-stroking skills are quite excellent too.’

 

Click, Belinda quietly watched Mary approach her fellow maid, then suddenly asked Terry who was standing guard nearby.

 

“Terry, when will your debt of gratitude end?”

 

“That depends on how roughly Master treats me. The less you work me, the longer I’ll stay by Master’s side.”

 

Belinda let out a hollow laugh at the cheeky answer and continued.

 

“Find out more details about Schubel Blanche than you know now. Not just his weaknesses, but everything he’s held in his hands, put in his mouth, and worn on his body from birth until now – I need to know it all.”

 

“Have you ever once thought that everything you so naturally hold in your hands, put in your mouth, and wear on your body is something others would sell their souls to obtain?”

 

Schubel probably never dared imagine how his own words would come full circle to stab him in the back.

 

“May I ask how you plan to use this information?”

 

“…I’ll let you know when the time comes.”

 

She answered that way because even she hadn’t made up her mind yet.

 

The dilemma she had been harboring ever since obtaining the third memory fragment.

 

Once she obtained the final memory fragment, she would be able to decide whether to execute that plan or not.

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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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