Adopting the Male Protagonist Changed the Genre - Chapter 35
“Are you here to adopt a child?”
The director approached me excitedly, while rubbing his hands together.
“Are you the director of this place?”
“Yes, yes! We take care of those children who have nowhere else to go…..”
“I’m not interested in that. The education system here is a total mess. Someone who can’t even manage their own child is running an orphanage. I am suspicious that you are mainly trying to do this to evade tax. I’ll send an administrative officer soon, so be prepared for it.”
“What does tax evasion have to do with the children’s education……. No, more importantly, an administrative officer? My La-Lady!”
Ignoring the director’s outcry, I left the orphanage.
Terry, who had been guarding the door all along, looked at me who was returning faster than expected and asked me with confusion,
“Have you found Sir Penadel?
“No……But, did you see that person who went out just now?”
“No one came out while I was waiting for you master.”
I let out a bitter laugh, as if finding it ridiculous.
“Ha. So that’s how it is.”
I squinted my eyes and mumbled as if I was feeling sorry.
“I knew he lacked awareness, but…”
I can’t believe he really thought I wouldn’t notice him.
‘Even if he did headstand ten times and still pretended not to be noticed, yet I would recognize Sir Penadel.’
I played along with him, assuming that there might have been some sort of situation.
But judging by the way he avoided Terry; he must have been convinced that I didn’t recognize him.
As I followed Terry back to the carriage, I tried to think of a reason to convince myself but finally gave up and muttered,
“He looked really like my type.”
Returning to the manor that specific afternoon, Cedric’s face was as masked as ever.
He claimed to have dealt with all the remaining shadow crows in the capital, but he couldn’t meet my eyes as if he had committed a crime.
I wanted to ask him about, why a knight who had spent his entire life in the north would be searching for a child in this part of the kingdom, and if there was anything I could do to help him with, I would gladly do so.
But I learnt from him that sometimes it was more respectful not to ask someone about their private matters.
So, I pretended not to know that I had seen him in the orphanage that day, I was really satisfied with the fact that I had seen the true color of his eyes, which was hidden by the shade of his mask.
Chapter 7
Understand the reason for all the things happening around you and conquer their principles.
As if proving that arrogant ideology, the top of the gray tower soared endlessly towards the sky, as if challenging the gods.
I stared up at the cloud-piercing tower in awe and narrowed my eyes.
‘Wait, isn´t there’s something wrong with this?’
If the tower is this high, it should be visible from anywhere in the kingdom and when viewed from a distance, the impression should be more like, ‘It’s quite tall from this area.’
My doubts were dispelled by Vivian, who had been showing signs of restlessness from earlier.
Pulling her hood down to hide her nervousness, she whispered in my ear.
“From after the 20th floor, they have used the illusion magic.”
Ah, so that explains it.
Nodding at the magicians’ pretension, I took the lead and entered the mage tower ahead of Vivian.
I didn’t want to appear uncultured, but my head couldn’t help but turn around continuously towards various directions.
Surprisingly, the interior of the tower had no visible floors, and the vast ceiling of the top floor was completely exposed.
Strangely, the inside walls, subtly glowing like the Milky Way in the night sky, revealed a framework of spiral-shaped stairs with variously colored doors hanging around like frames near the stairs.
Magicians entering and leaving through those doors were accompanied by magically created translucent creatures which were carrying envelopes, darting around in a seemingly random manner.
Indeed, it could be considered the epitome of the magical culture that the Magical Republic had devotedly created.
Alchemy, which smelled of engineering students, didn’t interest me much, but the word “magic” stimulated a corner of my curiosity and romanticism.
‘Come to think of it, does Belinda have magical power?’
If she did then I’d like to learn how to use it for my own benefit.
As I rolled my eyes and scanned the inside of the tower, my brows narrowed in disbelief.
The tower looked as if it had been faithfully established from <Hirome’s> illustration.
I can’t figure it out, but the actual tower felt strangely more expensive than those illustrations.
My sense of dislocation was heightened when I came upon the front desk, which was lavishly and luxuriously decorated like a five-star hotel.
“What’s that painting about?”
I pointed towards the giant painting which was used as a decoration item on the wall behind the front desk.
It was some sort of heroic depiction of a young man holding a magic staff against a horde of demons, a painting I hadn’t seen when I was playing in Hirome.
“It’s a painting displayed to honor the achievements of the Tower Lord. The number of monsters may be slightly exaggerated, though.”
‘Was the master of the tower really this narcissistic?’
I had never seen the face of the Tower Lord while collecting numerous <Hirome> endings, so finding out about him like this was a bit disappointing.
But for me I guess, it worked out well.
After contemplating on the thought, whether to avoid the Tower Lord, who was one of the benefactors, whose face I did not know, I considered commissioning a rat who would help me out.
After engraving the friendly face of the Tower Lord from the painting into my memory for a while, I approached the magician who was guarding the front desk.
“Welcome to the Grey Tower, a branch of the Kingdom of Genos. How may I assist you?”
I set my heavy silk pouch down with a loud thud in front of the employee with a flawless smile.
Then I spoke while raising my voice slightly so that the mages around me could hear me properly.
“A competent, ethical, and popular magician of 3rd rank or higher. Oh, and it would be nice if they had some discretion.”
With a casual gesture, I untied the loosely tied knot on the pouch, and a dazzling light spilled out as the cascade of gold coins poured out from it.
For a moment, it felt like everyone in the tower was staring at me.
I fanned the money slowly, as if I were trying to emit the scent of it and continued my speech.
“I’m looking forward to hire a magician who meets all my conditions as I have mentioned for a private tutor. Would this amount be sufficient as an advance payment?”
* * * *
A magic tower is a branch of the Republic of Magic, built solely with the motive of elevating the geographical, academic and economic importance.
It was the same way with that of the Holy Empire who builds temples in countries that believe in their doctrines, so too do they build towers in countries that seek the practicalities of magic rather than religion to gain diplomatic benefits from magic.
However, the Tower is primarily an advanced educational institution dedicated to magical research.
Unlike magic users affiliated with mercenary guilds specializing only in offensive magic, the magicians from the Tower are well-versed in foundational magic. This made them perfect tutors for Leo.
Besides, even if the Tower did provide financial support for its mages, research is a capital-intensive endeavor.
In short, the average mage in a Magic Tower is…
‘Like a Graduate student who is always short of money.’
Their economic activities, even when permitted, were limited to a part-time jobs through the Tower’s directly managed magician dispatch service.
I nodded, gazing approvingly at the mages lined up in a circle as if for a job interview.
‘I guess one of them will be useful?’
With eager anticipation, I sat cross-legged and conducted interviews, carefully considering each candidate.
“Shout for help.”
“P-please help me.”
“Hmm, seems like nobody is rushing to save you.”
Lack of charisma, disqualified.
“What are your thoughts about my Ratchet?”
“Excuse me? What kind of study is Ratchet?”
Rejected due to lack of insight.
“I… I… I… am the one you’re looking for…”
No sociability, disqualified.
“In my time, magic was something chosen only by a select few…”
Too old-fashioned, disqualified.
“After all, teaching magic to commoners should be forbidden…”
Personality issues, disqualified.
“Hello, I am…….”
Rejected because his face resembles a sprouting potato.
For various reasons, I personally delivered the bitter taste of rejection to every magician who applied. With a great dissatisfaction, I clenched my fist and voiced my complaints.
“Is there really no one who is talented in the Mage Tower?”
The staff at the front desk smiled, with a look on their face that said they had a lot to say but couldn’t say anything to me out of respect.
I know I’m being very picky, but I didn’t want to hire just anyone to be Leo’s magic teacher.
Today I was wondering if I should go back like this without any fruitful result.
“Hello dear customer. Are you interested in using our magician rental service?”
Someone stuck their head out in front of me and whispered those words softly.
Translator
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Muito esquisito essa história do ml estar procurando o Leo, mas ter desistido por ele ter sido aparentemente adotado… tipo ele nem foi ver se ele tinha uma boa família e simplesmente deixou pra lá (inclusivena história original pelo visto)?
Thanks for the update 🇧🇷 😸 🥰