How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 100

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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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How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 100

Luciano held up the flashlight.

The flashlight that the ghosts had possessed. The very same flashlight that had turned Yohael and his pursuit team members into stone statues.

“How…!”

Stella jumped up in surprise.

And with sparkling eyes, she stood close beside Luciano.

“How did you find it? Ah, if you turn it right it turns things to stone, and you have to turn it left to…”

Stella reached her hand toward Luciano’s hand that gripped the flashlight.

Just then.

“How about it?”

Yustea’s voice was heard.

Luciano and Stella’s gazes turned toward Yustea.

Stella’s fingertips were about to touch the back of Luciano’s hand.

Luciano asked.

“Can I cut this off?”

“Cut it off? …Prince Yohael? As I mentioned, if we say we lost Prince Yohael to save Prince Gaspard, we can’t claim to have made great contributions to this pursuit…”

“Not that, this.”

Luciano’s gaze turned to Stella’s hand.

Stella flinched.

Luciano lightly raised one eyebrow.

“Your half-sister has very bad hand habits.”

“…”

“Seeing how stupid she is, she probably has no brain either, so I’m thinking of maybe hitting her head too if possible.”

“…”

Yustea swallowed a sigh.

Stella hastily withdrew her hand. Her face turned bright red.

‘He didn’t come to see me.’

He had arranged to meet Yustea here. About that flashlight matter.

As Stella bit her lip, Yustea said.

“I don’t want to lose precious lunch time to commotion, so please do this after we escape from here if possible.”

Yustea placed her hand on the back of Yohael’s hand, who had become a stone statue.

“I can feel mana. Prince Yohael should be able to return to human form too.”

“Damn it.”

“I’m telling you we can’t abandon him and leave…”

“We can at least hope that we might already be too late.”

While the two were chatting quietly, Stella became like a sack of barley, just biting her lips tightly.

Soon another sound of footsteps was heard.

People had come running hurriedly.

It wasn’t just Yustea’s pursuit team members.

Humans who were already working in this castle. There were even members of Stella’s pursuit team.

Yustea’s pursuit team member said.

“We’ve examined the castle interior, but securing an escape route seems difficult.”

Yustea furrowed her brow.

“Why?”

“A cockatrice is guarding the front of the only bridge that leads from this castle to the outside.”

Cockatrice.

A monster that looked like a mixture of chicken and snake, capable of petrifying opponents.

“Did you judge it would be too much to defeat the cockatrice?”

“The cockatrice itself could be subjugated, but the battlefield is the problem.”

This was because the passage to approach the cockatrice was a rope suspension bridge.

If attacked by the cockatrice, there was a risk of the ropes breaking.

Confronting a monster on a suspension bridge when you can’t use healing, barriers, or magic?

It was tantamount to asking to be killed.

Yustea said to Luciano.

“Then there’s no choice.”

“Right.”

“Keep the flashlight safe. In case we need to use it.”

Stella’s face hardened.

Just as people were about to scatter in all directions.

Stella grabbed Yustea.

“You’re going to leave like this?”

“Yes.”

“Then what about Yohael?”

“We’ll have to leave him as he is.”

“What? How can you do that!”

Stella frowned and retorted sharply.

“Do you have any intention of undoing Yohael’s petrification?”

“…”

“You’re not planning to leave Yohael like this because he’d interfere with pursuing the Restoration Council, are you?”

“…”

“If so, I’ll report you to the Imperial Palace. I’ll tell them that you ignored a prince for personal glory even though you could have saved him…!”

Stella roughly grabbed Yustea’s wrist.

She applied so much force that a dull pain could be felt in the wrist.

Yustea stared quietly at her reddened wrist.

And in an instant…

“Kyah!”

She twisted Stella’s arm and pinned her down against the railing.

Yustea, putting her weight on Stella’s back, said quietly.

“First, I’m not planning to leave Yohael like this because he’d be a hindrance.”

“Ugh…”

It was Yustea who had originally told the ghost head maid to leave Yohael in this place.

Unlike the other four team members, Yohael was in a place they didn’t know about.

Besides, this place has many passages, making it easy to escape after undoing the petrification.

“Second, we shouldn’t undo Yohael’s petrification unless an escape route is secured.”

“Let… go…!”

If Yohael disappeared, the ghosts would suspect the humans first.

Unless you have the means to deal with ghosts, you shouldn’t provoke them.

Having finished explaining the reasons, Yustea spat out her last words as if chewing them.

“Third, if you act up one more time, you die.”

“…!”

Yustea released Stella as if throwing her to the floor.

Luciano chuckled.

“I didn’t know you had that side to you.”

“Don’t tease me.”

“Are you going to kill me too? That might not be bad?”

“Really…”

When Yustea wrinkled her nose bridge, Luciano laughed heartily.

“You’re not making that expression thinking it would be scary, are you?”

“…Let’s go.”

As Yustea swiftly left, Luciano followed behind her.

Stella, sprawled on the floor, looked at Yustea with trembling eyes.

Her throat felt like it was burning up with humiliation.

‘Why… how on earth…’

She had never imagined losing to Yustea in physical combat, archery aside.

Yustea at the Andres Estate had been so pale she looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Unless it was external events or Academy matters, she was always holed up in her room.

In contrast, she herself enjoyed horseback riding and fencing as hobbies.

She had always built up her stamina by going out with friends.

She wasn’t the only one surprised.

Chris, who was a member of Stella’s Pursuit Team and formerly Yustea’s guard, also looked at her with trembling eyes.

“How…?”

Yustea was called the living corpse of Andres.

Originally, she had been frail and pitifully submissive.

So much so that one would doubt whether she could stand up to anyone.

She was also remarkably quiet.

While working as Yustea’s guard, he had exchanged words with her less than twenty times.

Though she spoke well in public, he thought it was just parroting what she had learned.

He had been drawn to Stella for that very reason.

Unlike Yustea who seemed to have no vitality whatsoever, Stella was bright, energetic, and human like a blazing sun.

The other people also laughed.

“Seems she’s not just good at flattery.”

“She definitely looks like she’ll help us.”

Stella clenched her fists tightly.

A conversation she had with GM in the past came to mind.

[GM: You need to watch Yustea carefully.]

“Ah, right. Sister is a bit unreliable. That’s why I’m trying to be good to her too. I want us to become a harmonious family.”

[GM: That’s foolish talk.]

“…Huh?”

[GM: Yustea is a seed.]

[GM: She’s quiet now, but given good soil, sunlight, and water, she’ll sprout at any time.]

GM had highly evaluated Yustea’s potential.

At the time, Stella had found this puzzling.

Of course, Yustea was a capable person.

She studied very well and somehow led any given task to success.

But she wondered if that was really so impressive.

Anyone could achieve what Yustea did if they tried as hard as she did.

She was desperate, as if she would fall off a cliff if she made even one mistake.

However, GM had said:

[GM: That’s exactly Yustea’s natural talent.]

[GM: The fact that there’s no limit to her effort.]

[GM: It seems like everyone could do it, but actually, that’s very difficult.]

Stella clenched her fists.

‘I see, GM.’

Though she didn’t want to admit it, she knew for certain.

I’m losing.

And GM had said:

[GM: Your strength is knowing how to adapt.]

[GM: Once you adapt, you read situations very well. And you make crucial moments your own.]

‘I’m weaker than Yustea.’

It’s Yustea who can come up with wise answers.

So I’ll watch Yustea and follow her lead.

Just like I made GM’s answers my own.

* * *

Dawn.

“How should I handle this, Yustea?”

“…What?”

“This toy. The Ghost Girl likes it. I thought it would be good if I could make it clean.”

Stella’s attitude had changed.

She asked me questions and acted docilely.

Even the people working together at the sink found it strange.

Stella didn’t show any pride at all.

“Now that I think about it, when you work, you consider two or three more things than other people.”

“…”

“When told to wash dishes, you didn’t just do that, but thought about how to cleanly remove rust.”

“…”

“You didn’t just wipe windows either, but came up with ways to clean them more thoroughly.”

“…”

“So I thought about it too. How can I make this toy more enjoyable for the Ghost Girl to play with?”

Stella asked me with sparkling eyes.

The unit members looked dumbfounded.

“Why is she acting like that?”

“Who knows.”

“She’s asking our Young Lady about that? Without any shame?”

Stella looked at me.

“Oh, sorry if I interrupted your work.”

Then she scurried over to another ghost and asked:

“So I want to make the doll’s hair part cleaner.”

[Something this faded is difficult with just washing, dear.]

“Then what if I remove the head part and replace the thread used for the hair inside?”

[Oh my, that’s a good idea.]

“Yustea told me that. Since it was hard to remove rust from the doorknob, she detached just the latch part and attached a new one.”

[A colleague who sets an example is precious. Hohoho, a child who works hard without being prideful is adorable. Would you like some cookies?]

“Thank you! If you’re giving them, could you put them in a handkerchief? If I break them into small pieces and eat them when I’m sad, it’ll be a great help!”

[You’re shameless but not hateful, so you pass!]

The ghost maid laughed heartily and floated up some cookies, wrapping them in a handkerchief.

Stella ran back to me.

“Here.”

“…What?”

“You didn’t eat the chocolate you got from the Head Maid and hid it instead, right? For emergencies. Keep this too.”

“…This will spoil quickly, so that’s impossible.”

“Ah, really? Okay. I’ll remember that. Thanks for telling me.”

Then she broke the cookies and showed them to people.

“Then let’s share them. Oh, I’m not trying to act nice.”

It was certain.

Stella had changed her attitude.

And she was copying me while doing it…

“Listen. I’m not trying to act nice, but we need to be well-fed to explore properly too.”

She copied exactly what I had said during meals.

One of the unit members asked:

“Why is he acting like that?”

“Who knows. But it did make things easier.”

It was better than when Stella would obstruct everything and whine asking for explanations.

Instead, she was honest,

“I’m lacking compared to you. So I might not understand your explanations well.”

“…So?”

“Sorry, but please explain in more detail. Then I’ll do my best too.”

—Her eyes sparkled like that.

Then, Luciano approached.

“The thing called Young Master has returned home.”

“…!”

“…?!”

Everyone except me and Stella’s pursuit team members froze.

‘Come to think of it, they said there’s a Young Master in this castle besides the Young Lady.’

The Head Maid said she would have us serve both the Young Lady and Young Master.

I asked the frozen man.

“Why are you like that?”

“Young Master… Young Master is different from the Young Lady….”

“What?”

“The Young Lady only ‘plays’ when she bursts into tears, but Young Master… people….”

“People?”

“He eats people.”

What?

Stella, the pursuit team members, and I flinched.

The man trembled and shouted.

“Everything about Young Master is dangerous. The dove is also Young Master’s subordinate.”

The dove….

Come to think of it, when I first saw Stella in this castle, she was being attacked by a dove.

She said the dove turned Yohaël into a statue.

“He’s a Mad Scientist.”

“What?”

“The flashlight was also made by him.”

That’s when it happened.

Wheeeet—!

A whistle sound was heard.

This was the signal the Head Maid sent to the employees and people.

A signal to gather immediately.

We stopped what we were doing and headed straight to the courtyard.

Then we lined up behind the ghosts and bowed our heads.

The door opened.

Above our heads, thud, thud, the sound of shoe steps fell like blades.

It was truly an amazing sense of intimidation.

A murderous feeling we could sense without even seeing his face.

[There are many new things.]

The man’s voice was very beautiful.

The Head Maid laughed “Uhuhu” and said.

[People that Young Master would like have arrived.]

[I see.]

The Head Maid said.

[Raise your heads.]

We slowly raised our heads.

And what we saw was….

“You!”

“Huh?”

Stella and I gasped loudly.

Because it was someone we knew!

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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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