How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 139
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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 139
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“Hello, Yustea. I came to win.”
“I’ve told you countless times not to talk in your sleep with your eyes open, Stella.”
Stella and I stood facing each other with swords drawn, glaring fiercely at one another.
My knights and Stella’s knights were likewise pointing their weapons at each other.
Stella’s eyebrows twitched.
“You always look down on me like that.”
“It’s advice.”
“Unwanted advice is meddling. And unwanted meddling is rude!”
Stella swung her sword at me.
Clang—!
A sharp friction sound rang out.
Abel’s barrier had protected me.
“Since you threw the first punch, this is the start now, right?”
A bright voice came from behind me.
It was Antonio.
Just as he was about to kick off the ground and charge forward, I thought.
‘Something’s strange.’
Why did only the Andres Family side come?
Stella’s Alliance has the largest force among this preliminary round’s participants.
But why did only Stella’s side come?
‘Did they anticipate our strategy of spreading contamination and deploying the nullification field?’
No, if that were the case, they shouldn’t have approached this close.
They would try to attack from a distance.
‘Could it be…’
I urgently shouted.
“Yuise!”
Then Yuise blocked Antonio’s path.
But Antonio was fast.
He reached his hand toward Stella.
“It wouldn’t do to attack a lady.”
Someone who had been waiting behind Stella instantly sprang out and blocked Antonio.
It was at that moment that the surroundings shook greatly.
‘An earthquake? No, this is…!’
Trees.
The trees were transforming.
In an instant, branches extended from the trees and bound Antonio.
“Gah!”
A rough groan burst from Antonio’s mouth as his throat was tightly strangled.
“That idiot.”
Yuise immediately placed his hand on the ground.
A magic circle rose around him, and character strings spread out.
The character strings undulating like tentacles cut through the tree branches like blades.
Thud!
The thick tree branch fell with a dull sound.
Only then did Antonio, finally freed, groan “Gah” while rubbing his throat.
Yuise shouted with an irritated voice.
“Charging in without even assessing the enemy’s strength?”
“If we just catch the captain, the game’s over. I thought it was a speed battle…”
Antonio grumbled dejectedly.
Strictly speaking, catching just the captain would be enough.
You might think it’s useless if the captain doesn’t have the flag, but that would be foolish thinking.
The captain is held by the family’s lady.
The knights are those who follow the family.
If the family’s lady is in danger, they would immediately surrender the flag.
In other words, this is similar to a chess game.
It was a match where capturing the king meant victory.
‘Capturing the king… means victory…?’
I flinched.
“Fall back! We need to run!”
My knights focused on me.
At that moment, Stella curled up the corners of her mouth.
Grroooow—!
A strange flow was felt from beneath the ground where we stood.
Black magic circles formed under the knights’ feet.
It wasn’t like Yuise’s magic circle that only had glowing edges.
This was like a black hole.
And this feeling was…
“It’s a portal!”
I shouted urgently, but it was useless.
My knights disappeared, swallowed by the portal, with panicked faces as their last expression.
Which meant I was left alone in this area.
Stella approached me.
“I told you I came to win, Yustea.”
Fighting without knights is impossible.
‘I don’t have a single offensive skill.’
Though called a Saint, I’m support-specialized.
The nullification field can only be used when knights are present.
Stella’s knights began approaching me.
I hesitantly stepped back.
“There’s no way out now, is there?”
Stella smiled brightly.
The knights were at a distance where they could catch me with just an outstretched hand.
I quietly sat down.
And threw down my sword.
At the clear meaning of surrender, Stella shrugged her shoulders.
And she pushed through between the knights to approach me.
Above my bowed head, I could hear the sound of Stella walking.
“It’s unfortunate that your dignity will be damaged. You’ve protected it like your life.”
Giggling laughter hung at the end of her words.
A shadow fell over my head.
Stella had reached out her hand to capture me.
At that moment.
Swish—!
I grabbed Stella’s wrist and pulled.
“Wh-what…!”
“I knew you’d come if I surrendered. You’d want to capture me with your own hands!”
I stood up and wrapped my arm around Stella’s neck.
Stella’s knights hesitated.
And I spoke to Stella’s knights.
“Step back if you don’t want to see necks breaking.”
“D-don’t be fooled! There’s no way someone would commit murder in a Family War!”
“You think so?”
“It’s all bluffing…!”
“I’m a villain, you know.”
Stella flinched and closed her mouth.
“I’ve looked over all the regulations of the Family War. There’s nothing saying murder isn’t allowed. Everyone just tacitly avoids killing because they think about public opinion.”
“You, you don’t mean…”
“And I’m the villain everyone thinks I am. Would my image plummet if I dealt with just one of you?”
“Yu, Yustea…!”
“A villain would just become a lower-quality villain, Stella.”
Stella’s face turned pale.
Stella’s knights couldn’t easily approach me either.
‘Well, they’re not real Andres knights anyway, so they probably wouldn’t care if Stella died.’
But every scene was being broadcast through the Mirror World.
They were pretending to be Andres knights.
If they acted indifferently during Stella’s crisis, there would be people who’d find it suspicious.
In other words, to avoid having their identities exposed…
‘They can’t move during Stella’s crisis.’
Stella’s body trembled finely.
“Wh-what about dignity? Are you going to abandon your honor?”
“I don’t care about my dignity at all. And my honor is…”
I pulled Stella close and picked up my sword.
“To repay Esgaroth, who trusted me and sent me to the Family War, with victory.”
* * *
Esgaroth Castle.
The cheering that had started when I caught Stella grew louder and louder.
[To repay Esgaroth, who trusted me and sent me to the Family War, with victory.]
And at these words, cheers erupted as if the castle would collapse.
“I thought the Young Lady would get caught.”
“Of course. Didn’t she even throw away her sword?”
“Even when cornered, she never gave up!”
Hahaha!
The vassals laughed loudly.
The excited Irregulars stuck their faces out and joined in.
“Our Young Lady has never given up, not once.”
“Ah, honestly, she’s more tenacious than guys who’ve lived their whole lives on battlefields.”
“In the test to select our Marquis’s adopted daughter, she left the soldiers behind and headed alone into enemy territory to disrupt the enemies.”
The vassals’ eyes lit up as they said “Ooh.”
“So she didn’t become an adopted daughter just because she’s of noble birth?”
Even the Clan Leader’s team members, who had been acting dignified, slipped in to say:
“Judging by those achievements and merits alone, it should be the Young Lady, not Lord Lorenzo, who becomes Cuaron’s vassal.”
The Clan Leader chuckled.
He looked around.
The atmosphere was different from before the Family War started.
She had faced crises twice right from the start.
Yet she never gave up.
Moreover…
[To repay Esgaroth with victory.]
Those words must have touched their hearts.
Even if they fought amongst themselves inside, they were all people of this family, based in Esgaroth.
Even the vassals of the Marquise’s faction were focusing on the Mirror World with trembling eyes.
“Wait, look over there!”
“Another alliance has appeared.”
“Is it Stella Andres’s alliance?”
“Then the Young Lady will face another crisis?”
“But why don’t they look frightened? Rather, the Young Lady is… smiling?”
[Give up now. They all came to save me!]
[Seeing me alone and you captured by me, do you think they’re on your side?]
[What…?]
“Huh? They’re attacking Stella Andres’s knights!”
It was just as the shouting vassal said.
The knights of Stella’s alliance targeted Andres’s knights.
[I allied with you to shake off me, who had the highest chance of winning. Now that I seem to have lost my knights, I don’t need you anymore.]
[…!]
“So capturing Stella Andres was…”
“She was waiting for a free-for-all to break out—!”
One noble from the Marquise’s faction jumped up and shouted.
The Clan Leader suppressed his laughter.
The Marquise looked flustered.
Even the nobles under her were frantically cheering for Yustea.
‘The atmosphere has changed.’
Was it just on our side?
The Clan Leader’s adjutant whispered.
“If she wins the preliminary round, even public opinion might change.”
“Right.”
“Magnificent.”
“Of course. Our Young Lady always is.”
The Clan Leader wore a satisfied smile.
The Clan Leader’s thoughts were correct.
In the Imperial Palace Colosseum, nobles were sweating with concentration on the Mirror World.
[I allied with you to shake off me, who had the highest chance of winning. Now that I seem to have lost my knights, I don’t need you anymore.]
“Waaah—!”
Young nobles let out exclamations.
“Right, now that I think about it, that makes sense.”
“If Esgaroth’s elimination was certain, then Andres would be next.”
“Right, it’s a chance to eliminate troublesome ones in the preliminaries!”
The situation kept changing.
Most Family Wars made it difficult to break the initial flow.
Usually, people would attach themselves to the strong to form alliances.
Before overwhelming power, opponents fell like autumn leaves in the wind.
But reversing the situation every time she faced a crisis—there was no greater thrill.
Even the old nobles swallowed their saliva and focused on the Mirror World.
“So just how is she planning to escape?”
Even Former Marquis Nevarro gripped the railing and leaned forward to watch the Mirror World.
Marquis Esgaroth and Aslan were the same.
The royals also concentrated on the Mirror World without blinking once.
“But that sword’s shape is peculiar.”
The Emperor muttered with an intrigued expression.
“Is that Esgaroth’s treasure?”
Marquis Esgaroth answered the Emperor’s question.
“All the weapons were crafted by Yustea.”
He had offered to provide treasures, but was refused.
When the Marquis first saw Yustea’s sword through the Mirror World, he also frowned.
The sword hilt was too thick for a girl to grip.
The weight also looked considerable.
When she threw the sword, judging by the dull resonance, it was certain.
Moreover, the swordsmanship wasn’t attached to the blade’s base, but hung from the sword hilt’s end like a firecracker string.
But then it happened.
Yustea in the Mirror World pulled on the swordsmanship.
And then….
“What, she’s throwing the sword again!”
The noble youth shouted with wide eyes.
That’s right.
She really threw the sword away.
“What’s she going to do in a melee without weapons?”
“It would be difficult to use weapons with hostages around, but… huh?”
The moment the sword hit the ground.
Bang—!
The sword hilt shattered with a thunderous roar.
And blinding light poured out.
The Mirror World turned white, appearing to cut off transmission.
“It’s a flash bomb!”
Former Marquis Nevarro gripped the railing and lifted his bottom.
Thoroughly excited, he looked at Marquis Esgaroth.
“Your granddaughter already anticipated the melee, didn’t she?”
“….”
“So she prepared a flash bomb! What ingenuity!”
Former Marquis Nevarro clapped his hands and laughed heartily.
His son Duke Navarro also chuckled.
He said to Aslan.
“Truly a family treasure.”
“….”
But it was strange.
Neither Marquis Esgaroth nor Aslan said anything.
They just stared blankly at the Mirror World that couldn’t illuminate the Family Tournament due to the flash bomb.
Then, someone shouted.
“Oh, we can see again now.”
“Lady Yustea is… I mean… she’s not there!”
“Lady Stella is gone too.”
“The escape was successful! And with a hostage too!”
Waaaah—!
Cheers erupted in the Colosseum.
The Emperor also unconsciously started to clap but flinched.
Then, Marquis Esgaroth and Aslan below the dais caught his eye.
More precisely, the strikingly similar father and son throwing punches toward the sky in identical poses.
“Looking at this, they don’t just share faces. Lucia… what are you doing.”
The Emperor made an incredulous expression.
Because his own son was also throwing punches in the same pose.
* * *
Huff, gasp.
Breathing heavily, I collapsed right there.
‘I succeeded.’
I had brought the sword with the flash bomb to use in a crisis, but I didn’t expect it to succeed this well.
…Especially with Stella in tow.
Stella trembled.
“What are you trying to do?”
“What now.”
“How did you come up with such a stupid idea!”
Stella was thoroughly agitated.
I rubbed my neck and said.
“Speak clearly. Don’t say meaningless things and get ignored.”
“Are you showing your true colors now that there’s no transmission?”
No transmission?
What’s that supposed to mean.
There’s just no flying transmission magic device, but I’ve hidden other transmission magic devices in this cave too.
‘Ah, that kid doesn’t know.’
“You’re truly terrible.”
Stella glared at me.
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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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