How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 160
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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 160
“…So you are the Saint.”
Soldier Narbonne tried to force a smile and change the subject, but Yustea clenched both hands into small fists and shook her head.
The child had often seen her grandfather secretly holding things like pepper shakers and frantically hitting the top of his head.
When she asked Mother why Grandfather hit his head, Mother answered with a troubled expression.
“Hair loss is a sad disease.”
So Yustea thought.
Ah, it’s sad when you don’t have hair.
“Gwandpa head no hair. Very sad? (Grandfather’s head has no hair. Very sad?)”
Yustea, being a kind child who didn’t want others to be sad, decided to tell him a solution.
“There, there, if you do this. Broccoli—.”
“It seems the Saint wishes to compete with this old man for control, but since we don’t have time, I’ll be rude in a different way than words.”
Thud.
When Soldier Narbonne struck his staff into the ground, strange light burst forth instantly in the form of plant roots.
That light soon became mist and spread throughout the restaurant like a curtain.
A familiar energy could be felt from the mist.
An energy no different from what was felt at the Andres mausoleum.
When Count Andres furrowed his brow, screams erupted from all around the restaurant.
“Gh, ghosts!”
“It’s ghouls!”
“Aaaahhh—!!”
Count Andres frowned.
‘This mist is negative energy.’
Negative energy that summons spirits.
If that staff generated negative energy, he could guess its identity.
Origin of the Veil
The worst staff on earth, said to have used ten thousand corpses in its creation.
Can summon and control spirits within a certain range.
Cannot be used by those with divine power.
‘Origin of the Veil.’
A sacred artifact that was sealed deep underground in the former empire.
After the former empire’s destruction, the temple searched for it but couldn’t even find a clue, so it must have been in the hands of the Reconstruction Society.
If it’s a sacred artifact, it certainly can’t be handled alone.
‘The Origin of the Veil is like a condensation of negative energy, so touching it would drain one’s life force. Subduing it by force would be difficult.’
Count Andres, who had been thinking, paused.
‘What’s incompatible with a condensation of negative energy is…’
The Marquis quickly looked at Yustea.
Just then, a ghost in the form of a white-eye bird that had been approaching Yustea flinched and backed away.
“Birdie, come here. Come to Yustea.”
Yustea, whose attention was quickly drawn to the ghost bird like a child, raised both hands.
Then the ghosts and ghouls fled in terror.
“What, what is it?”
“Why are the ghosts and ghouls…”
People looked with bewildered faces at the spirits fleeing from Yustea.
“…?!!”
Soldier Narbonne had a shocked expression.
‘That, that thing…!’
Count Andres’s guess was correct.
The Origin of the Veil owned by Soldier Narbonne was a condensation of negative energy.
On the other hand, the Saint was a sanctuary of divine power that purified negative energy with just her breath.
In other words, she boasted the worst compatibility with the Origin of the Veil.
“Birdie…”
When Yustea tried to chase after them in a hurry, the beast spirits that instinctively sensed their natural enemy fled in panic.
[Chirp, chirp, chirp chirp chirp—!!]
[Graaahhh—!!!]
“You idiots…! Come back!”
Soldier Narbonne shouted, but it was useless.
The beasts that had left the casting range due to primal fear began to disappear.
Count Andres let out a small laugh.
“Your prized sacred artifact has become useless.”
“This…!”
Soldier Narbonne’s face turned red and blue.
“It’s not just the sacred artifact. What are you doing!”
The soldiers in white robes leaped quickly.
The Origin of the Veil was unusable.
Only humans with physical bodies were blocking them.
“Stand back.”
The moment the Marquis spoke, a Knight of Andres quickly picked up Yustea and retreated behind the Marquis.
Crackle—!
Intense lightning swept through.
At the same time, the Reconstruction Society soldiers who had blocked the Marquis’s path trembled and screamed.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Graaahhh!!”
If they had physical bodies, the number of enemies didn’t matter.
Among the powers divided among the Seven Families, Andres’s lightning boasted the most wide-ranging power.
After neutralizing the soldiers in an instant, the Marquis took Yustea from the Knight of Andres and nodded.
The Knight of Andres quickly rushed toward Soldier Narbonne.
Meanwhile, the Marquis escaped the restaurant with Yustea.
However, the enemies weren’t only in the restaurant.
“They’ve deployed quite a lot.”
As soon as they left the restaurant, figures wearing Reconstruction Society robes appeared from both sides.
The Marquis began to run.
* * *
The Elite meeting room of Esgaroth Manor.
Antonio muttered weakly.
“Without the Young Lady, the manor feels empty.”
“You’re not the only one feeling anxious, so shut up and stay quiet.”
Yuise said flatly with her arms crossed.
Antonio rested his chin on the meeting table with a sullen face.
“Should I go bring her back? The Young Lady must miss us too.”
“Did you forget that the 2nd Prince said he can’t return to his original form unless he collects bad karma from Andres?”
“Why should we listen to the Prince!”
“Why don’t you speak louder? So it reaches the 2nd Prince’s carriage heading to the Imperial Palace. If you want to die for treason, I recommend that method.”
“Since when have we been afraid of treason charges?”
When Antonio grumbled, Yuise looked at him coldly.
“Everyone else feels the same anxiety. Don’t make more noise and just do your work—.”
Then, Cesar said while keeping his eyes fixed on the documents.
“But what exactly is bad karma?”
“What?”
“What?”
Yuise and Antonio looked at Cesar.
Cesar flipped through the documents and spoke again.
“What exactly are the karmic debts we need to collect?”
“Well…”
Yuise, who was about to answer, hesitated.
Right, the only certain one is Count Andres.
Antonio frowned and stared into space.
“Isn’t it that family? Count Andres, that old hag called the Marquise, Stella, that woman Emma who’s Stella’s mother, and…”
“What about Onel, who calls himself her brother?”
Cesar said.
Antonio nodded.
“That bastard’s annoying too. Wait, then that’s five people, so why are we told to collect three…?”
The meeting room fell quiet.
Antonio groaned and said.
“How much the Young Lady dislikes them? Among them, the ones she hates more are the karmic debts, aren’t they?”
Yuise flinched.
“If the degree of resentment is the standard, there are people outside of Andres who qualify.”
“What? Who’s that?”
“Benjamin from the Old Empire Restoration Society.”
The heir of Count Becker’s family, which was once one of the seven great families in the past.
However, the reality was the Old Empire Restoration Society, and he was the real culprit who caused abnormalities in Stella’s body for the sake of the restoration society.
‘He disguised Stella’s condition as poisoning and then framed Yustea for it.’
“Yustea has even described him as an enemy. If the degree of resentment is the standard, he would definitely be included… Wait.”
“What now?”
Antonio looked at Yuise with an anxious face.
Yuise muttered.
“Whenever we received a Quest, there was always an opportunity to meet the related people.”
Just like how Count Andres used the Emperor to take Yustea away.
The faces of the Elite hardened.
If this Quest also leads Benjamin here…
Just then.
“Squad Leader!”
With an urgent voice, a Unit Member of Yuise’s squad rushed into the meeting room.
“What’s the matter?”
“The Central Communication Facility has been destroyed. The culprits appear to be the Old Empire Restoration Society. There’s news that they fled to the Marketplace to avoid pursuit. But…”
The restoration society suddenly launched a surprise attack?
Yuise urgently asked.
“Where is Yustea!”
“…She’s said to be at the Marketplace with Count Andres.”
“…!!”
The Elite rushed out of the meeting room.
Yuise shouted while running down the corridor.
“Inform the Clan Leader! Benjamin from the Old Empire Restoration Society will target the Young Lady!”
* * *
Count Andres ran around various parts of the Marketplace for about 30 minutes.
He could repel enemies through lightning strikes, the power of the seven great families, but since other enemies joined not long after, the escape was not easy.
After putting Yustea down inside the alley, the Count checked for signs outside.
“Find them! They couldn’t have gone far!”
The restoration society soldiers shouted sharply.
Seeing them move freely without caring about the Imperial Army, they must have blocked the outside with a barrier.
‘I can’t just wait for rescue indefinitely.’
Getting caught would be faster than the Imperial Army and Andres forces breaking through the barrier.
Count Andres checked the amount of his mana.
‘It’s not enough for an all-out battle.’
He was contemplating a strategy.
Yustea tugged at his fingertips.
“Abadi… sumbakkojil? (Father, shall we play hide-and-seek?)”
“It’s dangerous, so stay quiet.”
“Yustea ara. Kkokko sumneun go. (Yustea knows. A place to hide really well.)”
“…What?”
Yustea ran deeper into the alley, crouched down, and felt around the wall.
“There’s no time to play, so stop—”
Before he could finish speaking, the ground opened with a rumbling sound.
“…!”
Count Andres narrowed his brow.
“…Is this a secret passage your mother made?”
“No.”
“It’s not a place your mother made?”
“Omma mandeureoesseoyo. Geuronde ireum anya. Yogi ppinttangu. (Mother made it. But that’s not the name. This is the Secret Tunnel.)”
“…What?”
Mother had said.
“Yogi moeyo?”
“It’s used for various purposes, but to summarize it in one word, it’s about a Secret Tunnel.”
“Ppinttangu…?”
“This path is for siphoning money without that old hag knowing. If she finds out how much I’ve earned, she’ll nag loudly about dedicating myself to the family. Also, that trash might confine me when we divorce, so if I need to escape then, I need at least a passage… but that’s still too early to tell my angel.”
Mother said that with an awkward smile, but clever Yustea remembered every word.
“There is. The old hag. She nags loudly. So we siphon.”
“…”
“Also the trash. When divorcing, if confined, we must escape.”
“…”
She didn’t really understand what it meant.
The Count, who suddenly learned about his ex-wife’s secret fund transfer route and the reason for her secret fund management, let out a hollow laugh.
“This woman…”
“…?”
“Well, fine. It helped, so let’s go.”
The Count entered the passage with Yustea.
As soon as Yustea entered the passage, she pressed the button that mother always told her not to forget when using the passage, properly sealing the entrance.
The Count looked at Yustea with incredulous eyes.
He had wondered how she moved around the Archipelago while avoiding the eyes of Stella’s Guard.
It seemed she had been using this place to get around.
After climbing down the ladder, Yustea ran again and hopped in front of the wall.
There was another button at a point that was hard for Yustea to reach, and she seemed to want to press it.
When he pressed it instead, light entered the tunnel.
“…!”
The tunnel was amazing.
It was much larger in scale than expected.
‘Impressive.’
Come to think of it, it was one of the three major trading posts representing the Empire.
But when he actually got his hands on it, the scale of funds was smaller than he had thought.
‘So this is where they diverted the resources to create such a place.’
The Marquis’s eyes wavered.
A secret passage unknown even to the Imperial Palace.
Through this place, they could bring in soldiers or use it as a distribution route for forbidden goods.
If used well, it would be a treasure that could become an inexhaustible source of wealth.
“Is it connected to the outer archipelago too? How far can you go? Do you have a map…?”
“Hurry!”
Yustea, who had already gone far ahead, waved her hands restlessly.
“Hurry! Daddy, slow!”
“….”
“Daddy very very slow!”
“….”
She even stomped the ground with one foot, huffing in frustration.
“Where did she learn that from.”
The Marquis muttered with an incredulous expression, then soon followed the child.
‘I can explore the paths later.’
Right now, it was important to ‘quickly’ leave this place as Yustea said.
The Marquis followed Yustea as she walked.
Checking the time on his pocket watch, it was about 8 minutes.
Yustea reached the ladder and began climbing up with a hop.
“Where is this?”
“Where Mama works. (Where Mother works.)”
“The Baul Trading Company headquarters.”
After Dia left, they had cleared out the trading company headquarters, so that place remained as an abandoned building.
“That’s inside the marketplace. We need to get outside the marketplace.”
“No!”
“The marketplace is dangerous. We need to go outside.”
“No! Here!”
Yustea was being stubborn.
‘That’s strange.’
A daughter of this age was a child who didn’t know what refusal meant.
She never acted stubborn.
Even if she had learned to say ‘dislike’ in Esgaroth, her personality wouldn’t change so suddenly like this.
Yustea climbed up the ladder without giving him a chance to stop her.
‘Maybe the underground passage with poor air circulation was uncomfortable for her.’
Yustea was the only one who knew the way.
It would be fine to let her get some fresh air for a moment and then coax her back into this place.
The Marquis followed Yustea up.
Yustea climbed up while dripping with sweat and felt around the wall.
It was the moment when the passage opened with a clicking sound.
“So you were hiding in a place like this.”
Rabbit Mask suddenly popped out from above Yustea’s head.
With a grotesquely raised smile.
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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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