How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 161

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 161

Startled Yustea froze in place.

Rabbit Mask quickly stretched out his arm to snatch the child.

But the Marquis was faster.

He thrust his sword at Rabbit Mask’s head and swiftly pulled Yustea toward him.

The Marquis who jumped down into the passageway lifted Yustea into his arms.

‘Benjamin.’

That Rabbit Mask is Benjamin from House of Becker.

Through the Mirror World, he had seen him being forced to wear the mask by a girl executive from the same Reconstruction Council.

“That mask must be some kind of curse. Seeing as he still can’t remove it.”

Benjamin jumped down with his companions.

The moment they faced each other, he could feel it.

The ones Benjamin brought were on a different level from the white-robed soldiers he had seen before entering this place.

“Well done, Marquis. I was worried the Soldier might take you away, but we’re in luck.”

Benjamin let out a pleasant laugh.

“It seems you have different intentions from that Soldier fellow.”

“Unlike the Soldier, I value efficiency. Wouldn’t it be easier and simpler to place someone agreeable in the position of Count Andres rather than trying to persuade and bring you over? Above all…”

“Above all?”

“We have deep ties when it comes to serving your daughter as our Saint. Bad ones, that is.”

Benjamin said, tapping his mask.

Yustea had played a large part in him being forced to wear that mask.

She was the one who persuaded the Reconstruction Council girl who put on the mask, and she was the one who neutralized Benjamin.

Benjamin looked at Yustea, who was trembling with fear in the Marquis’s arms.

“Thanks to your daughter, I brought great disappointment to my master. Because of that, I was repeatedly excluded from missions.”

“How grateful. My daughter helped you find a position that suits your station.”

“Haha, your daughter’s words and actions aren’t the only brazen things, I see.”

“Is there a reason for long talk?”

The Marquis set Yustea down.

“Are you planning to use lightning magic? Didn’t you consume quite a lot of mana when dealing with our soldiers?”

“And so?”

“Efficiency depends on how you approach it. It seems we could have a good relationship again, Marquis.”

“…”

The Marquis glanced at Yustea.

Yustea, who was gripping his collar, had an anxious expression.

“Abadi, tokki nabba…? (Father, is the rabbit a bad person?)”

“Yes, very much so.”

“Guromon Yustea-ga nabbeun tokki honnaejuyo. (Then Yustea will scold the bad rabbit.)”

“What?”

“Gunikka jeogi jaba. (So catch that one over there.)”

Benjamin burst into a hollow laugh.

“The arrogance is definitely inherited, I see.”

“Stop mixing in your words. The stench from that fur is overwhelming.”

Clang—!

The Marquis thrust his sword.

He couldn’t use lightning magic right away.

It was because the distance to Yustea was too close.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t fight.

Though he didn’t possess the same martial prowess as the Irregular Clan Leader, he too had experience participating in all kinds of battles since his days as Andres’s heir.

If he fought Benjamin one-on-one, he wouldn’t lose.

Benjamin was pushed back by the Marquis’s sword strike.

The problem was the combatants he had brought with him.

The combatants’ sword blades slashed the Marquis’s side.

“Ah, angdae, angdae…! (No, no…!)”

“Don’t come!”

The Marquis shouted fiercely.

Yustea, who had been rushing over in a panic, froze stiff.

“Anya, jeogiya. Jeogi jabaya daeyo. Ije oneunde… oneunde…! (No, over there. You have to catch that one. They’re coming now… coming…!)”

Yustea frantically pointed at the ladder.

The Marquis, who was fighting Benjamin and his combatants, furrowed his brow.

‘Why on earth has she been…’

Come to think of it, there were things he couldn’t understand.

Acting urgently as soon as they entered this place.

The child who never threw tantrums insisting they had to go outside.

And…

‘She didn’t say to climb the ladder, but to catch it.’

Suddenly, the Marquis’s eyes widened.

Clang—!

The Marquis seized a momentary gap to fiercely shake off Benjamin and the combatants.

Then he grabbed Yustea and quickly climbed the ladder.

That was the moment.

Kwarrrrrrung—!

A tremendous roar could be heard.

Benjamin and his combatants flinched and turned their heads.

What they saw was…

“…!!”

“…?!!!”

A tremendous torrent.

A torrent strong enough to sweep away several grown men in an instant…!

The Marquis clung to the ladder.

While firmly supporting the child with his body so Yustea wouldn’t fall.

He groped the wall that was underwater.

Yustea had definitely pressed a button somewhere around here.

After groping for a while.

His fingertips caught a button.

When he pressed the button, a passageway opened.

The Marquis first pushed Yustea up, then pulled his body out of the passage.

“Puha…!”

“Cough.”

The Marquis, who had spat out water, groaned and looked to the side.

Yustea had curled up her body and was coughing continuously.

“What was that torrent just now?”

“Ha, hangjeong. (Trap.)”

“A trap?”

“Omma-gayo. Nabbeun saram omyeoneunyo. Hangjeong piyohada-go haesseo. (Mama said. When bad people come, traps are necessary.)”

“Ah, with that personality, a trap or two would be natural.”

Come to think of it, the original Yustea hadn’t used that passage even when Monstrous Birds appeared in the Marketplace.

She seemed to have judged it would be dangerous because of the traps.

‘She was restless because it was getting close to the trap activation time.’

But it was strange.

Yustea blinked without answering.

The Marquis, sensing something strange, asked.

“Are there more than just a few traps?”

“Traps… uh… 341.”

“…What?”

“Ah. No.”

Right, surely no one would be crazy enough to set over 300 traps…

“343. Two more from before.”

“…”

As the Marquis fell silent, Yustea tilted her head.

‘Are only Yustea and Dia able to use that cave?’

He was staring intently at the cave’s exit.

“Cough!”

Yustea coughed violently.

‘Did water go down the wrong way?’

Just as he was about to check on Yustea.

“Did you swallow water wrong?”

A tiny hand reached out first to feel his face.

“Does it hurt when you swallow water wrong? Does Father hurt too…?”

“…”

“Do you go cough cough?”

“…”

“Does it hurt…?”

While her own face was pale blue.

Looking like she might stop breathing at any moment.

“Does it hurt a lot…?”

“…It hurts.”

“Where? Where?”

He stared blankly at his daughter who was anxiously examining him.

“My chest.”

It had been aching constantly from some point on.

When she came rushing into his arms.

When he watched her frantically gather up the spilled medicine.

When she moved her lips silently.

When this small child, not even reaching his knees, did her best for him.

“When it hurts, you shouldn’t…”

The hand gently stroking his chest felt like a blade piercing his heart.

To such a child, I…

“You’re pathetic. I can hardly believe you’re my blood.”

“I said such things to you.”

“Yustea, everyone has their role. Those who cannot fulfill their role are often discarded. Don’t make me abandon you with my own hands.”

“I threatened you like that and cornered you.”

“You and Stella are different. She’s the ‘real one’. But you’re a spare for Onel and Stella. It will be important for you to recognize your value accurately, Yustea.”

“You heard such words countless times. But why—!”

Yustea froze as she watched the Marquis gripping her shoulders tightly and shouting.

Yes, whenever he said such things, she would freeze like this.

Unable to even cry, trembling all over.

Yet she never turned away.

Right until the moment he abandoned her with his own hands.

“Why didn’t you run away…?”

He looked at his trembling daughter.

He moved his hand to the cheek of the child whose lips were blue and quivering.

That was the moment.

“How utterly cowardly.”

The Marquis flinched and turned his head.

That man walked through the Elite Irregulars.

Aslan, the new father that Yustea had found and chosen.

He strode over and lifted the trembling Yustea into his arms.

“Do you want to shift the blame, saying she was hurt because she didn’t run away from your side?”

“How are you here—”

The Marquis stopped mid-question.

He could see dark red veins bulging all over Aslan’s body.

In some places, it seemed the veins had burst, as his collar was soaked with blood.

“You crudely destroyed the Reconstruction Council’s barrier with brute force, didn’t you? How foolish.”

“The foolish one is you.”

“What did you say?”

“If you had used lightning to its limit, you too could have broken through the barrier. The reason you didn’t was to prevent your connection with the Reconstruction Council from being exposed to the people once again.”

“…”

“You mistook what you should protect, again.”

“…”

“What you should have protected were these hands.”

These small hands that checked on her father first, even in this state.

The Marquis gritted his teeth.

“The mausoleum is finished. I’ll take Yustea.”

The Marquis watched Yustea being carried away in Aslan’s arms.

Yes, you were a child who worked hard at everything.

So surely, just like in the past, you must have loved me with your whole being.

Bang!

The Marquis struck the ground violently.

* * *

Underground waterway.

“Cough!”

Benjamin, who had emerged from the water, gritted his teeth.

“Damn it!”

That girl blocks the way even after becoming so small.

Clicking his tongue, he looked at the waterway.

“Did I lose the Elite Soldiers?”

After struggling in such rapids for about an hour, no human could still be alive.

The only reason he didn’t die was thanks to this damn rabbit mask.

The rabbit mask was a type of curse.

The wearer cannot be killed unless their neck is severed.

“The Grand Duke’s wrath will be considerable since I lost the Elite Soldiers. Well, whatever. There was a harvest.”

‘Yustea’s condition was strange.’

It didn’t seem like only her body had become that of a child due to divine abnormality.

‘There’s a problem with her mind too.’

It was puzzling why Andres suddenly spent a large sum to bring Yustea, but now he understood the reason.

Information that had reached Andres hadn’t come to the Reconstruction Council.

That meant someone had disrupted the information flow.

‘It’s obvious. It’s Oscar’s doing.’

It seemed he had grown more attached than expected while hiding among the Irregulars.

“Information more valuable than the lives of a few Elite Soldiers.”

Just as the mask’s lips curved into a smirk.

“If you can make it back, that is.”

Someone walked over from the opposite side.

Benjamin frowned at the familiar voice.

“How pleasant to meet such a welcome person in a place like this. …Prince Luciano.”

“How unfortunate. I don’t find this particularly pleasant.”

Benjamin laughed lowly, “Haha.”

“Perhaps it’s because it’s been so long. You seem somewhat different from before.”

“Do I?”

“Weren’t you a fair person? More so than Prince Yohael, at least. But…”

This side was unarmed.

However, the prince held a sword in his hand.

“Couldn’t we resolve this through conversation, showing mercy for the fact that I’m defenseless?”

“Ah, unfortunately not. I’m not in a particularly good mood.”

Swish, Luciano adjusted his grip on the sword and looked at Benjamin leisurely.

“Do you know the feeling of having to expose your lover to danger for their sake?”

“Well, I don’t know. But I could help… Gack!”

The Rabbit Mask fell with a thud from Benjamin’s shadow reflected on the aqueduct wall.

Soon, Luciano kicked Benjamin’s collapsed body and said.

“Absolutely filthy. So much so that killing you with one strike feels regrettable.”

Suddenly, a window appeared in mid-air.

The Grantor has successfully collected Grudge (2/3).

Grudge Collected: Benjamin Becker (Executive of the Old Empire Restoration Council)

Reward: Age Increase

Footsteps could be heard once more from outside the sewer.

The person who approached Luciano’s side removed his hood.

Deep blue, fine hair tumbled down as he revealed heterochromatic eyes of blue and gold.

Luciano glanced back at him.

“Thanks to you, I confirmed his location. I express my gratitude.”

It was Oscar, with his special eyes that could see the flow of mana, who had confirmed Benjamin’s position.

Oscar hoisted Benjamin’s corpse and said.

“If you can settle grudges that way, wouldn’t there be no need to put Yustea at risk?”

This was Oscar, son of Archduke Arcunterra who led the Old Empire Restoration Council, and a man who had been an Irregular Elite as a spy for the Restoration Council.

“My role is merely to support the Quest. The Quest cannot succeed without Yustea’s participation.”

“What exactly does ‘collection’ mean?”

“It seems to be the elimination of possibilities that could attack Yustea.”

Count Andres was made into an ’emotional state unable to attack’ by Yustea’s hand.

Benjamin was dead.

“Then what about the remaining one?”

“Well. We’ll have to search for the person Yustea considers her enemy after the Marquis and Benjamin.”

“In that case…”

The two men’s gazes met.

That woman who was supposedly designated as the original protagonist of this world.

“Stella Andres.”

“Stella Andres.”

Both men spoke simultaneously.

* * *

District 8 Outside the System.

Emma, Stella’s mother, entered the room with an irritated expression, stomping her feet thump, thump.

“We shouldn’t have chosen a house with a tavern on the lower floor. It’s so noisy I can’t sleep at all!”

“….”

“Do you know what the landlord said when I complained? If I don’t like it, I should leave! How outrageous. Charging 30 silver for rent on a place like this…! Are you listening to me, Stella?”

“….”

“Hey!”

“Then just leave.”

Stella, who had been crouched by the window, spoke in a gloomy voice.

“I’d like to do just that. But we need to stay close to the Archipelago so your father can come get you as quickly as possible.”

“…Do you really think Father will come?”

“Really now. Your father loves you so much, would he really cast you out over just a few mistakes?”

“But there hasn’t been a single word from him…”

“Do you know how cunningly that girl Yustea damaged your reputation? With Emperor’s eyes on the situation, he has no choice but to pretend to push you away. He’ll return for you soon.”

“Do you think so…?”

Stella slowly raised her head.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————