How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 188

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Replace Father
Episode 188
Javid’s faction’s faces hardened like stone.
* * *
Once I finished, I left the conference room.
Walking down the corridor, Marquis Sintus asked me a question.
“Do you truly believe they will offer compensation and an apology?”
“They won’t.”
“Then why did you demand compensation and an apology?”
“So that Uncle Javid’s retainers understand that their master cannot even distinguish between moments when pride should bend and moments when it shouldn’t.”
What I demanded wasn’t much.
I spoke of tenfold compensation, but it wasn’t an astronomical sum.
They could easily procure it.
And demanding an apology was simply offering a graceful way out.
‘But will he admit defeat to his pride?’
Absolutely not.
“A foolish lord who loses far greater things over mere pride. Can one truly trust him?”
“You were aiming for the dissolution of Javid’s faction.”
Marquis Sintus chuckled.
I smiled slightly.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Those who plotted to destroy our jurisdiction had been gifted with the dissolution of their own faction.
The other retainers looked astonished.
“Truly, you are….”
“Indeed. A remarkable person, aren’t you?”
Marquis Sintus agreed with a smile.
Reaching the stairs, I bowed to them.
“Then I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, regarding the dispatch of administrators from the Citadel.”
That was right.
I had met Marquis Sintus and the Citadel retainers specifically for that matter.
If Quaron lacked hands, I needed to pull workers from elsewhere.
“We shall handle it promptly.”
“Yes.”
With all matters from the Citadel settled, I boarded the carriage in high spirits.
Inside the carriage, I thought of Javid trembling with rage.
‘He’s absolutely livid.’
* * *
Returning to Quaron, I threw myself into work.
The Clan Leader and his unit, along with myself, were nearly buried in documents.
“Progress on inspections of vulnerable facilities?”
“In progress. Once administrators arrive from the Citadel, we should finish within three days. The problem is funding.”
“That’s right. Even when we identify problems, we lack the resources to resolve them.”
I groaned.
Sanmiguel and Valboa merged to become Quaron.
Valboa had originally been managed by the Three Elders’ family, so they never lacked for funds.
The problem was Sanmiguel.
It was in the most remote corner of the estate—unsuitable for commerce.
There was no land suitable for farming either.
Hundreds of people starved to death each year, so until now we’d poured Valboa’s remaining money into reviving the Sanmiguel region.
But Valboa’s funds were now running dry.
‘At any other time, I’d rely on the next tax season and begin repairs immediately, but….’
I muttered with my cheek pressed to the desk.
“The Great Famine will strike soon, so I can’t rely on the next tax season….”
“When the Great Famine comes, we’ll need to lower the tax rate, won’t we?”
“Lower it alone? We’ll have to allocate relief funds too….”
The Clan Leader’s unit members slumped across their desks with grim faces.
We wept.
No matter how we calculated, there was no answer.
“The storehouses are completely empty…!”
On top of everything, we had to stockpile food—my vision darkened.
Finally, the Clan Leader declared with a haggard face.
“The Military Department. We have no choice but to raid the Military Department’s budget…!”
He looked half-delirious.
The Clan Leader’s unit members clung to him as he calculated the remaining military budget.
“That’s impossible!”
“Yes, Clan Leader!”
“Javid has murder in his eyes! We don’t know when civil war will erupt—we cannot touch the Military Department’s funds…!”
As the unit members swarmed and protested, the Clan Leader shouted.
“We cannot starve the people of our estate—!”
He was right.
Seeing the Clan Leader and his members screaming in anguish, I straightened up.
“Well, there’s only one option then.”
As I interlaced my fingers and adopted a serious expression, the Clan Leader and his members looked at me.
“Yes?”
“What do you mean…?”
I declared in a grave voice.
“Let’s extort them.”
In that instant, their mouths fell open.
I meant every word.
* * *
With that resolve, I went to the Merchant Guild within Esgaroth.
Looking up at the Merchant Guild’s office, I took a deep breath.
The Clan Leader and his adjutant regarded me with anxious expressions.
The Clan Leader spoke carefully.
“Young lady, I understand the sentiment. I too thought about what might be called banditry. But toward the Merchant Guild….”
“Extortion?”
“….”
At such an unseemly word, the Clan Leader fell silent for a moment.
His adjutant also looked uncomfortable.
“It’s merchant jargon.”
“Yes?”
“Jargon, you say?”
I nodded at their words.
“The lord promises support to the merchants and receives a donation. In merchant circles, they call it ‘extortion.'”
“Ah…!”
The Clan Leader’s adjutant’s face brightened.
He had thought I intended to use authority to squeeze money out through coercion.
There are those who do such barbarous things.
But in the long term, it helps no one.
The North is not land suited to agriculture.
Commerce must inevitably become the center.
So what would happen if the lord raided merchants?
‘The merchants would abandon this land.’
We would lose our greatest revenue stream.
I hugged a bundle of documents outlining merchant-friendly policies and spoke.
“I’ve compiled proposals that merchants can’t help but be interested in. Also, the Guild Master and I are acquainted—conversation won’t be difficult.”
“You’re acquainted?”
“The current Guild Master here, Cubas, is an acquaintance of my mother’s. I’ve known him since childhood.”
“How fortunate.”
The Clan Leader exhaled with relief.
I nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
“Onward!”
The Clan Leader, his adjutant, and I entered the building like warriors heading to battle.
We were guided by a guild worker into a certain room.
Sitting on a sofa, we waited for the merchants.
But something was odd.
The Clan Leader, checking his timepiece, spoke.
“It’s been nearly thirty minutes now.”
No matter how long we waited, the merchants did not appear.
We had notified them in advance that we would visit the guild office.
Knowing this, making guests wait was strange.
“Are they trying to play a power game?”
The Clan Leader’s adjutant asked.
Among merchants, power games were common.
One had to maintain a stance of indifference so the other would become more eager for the deal.
“That’s possible. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
At the Clan Leader’s words, I nodded.
About ten minutes later, finally the door opened.
But the figure entering was not a merchant.
The guild worker who had guided us spoke.
“My apologies. An urgent matter arose—they’ve asked me to convey that conversation is impossible today.”
His tone was insolent.
Our party’s faces immediately hardened.
‘This isn’t a power game.’
This was notification that they would not deal with us.
The guild worker grinned mockingly.
“Since that’s the case, perhaps you should head back for now—.”
“Where are the merchants now?”
“An urgent matter has come up, so—.”
“That’s why I’m asking what this urgent matter is.”
“That is….”
The worker cleared his throat uncomfortably.
I immediately pulled out a Communication Stone.
The recipient was Yuise, head of the Irregular Intelligence Unit.
“Find out where the Merchant Guild’s merchants are right now.”
[Understood.]
“Y-Young lady…!”
The worker panicked, but I didn’t move.
Only then did the worker grow restless.
He was conflicted over whether to report this to the merchants.
After some time, the Communication Stone chimed.
[Dennis Territory.]
Dennis.
It was the estate of Marquis Dennis, leader of Javid’s faction.
In other words, the Merchant Guild had already fallen into Javid’s hands.
“So it wasn’t just the welfare sector. They’re strangling Quaron’s purse strings.”
At my words, the Clan Leader’s and his adjutant’s expressions turned glacial.
* * *
“Hahaha! Come now, take this. The Guild Master brought fine spirits to commemorate our alliance!”
A retainer of Javid’s faction shouted, raising a wine bottle.
As wine filled everyone’s glasses, all seated in the Banquet Hall raised their cups and cheered.
“To our friendship!”
“To friendship!”
Javid smiled thinly and drank.
‘No matter how much that woman schemes and schemes, she’s ultimately an outsider who crawled into Esgaroth just last year.’
Aslan and her daughter had established themselves in Esgaroth barely a year ago.
But Javid’s faction was a family of founding merit that had governed Esgaroth for generations.
Javid himself had wielded this land his entire life.
The Merchant Guild had been bound to them by ties forged before that girl was even born.
“Quaron seems to have been in a hurry.”
“Indeed. The direct line of a noble family rarely resorts to such things.”
At the merchants’ words, the retainers asked.
“Resorts to such things?”
“It’s merchant jargon. When a local administrator promises support and receives donations, they call it that.”
“My, how vulgar. Merchants must have their troubles.”
“Not everyone is as refined as yourselves. That’s simply how it is. Haha.”
“In any case, Quaron will find itself in difficulty. From the moment they swallowed Valboa without knowing their place, this outcome was inevitable.”
“Quite so.”
As retainers and merchants exchanged cups in merriment, the Guild Master regarded Javid with a glance.
‘The tide has turned in our favor.’
All the rulers of Esgaroth had begun reaching for the Merchant Guild.
The guild’s value had skyrocketed.
In such circumstances, Esgaroth’s rulers could not refuse the guild’s requests.
The Guild Master spoke to Javid.
“When the Mage Tower relocates to Esgaroth, how will the purchase of experimental materials be handled?”
“That is….”
The Mage Tower relocation was Yustea’s achievement.
Having pleased the previous Mage Tower Master, she had placed Esgaroth among the candidate relocation sites.
The Marquis had then conducted behind-the-scenes work to confirm the relocation.
Because of this, Javid knew nothing of the matter.
“Please grant our guild exclusive trading rights.”
“What….”
Javid’s mouth curved upward slightly.
“Besides your guild, who else could handle the Mage Tower’s materials? It’s only natural—don’t worry.”
Guild Master Cubas laughed loudly.
“We’re relieved to hear it. Also, regarding external merchant dealings through Sanmiguel….”
“I shall handle that as well, most certainly.”
The merchants’ mouths curled upward.
‘Master Cubas’s judgment is sound indeed.’
I understood why he had chosen to side with Javid rather than with Aslan, who was rising thanks to the Holy Maiden.
Javid was like a purse—shake him however you wished, and gold coins would fall out.
An easy puppet to manipulate.
Javid spoke in a soft voice.
“Then what of the Holy Maiden?”
“We shall never take the Holy Maiden’s hand.”
“Excellent. We understand each other well.”
With this, they had choked off Quaron’s purse strings.
‘Once funding runs low, they’ll have no choice but to reach for the Citadel’s coffers.’
To access the Citadel’s funds, the Marquise who managed the Inner Palace would be essential.
Thus, he could not sue the Marquise over the welfare fund embezzlement.
‘How dare they try to threaten me.’
Javid lifted his glass with a satisfied expression.
Then it happened.
The merchants’ Communication Stones chimed simultaneously.
They took up their stones with bewildered expressions.
[Guild Masters…!]
[There’s a fire in the cargo carriages!]
[The carriages are burning, and the culprit…!]
Confused voices erupted in rapid succession.
“What?”
“What on earth is this about!”
“Cargo carriages?!”
The merchants had not come empty-handed.
Each had brought bribes for Javid’s faction in cargo carriages.
They couldn’t drive the bribes directly into the castle, so they’d parked them nearby, planning to smuggle them in after dark.
The cargo carriages were now ablaze.
“What in….”
Guild Master Cubas was frowning when it happened.
[So I finally hear your voice.]
“…?!!”
The Communication Stone fell from Cubas’s grasp.
‘This voice….’
He shot to his feet, mouth gaping, unable to speak.
The merchants and Esgaroth’s retainers, and Javid himself, regarded him with confusion.
[If you don’t want to see your ledgers splashed across the papers as breaking news, you’d best get out of there now.]
Cubas bolted from the Banquet Hall.
The panicked merchants, retainers, and Javid rushed after him.
Outside the castle, they beheld an astounding sight and fell silent.
Cargo carriages burning fiercely.
Guild workers shouting as they wielded buckets to quench the flames.
And standing before them, hair flying—a woman.
She spoke.
“Did you think you could steal from me and walk away?”
The Merchant Guild Master’s face drained of color.
‘How… how is this possible…!’
How was that madwoman alive and standing here?
“D-Dia…!”
Dia hurled herself at the Guild Master.

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