How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 215

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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
Chapter 215
The moment I saw the name , I knew.
‘It’s Miliano!’
He had a passage permit too—meaning he had access to the Channel.
I rushed to say something, then stopped short.
It would be dangerous to speak here.
The Reconstruction Council was accessing this Channel too.
While I was mulling over what to do, a method came to mind.
Using the Trait I’d taken from the GM, I could exchange messages with Luciano and Abel.
I sent Abel a message right away.
[It’s me]
After a moment of silence, a message arrived.
[…?]
Since my capture, everyone had trusted Oscar and hadn’t reached out separately by message.
Besides, using messages required spending Mana.
If I got caught using Mana, it would be trouble—so they probably didn’t think I could write messages at all.
That’s why Abel seemed surprised.
[I want to talk to Miliano.]
[He’s next to me. I’ll pass it along.]
Good.
[I want to know about the Channel. The Reconstruction Council seems to have collected precious items through it. Why didn’t you say anything even though you knew?]
There was a long silence.
Then, after a while, a very long answer came back.
[Miliano can only access the Common Channel.]
[The Common Channel?]
[It’s a channel that anyone with entry authorization can enter.]
[So?]
[It seems you can only enter other channels after completing Tasks and raising your Holy Affinity.]
The explanation went like this.
Constellations from other channels sometimes appear in the Common Channel and give Tasks.
Completing a Task raises your Holy Affinity.
By raising your Holy Affinity that way, you can enter higher Channels, he said.
The closer you get to Channel 1, the more powerful the Constellations participating, and it seems the Reconstruction Council obtained incredible items from such powerful Constellations.
[Most Tasks are nearly impossible, and the penalty for failure is severe, they say.]
That’s probably why Miliano didn’t mention it.
[You’d definitely overextend yourself if it were you.]
‘Well, that’s true, but….’
My eyes narrowed.
It was then.
[A Task from the Goddess of Beauty has opened.]
[The Goddess of Beauty is searching for a “Servant Beast that plays the harp.”]
[Conditions: Mana of 3000 or higher, must be beautiful, must have dignity, must have musical aptitude.]
My eyes flew open.
“Mana of 3000? Are you joking? With a thousand, I might be able to help even if someone loses a limb or two….”
I stopped mid-sentence.
‘Ah, so that’s why.’
I finally understood Miliano’s silence a little.
Mana of 3000.
I opened my status window.
Name: Yustea Esgaroth
Class: Saint
Traits: Purification, Healing, Status Window (Active), Divine Mark (50% (Show More)), Pattern Bestowal (3/3), Affection Reading (Active), Management
MP: 1690/1822
.
.
‘I don’t even reach 2000.’
3000 or above meant a high-risk monster.
Such a powerful being on top of having musical aptitude.
Meaning it had to be intelligent.
It was definitely a nearly impossible Task.
Chats came flooding up in the Common Channel.
Goddess of Beauty’s Follower: There she goes again. Acting up again.
Lord of Masks’ Follower: Seems your Servant Beast isn’t to your liking.
Goddess of Beauty’s Follower: Shut up.
Nun of Benessa: Could you maybe accept 2000? Immediately available..^^
[The Goddess of Beauty dismisses this as nonsense.]
Lord of Masks’ Follower: Like the Constellations would go easy on anyoneㅋㅋㅋ
Nun of Benessa: ^.ㅠ
BearLover: Participating~ ( ´͈ ◡ `͈ )
Goddess of Beauty’s Follower: Annoying for real. Participating.
Lord of Masks’ Follower: Participating~
Nun of Benessa: I’ll try joining with the Goddess of Beauty’s Follower..
.
.
My jaw dropped.
‘They’re participating right away?’
Teams were even being formed on the spot.
It was then.
Guardian of the Old Empire’s Aesthetics: I shall participate.
The Old Empire.
Raphael’s scent wafted thick from that name.
So that’s how he’s raising his Holy Affinity to enter higher Channels.
I hesitated.
‘The Reconstruction Council probably knows my name within the Channel.’
Didn’t the others recognize me the moment I entered?
Miliano even called me Young Lady.
‘But I don’t know when the next Task will come down.’
Besides, the Reconstruction Council wouldn’t think I could find a Servant Beast worth 3000 Mana.
Master of the Eight Incomparables: Participating.
Suddenly, my body glowed golden and chains wrapped tightly around me.
Then they vanished.
But I could feel a binding force restraining me.
As Miliano said, if I fail, I receive a penalty.
I didn’t know what penalty, but it was probably severe.
[Miliano cursed. First time I’ve heard that.]
A message came from Abel.
…It really seemed like failure would incur a terrible penalty.
* * *
Raphael’s room was cool.
Ornately decorated yet subtly oppressive in its atmosphere.
Raphael, watching a floating window in midair, chuckled.
Master of the Eight Incomparables: Participating.
“This is really entertaining.”
Those bearing the Pattern—the Channel’s passage permit—had been receiving brilliant Tasks from Constellations all this while.
Through that, experience and information accumulated.
But Yustea was on her first Task.
And she’d received a trickier one than usual—finding a powerful, intelligent monster.
The Goddess of Beauty rarely visits the Common Channel.
She resides in at least a single-digit Channel.
Her nature was extremely cruel.
Those in her Channel not only suffered bodily mutilation but also lost their minds.
“Acting right away without gathering information—is it simplicity? Intention? …Anne?”
He turned his gaze toward the figure cloaked in shadow.
Cherry-blossom-pink hair swayed in the night breeze.
In her sunken eyes, no light could be found.
“I don’t know.”
She seemed like a different person from when they’d met in the past Reconstruction Council Headquarters where the Ghost Castle Dungeon lay.
No longer referring to herself by name, she’d grown taller, and her skin was covered in scars.
Raphael smiled.
“When the Saint finds a Servant Beast, it will become troublesome. Go awaken ‘it’ in the Forest and subdue it.”
The figures in Rabbit Masks prostrating behind Anne bowed their heads deeply.
* * *
I was sprawled on the bed, tossing and turning.
‘In a way, being at the Reconstruction Council Headquarters is actually fortunate.’
The Reconstruction Council kept many special monsters.
I might be able to find a monster with 3000 Mana and intelligence.
The fact that Raphael participated so confidently suggested it was probably certain.
“The problem is how to find it first and offer it….”
In the middle of muttering.
“Stop spouting nonsense and think about how to recover if you incur a penalty.”
The door clattered open and Oscar came in.
His face was thick with irritation.
When I sat up, Oscar pressed down hard on my head.
“We escape in two days.”
“The Goddess of Beauty’s Servant Beast—!”
“Before you start saying that, I’m getting you out of here.”
“…How did you know I received a Task?”
“Everyone at the Headquarters is talking about it. Do you know how many Pattern bearers are in this place?”
Right—the Reconstruction Council had been creating Pattern manifestors for four years.
After four years, there had to be a massive number of them.
“But that Task is a waste.”
“Yustea.”
“The fact that everyone wants to participate despite how difficult it is means the Constellation called the Goddess of Beauty is that impressive. You might even enter a higher Channel in one go.”
Oscar sighed.
“The GM is coming.”
“…!”
I flinched.
The GM.
The one who manipulated the story through Stella, the one who shook my life so desperately that Mother wanted to turn back the world’s time itself.
His goal was to replicate my Trait, the one I didn’t know about.
If they achieved their goal, the world would flip upside down.
“He’ll arrive in four days.”
“….”
“Prepare for escape.”
“….”
With that declaration, Oscar left the room.
‘If only two days are left….’
I twisted my lips with regret.
* * *
Two days later, afternoon.
The Reconstruction Council Castle was dark.
Damp shadows stretched long across the gray stone walls.
I quietly left my room.
I passed the Stairs and headed toward the Corridor.
Beyond the Corridor lay a path to the Forest.
‘Oscar said he’d wait there.’
The reason I chose that spot was because there were no guards there.
They thought I couldn’t escape even without guards.
Besides, Pinabi was coming from that Forest.
If my guess was right, that would be a monster’s territory.
I planned to slip away with Oscar by targeting the place they believed was absolutely impossible to escape from.
[Where are you?]
I’d just given Oscar the GM’s Trait, granting him message rights.
I replied to his message right away.
[On my way.]
The presence of a high-rank monster in the Forest wasn’t dangerous.
I planned to escape using Oscar’s Pattern anyway.
We needed three things.
1. Oscar approaching my room without me disappearing.
2. A place to avoid people’s eyes.
3. A place with an ultra-high-rank monster where using Mana could be blamed on the monster.
—The Forest was exactly where all three conditions aligned.
I avoided people and entered the Forest.
Even though the sun was still up, the Forest was dark as night.
Dense trees had swallowed all the sunlight.
The Forest was quiet.
As if something lay dormant within.
I confirmed Healing and Purification were active, then set forth.
I was heading to the place Oscar had shown me.
“Aaahhhhh—!”
A sharp scream rang out.
I stopped short and turned my head.
A figure in a Rabbit Mask flickered in the grass.
‘A Rabbit Mask….’
Suddenly, someone came to mind.
That child I met in the Ghost Castle.
‘Anne?’
I hesitated for a moment.
Oscar was waiting.
I had to escape now.
Because the GM was coming.
But….
“Anne likes Yustea, so she’s happy to be in the Reconstruction Council. But that doesn’t mean Anne doesn’t understand Yustea’s heart. If the Rabbit told Anne she didn’t like Anne, then Anne would dislike the Rabbit.”
“Goodbye….”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘I’m going crazy.’
I let out a sigh and ran.
…Toward the Rabbit Mask.
I ran, roughing through the brush.
Where I hurried to, there was a cloaked monster.
Its body was made entirely of black smoke.
In other words, it had no physical form.
An impossible opponent to attack.
Anne crouched before the monster, clutching an Iron Flail.
The monster extended its hand.
Anne was lifted up by the throat, dangling limp.
[How foolish.]
Anne’s wounds were severe.
Blood streamed from her abdomen.
“Don’t move, Anne—!”
I immediately activated the Nullification Field.
A burst of golden light extended toward Anne, wrapping around her.
Torn flesh knitted together, and the bleeding began to stop.
I rushed toward Anne and the monster.
I activated Purification.
The monster’s hand scattered like smoke.
Anne tumbled to the ground.
Anne stared at me.
“You….”
“Are you okay?”
Anne’s face contorted.
She shoved me roughly.
“Liar! You killed Benjamin!”
Anne, who’d loved Benjamin so much she’d even put on a mask for him.
She had every reason to resent me.
“I understand. I’ll listen to your resentment later, but right now—”
That monster was very dangerous.
Just purifying it a little was draining my Mana rapidly.
If I used up all my Mana like this, I didn’t know what would happen to me either.
“Anne, we have to go!”
“You lied to me… and used me….”
Anne’s eyes turned bloodshot.
Scars that covered her body like shattered glass came into view.
I’d received Anne’s help at the Reconstruction Council Headquarters where the Ghost Castle Dungeon lay.
If Anne had become like this because of that….
I clenched my lips tight.
“I was wrong. So Anne, please….”
The monster’s eyes flashed.
Smoke engulfed us.
Even within the Nullification Field, I purified it at once, but half my Mana vanished in a flash.
I was on the verge of losing consciousness.
Seeing me dazed, Anne’s pupils trembled finely.
Anne reached out a trembling hand to me.
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound rang out, and a hexagonal barrier blocked the monster.
“My, I thought we were building a smooth relationship.”
It was Raphael’s voice.
I lifted my head and he was approaching with an elegant smile.
I swallowed dryly.
“Were you escaping?”
“A stroll.”
“Ha, you should say something believable.”
I clenched my fist.
‘Should I attack?’
While I was thinking, he approached and took hold of my chin.
“Please stay with us.”
His eyes curved like crescents and his breath drew near.

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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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