How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 229

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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 229
Bang—.
A dull boom echoed across the lakeside as Sungsu crumpled, the sudden silence shattered by the sound.
“Yelp!”
Yuri sank to the ground where she stood.
I was undoubtedly the culprit.
The moment the veil fell away, I’d launched myself forward.
My fist blazed with fire, and Yuri trembled, clutching her nose.
“What on earth—!”
Her sharp voice trailed off mid-sentence.
It was because Yuri had looked up and seen my face.
The novice priests crouching beside Yuri wore identical expressions of shock.
I’d been born as the Noble Lady of Count Andres, a figure well-known in the Magedom through various ceremonies and tournaments.
Few among those who dwelled in the Archipelago didn’t recognize my face.
Which meant they’d just discovered that ‘Maria,’ the girl they’d been ostracizing, was the Saint.
“S-s-s-saint….”
The novice priest who’d clung to Yuri and mocked me with pointing fingers turned ashen.
“E-esgaroth… Esgaroth….”
The novice priest who’d dumped tasks on me with snickering paled visibly.
“P-p-prince Luciano’s… b-betrothed….”
The novice priest who’d tried to help Yuri assault me went gray as ash.
As the novice priests’ complexions shifted through various hues, Yuri herself remained utterly speechless.
Her eyes bulged wide, and she could only manage ragged breaths.
I grabbed the top of Yuri’s head.
“I can overlook hazing. Violence ended at an attempt, so I’ll let that slide too. But attempted murder crosses the line.”
“I… or rather, I….”
Yuri’s lips fluttered uselessly.
Yuri and the novice priests’ pupils trembled violently.
The novices exchanged glances helplessly, unsure what to do.
Sweat drenched their temples.
Yet Yuri recovered faster than the others.
Though her smile was awkward, she soon rose and offered me a bow.
“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding.”
“Yes.”
She smiled brightly and continued.
“I’m not sure why you’ve taken on the role of a novice priest here in the Jedo Temple, but I apologize for our rudeness. The blame for the misunderstanding falls on our own conduct having been improper.”
She was saying we should let this slide quietly if I didn’t want my disguise as a novice exposed.
She was certainly no ordinary woman.
I laughed.
The novice priests’ faces brightened. Yuri, too, wore a thick smile.
They seemed to think my laughter meant I was letting the matter pass.
“You seem to think you’ve discovered some great weakness.”
Yuri’s smile faltered.
She’d flinched because I came forward so calmly, contrary to her expectation that I’d want to hide my novice disguise.
“Feel free to spread the word if you like.”
“…It would be inconvenient for both of us, wouldn’t it?”
When I smiled faintly, Yuri gripped the hem of her robe tightly.
She wouldn’t want to back down in front of the other novices.
Besides, even knowing my identity, Yuri couldn’t treat me as a Saint right away.
To her, I would still be ‘Maria.’
The realization that someone she’d looked down on actually outranked her would have wounded her pride.
Moreover, the fact that I wasn’t the only Saint now would be another factor she couldn’t swallow.
Yuri’s lips twisted.
“If you insist.”
Yuri turned her back.
She headed toward the Head Priest’s Chamber of the Jedo Temple.
* * *
The priests gathered in the Head Priest’s Chamber.
Yuri’s devoted followers had summoned them in a panic, claiming something terrible had happened.
Though some novice priests still seemed anxious.
They glanced around the room now crowded with priests and whispered among themselves.
“Will this really be okay…?”
“What if we get struck down by divine retribution for doing this to the Saint?”
Yuri smiled faintly.
“The more people gather, the safer we are.”
“What?”
“The Saint disregarded procedure and protocol, shaking the Terretsa Church to its core. The priests here at Jedo Temple had no idea she’d disguised herself as a novice.”
They definitely didn’t know.
During the last service, Priest Benix had sharply criticized Yustea for being absent.
The other priests had either clucked their tongues or glared at her coldly.
Could they have done such things if they’d known she was the Saint?
“There must be a reason she entered this place in disguise. A very secret reason, I mean.”
At minimum, something illegal.
“The Saint is acting on impulse right now. She’s unwilling to let go of her pride while secretly hoping not to be discovered.”
“That may be true, but if the Saint grows angry and decides to exclude us from the temple….”
Yuri laughed softly.
“Unfairly excluded because we discovered the Saint’s transgression? Public opinion will be on our side. Once opinion shifts, the temple will have no choice but to protect us.”
“Ah.”
“Even if the Saint claims she was ostracized by us, no one will believe her. They’ll think she’s making excuses out of spite over being exposed for her wrongdoing.”
“Ah ah…!”
The novice priests’ faces lit up.
“You’re amazing, Yuri.”
“I’m telling you, all we have to do is trust Yuri and this is solved.”
The novice priests giggled.
They’d thought their lives were ruined if they fell out of the Saint’s favor, but there was a way out after all.
Yuri nodded.
“If we’ve already fallen from grace, we need to find a way to survive, don’t we?”
Just then, Yustea arrived outside the chamber.
Yuri’s smile widened as she watched her approach.
It would have been peaceful if things had gone smoothly.
“Let’s go in.”
Yuri’s voice dripped with arrogance.
The novice priests entered the Head Priest’s Chamber with Yustea and began their explanation.
That ‘Maria’ was Yustea.
Of course, they conveniently omitted how they’d ostracized ‘Maria.’
‘The Terretsa Church is about to turn upside down.’
Yuri watched Yustea with a self-assured expression.
The Head Priest of Jedo Temple slowly opened his mouth.
“I cannot lift my head. Your devotion, Saint, far exceeds this old servant’s sincerity.”
…What?
Yuri stiffened as she looked at the Head Priest.
The Head Priest gazed at Yustea with a warm smile.
Yustea sat across from him, smiling back.
“I’m embarrassed.”
Yuri’s mouth fell open.
‘What… what is this?’
His reaction was nothing like she’d anticipated!
Yustea glanced at Yuri with utter composure.
Yuri and the novice priests’ faces went rigid.
What in the world was happening?!
The color drained from their faces.
Yustea drank the tea the Head Priest offered with a bright smile.
‘If you wanted to use public opinion, you should have gone straight to the outside, not the priests.’
Spread the word to the priests all you want.
The priests would want to quietly let the matter pass.
The Head Priest’s temples were already soaked with cold sweat.
“Who could fail to understand the Saint’s pure heart in wanting to learn properly from being a novice?”
He was desperately trying to smooth things over.
His eyes trembled as if possessed.
The other priests quickly agreed.
“What, what a noble thought you harbored!”
“Y-yes. This humble servant shall likewise follow your example and not forget the basics.”
Even the stalwart Benix was swallowing hard.
Yuri, in shock, cried out.
“But this is selfish behavior that shook the Terretsa Church—.”
“Silence!”
The Head Priest barked suddenly.
He was throwing ash on a situation just barely coming under control!
Seeing the Head Priest glaring with eyes that flickered between anger and desperation, Yustea simply shrugged.
This was the sad nature of administrative positions.
During my part-time work, the Imperial Army administrators would say like clockwork:
“Please, don’t let anything go wrong under my watch.”
“Let’s keep this quiet. Quiet—!”
‘Could you really claim the administrators had no idea what the Saint was doing inside Jedo Temple?’
The Head Priest laughed stiffly.
But his legs were trembling.
“Is there anything else you require?”
“No, I have other matters to attend to.”
Yustea rose from her seat.
The Head Priest quickly opened the door.
“Please, mind your step.”
His voice quavered.
Yustea left the chamber and met Yuri’s eyes as she passed.
Yuri’s face had gone completely pale.
Yustea whispered softly.
“Hang in there.”
“…!”
Yuri froze in humiliation.
Yustea laughed.
‘I did want to finish things as quietly as possible.’
What I’d been concerned about was public attention.
As I said, everyone’s eyes were on me right now.
Someone might discover that I’d made contact with the people of Ilfarm and start investigating.
And if it came out that I’d secretly traded Demon Stones with Terriars, that would be troublesome.
‘But that’s just inconvenient—it wouldn’t cause any major catastrophe. The Head Priest will likely explain things sufficiently.’
Click.
Only after the door closed could Yuri move again.
She spoke to the priests, wiping cold sweat from their brows.
“Why… why are you just letting the Saint go? If people find out about this….”
“Do you really think the Saint would face punishment if people found out?!”
One of the priests suddenly bellowed.
“Who would punish the Saint? Hmm?”
“That would be… that would be up to the Imperial Family….”
“The Imperial Family?”
The priest’s expression hardened.
“Do you know how much Demon Stone the Saint received after completing the divine task?”
“That is….”
“Foreign powers are now calling the Avalon Empire a new resource superpower.”
To the Emperor, Yustea was the peak talent who’d transformed the nation into a resource superpower.
“The highest talent, whose next achievements are immeasurable. You think she’s a card you can discard over getting a little public backlash?”
“…!”
“It’s not just the Emperor, either. What do you think Empress Regina and Prince Luciano would do if they learned of this?!”
Empress Regina and Prince Luciano were powerful backing.
And that wasn’t all.
The Head Priest rubbed his face and groaned.
“Marquis Esgaroth and the Young Marquis would come roaring down like fire-breathing dragons. If that Irregular lost his mind and came….”
Ugh.
He wanted to scream, forgetting all dignity.
He cried out:
“From the start! We cannot damage the reputation of the Saint, who is the very face of the Terretsa Church!”
“….”
“Ah, if we did, we’d be dragged to the Papacy. If His Holiness learns of this….”
He could already envision himself and the other priests begging with hands and feet.
Yuri and the novice priests’ breathing became ragged.
They’d never seen the priests so panicked before.
In the end, Yuri and her group were simply expelled.
The novice priests trembled as they stepped into the corridor.
“W-what just happened? Why… why….”
“What did we… what did we do… what do we do….”
A few novice priests sank to the ground, tears streaming down their faces.
Yuri clutched her mouth with trembling hands.
Late teens to early twenties.
Only now did the novice priests, who’d known little of the world, realize what they’d done.
* * *
I stared down at the novice priests clinging to my legs with hollow eyes.
“We committed a grave sin. Please forgive us. Please forgive us, I beg you…!”
“Ah, Saint, please have mercy…!”
Their faces were wrecked from how much they’d wept.
Yuri knelt as well, though she couldn’t bring herself to clasp her hands in supplication.
I spoke with a merciful expression.
“Go wait for your punishment for attempted murder.”
“Saint!”
“Sob…!”
I waved my hand dismissively.
The holy knights dragged away the pale-faced novice priests, bewildered.
A young man watching the entire scene laughed.
“I apologize for the wait.”
I faced the man called Greyanne, or rather, the nun of Benissa.
Greyanne smiled faintly.
“You’ve taken quite the beating, it seems. Well, I certainly did notice you needed an Exorcism, what with the Rako Flower Powder and all that to lure the holy water.”
Rako Flower—
A flower that draws monsters.
Used in monster subjugation and such.
Odorless and colorless.
The same thing Leira had used in the Family Tournament finals.
Greyanne had caught that scent from me.
‘But it’s odorless and colorless—how did he know?’
At my expression, Greyanne shrugged.
“Only humans think Rako Flower is odorless and colorless. To me, it smells sweetly.”
“Is that sense something you obtained from a Channel?”
“That’s correct.”
“I wanted to ask about Channels. Could we share information?”
“Hmm, information.”
Greyanne crossed his arms leisurely.
“What are your terms?”
“Is there something you want?”
Greyanne tapped his forearm lightly with his fingertip.
He smiled faintly.
“How about we form a team?”
“A team?”
“I’m in Channel 3.”
Channel 3—
The channel where Calypso was.
‘So he’s in quite a high-level channel!’
“It wouldn’t be a bad arrangement for you either, Saint.”
“But I can’t enter Channel 3, can I? You’d get the information and claim all the reward from the task for yourself?”
I wanted Channel information, but I wasn’t about to be played for a fool.
Greyanne’s eyes widened at my gaze.
Then he laughed low.
“You’re quite extraordinary. When you form a team, rewards are divided according to contribution. If you have a Pattern, you can receive tasks with your teammates. Naturally, the Points as well.”
“Ah.”
So that’s how Calypso managed to enter Channel 3—the Restoration Council must have helped her that way.
“So you’ve been given a ticket.”
“…A ticket?”
Such things existed.
I asked.
“What’s the task?”
Then he said:
“Hmm, I suppose you could say we need to spread the word.”
Spread… what?

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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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