How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 240

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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 a Father
Chapter 240
Griaan asked.
“Why is that?”
“It’s the Marquis Andres’s territory.”
“Of all things….”
Griaan clicked his tongue with a soft tsk.
The feud between Marquis Andres and me was infamous, spanning beyond the Empire into foreign lands.
“I’ll go myself. Since this situation arose from my mistake, it falls to me to clean it up. You need not worry, Saint.”
I let out a soft hum.
Could Griaan secure the Fragment of Grace at the auction for certain?
Seeing the troubled expression on my face, Griaan smiled gently.
“I have more funds available than you might think, Saint.”
Well, that would be true.
He was someone who had advanced to the Third Channel.
Even if not quite as flush as I was with my stockpile of Magic Stones, he would have become quite wealthy from the rewards of divine blessing.
But I shook my head.
“Constance will have staked everything on this. I’ve heard he’s famous for his wealth.”
“You mean that man who boasts of completing a Divine Quest by obtaining the Fragment of Grace?”
“That’s the one. If he’s committed everything, you won’t be able to secure it outright. He must have spread rumors beforehand because he’s confident in his funds. And besides….”
I narrowed my eyes.
“I don’t want to give money to the thieves who stole from me just to get it back.”
“Then what will you do?”
I recalled the situation again.
Griaan had been robbed of the Fragment of Grace.
And the Underground Marketplace where the auction was being held—that was Marquis Andres’s territory.
‘Too much of a coincidence. Could it be….’
My expression grew cold, and Griaan asked.
“Why the sudden change?”
“I’ll need some time to prepare.”
“Prepare?”
“We’ll meet at the Underground Marketplace entrance in two hours.”
I rose from my seat.
* * *
Robel Street District B221.
Underground Marketplace Auction House.
Constance ground his teeth.
“Damn it all—!”
Bang!
He slammed the table, and nearby heads turned toward him.
His servant glanced around with an anxious expression.
“If a commotion breaks out, our presence may be discovered.”
“I know.”
Constance clicked his tongue and pulled the hood down low over his face.
Word must not get around that he’d purchased the Fragment of Grace through illegal distribution channels.
It would sully the brilliant accomplishment of performing a Divine Quest and gifting a Characteristic to Calypso.
He muttered through gritted teeth.
“He refused that money and still insisted on holding an auction?”
When word reached him that the Underground Marketplace operator had obtained the Fragment of Grace, he’d made an offer immediately.
Constance had frequented the Underground Marketplace for years.
The operator was a longtime client he’d always treated warmly, never sparing expense on the items he desired.
He’d thought the man would agree at once.
Their history was long, and the sum he’d offered was the highest price in the auction’s history.
And yet….
“Ha, we’re delighted by your interest in the item, but we do have rules here.”
“What, what did you say?”
“Purchases must be made only through auction, and only within the Underground Marketplace. Constance.”
He’d refused the deal that flatly.
Constance bit the soft flesh inside his mouth.
“The fool. He refused all that money?”
“Perhaps he’s calculating he’ll make a larger profit through auction.”
Constance snorted at his servant’s words.
“Does he really think the people participating in an auction like this would know the true value of the Fragment of Grace?”
“Well….”
“Without real competition, an auction fetches no true price.”
Constance snorted and crossed his legs.
‘It doesn’t matter. Either way.’
By tonight, the Fragment of Grace would be in his hands, and it would be he who completed the Divine Quest.
Thus would he become Yohaël’s closest confidant and come to rule the world.
Constance’s lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“When does the auction begin?”
The servant checked his pocket watch.
“Thirty minutes remaining.”
“That’s an eternity.”
Constance furrowed his brow and raised a champagne glass.
Then it happened.
The entrance began to stir, and people throughout the hall suddenly stood.
“Th-those, those people—!”
“What? Why are they—!”
The Assembly Hall fell into chaos.
Constance frowned and followed the eyes of the crowd.
Clink.
The champagne glass slipped from his hand.
His body rose before conscious thought could catch up.
Figures who should never appear in an auction house like this were walking through the entrance!
“So it’s true that the Fragment of Grace is being auctioned?”
“So I’ve heard, Grandfather.”
Marquis Nevarro and Guinevere.
“The Fragment of Grace is confirmed to be authentic?”
“Yes.”
“That fool Constance must not have secured the Fragment of Grace after all—just issued an empty promise.”
“That would be fortunate for us. If we acquire it before the banquet, the credit becomes ours.”
“‘Ours’? Not yours alone? How much have you managed to scrape together?”
“Ha, I’ll still need your support, sir.”
The leading figures of the new powers that had seized control after the Seven Families withdrew.
“We must secure the Fragment of Grace by any means.”
“Of course.”
The nobles who had once been called the Seven Families.
“Let’s at least lay eyes on the Fragment of Grace.”
“Ha ha! And if we’re fortunate enough to purchase it, even better!”
Veteran generals who had served as commanders of the Imperial Army.
And yet more….
“Ah, welcome!”
The operator of the Underground Marketplace hurried over.
To Onel of the Andres Family—the Family still commanding power at the very summit despite the dissolution of the Seven Families!
The heir to the Andres Family and Yustea’s half-brother had arrived himself.
Constance’s face went deathly pale.
“H-how, how did this happen! How could they show their faces in a filthy underground auction like this—!”
The Underground Marketplace was an auction for commoners.
Such nobility never revealed themselves except at something like the Grand Market, the true black market.
And even then, never in person.
Constance’s servant moved urgently to gather information.
Ten minutes later, the servant’s face returned ashen.
“Y-young master…!”
“What is it? What in blazes is happening!”
“Someone has spread word through the Archipelago that the Fragment of Grace is being auctioned!”
“What?”
Constance’s face went deathly pale.
But there was one more person for whom the situation had become dire.
Onel gripped the Communication Stone.
“All manner of riffraff has descended upon us.”
[It will be difficult to purchase with the budgeted funds.]
Marquis Andres himself.
“Even Grandmother’s private funds have been mobilized. We can’t invest any more. Who on earth would do such a thing….”
[That girl would have recognized this as an ‘invitation.’ Yustea, I mean.]
That girl, Yustea.
That was it.
This was an invitation.
Using the Fragment of Grace to draw Yustea to the Andres Family—an invitation.
“Truly… that girl is unpredictable.”
Onel exhaled a long breath.
“She flipped the board entirely, refusing to move at our whim.”
[I’ll send additional funds. We must obtain the Fragment of Grace by any means.]
“Yes.”
The communication ended.
Onel surveyed the Assembly Hall.
In the corner, a woman wearing a pulled-down hood came into view.
Onel approached her and spoke.
“You’ve grown quite tall. …Yustea.”
Yustea glanced at him sidelong.
“No need to address me.”
“Thanks to you, we’re spending considerable funds.”
“Because you stole what was mine.”
Yustea’s voice turned glacial.
Onel studied her.
“We did?”
“Don’t play dumb. A common thief recognizing the Fragment of Grace? That makes no sense. Stealing it from a Pattern-Bearer and the Bearer not noticing all this time—that’s the real miracle.”
There had been plenty worth stealing besides the Fragment of Grace in Griaan’s belongings.
A common thief would never have shown interest in what looked like a pottery shard.
“You commissioned him?”
“….”
“You must have used Perception Magic or something to prevent Griaan from perceiving the theft. Or perhaps it was Mark Power instead.”
“….”
“Since the Reconstruction Society distributed Patterns to thousands, finding someone with Mark Power wouldn’t have been difficult.”
“….”
“But the fact that this ended up in the Underground Marketplace instead of with the Andres Family suggests something went wrong.”
Having listened quietly to Yustea’s words, Onel let out a soft, bitter chuckle.
“Your intuition is sharp.”
“I’m wrong?”
“No. Before we could secure the Fragment of Grace, the Reconstruction Society got involved. The terrified thief sought shelter here in the Underground Marketplace, caught between the Andres Family and the Reconstruction Society.”
As expected.
Yustea clicked her tongue.
‘The Marquis didn’t deploy force, so it’s obvious.’
This place was neutral ground between the Andres Family and the Reconstruction Society.
Neither group feared the Underground Marketplace itself.
But with the two factions checking each other, the Underground Marketplace remained safe.
Onel tilted his head slightly.
His chin gestured toward men in black hoods.
“Those are officers of the Reconstruction Society. They’ll do their utmost to secure the Fragment of Grace too.”
The officers of the Reconstruction Society were watching Yustea and Onel intently.
Yustea spoke.
“Stop talking nonsense about my property.”
‘The Fragment of Grace is mine.’
* * *
The auction began.
Marquis Nevarro, who occupied one side of the hall, asked Guinevere.
“How did you learn that the Fragment of Grace was being auctioned?”
“Someone sent a letter to our Intelligence Department.”
“It must be Yustea.”
“Do you think so as well?”
“Everyone here will think so. Quite a few people know that Yustea went to Ilfarm.”
The Saint who had brought so many Magic Stones.
Yustea commanded everyone’s attention.
Yet she had shut herself away in the Manor for nearly a month.
Refusing every invitation.
Those with confidence in their intelligence networks had surmised that Yustea had left the Empire with some man from Ilfarm.
Guinevere spoke.
“I thought Yustea had secured the Fragment of Grace. How did this come about?”
“Something went wrong. Given that the Underground Marketplace auction is being held on Marquis Andres’s territory, he must have had a hand in it.”
“But why deliberately spread the rumor that the Fragment of Grace exists?”
There had been a way to quietly bid on and purchase the Fragment of Grace.
That would have been safer.
Yustea had become tremendously wealthy through Magic Stones.
Had she decided to purchase it, Constance wouldn’t have stood a chance.
They were discussing such things.
“If you ask me, she didn’t want to spend the money!”
“Ah, that does seem likely.”
The elderly former generals enthusiastically joined the conversation.
“She wanted someone else to buy it for her!”
“Without spending a single gold coin herself, she’d swallow the Fragment of Grace whole. And what excellent indebtedness she’d cultivate in the process!”
“Exactly. Once you’ve invested that much money, you can’t afford to let go of Yustea Esgaroth. Not with such an investment at stake.”
The old men slapped their knees and laughed uproariously.
“What a clever child.”
“Marvelous! Ah, nothing is more entertaining than a Saint in motion!”
“Not a bit!”
Seeing the laughing generals, Guinevere giggled.
She turned to her grandfather.
“Then we must secure it this time. Both to repay Yustea’s kindness and to secure our place as her closest advisors.”
“It won’t be easy. …Look there.”
The new nobility had gathered.
“If they can’t secure it alone, they’ll band together.”
“Good heavens….”
“And over there, I believe that’s the Reconstruction Society.”
“The Reconstruction Society shouldn’t have abundant funds.”
They had not obtained Magic Stones as Yustea had.
A faction desperately in need of military strength to counter the Empire.
Rather than invest in wealth, they had chosen Characteristics when completing Divine Quests.
“They haven’t made a move toward Calypso yet. That’s likely because they plan to take him by force if the Empire-backed new nobility acquire multiple Characteristics first.”
“Then—!”
“If the new nobility supporting Calypso can’t secure it, they’ll deploy military force.”
“This truly won’t be easy….”
Guinevere groaned softly.
Even as they spoke, the auction proceeded.
Several items passed, then the final lot.
At last came the one everyone—all the nobility—had been waiting for.
‘The Fragment of Grace!’
Guinevere stirred.
Constance had already raised his paddle and shouted.
“Eighty million gold!”
“What, what?!”
“Eighty million?!”
The hall erupted.
It was unheard of to open with such an amount from the start.
Even the Grand Market wouldn’t see such sums.
Guinevere quickly raised her paddle.
“Eighty-one million gold…!”
Then it happened.
Onel, the heir to the Andres Family, quietly raised his paddle.
“One hundred million gold.”
‘Is he insane?!’
One hundred million gold.
Guinevere’s face went ashen.
At this point, there was no choice.
‘I’ll liquidate my personal funds if I have to….’
Then it happened.
Someone threw a note to Guinevere and the old nobles.
[Leave through the back exit. Imperial soldiers are coming.]
“…What?”
Yustea’s handwriting.
That very moment—
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!
The sound of military boots echoed.
An illegal auction house.
Discovery meant arrest.
Guinevere’s group and the old nobles fled the auction house in chaos.
“Wh-what is happening—!”
“I-I don’t know!”
As Guinevere and the old nobles scrambled, Yustea’s lips curved upward.
‘It was all just buying time.’
Handle it simply and swiftly.
By deploying the power of law.

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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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