How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 249

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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 249
I turned my head sharply.
‘A whistle?’
The sound wasn’t coming from inside.
It was coming from the direction of the mines.
Wheep— wheep-wheep— wheep— wheep-wheep—.
The sound had a rhythm to it.
‘That’s the call for a carrier bird!’
Someone was summoning a carrier bird.
If so, I needed to check immediately.
I moved to call Antonio.
“Anto—!”
“I haven’t finished what I was saying.”
Ujina yanked me back forcefully.
“We can talk about this later. Right now I need to figure out what that sound is—.”
“I’m apologizing. I’m sorry.”
That was no way for someone to apologize.
Ujina had never been a particularly remarkable person to begin with.
Her father was merely the third son of the Caska family, a man of leisure.
He’d squandered every inheritance on pleasure.
If he hadn’t been the nephew of the Empress Dowager and Count Caska, she would never have dreamed of high society in the Archipelago.
It seemed she’d accumulated tremendous inferiority because of this.
The complex that had built up since childhood had finally erupted after she became pregnant with the Imperial grandchild and gained attention and influence.
In other words, she was no longer in her right mind.
“This is your last chance. Let me go.”
“So you hate me so much you want to leave at the slightest sound? That must be just a whistle calling a carrier bird.”
“Carrier birds? In a world where Signal Stones and Communication Birds exist?”
Finally, I shouted.
Ujina looked startled, her mouth falling open.
“Well, a carrier bird could still be—.”
“We don’t use carrier birds unless it’s wartime with risk of information leaks. Using a carrier bird means the communication infrastructure has been destroyed!”
“That’s impossible—.”
Ujina wore a bewildered expression, but I pushed her hand away.
Then I spoke urgently.
“Antonio, identify what that sound is.”
But something was odd.
Antonio was nowhere to be seen.
“Saint.”
Luciano’s Adjutant came running.
“Where’s Antonio? No, wait—what on earth is that sound?”
“Antonio was sent ahead with the advance scout group.”
“The advance scout group? Why—.”
“The advance group discovered what appears to be a Sealing Stone. They asked Antonio to verify it, as he said he’d encountered one before.”
A Sealing Stone.
A special mineral that seals divine power.
For those who wielded Divine Power or manifested the marks of divinity, it was as poisonous as anything could be.
Not only could one not use their abilities, but touching it caused flesh to burn with unbearable agony.
But it was extraordinarily rare.
Unlike Mana Stones that could be mined from the mines or Demon Stones obtained by defeating high-risk monsters, no one even knew where Sealing Stones came from.
Finding one was the luck of a lifetime.
It had enormous military applications as a weapon.
‘A Sealing Stone and the sound of a carrier bird being called….’
“What about communications? How are communications?”
“We can’t get any signal at all.”
“…!”
It was certain.
Something was definitely happening.
‘They’re targeting this place.’
In this mining region, only those brought by the Imperial Family could use Divine Power.
“I’ve ordered soldiers deployed immediately to search the area. For now, Your Holiness, you should remain safely inside the barracks….”
“No!”
I cried out.
Luciano’s Adjutant flinched.
“Pardon?”
“Call back all the soldiers at once. It’s a trap!”
At the commotion, the princes and princesses began emerging from their respective barracks.
“What’s happening?”
“Yustea?”
“What’s all this noise about?”
The princes and princesses turned to look at me.
“The soldiers you brought with you—you mustn’t move them. You mustn’t.”
The princes and princesses furrowed their brows.
“This is sudden….”
“What do you….”
“Why? Demon Stones weren’t enough—now they covet Sealing Stones too?”
Gaspard scoffed.
But that wasn’t what mattered.
“The Sealing Stone is a trap! They’re trying to draw the soldiers away from the Imperial Family!”
“What—what?”
Luciano’s Adjutant’s eyes widened, as did those of the princes and princesses.
“Gather the soldiers now. We must prepare for an attack.”
“….”
“….”
The princes and princesses fell silent.
All of them looked uncomfortable.
I froze.
“Surely not….”
The princes and princesses turned away without answering my words.
‘They sent them all out—every last one—because they wanted that Sealing Stone.’
I ran through the area where the barracks were positioned and confirmed my suspicions.
Each prince and princess had left behind only one or two guards; the rest they’d sent out completely.
“If it’s come to this, we need to escape quickly….”
I was muttering this when—
“Escape is wrong.”
“Completely wrong.”
It was Luciano and Ain.
Both were breathing hard.
It seemed they’d moved the moment they heard the whistle.
The other princes and princesses rushed over quickly.
“What do you mean?”
“Escape is wrong?”
“Explain. Now.”
At their shouts, Ain clicked his tongue sharply.
“A barrier’s been raised. Two kilometers in radius from the barracks. We can’t leave.”
“What—what—what?!”
“Then… then we’re really…!”
We were trapped.
We had no idea when the enemy would strike, and we were left with barely ten soldiers.
* * *
An hour later.
The Imperial Family’s anxiety was immense.
They were attempting to break through the barrier by any means.
Those with no combat experience in particular had been trembling nonstop for the entire hour.
Two of the princesses and Prince Ludviko were among them.
“Damn it, damn it!”
Prince Ludviko struck the barrier and roared.
The two princesses held their mouths covered with trembling hands.
“Who on earth would do such a thing….”
“Could it… could it be the Restoration Council?”
“The Restoration Council?!”
The color drained from both Ludviko and the princess’s faces.
In the end, they had only their half-brothers with combat experience to rely on.
The princess spun back toward the barracks, her voice sharp.
“We need to discuss how to handle this—!”
But something was wrong.
The people remaining in the barracks were moving about with purpose.
In a direction entirely unrelated to combat.
The smell of cooking meat drifted from somewhere.
No—not cooking.
They had meat strung across wooden frames above a fire, drying it.
Ludviko stared at the four gathered by the flames with a bewildered expression.
Luciano, Luciano’s adjutant, Ain, and Yustea.
“Should we build the fire up more?”
Ain muttered, and Yustea shook her head.
“We’d be wasting firewood.”
“True.”
Watching them cook with such composure, the princesses gaped.
“Wh—what are you…”
“What—what are you even…”
The princesses couldn’t find words, their expressions stunned.
Ludviko’s voice erupted.
“What in the world are you all doing at a time like this—!”
His shout crackled like thunder.
The four by the fire turned to look at Ludviko as one.
“We’re making jerky.”
Yustea was the first to answer.
Ain followed, waving his hand dismissively.
“Don’t just sit around complaining. Bring any raw meat you have from your supplies.”
Luciano’s adjutant rose to his feet.
“Should I inform the soldiers?”
A held breath burst from Ludviko’s lips.
“Jerky? How can you even speak of jerky at a moment like this!”
Just then, Ujina, who had remained in the barracks, came running.
“Try to stop her, please. I don’t understand why she’s doing this—Yustea suddenly insisted on making jerky, and now look at this mess.”
“…The Saint?”
Ludviko looked at Yustea with a surge of emotion in his eyes.
He strode toward her in long, deliberate steps.
“Just because you’re called a Saint and have accomplished a few deeds, do you think the Imperial Family’s survival rests upon your head?”
“That’s not it.”
Yustea answered calmly.
But her expression was utterly indifferent, her hands busy fanning the flames to stoke the fire.
Ludviko’s face twisted further.
“How can you be joking around at a time like this!”
“It’s not a joke. We don’t know how long we’ll be trapped here, so we’re preparing to preserve food for the duration.”
How long we’ll be trapped here?
Ludviko let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re saying the enemy means to keep us confined for a long time?”
“Yes.”
“Come to your senses. Even if communications from this place are cut, there are soldiers outside. They’ll send word.”
The enemy could hardly be ignorant of this fact.
Before the Imperial Palace’s forces arrived, the eastern nobility would send reinforcements.
Under such circumstances, there was no reason for the enemy to keep them alive for long.
“You’re talking nonsense. The enemy will surely move quickly to eliminate us and achieve their objective.”
“An hour has already passed.”
“That must be the time needed to deal with the soldiers outside—”
“If that were the case, they’d seize a member of the Imperial Family, hold a blade to their throat, and demand disarmament.”
“…”
He fell silent, words failing him.
Yustea continued fanning the flames, her chin resting on her other hand.
“The soldiers won’t come. If I were organizing this, I wouldn’t confine the barrier to just this place. I’d extend it to where the soldiers were sent—to the Sealing Stone—so they couldn’t escape either.”
“Why are you… what’s the purpose of keeping us here…?”
“I’m not certain. But they will keep us detained, that much is sure.”
“But the Imperial Palace might grow suspicious when we don’t report in. They could send someone to assess the situation.”
“They must be confident they can defend against that, or they wouldn’t be holding us at all.”
“How…?”
Yustea raised both her hands.
“You can figure out the reason later. What matters now is securing food and water.”
Ujina spoke up, breaking Ludviko’s stunned silence.
“You’re here, aren’t you? As long as there’s food and water for you to consume, couldn’t we recover as much as we need?”
Yustea stared up at the sky with hollow eyes.
“I can’t use my Special Ability. It’s likely the Sealing Stone’s power.”
“…!”
“…?!”
Yustea’s healing had been the only thing they could rely on.
The princesses collapsed where they stood.
The situation was growing graver by the moment.
* * *
Inside Ludviko’s barracks.
Bang!
Ludviko’s fist came down hard on the table.
He had no experience in actual combat, and he had no soldiers he could truly rely on.
The color had drained entirely from his face.
“What do I… what should I do…?”
“My love….”
Ujina placed a hand on his arm.
Ludviko’s expression darkened.
“Now you’re treating me like a husband? Because there’s nothing else to lean on!”
“C-calm yourself. Compared to the other princes and princesses, our situation isn’t so dire.”
“What are you talking about?”
Ujina gripped Ludviko’s hand and spoke.
“There wasn’t enough space in this area to establish barracks for everyone. So except for one or two days’ worth of provisions, they stored everything far away.”
“True….”
“But we’re different. We arrived first, so we were able to leave a supply wagon here.”
Unlike the other princes and princesses, they had ample food.
Ludviko’s agitation subsided.
“But Luciano, he….”
“Luciano arrived before us. He must be running short on provisions by now. He was probably waiting for resupply.”
That was certainly true.
His supply wagon had yielded very little meat.
“Just two days. In two days, he’ll come begging for food on his own. And I have this.”
Ujina produced a Covenant Document.
That magical device which would threaten the lives of any who signed it should they break their oath.
Ludviko’s eyes widened sharply.
“We can make a contract in exchange for food.”
“Have them forfeit the first trial. And….”
“When danger comes, force them to throw themselves in front of us. That’s how we eliminate our enemies.”
Ujina smiled brightly.
“We’ve stumbled into quite the fortune, haven’t we?”
A smile returned to Ludviko’s face.
He rose and draped an arm around Ujina’s shoulders.
“I’m fortunate to have such a wise wife.”
The rift between them had mended.
They had no doubt that they would now be the ones controlling the game.
Ujina’s thoughts drifted elsewhere.
‘We’ll gain far more than just this.’
Yustea—that wretched girl—would lose everything because of what was happening now.
That blindingly beautiful man.
She would never surrender food unless she extracted an oath that they would separate and never see each other again.
‘As long as you can’t use your Special Ability, you won’t be able to resist what’s coming.’
Let’s see just how shamefully this noble Saint begs for scraps of food.
Ujina smiled coldly from Ludviko’s arms.
But there was one thing they’d overlooked.
* * *
“No, that won’t do.”
“But it looks like arrowroot.”
“It causes dysentery. We’re already short on fresh water—do you want everyone getting dehydrated?”
Someone who’d survived three months and ten days on tree bark. A veteran of poverty.
“Check the nets, the nets!”
A master of survival.
…Yustea’s presence.

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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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