How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 265

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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 265
Kieeeek—!
A piercing shriek tears through the air.
When deafening noise erupts from within the Mirror World, shaking eardrums, those gathered wince and cry out, hands clapped over their ears.
The young man was the first to regain his senses.
“Wait—the Saint—!”
At his shout, the people who had been clutching their ears in agony lifted their heads.
And the sight that unfolded within the Mirror World was….
[Troublesome, truly.]
Yustea hurls away the now-useless Heavenly Demon’s Horn.
And sprawled before her lay an enormous dragon.
A child who had been gazing blankly at the Mirror World murmured.
“She drove it back….”
The roar that shook the town square came in that very moment.
“Ahhhhh!”
“She did it again!”
Those who had been nervously cheering for Yustea, those swept up in the fervor—all of them threw both arms toward the sky.
* * *
I gasped for breath and swept my wet hair back from my forehead.
I’d been running through the forest searching for the Heavenly Demon, then throwing myself at Idel, racing on again.
I was at my limit.
‘But I think I found his sanity.’
A flicker of light returned to Idel’s eyes.
Despite all the chaos he’d caused and his body ravaged by contamination—his eyes could barely blink properly—he was watching me quietly.
At least, he was watching.
‘This isn’t the time for this.’
I approached Idel.
Then I crawled down beneath his neck and spoke.
“You gave me the Heavenly Demon’s Horn, which hasn’t depleted its Holy Power. I’m taking it as promised.”
I tore out the Reverse Scale beneath his neck without hesitation.
Growwwl—!
A harsh, rasping cry burst forth, whether from pain or the shock of his weakened state.
Regardless, I ripped out the Reverse Scale and crawled back up.
Because of his magnified form, a single Reverse Scale was like a shield.
As I emerged from beneath Idel, Luciano landed at my side.
“You said you wouldn’t do anything dangerous.”
Luciano’s eyes narrowed.
I, holding the Reverse Scale, lifted my chin boldly.
“But first, shouldn’t you say something?”
“…You’ve worked hard. Thank you.”
I smiled brightly.
I handed over the Reverse Scale and, almost thoughtlessly, turned my gaze away.
And then I froze at the sight before me.
Idel’s body was beginning to shrink.
I thought he was transforming into his demonic form, and my eyes went wide.
It wasn’t his demonic form.
The shrinking silhouette was familiar.
‘Just like what I saw in that impossible world’—!
I hastily removed Luciano’s cape.
“What are you—”
Luciano furrowed his brow, but I had no time to answer.
I had to throw the cape over Idel and conceal his form.
Luciano glanced back and forth between my tense face and the cape concealing Idel, and murmured.
“Don’t tell me….”
I nodded.
And I whispered in a voice too low for others to hear.
“It’s Idel’s true form.”
“…Quite the complication.”
Luciano exhaled a long sigh.
The former Pope nearly had his Chimerification exposed to the masses.
Luciano and I exchanged a look of exasperation as Idel remained silent beneath the cape.
The fact that he said nothing suggested he felt the shame of it keenly enough.
“Oh, dear.”
As I muttered, the cape flinched.
I leaned toward Luciano and whispered.
“We need to hide him in the cave. I’m counting on you to handle the broadcast apparatus and the Princes.”
“Understood.”
Luciano approached the Princes.
“We must assess the dragon’s condition, so withdraw. I will take measures to ensure he does not lose his sanity again and attack inhabited areas.”
Gaspard’s eyes flashed with displeasure, as expected.
“So we’ve obtained the Reverse Scale?”
“A dragon whose Reverse Scale has been torn out hardly warrants our further attention.”
“That’s—”
Gaspard’s words caught in his throat, and he clicked his tongue in frustration.
Luciano used the pretext that the dragon might be affected by magical resonance to clear away the broadcast apparatus as well.
While that unfolded, I supported Idel and led him into the cave.
Even in his dwelling inside the cave, Idel kept the cape drawn over him.
I was dragging out a chair when I heard his voice from behind me.
“Why did you help me?”
The dialect had vanished from his speech.
Though I couldn’t see it beneath the cape, he’d clearly returned to human form.
Unlike before, when words seemed to bypass speech entirely, he was using his voice now.
I pulled the chair into place and spoke.
“Help? That’s not what I’d call it.”
“You restored my sanity rather than destroying me, and you moved my weakened self to shelter. That’s more than enough assistance.”
“Do you take me for some sort of savior?”
As I muttered in bewilderment, Idel seemed puzzled by the remark.
“Pardon?”
“I calculate my losses and gains meticulously before I act. There’s no helping anyone in this.”
“Pardon?”
“If the people learned that the former Pope had his body modified to Chimerify me, what would happen? If that chaos postponed the Crown Prince Selection, what then?”
That was when Idel threw off the cape.
His golden pupils narrowed to slits, serpentine and thin.
“How do you know about me?”
He’d abandoned both the dialect and the honorifics now.
The killing intent made my skin prickle.
Yet I merely folded my arms and remained composed.
“If I didn’t know who you were, why would I have thrown the cape over you to hide you?”
“Then how did you—!!”
He grabbed my arm roughly and let out a menacing shout.
So I answered him this way.
“You! Think! You! Can! Shout! Here!!”
Drawing on my experience with the extortion racket, I wielded a powerful Diaphragmatic Vocalization.
Idel flinched.
Then he muttered.
“Are you insane?”
“I hear that a lot.”
I lifted my chin with unshakeable confidence.
* * *
Idel.
He was born into a distinguished clerical family that had produced priests across generations.
From the day he first cried, his name spread far and wide.
He was born with Holy Power so formidable that few priests of his own age—indeed, few distinguished clergy anywhere—could rival him.
Among the rare prodigies of the Empire, he stood alone as the greatest.
Not only in the quantity and purity of his Sacred essence, but in an endless drive for inquiry and a mind capable of transforming that inquiry into tangible results.
Nothing in the world went against his wishes, and no position lay beyond his reach.
Living had been too easy.
So easy that he’d grown bored, and boredom had stained him with darkness.
And now, such a man was….
“…sigh.”
He had encountered a problem.
Idel stared at the woman who, even when asked if she was mad, had tilted her chin up with brazen confidence.
Yustea Andres.
Or rather, Yustea Esgaroth.
A woman known by yet another name: the Empire’s Saint.
He simply could not understand her.
Yustea drew in a deep breath—as if she might scream again at any moment.
He pressed his palm to his forehead and spoke.
“I understand. I won’t threaten you, so please, just close your mouth.”
“Okay.”
……
The moment Yustea fell obediently silent, his expression twisted into bewilderment.
‘Her behavior is completely unpredictable.’
Not knowing where she might leap next, he couldn’t even predict—only find himself caught up in her wake.
Having finally abandoned all calculations regarding this woman, he spoke.
“How did you learn my true identity?”
“Something happened.”
“And what exactly was that something?”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
“Try me. I’ll believe it.”
“The story’s too long. I can’t be bothered to explain.”
‘This woman is really….’
Idel gritted his teeth.
“Fine then. Let me change the question. Will you continue to hide my identity?”
……
“Why no answer this time? Is this too bothersome as well?”
“Aren’t you smarter than what I’d heard?”
Idel let out a laugh, as if the absurdity were too much to bear.
“Me?”
“I brought you here because I intend to keep your secret.”
“Why? If you’re hoping the Crown Prince Selection doesn’t get delayed, wouldn’t it be better to capture me quietly now and deal with me after the selection is over?”
“Why would you throw away leverage like that once you’ve got it on someone like Idel?”
“…Pardon?”
Idel faltered.
Yustea tilted her head in genuine puzzlement and continued.
“I mean, you’ve got dirt on me now—so you should be squeezing every bit of advantage you can get. Why would you throw that away?”
Idel’s mouth fell open.
Paying him no mind, Yustea counted off on her fingers.
“One Idel alone could obliterate five hundred soldiers. That cuts military training costs, or you could summon me anywhere in an emergency and make use of me.”
……
“Plus, since you were Pope, you’d know secrets even the Imperial Family can’t easily access. It’s an enormous advantage!”
……
“How magnificent.”
Yustea’s expression glowed with rapture.
Idel asked, as if dumbfounded.
“You truly believe I would become the Saint’s obedient piece?”
“You have a weakness.”
“I have plenty of counterplay. I can create beings like myself endlessly. Whichever foreign power I turn to would welcome me with open arms.”
“They won’t.”
Idel’s eyes curved gently—a smile both soft and glacial.
“I was Pope. I know where the Empire’s Sacred Barrier is vulnerable. At the same time, my deep study of alchemy and magic means I can breach the Demonic Barrier just as easily.”
“The most painful thing for someone as clever as you is something I know well.”
Yustea leaned forward, hands clasped behind her back.
“Losing your reason.”
……
“You don’t want to lose your sanity again like you did today, do you? Isn’t that right?”
……
“I am the Saint. I’m the only one in this world who can purify Contamination. And my Rewind can restore you to humanity itself.”
……
“But you’re telling me you’ll abandon someone like me—a mere ‘resource’—and leave for another country?”
“….”
Yustea smiled sweetly.
He lowered his head to meet her eyes.
Golden irises, much like his own.
Yet entirely different from his serpentine gaze.
Hers were like a wheat field in autumn that had finally borne fruit, or perhaps a loquat in early summer, ripened to perfection.
He let out a soft chuckle.
“I don’t dislike clever children.”
“I thought you only liked obedient ones?”
“There’s no amusement in mere obedience, is there?”
“Well, that’s a relief then. Since I’m thoroughly wicked, you’ll be endlessly entertained.”
Puh-hah.
Delighted laughter burst forth.
* * *
By the time I emerged from the cave, the sun had set entirely.
Even in the black curtain of darkness, the southern sky boasted stars ready to cascade down.
“The hardship makes it all the more beautiful….”
I murmured absently.
“The mental strain was all mine, it seems.”
Luciano, leaning against a tree, growled this from where he stood.
“What took so long in there?”
“Heard a lot of things. The conversation ended well, though.”
“Sounds like it worked out the way you wanted.”
I grinned.
“Yes!”
Luciano exhaled sharply.
He approached and inspected my body.
“Any injuries?”
“None.”
“….”
“You can’t even be upset since there’s nothing to tend to!”
When I grinned again, he furrowed his brow as if he’d given up.
“Let’s go back then.”
“Yes.”
We were about to head back.
Communication Stones shrieked wildly.
Three of the Communication Stones Luciano carried activated simultaneously.
As I looked up, Luciano spoke.
“The Empress and the Empress Consort must be anxious.”
“News from the capital?”
“Yes. It’s a report from the Intelligence Division monitoring the situation there.”
I nodded.
I understood their anxiety well enough.
‘It’s because of the Reverse Scale.’
Now that we possessed the Reverse Scale, they were desperate to seize it back any way they could.
Luciano activated the communication.
[Your Highness!]
[The area outside the lodging is now surrounded by soldiers from each Prince’s household.]
[Should we engage?]
What a mess.
I frowned.
‘I did all the difficult work, and they’re the ones causing chaos.’
I narrowed my eyes.
“We’re going.”
“Where?”
“To the lodging, obviously.”
“To where they’re surrounding?”
“The Reverse Scale will be there, won’t it? We need to defend it—and there’s something else I need to do.”
Luciano’s brow tightened, as if he didn’t grasp her meaning.
But they guided me willingly all the same.
They must have judged that the Princes wouldn’t dare harm a Saint.
And from their confidence, it seemed they believed they had something else in play.
When we arrived at the lodging, chaos had already erupted.
Gaspard, and even Ludvico and his wife, had the place surrounded.
I spoke.
“You think this is acceptable?”
Ujina let out a derisive snort.
“You didn’t hesitate to seize the Heavenly Demon’s Horn, did you?”
“Seizing it isn’t the issue. The question is whether you can do this to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m the only one who can restore the Reverse Scale.”
…!
Ujina, Ludvico, and Gaspard’s faces went rigid.
‘With my Rewind, I can recreate the Reverse Scale.’
Now I hold dominion over this game.
I smiled with arrogance.

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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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