How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 267

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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
Episode 267
The Town Square.
Even in the early morning, the crowd watching the Mirror World had not thinned much.
Those who had been dozing began to focus the moment the Alliance and Luciano’s forces clashed.
Calipso, who had slipped out of Luciano’s Quarters, headed toward the Portal with the Alliance’s soldiers.
The Portal was not far, and the monster Yohael had brought was faster than a horse.
Calipso and her party reached the Portal in just over twenty minutes.
Before entering the Terminal, Calipso had already activated her Special Ability.
‘The Portal must have stopped…. Now I just need to find Miss Yustea….’
People waiting in line at the Terminal cried out.
‘The Portal has been shut down!’
‘Then when will we be able to leave!’
Those who had suffered unexpected losses were in uproar.
The Alliance’s soldiers inspected every corner of the Terminal without explanation.
Calipso hurried after them frantically.
‘My wife’s labor is just days away…!’
‘My child is alone at home!’
A few of those watching the Mirror World frowned.
“This is called a Trial, but isn’t the damage being inflicted too great?”
“That’s what I mean.”
“Still, Calipso is just following orders, isn’t she?”
“That’s the problem—following orders without thinking about the consequences.”
The spies Yohael had hidden in the Town Square flinched.
‘The public’s perception is shifting.’
Those who had been praising Calipso’s character just a short while ago were now clicking their tongues.
They could not speak up in her defense.
Several Unit Members of the Irregulars were glaring, surveying the square.
A few of the spies were caught and dragged away.
The Unit Members of the Irregulars giggled.
“Popularity is a double-edged sword.”
“If you don’t live up to the image the public has created, it can turn against you in an instant.”
“It’s something our Young Lady has always had to face.”
Calipso had less experience than Yustea.
She could not predict what changes her actions would bring about.
Moreover, her pure nature meant she was incapable of calculation.
The Imperial Palace.
The expressions of the newly risen nobles hardened.
“I’m concerned about the people’s reaction. How they will judge Calipso’s actions….”
The one who had received reports of the Town Square’s response through informants frowned.
“It’s not good.”
“The Saint went to the Portal of all places… wait, why specifically the Portal?”
At those words, the faces of the newly risen nobles went pale.
“On purpose…?”
“Could it be. Did the Saint know about Calipso’s Special Ability?”
She did know.
Earlier that afternoon, Calipso had come to Luciano and revealed her Special Ability.
“It’s all right. My Special Ability temporarily rendered the Magical Device useless!”
“You have such an ability…?”
“Yes. It prevents Magical Devices from being used. Or more precisely, it creates errors in the formulas inscribed on objects.”
But that conversation had taken place before the Broadcast began.
Those who did not know about it stared in disbelief.
“So Prince Yohael wasn’t the only remarkable one.”
“The Saint had already gathered intelligence on Calipso beforehand.”
“Intelligence alone? She even predicted that in the Second Round, Calipso would gain the backing of the masses.”
“Such….”
People shook their heads in amazement.
Guinevere, Roji, and Romeban let out bitter laughs.
“She’s planning to erase the gains Yohael made in the Second Round, isn’t she?”
“Yes. She deliberately drew her to the Portal.”
“Prince Yohael will have no choice but to endure it. Once someone with a Reverse Scale escapes—someone who can forge new Reverse Scales—the trial is finished.”
The old nobles gripped their palms, sweat pooling.
“So the Saint faces Calipso?”
“They’ll settle it with magic, I suppose. Won’t they?”
“Bah, the Saint is doomed then. She has no offensive techniques.”
“Either way, this should be worth watching. Hehehehe!”
The old men abandoned all thought of sleep, their eyes fixed on the Mirror World.
Calipso and her soldiers tore through the Terminal, searching every corner.
[She’s not showing anywhere.]
[Hasn’t she already boarded the Portal?]
[The passenger manifest! Bring me the passenger manifest!]
The soldiers checked the boarding list.
Yustea’s name was not there.
[She might have used an alias….]
[Check the Jedo Portal.]
[I’ll try contacting the Imperial Palace as well.]
It was the moment the soldiers began to panic.
Calipso blinked.
[Wait—is she really on the Portal?]
[Pardon?]
[The fact that we can’t find her anywhere… doesn’t that mean she might be somewhere else? If I were her, I’d have slipped out of the Terminal the moment the Portal’s operations shut down….]
Calipso spoke hesitantly.
The soldiers’ eyes widened.
[You’re right. If operations shut down, that means you arrived…!]
[Get the map!]
Calipso and the soldiers consulted the map.
[There are three paths. We have no time to wait for reinforcements, so we’ll need to split up and move.]
[I’ll take the east.]
[My brothers and I will take the west.]
The soldiers dispersed in different directions.
Calipso entered the Northern Forest with two guards at her side.
Calipso’s soldiers kept Communication Stones in their grip as they walked.
They needed to track when the reinforcements would arrive.
It was just as Calipso had fallen a few steps behind.
Whoosh—
The moment Calipso’s soldiers stepped on a certain point, they were caught in a taut rope net.
[What—!]
[…!]
The nobles drew in a sharp breath.
“A trap!”
“Who in the world….”
The old nobles cried out.
“How predictable!”
The sound of dry grass crunching echoed through the Mirror World.
And then she appeared.
[You didn’t get caught. What a shame.]
“The Saint!”
“Yustea Esgaroth!”
“Wow!”
Marquis Esgaroth clenched his fist tight.
‘There it is.’
The mood had completely shifted.
[H-how….]
Calipso stared at Yustea, her eyes wide.
How had she known Calipso would come north?
Yustea held up the Mirror World.
[The drawback of the Broadcast is also its strength. I can see all of your movements.]
[I…?]
[I was waiting for you to come. Calipso.]
[Why….]
[You’re both Prince Yohael’s greatest strength and his weakness!]
Yustea hurled the hook forward.
“Waaagh!”
“It caught!”
The old nobles sprang to their feet.
* * *
‘The Capture Technique — I learned it from the Elite.’
The hook embedded itself in Calipso’s robe.
Calipso froze.
She tried to flee, but I was faster.
I whipped the rope attached to the hook like a whip, wrapping it around her.
‘Got her—’
In that very instant—
Fire erupted along the rope.
“So you have a Combat Special Ability.”
“I… I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to battle you, Miss…”
Calipso stammered, panic written across her face.
I rummaged through the bag slung across my shoulder, speaking as I did.
“Then you shouldn’t have come.”
“I didn’t come to fight. I just… I came to persuade you…”
“Persuade me?”
At my question, Calipso nodded.
“Your victory is already assured, isn’t it? So… create a Reverse Scale for him. Then I can persuade Prince Yohael and send you and Luciano away.”
I paused, studying her.
“You said you wanted to help Luciano. So why are you asking me to create a Reverse Scale?”
“Prince Yohael… he tried so hard.”
Calipso rubbed her pale fingertips together.
“I’ve been watching since the First Round. How hard he’s been working. No sleep, barely eating…”
“…”
“Luciano’s already achieved his goal, so… if possible, I hope Prince Yohael gets his chance to show the desperate effort he’s made.”
“…”
“What I mean is… if both of them make it to the Third Round…”
“Make it?”
“Yes?”
“You’re living in a fairy tale, Calipso.”
I regarded her quietly as I spoke.
She flinched.
I addressed her directly.
“You don’t want to take anyone’s side. You want everyone to win.”
“…Yes.”
“But that’s impossible.”
Calipso swallowed hard.
“If you help Yohael now, it will put Luciano in danger.”
“…”
“You have to choose. There’s no way around it.”
“If we try harder… if we work harder, maybe everyone can get what they want…”
Calipso floundered.
“They want only one thing. Someone has to give up. And I won’t let that be Luciano.”
Calipso’s lips trembled.
I stepped closer to her.
“Calipso, no one wants to be cruel.”
“…”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone either.”
“…”
“I don’t want to be selfish.”
Calipso’s eyes wavered.
I looked at her steadily.
And I spoke with finality.
“But I have to be cruel to others. I have to hurt them and be selfish. Because that’s how I protect what’s mine.”
“I…”
“If someone has to bleed, I fight with the conviction that it won’t be my lover, my family, or my country.”
“….”
“Because we’ve protected it that way, we’re able to live on this land.”
I seized Calipso’s shoulder firmly.
“So don’t obstruct me with dreams I cannot achieve.”
A fierce, burning gaze fixed on Calipso.
Calipso lowered her head.
I grasped her wrist.
‘I’ll have to shackle her and take her like this….’
That was when—
Calipso spoke.
“…It’s dangerous.”
“What?”
I looked up with a start, and Calipso met my gaze.
Her eyes, which had wavered just moments before, now looked at me with clarity.
Calipso said:
“Your ideology is dangerous. If all your enemies must bleed, peace will never come.”
“Calipso.”
“We are human. We can resolve things through dialogue. When one yields and another yields, compromise becomes possible.”
“….”
“I think such a world is beautiful.”
Red light enveloped Calipso.
Flames erupted around her.
“You…!”
Calipso’s eyes flared open.
And in that moment—
[Status Abnormality Cleared]
The message appeared.
All of Calipso’s stats, which had dropped due to the status abnormality, began to rise.
‘She’s found her conviction.’
Conviction had lifted the status abnormality.
Especially because she had spent her life trapped in the Tower, her dormant potential now surged exponentially.
‘This is dangerous.’
I hastily retreated from Calipso.
And seized my bag.
‘Will what I brought be able to counter her special ability? If not….’
I checked my watch.
Calipso spoke:
“I know you’re an exceptional person. Shrewd, brilliant in your schemes…. But you don’t seem like a good one.”
“….”
“I know someone like that.”
I could guess who she meant.
‘She’s talking about the executives of the Restoration Council.’
Calipso continued without hesitation:
“I don’t believe that a capable person should become a ruler. The person who should become a ruler is… someone who loves people. So….”
The confusion vanished from Calipso’s face.
And—
“…!”
Calipso drew her sword.
“You fight for your dream.”
“….”
“I… will fight for mine.”
“….”
I too placed my hand on my sword hilt.
Clang—!
We drew simultaneously.
Calipso and I had our blades pointed at each other.
* * *
Clang—!
A sharp sound pierced through the Mirror World.
The figures gathered in the town square scrambled to their feet.
“Wow!”
“The Saints are matched up…!”
An uproar erupted from the crowd.
The square trembled with cheers—some for Yustea, others for Calipso.
“No matter what, Calipso has this. She’s got offensive techniques.”
“The Saint has healing and purification!”
“Purification? If she purifies Calipso, won’t she collapse?”
“Either way, this’ll be worth watching. Ha-ha!”
The nobles in the square swallowed hard.
‘Actually, this works out well.’
‘While they fight, we can pin down the Saint.’
And once reinforcements arrive, we can take her into custody.
Luciano’s soldiers were still confined to their quarters by the Alliance’s orders.
‘If we buy time like this…!’
“Say.”
One of the nobles murmured.
“What?”
“Didn’t the Irregulars have more people than this before?”
“What?”
The nobles turned to look.
Now that he mentioned it, something felt off.
There were fewer of them than what they’d seen during the day.
And besides….
“There’s not a single Elite here!”
When had they vanished?
Where in the world had they gone?
‘Wait.’
A noble shot up from his seat.
“Get in touch! Now!”
The Irregulars had departed for the South.

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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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