How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 273

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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
273
The assignment was as follows.
Secure one hundred Anti-Imperial Faction members within the Empire over a fortnight.
The life or death of Anti-Imperial Faction members will not be reflected in the evaluation.
One hundred Anti-Imperial Faction members to secure.
Concrete evidence proving they are indeed Anti-Imperial Faction members is required.
‘And the timeframe is just two weeks.’
Catching them one or two at a time would consume the entire period.
In other words, this assignment was essentially an order to dismantle the Reconstruction Society Headquarters.
“Information gathering on the headquarters, plus combat… Is that even possible in two weeks?”
“It’ll be difficult. What His Majesty is aiming for is for the Reconstruction Society to retreat into their shell.”
“Retreat into their shell…”
“Once the assignment is announced, they’ll burrow deeper. The Empire will enjoy some peace for a while. In that silence, His Majesty intends to complete the Crown Prince Selection and solidify the Crown Prince’s position.”
“So you believe securing one hundred members was always going to be impossible, then.”
“In the end, it’s a numbers game. Whoever brings in the most wins.”
I nodded.
‘Now I understand why Luciano advised me not to participate in this Final Selection.’
The Reconstruction Society and the Game Master’s goal is to trigger a Great Regression using the Saint at the Red Eclipse.
If the Saint appears within sight, they’ll naturally try to seize her immediately.
But…
“The danger isn’t mine alone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because Callipso exists.”
Callipso is an artificial Saint the Reconstruction Society created to use as my replacement.
“If Callipso and I appear at the same time, the Reconstruction Society will be torn. Who should they capture?”
“One faction demanding your capture, another demanding Callipso’s—they’ll tear each other apart.”
“If we can induce that fracture… there’s a chance.”
“Complete eradication of the Reconstruction Society Headquarters might actually become possible?”
I nodded.
Gaspard’s side will certainly pull Callipso in.
If I join Luciano’s faction, they’ll want to use Callipso’s nature to counter us.
“I know your concern. If I were in your position, I wouldn’t take Luciano either. But…”
“The fact that you’re saying ‘but’ means you have no intention of stepping back.”
Luciano exhaled heavily.
I smiled and nodded.
“Not just for Luciano’s sake. Become Emperor for me. A powerful Empire’s Emperor, so that I can never be in danger again.”
Luciano knelt before me.
He pressed his forehead to the back of his hand and spoke.
“All things shall be as the Saint desires.”
Our gazes locked.
The Final Selection had begun.
* * *
That afternoon.
The assignment details were announced.
The Mirror World broadcast would begin in the final five days.
People stirred with anticipation for the Mirror World transmission.
“Finally, the eradication of the Reconstruction Society.”
“So Anti-Imperial Faction must mean the Reconstruction Society, right?”
“Otherwise, how could anyone secure a hundred Anti-Imperial Faction members in two weeks?”
“Hah, how much trouble those Reconstruction Society dogs have caused. Now I can finally sleep soundly.”
“Would Callipso have the advantage? After all, she fled the Reconstruction Society—she’d have the most information about them.”
“But the Saint can’t be overlooked. She’s repeatedly dismantled the Reconstruction Society’s schemes. There’s a reason they call her the Reconstruction Society’s tyrant.”
Before the Mirror World broadcast even began, the crowd’s attention poured forth.
And I, at the center of that attention…
“Mm…”
…was groaning.
I covered my lips with both hands and glared into the void.
Or more precisely, at the System Message window.
[Oscar, contact me.]
[Oscar?]
[What’s going on?]
[Oscar.]
My Communication Stone held nothing but messages I’d already sent.
The Irregular Elite surrounding me exchanged glances.
“Still no word from Oscar?” Antonio asked.
That was Antonio speaking.
I nodded.
“No… It’s been this way for two days straight.”
Yuise entered, receiving a report from her team members as she walked.
“No trace at the Outer Wall of the District either.”
The Outer Wall of the District was where Oscar and I exchanged materials and intelligence.
When you removed a brick, a gap appeared, and we’d leave documents inside.
“Could his cover as a spy have been blown?”
As I muttered this, Cesar shook his head.
“If that were the case, he’d have sent an emergency signal like we agreed. Everything’s quiet. More than that—if he’d been caught, the Reconstruction Council would be making demands with him as leverage. But there’s been nothing.”
“That’s true…”
I drummed my fingertips on the desk, lost in thought.
‘His cover probably hasn’t been completely blown yet.’
But suspicion seems to be taking root.
This kind of silence suggests Oscar is keeping his head down.
Everyone seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
Antonio voiced what we were all considering.
“If he’s keeping quiet, he might not be able to come in person or send direct messages. But why can’t he respond through the System Message? The System Message shouldn’t have been compromised in transit.”
“The Reconstruction Council has a Game Master. The Game Master owns the System itself. If he’s somehow gained the trait to monitor messages, Oscar wouldn’t dare reach out.”
“Ah.”
In any case, we couldn’t get information from Oscar anymore.
“If that’s the case, we need to find the headquarters location some other way…”
As I muttered this, Yuise folded her arms.
“If anyone would know—or be able to predict—the headquarters location, it’s the head of the Emperor’s Direct Intelligence Bureau.”
“The head of the Emperor’s Direct Intelligence Bureau…”
I groaned, gripping my head.
“That would be Count Urbano…”
Colodio Urbano.
The man most fiercely opposed to Luciano’s selection as Crown Prince.
In other words, he was the head of the New Faction that sided against Luciano and threw his weight behind the Empress.
‘But there’s no way around it.’
Somehow, I had to extract the headquarters location from him.
Yuise checked her Communication Stone and spoke.
“If we’re going to move, we need to hurry. Callipso has already gone to Count Urbano.”
There was no choice.
I stood up at once.
And so we departed.
Heading to the manor of that formidable schemer who opposed both me and Luciano so fiercely.
* * *
When we arrived at the manor, a luxurious carriage was already waiting.
A carriage bearing the symbol of Prince Gaspard’s household.
It must have brought Callipso here.
Antonio and Yuise, who had ridden in the carriage with me, peered out the window.
Antonio spoke.
“Did the Empress come as well?”
“Unlikely. The Empress can’t directly aid anyone in the Final Selection. It’s a rule that royalty doesn’t participate. She might provide support from behind the scenes, but nothing direct.”
“What about Prince Gaspard?”
“That’s…”
Yuise narrowed her eyes, gazing out at the manor.
Gaspard was nowhere to be seen.
Only Callipso stood at the manor’s latticed gate, peering inside.
‘That’s strange.’
Why hadn’t they let Callipso in?
Count Urbano opposed Luciano becoming Crown Prince.
Then shouldn’t we be helping Gaspard’s side?
“Let me go out first.”
I stepped down from the carriage.
Callipso, who saw us arrive, bit her lip.
She must have already guessed that I was here.
After all, we came in Esgaroth’s carriage.
Antonio spoke to the guard.
“This is Yustea of Esgaroth.”
The guard bowed his head.
But that was all.
He greeted us, but showed no other reaction.
He neither sent word to the manor nor asked what business we had come on.
Antonio’s eyes flashed.
“What are you doing? Our Young Lady has arrived.”
But I nodded and said, “Ah.”
“Let it go, Antonio.”
“But these men are disrespecting the Young Lady…!”
“They can’t act any other way because they’ve received orders.”
“…Orders?”
Callipso flinched and looked at me.
Her expression asked whether I’d already seen through it.
‘Well, of course I have.’
With Callipso kept at the entrance, I too refuse to let her inside.
This is….
“So entering is the test, isn’t it, Callipso?”
“….”
Callipso looked at me with trembling eyes.
* * *
Inside the Urbano Estate.
Count Urbano, seated in his office, looked up.
“What did you say?”
The butler spoke with a troubled expression.
“The Saint is also standing guard at the door.”
“Standing guard at the door, you say….”
“As long as Callipso remains, she won’t leave—that’s her stubbornness, I presume.”
The butler furrowed his brow.
“Did you perhaps give her a hint the way you did with Callipso?”
Meaning that entering the manor itself was a test Count Urbano had imposed.
Count Urbano moved his pen as he spoke.
“No. And I wasn’t the one who gave Callipso a hint, either.”
“….”
The butler flinched.
His master was right.
To be precise, it wasn’t Count Urbano who had given Callipso the hint.
The matter had unfolded like this.
Callipso had arrived at dawn and stood guard at the door for hours.
The Urbano household treated her much the same way they had Yustea—turning her away at the gate.
Though she said she had come to see Count Urbano, they did not relay her message to him, but simply kept silent.
Callipso stood before the manor, sweat streaming down her face all the while.
Even through the guard’s shift change.
The guard, who had pitied Callipso as she lingered only at the gate, finally reported her presence to the butler.
“Have you forgotten the master’s instruction not to relay word?”
“It’s been six hours now. Her legs have swollen, and she won’t even return to the carriage once….”
“Then perhaps she should lose her temper.”
“If she were angry, we could endure it. But Callipso simply asked whether we couldn’t at least pass on a message, and when we said it was difficult, she merely nodded and became like a stone monument.”
“….”
“Once we said it was difficult to relay her words, she won’t press further, as if taking pity on us mere guards.”
The relieved guard also brought news.
In the end, the butler informed Count Urbano of her presence.
“It seems she will not leave until she collapses. Shall I persuade her to go?”
“I’ve no intention of policing your kindness.”
“…! Yes, I understand what you mean.”
He meant he wouldn’t stop them if they wanted to give a hint.
The Butler left immediately and spoke to Callipso.
“Simply waiting here is not the only answer.”
“…Ah.”
Callipso was cleverer than he’d given her credit for.
He’d thought her merely kind, but she grasped the situation from a single word from the Butler.
Callipso spoke brightly.
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank us for simply having you wait….”
“I know you helped me out of genuine kindness.”
She was such a good child that even the Butler and the Guards smiled without thinking.
Callipso had won over the Employees’ hearts through consideration and persistence.
It was proof to Urbano of Callipso’s strength.
‘Yet Yustea heard nothing, or so I’m told.’
Urbano let out a soft laugh.
“She saw it was a test just because the Guards didn’t report anything.”
“…Yes.”
“She reads the flow of events better than Callipso does.”
“What will you do?”
Urbano’s hand stilled.
He lifted his gaze.
“That’s not a question you should ask me.”
“Sir?”
“I’m the one waiting to see what you both will do.”
“….”
The Butler lowered his head.
‘There’s that bad habit again.’
He loved talent.
The harder the trial, the more he cherished those who displayed ingenuity.
Regardless of birth, the talented should naturally rise.
That was the world he wanted.
He despised those who grew stagnant and made the world murky with their decay.
The Butler nodded.
“Yes.”
“The New Faction nobles will arrive tonight.”
“I shall prepare.”
“Good.”
Urbano looked out the window.
‘How far will you both prove yourselves?’
He felt a stirring of anticipation.
And that anticipation was….
“What?!”
An hour later, it turned into bewilderment.
“The New Faction nobles cannot get in, my lord!”
“What do you mean by that?!”
“The Saint is blocking the entrance, and no one can enter!”
Urbano’s mouth fell open.
He looked out the window.
While he’d been absorbed in his work, Esgaroth’s carriages had filled the entire street outside the Manor.
They completely blocked the road, making it impossible for anyone to pass through.
It was questionable whether Urbano could even enter the Palace tomorrow.
‘So this is….’
Urbano let out a bewildered laugh.
If I cannot enter, then you will come out.
That was it.

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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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