How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Replace Your Dad

Chapter 28

The merchants at the trading post were somewhat flustered.

The lord’s daughter stepping in because soldiers were scammed?

It’s not like military funds were embezzled, so why?

A minister doesn’t step in just because an official got scammed at a burdock market.

While the merchants were reading the situation, the Clan Leader stepped forward.

“It’s an honor to meet such a distinguished person. Haha.”

Others might have been surprised to hear she was the lord’s daughter, but he wasn’t.

It seems like the lord’s daughter is trying to show off in front of the soldiers, relying on her authority, but she picked the wrong opponent.

I’ll shut her up with my eloquent speech.

“What brings you here?”

“It’s about the goods we bought here being defective.”

“Yes. We exchanged them according to the contract.”

The Clan Leader looked at Yustea with a confident expression.

‘Go ahead and pull out the contract.’

Yustea slowly opened her mouth.

“Our boy ate the potatoes you exchanged and ended up like this.”

One of the soldiers stretched out his lips.

You could see one of his canine teeth had broken off.

What kind of nonsense is this?

How could a tooth fall out from potatoes?

“What are you saying…? Haha, this is the first time in my life I’ve seen someone lose a tooth from potatoes.”

“I think so too. There’s no way a tooth would fall out from potatoes, right?”

“Of course that’s…”

“So wouldn’t there be a problem with your potatoes? You said you sell special magical tools, so maybe the potatoes were affected by them? Then wouldn’t other food items be affected too?”

The merchants burst into hollow laughter at the unexpected words.

“What kind of ridiculous…”

“Exactly what I’m saying.”

But the Clan Leader’s expression was different.

‘Don’t tell me this woman is aiming for…’

Yustea drooped her eyebrows.

“If you can’t acknowledge it, then I have no choice but to request the Imperial Palace to conduct safety inspections on all food items at your trading post…?”

“…!”

The Clan Leader flinched.

When problems occur with products, safety inspections are conducted.

The trading post wasn’t particularly afraid of that.

It would just end with collecting the problematic products and paying fines.

That’s why they felt comfortable selling cheap, problematic goods.

But food is different.

Just conducting safety inspections would be a blow.

Food items have expiration dates.

By the time those sluggish officials finish their inspections, everything would rot and become unsellable.

‘So this is what she was aiming for!’

The Clan Leader turned pale and pleaded with Yustea.

“Ah, miss, if that happens, we’ll die.”

“Come on, it’s not like you only sell food.”

“You know that tea leaves are the trading post’s biggest commodity!”

“That works out well. Tea leaves have a long shelf life.”

“Those officials will handle the precious tea leaves carelessly!”

Hearing the Clan Leader’s desperate words, the merchants also caught on to the situation.

All the food confiscated?

After spending so much money to buy it!

The merchants frantically supported the Clan Leader.

“P-potatoes! Now that I think about it, the potatoes were like rocks.”

“Yes, yes. There was definitely a problem.”

Then Yustea smiled brightly.

“Really? Then the potatoes were defective goods too? They’ll need to be exchanged.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. We’ll give you a full refund…!”

“No way. Refunds aren’t allowed. It says ‘absolutely no refunds’ in the contract. An exchange will do.”

“Then with the weapons or magical tools you originally intended to purchase…”

“You’ll do that? Boys, go pick out some weapons.”

When Yustea spoke kindly, the Unit Members’ eyes sparkled.

They looked over the weapons placed throughout the area.

“Ooh, this sword is nice.”

“Then I’ll take this crossbow. It looks sturdy and good.”

“What kind of magical tool is this?”

“Don’t know. Just take it.”

They chatted and grabbed extremely expensive items at random.

The merchants turned pale.

“That sword costs twice as much as the items originally purchased!”

“Hmm, thinking of the people, I should probably submit the potatoes for safety inspection…”

“Aah…!”

Whenever the merchants tried to object, Yustea would chant about safety inspections.

In the end, the merchants had no choice but to suffer losses worth several times the amount they had scammed.

To the Clan Leader who sat down with a dejected expression, Yustea said:

“Oh, part of our castle collapsed because of your magical tools. I’ll send an administrative manager, so let’s discuss damage compensation.”

“D-damage compen…!”

“We’ll have to trade again next time.”

It meant that if they didn’t compensate obediently, she’d come back to talk about safety inspections at the next trade too.

With those final words, the Unit Members and Yustea left the building cheerfully.

The Unit Members walked with bouncing steps, chatting excitedly.

“I got something I could never dream of with my salary!”

“Good for you.”

Yustea looked at the excited Unit Members with satisfaction.

Yustea, whose mother led one of the empire’s top merchant guilds.

She was a girl who knew trading posts’ weaknesses better than anyone.

The Clan Leader made a vow.

Next time he tried to scam someone, he’d make sure to check if they had a terrifying protector!

* * *

Antonio’s Unit Members treated the weapons they had extorted from the trading post like sacred treasures.

“This is the first time I’ve used a weapon like this.”

“Expensive things really are better. Even the feel in your hand is different.”

They diligently polished their weapons with dry cloth.

It seemed like they might actually wear down the swords at this rate.

“Miss, please have some tea.”

A Unit Member around my age brought tea.

“Did the castle have tea leaves like this?”

It looks quite expensive.

“We pooled our money to buy it. We wanted to give it to you, miss.”

The unit member grinned broadly.

His broken canine tooth was visible.

I picked up my teacup and thought.

‘How poor.’

The more I looked, the worse the conditions seemed.

Having just seen the splendid Esgaroth made it even more apparent.

With money earned from missions being poured into Sanmiguel, the unit members’ conditions were getting progressively worse.

After pondering, I asked Antonio.

“Antonio, where are the Clan Leader and Deputy Clan Leader?”

“They should be at the military camp. Going there?”

“Yes.”

Charlie stood up to escort me.

Then Antonio waved his hand and said.

“I’ll go, so stay here.”

Then he bent his knee lightly and extended his hand to me.

“Shall we go, Miss?”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Did you learn etiquette?”

“Impressive, right?”

The unit members snorted in derision.

“He wanted to show that off.”

Antonio lifted his chin slightly and said.

“The angle of the knee and hand is important. Right, Miss?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, this is an excellent…!”

“Dance invitation!”

That’s what’s used when asking for a dance.

Antonio glared, saying he wouldn’t let the blacksmith who taught him this pose get away with it.

Still, since he had offered to go, he said he’d take me there.

I headed to the military camp with him.

The Deputy Clan Leader and Clan Leader were at the camp warehouse.

They seemed to be inspecting the warehouse.

“We’re short on weapons. They get damaged during training and missions, so even when we buy good ones, we have to replace them quickly.”

“What about funds from the other elite units?”

“They’re still okay for now, but they’ll be affected soon. We’ll need to call in the Elite Squad for entering the ducal house, so money earned from missions will decrease.”

It seemed they were having the same concerns.

I poked my head through the doorway.

“May I come in?”

The two turned to look at me.

The Deputy Clan Leader welcomed me.

“What brings you all the way here?”

“I overheard your conversation. I think I can help with fundraising.”

“Pardon?”

“Would that be alright?”

“Of course… But how exactly?”

With information from the game, of course.

When I was alone before, it was hard to make money with information, but with the Irregulars, it’s possible.

“Theft.”

I smiled brightly.

* * *

The place I and several Irregulars headed to was here.

Old address: Imperial District 51, Zone 19-23.

New address system: Bataus District B7, Zone 2311.

Andres’s secret warehouse that I had blabbed about to the Marquis.

Though the address notation is complex, simply put, it’s on the outskirts of the district.

The central district of the Avalon Empire.

Despite being on the outskirts, it was bustling with people.

The Deputy Clan Leader and Antonio looked at the building before them.

“Is this really the place?”

“Really?”

With my hood pulled deep, I nodded.

“Yes. This casino is correct.”

That’s right.

It’s not some isolated building standing alone in a remote place.

Deep inside the casino, there’s a warehouse guarded by Andres’s elite soldiers.

I looked around and lowered my voice.

“I know how to disable the warehouse’s barrier. But the way to get to the warehouse is a bit unusual.”

“What is it?”

“We need to find the casino manager. To enter the passage leading to the warehouse, we need the key the manager has.”

“Don’t you know who the manager is?”

“They change every quarter. They disguise them as customers or dealers.”

Antonio clicked his tongue.

“What a ridiculously complicated method. Who came up with such a crazy idea?”

“…Me.”

When I smiled kindly, Antonio flinched.

“Huh?”

“I was the person in charge of creating the secret warehouse.”

As I said before, I was someone who would drink poison if Father told me to.

I did my absolute best to use my brain.

Antonio fell silent.

The Deputy Clan Leader kicked his calf.

“I understand the warehouse entry method. But will this number of people be sufficient?”

“Too many would actually make us stand out.”

Including me, there are four people who came here.

The Deputy Clan Leader.

Antonio.

And the Clan Leader.

‘Three of them could rival a whole battalion.’

The Deputy Clan Leader, Antonio, and I nodded.

Then we turned our heads toward the Clan Leader standing a little apart.

The Clan Leader was frowning.

…Because women were clinging to him in droves.

“Where do you think he’s from?”

“Won’t you be my little kitten?”

When his hood came off, his beauty was revealed.

Thanks to that, he was practically leading people around like the Pied Piper.

The Deputy Clan Leader sighed.

“Shouldn’t we keep his hood on after all?”

“Yeah, Miss. Walking around with that face is practically a disaster.”

“I deliberately took it off. That way, attention will be drawn there and I won’t stand out.”

If I, who was the person in charge of installing the secret warehouse, went there, wouldn’t they be extremely wary?

Then Antonio said.

“But how are you going to get those women away?”

“I have a spell.”

“You mean there’s still magic you can use despite that?”

I spoke toward the Clan Leader.

“Daddy, Grandma and 12 aunties are waiting for their precious only son. If you don’t hurry, the 30-course meal Mother made all by herself will get cold.”

Rustle rustle rustle.

In an instant, people parted like Moses’ miracle.

Antonio and the Clan Leader looked at me with surprised faces.

I took the now-alone Clan Leader and entered the casino.

The interior had become more splendid than when I managed it.

‘The casino income must be quite profitable too.’

People were packed like sardines.

I said to Antonio, the Clan Leader, and the Clan Leader.

“It would be better to split into two groups and look for suspicious people.”

The Clan Leader and Clan Leader were one team.

Antonio and I were one team.

Since I knew the casino well, it would be better for me to manage Antonio properly from beside him.

Antonio and I searched various places together.

“Put money down and take money! Come on, gather around!”

“Hey there, handsome sir, how about a round of roulette!”

I grabbed the collar of Antonio, who was about to sit down as if enchanted, and looked around.

The dice game area… nothing.

The roulette game area… nothing.

The card game area… nothing.

There was no one conspicuous.

Everyone looked normally absorbed.

‘It’s someone with busy eyes.’

Someone trying to go to suspicious places, or someone who sends staff with eye signals when fights break out.

I need to find that kind of person.

When I told Antonio about this too, he said “Ah.”

“What about that man?”

“He’s a card shark. He’s trying to use tricks.”

“Then that woman.”

“She seems to be having an affair. She’s sending signals to her affair partner with her eyes.”

“Then that kid.”

“Kid?”

A kid came into the casino?

I’m still a minor too, but I was pretending to be an adult using my experience working with the gang that forged identity cards.

When I looked where Antonio was pointing, the person I saw was…

“Huh?”

There was a girl who looked about my age.

…At the dealer’s seat.

Antonio caught someone who was just leaving the dice game table where the kid was acting as dealer.

“Does the kid dealer make good money?”

“Make good money? She’s a real pro. Even sharp-eyed guys can’t catch her hands.”

He stayed at his seat all morning out of stubbornness not to lose to a kid and got cleaned out.

‘She is a bit suspicious.’

Should I entrust the management to a kid?

I was pondering this.

When a passerby almost bumped into me, Antonio quickly turned me around to dodge.

“Careful.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Just as I was saying that.

“Big brother?”

The girl at the dealer’s seat looked at us.

‘Of course she’s not calling me…’

I looked up at Antonio.

Antonio was looking at that girl with furrowed brows.

The girl even put down her dice and ran to Antonio.

“It’s me. Me. Mira, who was saved by the Clan Leader, Clan Leader, and big brother.”

“Mira? You’ve grown this much?”

“It’s already been 2 years.”

Mira pushed me aside and hugged Antonio’s waist.

“I missed you!”

* * *

Antonio looked happy.

“Has it already been 2 years?”

“Yes. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

I looked at Antonio with a bewildered expression.

Then Antonio introduced that girl to me.

“There was a fire accident during a mission 2 years ago. At that time, the Clan Leader, Clan Leader, and I saved this child.”

“Then…”

“Yeah, she knows about us.”

Hearing that story, Mira looked at me.

“Oh my, does this kid also know about that… no, that identity?”

“Yeah.”

“Aw, I thought you only told me. How disappointing.”

Mira smiled cutely and looked at me.

“Are you following these people around too?”

“Huh?”

“I did that. The orphanage I was at burned down, and since I was older, I had nowhere to go, so I told them to take responsibility. I followed them around for a whole month like that.”

“Ah…”

“But they absolutely wouldn’t put me in that… place. Right when a month passed, they found an orphanage where someone my age could live and put me there.”

Mira smiled brightly and looked back at Antonio.

“But are the Clan Leader and Clan Leader doing well?”

“Of course. They came with me today too.”

“Really? I really want to see them! Oh, would you come to the lounge? I may look like this, but I’m quite a successful dealer here, so that much is possible.”

“I’ll ask.”

“Then this kid is a hostage.”

Mira hugged my arm and said.

“You have to bring her to the lounge, okay? Otherwise I won’t let this kid go.”

Antonio chuckled.

“You’re still stubborn as ever. Fine. I was thinking the young lady should rest a bit too.”

“Young lady?”

“Yeah. She’s the Clan Leader’s adopted daughter, so watch your words.”

Then Antonio went to find the Clan Leader and Clan Leader.

Mira stared at me intently.

“What. If he needed an adopted daughter, he should have asked me…”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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