How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 29
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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 29
Mira grabbed a passing dealer.
“Watch my spot for me.”
“What are you doing?”
“I happened to run into my father figure. Please, okay?”
“Ah, that mercenary group’s Clan Leader?”
It seems she introduced the Irregulars to people as a mercenary group.
After entrusting her spot to another dealer, Mira came and stood beside me.
“Then let’s go. The lounge here is amazing. It’s like a place nobles use, so don’t be surprised, okay?”
Mira was a bright kid.
She chattered the entire way to the lounge.
“How did you meet the Clan Leader?”
“I went to meet him.”
“How? I went to every place they said the Irregulars appeared, but I couldn’t meet him.”
“Well…”
It was because I had played the game and knew the information well.
It seemed Mira didn’t know that the Irregulars had made San Miguel their base.
All she knew was apparently just faces and the name Irregulars.
She walked a little ahead of me and continued talking.
“Anyway, you’re lucky. You took that position right when the Clan Leader needed a daughter.”
“…”
“Ugh, how frustrating. How great would it have been if he needed one two years ago? The Clan Leader really doted on me.”
Then she said “Ah.” and stopped abruptly.
She turned to look at me.
“Should I ask him to adopt me as a daughter too?”
“Huh?”
“Just kidding. I’m not the type to be burdensome like that. This job isn’t too bad either. At least I get to mingle with noble lords. They come by sometimes.”
“…”
“Well, if he really offered to adopt me as a daughter, I wouldn’t refuse. I really like the Irregulars.”
Saying that, Mira walked ahead bouncing and gestured to me.
As if telling me to hurry up.
* * *
The lounge.
Antonio had brought the Clan Leader and the Clan Leader.
“You’ve grown a lot.”
At the Clan Leader’s words, Mira bounced up and down in front of him.
“As expected, you remember me!”
“Yes.”
“What about the Clan Leader? Did the Clan Leader remember my face too?”
Then the Clan Leader, who had been sitting on the sofa first, glanced at her.
But he didn’t say anything particular.
‘He must not remember.’
Mira must have felt the same way as she made a sulky expression.
“It’s okay. I’ll just think it’s because I’ve gotten much prettier.”
“Wow, you’re still as positive as ever.”
When Antonio giggled, Mira hugged his arm and said,
“Being positive is Mira. Just like being ignorant is Antonio.”
“This girl.”
“Ah! Save me, Clan Leader!”
Mira ran to the Clan Leader and stuck close to him as she sat down.
Antonio narrowed his eyes and chased after Mira.
Because of that, the only people away from the sofa were me and the Clan Leader.
The Clan Leader whispered.
“If she’s a casino employee, we can get help finding the manager.”
I nodded.
That was the reason I obediently followed Mira.
The Clan Leader and I also sat on the sofa.
Mira, who had been looking intently at all our faces sitting around, said,
“I’m jealous.”
“What?”
When Antonio asked, Mira said playfully,
“That she gets to sit in the center. If I had become the Clan Leader’s daughter too, couldn’t I do that? Wouldn’t it have been nice if you looked for an adopted daughter two years ago? I could have done well too.”
‘Oh my.’
She said she wouldn’t be burdensome, but it seems she really wanted to become an adopted daughter.
The Clan Leader answered.
“No, it was impossible.”
“…Yes?”
Mira’s face, which had been smiling brightly until then, froze for a moment.
“Because it was something only the young lady could do.”
Antonio nodded seriously, saying “Right.”
Mira smiled awkwardly.
“I was joking, but you’re taking it too seriously. Ah, you’re not offended, are you?”
As Mira looked at me like that, the Clan Leader said,
“Show proper respect.”
“You’ve become so stiff since I last saw you. I’m hurt… But I will. I like you, Clan Leader.”
Mira placed her hand on her chest and bowed at the waist.
“I’m Mira. Clan Leader’s daughter. Is there anything you’re curious about—?”
“How did you come to work here?”
“I originally pretended to be an adult and gambled secretly. I formed teams and did fraudulent gambling.”
Antonio, who had been listening to Mira’s story with his chin propped up, let out a “Wow.” in admiration.
“You’ve got guts.”
“That’s why I could stick so close to the Irregulars.”
“That’s true.”
“Anyway, I got caught. I thought ‘I’m going to die like this!’ but the manager called me over. He said my skills were good so I should be a dealer.”
The manager came up in conversation.
I quickly asked Mira.
“When was that?”
“Two months ago.”
Two months ago would be when the manager hadn’t changed yet.
Since they change once in June and once in December.
The Clan Leader’s expression became serious.
“Where is the manager now? Can you tell us his appearance?”
“Um… My intuition is telling me. This seems like it might be something big.”
Suddenly everyone became quiet.
Mira looked around at us, then made a “Hmm” sound and crossed her arms.
“Even when gambling, you pay game fees, but you can’t just take important information for free.”
“How much do you want?”
At the Clan Leader’s question, Mira pulled up the corners of her mouth.
“Money won’t do.”
The Clan Leader, who had been quietly observing the situation until then, spoke up.
“Since you seem willing to make a deal, speak clearly.”
“Please let me join the Irregulars.”
Antonio and the Clan Leader’s eyes widened.
“…What?”
“What did you say?”
Mira pursed her lips and spoke as if throwing a tantrum.
“I want to become an Irregular. Please don’t abandon me anymore.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The three Irregulars—the Clan Leader, the Clan Leader, and Antonio—exchanged glances.
‘What are they going to do?’
The Irregulars are an extremely secretive organization.
They wouldn’t just leave alone a child who knows their identity.
So perhaps living with Mira two years ago had been quite a good memory.
‘But on the other hand, since Mira couldn’t report them even if she knew their identity, they might not have cared.’
Mira didn’t know where the Irregulars were or their identities.
Even reporting that she knew the Irregulars’ faces would have been useless.
There were plenty of people making false reports for the bounty money.
Because of this, wanted posters that looked nothing like the Irregulars were everywhere.
Who would have believed Mira’s words?
The Clan Leader slowly opened his mouth.
“No.”
“Huh?”
Mira’s eyes widened.
She seemed to have been certain that this time she could finally join the Irregulars.
But the Clan Leader actually stood up.
As if he wouldn’t negotiate any further.
Mira quickly grabbed the Clan Leader.
“What if I report the Irregulars?”
“It wouldn’t affect us, but go ahead if you want. Just be prepared to pay the price.”
“….”
The Clan Leader looked at me.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah… Yes.”
Just as I was about to stand up as well.
“I’ll tell you. I really don’t want to trouble you, Clan Leader…”
Mira said with a dejected face.
Then she let out a sigh.
“The caretaker isn’t here right now. He comes at midnight.”
“His appearance.”
“He’s an old man. Very hunched over. He has a beard like a swallow’s tail.”
“Thank you.”
The Clan Leader placed a small pouch on the table.
I could glimpse silver coins inside.
Since they couldn’t let her join the Irregulars, they were trying to compensate with money instead.
“…Please give me something else instead of this.”
“Stop talking about the Irregulars—”
“I won’t. I just… want to go to the lake. There’s a lake where everyone from the Empire goes with their families. My wish was to go there with family.”
“….”
“Since I don’t have family, I’d like you all—who I wanted to be family with—to go with me.”
“….”
“We have time left until midnight anyway. Right?”
The Clan Leader looked at the Clan Leader.
And the Clan Leader…
‘Why is he looking at me?’
When I widened my eyes, the Clan Leader asked.
“You.”
“…?”
“Have you been there?”
“I know about the lake, but I’ve never been there.”
Would Marquis Andres have taken me to such a place?
I heard he went with Stella though.
“Let’s go.”
Saying that, the Clan Leader left the lounge.
* * *
We headed to the lake with Mira, who had finished her shift.
The lake where Benes, the god of peace and health, supposedly comes down to bathe.
The people of the Empire prayed for their family’s peace and health there.
‘It’s beautiful too.’
Mira was sticking close to Antonio and the Clan Leader as she strolled along the lakeside.
“Should we run? Running? Like a game of tag.”
“Isn’t that something lovers do?”
“I’d like that.”
“I wouldn’t.”
She was so excited, chattering with Antonio and giggling loudly.
I sat on a mat that the Clan Leader had gotten from somewhere and looked at the lake.
I thought I could understand Mira’s desire to come to this lake.
‘I wanted to come here when I was young too.’
A picnic spot where everyone comes without exception.
I thought it would be nice to come with family.
There were times when I studied desperately, planning to ask to go together if I did well on tests.
‘But when I actually brought home good scores, Father said not to get excited undignifiedly over something so natural.’
Mother, seeing me dejected, suggested we go to the lake.
I hugged my test paper and shook my head.
Because I thought we should go together as a whole family someday when I earned recognition.
…Not knowing that I would eventually be abandoned no matter how hard I tried.
“What are you thinking about so deeply—?”
Mira asked.
She had run over to me at some point.
The Clan Leader and Antonio were walking over from far away with tired faces.
“Just…”
“By the way, are you going to keep wearing that hood? You haven’t taken it off once. You’ll suffocate like that.”
Mira reached for my hood.
I flinched and swatted her hand away.
Startled, Mira pulled her hand back.
Antonio, who had just arrived, asked.
“What happened?”
“The young lady…”
“Why would you, miss?”
“No, I’m fine.”
That kid had an awkward expression.
As if I had done something wrong.
So I said.
“She tried to pull off my hood, so I was startled and swatted her hand away.”
“You did such a thing?”
Antonio frowned.
The Clan Leader’s gaze was also fierce.
Mira waved her hands frantically as if flustered.
“I was just worried you might be uncomfortable.”
Then she quickly changed the subject.
“Where did the Clan Leader go?”
“He’s communicating.”
“Really? Then I should go now. There’s a place nearby that sells really delicious sandwiches.”
Saying that, Mira got up.
* * *
Mira, who had left the lakeside, glanced back.
“I thought she was bland since she was so quiet.”
So when she swatted my hand away in surprise, I thought it worked out well.
I thought I could make the atmosphere seem like that girl’s mistake.
But she fought back?
‘Well, she must be something special to have gotten into the Irregulars.’
Two years ago, I begged and pleaded, but they never made me a member.
Instead, didn’t they find an orphanage to send me away even faster?
But that girl entered as the Clan Leader’s adopted daughter, no less.
‘So what if she might steal him away?’
I had no intention of letting them go like this.
I felt it the moment I encountered them at the casino.
This is fate.
God must have led them to me.
Otherwise, how could we have met twice in this vast empire?
‘And under such good conditions too.’
Mira smiled brightly and entered the pastry shop.
As soon as she entered, she looked around the pastry shop.
The boys Mira was looking for were leisurely yawning at a table inside the pastry shop.
“Hello, Martin.”
Then the red-haired boy raised his hand saying “Oh.”
“What sucker did you catch to come here again?”
The other boys asked, resting their chins on their hands.
“Sucker?”
“Mira comes here every time she catches a sucker. The lake I’ve never been to because I have no family… couldn’t you go with me…?”
When the red-haired boy clasped his hands together with a pitiful expression, the other boys giggled.
Mira snorted.
“This time it’s not a sucker, it’s real.”
“Real my ass. Your real father is probably selling fish hard at the market.”
At those words, the freckled boy looked at Mira.
“Aren’t you an orphan?”
“Don’t talk nonsense about orphans. She’s a kid who entered an orphanage because she was tired of being poor and waited for adoption by a rich family. When the director wouldn’t connect her with adoptive parents, she even set fire to the orphanage.”
Mira smiled brightly.
“It’s living wisely.”
“Use that wisdom to make some money. We’re running low on funds.”
“I don’t do that stuff anymore. Instead, I’ll give you another source of income.”
“Source of income?”
“Wait at the place I tell you. Around sunset, a girl will come, so kidnap her and sell her to Romen’s Mane.”
The red-haired boy groaned “Ooh.”
Romen’s Mane was the most notorious among human trafficking organizations.
“What kind of girl do you hate so much that Romen’s Mane comes up?”
“It has to be at least Romen’s Mane level so the Irregulars can’t track her.”
“There it is again. That damn delusion.”
The boys burst into laughter.
None of them believed Mira’s story about having connections with the Irregulars.
They thought there was no way someone like Mira could know the Irregulars, whom even the Imperial Palace couldn’t catch.
After finishing her conversation with the boys, Mira headed to the counter.
She bought four sandwiches.
And in the portion for the girl who dared to take the position of the Clan Leader’s adopted daughter, she generously added betium.
Betium was an herb that caused stomach upset.
‘When she gets a stomach ache and looks for a bathroom, that’ll be the last time she sees the Clan Leader.’
She returned to the lakeside like that.
“Did you wait? Please eat.”
The three men from the Irregulars and Yustea accepted the sandwiches.
And Yustea…
Chomp.
Bit into the sandwich.
Mira smiled secretly.
* * *
Mira chattered away until sunset.
“Actually, the casino roulette is rigged. So never play it, okay?”
“Do you remember what happened two years ago? You were happy about the gloves I made.”
“The lake is pretty, but my heart is sad. I’m envious of the kids who came with their parents.”
While doing so, she subtly inserted stories she really wanted them to believe.
“You know? I heard human trafficking is rampant these days. They’re taking so many kids.”
With this, even if that girl suddenly disappeared, they would think it was the fault of a human trafficking organization.
‘Good, now the betium just needs to do its job.’
But it was strange.
No matter how much time passed, the girl wouldn’t budge.
The sun was already setting.
The impatient boys might give up and leave.
‘There’s no way the drug effect wouldn’t kick in.’
Was she enduring it?
Mira forced her lips to curve up as she looked at Yustea.
“Um, are you uncomfortable anywhere? You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine. I threw away the betium without you knowing.”
…What?
Mira froze in shock.
Yustea stared at her intently and said.
“Well, I couldn’t carelessly eat food given by a kid who lies without batting an eye.”
“What… what lies did I…”
“The casino manager. That’s you.”
* * *
The description of the manager that Mira gave me was as follows.
An old man with a severely hunched back.
‘I knew it was a lie the moment I heard it.’
The manager is selected to be someone agile enough to protect the keys in case of emergency.
Moreover, the manager doesn’t reveal themselves even to the dealers.
The one who manages the dealers is the Casino Owner, whom everyone else knows about.
“So it’s you. You liar.”
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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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