How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 5

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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 5

Everyone present turned their heads toward the direction of the sound.

The Clan Leader had a cold expression.

And behind the Clan Leader, Antonio was frowning.

Antonio approached me.

“Did that… no, she… no, that bastard… no.”

He seemed unable to find an appropriate way to address the lord’s niece.

Then the Clan Leader asked.

“Did Miss Marina do this to my guest?”

So the niece’s name was Marina.

Marina flinched.

“That gutter rat is the Clan Leader’s guest?”

Then Antonio, who was helping me up, spoke with an indignant expression.

“Gutter rat?”

Flustered by their attitudes, Marina’s mouth moved wordlessly.

Then, as if an excuse came to mind, she pointed at me with her fingertip.

“She was coveting clothes without knowing her place, so I was just teaching her a lesson.”

Antonio said “Clothes?” and looked at the dress Marina was holding.

The servants turned their heads with awkward expressions.

That alone seemed enough for the Clan Leader to understand that Marina had mistaken the dress for her own.

The Clan Leader’s gray eyes glinted coldly.

“She knows the dress’s true owner perfectly well. It was someone else who didn’t know their place.”

Then he took the dress from Marina’s hands and told a servant.

“Iron out the wrinkled parts and package it properly.”

“Yes, Clan Leader.”

Marina’s face flushed red.

“Even if you’re the Knight’s Order leader, you can’t be this rude to me.”

The Clan Leader, who had maintained an expressionless face, whispered in her ear.

The servants looked puzzled, but having once served as a lookout in a thief gang, I could hear it.

Don’t forget.

We were the ones who chose your uncle, who had nothing but a well, to be the Lord of San Miguel.

‘Wow.’

Marina’s complexion turned ashen.

Biting her lips tightly, she spun around and ran away.

After briefly watching her leave, the Clan Leader sat on the sofa.

Then he told the servants.

“Leave us.”

The servants left the room as ordered.

Antonio seated me on the sofa across from the Clan Leader and asked.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief then.”

“Um, but why did you call for me…?”

I looked at the Clan Leader with a nervous expression.

The Clan Leader had the same stoic face as before, but something about his atmosphere seemed strange.

Did he look embarrassed?

‘Maybe he’s embarrassed to tell me not to come near This City?’

That would be troublesome.

I had planned to work in the city and make a good impression on the Clan Members.

Then when the Clan Leader became a duke and the Irregulars no longer needed to hide, maybe he would take me on as a Clan Member.

‘But if I’m stubborn and fall completely out of the Clan Leader’s favor…’

Right, I can’t fall out of favor with the Irregulars’ second-in-command for the sake of the process.

In the end, I made up my mind.

Then, the Clan Leader finally opened his mouth.

“The reason I called you is…”

“Yes, I’ll leave.”

“…What?”

When I spoke with a sad face, the Clan Leader flinched.

He must have been flustered since I said what he was going to say first.

I let out a sigh.

“I’ll go as far away as possible.”

“No, I…”

“I absolutely won’t work in This City, not even in my dreams…”

“…”

I’ll have to work somewhere else until the Clan Leader becomes a duke.

And then come back after he becomes a duke.

When I hung my head dejectedly, the Clan Leader spoke in a flustered voice.

“Well… isn’t it difficult to find work…?”

“I have recommendation letters from Imperial Army commanders, so I should be able to work anywhere.”

“Recommendation letters from commanders?”

Then Antonio chimed in from the side.

“The recommenders are incredible. Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, General… Even that General is old man Munoz.”

That’s right.

General Munoz’s fleet had clashed with the Irregulars before.

The General was an excellent commander who dealt significant damage to the Irregulars.

‘The Clan Leader was the one who overcame that, probably?’

The General, who was ultimately crushed under the Clan Leader’s command, would explode with anger whenever the Irregulars were mentioned.

I nodded.

“Yes. If there’s nowhere else to work, I can go to General Munoz. Please don’t worry.”

I won’t be a bother, so please look favorably upon me.

I stared intently at the Clan Leader.

But for some reason, the Clan Leader’s eyes trembled slightly.

‘…?’

* * *

‘Damn General Munoz…’

The Clan Leader silently ground his teeth and pressed his forehead.

Unaware of his thoughts, Antonio was busy chattering with Yustea.

“General Munoz is picky and doesn’t easily take people in. All the crew members on his ships had been there for over five years.”

“Is that so? He told me to come. If the General is difficult, I could go to a Colonel instead.”

“Colonel Lagoni? He wrote you a recommendation letter too.”

“Colonel Lagoni did, and Colonel Mori also told me to come if I needed work. Also…”

Famous names from the Imperial Army came pouring out.

They should just govern the Imperial Army well instead of coveting other talent.

The Clan Leader had a headache.

His previous words swept through his mind.

“How foolish.”

“I can see you’re clever. You’ve managed to win over Antonio well. That makes me even more reluctant to let you live.”

And on top of that…

“Are you going to kill me or something?”

“It’s the most reliable and clean method.”

He felt like hitting himself on the head for saying such things to a heaven-sent teacher.

‘How do I appease her mood and ask for her help?’

Judging by how she suddenly said she’d leave the city entirely, her feelings must be deeply hurt.

Besides, she had many places to go.

‘But we only have that child.’

This was the 11th teacher to be replaced.

Now facing the 12th, there was no teacher who could take responsibility for that fool…

Then the fool… no, Antonio brought up a different topic.

“It’s a shame to think those damn old men will monopolize your braised ribs. You taught me letters well too.”

“Do you want to learn more letters?”

“The Vice Clan Leader says I absolutely must learn them.”

“Then shall I drop by occasionally to teach you?”

The Vice Clan Leader’s head shot up.

For a moment, he thought he saw a ray of hope.

Antonio asked.

“Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“But traveling back and forth from the capital here would be difficult…”

“Right, it would be difficult.”

The Vice Clan Leader quickly interjected.

Antonio and Yustea flinched and looked at him.

The Vice Clan Leader cleared his throat and said.

“If you two want, I’ll arrange quarters in the castle.”

“In the castle?”

Yustea asked in surprise, while Antonio frowned.

“What kind of job is this after driving us out so coldly?”

“…”

“You’ve been acting strange since earlier. Suddenly running out and not looking for a teacher… mmph!”

The Vice Clan Leader covered the clueless illiterate’s mouth.

“Will you do it?”

Yustea’s eyes widened.

As her answer was delayed, his heart grew anxious.

“I’ll pay whatever tuition you want.”

“…”

“And give you full authority.”

“…”

“I’ll give you authority equivalent to a department head and treat you as an honored guest…”

At that moment.

Grab.

Yustea grasped the Vice Clan Leader’s hands with both of hers and shouted.

“Really?”

The startled Vice Clan Leader froze.

Though handsome, he had the intimidating aura typical of those who wielded blades, so girls his age would usually be frightened when they saw him.

No one had ever thought to hold his hands like this.

Soft, small hands.

They seemed like they’d break if he applied pressure, making it difficult to pull away.

Yustea was overjoyed.

“Wow! Woah—!”

She even bounced up and down while holding the Vice Clan Leader’s hands.

Antonio, who had looked displeased with his mouth covered, smiled so lovingly it was charming.

The Vice Clan Leader also found himself curling up the corners of his mouth at the sight.

* * *

A few weeks later.

“She’s an honored guest from the capital, right?”

“Yes. She must do very important work. The butler said so. He told us to fulfill every request Lady Yustea makes.”

Marina, who had been listening to the maids gossiping behind a corridor corner, gritted her teeth.

For the past few days, the castle had been full of talk about that gutter rat.

‘An honored guest from the capital? Ridiculous.’

What a perfect match for a beggar.

Yet she walks around with her chin held high.

Marina grumbled and ran off.

Her destination was Count Sanmiguel’s office.

“Are you going to leave things as they are?”

The Marquis, who had been reviewing documents, frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“The Knight Commander. He’s brought in a guest as if he were the lord himself.”

Veins bulged on the back of the Marquis’s hand holding his pen.

He had heard the news.

That girl who had already caught his attention when she entered the castle with the Clan Leader was now being hosted as a guest.

The Marquis spoke in an ominous voice.

“So you want me to drive her out?”

“You could do it, couldn’t you? Uncle, you’re the real lord. The Knight Commander said it himself. That they were the ones who chose Uncle. How rude—”

“I told you never to bring up that topic again!”

The Marquis barked.

Marina flinched and hunched her shoulders.

“I was just trying to say that the Knight Commander is going too far…”

The Marquis’s expression hardened.

His influence didn’t match the Vice Clan Leader’s.

Because the Clan Leader wouldn’t allow it.

As the Vice Clan Leader had said, the current lord of Sanmiguel was a chosen one.

Chosen because his family background was very humble and he had no children.

Without an heir, there would be no one to inherit Sanmiguel Territory.

It was all to naturally replace the lord after gaining control of Esgaroth.

‘As if I’d let that happen.’

The Marquis spoke in a cold tone.

“That’s why your role is important. Marina, you must become the Clan Leader’s daughter.”

“…”

“If you win his heart, not just Sanmiguel Territory but Esgaroth itself will fall into our hands.”

“Yes.”

Count Sanmiguel finally smiled with satisfaction and patted his niece’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about that girl. It’s actually worked out well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Antonio, that fool, could never properly learn to read. The girl will prove her own incompetence.”

If that were the case, would the Clan Leader ever make that girl his adopted daughter?

A smile returned to Marina’s face.

“She’ll be driven out soon then.”

She laughed like a flower, “Ohohoho.”

But at that very moment.

Something strange was happening at the blacksmith’s shop outside the castle.

54 years of blacksmith experience.

The old man who had been scamming fools for about the same amount of time, who had sold defective weapons to the clan members last time, was flustered.

“You want to write a contract?”

“That’s right.”

The clan members were demanding contracts when buying weapons.

And on top of that….

“This old fool still hasn’t come to his senses! What kind of contract says [Absolutely no refunds]? Are you trying to scam us again?!”

“…!!”

Wait, where did these guys learn to read?

* * *

A sunny morning.

I showed my sketchbook to the clan members, including Antonio.

Then, before I could even ask them to guess….

“Correct!”

“Me! It’s me!”

The clan members started raising their hands with fire in their eyes.

What originally started as a class with just Antonio now had dozens of clan members participating.

Antonio was raising his hand first among all of them.

I said.

“Yes, Antonio, please go ahead.”

“Dozens of merchant ships… uh, vessels? Ah, dozens of merchant ships sank!”

I nodded with a proud expression.

Now he reads even difficult characters well.

‘He could do conversational language to some extent, but his progress is fast.’

I must have chosen the right teaching method.

From what I heard, other teachers would just give them words and pressure them to memorize everything blindly.

But that approach doesn’t work well with types like Antonio and the other members.

I had the clan members read easy books that would interest them.

[The transparent dragon roared loudly. So strong.]

Things like that.

[The madam caressed the butler’s chin. Caressed it for a long time. So sexy.]

Things like that.

‘I need to make them interested.’

I had them look up words they didn’t know, and gradually raised the level of the books.

Plus appropriate rewards.

People who could already do conversational language to some extent showed tremendous progress.

“Now, Antonio, please take this.”

Antonio, who had thrust his fist into the air, quickly came forward and received his reward.

“Awesome! This is killer!”

The clan members who had their question stolen looked at Antonio with fiercely jealous eyes.

Even the clan members who were still learning the alphabet gritted their teeth.

“Just wait until I master all of this.”

“Little Teacher, don’t we have any questions?”

Now the clan members were calling me Little Teacher.

Classes went on like this for about 5 hours.

I give them 3 hours of self-study time to absorb things on their own.

During that time, I….

‘I need to go report.’

I take the clan members’ assignments and go report this week’s educational progress to the Clan Leader.

Since the number of students had increased, we were using the backyard as a classroom.

So I decided to use the southwest corridor.

It was the most secluded, but also the fastest route.

‘I need to come back quickly and answer their questions.’

I was walking while thinking that.

There was someone in front of the southwest corridor.

A person whose face was completely invisible, wearing a deeply pulled hood.

And the person with them was….

‘That’s Marina.’

The Marquis’s niece.

“Can you succeed?”

“The barrier is solid, but it’s nothing once it’s in my hands.”

“Good. Then let’s….”

Just as she was about to say ‘go,’ Marina and I made eye contact.

Marina’s expression hardened instantly.

The hooded figure startled and hurriedly ran away.

Marina glared at me fiercely.

“How dare you follow me?”

“I wasn’t spying, I was just passing through.”

“Do you think I’d believe that?”

This girl is really self-conscious.

This wasn’t the first or second time this had happened.

Not only the incident where she stole my dress, but every time we met over the past few weeks, she threw a tantrum.

Saying I was deliberately trying to get attention and provoke people.

But I was always just passing by.

Marina approached me with her arms crossed.

Then she pushed my shoulder with a thud.

“How much did you hear?”

Thud.

“What did you overhear like a little rat?”

Thud.

“Do you think doing that will get you into the Clan Leader’s good graces?”

After getting pushed around like that, I was completely blocked against the wall.

Marina raised her hand once more.

And just as she was about to push me one more time.

I quickly grabbed her wrist.

“My assignments are falling, so please stop.”

Marina let out a hollow laugh.

Then she knocked the assignments down, scattering them everywhere.

“What are you going to do if they fall?”

“….”

I quietly stared at the scattered assignments.

They had fallen into a puddle that was there because it had rained at dawn, getting soaked.

Antonio had stayed in the library until dawn working on this assignment.

When he brought his crookedly written assignment,

“Since Little Teacher teaches so hard, this big student worked hard too.”

─he said with a grin.

The other clan members had squeezed time out of their busy schedules to work diligently.

Marina stomped on the assignments.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“…Like this.”

“What?”

I instantly slipped between Marina’s arms and twisted her arm back.

Before she knew it, Marina found our positions reversed and was completely subdued.

I’m from a marquis family.

I learned self-defense techniques as soon as I could walk.

“Let go! Let me go! Kyaaah, Uncle…!”

“It’ll hurt more if you struggle.”

Your uncle can’t come.

Because.

“Why did you call the Alchemist?”

“…What?”

I recognize the voice of that hooded figure from just now.

The Alchemy Shop, one of the shops in the game.

It was a shop where you could designate and commission specific alchemists.

And that Alchemist’s specialty is brainwashing.

I can guess who they’re targeting.

‘The only ones who maintain barriers constantly would be the Elite Squad.’

In other words, this means.

“I’ve got you dead to rights.”

—————
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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