How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 6

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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 6

Mother, who used to run a merchant guild, once told me something.

“My dear Yustea, listen carefully. Life is cruel, and if you try to live too easily, you’ll end up living more difficultly.”

“Like how Mommy got beaten up for tax evasion while trying to save on taxes?”

“…That was a failed tax reduction attempt. Those bastards at the Tax Office clung to one damn obsolete regulation clause and… just pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Ah, that’s not it.

“But there is an unwritten rule that won’t make life more difficult.”

“What’s that?”

Mother smiled like sunshine and said,

“If someone slaps your cheek, repay them with a skull fracture.”

That way they won’t think of hitting you again.

She said the human heart is like drawing paper – when ink splatters, it spreads.

Just like how I let Marina hit me once, and this time she hit me three more times.

So I…

“Want to bite down hard?”

“What?”

“You might bite your tongue.”

I grabbed her by the collar and threw her.

Thwack!

Marina, sprawled out, burst into tears.

* * *

I watched Marina run away crying loudly.

The threat must have worked since she didn’t call anyone and just ran off frantically.

I picked up the scattered assignments and muttered,

“It was just a bluff…”

“I figured as much.”

“…!”

I turned around in surprise.

The Vice Clan Leader was standing there with his arms crossed, looking at me.

I quickly straightened up and bowed my head.

“Hello.”

“I’m fine, but you might not be.”

“Pardon?”

“Do you think you’ll be safe after throwing the lord’s niece around?”

Did he see that?

From what point did he watch?

As I swallowed nervously, he slowly approached me.

“Would it help you understand the situation if I told you I was watching the lord’s niece before you were?”

“…You knew she brought in an alchemist?”

“There’s nothing in this castle I don’t know about.”

An exclamation escaped me without realizing.

He had anticipated from the beginning that Marina would bring an alchemist into the castle and was monitoring the situation.

He truly had the ability worthy of being called the Clan Leader’s right hand.

“Are you the type of person who looks down on the lord’s niece because you think you caught my eye?”

When the Vice Clan Leader asked, I tilted my head.

“No?”

“Then what gave you the confidence to throw the lord’s niece? You seem to know that bringing in an alchemist can’t be used as blackmail material.”

“Yes, because there’s no evidence.”

The alchemist had run away.

So I have absolutely no evidence to report Marina.

“But Marina won’t think that far ahead.”

“Why not?”

“If she were someone who could think that far, she wouldn’t have been scared in the first place.”

“…”

“Also, even if someone tells her that I’m actually in a disadvantageous situation, she can’t go tattle to the lord. Marina has no evidence that I threw her either.”

The Vice Clan Leader stared at me intently.

Eventually…

Pfft.

A chuckle escaped from between his teeth.

“Correct.”

“But shouldn’t we quickly inform the Clan Leader that an alchemist specializing in mind control came?”

There are three Elite Squad members in this castle.

The Clan Leader, Vice Clan Leader, and Antonio.

I heard the remaining Elite Squad members are doing other work outside.

‘Then there’s only one person Marina wants to brainwash.’

The Clan Leader.

She would stop at nothing to become his adopted daughter.

The Vice Clan Leader ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

“You don’t need to inform the Clan Leader.”

“Why not…?”

“Because the person the lord’s niece was trying to brainwash was me.”

What does that mean?

Why would she try to brainwash the Vice Clan Leader instead of the Clan Leader?

‘Wait.’

The puzzle pieces click together in my head.

The Vice Clan Leader is the one who decides the Clan Leader’s adopted daughter.

That means his influence is tremendous.

‘Hold on. Then…’

I hurriedly examined the Vice Clan Leader from head to toe.

As I carefully looked from his face down to his feet, the Vice Clan Leader flinched.

“…What are you doing.”

“Haven’t you developed any spots or anything? You’re not feeling sick, are you? Alchemy doesn’t necessarily require direct contact to cast. You can be poisoned through incense too.”

The Clan Leader’s barrier is as powerful as the Emperor’s barrier, which is maintained by hordes of mage tower members and priests.

Of course, the other Elite Squad members are incredibly strong too, but the Clan Leader was on a different level.

If she had targeted the Vice Clan Leader, she might have succeeded.

“Could I lift your bangs a bit? I need to check for spots on your forehead…”

“What exactly are you, child?”

“Pardon?”

The Vice Clan Leader removed my hand and stepped back.

Then he said with an awkward expression,

“I know I was excessively cold to you when we first met. But why…”

“…?”

“If I was that cruel to you, you’d have reason to avoid me. Why are you so worried about me?”

Huh?

Rather than worrying about the Vice Clan Leader, I was worried about my future.

Imagine if the Vice Clan Leader got brainwashed and suddenly picked Marina as the adopted daughter.

I’d be kicked out by Marina immediately.

I was about to say that wasn’t it, but the Vice Clan Leader spoke first.

“Be kind in moderation. Don’t make people worry about you.”

With those words, the Clan Leader strode away with large steps.

“…?”

I was worried about your situation though?

I wanted to say that, but the Clan Leader had already left his seat.

* * *

The Clan Leader stared intently at the papers arranged on his desk.

Though they had gotten wet once, the cleverly dried papers weren’t difficult to read.

That’s right.

These were the assignments that Yustea had given out, and that Antonio and the other clan members had written while wetting their pen nibs with saliva.

“The work… it’s done too well.”

When the Clan Leader muttered, the clan member serving as his aide looked puzzled.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“These assignments.”

“Ah. Everyone has improved quite a lot.”

The clan member smiled broadly.

Excluding the head Clan Leader, the 6 members of the Elite Squad each led their own units.

And coincidentally, the unit members had similar dispositions to their own captains.

Those currently guarding the castle were Antonio’s unit.

Their attack power competed for the strongest among the 6 units.

But the problem was…

‘They’re hopeless when it comes to using their brains.’

The reason the Clan Leader kept Antonio’s unit by his side was because he was concerned about such aspects.

The clan member looked at the crooked handwriting in Antonio’s unit’s assignments and said.

“They’ve even learned to write diaries. The entire unit has been positively influenced.”

“Is that all you see?”

“Pardon?”

Looking closely at the content, something else became visible.

[Suspicious person approached the castle gate]

[Antonio sir took my meat and ate it, first meat in 3 days but I won’t stand for]

“…!”

The clan member looked at the Clan Leader with a start.

“Isn’t this information about inside the castle?”

Antonio’s unit was in charge of castle security.

From these diaries alone, Yustea could gather information.

The clan member’s face hardened.

“What could she be thinking?”

“She must have clarified the purpose of learning. What I want from Antonio’s unit is reports, after all.”

And this was serving the role of adequate reports.

“Could she be trying to leak information to other forces?”

“She reports results to me every week. If she intended to leak information, she wouldn’t have done this.”

“She’s an amazing child…”

“That’s not all.”

The Clan Leader tapped one clan member’s diary with his knuckle.

[Antonio sir took my meat and ate it, first meat in 3 days but I won’t stand for]

It was that complaining diary he had just read.

The clan member furrowed his brow.

“Don’t tell me Antonio’s unit is being provided with insufficient meals?”

“It could also mean Count Sanmiguel has been embezzling military operation funds.”

By reducing expensive ingredients like meat.

The Clan Leader didn’t spare money when it came to the clan members’ meals.

Though he couldn’t feed them as luxuriously as the great families, he made sure to include meat at least once a day for muscle growth and mission rewards.

The clan members who didn’t know the Clan Leader’s thoughts probably didn’t think much of it.

But Yustea had noticed.

That the meals provided to the clan members under the Clan Leader and Antonio’s unit members were different.

‘But raising issues about uncertain matters would only make her position difficult.’

So if meals were really a problem, she used the diaries so the Clan Leader could notice.

The clan member clicked his tongue.

“Her cleverness is beyond words…”

But those who are too clever are reluctant to employ. Because the damage is great when they betray you too.

‘So are you perhaps thinking of driving her away?’

When the clan member looked cautiously, the Clan Leader suddenly frowned.

“But she’s even kindhearted.”

“…Pardon?”

The Clan Leader let out a deep sigh.

Yustea was from the Andres Estate.

Though she was abandoned, if her father called her back, she would probably go.

What fool would give up the position of a great noble’s daughter.

But…

‘I covet her.’

The Clan Leader sighed.

* * *

A few days later.

Looking at the military restaurant menu board, I smiled contentedly.

It seemed the Clan Leader had immediately taken action after seeing the clan members’ assignments.

And naturally, the members of Antonio’s unit were…

“Really, since we’ve been working hard on assignments, meat comes out every day.”

“See, what did I tell you. I said we just need to trust Little Teacher’s words.”

Very pleased.

‘They’re good people.’

I smiled kindly while sharing my meat with the clan members who were grabbing each other’s hair over a piece of meat.

But it was strange.

‘Why are only two grabbing hair?’

Usually three of them would grab in a circle.

Come to think of it, one was missing.

I asked with a puzzled expression.

“Where’s Charlie?”

“He’ll be here soon. He went to bring the girls.”

“Girls?”

“Yeah. Those girls are apparently taking a test today.”

A test?

And only for girls?

Wondering what was going on, I soon found the answer.

‘The adopted daughter test must be today.’

The Clan Leader intends to take in an adopted daughter to infiltrate Esgaroth.

The reason for taking in a daughter rather than a son was to prevent problems with succession.

This empire still principled primogeniture except in special cases.

But then.

“Antonio sir!”

A clan member came running into the restaurant.

The clan member spoke to Antonio with a pale expression.

“Charlie has been arrested!”

The expressions of Antonio and the clan members hardened stiffly.

Antonio threw down his utensils and shot up from his seat.

“What are you talking about? Why Charlie?”

“All the girls Charlie was escorting have been kidnapped. Count Sanmiguel arrested Charlie, holding him responsible for this crime.”

“…!”

The atmosphere in the restaurant froze in an instant.

‘This can’t be right.’

This didn’t happen in the game.

The girls safely arrived at the castle and took the test.

And a different child, not Marina, became the adopted daughter.

‘But why suddenly?’

Antonio immediately rushed out of the restaurant.

The clan members and I quickly followed behind him.

* * *

The courtyard of Sanmiguel Castle.

The place where Charlie was said to be arrested was already bustling with people.

Charlie was subdued and lying flat on his stomach.

And watching this scene were Count Sanmiguel and Marina.

Antonio shouted.

“Charlie!”

“C-Captain….”

Charlie looked up at Antonio, his face pale with fear.

Antonio’s expression turned cold upon seeing the boy’s face.

His lips were split and his cheeks were swollen.

Count Sanmiguel, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, spoke up.

“It couldn’t be helped. He was quite reluctant to talk, you see.”

From those words, I understood.

Charlie’s condition wasn’t from combat during the escort mission.

Count Sanmiguel had done this to him.

All of Antonio’s unit had murderous expressions.

Veins bulged on Antonio’s clenched fists.

“You….”

That was the moment.

“Stand back.”

Another group arrived, passing through the crowd.

It was the Vice Clan Leader and his subordinate clan members.

Even with the Vice Clan Leader’s appearance, Antonio’s momentum didn’t diminish.

Just as Antonio was about to kick off from the ground.

The Vice Clan Leader instantly blocked Antonio’s path.

“Move aside.”

“This is the ancestral castle. You cannot lay hands on the lord.”

In this place were not only clan members but other employees as well.

At least to others, Antonio was the Count’s knight.

The moment a knight who received his appointment publicly laid hands on his lord, he would be executed for treason.

The Count had gathered people with this intention from the start.

The Count’s lips curved up in a crooked smile.

“The girls disappeared without a trace in just a moment of inattention. I find it hard to believe.”

Antonio responded fiercely.

“Are you saying Charlie sold those children somewhere?”

“That will have to be confirmed. But what to do about this? The princes’ arrival approaches, yet without the girls, the test cannot be held.”

The Count acted troubled.

But Marina standing behind him was different. She was smiling very arrogantly.

From that reaction, I was certain.

‘She made a move because she was afraid someone other than Marina would be chosen in the adopted daughter test.’

And she involved Charlie from Antonio’s unit in this.

So that Charlie would give the answer the Count wanted under torture.

Probably planning to make him point to Antonio.

‘Then the Vice Clan Leader wouldn’t be able to oppose Marina becoming the adopted daughter, even to protect Antonio.’

People who weren’t clan members looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

“A test? What test?”

“Are they selecting a girl to send as an attendant to the princes?”

Amid the people’s commotion, the Vice Clan Leader’s expression was cold as frost.

He seemed to be guessing the Count’s scheme.

The Count shrugged his shoulders.

“It can’t be helped. Marina, since you’re the only candidate, you’ll need to prepare to go to Esgaroth.”

“Given the weight of this responsibility, I’ll do my absolute best.”

Marina chuckled and looked at me.

But I ignored her and approached Charlie.

“Little Teacher….”

Charlie was a good kid.

One of the few girls in Antonio’s unit.

And around my age too.

So she had looked after me in various ways.

“I had business at the market so I bought this, but well, it might not be to a noble lady’s taste… but it looked pretty to me… Ah, whatever. Here, Little Teacher, take this.”

Since I was wearing a pretty dress, I’d need a pretty hairpin too.

She was grateful that Little Teacher taught her letters.

She had said such things shyly.

I wrapped Charlie’s cheek with a handkerchief and spoke.

“The test can be held.”

Marina let out a scoffing laugh.

“What test when there are no candidates? More importantly, this isn’t your place to interfere, so get lost.”

“There is a candidate.”

“…What?”

This time it was Count Sanmiguel who asked.

I looked straight at him and said.

“Noble birth worthy of adoption as a daughter. One educated enough to serve as a prince’s attendant.”

Everyone gathered in the courtyard drew in sharp breaths.

Because they understood what I meant.

I said exactly what they expected.

“I will become a candidate.”

─I declared.

Antonio and the Vice Clan Leader stared at me in bewilderment.

Antonio had an overwhelmed expression.

And the Vice Clan Leader….

“I, Lorenzo Wors, recommend Yustea of the Andres family as a candidate.”

He declared.

I looked at the Count and Marina and thought.

‘The adopted daughter test—I’m entering the competition.’

—————
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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