How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 60

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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 60

 

Stella’s face became sulky.

 

“I’d like to do that, but there’s no way to meet Prince Luciano.”

 

GM: Let’s arrange a meeting in the next episode.

 

“Hmm, I think Gaspard would be disappointed….”

 

GM: Didn’t you clearly feel it this time?

 

GM: The result of your reckless actions is the birth of a Saint.

 

“….”

 

GM: You need to take back the Saint’s position.

 

GM: To lead the story in the right direction.

 

“….”

 

GM: What’s the problem now?

 

“The word ‘take back’ feels a bit wrong.”

 

Stella leaned deeply against the headboard of her bed.

 

And muttered with a sulky face.

 

“If this flow is right, then it’s not taking away but reclaiming.”

 

GM: Ah.

 

GM: You’re right.

 

GM: Let’s reclaim it.

 

With that sentence as the last, the window floating in the air flickered and disappeared.

 

Stella looked at the moon outside the window.

 

‘There’s still a chance.’

 

A chance to turn everything back, that is.

 

Because this secretive friend of hers always tells her the right answer.

 

* * *

 

Divine Tower, World Tree’s Chamber.

 

“How about resting for a moment.”

 

At Prince Luciano’s voice, I snapped back to attention.

 

When I turned my head, Luciano was quietly watching me from behind.

 

Yuise also had a worried expression.

 

“I was a bit surprised, but I’m fine.”

 

When I spoke, Luciano replied.

 

“It seems there’s a problem with your mother. If it’s something like that, it can’t be fine.”

 

“I’m really fine. I think I found a solution rather than a problem.”

 

After all, Mother had been collapsed for a long time.

 

Now that I knew it was a backlash from the prohibition spell, I could approach it from that angle.

 

‘Yes, let’s think that things have actually become easier.’

 

How she knows about the game and why she put a prohibition spell on me are things I can figure out gradually.

 

“Thank you for taking care of Mother. Thanks to you, I can go down with peace of mind.”

 

I bowed deeply in greeting.

 

And just as I was about to lower my head.

 

Luciano’s hand came over my head.

 

“…!”

 

I was startled and looked up at him.

 

Yuise’s face contorted.

 

However, Luciano spoke with his usual unreadable expression.

 

“You don’t need to pretend to be so strong.”

 

“Are you comforting me?”

 

“Something like that.”

 

Saying that, Luciano removed his hand.

 

“So, does that door open?”

 

Ah, that’s right.

 

When I touched the World Tree, the door had closed.

 

Just in case, Yuise checked the door handle.

 

Yuise shook her head.

 

It seemed it wouldn’t open.

 

‘Then maybe….’

 

I placed my hand on the World Tree’s trunk again.

 

Rumble rumble….

 

The circular earthen floor covering the World Tree’s roots rotated.

 

And with a thud! sound, the door opened.

 

“It seems to work.”

 

“Shall we go now?”

 

“That’s the plan.”

 

I have things to do too.

 

I need to find a way to wake up Mother.

 

I spread my skirt and curtsied.

 

“Thanks to you, I can go to Cuaron with peace of mind. I will definitely repay this kindness.”

 

“Alright.”

 

After greeting, I turned around.

 

Just as I was about to leave the room with Yuise.

 

Something flew through the air with a whoosh.

 

Yuise caught it with a start.

 

I saw it was an entry pass to Prince Luciano’s palace and a note with a communication code.

 

Luciano said.

 

“Contact me.”

 

“Ah….”

 

“If possible, frequently.”

 

“Yes.”

 

I answered with a bright smile and left the room.

 

Even while walking, Yuise frowned and stared at the entry pass and note.

 

“That person isn’t lacking in acting fatal either.”

 

“What if he hears you?”

 

“He’s straining his neck veins wanting to hear it.”

 

Yuise growled and glared behind us.

 

* * *

 

Inside the carriage heading to Duke Esgaroth’s Second Residence.

 

I was lost in thought while looking out the window.

 

I could feel Yuise’s gaze from across me.

 

“About your mother’s situation. Is it okay to ask?”

 

It was a cautious voice.

 

“Yes.”

 

“What happened?”

 

I shared what I had learned in the Chamber of the Imperial Palace World Tree.

 

“The Imperial Palace World Tree seems to be as mystical a tree as the Temple World Tree.”

 

“What?”

 

“When I entered that room, I felt uplifted. I think the divine power was amplified. Even more so when I touched the Imperial Palace World Tree.”

 

“Huh….”

 

“Because of that, it seems the prohibition spell Mother cast on me was completely broken.”

 

“A prohibition?”

 

Yuise asked in surprise, startled.

 

I nodded.

 

“It was various prohibitions.”

 

Don’t reveal your divinity.

 

Forget the memories with prohibitions placed on them.

 

Don’t remember the game, and so on…

 

“When I was young, she made me unable to remember the game, but before she collapsed, she made me remember again.”

 

“The game? Then…!”

 

“Yes, Mother knew everything. And… me going to find Father was also one of the prohibitions.”

 

Yuise’s face hardened.

 

“Was she acquainted with the Clan Leader? …You’re not actually the Clan Leader’s daughter, are you?”

 

“….”

 

I placed my palm under my chin.

 

Look at the clear evidence that I’m not the Clan Leader’s daughter.

 

“…You look disgustingly similar to Count Andres.”

 

Right.

 

That was what I heard most often when I was young.

 

“You look exactly like your father.”

 

“If we made your father smaller and changed the gender, it would be exactly like you.”

 

“Such a perfect resemblance!”

 

“Well, the Clan Leader didn’t show any sign of recognition even after seeing your mother.”

 

“What if it wasn’t that he didn’t, but that he couldn’t?”

 

“…What?”

 

I meant there was a possibility he had prohibitions placed on him like me.

 

‘So I need to check.’

 

While we were having that conversation, the carriage arrived at the manor.

 

Yuise got out first and helped me down.

 

I entered the manor with him.

 

Yuise asked a butler walking down the corridor.

 

“Where is Lord Cuaron?”

 

“He’s in his office.”

 

We headed straight to the office.

 

Our steps, which were normal at first, quickened as we got closer to the office.

 

We couldn’t contain our curiosity.

 

Yuise burst open the door.

 

“Clan Leader!”

 

“Father!”

 

We both froze as we called out.

 

Some woman had her hand on Father’s chest, leaning against him halfway.

 

What was more surprising was that Father’s lips and the woman’s lips were very close together.

 

Father and the woman looked at us.

 

I just blinked.

 

I felt like I should say something, but what should I do?

 

Even though I was adopted, that doesn’t mean Father can’t date.

 

If he said he was starting a romance business, I’d rather want to support him.

 

But should I be seeing this kind of thing?

 

‘Ah, apologize first.’

 

“I’m sorry. Please continue what you were doing?”

 

And just as I was about to step back.

 

Yuise scrunched up his face and said.

 

“That crazy bastard still isn’t dead.”

 

The woman giggled.

 

“You should consider the feelings of the crazy bastard who’s listening. My cute Yuise.”

 

“Yuise knows Father’s girlfriend too?”

 

Just as I asked that.

 

Bang!

 

The woman flew into the wall.

 

Father had pushed the woman away.

 

I was startled and supported the woman sliding down the wall.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

I looked at Father urgently.

 

“Doing this to your girlfriend…!”

 

“No.”

 

“No!”

 

Father and Yuise shouted simultaneously.

 

Then the woman slowly held her cheek.

 

I lowered my head to check if her cheek hurt too.

 

But the chest visible between the collar… chest?

 

‘It’s a man?’

 

Even when I rubbed my eyes and looked again, it was a man.

 

It was muscle. Very firm muscle at that.

 

She… no, he muttered.

 

“This is thrilling to death.”

 

…In a man’s voice different from before.

 

I looked at Father.

 

Father sighed and said.

 

“Right. That’s…”

 

“…Your boyfriend?”

 

“….”

 

Father went quiet.

 

And only after a moment did he grit his teeth and say.

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

─He said.

 

* * *

 

We sat around on the sofa.

 

Father in the seat of honor.

 

Yuise and I on the right, and she… no, he sat on the left.

 

After hearing the situation explained, I said.

 

“Ah… So you’re Father’s friend.”

 

His name was Enoch.

 

He’s Father’s old friend, so even the Elite know him.

 

“But why were friends kissing…?”

 

He chuckled while resting his chin on his hand.

 

“It wasn’t a kiss, it was blood sucking. I’m half human, half vampire.”

 

“I see.”

 

Enoch’s eyes widened slightly.

 

“You’re not surprised?”

 

“There are Saints, so I wondered if there might be vampires too.”

 

Enoch let out a hollow laugh and pointed at me.

 

And looked at Father.

 

“Your daughter is quite unique.”

 

“You’re the most unique one.”

 

“She doesn’t get surprised by vampires, doesn’t get surprised by men wearing dresses. Her face is the spitting image of Count Andres, but her personality seems to take after you?”

 

Enoch ignored Father’s words and just said what he wanted to say.

 

Father turned his gaze away with an exasperated expression.

 

I asked Enoch.

 

“Do you know Count Andres?”

 

“Of course. The previous Matap Lord was my father.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I heard you made quite an impression on my father at that old men’s retreat? Thanks to that, Esgaroth became a strong candidate for the Matap relocation site.”

 

“Then Count Geron is…?”

 

But how come I never saw him once?

 

House of Count Geron is a powerful family ranking just below the Seven Families.

 

Enoch poked my cheek and said.

 

“Right. You’re as cute as I heard.”

 

Father swatted Enoch’s hand away from me and said.

 

“His name was erased from the family registry long ago.”

 

“Ah, that’s because the old man said my dresses were an eyesore and burned down my dressing room, so I burned down the old man’s archive room too.”

 

“As you can see, he’s that kind of guy.”

 

“But dresses suit me well, don’t they?”

 

Enoch asked with a bright smile, so I nodded.

 

“They do.”

 

This was the first time I’d seen a man prettier than Yuise.

 

The dress suited him better than any model.

 

Yuise sighed and said.

 

“I’m not particularly curious about his preferences, so please just listen to the Young Lady’s business.”

 

Then Father looked at me.

 

“Business?”

 

“I was wondering if you’ve ever met our mother. Since mother can use memory erasure spells, you might have forgotten, so I’d like to investigate.”

 

“…”

 

“This is important to me, so I really want to ask you to—”

 

I stopped mid-sentence.

 

Father’s expression was strange.

 

Enoch, who had been resting his chin on his hand, said.

 

“Ah, is that it? What you asked me to investigate.”

 

“Investigate?”

 

“You said you lifted the curse of dark mirror from this kid.”

 

That’s right.

 

I lifted the ancient curse of dark mirror and caused my first divine wave.

 

That’s how I became the ‘Purifier.’

 

“You said you saw a strange vision then.”

 

Come to think of it, Father was staring blankly at his feet then, which was unlike him.

 

I asked Father.

 

“What kind of vision?”

 

Father slowly opened his mouth.

 

* * *

 

The moment he felt in his body that the curse of dark mirror had disappeared.

 

Aslan faced a strange sight.

 

The world was in ruins as if it had been destroyed.

 

Corpses of humans and monsters formed mountains.

 

Among them was a woman whose facial skin was grotesquely distorted.

 

Holding a girl with light-colored hair in her arms.

 

“Ah, my baby… my baby!”

 

It was a desperate scream.

 

Tears mixed with blood flowed endlessly from her bloodshot eyes.

 

The woman, who had been sobbing as if she would die any moment, glared at the darkness and cried out.

 

“I curse you! I will carve your flesh and break your bones to give you eternal suffering!”

 

A low laugh flowed from the darkness.

 

Sound?

 

No, it wasn’t sound.

 

It was like text transmitted directly into the mind, or like pus absorbed through the skin.

 

[How amusing humans are. Now you want to pretend to be a mother.]

 

The woman panted while shedding bloody tears.

 

Another arrogant laugh burst from the darkness.

 

[Didn’t you think your daughter was disgusting? That horrible face that looked just like her awful husband. That mental illness of babbling about entering a game world. You just couldn’t abandon her because of your hypocrisy.]

 

“What do you know.”

 

[Even when you smiled on the outside, your daughter knew. She knew it was just muscle movement. That child cried countless times. Burying her face in the sheets so she wouldn’t suffocate, lest her crying reach your ears.]

 

The woman’s eyes trembled finely.

 

[I comforted such a child.]

 

GM: Don’t worry about your mother anymore. The flowers you give her are always thrown in the trash.

 

GM: Poor child. You came to save the world but were abandoned by the world.

 

GM: Even parents are strangers. You don’t need to try so hard. Focus on your calling instead.

 

GM: Your mother won’t come to your birthday this time either. Good. Shall we have a birthday party together?

 

Countless message windows came to mind.

 

Thick veins stood out on the woman’s neck and face.

 

Tears fell drop by drop.

 

“I never once hated this child.”

 

[Disgusting excuses. I’m the only one who understands that child. So give her back. That child is my □□□. My □□□ that I summoned to this world.]

 

“This child belongs to herself.”

 

[Are you planning to leave her as a corpse?]

 

Screech, shriek, screeeech.

 

Monsters burst out from the darkness.

 

At that moment, the view changed.

 

Standing as if to protect the woman, someone shouted.

 

“Aslan…!”

 

“The characteristics of □□□ haven’t disappeared yet. That’s why ‘that thing’ can still interfere. Go.”

 

A different light returned to the woman’s eyes.

 

The woman holding the girl ran toward the opposite side of the darkness.

 

The number of monsters bursting from the darkness increased even more.

 

The woman fell and rolled, but never let go of the girl.

 

And the place she reached was a giant root.

 

The woman pulled out a dagger from her bosom and thrust it toward the root.

 

Instantly, a scream that burst from the darkness split the sky.

 

Light poured from the girl’s body.

 

The woman’s body burned as if touched by fire from the light, but she never let go of the girl.

 

[You won’t be able to reconstruct the world! You’re not □□□! You’re □□□…]

 

The corner of the woman’s mouth curved up.

 

“It’s not reconstruction. The wish I’ll make is.”

 

The woman shouted.

 

“I turn back my axis of time!”

 

Light became a tempest and swept through everything.

 

The woman’s entire body burst into flames, but she held the girl preciously in her embrace.

 

Her murmuring pierced into my ears.

 

I won’t make mistakes next time.

 

I will protect you.

 

I will love you with all my heart.

 

I love you, my baby. I love you.

 

And then it was blackout.

 

* * *

 

I gasped for breath.

 

‘Mother…!’

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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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