How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 71

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

How to Replace Your Dad

 

Chapter 71

 

Yuise opened the door.

 

The person who came to visit outside the door was the butler.

 

“The Marchioness has ordered me to check on the Young Lady’s condition. She said if you’re feeling very unwell, she would come personally to nurse you.”

 

In other words, this meant she wanted to meet.

 

If I was really tired, she would come up and talk.

 

‘The Marchioness’s pride would make her go this far?’

 

Even though I had become a saint, she wasn’t the type to bow her head.

 

Wasn’t she the person who sat proudly upright even when everyone else was groveling to the Empress?

 

As evidence of this, it was the same when she sent letters asking to meet at the archipelago.

 

Meet me at such and such place on such and such date.

 

Are you planning to keep not replying?

 

You’ve forgotten your manners.

 

She only wrote things like that and sent them.

 

‘Has something happened to Andres?’

 

If so, I need to understand the situation.

 

“It’s fine. I’ll go to the Marchioness.”

 

The butler bowed his head lightly.

 

I followed the butler like that.

 

Yuise, who was my guard, came along too.

 

But the direction we were going was strange.

 

This wasn’t the direction to the reception room.

 

It didn’t seem like she was insisting I wasn’t a guest but Andres’s bloodline.

 

If that had been her thinking, it would have been the Marchioness’s room that I used to visit as a child.

 

The place the butler took me to was the ritual pavilion that wasn’t used much anymore.

 

The Marchioness was looking at the altar inside the pavilion.

 

Sensing someone’s presence, she turned to look at me.

 

“You came.”

 

As I tried to spread my skirt to show respect, she raised her hand.

 

Then she gestured to the employees around us.

 

The employees all left the pavilion at once.

 

The Marchioness spoke.

 

“Dismiss your guard.”

 

Then Yuise said.

 

“The lord of Cuaron ordered me not to leave the Young Lady’s side.”

 

In other words, this meant:

 

Since you’re no longer my grandmother, you have no authority to command me.

 

It was also a warning that only Father could decide matters concerning my safety.

 

The Marchioness’s eyes became fierce as she understood Yuise’s meaning.

 

I said.

 

“Please understand, as that’s how things are now. I cannot disobey my father’s words.”

 

“You…!”

 

The Marchioness raised her voice.

 

But soon she gritted her teeth and turned her head away.

 

Then she remained silent for quite a while.

 

Seeing her expression, I furrowed my brow.

 

It didn’t seem like she was holding back words because her pride was hurt.

 

‘She can’t speak because Yuise is here.’

 

Come to think of it, there were other strange things too.

 

When a guest comes by imperial command, it’s proper etiquette for the host to greet them.

 

Since Marquis Andres wasn’t here, the Marchioness should have greeted me.

 

But she didn’t come out.

 

She also said nothing about me declining lunch.

 

‘As if she has urgent business.’

 

I asked her.

 

“Is there some matter troubling you?”

 

“…”

 

“If it’s uncomfortable to speak about, I won’t ask, but if you have no business, I’ll take my leave—”

 

“Onel and Stella are trapped in the underground maze.”

 

What?

 

Onel is my half-brother.

 

In other words, the son that Marquis Andres had from his first marriage.

 

“The underground maze is inaccessible due to poisonous fog created by monsters. Moreover…”

 

“Because it would be terrible if anyone found out about raising monsters in the underground maze.”

 

“…”

 

The Marchioness turned her head with a hardened expression.

 

This was Andres’s secret that even only a very few vassals knew about.

 

The underground maze was a space where Andres’s heads of family secretly raised monsters.

 

Originally, they had stopped after raising aggressive monsters was legally prohibited several generations ago.

 

But it was secretly revived during the current Marquis’s time.

 

‘So that’s why she tried to dismiss Yuise.’

 

“Did you stage Andres’s contamination hoping I would solve the underground maze problem?”

 

“It wasn’t because of the underground maze. This incident happened suddenly today.”

 

“I see.”

 

“A saint’s purification should be able to resolve the underground maze situation, right?”

 

The Marchioness looked extremely anxious.

 

She cherished Onel, the eldest grandson, dearly.

 

Unlike me, who had to desperately work hard to achieve anything, Onel was a genius.

 

Overwhelmingly first place in both academics and martial arts.

 

And most importantly…

 

‘Because Onel’s mother belongs to the Seven Families.’

 

For the Marchioness who valued bloodlines, there was no more perfect grandson.

 

“I can do the purification.”

 

When I spoke, the Marchioness’s face brightened.

 

“Then, right now…!”

 

“But I have no reason to do it.”

 

At my following words, the Marchioness flinched.

 

She seemed to have never even thought I would refuse.

 

“Onel sent an emergency signal. If that child’s pride allowed him to send an emergency signal, it’s a matter of life and death.”

 

“That would be so.”

 

“This isn’t the time to be leisurely!”

 

“That’s also true.”

 

“Onel is your brother, isn’t he? Have you forgotten how proud you were of that child?”

 

“Well. Other memories are clearer than that. Like how he most strongly tried to drive me out, claiming I was the one who poisoned Stella.”

 

“…!”

 

The Marchioness’s face turned pale.

 

She didn’t know what to do when I acted as if I really wouldn’t go.

 

“If that’s all you have to say, I’ll take my leave now.”

 

I bowed my head lightly.

 

It was at that moment when I was about to turn away.

 

“What do you need!”

 

The Marchioness shouted urgently.

 

‘Now you’re finally sitting at the negotiation table.’

 

Until now, the Marchioness had acted as if it was natural for me to follow Andres’s demands.

 

She couldn’t forget the past when I was the biggest pushover of all pushovers.

 

Even when I pushed back, she thought I was just being sulky.

 

She probably thought I would come back anytime once my mood improved.

 

But now that I turned away even from a matter involving Onel’s life, she finally acknowledged that I had truly changed.

 

I glanced back at her.

 

“What can you offer?”

 

“Anything I can give.”

 

I had been waiting for these words.

 

Even if not Stella, Onel had to stay alive.

 

If the heir disappeared, Andres’s obsession would only get worse.

 

‘More importantly, Onel plays a very important role in the later story.’

 

It was an event that would greatly influence Esgaroth.

 

So I had to save him anyway, but I didn’t want to do it for free.

 

“Give me the Titania A21-1 District.”

 

“What, what did you say? Don’t you know what kind of land that is!”

 

“It’s a holy site.”

 

Holy sites not owned by the Imperial Palace or Temple were extremely rare.

 

When clergy trained on that land, their divine power increased, and when knights trained there, their aura was strengthened.

 

It was such an incredible piece of land that any price asked would be reasonable.

 

“That’s ridiculous!”

 

“Then the deal is off.”

 

“You…!”

 

“Your grandson’s life or the land. Which will you choose?”

 

The Marchioness bit her lips hard.

 

However, I held complete advantage in this deal.

 

Even time was on my side.

 

Because no one knew how long Onel could survive in the underground maze filled with monsters.

 

Finally, the Marchioness spoke through gritted teeth.

 

“Fine. So hurry and enter the underground maze.”

 

I smiled brightly.

 

“Yes! Then shall we write up a contract?”

 

“There’s no time. You need to go quickly.”

 

“Then write it quickly.”

 

If you change your words, it becomes free labor, and I can’t have that.

 

I’m no longer Andres’s pushover, you know.

 

The Marchioness eventually wrote up the contract.

 

* * *

 

There was a reason the Marchioness specifically called me to the ritual pavilion.

 

The altar in this pavilion was the passage to the underground maze.

 

When the altar was manipulated, stairs were revealed.

 

Yuise and I entered the underground maze through the stairs.

 

The contract was preciously tucked in my arms.

 

Yuise looked at me with an incredulous expression.

 

“Are you that happy?”

 

“Of course. If I train the Irregulars here, their strength will increase. I can also do mana training whenever I have time.”

 

To obtain such precious land in exchange for just one purification.

 

Frankly speaking, it was a huge profit.

 

I was making an ecstatic expression.

 

Growl—!

 

A sharp howling sound was heard.

 

It was a monster hellhound.

 

The hellhound charged toward me.

 

At that moment, Yuise instantly drew her sword.

 

And in the blink of an eye, she severed the hellhound’s head.

 

“Quite a powerful monster appears right from the entrance.”

 

“….”

 

“What? Why aren’t you saying anything.”

 

“…That thing.”

 

I pointed to the hellhound’s head rolling on the floor.

 

There was a piece of clothing caught on its teeth, and I could see a familiar emblem on the fabric.

 

‘An inverted cross.’

 

It was the Irregulars’ emblem!

 

Yuise and I both stiffened our expressions simultaneously.

 

I pulled the fabric from the dead hellhound’s teeth.

 

“You said there’s an Elite in Andres.”

 

“Yes, there is. …Oscar.”

 

According to Yuise, Oscar was a magic swordsman.

 

Someone who uses magic.

 

He might have snuck into the underground maze to obtain materials.

 

‘What if Oscar is also trapped here?’

 

This is serious.

 

I said to Yuise.

 

“Follow me. I have an idea where someone might hide from the poison fog.”

 

We rushed into the maze.

 

The poison fog was thick, but it didn’t matter.

 

I activated purification and became an air purifier.

 

The branching paths weren’t a problem either.

 

As I ran without hesitation, Yuise asked.

 

“Do you know all the paths?”

 

“Yeah. I came here often before Count Andres started raising monsters.”

 

“A child in this kind of underground place?”

 

“I told you. Andres has an incredible number of surveillance devices. So this was the only place I could cry alone.”

 

“…Everything about this damn family is infuriating.”

 

Yuise frowned.

 

A swarm of bat-type monsters burst out from the maze walls.

 

Yuise activated a spell.

 

The extending text strings formed a net-like shape and blocked the monsters.

 

However, the spell was broken after not holding for long.

 

“What the hell.”

 

Yuise frowned and looked at her own hand.

 

I said.

 

“Is the barrier activating?”

 

“Barrier?”

 

“Yeah. There’s a barrier. It’s a barrier that makes it difficult to use magic, spells, or divine power. But this is strange. It’s usually not activated.”

 

“This got annoying.”

 

That’s right.

 

In this case, it’s best to defeat them with physical attacks.

 

Yuise clicked her tongue and slashed the monster with her sword.

 

That’s how we continued running forward.

 

How far had we run?

 

We reached a dead end.

 

It was a wall covered in moss and so high that you couldn’t see the top even when looking up.

 

The wall was made of bricks.

 

Yuise asked.

 

“You don’t know the way from here?”

 

“This is our destination. Shh.”

 

I grabbed a brick from the wall.

 

It came out easily.

 

When I removed the bricks in a hexagonal pattern, a gap appeared in the wall.

 

This was the door.

 

I pushed the door to the side.

 

There were three people inside.

 

My half-brother Onel and Stella. And… a man with crimson hair.

 

The man with crimson hair was collapsed, covered in blood.

 

Yuise’s face hardened.

 

Thanks to that, I could tell.

 

That he was Oscar, an Elite of the Irregulars.

 

* * *

 

A few minutes earlier.

 

Stella’s face was wet with tears as she examined Onel, who was leaning against the wall.

 

Onel’s condition was serious.

 

He had taken the monster’s attack in place of Stella to protect her.

 

His abdomen was stained with blood.

 

At this rate, he might die from blood loss.

 

“Brother…”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“If you die, I won’t forgive you. I really won’t forgive you…”

 

Onel placed his hand on Stella’s head as she cried endlessly.

 

Stella held Onel’s hand and shed tears.

 

His hand was cold.

 

It was frustrating that she couldn’t heal him because of the barrier laid throughout the maze.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

The sound of someone approaching came from outside the door.

 

Onel and Stella simultaneously turned their gaze toward the doorway.

 

Creak.

 

The door opened.

 

Light poured into the dark interior.

 

And the person who appeared was…

 

“Yustea…?”

 

Stella muttered in a daze.

 

Yustea and a blonde man had opened the door and entered.

 

The two looked around the interior.

 

Onel’s face hardened.

 

“You…”

 

He could guess what the situation was.

 

Grandmother had surely sent Yustea to deal with the poison fog.

 

Stella also looked at Yustea with a confused expression.

 

Onel forced himself to sit up from where he had been leaning against the wall.

 

Then he shielded Stella with one arm and said.

 

“We don’t need your help—”

 

Before he could finish speaking, Yustea moved in alarm.

 

She must be trying to rush over after seeing his injury.

 

The moment Onel frowned.

 

Yustea quickly ran.

 

…In the complete opposite direction from Onel.

 

“Are you alive? Please regain consciousness. Okay? Yuise, let me see the wounds. I’ll heal them right away.”

 

She had no interest in Onel whatsoever.

 

The blonde man called Yuise turned over the man who had been lying sprawled.

 

Then he removed his shirt to check the wounds.

 

The condition was serious.

 

Yustea placed her fingertips on his skin.

 

A faint light began to emanate from her fingertips.

 

She was about to begin healing.

 

Then, Stella spoke up.

 

“It won’t work.”

 

Yustea looked at Stella.

 

Stella said with a troubled expression.

 

“Healing doesn’t work because of the barrier. That’s why I couldn’t heal my brother either.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Don’t be stubborn. If your mana is depleted too, it’ll be hard to move.”

 

Stella continued as if soothing a stubborn child.

 

“Instead of that, let’s support my brother and get out of here. If we stay here any longer, my brother will be in danger—”

 

That’s what she was saying when.

 

A strong cluster of light gathered in Yustea’s hands.

 

She was ignoring them and forcing the healing.

 

Stella let out a sigh.

 

“Her stubbornness is…”

 

Yustea seemed unchanged from before to now.

 

Even when she was in Andres, she wouldn’t listen to anything because of that stubbornness.

 

But then…

 

“Ugh…”

 

A groan flowed from the mouth of the man who had been lying sprawled.

 

It was the man who had been unconscious just moments before.

 

‘Don’t tell me she actually healed him…?’

 

Stella and Onel’s expressions hardened.

 

How could she heal even with a barrier in place?

 

No matter how hard Stella tried, she couldn’t heal Onel.

 

Stella asked with a surprised face.

 

“How did this happen?”

 

“Are you conscious? How is the pain? Can you get up?”

 

Though Stella had asked, Yustea was focused on the person she had healed.

 

When no answer came back, Stella looked flustered.

 

Then Onel spoke in a cold voice.

 

“Can’t you hear what Stella is saying?”

 

“Ah, thank goodness. You’ve regained consciousness. Then could you try getting up once?”

 

“Yustea!”

 

“It’s so noisy I could die!”

 

Yustea shouted.

 

Onel and Stella flinched.

 

Because Yustea had never once yelled at Onel before.

 

Yustea spoke with a displeased expression.

 

“There’s no way the Saint’s healing would be the same as ordinary healing!”

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