How to Replace Your Dad - Chapter 9

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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 9

* * *

It was suspicious from the beginning.

Antonio Unit was known to be simple and violent enough to be called an attack-specialized unit.

Still, there should be members strong in special skills.

Charlie, who escorted the girls today, was one of them.

He had sharp instincts and talent for surveillance and searching the surroundings.

‘If the girls had resisted the kidnapping, Charlie would never have missed the sound.’

So I formed a hypothesis that there might have been no resistance.

The girls looked at Nicolle with bewildered faces.

‘As expected, Nicolle led the girls.’

Nicolle’s lips twitched.

But soon she turned her head away sharply and stubbornly stared at the floor.

She wasn’t going to say anything.

‘That’s troublesome.’

I wasn’t taking the foster daughter test because I truly believed I could live as the Clan Leader’s foster daughter.

Anyway, when the Clan Leader sees his real child, I’ll naturally be abandoned.

So the real purpose of taking this test was different.

‘To become the number one subordinate, not a foster daughter.’

I need to work so well that it becomes too wasteful to throw me away.

That way, when the protagonist’s guard unit tries to steal my organs later, he’ll help me.

For that purpose, this test must ‘help drive out the ungrateful Sanmiguel.’

I stared intently at Nicolle, who stubbornly turned away from me.

“I understand. Money is important, after all. With enough money, you might even be able to sell your honor.”

“…!”

A crack appeared in Nicolle’s expression.

Her eyebrows, which had been drawing a straight line, twitched.

“…What did you say?”

“Oh, you misunderstood. I’m not blaming you.”

When I quickly waved both hands in an ‘oops’ gesture, Nicolle bit her lip.

“There’s no way you could exchange a few coins for honor.”

“But you did exchange it, didn’t you?”

“…Listen here.”

Nicolle looked like she was boiling with anger.

The other girls also looked at me with unpleasant expressions.

‘There’s nothing better than this for provoking proud nobles.’

I may look like this, but I grew up under Mother who runs a merchant guild.

As the eldest daughter of the Andres Estate, I diligently attended social gatherings.

After being kicked out of the family, I had to frequent the market district, famous for its rough people, like my own home.

In other words, I’m quite confident in what they call sharp-tongued speaking.

And…

‘Miss Nicolle responds well to this kind of provocation.’

Having played the game, I know well.

About the girl named Nicola Donati.

Nicola Donati

The eldest daughter of Baron Donati.

The family became poor due to caring for her younger brother’s illness, but in her childhood, she received top-level education in Sanmiguel Territory.

She has strong pride.

In other words, when her pride is thoroughly provoked like this…

“I didn’t sell my honor for money…!”

It was fully predictable that she would get angry like this.

I smiled brightly.

“Then was it your brother’s life that you exchanged for honor?”

“…!”

Bingo.

* * *

Nicolle flinched.

She turned her head away with an ‘oh no’ expression and clenched her fists.

I bent my knees to meet her eye level.

“Your brother is sick, isn’t he? For a very long time. So you needed money.”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The other girls probably also sacrificed themselves for something more precious than honor.”

“What do you know about it? I have nothing to say, so stop trying to dig deeper…!”

“I know.”

“…”

“Because I’m the same way.”

Nicolle and the girls looked at me with trembling eyes.

I smiled.

“I’m Yustea Andres.”

The girls looked at me with surprised eyes.

Some even gasped loudly.

Andres is a great noble family.

And having been kicked out of such a family, I’m in a position like a famous celebrity who appeared in the society pages.

The majority of the empire’s citizens know me.

What crime I committed.

And even how I’m living now.

“It seems like there’s nothing I haven’t done. I also have someone I need to protect.”

“…”

The girls either bowed their heads or squeezed their eyes shut.

Nicolle’s lips twitched.

After clasping her hands tightly for a while, she slowly opened her mouth.

“…It’s Lady Dia, isn’t it? Your mother, I mean.”

“You know my mother?”

“Lady Dia, the legend who built a merchant guild alone, gave us great inspiration.”

Nicolle stared at me intently with an emotionless face.

“Is it funny that we, in such circumstances, admired Lady Dia?”

“No.”

“…”

“Because my mother is also someone who knows what’s more precious than honor.”

Nicolle swallowed dryly.

“I, no, we…”

That’s when it happened.

“Stop talking nonsense!”

With a sharp voice, Marina and her search party members appeared.

They came much faster than expected.

It seems Count Sanmiguel, or his lackeys, eagerly provided information about the situation.

Well, it must have been urgent.

It would be a disaster if the girls happened to spill that Count Sanmiguel was the culprit behind the fake kidnapping incident.

As evidence of this, Marina’s face was flushed with anger.

“I came to get them. Come out.”

Marina had an overbearing attitude.

The girls looked at Nicolle as if asking what to do.

But Marina was faster.

“I said I came to get them. I did.”

Emphasizing the word ‘I’ probably meant to fulfill the promise.

Follow Marina’s words.

That promise.

The girls’ shoulders flinched at the threatening voice.

“Miss Nicolle….”

The girls looked at Nicolle as if asking what to do.

Nicolle stood up.

It meant she would follow Marina.

‘I thought it would be a sure loss from the beginning.’

Even before the test started, I expected Marina and the Marquis had pulled some trick on the girls.

Probably bound by contract, or if not that….

‘They would have bound them with gold magic.’

They would pay a price to follow Marina’s orders. If they didn’t, they would pay the consequences.

Something like that.

My search party members asked with confused expressions.

“What did they do to those young ladies?”

“Little Teacher, isn’t there some way?”

I sighed.

“How unfortunate. I’m sorry to all of you.”

While our search party members were grinding their teeth with frustrated expressions, I continued with a sad face.

“You’ll have to carry them the hard way.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

It wasn’t just our search party members who were surprised.

Marina and her search party members. Even the girls stared at me with wide eyes.

I clapped my hands cheerfully.

“Now, let’s kidnap them.”

Does only the Marquis know how to kidnap?

We can kidnap too.

“…!”

“…!!”

Marina froze, and Marina’s search party members panicked.

In the meantime, our search party members quickly scooped up the girls and started running.

“I like how refreshing Little Teacher is.”

“Good, let’s go.”

The search party members burst into hearty laughter.

* * *

“Waaaaah─!”

Antonio’s unit, who had been watching the magic mirror, let out cheers.

Marina and her search party members were shocked.

But Yustea’s search party members didn’t care and ran well while carrying the girls.

Some leaped over rocks in big strides, while others had girls cling to their backs and climbed the slope with both hands.

Since the slope was too difficult for a fifteen-year-old girl’s body to climb, Yustea was also clinging to a search party member’s back.

But something was strange.

“What is Little Teacher doing?”

She stretched out her hand and felt around the rocks.

And then….

Thwack!

[Agh!]

She threw them at Marina’s search party members who were chasing and reaching out wildly.

Marina’s search party members fell down and groaned while holding their foreheads.

“Puhaha…!”

A unit member under the Clan Leader who burst into laughter without realizing it quickly covered his mouth.

It was because the Clan Leader’s unit members gave him looks.

The unit member who had laughed cleared his throat.

“I wasn’t the only one who laughed.”

“You were the only one who laughed.”

“Everyone’s lips are trembling.”

“….”

Actually, it was understandable.

Those search party members of Marina were private soldiers planted by Count Sanmiguel.

No, they probably thought they had snuck in secretly, but their identities had been exposed long ago.

They were serious elitists who couldn’t hide having backing.

Skipping training.

Secretly taking barracks operating funds.

Ignoring superiors, and so on.

They had made the unit members boil with anger through all sorts of shameless acts.

Watching those shameless ones fall into hardships they never imagined was really….

‘En, enjoyable.’

Yustea was overflowing with talent for making opponents furious.

While pushing away Marina’s search party member with her toes,

[I’m sorry if your wig comes off. But baldness isn’t something to be ashamed of.]

She said pitifully.

But Yustea wasn’t the only one with insight into turning people inside out.

Yustea’s search party members also had similar talent to hers.

They also giggled while….

[Black beans are good for baldness.]

Adding unnecessary words to make Marina’s bald unit member sad.

The unit members under the Clan Leader lowered their heads and shook their shoulders.

“Uhahak!”

Antonio and his unit members were also rolling around holding their stomachs.

Marina in the magic mirror let out an angry shout.

Thanks to that, Marina and her search party members were completely enraged.

[Stop it! Come down right now!]

Yustea glanced at her.

[You come up.]

[Kidnapping young ladies. Are you in your right mind?]

[You did it too, so there’s nothing I can’t do.]

[This…!]

She wouldn’t give up a single word.

Antonio looked at the Clan Leader with a grin.

“You can laugh openly. Why are you pretending otherwise?”

“Be quiet.”

“It’s fun, right? I wondered what was going on when you only picked the big guys before the test started, but to think you had this idea.”

“You must have been the one who doubted the choice.”

“Anyway, that’s amazing.”

“That’s not all.”

“What?”

The Clan Leader looked at Count Sanmiguel, who had turned pale as a sheet.

Count Sanmiguel trembled violently with both fists clenched.

As Yustea had expected, the girls were under a prohibition spell.

The conditions were as follows.

Until the test ends, they must obey Marina and Count Sanmiguel’s words. They cannot testify to any facts related to the incident.

But what if someone carried the girls away and escaped?

Since it would be beyond the girls’ will, they would have to surrender themselves to the situation.

The prohibition itself would become useless.

Moreover.

[Miss Nicolle, you don’t need to speak about the incident’s contents. Just refute if there’s anything wrong.]

The Clan Leader chuckled softly.

That clever child seemed to have guessed the prohibition’s terms from her brief conversation with Nicolle.

So this meant: if you can’t testify, then testify by not doing so.

[This isn’t a kidnapping, is it?]

At Yustea’s words, Nicolle squeezed her eyes shut tight.

It was agreement.

[Charlie, who escorted you here, has nothing to do with this incident.]

[….]

[You boarded the carriage of your own accord due to threats.]

[….]

[And the person who threatened you was─.]

Nicolle stared at Yustea with tears welling in her eyes.

What she had said about admiring Yustea’s mother, Dia, wasn’t a lie.

Nicolle especially felt that way.

She had collected and treasured articles about Dia.

Her poor family, sick younger brother, her parents’ deepening worries.

When all these things weighed her down, she would flip through her scrapbook and gain strength.

I’m not wrong.

My way of life resembles this strong woman.

She had said that there were times when pain consumed not just her heart but even her body.

But if you don’t give in, it will become an opportunity.

I admire her. I’ll become someone like her.

She thought this over and over again.

But the one who resembled that person she admired most was….

‘You really are your mother’s daughter.’

Like your mother, you also give me courage.

That’s why I could shout.

[Lord Sanmiguel! He put us under a prohibition spell to make us obey!]

Nicolle screamed desperately.

[He paid for my brother’s medicine! I tried not to accept it, but he said if I didn’t, he’d prevent all doctors in Sanmiguel from treating my brother!]

Nicolle glared at the relay magical device floating around Yustea.

[I didn’t sell my honor for money…!]

Kyaaak!

Nicolle let out a scream.

The prohibition spell’s formation rose above her body and attacked her.

A powerful prohibition created by hiring a skilled alchemist.

The vicious force flashed with the momentum to burn away every breath of the contract breaker.

Crash─!

Due to the lightning strike, the unit member carrying Nicolle lost his grip on her.

[Miss Nicolle!]

[Lady Nicolle!]

The girls burst into tears and screamed.

However, Nicolle didn’t fall.

Yustea had quickly separated from the unit member she was hanging onto and caught the falling Nicolle.

Every part of her body that touched Nicolle’s flesh convulsed violently.

Yustea’s face contorted horribly from the extreme pain.

But she never let go of Nicolle.

[Little Teacher!]

The search party members cried out in alarm, but Yustea stubbornly held Nicolle tight.

Antonio, who had been watching the magic mirror, jerked upright.

It wasn’t just him.

All members of Antonio’s unit and the Clan Leader’s unit.

And the Clan Leader shot to his feet.

[Let go, Little Teacher! You’ll both die at this rate!]

That was the moment.

Kiiiii─.

A strange cry could be heard from somewhere.

Two giant hawks that appeared cutting through the sky circled above Yustea, who was holding Nicolle.

“Hawks….”

As Antonio muttered as if entranced, someone shouted.

“Sunlight, Abyss…!”

“The Clan Leader’s hawks!”

Sunlight and Abyss.

Two guardian beasts raised personally by the Clan Leader.

They descended below Yustea’s feet, drawing a strange trajectory.

Then, following the trajectory created by Sunlight and Abyss, a formation was completed in mid-air.

The prohibition formation surrounding Nicolle cracked with a crackling sound.

And in the end….

Crack.

“Waaaaah─!”

It completely shattered and disappeared without a trace.

Antonio laughed helplessly and sat down on the stairs.

“What perfect timing, I tell you.”

Yustea’s search party members ran toward her.

[Little Teacher, are you okay?]

[Look. How is it? Hm?]

Yustea nodded with a dazed expression.

The unit members let out sighs of relief.

In the magic mirror, only Marina had a face as dark as a corpse.

And another person at the relay station.

Count Sanmiguel had also collapsed to the floor in terror.

The Count’s mouth gaped open and closed.

“The, the Clan Leader… why is the Clan Leader….”

“He must have been watching.”

It was Clan Leader Lorenzo who answered.

He strode toward the Count.

Behind the Clan Leader, Antonio followed, rubbing the back of his neck.

The two men looked down at the Marquis, who had collapsed and was trembling, as they spoke.

“With all these people witnessing evidence of the prohibition, there’s no way out.”

“As if there should be a way out.”

Antonio, who had knelt down, grabbed the Marquis by the collar and smiled coldly.

“That torture you were going to give Charlie. Why don’t you get a taste of it instead.”

The Marquis pushed himself back with his palms and looked at Clan Leader Lorenzo.

“Listen, listen to what I have to say. I am… that is, I am…”

“Sorry, but you see.”

“Clan, Clan Leader…”

“We’re always quicker with our bodies than with words.”

The Clan Leader’s blade came right up to his throat.

—————
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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