How to Replace Dad 2
I looked at the pot with a proud heart.
‘She scraped it clean.’
It was so clean that it felt like the pot had been washed with no drops left at all.
After all, it was a rare taste in this world.
Recalling memories from my previous life, I realized.
Cooking methods in this world hadn't developed much.
So, the whole of cooking was just cutting ingredients and boiling or baking them.
‘Although the great nobles cook more luxuriously.’
But even the great nobles' food is much simpler in cooking process compared to Earth.
They think that making broth is wasteful of ingredients.
Anyway, I benefited from that.
The sharp atmosphere of the Irregular members had softened a lot.
They let me move freely without attaching me to a squad.
Thanks to that, I could clean the pot alone by the river.
‘Good, it's clean.’
By the time I returned to the cave after washing the pot and cooking utensils, a member who had gone to check on the army's condition came.
“The army was busy. It seems like there's a problem with the soldiers' safety.”
Then the members nodded with “Oh.”
“In this gap, we can move.”
“Then what about that guy?”
The members looked at the squad leader.
As if asking him to decide what to do with me.
I quickly shouted.
“Galbi-jjim!”
“Gal… what?”
“I’ll make galbi-jjim next time. It’s meat braised in soy sauce sauce, and I’ll add night and potatoes. The meat is delicious, but when you mix the thick seasoning with rice and eat it, how delicious it is.”
So, please take me with you.
With a pleading expression, I clasped my hands together, but the members' expressions changed.
“Galbi-jjim?”
“Is it that delicious? More than soup?”
I quickly nodded my head.
“More than soup.”
The members who had been immersed in soup had shocked faces.
They muttered “Is that it?” and looked back at the squad leader.
With eyes sparkling like arrows, the squad leader sighed.
“Take this guy as a handyman too.”
‘I did it!’
I was overjoyed as if I was about to run.
Now, properly claiming the merit and surely joining the Irregular.
To say it again, I really had no choice but this man.
The Irregular truly boasts of terrifying martial prowess.
The nobles had been boasting that they are beings who can shake the fate of the country.
That means they have tremendous skills.
‘Moreover, I have information that only I know.’
The squad leader of Irregular, Aslan.
He was the hidden son of the Esgard Duke.
‘He is the man who will become the duke in the future.’
In just a few years, the Esgard Duchy would become a power comparable to the imperial palace.
And I will capture the heart of the squad leader who will become the Esgard Duke, and protect my life.
The Irregular and I decided to move divided into 3 squads.
Because if one squad is captured, the other two can disrupt and escape.
But there was a problem.
“That guy, we are taking him.”
“You’re talking nonsense. We are taking him.”
“We also want galbi-jjim... no, we can't give up on that kid.”
A fight broke out over me.
“You guys have the most members!”
“If you have the most, you need porters!”
“What burden are you carrying with that arm!”
The members who had survived on only dried fish for three months and ten days fought with the momentum to bite.
Eventually, the oldest member stepped forward.
He asked me.
“You decide. Which squad will you go to.”
Of course, the answer was already decided.
I quickly stood next to the squad leader.
Then the other members shouted.
“You will regret it. The squad leader's squad takes detours unlike other squads.”
“Yeah. There's Antonio too.”
They complained one after another, insisting to change now, but I firmly shook my head.
“Even so, I like being next to the squad leader.”
“So why!”
“That is, that is…”
I couldn't say I need to show well to the future duke.
I rolled my eyes trying to come up with an excuse.
“Uh…”
“Because I'm handsome?”
“Damn, superficial beauty…”
The members retreated with sad faces.
I gently scolded the members.
“Anyway, you said you'll join near the base. I'll make galbi-jjim deliciously then.”
“Really…?”
“You’re not going to use all the meat…?”
After I nodded my head about ten times, the members finally left the cave.
Our squad's composition was very simple.
It was just the squad leader, me, and Antonio.
Antonio asked with narrowed eyes.
“You’re not really the squad leader's daughter… damn!”
…That was the part where I understood why the members said that having Antonio in the elite squad was a disadvantage.
We soon set off.
Leaving the cave at the foot of the mountain, passing through the valley, heading north to the northern hut of the mountain guide.
‘North?’
If it's north, it's near the shopping district.
I asked with a curious voice.
“Um, this side is the shopping district with many people, why are you going this way?”
If it's an assassination squad, wouldn't you move on a sparsely populated path?
Then Antonio answered.
“We have to go to the shopping district.”
“Why?”
“Because there's something to find. An ancient relic—”
Just as Antonio was about to answer in detail.
The squad leader looked at him. A gaze filled with warning.
It meant not to give me more information.
‘You don't trust me at all.’
My role is just a handyman.
When I became quiet, Antonio shrugged his shoulders.
“It's useless to get upset about it.”
“Eh?”
“You were getting upset?”
“I was worrying where to make dinner tonight?”
I blinked as if asking what he was talking about, and Antonio had a dumbfounded expression.
“Normally, when this happens, don't you get discouraged?”
“If I believe in the guy who suddenly rolled in at once, isn't that even worse?”
“That's true….”
Antonio let out a hollow laugh.
“It's an unusual guy.”
He said that, but I wasn't upset at all that I couldn't get trust.
After all, the word trust is far from my life.
I was accused of giving my half-brother poison because I couldn't trust my family.
But today, since I met new people and they doubted me, I wouldn't be depressed.
‘Rather, it's better to think about how to gain trust.’
While walking thinking that, we arrived near the shopping district.
We passed with the fake identification cards the two of us had.
Since I had worked a lot in the shopping district, the guards let me in immediately when they saw my face.
The place we were heading was a junk shop deep in the shopping district.
In front of the junk shop, Antonio said.
“You wait outside.”
“If it takes long, can I buy some necessary things while you're away?”
“Or that.”
The squad leader and Antonio entered the junk shop.
I folded the robe Antonio left in the bag.
‘Good, let's hurry back.’
It said that even if I took a gate, it would take more than four days to the base.
During that time, I needed to buy ingredients to feed the Irregulars.
‘From the cave, it seems we can't make do with what we have now.’
It seemed like they hunted for meat or something to procure locally.
Then seasonings and vegetables are needed.
I immediately headed to the market inside the shopping district.
“Hello, auntie.”
“Oh, who is this. It's Yustea.”
I often went to the market to buy food ingredients when working at a restaurant.
At that time, I got to know their faces, and the market people were kind to me.
“I want to buy dried vegetables.”
Dried vegetables have less taste than fresh, but they are smaller in volume and weight.
The expiration date is longer than fresh vegetables.
The auntie at the vegetable shop took out the dried vegetables saying “There are good ones right now.”
I said firmly.
“Auntie, this seems under-dried.”
“They were going to put aside. This is what I was going to show you…”
“Auntie?”
“This was also going to be put aside, but my hand slipped. Here, this is…”
“Auntie?”
“There are many things to put aside.”
If you show a little gap, don't judge like this.
“It's picky.”
I bought her precious dried vegetables that she cherished from the complaining vegetable shop auntie.
Next is the seasoning shop.
“Uncle?”
“This is Najah salt.”
“Uncle?”
“There is no thief who says he will take Najah salt 20 kuper.”
“Uncle…”
“Damn. Take it all. All!”
I bought the desired items cheaply at the seasoning shop too.
‘Well, then the rest is miscellaneous goods.’
A knife, bottle opener, small hammer, even a multi-tool with a driver would be solid.
And I would need thread and needles too.
I saw that the Irregulars' hoods were torn.
I need to fix them.
While carrying a bunch of cooking ingredients to the miscellaneous goods shop.
Peck.
Someone bumped into my shoulder.
“Ah, sorry…”
“Wow, miss.”
I, who was lowering my head to apologize, flinched.
It was a familiar voice.
When I looked up, I saw faces that always tried to avoid me.
They were employees of the Andres Marquisate.
“What a sight. It hurts.”
The maid smiled brightly looking at me.
The words were not painful at all.
These are the servants who pamper Stella, the heroine of this game and the daughter of the father's first love.
Although the other employees of Andres despised me for being kicked out, they particularly hated me.
Because they thought I made Stella poison her brother.
‘It's also because of them that I moved jobs frequently.’
Every time, they found out where I was working and tormented me horribly.
When working at a restaurant, they wrote on the door ‘Place where the incestuous bastard who harmed his brother works.’
When working as a fisherman, they paid the captain to fire me.
In the knight's squad barracks, they spread rumors to the barracks workers to avoid me.
‘If there's a commotion, it's troublesome.’
I quickly turned around and ran away.
No, it would be accurate to say I was trying to escape.
Just as I was about to run, I tripped over the maid's foot.
“Ugh!”
Falling, my nose hit the seasoning bottle.
The bottle broke, and perhaps scratched by the fragments, blood flowed from my nose.
The Stella's personal guards laughed “kki kki kki”.
This kind of torment and beating was now routine.
No matter how vicious they were, there was no one to help me.
Because they feared the Andres Marquisate.
“Her posture is so rough.”
The head maid, who was like the leader of the guards, squatted in front of me.
Then she grabbed my cheek.
“Poor thing.”
“Take this.”
“Your temper is the same. If you use your mind like this, your mother won't have received the punishment instead, right?”
My jaw tightened.
Even though I knew that if I stay still, the torment would end quickly, the reason I couldn't fight back was this.
I couldn't bear to mention my mom every time.
I slapped the maid's cheek.
“Kyaaak!”
The maid's eyes sparkled with anger at the slap.
“This is…!”
The maid jumped up and kicked me as I was holding the bag, and the things in my arms spilled.
The maid shouted.
“Even though your name is erased from the list of names, your neck is still stiff.”
“…”
“You are now just a useless person with no place to go.”
Peck!
Kicked again, I fell down.
Then the bag button got caught on my clothes and popped out.
‘No way!’
I almost had the bag open.
Inside was the robe Antonio left.
I saw it in the cave.
The Irregular pattern was embroidered inside the robe.
If it were revealed by mistake, it would be a big problem.
I hurriedly hugged the bag.
“Look at this.”
The expression of the Stella's personal guards changed when they saw that.
“It seems like there's a very precious item inside.”
“A precious item in the hands of a lowly daughter who was kicked out from the family.”
“If so, it must be stolen.”
They laughed wickedly and approached me.
The maid roughly pulled my arm.
Suddenly, I bit the maid's forearm hard.
“Ah! This is…!”
Not only the maid, but also the sturdy adult males started kicking me.
The pain felt like bones breaking, but I desperately hugged the bag.
‘This can't be.’
Absolutely not.
If the hood is taken, I can never enter the Irregular.
“Alright, you worked hard today.”
The maid who bit me glared and looked around.
Then she brought a laundry mallet from the miscellaneous goods shop counter.
Just as he was about to swing the mallet at me.
Kwaduk.
A strange sound came.
I flinched and looked up.
The maid's arm was strangely bent.
“Aaaah─!”
The maid let out a horrific scream.
I, still hugging the bag, blankly looked at the maid's back.
It was the squad leader.
A mana chain extending from his hand twisted the maid's arm.
“W-what are you people!”
The maid asked in panic.
Aslan's mana was so powerful that even a normal person who hadn't learned magic could feel it.
Even without that, it was an oppressive feeling that evoked instinctive fear.
While the guards were in confusion, Antonio approached.
“You─.”
A little of Antonio's hood peeked out from the gap in the hugged bag.
His gaze went through the hood to my messy face.
And finally to the spilled vegetables and seasonings.
I hurriedly made an excuse.
“I, I bought it with my own money.”
“What?”
“So, I didn't steal your wealth. I even protected the hood.”
“…”
“I’m sorry for causing a commotion. From now on, I won’t let anything like this happen. Sorry. Sorry….”
The squad leader and Antonio watched me desperately pleading silently.
The maid who was watching the situation said “Ah.” and laughed wickedly.
“It seems you are the new employer of this.”
“…”
“As you can see, this will not be helpful. Do you know the daughter who was kicked out from the Andres Marquisate?”
“…”
“This is the culprit who caused the famous Stella young lady's poisoning incident.”
The maid looked at me with a triumphant face.
Thinking that I would be kicked out now.
Since anyone would be kicked out with that word, it was a reasonable belief.
I lowered my head.
‘Am I going to be abandoned again…’
I had known from the beginning that I was Andres's daughter, but I was anxious.
I must have felt that I was not helpful to the Irregular who had to move secretly.
But then.
“Eh…?”
The maid muttered in a panicked voice, touching her cheek.
A strange black mark appeared on her face.
And following the black mark, blood started flowing down.
“Kyaaah─!”
“…”
“!!”
Not only the maid.
The faces of the two maids who kicked me with her also had black marks.
It was a form that seemed to invert the cross up and down.
This form was a famous mark that even the empire people could not miss.
“W-what, inverse cross!”
“It is the mark of the Irregular!”
Some spectators shouted.
Yes, this is the inverse cross, the mark of the Irregular.
The squad leader approached me quickly.
“If you want, I'll kill them.”
When he said that, the Stella's personal guards, who were screaming with the mark engraved, turned pale.
I blankly looked at the squad leader.
‘Why…’
No, upon thinking a little, I understood.
The reason he is doing this for someone like me.
It was because...
“The squad leader must have been expecting galbi-jjim too…”
“…”
“Don’t worry. A few seasoning bottles broke, but the others are fine. I can make it tonight.”
“…”
There was no reason to stand up for someone like me unless it was galbi-jjim.
‘Still, thank you very much.’
It has been three years since being kicked out from the family.
I hadn't thought that someone would protect me.
“Galbi-jjim, I'll make it deliciously.”
The squad leader sighed as if his head hurt.
“Get up.”
He reached out to me.
Aslan was a good meal.