How to Replace Dad Chapter 20
At San Miguel Castle.
Cha was laughing as she told the unit members about the absurd thing she had seen today.
"That's right. They brought the blacksmith old man calling him a saint."
"Where did you see a ghost after drinking?"
"How do you drink wine when you're supposed to be escorting a young lady? It's real."
Antonio tilted his head as if he had heard a ghost story in broad daylight.
He asked me too, "Is it really true?"
"The one who brought the blacksmith old man calling him a saint is true."
I answered that way and fell into thought.
'But was the blacksmith really a saint?'
Was it a misinterpretation of the oracle that led me to think it was a woman and name her saint?
Since the title was already decided, even a 68-year-old man was called a saint...
'Yeah, that's weird.'
In the game opening, they drew a woman silhouette behind the oracle.
I know how shocked the users who expected a holy girl would be, so there's no way they'd do that.
Last month on the 3rd, there was a holy wave.
And it was a priest.
The one who satisfies all those conditions is...
I thought about it and closed my eyes tightly.
'No matter how I think, it has to be me.'
Last month the 3rd was the day I gave the duke's curse.
And on that day, I saw this window.
Secondary class change success! [Purifier] ※ This system is reconstructed based on familiar interfaces for user convenience.
The pre-transition stage for Purifier is Priest.
I didn't have a holy gate, but I met the saint's conditions.
'Why didn't the saint appear in the game.'
It was because I, as the protagonist's long-term hostage, died before becoming a saint.
In other words, it was a hidden route that I could only see because I was alive.
I leveled up from extra to rival without joy.
Thinking about the game's characteristic of pouring all luck, love, and joy to the protagonist, the ending is obvious.
'I'll be used as a rival and die.'
Haha, this crazy game.
I smiled with a relieved face.
But soon I twisted the hem of my skirt.
'Of course I can't just die like that.'
There's a rabbit-like mom I have to take responsibility for.
I have to survive.
* * *
Bad news has good news too.
Finally, they sent a substitute selection from the duke's castle.
The person who brought the selection was unexpected, but.
'Yeah?'
Cha and I looked at each other.
The person holding the selection was the middle-aged man we saw at the blacksmith.
"Sannniguel's Yustea, receive the order from me and the duke."
The middle-aged man said.
I stepped forward and prostrated myself before him.
I wasn't in a position to be pushed by his authority.
It was the etiquette when receiving the order with the duke's seal.
The man read the selection.
After the usual content, finally the sentence came out with the selection nailed down.
"Having Yustea of San Miguel accompany the royal family, perform the order with sincerity and devotion."
I lowered my head.
"Sannniguel's daughter Yustea. I receive the order."
It was before the Esgard administrator, but I wanted to jump with joy.
It wasn't just me who was happy.
The vice-master who was worried if I could really become a substitute also had an ecstatic expression.
But it was strange.
The administrator didn't immediately hand me the selection.
You have to receive the selection to stand up, but he was hesitating too much.
I glanced at the administrator.
His expression was full of arrogance.
'He's doing this on purpose.'
It wasn't just me who felt the strange atmosphere.
The vice-master's smiling face was gradually hardening.
"How long are you going to keep the young lady on her knees."
The vice-master couldn't stand it and said one thing.
Only then did the administrator say "Ah." and hand me the selection.
When I received the selection and stood up, the administrator stroked his beard and said.
"The people of San Miguel are excessively loyal."
Antonio, thinking he was being praised for his loyalty, had a proud expression.
But the vice-master was different.
The vice-master's face froze from the beginning.
Yeah, this was definitely not praise.
It meant that it was ridiculous to be scolded for just kneeling a stepdaughter.
It was openly ignoring me.
The administrator, working at the center of a great family like Esgard, wouldn't be a fool who doesn't know what he's saying.
Yet his attitude was brazen.
"We will guide you to the room or room where the saint and I will stay. Prepare to hold a banquet to relieve the fatigue of my subordinates. Ah, the wine must be prepared to be aged for more than 30 years."
He came to deliver the selection and demanded an enormous reception.
Even Antonio was sulking.
"Talking about 30 years or more aging...!"
When he was about to shout in frustration, the vice-master's subordinates clung to him.
They barely got the chance to approach the Esgard duke.
It would be no good to cause a commotion here.
The vice-master sighed, suppressing his anger.
And said to the butler.
"First, guide them to the room."
"Yes."
The butler disappeared with the middle-aged man, the administrators, and the knights.
Only then did Antonio, freed from the vice-master's subordinates, grumble.
"Why are you giving rooms to that arrogant guy?"
"It's the best to hold a banquet and send them off quietly."
When the vice-master ordered that, I said.
"Isn't what you really want a banquet?"
"Eh?"
Of course, the middle-aged man can be rude.
San Miguel is a territory that can't survive on its own.
If the Irregular didn't bring in crazy money from missions, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.
So, I have to show the main castle's management in charge of budget execution absolutely well.
'But it's too rude.'
Like showing that I am in a position where I can do this.
So, it's to show off.
There's only one way to show off in a territory like San Miguel that has nothing to show.
"They're asking for money. This is a common bribe request method."
Antonio's face crumpled.
"Even the back alley thugs would snatch money more cleanly than this. Do I really have to give money to this fat guy?"
"If I don't give it, it will get worse."
"Should I just secretly kill him?"
Then the subordinates of Antonio pulled out weapons with sinister faces.
I quickly waved my hand.
"Absolutely not. If the manager is killed, the main castle will intervene."
If I messed up, San Miguel would be exposed as an Irregular's den.
Antonio looked dejected.
"Then I have to just give it...?"
"It's not like that."
"Eh?"
I looked at the vice-master.
"Will you leave this matter to me?"
"Even if it's okay... ."
The vice-master had an expression as if 'How can I solve it without giving money?'
* * *
The name of the Esgard administrator who is called the middle-aged man to Yustea is Godein.
Godein, tilting his glass in a foamy bathtub, let out a sigh.
"Wine is best drunk with someone else's money."
Especially the best taste is to drink the pathetic things that can't even respond to my words.
Godein's subordinate asked while serving.
"But is it okay to waste time here? The prince Gaspar will be furious that the saint was brought late."
Godein smiled faintly and shook the glass.
"What does it matter. After all, it's not the real saint."
Godein didn't think the 68-year-old old man was the real saint.
He just pretended to follow the prince's order.
Prince Gaspar issued an order as soon as he arrived at Esgard.
The order conditions were exactly two.
1. Find the source of the holy wave.
2. Bring someone with holy power among those who were near the source on the 3rd of last month.
"What to do if you brought someone who meets the conditions?"
"But if you anger the prince, you'll be out of the duke's eyes..."
"The duke doesn't have any interest in the saint in the first place."
Esgard is a great family with enough power that it doesn't need to rely on the palace and temple.
Instead, the palace and temple were desperate to pull Esgard under their control somehow.
"Esgard might be like that, but we are just an administrator, so if we anger the prince, it will be a big deal..."
"So, we have to bring a fake one."
"What are you talking about?"
"If you hand the real saint to Prince Gaspar, it will cause resentment from the Teresa cult and other princes."
Only then did the subordinate nod greatly.
"Indeed, it's Godein."
He was a man who rose to this position only through scheming.
The subordinate laughed haha, asking to teach him a lot more in the future.
Then he picked up the wine bottle and asked.
"Shall I pour another glass?"
"It's fine. I have to enjoy the banquet slowly. What a great banquet it will be."
The thick gold coin pouch to be received after the banquet was also expected.
The two men left the bathroom laughing.
Outside the room, it was crowded with other subordinates brought by Godein.
All had excited expressions full of anticipation for the banquet.
A knight approached Godein wearing a jacket.
"This is the first time in a long time, I'll grease my belly thanks to Godein."
"Haha. Enjoy it when there's an opportunity."
"I heard the castle was quiet, so I hope you didn't call the dancers."
"To be that stupid. After all, wine should be with snow viewing."
"Of course."
There is an advantage to serving a dirty-tempered boss like Godein.
He distributed beans to subordinates for show.
So, these who took a leisurely rest in San Miguel headed to the banquet hall.
To a banquet hall full of beautiful dancers, expensive wine, and gorgeous food.
And what they saw when they boldly opened the door of the banquet hall and entered was....
"What?"
"Why, there's no food..."
Not even wine, no food.
Godein's eyebrows twitched.
At that moment, a voice came from outside the door.
"You've arrived first."
It was Yustea, the girl selected as a substitute by the prince's order.
Godein looked back at her in frustration.
There were no dancers behind her either.
It wasn't that the lord was chasing frantically.
She only brought two men: the knight commander and Antonio, whom we saw when delivering the substitute selection.
Godein asked.
"How about the banquet?"
"Ah, I guess there was a misunderstanding. There is no banquet."
Godein's eyebrows twitched at Yustea's answer.
"I told you to prepare a banquet."
"I heard the words, but there was no permission from this side."
Look at this.
The attitude is full of arrogance.
Godein let out a laugh.
"Perhaps the young lady has a mistaken position."
Then the slippery-faced knight called Antonio jumped forward in frustration.
Before reaching Godein, he was blocked by Yustea's arm.
But Yustea still had a smiling face.
"Me?"
"What made the young lady so arrogant. The past of being the eldest daughter of Andres?"
"..."
"Ah, don't be surprised. You didn't investigate the person who should be brought into the Esgard main castle, did you?"
"..."
"But."
Godein took a step closer to Yustea.
"Right now, you are a resident of San Miguel, not the daughter of Andres."
"I am a body who entered as a daughter to the San Miguel lord."
Godein chuckled.
"Yes. I guess the San Miguel lord was in a hurry. No matter how much you need an heir to send to the main castle, why..."
This time, not only Antonio but also the vice-master clenched his fists.
Godein continued without caring.
"The San Miguel lord probably thinks that the young lady accumulated a great connection with the princes during the time she was the Andres princess."
"..."
"Don't you think the young lady has the same misunderstanding?"
"..."
"This is advice. Don't give too much meaning to the fact that the princes made you a substitute."
Even in Esgard, they were surprised by the words that the princes would make Yustea a substitute.
But no one thought it was affectionate interest towards Yustea.
"If the princes really liked the young lady, they wouldn't have watched you become a kitchen girl wandering the streets."
Yeah, this is just to enjoy watching someone fall to the bottom.
Like a circus monkey.
"When the princes moved to Esgard, you visited. There too, you said you made food in the kitchen."
"..."
"Look. If the princes really pitied the young lady, would they have let a noble daughter get her hands dirty with water."
Yeah. It means they calculated that even if they swung their arms, there would be no problem.
Where do they think they're looking down on me.
Yustea, who had been silent for a moment, slowly opened her mouth.
"I, for a moment..."
Godein raised the corner of his mouth.
"You seem to have finally understood your position."
It's clear that he's trying to settle down, realizing he can't be arrogant.
He probably intends to call her close and stuff a money pouch.
The subordinates behind Godein also predicted the situation and giggled.
Godein smiled at the subordinates and approached Yustea.
At that moment....
"Aaah─!"
He kicked her knee so hard it made a sound.
When Godein lowered his head to grab her leg, Yustea quickly stabbed his back of the neck with her elbow.
"Kuk!"
Godein collapsed as his body's center broke, and another shock hit.
Yustea quickly stepped on his head as he fell.
And with her empty hand, she picked up a flower vase from the nearby decoration stand.
"Godein! What are you doing!"
When his subordinate shouted, the knights who had been startled for a moment hurriedly put their hands on their sword sheaths.
Yustea said.
"Don't move. If you don't want to see this guy's head shattered."
"..."
"!!"
The knights stopped.
Godein shouted in a frog-like way.
"What kind of trick is this!"
"Self-defense."
It's not asking that...
Godein trembled and said.
"Release me right now. If this matter is known to the main castle, not only the young lady but also San Miguel will suffer greatly."
"Then I can just report it."
"You crazy...!"
"But can only you report it?"
What?
Yustea grabbed Godein's hair and lifted him up.
Her golden eyes shone sharply like a beast's.
Godein was momentarily dazed enough to stop talking.
But soon, Godein, who regained his composure, glared at her fiercely.
"What nonsense... ."
"Arson, Cannia, and Rolhaiser Trading Company and Skashi Hospital Director."
"..."
Godein froze.
More than when he was threatened with a hammer to smash his head.
It was... those names that came out of her mouth one after another were places where Godein had taken bribes!
Even names of places with no relation to Esgard came out.
It said even family members didn't know they took bribes.
'What the hell is this...!'
Godein was pale and only opening his mouth.
Yustea, watching him with a smile, thought.
'I saw it in the game.'
It will burst soon.
He will naturally be dismissed. He'll be waiting for execution in the underground prison.
Yustea, bending her knee to meet Godein's eyes, smiled faintly.
"Well, then who should understand their position?"
"...P, please spare me. Please spare me. Please spare me!"
Godein rubbed his hands together and pleaded.
Everyone except Yustea and Godein was watching the scene blankly.
The subordinates of Godein were surprised at the sight of Godein they had never seen.
And Antonio and the vice-master...
"X, cool."
Antonio said that, and the vice-master, who would have hit the back of the head as usual, quietly nodded his head.