The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Frondier’s Weapon Duplicator Episode 11
Chapter 3: Fate Manipulation (2)
After class had ended.
Frondier, Sybel, and Aster sat together in the School Cafe.
Sybel sat at the round table, rolling her eyes back and forth between the two of them.
Before her sat the first year’s most and least reputable male students, side by side.
Aster Evens—blessed with strong Divine Power and talent, respected by both teachers and students alike.
Frondier de Roache—sleeping through every class and slacking away, possessing neither Divine Power nor talent.
Just the two of them being together drew every eye in the cafe, and Sybel found herself uneasily aware of the attention.
Part of it was that Sybel herself was here as well, but she didn’t quite grasp that.
“Aster, why did you pick me?”
Frondier’s drowsy lips parted.
Sybel had been wondering the same thing, so her gaze naturally drifted toward Aster.
But Aster’s eyes widened with surprise at the question itself.
“Why? You helped me.”
“I did?”
“Mistilstein. You eased my worry.”
“…That was a worry that would’ve disappeared eventually anyway.”
Frondier exhaled a sigh.
“Ah, I heard about that too.”
Sybel spoke with sparkling eyes.
Frondier’s actions at the Noble Assembly had become quite the famous incident.
So-called, the lazy sluggard Frondier’s mouth-running incident.
An absurd display of behavior at a gathering of the empire’s finest noble houses.
From his arrogant words about fearing no Divine Punishment, to his reckless destruction of trade goods—all of it.
As a result, Frondier’s actions benefited his house, but the actions themselves seemed nothing but reckless.
“Frondier, are you really not afraid of Divine Punishment?”
Sybel asked.
It was pure curiosity, not mockery or contempt.
Frondier answered while looking at her.
“Yeah.”
“…That’s it?”
“Huh?”
At the brevity of his answer, Sybel’s mouth worked soundlessly.
“That’s too dangerous to be just posturing.”
“What posturing would there be in a place like that?”
Fair point.
It seemed he wasn’t trying to pose at all.
“Anyway, let’s move past that—there’s something else we need to discuss today.”
Aster spoke, as if clearing the air.
Sybel spoke up.
“Deciding who the third-year and instructor will be to accompany us.”
Right. These three had gathered for a reason.
The dungeon exploration would require five members, and at least two of them had to be a third-year and an instructor.
“Who should we ask? The instructors are generally cooperative, but many third-years refuse—they’re busy with their own matters or find it bothersome. Shouldn’t we make a list upfront, assuming some will turn us down?”
Soon after, Sybel and Aster began mentioning several senior third-years.
Sybel was busily writing down the names mentioned.
In the meantime, Frondier remained silent.
That the two hadn’t pressed him for input was partly because they knew his reputation for laziness, but also because he wore an expression of surprisingly deep deliberation.
“…I think…”
And after that careful thought, Frondier’s mouth opened.
“Senior Quiney.”
“…Huh?”
Aster echoed the name in question.
“Quiney? You mean Quiney de Viet?”
“Yeah.”
Frondier nodded, and Aster and Sybel’s eyes met.
Quiney de Viet.
A prodigy who had revived her house from the brink of ruin before she was even twenty.
People called her “the little demon Quiney”—for her cold precision, merciless decisiveness, and the uncanny business acumen that accompanied both.
Frondier spoke.
“How about it? If you start building a connection with Quiney now, it’ll be a huge help down the road.”
“That may be true, but…….”
Both of them nodded while their expressions remained lukewarm.
Sybel spoke bluntly.
“……She doesn’t seem like she’ll help.”
That was the problem. None of them had any prior connection with Quiney.
Moreover, Quiney was the type to calculate profit and loss with ruthless precision. She wouldn’t agree to join a dungeon party just because they asked.
They’d have to offer her something substantial.
“From what I know, Quiney hates owing ‘debts’ or being ‘indebted.’ Promising to repay her later for accompanying us to the dungeon won’t work at all.”
Aster nodded in agreement with Sybel’s words.
Then Frondier’s drowsy eyes narrowed slightly.
“What if I brought Quiney myself? You’d both be satisfied then, right?”
“……Frondier, are you planning something reckless again?”
Aster’s expression hardened.
At that concerned face, Frondier smiled.
‘Oh.’
Sybel was slightly startled by that smile.
Frondier’s appearance itself was the specimen of a refined aristocrat, and when that drowsy face lit up with a smile, it was quite something to behold.
“Don’t worry. I’ll conduct proper negotiations and come back.”
* * *
I parted ways with Aster and Sybel and headed to school.
Watching the two of them exchange numbers on their phones, I remembered that I didn’t have one.
Just as Etius had the Wizard View mimicking television, there was something called the Sage Phone that mimicked smartphones.
Everyone simply called it a phone. With a phone, you could freely use calls, texts, and messaging apps.
But I—Frondier—didn’t have a Sage Phone. Neither did my older brother Astje, nor my father Anfer.
Anfer was an old-fashioned man, and his thinking was even more outdated, so he had no interest in such things. As for Astje, since his father didn’t use one, he didn’t either.
But from my position of needing to help Aster, a Sage Phone was essential.
I could make or receive emergency calls, and I could easily check locations.
“Hmm.”
I stopped in front of a certain classroom. The stares and murmurs surrounding me seemed to double just from that alone.
Never mind.
The door slid open with a click, and a few of the students inside turned their gaze toward me.
It was certainly only a few at first, but they startled each other, shaking their neighbors and pointing toward me, making comments like “Look at that,” which spread the attention to everyone nearby.
So in the end, everyone was staring.
……Let me just get this over with and leave.
I approached a certain girl. She, of course, was looking at me too—with a thoroughly bewildered expression on her face.
“Found you, Quiney.”
“……Have you lost your mind?”
The ‘little demon,’ Quiney.
Her flustered face—when she usually wore such an easy smile—was actually quite amusing.
“We met at the Miller Family Mansion before, didn’t we? I felt like I didn’t give a proper greeting then.”
“That’s not necessary. If you want to create some connection with me, send an appropriate amount of money to our family account. And don’t draw attention to me like this.”
Quiney waved her fan dismissively.
I leaned my face closer to her. From around us, sounds like “Eeek!” and “Oh my!” could be heard, along with sharp intakes of breath.
Quiney stiffened.
I whispered directly into her ear.
“I wish to sell information to Quiney de Viet.”
At those words, Quiney’s fanning hand stopped. She looked at me with a grave expression.
She was no longer just a student—she had become the head of House of Viet.
“I don’t appreciate nonsense.”
“Neither do I.”
“……This isn’t the place for that conversation, is it?”
I nodded once and turned to leave. Without even bothering to look back, I could hear Quiney’s footsteps following behind me.
Though the whispers from those around us grew even louder.
* * *
“So, what is it?”
We had moved to an empty classroom.
Quiney meticulously cast the Wind Whisper spell to ensure our voices wouldn’t leak out. That was something I appreciated.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
It’s in my best interest to get close to Quiney as quickly as possible. And in Aster’s too.
There’s a practical advantage to having her on my side, certainly, but what matters more is that she’s someone I can trust.
In Etius, knowing who you can rely on—who you can trust with your back—matters more than anything else.
The trouble is, I don’t have much to offer her right now.
But there’s one thing. I have information that would absolutely captivate Quiney.
I considered the most effective way to present it, then spoke.
“Outside Monsters are coming.”
“……!”
Quiney’s expression hardened.
Outside Monsters.
As I mentioned before, humanity’s domain in Etius is negligible. The current human race struggles even to hunt down the monsters that exist within their borders.
‘Outside’ means, quite literally, beyond human territory. The monsters that lurk there are fundamentally different from those within.
She turned a suspicious gaze toward me.
“If you say things like that carelessly, it won’t end well for you, will it?”
“But if you do nothing about it, things genuinely won’t end well.”
Quiney stared into my eyes as though she could read my true thoughts that way.
I met that gaze steadily.
“Third-years have a Dispatch Mission coming up soon, don’t they? A Pro temporary experience program.”
“……How do you know that?”
“You’ll encounter an Outside Monster there.”
“……How many?”
Before verifying the truth, Quiney demanded details about the information.
That was the right approach.
I held up one finger.
“One.”
“……One? A single creature?”
“Yes. An exceptionally weak individual from the Outside world’s pack. A straggler that couldn’t endure the pack’s existence and fell behind. You’ll face that one.”
Quiney blinked at my words, her expression uncertain about how to react.
I smiled faintly.
“It doesn’t sound quite so dangerous, does it?”
“……Honestly, it doesn’t. I’ve never encountered an Outside Monster before. But just one creature? A straggler, at that? Wouldn’t fearing that be the same as disrespecting Pros?”
“Your thinking isn’t wrong. An inferior specimen like that could be subdued by a single Pro easily enough.”
“Then why—”
“Because your Dispatch Mission wasn’t originally designed to account for it.”
Quiney’s eyes widened. Just as I thought—she was sharp at reading situations.
Yet because direct explanation was effective, I continued.
“Many people will die. Outside Monsters are far stronger than their counterparts from within, and more cunning than anything else. Hiding their bodies, striking from distances where a Pro’s sight cannot reach, they’ll slaughter people one by one. Until the moment the Pro discovers them.”
“……Oh dear.”
Quiney, who had been listening quietly, raised one corner of her mouth.
“Third-years are numerous. There will be ordinary people at the training site as well. What are the odds that I’ll be the one it targets? A Pro will find it before that happens. I just need to hide adequately while others take the brunt. Besides, you’ve already revealed all the information—why would I need to give you anything?”
Other people’s deaths don’t concern her. As long as her own safety is guaranteed, nothing else matters.
A cold-blooded human who thinks only of money and power to build up her house.
The ‘little demon’ Quiney.
……She performs that role so convincingly,
which is precisely why she’s the head of House of Viet.
“I know the creature’s weakness. That’s the information I’m selling.”
“……!”
Quiney’s eyes wavered.
If she truly intended to hide among the crowd and flee, this information would be worthless to her.
What good is knowing a weakness? She could simply keep running.
Yet Quiney wavered.
Because sacrificing others—that was all a lie.
I looked down. Watching any more of Quiney’s pretense felt unbearable.
“You don’t like it when people die.”
“……! W-what are you—!”
“I have my own means of obtaining information. This intelligence came to me the same way.”
Memories of the Etius game repeated countless times in the real world. No medium has ever been more reliable for me than that.
At my words, Quiney bit her lower lip. I could almost hear her mind working frantically.
Quiney looked directly at me and spoke.
“So? What do you want? Money?”
Cool and quick.
She’d calculated that dealing with me was far more profitable than the odds of me lying.
“No, actually. We’ve obtained an opportunity to enter a Lower-tier Dungeon. Would you be willing to accompany us?”
“……Is that enough?”
Quiney asked, her tone skeptical.
I smiled.
Quiney dislikes deals that favor her too heavily—she suspects there’s always a hidden defect of equal measure.
“And I’ll need several items.”
So I said this. To make the transaction feel fair to her.
Truth be told, that’s the real purpose from my end.
Since I’d achieved Gram’s Weaving—even if incomplete—I need many things.
“Items?”
“Yes. First, I need something that can increase my total Mana capacity. Spirit Elixir, Artifact, anything works.”
“……You’re asking for something substantial all of a sudden. Anything else?”
“One more: a piece of jewelry that can hold water. Something wearable on the body, easy to withdraw from and store in. And the interior shouldn’t be visible.”
“That’s an odd request. Why not just carry a water jug?”
“I’d really prefer the withdrawal and storage to be extraordinarily convenient.”
Quiney tilted her head further, regarding me as if I were a peculiar person. But I had nothing more to say either.
The jewelry for holding water is actually meant to contain Black Heaven.
The more precisely I explained, the more likely she’d see through me, so I simply said water instead.
“Fine. Those two things should do it? I’ll pledge provision in the name of House of Viet.”
“Thank you.”
“So? What’s the catch?”
“The catch is, oh.”
I stopped, something occurring to me.
Quiney’s brow narrowed.
“What? You’re not backing out now, are you?”
“No. I just realized there’s one more thing I need.”
“What is it?”
“If I could also receive a Sage Phone, that would be ideal.”
Quiney opened her mouth as if it were absurd.
“You don’t have a phone?”

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