The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 113

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

Academy Weapon Replicator Chapter 113
Part 32: Kraken (5)
Kraken’s feet touched the sewer floor—the world beyond the Portal that Frontdier had glimpsed.
The sewer reeked of decay, as sewers do. Yet Kraken felt no revulsion.
He had devoured every stench that dwelt in water. All rotting things beneath the surface had become his sustenance.
“Mmm~ Frontdier, you turned out to be more entertaining than I expected.”
Kraken hummed like someone returning from a blind date.
His original purpose had been only the Business Card; Frontdier himself was not yet his concern.
Frontdier was merely a suitable sacrifice for Indus to ascend upon—nothing remarkable in himself.
“But you’ll need to cool that temper, Frontdier. The world doesn’t resolve itself through emotion alone, you know.”
Kraken muttered unsolicited advice, then stopped.
From a distance, something was approaching—no, flying toward him.
At this speed, “flying” hardly did it justice.
“Huh, wha—”
As that stupid sound escaped Kraken’s lips,
Whisht—
Shriek!
Through the sewer it came, twisting multiple times so fast that even Kraken’s eyes couldn’t follow its path,
Thwick—
and in an instant, it pierced clean through Kraken’s right knee.
“Gahhh?!”
Kraken’s body crumpled and he screamed.
His right knee. Kraken stared at his own pierced limb in disbelief, rolling his eyes to look down at it.
That was where his heart was.
Thud.
Kraken collapsed.
“Haaack! Huk! Khhh……!”
Saliva streamed from his mouth. His gaping maw and drool began stretching like tentacles before snapping back into human form, over and over.
After several seconds, Kraken managed to steady his ragged breathing.
‘An Arrow……?’
He couldn’t be certain, but the shape his eyes barely caught looked like an Arrow.
Just before crossing the Portal, Frontdier had drawn his bow.
“He destroyed one of my hearts…….”
Kraken possessed three cores. There was no true heart in him—he merely pretended to be human. Yet he called each core his “heart.”
No matter where he was cut or burned, Kraken could regenerate his original body. But if all three cores were obliterated, he would die.
One of them.
Utterly unforeseen, it had just flown away.
‘The plan…….’
He was a member of Indus. For them, the Revolution’s directives were supreme, and countless preparations had to proceed.
Kraken too had operations for which he had resigned himself to death.
Among his three lives, he had already steeled himself to sacrifice two in those plans.
And one was lost to such a trivial Arrow…….
“Keh…….”
Yet Kraken laughed. Frontdier would undoubtedly labor under one grand misunderstanding.
That I am dead.
Frontdier, ignorant of my three hearts, would certainly mistake this for my demise.
“Keh…… heheheh…….”
Therefore, this one lost life would someday become a gambit to corner Frontdier.
See, Frontdier. I remain.
I have not died, so the plan continues. With only minor adjustments, it can proceed without limit.
I have not died. That is enough.
I have not died…….
“Keh…… heheheh…… Frontdier…….”
……Yet.
Why was his mouth twisting downward?
Why were his eyes filling with blood?
His body trembling violently, he raised his head.
“FRONTDIEEEEEER────!!!!”
Even Kraken himself could not fathom the source of his wild scream.
* * *
After waking Gregory, I had him dispel the command I’d placed on the students.
Fortunately, while Seraph’s voice had issued the order, only Gregory—who’d distributed the business cards—could revoke it.
Pascal snapped handcuffs around Gregory’s wrists. He’d been caught from the start, so he followed without resistance.
“Rest now. What comes next is the teachers’ responsibility.”
“The teachers……”
Hearing Pascal’s words, something suddenly occurred to me.
“Now that I think about it, what happened to the other teachers? Did they also receive business cards and……?”
Yet even as I considered it, something felt wrong.
If they’d received the cards, they should have been controlled and come to attack me—but none of the teachers had done that.
Pascal nodded.
“That’s right. It seemed all of them had received cards. However……”
“However?”
“Every single teacher resisted.”
Pascal spoke as though stating the obvious.
“The moment the order ‘Kill Frontdier’ came through the speakers, every teacher nearby stopped in their tracks. They didn’t lose consciousness, but they didn’t move a single step from that spot. It was quite remarkable resistance.”
His words brought Saiber to mind.
Saiber had also received Seraph’s business card and resisted without losing consciousness. Yet even that resistance had worn her down—she’d nearly killed me in the struggle.
But the teachers had all held out? For all this time?
“The headmaster, on the other hand, moved entirely of his own will. He even used magic. That surprised me.”
“Magic…… What did the headmaster do?”
“He maintained a barrier confining the teachers. In case any of them failed to resist and tried to kill you—that would’ve been a true catastrophe.”
Of course. Osprit, a member of the Zodiac, was capable of that much.
At that moment, the Assembly Hall door opened.
“Ah, there you are! Frontdier!!”
Saiber entered first, waving at me as she approached. Behind her came Elody, Aten, and the other students who’d helped me.
“Are you alright now?”
“I can’t go on! I have no strength left!”
They crowded around me, each offering their words. Watching them, gratitude swelled in my chest. That’s right—without them, this incident would’ve been impossible to resolve.
“Thank you. If you all hadn’t been here, it would’ve been truly catastrophic.”
I spoke with sincerity. Looking at Saiber. At Elody. At Aten. At Frontdier.
……
Frontdier?
“What?!”
Pure instinct sent panic through my entire body. I leaped backward.
What, what what what is that?! A Doppelgänger? One where meeting it means one of you dies? Where’s my short sword? Damn it, I need to activate Weaving right now—
“Frontdier, compose yourself. That’s Quinie, our senior.”
“Huh?”
At Saiber’s words, the person wearing Frontdier’s face let out a small sound and reached up. Beginning at their ear, they peeled away their own face.
The true face revealed beneath was indeed Quinie de Byet.
“…… Ah. It was a mask.”
Apart from the face, everything else was completely different. The hair color, length, figure, clothing—and even Quinie’s signature fan in hand.
If I’d kept my composure, I would’ve noticed immediately. But the shock had overwhelmed me.
“That’s right.”
Quinie answered, but her expression was grim. Not merely grim, but ashen—as though she were about to die—with a murky cast to her complexion.
“I’m never doing that again.”
“…… I see.”
From that murmur, I pieced together what had happened.
Quinie had worn the mask and pretended to be me, drawing the students’ attention. The sight of mindless, corpse-like students attacking her must have been terrifying.
…… Corpse-like.
I pressed my lips together and looked at Quinie. She opened her fan, covering her mouth, and instead spoke with her eyes.
‘Don’t let it show.’
Understood.
“But where did Aster go?”
“He’s fighting right now.”
Elody answered.
Fighting?
“Why? The students should’ve regained consciousness by now.”
“That’s why he’s fighting.”
“What?”
That’s when it happened.
Crash-boom!
Something violent smashed down onto the Schoolyard beyond the Assembly Hall.
I and my companions rushed outside to see what had happened.
There was Aster, pinned beneath Rohwald, pushing the man’s face away with his feet.
“You crazy bastard! You’ve lost your mind!”
“I don’t accept it! Don’t you dare think you won with a fight like that!”
“I’m not thinking anything—now get off me!”
Well, hearing Aster speak so roughly was rather refreshing.
Elody spoke up.
“Aster had already subdued the unconscious Rohwald using his Aura—nearly had him pinned. But when Rohwald came to, he started throwing a fit, insisting ‘This doesn’t count as a real match!'”
“……That’s very Rohwald of him.”
I sighed and watched them both.
“Aster! We fight again! Right now! Let me show you my true strength!”
“Are you insane? I can’t fight right now!”
“Why not!”
“Because I burned through all my strength just keeping your senseless ass in check, you idiot!”
As Aster shouted, Rohwald suddenly closed his mouth and blinked.
He stopped pressing into Aster and rose to his feet.
“I see. So you exhausted yourself restraining me. I see. So you did.”
“……Yes.”
“Which means even when I was unconscious, I was extraordinarily strong.”
Ah, so that’s all it took.
I felt the tension ease out of me—the mood was shifting.
If those two kept fighting, I had no idea where or how things would explode. And I could easily end up caught in the crossfire.
“Say, Rohwald.”
But Aster brushed himself off and rose, opening his mouth.
“What is it, Aster.”
Rohwald asked in return, and Aster grinned at him.
Sinews stood out across the man’s face.
“You fight better when you’re unconscious.”
“……What was that?”
“Next time you want a real match with me, go bang your head against something first. Then maybe you’d actually stand a chance of winning.”
“You sonofabitch!”
Rohwald lunged. The two fell back into their grapple, trading blows and rolling across the ground.
I watched them both with a cool, detached gaze—like watching a film.
“Just let it go. Aster’s something else.”
Elody sighed.
“Well, Aster has a tremendous amount of pride, after all.”
Which was precisely why he could be called the protagonist of this game.
* * *
That night, after returning to the Residence, I made for Selena’s room.
I stood before her door for a moment, hesitating.
……When visiting my bodyguard’s room, what should I do? Just call out, or knock?
After a moment’s thought, I knocked.
Tap, tap.
“Selena, it’s me.”
“Frontdier? If you have orders, I’ll come at once—”
“No. I have something to discuss inside your room.”
“……Inside my room, you say?”
“Yes.”
After my answer, there was a brief silence from within.
Then,
“Please give me five minutes. I’ll be ready shortly.”
“Five minutes? Just open the door. I’ll come in myself.”
“No! That won’t do! Let me change, I mean—I’ll be ready right away.”
And hurried sounds echoed from within the room—the rustle of fabric, the scrape of wooden furniture being moved.
I sighed and spoke.
“There’s no need to change. It’s nothing of that nature.”
The sounds stopped abruptly.
“I haven’t changed. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I was simply following proper protocol to allow you into my room—”
“Understood. Is that procedure finished?”
“……Yes. Do come in.”
Only then did the door open.
Selena wore a loose, comfortable sleepgown—nothing like the tight, restrictive nightwear she’d had on when we first met.
……Right. Of course it would be.
I stepped into the room and swept my gaze across it. Hmm, everything one would expect is here. Truly, the Roach Residence.
“What is this matter, if I may ask?”
“A very important matter for you.”
At my words, Selena’s expression tightened. Good—let her be tense.
I spoke my next words carefully.
“From today on, I will teach you the Ancient Language.”

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