The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 116

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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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The Weapon Replicator of the Academy — Episode 116
Chapter 35: Authentic Item
When Frontdier punched through the wall, the sound drew every student nearby into a stampede.
All eyes followed Frontdier’s gaze to Quinie. Her entire face, even to the tips of her ears, had turned crimson.
“Just give me a moment.”
“You—you—you, are you actually insane?!”
Quinie felt the cold wind rushing through the hole in the wall. The touch of it confirmed that this nightmare was real.
More students crowded around, watching the standoff between Quinie and Frontdier unfold. Whispers rippled through the corridor: “What’s happening? What is this? What’s going on?”
Quinie genuinely wanted to die. Ah—so that’s why Frontdier had punched through the wall? So she could jump out?
“……Frontdier.”
That was when a cold voice called out to him.
It was Jane, one of the instructors.
As Frontdier turned, Jane’s gaze cut through him like a blade.
“Before you speak with Quinie, how about we have a word first?”
“……Ah, I have an extremely urgent matter—”
Frontdier tried to avoid her stare, but Jane gripped his shoulder and didn’t let go.
“It’ll only take a moment for me too.”
Jane smiled. Frontdier smiled back.
In the end, Frontdier followed in Jane’s wake. As his footsteps faded down the corridor, Quinie could only manage a weary sigh.
Still, Frontdier glanced back at Quinie one last time, tilting his head—
“Then I’ll see you after class. I’ll come to your classroom.”
“I heard you! Now get out!!”
Even as he left, Frontdier kept the corridor in chaos.

* * *
Damn it—Jane made me later than expected. Or was it my own fault?
She gave me an enormous lecture. Still, since her intentions were good, it barely mitigated things. As for the wall—my family will cover the repairs anyway.
When I arrived at Quinie’s classroom after hours, she was thankfully waiting.
The moment she saw me, her expression soured instantly, but under these circumstances, that hardly mattered.
“Thank you for waiting. I appreciate it.”
“Just tell me what you need. I’m a busy person.”
“Not here. Let’s move to a different location.”
At my words, Quinie glanced at me sideways. Her eyes were suspicious.
“Is it really that important? Important enough to destroy my peaceful academy life?”
“I came here to protect your academy life.”
It wasn’t a lie.
If what Gregory said was true, then the Indus student hiding somewhere in Constellation Academy would be targeting Quinie.
“……Ugh, fine.”
Quinie stood up with a resigned air.
“Where are we going?”
“To the Training Room.”
“The Training Room? That far? There are empty classrooms nearby.”
“I recently learned that the Wind Whisper doesn’t have perfect security.”
A soundproofing spell—Wind Whisper.
It doesn’t just reduce noise; it blocks sound completely. But it turns out it’s not as perfect as I thought. Just look at Malia’s Sensory Sharing ability.
By contrast, the Training Room itself is already equipped with every conceivable facility for training focus, and its security was designed with perfection already built in.
“Hmm, alright. Let’s see if it’s really that serious.”
Quinie followed along despite her annoyance, without further complaint.
……Of course.
I didn’t mention that staying in the Training Room to train after sending Quinie off would save me a trip—that bit seemed unnecessary to voice.
…….
Inside the individual Training Room, Quinie and I sat facing each other at a reasonable distance.
I explained the situation to her.
Among all those rumors circulating, only Quinie’s rumor carried a different scent.
Gregory had strategically woven every rumor together, linking them all to me to scatter the students’ focus across as wide a spectrum as possible.
But Quinie’s rumor was different. It was malice directed at Quinie alone.
……And because it was based in truth, its quality was far more dangerous.
“So you’re saying it’s a different person?”
“Yes. While the other rumors boil and churn, someone has been watching for an opening.”
Hmm.
Quinie’s eyes narrowed slightly as she brought the edge of her fan to her lips. Her gaze swept slowly from left to right, as though reading something written before her.
I studied her carefully. “Can you think of anyone? An enemy of yours, perhaps?”
“……If I gathered all my enemies in one place, they’d fill the Athletic Field at Constellation Academy.”
What kind of life had she lived?
Then again, I couldn’t say I was any different.
“But surely not among the students? The culprit is likely a Constellation student.”
“A student…….”
This time, Quinie’s head tilted thoughtfully.
“Now that you mention it, I’m not sure. I’ve only ever dealt with people from other families.”
It did seem unlikely that Quinie had made enemies among the other students. She probably hadn’t had time for such things.
So the enemy was Indus after all? Going after her family? For money?
“……But you know what, Frontdier.”
“Yes?”
“I actually find you a bit suspicious too.”
Quinie’s eyes flicked toward me. Just like her, that gaze had already become a scale weighing my worth.
“You told me something before, remember? ‘I hate seeing people die, don’t I?'”
“……That was——”
“If you’re about to say ‘Everyone hates that,’ then I’m genuinely angry. You used that as material to persuade me. You already knew from the start.”
So she wasn’t going to let it slide that easily.
Of course, I knew about Quinie’s phobia of corpses. I even knew when it started and why.
But as always, the excuse of “I tried it as a game” couldn’t justify anything.
And if I lied carelessly to Quinie, she was an information broker and merchant—it would be easy for the truth to come out eventually.
Which left me with——
“That’s classified.”
Without telling a lie, it was the only thing I could say.
“……What?”
Quinie frowned.
“I cannot discuss it.”
Tap——
Quinie rested her fan on my chest.
It seemed like a trivial gesture, but inside that fan were blades capable of high-speed ejection.
“I just said I suspected you, you know? You’re prepared for this conversation?”
Quinie had extracted confessions and surrenders from many people through various methods.
Those methods included murder threats like this one. Such tactics bore a resemblance to Empress Philly’s approach.
But while I genuinely worried I might die before Philly, I didn’t feel that way before Quinie.
If Philly was gray, then Quinie was white covered by black cellophane. She merely wrapped her almost saintly kindness in the shell of wickedness.
So for someone like me, who knew how remarkably virtuous Quinie truly was——
“Even so, I cannot discuss it.”
Such threats lost half their bite.
“……Fine. Then just answer three things.”
And Quinie held up three fingers.
“One. When did you first learn about my weakness?”
“A very long time ago.”
Long before I ever entered this world.
“Two. Did you learn about that weakness through some information broker or something?”
“No.”
I saw it myself.
“Three. Have you ever shared my weakness with anyone else? Or is there someone who learned about it at the same time you did?”
“No.”
Even if there were someone, that was from the previous world.
“…….”
Quinie studied my eyes quietly. Since I had spoken only the truth, my heart remained undisturbed.
“All right, good.”
And Quinie withdrew her fan.
It seemed I’d passed this test.
“If it’s not you, then yes, I do have a suspect in mind.”
“Is that so? Who?”
I leaned forward at this unexpected information.
If I could find the culprit quickly, that would be everything I could ask for. Finding Indus’s tail would be even better.

“Ah, but before that.”
“Before?”
Quinie thrust her fan forward again. This time, it was right under my nose.
“I need to collect what you owe me.”
“……What I owe you?”
At my question, Quinie’s eyes blazed. Her gaze said, ‘You can’t possibly have forgotten already.’
“You haven’t already forgotten, have you?”
The look in her eyes was deadly accurate.
“Ah, what was it?”
“When those mind-controlled students came flooding into the Auditorium! Don’t you remember how I lured them back in with that mask I wore?!”
Oh.
That was indeed a debt I owed.
Many people had helped to hold back the students, but Quinie’s contribution had been unmistakably clear and powerful.
Most of all,
“You, who know my weakness! You can’t be like this!”
That’s right. And because of that—
I bowed my head deeply and spoke.
“I sincerely apologize. You’ve done me an enormous favor. Of course I must repay it.”
“……Hmph. Good. Now get up if you understand. Let’s go.”
“……Where, if I may ask?”
“Where else? My house. I have something I need done.”
With that, Quinie brushed herself off and stood.
I looked up at her and asked.
“I understand I owe you a debt, and I’m willing to do whatever you ask, but couldn’t we do this another time?”
Finding the culprit who’d woven those rumors seemed far more pressing to me.
No, wouldn’t it be the same from Quinie’s perspective as well?
“No. The items arrived today. I was counting on entrusting this task to you from the start anyway.”
What?
So you were planning to use me from the beginning?
“Besides, if I’m right about this, catching the culprit can wait.”
“Pardon?”
“Anyway. You haven’t forgotten what happened at the museum, have you?”
“……Ah.”
She was talking about that counterfeit painting.
Could it be that the items she said had arrived—
“I want you to use that ability.”
Quinie grinned at me.
It was the mischievous smile of a little devil I hadn’t seen in a while.

* * *
When we arrived at Quinie’s estate, an unexpected reception awaited us.
“Welcome to the Viet Family.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you for the warm greeting.”
I bowed to the man who appeared to be the butler.
The man smiled warmly.
“I hear you’re quite exceptional for your age—a most skilled Appraiser.”
“……Ah,”
I was about to say something when Quinie beside me spoke up confidently.
“That’s right. An Appraiser who can identify the authentic item at a glance, no matter what object it is.”
……I see. So Quinie had introduced me as an Appraiser.
Now this welcoming reception made sense.
“Then please come in. The master has ordered quite a number of items.”
“Dusang, I sense some bone in this somehow?”
“How could that be?”
The butler’s name seemed to be Dusang.
Quinie and Dusang exchanged light conversation as they led me deeper inside.
When we arrived, there was indeed an enormous collection of all manner of decorative pieces stacked about.
“You may sit there, Appraiser. Our servants will place the items on the shelf in front for you. Then you can proceed with your appraisals.”
The butler guided me to a chair at the back—a somewhat antique-looking one, with a clean shelf installed in front of it at just the right height.
Once items were placed on that shelf, they would be at eye level with whoever sat in the chair. It was thoughtful preparation.
“The journey here must have been tiring. Would you care to rest for a moment? We have refreshments and tea, coffee—whatever you need.”
“No, let’s begin right away.”
I wanted to finish quickly, so I took the offered chair.
The butler nodded and summoned a servant.
“Then, the first item.”
The servant carefully carried a piece from the shelf and set it down. It was a necklace. The embedded jewel suggested a considerable price.
“The ruby set at the center was processed flawlessly by the artisan Bryan,”
“It is authentic.”
I cut off the butler’s explanation.
As I’d said before, I wanted to finish quickly.
“…Authentic? But you’ve only just begun examining it?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
At my words, the butler Dusang studied me for a moment. His expression grew somewhat stern, and he leaned toward Quinie to whisper something quietly.
Quinie’s eye twitched as she listened. She tried to object, but when Dusang whispered again with an even graver look, Quinie’s head drooped wearily.
‘…Ah, I should have acted a little longer.’
It seemed finishing quickly was no longer an option.

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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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