The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 128

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

The Weapon Duplicator of the Academy – Chapter 128
Episode 40: Private Interview (2)
If Osprit was calling me aside like this, he must already have some degree of certainty.
He’d probably seen my face beneath the Mask Pack.
Quinie had boasted that almost no one would discover me, but it seemed Osprit fell outside that “almost.”
“So? You need only answer me.”
Osprit said it didn’t matter if I lied.
That meant either he was confident he could see through deception, or he’d already decided what my answer would be.
Either way, there was no point in lying here.
But there was something worth trying first.
“May I ask you one thing before I answer?”
“Go ahead.”
“Regardless of what I answer, will it have no bearing on my daily life?”
If I answered, would that be the end of it?
Or did Osprit simply want to hear my answer for some plan of his own?
I suspected the latter, and I was right.
“…Keke, sharper than you look, aren’t you.”
Osprit laughed in that grandfatherly way of his. It was oddly fitting, yet not fitting at all.
“I’ve been preparing a certain plan lately, you see. I need your strength.”
“…What kind of plan?”
At my question, Osprit’s sharp gaze fixed on me.
“Do you know what Indus is?”
…Of course.
The progression had been faster than the game, faster even than I’d anticipated, but it wasn’t unwelcome.
In fact, I could say it was very good.
“I do.”
“To what extent? As much as most people?”
“Among those who don’t belong there, no one knows Indus better than I do.”
“Kekeke, remarkably bold. I like that answer.”
Osprit nodded slowly. He still wore that faint smile, but now that I knew what lay behind it, even that smile sent chills down my spine.
“We’re going to clean up Indus.”
Osprit spoke quietly. His tone carried no warmth whatsoever.
I felt a chill, but I wasn’t surprised.
“…I see.”
“Composed, aren’t you.”
“As I said, I know quite a lot about Indus.”
Good, good—Osprit nodded his approval.
“Then you must know why we’re making our move now.”
“You’ve caught their tail—or rather, you’re about to catch it.”
Osprit seemed taken aback by my words.
“You really do know quite a bit.”
Just days ago, I had subdued Armel, who handled Memory Erasure for Indus.
Now Indus couldn’t execute any bold crimes. They wouldn’t touch plans with even a reasonable chance of failure.
This put Indus in a position where they would consider one of two things.
Either they’d stay silent and wait, or they’d believe the moment of “Revolution” had come and begin taking steps.
The first choice would be cowardly; the second, mad.
So Indus would choose the latter.
“And I need your ability for that plan. Of course, that’s assuming you’re that ‘young Angen.'”
Osprit spoke with a smile.
He was indeed certain. That I was the one in question.
“So, what do you say? I think I’ve explained enough.”
Yes. It had helped.
I knew now what answer I needed to give.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“Yes.”
“…Hm.”
“I was the one standing before Cora back then.”
I answered calmly, and something flickered in Osprit’s eyes.
“That sword, then?”
“It’s exactly what you’re thinking of.”
Osprit had been holding the Arthurian Legend in his hands until moments before.
He’d certainly been reading it, but there was clearly an intention behind showing it to me as well.
It was a silent pressure: you already know everything, so don’t waste my time with excuses.
“I used Excalibur to stop Cora’s rampage.”
“……Hmm.”
Osprit chuckled, seemingly satisfied.
He appeared pleased that I neither dodged the question nor denied it.
“Why hide it until now? Your reputation within Constellation Academy seems rather poor. With an accomplishment like that, why conceal it?”
Yes, I’d expected a question like that.
The Soundproofing Magic in this room must serve the same purpose—an invitation for me to speak candidly, at least with Osprit.
But I cannot do that.
There are several reasons I hide my weapons and abilities, but one is that exposure would render me dangerously vulnerable.
I cannot handle situations or opponents that exceed my calculations.
I cannot defeat a swordmaster who has achieved mastery through blood-soaked training, nor can I overcome a genius mage who flaunts intuitive talent.
‘Playing as Aster taught me painfully that demonstrating strength isn’t always beneficial.’
Thinking of how much Aster Evans, the game’s protagonist, was constrained by his talents and fame, I could never reveal myself.
Frontdier’s position—able to move more freely and acquire various weapons—is far more advantageous.
“I have to hide it. Pearls before swine.”
“Pearls before swine? No one acquires Magical Power like that easily. It’s even harder to release all that power as pure strength. I’m genuinely impressed.”
Osprit seemed to accept my words merely as modesty.
This is where it begins.
The point where I start lying.
“I don’t actually possess that much Mana.”
“What?”
Osprit’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“All the teachers, myself included, witnessed the Magical Power you released with our own eyes. And you’re telling me you don’t have that much Mana?”
“That was the Magical Power of my sword. That’s precisely why I’m telling you—pearls before swine.”
Osprit granted me permission to lie.
It was permission born from his own conviction.
He must have become certain that the young man named Angen, standing opposite Cora, was Frontdier de Roach, and constructed the logic accordingly.
But there is something even the great Osprit does not know.
“You’re welcome to sense it yourself. I truly don’t possess that much Mana.”
I raised both hands—a gesture of concealing nothing.
Of course, I’m hiding plenty. Penelope’s Cloth worn as a necktie, for instance. The necklace Heukryeon.
But if Osprit genuinely believes that my Mana reserves are what I claim.
Then he can never discover the truth.
“……Good.”
Osprit, apparently still suspicious, reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder. If he were anyone else, he might have discerned the truth through contact alone, but he seemed intent on carefully checking whether I was hiding something else.
Of course I’m hiding much, but not my Mana.
“……!”
Osprit’s eyes flickered.
My Mana reserves are utterly ordinary. Actually, they’ve grown somewhat from repeated Mana Depletion and the influence of the Dragon Heart used in my earlier fight with Renzo, but that’s all.
It would exceed the average of first-year students at Constellation Academy, but it falls far short of the Mana I expended when subduing Cora.
“……I see. You truly don’t possess that much Mana.”
Osprit withdrew his hand. The furrow on his brow deepened.
“So it really was purely the power of Excalibur?”
“Yes.”
Of course, that’s a lie. Excalibur’s intrinsic power is not remarkable.
Excalibur’s ability is remarkably straightforward and honest. Its strength increases proportionally to the Magical Power supplied. Naturally, that power doesn’t simply become raw force—Excalibur itself amplifies the power further. The more Mana fed into it, the exponentially greater its strength becomes.
I consumed a counterfeit Dragon Heart crafted through Weaving, and replaced my deteriorating body with Penelope’s Cloth as a side effect of that counterfeit nature.
Weaving, the difference between counterfeit and genuine Dragon Heart, Penelope’s Cloth—without completely understanding all these characteristics together, not even Osprit could penetrate the truth.
And more than anything.
“It is a great honor that the Headmaster holds me in such high regard, but I am merely an unremarkable first-year student.”
This lie is far more natural than the truth.
I am nothing—a lazy Frontdier. Rather than uncovering how such a nonentity acquired that much Mana,
The lie that it wasn’t actually that, that Frontdier is unremarkable and it was merely the sword’s power, carries far greater conviction and, above all, brings peace of mind.
The Excalibur I held before Cora—had I swung or thrown it carelessly, it would have opened the gates of hell itself.
Isn’t it far better to believe the power came from the weapon than to think a student attending the academy could annihilate Constellation at will?
“……Is that truly what you believe?”
“You granted me permission to lie, didn’t you? Of course it’s sincere.”
I smiled and spoke with shameless confidence.
And setting aside lies and truth alike.
I simply gave Osprit the answer he wanted to hear.
It is not easy for humans to deny what they secretly hope to hear.
“Then how did you obtain that sword?”
Good. Osprit seemed to believe what I’d said up to that point.
I answered.
“I borrowed it.”
“Borrowed it? From whom?”
I glanced around. A deliberate flourish.
“There is Soundproofing Magic active here, isn’t there?”
“Of course.”
At Osprit’s confirmation, I lowered my voice intentionally.
“From Aster Evans.”
This time, Osprit’s eyes widened in what appeared to be genuine surprise.
My apologies, Aster. Let me borrow your name for a moment.
“Aster Evans… he possessed Excalibur?”
“He did. I must ask you to keep this confidential.”
Not now, but later.
Aster will one day go to the Lake I visited and obtain Excalibur.
By the time Osprit thinks to verify whether Aster truly has Excalibur, he will already hold it in his own hands.
“Why would Aster give it to you?”
“We exchanged things of value with each other. I gave Aster one of my precious things, and in return he gave me Excalibur.”
“Something precious?”
“I cannot speak of that.”
There was nothing I gave to Aster.
But it is a lie easy to swallow. Had I said I’d bought it with money, he would have believed it far less.
“Hmm, well now…….”
Osprit exhaled a long breath. The thoughts he’d carefully constructed in his mind had been thoroughly unsettled.
The Indus Purge Operation. I rather like it.
But my participation must be limited.
I have no intention of deploying all my abilities, nor do I wish to let Osprit believe it would be possible.
If he desires my bombardment, then so be it. I could help.
But anything beyond that—I have no intention of providing.
This lie I’ve offered is the line between Osprit and me. A boundary neither of us will cross.
“Then will you participate in the plan?”
“If you will permit it, I wish to.”
“Can you wield Excalibur’s power whenever you need?”
“Of course. Only once a day, however.”
“That will suffice.”
Osprit understood what I was saying.
All I can do is wield Excalibur.
I asked.
“When will the plan begin?”
“That depends on when Indus makes their move. This plan is predicated on a counter-attack. But this time, we can rather easily predict when Indus will act.”
This time?
The question that surfaced in my mind. Osprit’s next words reminded me of what I had momentarily forgotten.
“There’s the School Trip coming up, after all.”

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