The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 129
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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 129
Chapter 41: Field Trip
A field trip.
It was one of the precious few activities at Constellation Academy that actually felt like student life.
For students who spent even their holidays in personal training, rest was far more crucial than for pupils at other schools.
Most students who entered Constellation arrived brimming with grand ambitions, and most of them likely never learned how to truly rest—only how to push harder.
From Constellation’s perspective, it was necessary to force such students to rest. Moreover, the original purpose of the field trip—to broaden students’ horizons—remained equally vital.
“So don’t even think about training once you get there!”
Runia fixed Aster with an intense stare, eyes blazing.
Aster scratched his cheek and looked away.
“A new environment is actually the most ideal place to train, though.”
“No! You need to rest! You ran yourself ragged during the break doing internship work to master Aura, and since you entered the academy, you’ve gotten tangled up in every conceivable incident!”
Runia’s words were reasonable, and Aster himself secretly agreed.
He’d been feeling the weight of recent exhaustion.
The break had been harder than his time at Constellation, he’d gotten caught up in baseless rumors after enrolling, and he’d fought it out with an unconscious Rohwald.
The incidents never stopped, but Aster never got a moment’s peace.
Runia suddenly turned her head. Elody was there.
“Elody! You think the same way, don’t you?”
Elody rested her chin on her hand, watching them both. Her eyes soon narrowed to slits. How did she know I was listening?
“True. If you’re not in proper condition, training can actually hinder growth—especially in an unfamiliar environment.”
Elody possessed talent comparable to Aster’s, and her growth rate was no slower. Moreover, she always maintained an exemplary demeanor, so Runia had deliberately turned to her. Elody was the most effective choice for persuading Aster.
At that, Aster glanced to the side once before looking back at Elody and speaking.
“How would you even know if my condition is proper or not? I could be at my peak right now.”
“Oh, really?”
Elody flicked her hand once. A gentle wind stirred around Aster, coiling around his body before dissipating.
Elody spoke.
“Right. Let me correct myself. Your condition is terrible. You have serious accumulated fatigue, muscle soreness, and several small wounds that haven’t fully healed yet. The ones from fighting Rohwald, yes?”
“… You just did all that in one hand gesture?”
Checked your entire physical state with a single motion?—the unspoken accusation.
Elody simply smiled gently.
But her thoughts ran in a different direction.
‘Actually, I learned this spell to check on Frontdier.’
Frontdier, who pushed himself to repeated Mana Depletion—obviously overexerting himself. She’d picked up this magic because she wanted to monitor his condition.
… Though not exclusively for Frontdier’s sake? It has various uses once you learn it. Well, yes.
But recently she hadn’t had the chance to see him, so she hadn’t been able to check yet.
Checking someone without permission wasn’t polite. Just now, she hadn’t asked Aster’s permission either, but his provocation made it fair game.
More importantly, Aten was beside Frontdier. If his condition were truly serious, Aten would handle it first.
‘… Still, I’m curious.’
Frontdier’s recent activities differed little from Elody’s or Aster’s. In fact, he’d deliberately walked into Taeibun’s nightmare during the break, so he must have suffered more then.
And he’d gotten caught up in recent events too—no, he’d been at the center of them, so his fatigue would be even worse.
‘If I turn the conversation toward Frontdier, maybe someone who knows something will mention it.’
That’s what Elody thought, but there was one problem.
How to steer the conversation toward Frontdier.
If Elody brought up Frontdier’s name first and asked about his recent state, that would be… difficult.
But then a voice spoke up unexpectedly.
“I’m curious about how that guy’s doing. Frontdier de Roach.”
Elody flinched slightly, as if her thoughts had been exposed, and turned her gaze toward the source of the voice.
The one speaking was Rohwald Lieff.
Elody’s eyes widened. She’d never expected Frontdier’s name to come from Rohwald’s mouth.
“Frontdier? Why?”
Runia asked.
“Well, that bastard and I crossed blades for a moment too.”
“When? Wasn’t the only time you fought Aster?”
“That was when I was unconscious. Before that. I thought that guy was blackmailing Aten.”
“… So you foolishly attacked Frontdier after believing that nonsense rumor?”
“That’s right.”
Rohwald nodded. He was so matter-of-fact about it that it was almost refreshing.
Runia sighed.
“So you’re worried because you beat Frontdier down hard?”
“No, I didn’t land a single blow. I grabbed him by the nape and threw him once. That probably caused almost no damage.”
Rohwald’s words made the eyes of those listening shift slightly.
Even if he wasn’t being sincere, the fact that Rohwald—called a genius when it came to fighting—hadn’t landed a single blow meant a great deal.
“But after that I lost consciousness, and from what I heard later, all the students who lost consciousness like me tried to kill Frontdier? And apparently he got dragged around here and there after that too. I was just wondering if he was doing okay, you know?”
Elody found it somewhat surprising that Rohwald was worried about Frontdier, but in any case, the situation was unfolding as she hoped.
Ahem—Elody gave a deliberate cough and spoke.
“Does anyone know Frontdier’s condition? It would be simple to just ask.”
“Hmm…….”
Everyone who was listening seemed to fall into thought for a moment. Then their gazes all converged in one direction.
Selena.
“……Oh, yes?”
Selena, still sitting with her back perfectly straight, felt everyone’s eyes on her and flinched in surprise.
“Selena, you’re Frontdier’s bodyguard. Is he doing okay?”
“Ah, yes, yes. He doesn’t seem to have any particular injuries.”
“Is that so? Then he must be resting well.”
Elody said this with some relief.
But Selena, hearing Elody’s words, tilted her head as if something had just occurred to her.
“……Rest…….”
Selena can reach Frontdier’s side at any time through the transfer magic set up at Mangoht.
Whether Frontdier is in a crisis or calls her directly, Selena is always prepared to carry out her bodyguard duties at his side.
Because of this, Selena knows roughly what Frontdier’s daily schedule is like.
‘Mornings and afternoons he takes classes at Constellation Academy, and after school he trains in his private Training Room, at the estate he seems to train again with his brother Artzie who recently returned from a mission, and at night he teaches me the Ancient Language…….’
……Wait, really.
“When does he ever rest? Frontdier.”
“What?”
Elody looked up in surprise at Selena’s murmur.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen him rest.”
Selena first met Frontdier at Taeibun.
Of course, at the time the environment was the most dangerous and harsh imaginable, so there was no time to rest, but even after returning to Constellation Academy, somehow Frontdier’s hardships seemed not to have improved much at all.
“So then, does he ever look tired or anything like that?”
“I can’t really tell. He always has that tired look on his face.”
Well, that was true.
Because he always wore that expression, even Elody and Saiber found it hard to notice.
Runia, who was listening, shrugged and spoke.
“……Well, this Field Trip should at least give him a chance to catch his breath.”
Runia said it casually, as though it were no great matter.
But Elody genuinely hoped that would be the case.
* * *
I was standing beside the teacher’s desk while the class watched. Jane had called me forward. Cora stood beside me as well.
Jane, with me at her side, addressed all the seated students.
“Frontdier will not be able to join you on this Field Trip.”
At Jane’s words, the students registered their curiosity in various ways.
I honestly thought they might react with indifference, but it seemed they were curious to some degree after all.
As some commotion arose among the students, Jane continued.
“Frontdier will be doing Volunteer Work instead. Of course, he’ll travel with us to the destination, but you likely won’t see much of him during the Field Trip itself.”
Jane’s words made the commotion grow louder.
I heard whispers like ‘What did he do to get volunteer work?’ and ‘I heard it was property damage?’ and ‘Didn’t he blow up a wall?’ and things like that.
Some of the students even looked at me with pity. It was oddly touching. Did my efforts to raise my Reputation actually mean something after all? Or was Frontdier’s evaluation perhaps not as low as I’d thought?
“And Cora volunteered actively for this, so she’ll be doing Volunteer Work with him.”
Though it was called volunteering, Cora’s face showed nothing but dissatisfaction. Well, it wasn’t actually volunteering.
Cora had inhaled the Powder from a pouch that Armel threw and gone berserk.
In other words, from Indus’s perspective, the conditions for causing a rampage are quite simple. Just make her ingest the Powder.
Right now the police and Constellation Academy are investigating what that Powder is, so a countermeasure should come soon, but until then I have to protect and monitor Cora.
“Then please return to your seats, Frontdier and Cora.”
At Jane’s words, Cora and I returned to our seats, and Aten gave me a worried look from beside me.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah. Actually, it works out better. Field Trips are just annoying anyway.”
It felt like I’d said something like Frontdier for the first time in a while.
Aten studied me carefully.
“……You’re really doing Volunteer Work?”
“Then.”
A lie.
I will participate in the Indus extermination operation. Cora isn’t participating, but she’s safer at my side than mixed in among the students. I’ll protect her as much as I can.
Jane continued her explanation.
“Some of you may have already heard, but our destination this trip is Cropol. It’s a famous resort in the south.”
Cropol is a city built around a lake—though not just any lake. This one is so massive that the waves rolling across it rival those of the open sea. To the human eye, it’s indistinguishable from ocean water, except that it isn’t salt.
That’s why Cropol calls its waterfront facilities a “Beach Resort,” despite the water being a freshwater lake.
Cropol is nearly alone in functioning as a proper resort complete with beach amenities.
In this world, where Monsters infest the wilderness, the sea—even if it’s claimed by humans—isn’t a place where people actually come to enjoy themselves.
Not even with a Barrier fully in place. Psychologically, unless someone’s truly shameless, it’s hard to relax knowing the dangers that lurk beyond the boundary.
“We’ll take an Aerial Train to Cropol. The scenery you’ll see from inside the train will be a wonderful experience in itself.”
The Aerial Train Jane speaks of doesn’t actually float through the air in the way one might imagine.
Rather, there are Mana-powered rails stretching between two massive cliffs across an enormous distance. With no other support structure needed, the rails simply hang suspended in the air, powered by Mana alone.
When the train passes over it, it truly appears as though the train is flying through the sky on its own.
“We instructors will do everything in our power to ensure your field trip is both safe and pleasant.”
Jane said this while surveying the students, though it felt as though she were speaking directly to me.
In truth, that’s precisely my assignment.
While the Indus operation is underway, everyone at Constellation can rest and recover from their fatigue. To the Constellation students, the field trip will seem as though “nothing happened at all.” I will maintain that peace.
Alone, I couldn’t manage it—but with Constellation’s instructors and Osprit backing me, it’s more than enough.
As for my own rest? That comes afterward.
Once the Indus extermination is complete, I’ll be able to rest like the other students.
I hope so.
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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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