The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 145

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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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Academy Weapon Duplicator Episode 145
Chapter 45: Candy
In the hours before dawn, when everyone slept.
I made my way to the beach and felt the sand beneath my feet.
There was something I wanted to test.
“Menothsorpo.”
I reduced the magic circle’s range to its minimum and activated it.
Worried that some student might notice, I’d left the dormitory far behind and come to this isolated spot.
Weaving
Grade – Divine Rank
Hestia’s Hearth
I had woven Hestia’s Hearth.
Even so, perhaps because it was the hearth Hestia always kept at her side, its grade was “Divine Rank.”
Hestia is a goddess who doesn’t appear often in Greek mythology. Despite being one of the twelve Olympians.
All I know of her is that she’s the goddess of the hearth. She always stands by, tending the eternal flame. True to that symbol, she loves peace and compassion—a goddess who loves humanity itself, as she said.
Greek mythology is essentially a record of the incidents and accidents the gods caused, so the gentle Hestia barely appears in the stories.
Whether that translated directly into the game Etius, I’d never heard her name mentioned within it.
Having finally witnessed Hestia’s symbol—the hearth, truly a “god’s hearth”—and placed it in the workshop, I found myself uncertain of its immediate application.
It was neither weapon nor armor, so finding a use for it didn’t seem straightforward.
Yet I had reason to be hopeful.
“Hm.”
One of the features I’d discovered right away.
Fire burned in the hearth the moment I wove it.
Without any medium like charcoal, a flame arose in the center of the hearth.
“Is this the eternal flame Hestia has tended?”
[Hestia’s Hearth]
• Grade: Divine Rank
• Description: The hearth Hestia always kept by her side. Her divine essence—that which never lets the flame extinguish—dwells within it.
Detailed Abilities >
– Eternal Flame: The fire within the hearth never dies. However, if the flame is transferred elsewhere, that spark becomes ordinary fire.
– Goddess’s Touch: Objects that contact the flame receive Hestia’s blessing, raising their grade. The higher an object’s original grade, the stronger the effect. This effect persists until the user’s Mana is completely exhausted.
First, the Eternal Flame—what I was seeing now.
It requires no medium and never extinguishes. But fire that catches from the hearth loses this property and becomes ordinary flame.
The reason the fire doesn’t die is because of the hearth itself, not an inherent property of the flame.
This flame cannot have its temperature raised or lowered at will. Just as the flame itself is eternal, so too its warmth remains constant and unchanging.
Truly the kind of gentle warmth that fills a home.
Of course, I had no intention of doing anything with the flame itself.
It was Goddess’s Touch that caught my interest.
“The higher an object’s grade.”
Since the description laid it out so clearly.
What I would test was predetermined.
Weaving, Black Stream
Grade – Main Deity Rank
Mjolnir
I shattered the necklace Heukryeon and gripped Mjolnir.
I held Mjolnir above the hearth’s flame.
Then the rim of Mjolnir gradually began to glow. That light steadily pushed back the night’s darkness, and then—
Crack-boom!
It trembled with the sound of thunder. I looked up at the sky. A perfectly clear night sky—and yet lightning struck down from that cloudless expanse, striking into Mjolnir.
I laughed.
“So this is how it goes.”
I raised Mjolnir before my eyes. Currents of electricity swept around it, crackling and snapping with sound. Only after a long moment did it finally settle.
After the lightning faded, Mjolnir appeared unchanged at first glance, yet something was unmistakably different.
[Mjolnir]
• Grade: Main Deity Rank
• Description: The hammer of Thor, god of thunder. One of the few divine artifacts capable of withstanding Thor’s immense strength completely.
Detailed Abilities >
– Recall (Locked): It returns to the hand from anywhere. However, until now only Thor has been able to do this. Condition: Unknown.
– Thunder God’s Blessing (Unlocked): The power of the thunder god dwells within it. The user can convert their own Mana or Aura into lightning. The range and intensity of the lightning increase according to how much is channeled.
Lightning is Thor’s power by nature. The reason Thor uses Mjolnir is that it alone is worthy of withstanding his strength.
Yet Mjolnir was always Thor’s weapon.
Just as divine power had infused Hestia’s Hearth, so too had Mjolnir absorbed Thor’s essence over countless years—it bore his imprint as surely as skin bears a scar.
As the Hearth’s effect elevated its rank, Mjolnir had drawn closer to being the true Thundergod’s Hammer.
“We’re nearly ready.”
Come.
Let’s make the final preparations.

* * *
That morning.
Selena walked through the Dormitory, surrounded by friends from Constellation Academy she’d grown close to recently.
Her heart felt far lighter now than when she’d first enrolled at Constellation. She’d even grown comfortable enough with social interaction among her peers.
Frontdier had instructed her to remain at Manbokh when she wasn’t bodyguarding, but if she did, the Academy would notice her absence and grow suspicious—so there was no choice but to accept this friendship and savor the field trip. Never mind that she hadn’t sought it out in the first place.
‘…And yet.’
These moments were undeniably more joyful and peaceful than those spent at Manbokh. Undeniably.
Besides, Frontdier made no mention of it when she stayed at Constellation instead of visiting Manbokh.
Perhaps he was granting her permission. And it felt almost as if he understood what lay in her heart.
“Selena.”
“Oh, yes?”
Selena’s reverie broke at the sound of her name.
One of her friends had made a pouty face.
“You’re still speaking so formally.”
“I apologize. It’s simply more comfortable for me.”
“Hmm, well, it’s fine. But aren’t you Frontdier’s bodyguard?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
One of her friends brought it up by a vending machine in the hallway. Since it wasn’t something she was hiding, Selena nodded in acknowledgment.
Her friends’ faces darkened with displeasure.
“How could he think to hire someone his own age as a bodyguard?”
“Seriously. Isn’t that completely perverted?”
“Selena, he hasn’t done anything weird to you, has he?”
The girls surrounding Selena began tearing into Frontdier all at once.
Gossiping about a friend’s boss was always the most entertaining and least painful way to bond.
And with Frontdier—lazy oaf that he was—there was no shortage of material to mock.
“Weird things…”
Selena’s expression grew complicated.
In truth, she herself had been the one tempting him into something improper first, which left her in no position to deny or affirm anything.
And then he’d rejected her, besides.
But her friends misread her expression entirely.
“Wait. Did something actually happen?”
“Selena, if that’s the case, you need to tell a teacher right away. Jane would keep it confidential, and there are far better things for you to do than be Frontdier’s bodyguard.”
As her friends turned serious, Selena hurried to shake her head.
“No, no. That’s not it. Nothing happened at all.”
“Really?”
“Yes, truly.”
Hmm. Her friends shot her looks of suspicion. But it was the truth, so her expression remained honest. Though understandably a bit downcast, since it was.
“Still, he’s a lazy oaf. There’s no way he’d have the guts for that.”
“Right. Even if he tried, you’d probably kick him in the groin.”
“Ahahaha! Exactly. He hired a bodyguard to protect himself, so how could he possibly try anything?”
Selena rolled her eyes, uncertain how to respond to her friends’ chatter.
Frontdier had sworn her to silence. He’d ordered her to keep quiet about his abilities and strength.
So she couldn’t simply deny what they were saying. Her friends were mocking and belittling Frontdier. But this was what he wanted.
That is, to follow his orders, she should agree that what they said was true—yet she found him far too terrifying to do so.
“Selena, if Frontdier ever steps out of line, don’t hesitate to kick him.”
“Or better yet, stage an uprising right now. He’s nothing, right? Frontdier.”
“Ah, um, well, you see—”
A rebellion against Frontdier?
Selena felt her face drain of color without meaning to. She could almost see his cold, piercing gaze.
“—Selena.”
“Eek?!”
Selena let out a shriek at the sound of a voice she knew all too well.
She forced her stiff neck to turn, and there stood Frontdier at the intersection of the hallway.
Frontdier knit his brow as though perplexed, tilting his head slightly. He’d called out casually enough, but Selena’s reaction was far too violent.
“What’s wrong?”
Frontdier approached Selena.
Selena’s mind spun through a thousand possibilities. Had he overheard the conversation just now? Was he pretending ignorance after hearing it? If so, was this a test? A test of her loyalty? Had she failed to act convincingly? Had she refused to play along with her friends’ mockery?
The irony wasn’t lost on her: joining in Frontdier’s ridicule would constitute obeying his commands. Was she being reprimanded for failing to do exactly that?
“Ah—no, nothing’s wrong, sir.”
As she spoke, Selena’s eyes darted frantically toward her friends, silently pleading for help.
But the friends who had just been talking behind Frontdier’s back suddenly averted their gaze and feigned innocence. Yet Selena saw it all—the tremor in their pupils, the stiffness spreading across their faces.
‘If that’s how you feel, then don’t talk behind his back in the first place! You’re all terrified and yet you still do it!’
Frontdier’s image had shifted considerably since the start of term. His performance in various tests, the rumors circulating about him, his recent feats—all of it had rendered his old title of “human sloth” laughable.
Yet because his appearance had barely changed, that old image still lingered.
Students habitually dismissed him, whether out of emotion or mere inertia, while their rational minds warned them that doing so was dangerous.
In other words, Frontdier had become an enigma to the students of Constellation Academy.
“Hmm.”
Frontdier too observed the other students’ expressions, exhaling a soft sound through his nose. Selena caught it.
The look of someone who had already guessed what was happening. Of course—a man so thoroughly scorned within Constellation Academy would read the faces of those around him at a glance.
“Selena. Come with me.”
“Y-yes?”
“I have something to discuss with you in my room. It won’t take up much of your time.”
Was this a reprimand?
Selena swallowed unconsciously, tension flooding through her.
In truth, she’d never actually been punished by Frontdier before, yet somehow she found him deeply frightening.
“Or do you need time to prepare? I can give you ten minutes—”
“No, no! I’ll come with you right away!”
Selena answered quickly. There was no point in making his mood worse.
Frontdier nodded and took the lead. Since his quarters weren’t in the dormitory, he headed straight for the exit.
As Frontdier and Selena trailing behind him disappeared, the remaining students let out a collective sigh of relief.
“…Do you think he heard?”
“I don’t know. Even when you’re standing right next to him, you can’t tell what he’s thinking.”
“Right?”
A brief silence followed.
Someone broke the uneasy quiet with sudden honesty.
“…He’s a bit frightening, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
The reply came just as honestly.

* * *
“Go to Manbokh.”
This was the first thing Frontdier said.
Selena, braced for a scolding, was taken aback by his unexpected words and her mouth fell open.
But her chest tightened.
End her life at Constellation Academy. That’s how his words struck her.
“…Would you grant me some time?”
“Time?”
“There are things to organize at Constellation—belongings I left behind, my school uniform, and I should say goodbye to my friends, and—”
Frontdier watched her struggle through her explanation for a moment, then his eyes grew cold. A sigh escaped him.
“You have a habit of always imagining the worst possible outcome. Though I suppose that’s also why you remain cautious—still, understand things correctly before you judge. Baseless assumptions are dangerous.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I’m not telling you to leave Constellation Academy. I have something to deliver to Manbokh.”
“Ah.”
Selena’s cheeks flushed and she lowered her head.
Indeed, she’d let her mind race to an extreme without realizing it.
Perhaps it was because she’d come to genuinely love her time at Constellation Academy. She’d grown afraid that this fleeting happiness might vanish at any moment.
“I made you a promise.”
Frontdier spoke then.
Selena was startled and looked up at him again.
It might have been her imagination, but his tone seemed warmer than before.
“I promised to return you to your family. To set your life back on its proper course. Having you admitted to Constellation Academy was the first step toward that.”
“…”
“I will keep that promise. Don’t waste your energy on pointless worries.”
“……Yes.”
Selena closed her mouth and nodded.
For her in this moment, even that small affirmation was all she could muster. She felt something tighten in her chest.
Selena’s throat constricted. She tried to swallow, but the motion wouldn’t come.
“Then what should I tell Manbokh?”
“Nothing much. It’s as I told you before.”
“As you told me……?”
“Tell him I won’t teach you the Ancient Language anymore.”
Selena’s eyes widened.
Through her studies of the Ancient Language, Selena had grasped the progression of learning it. And she could roughly gauge the point Frontdier had mentioned—the moment when teaching her further would be imprudent.
But this moment had come far sooner than she’d anticipated.
“However, today I will teach you one crucial key to interpreting the Ancient Language. Once you master this, you’ll be able to decipher ten percent of it.”
Frontdier spoke. Ten percent. From Manbokh’s position, it was a remarkably valuable advance—yet still insufficient for reading the Ancient Language with true ease.
A temptingly sweet treat, but one that would only leave him craving the next.
Selena’s mind began to race. The timing—faster than expected. The bait cast toward Manbokh. And Indus’s revolutionary plan drawing nearer with each passing moment.
Indus and Manbokh.
Surely not.
Selena’s eyes flew wide open.
“Shh.”
Frontdier, sensing her thoughts, brought a finger to his lips.
“Your suspicion is correct.”

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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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