The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 158

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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 Replicator Episode 158
Chapter 52: Workshop (3)
A fragment of Helheim.
In Norse mythology, there is a day of ruin called Ragnarok.
Helheim is ruled by the goddess Hel, and in Game Aetheus, it is said that when Ragnarok came, this continent rose above the land and dyed the earth into the world of the dead.
After Ragnarok, Helheim, which had been the world of the dead, withdrew, but since the world was restored at great speed, pieces of Helheim that had not completely disappeared remained behind like shards.
That is a fragment of Helheim.
‘When I first heard that information, I thought a fragment of Helheim meant land. I imagined it was where Hel herself had set foot.’
But if, as Esther said, a fragment of Helheim was truly a black lake.
Then this Heukcheon I possess might truly be a piece of that fragment.
‘I really should thank Esther for this.’
I swallowed a laugh and asked her.
“Where did you get that information?”
When I played the game, I never heard that Helheim’s fragment was a lake.
Most players had no interest in information that didn’t seem to help with immediate clearance, and the character Aster couldn’t move freely anyway.
“I asked first. Besides, answering my question is the condition for visiting Kian. I told you that just now, didn’t I?”
Esther grinned. It seemed my question had pleased her. Perhaps she was thinking her conjecture had been correct.
Here, honesty seemed the better path.
The fact that a fragment of Helheim is already a major hint to me, and what matters now is Kian.
“It’s true that there is black water inside this necklace I have, but I don’t know its origin.”
“You don’t know its origin?”
“An adventuring party discovered it in a dungeon, enshrined in the form of Mistilteinn.”
After that, the adventuring party put it up for auction, and after the auction was cancelled, a noble assembly was convened where I proved that Mistilteinn was a forgery.
This counterfeit that mimicked Mistilteinn is the black water I now possess—the Heukcheon.
“I’ve never traveled further north than Yeranhes. That’s beyond the border. I couldn’t do something so reckless. And everyone who participated in that noble assembly at the time would know about it.”
“……Hmm.”
Esther bowed her head and fell into deep thought.
Esther probably knew about the noble assembly too. Given that she seemed to have grasped the identity of my necklace to some degree, it looked like she’d investigated me quite thoroughly, and that noble assembly at the time was fairly famous.
“Fine. I’ll believe you.”
“Then let me see Kian.”
“What exactly is your business with Kian that brought you all the way here?”
I answered this question honestly as well.
There was no reason not to.
“Portal.”

* * *
“……That’s shameless enough to be almost impressive. The person who arrested me comes to visit.”
A sigh-tinged voice came through the speaker phone.
Kian looked at me and spoke as if in disbelief.
On the other side of the glass, Kian’s complexion didn’t look bad. At least there seemed to be no problem with accommodations here.
“I’m glad you appreciate it.”
I said so while observing Kian’s appearance.
‘She really is just a child.’
By the standards of my country, she’d be around middle school age. This world has many who appear younger than their years, but Kian is genuinely young.
It was hard to accept that someone so young could function as a leading figure in Indus.
“So what did you come here for? To make fun of me?”
“I want to know about Portals.”
“Portals?”
Kian’s brow furrowed. This was probably not what she’d expected.
“You came all the way here for that? To meet your enemy?”
“……Enemy.”
I laughed at that word. It seemed to put Kian in a foul mood.
“What’s so funny.”
“You said you wouldn’t be here long.”
“Yeah. So once I get out, I’m going to kill you first.”
Kian turned a murderous glare toward me. But that killing intent was scattered—unfocused and wavering.
According to Esther, Kian has no criminal record. Heldrey had meticulously erased all records concerning her.
Kian is now confined in Obsidian because she was affiliated with Indus. Her crimes are being examined from multiple angles right now, but given Heldrey’s character, she probably won’t be caught on anything.
Kian herself may have committed petty crimes at most. Stealing someone’s belongings, sneaking in to eavesdrop on conversations. She’s sharp-minded, so she must have been fairly involved in criminal scheming.
But.
“Kian. Have you ever killed a person?”
“…….”
“How could I kill anyone if you’ve never killed before?”
“You’ll be my first.”
Kian’s hands have never been stained with blood until now. In that sense, you could say they’re cleaner than mine.
Serf Daniel is as good as dead by my hand, and beyond him I’ve wounded many enemies and driven them to the brink of death.
“When you leave this place, why not live normally? Like the others.”
“I can’t. I’ve lived for the Revolution. And I always will.”
“Even though you haven’t killed anyone?”
“I’m as good as a killer myself. I helped the people who did the killing.”
Kian’s conviction seemed unwavering.
I asked again.
“What do you mean by revolution?”
“The emperor dies. The unjust persecution of commoners disappears, and everyone becomes equal.”
The words tumbled out as if rehearsed—she must have heard and repeated them many times over.
I let my gaze settle. I glanced around briefly. There are guards here, just like when I met Grobel. So I can’t speak carelessly.
……Well, it doesn’t matter.
I opened my mouth.
“That’s going to happen anyway.”
“What?”
“Have you ever seen Emperor Bartello Terst’s face?”
At my question, Kian fell silent. For a moment her expression went blank, then her brows furrowed, her eyes narrowed, and she tilted her head. It was an oddly endearing gesture—though hardly the moment for such observations.
“What do you mean by that?”
“How long do you think it’s been since Bartello entrusted most of the actual governance to Empress Philly Terst?”
“…….”
“Bartello has been in decline for quite some time.”
This is strictly confidential imperial information.
So secret that even if I speak of it here, no one could verify it—that’s how classified it is.
What I’m saying now will likely be dismissed as nonsense.
“In decline…….”
“That’s right. The emperor will die soon anyway, whether you do anything or not.”
“……Even if that were true, when the emperor dies, the next emperor simply ascends. The class system remains, and the suffering of commoners continues.”
“Right. The next emperor—Salle Terst will ascend. The Empire’s first empress.”
“See? Nothing changes.”
“That empress will abolish the Class System.”
Kian’s face crumpled further. Interesting—even contorted like that, a child’s face is somehow endearing. Perhaps it’s just Kian’s natural beauty showing through.
“Not so much abolish as set in motion the abolition.”
“What do you mean?”
“The age of humanity dividing itself into classes is coming to an end.”
Kian wouldn’t know, but by the long history of Aetheus, the rights of commoners have steadily expanded. The very fact that an organization called Indus is founded under the pretext of a commoner’s association itself signals that the class system is in its final days in this world.
And the catalyst for the collapse of the class system is none other than Aster Evans—the protagonist of this game.
Possessed of talent, character, and potential all at once, Aster will make an enormous contribution to humanity’s defense against monsters, and few among the nobility will be his equal.
Even Eden Hamlet, ranked first Professional, is a commoner, so there were already signs of this shift. He’s not the protagonist for nothing.
“What you want is ‘revolution,’ isn’t it?”
“…….”
“Not to kill people.”
“…….”
Kian fell into long silence at my words. Her eyes darted back and forth, searching mine—half disbelieving, half wanting to believe what I’d said.
“……Then what was grandfather going through all that for…….”
“You already know. Heldrey wanted the throne for himself. His revolution was a coup, plain and simple. Overthrowing the regime and seizing power for himself.”
Kian is a clever child. She would have sensed roughly what her grandfather harbored in his mind—after all, secrets crack as time wears on.
But Kian likely believed that would’ve been better. Even if Heldrey seized power, the world would improve from what it was.
Yet Heldrey is gone now.
“To be honest, I’m not much interested in the world you dream of. The Empire has internal problems, but external ones are far more dire. To me, dealing with the monsters still swarming beyond the borders matters more than the class system.”
“……Monsters.”
“If you leave here and work toward abolishing the class system, or toward solving other problems of the Empire, I think that’s fine too. You’re smart enough. It might even hasten the day the class system disappears. But I can say this with absolute certainty.”
I met Kian’s eyes. The murderous intent and hostility had already drained from them.
“I am not your enemy.”
“…….”
Now that Indus has dissolved, I harbor no ill will toward Kian as an individual.
I couldn’t help what had been done on that side, but at least Kian himself had no reason to hate me.
Besides, Kian was far too young. I hesitated to wound him carelessly.
“I’ll head back for now. Take your time thinking it over. I’ll come again later.”
Since I’d begun my explanation, Kian’s words had grown sparse. He needed time to think.
There were other avenues regarding the Portal. For instance, I could ask Binkis. Or perhaps visit the renowned magical equipment company “Hitchcock.”
Just as I was about to take the receiver from my ear and set it down, Kian opened his palm toward me.
“—The Portal is a Magic Circle.”
“A Magic Circle?”
Examining the palm Kian had opened, I could make out something like a tattoo carved into it.
“All the executives of Indus have this Magic Circle inscribed on their palms. With just this, the Portal becomes usable. But inscribing a Magic Circle into human flesh is extremely dangerous, and to draw it precisely on such a small area as the palm requires a technician of considerable skill.”
…….
“So we can use the Portal regardless of whether we have magical talent, as long as we have Mana—but you, as an outsider, should give up. Listen, are you listening?”
I gazed silently at the tattoo inscribed on Kian’s open palm.
Kian had told me it was best to give up.
Yet the moment Kian showed me that Magic Circle, all the problems regarding the Portal were essentially solved for me.
“……Thank you. That was helpful.”
“Hm? Well, in any case, the Portal is possible through Incantation as well, so find someone else to help you.”
That’s what Kian said,
but there was no longer any need to find anyone else.

* * *
Returning to the residence, I got into the car once more and arrived at the cottage.
The driver brought me and returned to the residence without hesitation. Still a driver with no warmth in him.
“Well then, first things first.”
I opened the Magic Circle for the ‘Portal’ I’d stored in the Workshop. The method was the same as with Menossorpo. Since the Portal was far smaller, it was a simple task.
The moment I activated the Magic Circle, the Portal opened. It was unmistakably the same as what those Indus people used.
“If I set this place as my base point, I can return here to the cottage from anywhere else.”
For now it could only be used to return to the cottage, but someday I hoped it would grow into a two-way Portal. When that happens, it would be more fitting to call it a ‘Gate.’
And finally.
I found an appropriate empty space near the cottage. In truth, I didn’t need the space to be particularly large. As long as nothing interfered.
“Menossorpo.”
I was going to float this into the sky.
Air Weaving
Grade – Unique
Workshop
I wove a Workshop high into the sky. The massive structure hanging in the air was a spectacle in itself.
Though no one was around to see it, I half expected someone to discover it—so grand it was.
And then.
“There it is, just as I thought. The lower level.”
I laughed at the sight of something far larger than what I’d woven in the residence.
The basement of the Workshop—what should have been hidden beneath the underground—revealed itself.
Remarkably, its size far exceeded my expectations. The basement of a three-story Workshop on the surface was only a single story, yet its height was tremendous.
What could be hidden within it.
In the end, what was this reward of the ‘Transcendence’ grade.
“Let’s find out.”
I wrapped Mana around myself and rose slowly, flying toward the Workshop’s entrance.

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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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