The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 167

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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’s Weapon Duplicator Episode 167
Chapter 54: Sleight of Hand (4)
Several evenings later, as the day’s training at the Barracks drew to a close.
Lorie continued with her usual duties.
She was a servant who handled the miscellaneous work around the Barracks.
Brown hair, freckles dotting her cheeks, glasses perched on an unremarkable face—yet she shirked no labor, shouldering every task without complaint, and had become invaluable to the Barracks. Many held her in high regard.
“Hah!”
The men trained daily, and with their exertion came sweat. The laundry piled up in an instant.
Lorie hefted a mountain of soiled clothes that towered well above her head and set off toward the Laundry Site to wash them.
‘With winter drawing near, the knights’ training seems to have grown more grueling. I mustn’t get in their way.’
She was trudging along with that dutiful thought, her arms full of heavy laundry, when—
“I’ll help.”
Suddenly the weight in her arms lightened, and someone whisked the bundle from her grasp.
“Oh, no—that’s all right. It’s my work, after all.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
A man with a strangely audacious manner took position at Lorie’s side.
Lorie glanced at his face. Black hair like the Patriarch’s, a peaceful countenance with something drowsy in it, an air of refinement and striking looks.
‘Frontdier!’
The Patriarch’s second son. Though she had first laid eyes on him this winter, she’d fixed his face firmly in her memory that very first day. His distinctive presence and appearance likely lingered in everyone else’s minds as well.
“Oh, you mustn’t! If the Second Patriarch were to—”
“I’m not the Second Patriarch. My father would have a fit hearing that.”
Frontdier’s expression hardened, and he looked at Lorie. She blinked in confusion.
“Are you… not, then?”
“That’s my elder brother’s role. I’m just the second son, the youngest—nothing special.”
As he spoke, Frontdier’s eyes held no trace of inferiority. Instead, they glimmered with pride in his brother.
‘Since the Patriarch had never brought Frontdier until now, I wondered if their relations were strained—but perhaps that’s not the case.’
Lorie, momentarily at a loss for words, walked on in silence beside him, both carrying the laundry.
Frontdier was the first to break the quiet.
“What’s your name? I think we met on my first day here, didn’t we? Your face seems familiar.”
“I’m Lorie.”
“Lorie, right. I’ll remember that.”
He had remembered her face all this while.
Just knowing that made her armpits tingle strangely.
“Tell me, why are you being so kind to me?”
“Ah, honestly? It’s an excuse to shirk.”
“An excuse?”
Frontdier broke into a grin—a mischievous, boyish smile that suited his languid features perfectly.
“Training’s been brutal, so I found a decent pretext and slipped away.”
“I… I see. Brutal…”
Her tongue felt oddly stiff forming that word. It was one she’d rarely ever used.
They arrived at the Laundry Site and set the clothes down into the baskets.
Lorie wiped sweat from her brow. Even with the load split between them, it had been quite heavy. Frontdier’s help had made a real difference.
“Thank you, Frontdier. I’ll take it from here.”
“Sure. But before that—”
Frontdier paused mid-sentence and glanced around. He seemed to be checking whether anyone was near.
Late evening, just the two of them, sudden kindness, and now this cautious behavior.
It was only natural that Lorie’s imagination began to stir.
Smooth—
“…!”
Having confirmed they were alone, Frontdier stepped closer. Lorie flinched and hastily retreated.
“Who told you to step back?”
“I—I’m sorry.”
In this world, servants and masters were not bound by an absolute hierarchy requiring unquestioning obedience. Moreover, nobility’s power was no longer absolute.
Yet Frontdier’s voice, his expression, the very atmosphere he radiated left no room for refusal.
‘Oh no—this is bad…!’
You let your guard down, Lorie! You fell for that handsome, peaceful face!
So this is what Mother meant when she said good men are more dangerous than bad ones! I should have listened!
“Lorie.”
Frontdier drew even closer, until his breath brushed her ear.
Not the cheek, not the lips—but there first! Of all places!
Frontdier whispered into Lorie’s ear.
“From now on, don’t answer anything I say. Show no reaction whatsoever.”
“……!”
“Someone is gathering information from this Barracks, or from lodgings and food establishments nearby. You haven’t been working in this Barracks for long, have you? That means you’re assigned to all sorts of odd tasks without distinction. Which makes you perfect for this. People with wide circuits tend to pick up more information.”
“…….”
Lorie’s eyes flickered briefly at those words.
This was a secret matter. Now it was clear why Frontdier had approached her so suddenly, why he’d sought out a place where they could be alone.
“Your father is in danger.”
“……! Th-the patriarch……!”
“Shh.”
Frontdier pulled his face away from her ear and pressed a finger to his own lips. He’d told her to show no reaction. Lorie had broken that command for a moment, startled, but there was no anger in Frontdier’s eyes.
Only calm and a gentle warning shone there, as he issued the instruction to her once more.
“There’s no one visible nearby right now, but someone beyond our view could still be watching or listening. For now, they’ll just think a thoughtless noble is pestering a servant. While they’re under that impression, we need to move somewhere else.”
‘Thoughtless…….’
Frontdier had already decided beforehand how he would appear.
Ah, so that’s why he approached me like that.
……Was I almost taken in by his Acting as a thoughtless noble? I was.
“What do you say, Lorie? Is there somewhere we could talk where word won’t leak out? Just nod your head.”
“…….”
Lorie swallowed once, then gave the smallest nod.
Confirming this, Frontdier withdrew and broke into a broad smile.
“Then let’s go on a date. Lorie.”
The Acting continued.
Lorie’s eyes darted about. What should I do? Do I need to act as well?
“I, um, if someone else finds out…….”
As she spoke, Lorie’s face grew even more flushed.
Frontdier’s pupils widened slightly. Satisfied with Lorie’s performance, his smile deepened.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m the son of House Roach—who would dare say anything?”
Frontdier walked with his arm around Lorie’s shoulders. His manner and words were remarkably light and carefree.
The Acting was so natural that Lorie found herself wondering if this was his true personality after all.

* * *
The only place Lorie could think of where they could talk in secret
was her own home.
It looked as though she’d truly been trying to seduce the man, but there was nowhere else suitable.
With a crimson face, Lorie opened her door and invited Frontdier inside.
“You live alone?”
“Yes, yes. My parents are in Central.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Frontdier looked around the interior of the house with evident curiosity as he spoke. Then, slowly, he closed the door.
“──Then.”
The moment the door shut, something in Frontdier seemed to close as well. His eyes told her so.
“Shall we talk?”
“…….”
Unable to agree or refuse, Lorie opened her mouth briefly.
Lorie had always found the people of House Roach frightening. Both Patriarch Angen and the eldest son, Artzie.
The two of them shared a similar charisma. Angen emanated a solemn weight born of years, while Artzie gave off a keen sharpness and chill that made one wary of getting too close.
Yet despite both being frightening, Angen and Artzie each possessed a clear, definable presence. If Angen was a fortress, Artzie was a blade. The fear was real, but it was a comprehensible fear.
But Frontdier, standing before her now.
Within that harmless face, she sensed a clinging darkness. Nothing about his everyday appearance had changed, yet the shadow cast by Frontdier in the fading light seemed to stretch without end, swallowing her whole.
What is this? A fear whose source she cannot name. A fear born precisely from that namelessness.
“First, I’d like to ask about your daily routine.”
Unaware of Lorie’s turmoil, Frontdier opened his mouth.
Lorie nodded and answered faithfully.
For now, she had no wish to displease him.
……After a long exchange of questions and answers.
“Hmm. Nothing particularly remarkable, it seems.”
Having heard everything, Frontdier brought his hand to his chin in thought.
Lorie gazed out the window. The sun was already nearly done with its twilight—in a few moments more, it would sink completely beyond the horizon and the long night would arrive.
‘……When will this end?’
Lorie stared blankly ahead.
She knew that Frontdier’s purpose was to interrogate her, but even after she’d let him into her home, considerable time had passed. Frontdier asked questions without end, his inquiries flowing one after another.
Whether all of it held meaning or none of it did—Lorie couldn’t tell.
“Then I’d like to ask you something.”
“…Me?”
“Yes. How did you come to Yeranhesu? They say the Barrier has never been breached, but this place is right in front of it. Don’t you think it’s dangerous?”
“…I wanted to be of help to the Roach Knights….”
“Admirable sentiment. But your parents must worry.”
“My father was a career soldier, so he actually praised it as a worthy endeavor.”
“I see.”
Frontdier nodded earnestly as he listened to Lorie’s words.
Well, did a question like that even matter? Lorie glanced out the window again.
Full night had fallen. When the last traces of the sunset’s red glow had completely vanished, something flickered across Lorie’s mind, and her eyes shifted.
‘Wait a moment.’
Why would he ask such questions? Were these really meant to extract information?
Could he be… stalling for time?
‘That’s it. An interrogation wouldn’t take this long.’
If he wanted information, it would be faster to question several other people. To spend the entire evening with her alone was strange.
‘Was my first instinct right? Is he after my body…?’
No—it was even worse than that.
Frontdier’s earlier behavior was merely flirtation, the kind a man might offer a woman. But he’d lied his way into her home, waited until nightfall, and now… Lorie had no idea what came next. All she felt was a creeping sense of dread.
“So my next question—”
“How much longer is this going to go on?”
Lorie asked him bluntly. She’d meant to ask it calmly, but an edge had crept into her voice.
Frontdier regarded her for a moment. His eyes were drowsy, his pupils unreadable.
“…My next question is—”
“Answer me first.”
“What did you do before you came here?”
Crack!
Shatter!!
Lorie pushed off with her feet and hurled herself out the window. The door was on Frontdier’s side, so escape that way was impossible. She burst through the glass, rolled lightly across the ground, then sprang up and ran with all her strength.
‘I have to get away!’
But where?
Somewhere to flee. A place where she could escape from Frontdier’s pursuit.
‘Yes, that’s where I need to go.’
Her flight had no hesitation; it fixed itself on a single destination. Though the night was deep and darkness wrapped the world, Lorie’s sprint never faltered.
I have to get there. It’s already late. I need to go there.
Lorie ran into the forest. She pushed through the trees, driving deeper into places darker still within this lightless night.
Even through her glasses, the light in her eyes was visible—bright, feral. Like a cat, her pupils dilated, her gaze swallowing the moonlight whole.
Crack!
And when Lorie finally arrived,
“I knew you’d come here.”
Frontdier was already waiting.
Lorie’s body went rigid with shock.
“H-how did you get here first…?”
“You thought you were evading me by running in all directions, but since I knew your destination, I could come straight.”
But that wasn’t what troubled Lorie.
She already understood his method. She’d taken the long, tedious route precisely to shake off his pursuit, just as he’d said.
What troubled her was something else entirely.
“How did you know I would come here…?”
“I’ve been curious.”
Thud.
Frontdier took a step closer.
“How you manage such perfect acting. As if you yourself don’t know you’re the culprit. Even granting that it’s a Method, it seemed to exceed all reason. I watched you for days, and it astounded me—how you could execute every expression, every gesture, every bearing so flawlessly. Even your occasional lapses didn’t feel like performance; they seemed entirely natural. Is such a thing truly possible? Not for a day or two, but continuously throughout the entire assignment?”
“W-what are you saying…?”
“So I made a hypothesis.”
Frontdier raised his wrist and checked his watch. Then he opened his mouth.
“You have some kind of routine, don’t you?”
“…A routine?”
“Isn’t it about time? That’s why you came here, isn’t it? You unconsciously created an adequate excuse to come.”
What is this nonsense?
What kind of drivel is that man spouting?
I don’t understand. He was the one who tried to ambush me!
“……It itches…….”
In that instant, Lorie’s face contorted as an unexpected sensation overtook her body.
“It, it itches…….”
“Hmm.”
Facing the woman in visible distress, Frontdier’s expression lit with something like fascination.
“Ah, so this is the final mechanism. Remarkable, truly. You’ve layered it perfectly—the false personality designed to maintain its Routine even under these conditions.”
“It, it itches, ngh……!”
Itching! Why is this happening?! What is that man thinking?! Did he do this to me?
No, I have to report this. Wait, it itches. There’s no time to go back. I need to contact the Knights, no—Father. Father would know, he’d surely—
Help me, Father…….
“My face itches……!”
Her whimpering voice turned harsh and rough, and Lorie clawed at the skin beneath her chin.
Or rather, she thought she was clawing.
Her hands seized the facial skin below her jaw and tore away her entire face in one motion.
The Mask had been deactivated.
“Hah, hah……!”
In the same motion that removed the Mask, her Wig fell away, revealing hair that gleamed with brilliant gold.
Luxuriant, luminous golden hair, eyes of emerald green. A face both delicate and fair. Yet her gaze and the set of her mouth bore the strength and nobility of a loyal Knight.
“Hello.”
Seeing her thus revealed, Frontdier offered a greeting.
With Lorie’s expression now completely transformed before him, Frontdier spoke.
“At last we meet, Spy.”

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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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