The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 36

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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 Duplicator of the Academy, Chapter 36
Part 10: The Empress’s Eye (2)
Ainen shopped frantically through the department store.
After buying clothes, cosmetics, and jewelry she’d long wanted, the Gift Certificate still had money left on it.
For a Gift Certificate won by answering a quiz question correctly, it was quite a substantial amount.
Finally, she was heading downstairs to buy groceries.
“?”
As she turned the corner, someone walked alongside her.
She’d thought he was following from behind and would pass her by, but he matched her pace instead.
“……???”
She glanced over to see if she knew him, but he was a stranger.
With his formal suit and sunglasses, she couldn’t see his face clearly anyway.
“Excuse me?”
“Shh.”
The man spoke quietly.
“There is someone waiting for you, Miss Ainen. This way, please.”
The man drew slightly closer to Ainen and guided her in his direction.
His guidance was neither forceful nor impolite.
She could have resisted if she’d wanted to.
“Who’s waiting for me?”
“You’ll understand once you arrive.”
“Why not tell me here? There’s no one around.”
At Ainen’s words, the man leaned his face closer.
He whispered directly into her ear.
“Her Majesty Phili Terst is looking for you.”
“Phili Ter… Could it be the Empress herself…!”
“Shh.”
The man warned, and Ainen closed her mouth.
She shut it so quickly that she hiccupped.
“Why… why me?”
Ainen asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I’ve simply been instructed to bring you, Miss Ainen.”
The man delivered what sounded like a prepared line.
It seemed he wouldn’t answer anything beyond this.
Ainen walked along as the man guided her, her mind racing.
‘Phili Terst—the Empress of the Empire!’
She was far too exalted a figure for Ainen to meet.
She wasn’t even a combat instructor at Constel—just a librarian.
She couldn’t fathom why the Empress would be looking for her.
‘And why is she going about it so secretly?’
If she were truly the Empress, she could simply command openly.
She could proclaim: Ainen Flotet, present yourself at once and receive your orders!
She wouldn’t need to go through such a convoluted process.
‘Either she has a reason she can’t reveal herself, or she doesn’t want the palace to know about this……’
Either way, Ainen was in for an uncomfortable time.
The man guided Ainen through a “Authorized Personnel Only” door, inside which he turned right through another door, then descended a staircase past a “Under Construction” sign and opened yet another door.
Finally, he walked down a one-way escalator in reverse.
‘How… how old-fashioned……’
It seemed almost paranoid in its security, yet somehow stingy all the same.
And at last, when the man opened a metal door.
“……Wow.”
The place she’d arrived at was certainly not a department store.
Ornate jewelry and artworks that seemed copied from the imperial palace interior were scattered about.
‘Come to think of it, I heard Phili Terst favors warm colors.’
Reflecting that preference, the room was filled with reds, oranges, and yellows.
After taking a few steps into the room, she spotted a table.
On the table sat a cup of tea, already prepared.
“Please wait here.”
With that, the man left.
Ainen stood dazed, surveying the room around her.
‘…Will it work?’
He’d considered it for a moment, but it was impossible.
No matter how suspicious the circumstances, one could not defy a summons from the Empress.
Besides, there was no time for it.
“Oh my, welcome, Ainen.”
A warm voice reached her ears.
The manner of speech and tone that set people at ease.
Ainen hastened to her feet, about to kneel,
“Oh no, no need for that sort of thing.”
She waved a hand dismissively, her voice curiously lacking tension.
“Sit, sit.”
With those words, she took her seat first, and only then did Ainen see her properly.
White hair like her eyes.
A face too youthful to believe belonged to a child’s mother, with eyes of deep red that opened slightly.
The atmosphere around them seemed to grow soft and drowsy.
‘…Such a languid air.’
At the thought of languid, the human sloth in Constel came to mind.
He always wore that drowsy expression too. Sleepy might be the better word.
But unlike Frondier, Phili carried a luminous presence.
This was not the sluggishness born of drowsiness or exhaustion.
A gentleness that seemed to dye everything around it—a serenity.
“You must have been quite startled. I apologize. I simply had to meet you.”
“You mean me, Your Majesty?”
Ainen’s manner of speech had grown stiff.
It wasn’t as though she’d ever conversed with royalty before.
Phili laughed.
“Please, speak freely. Here, I’m neither Empress nor anything else.”
That was easier said than done.
Ainen found nothing to say and sipped her tea.
Phili asked,
“Have you found good use for the Terst Department Store Gift Certificate?”
“Huh?! Cough, cough!”
Startled, she’d gulped down the tea suddenly.
Ainen coughed, tears pricking at her eyes.
“C-cough, how did you…”
“Actually, we were the ones who posed that quiz.”
“Your Majesty…?”
Phili nodded with a smile.
“We sought out Ainen precisely because of that. We never imagined anyone would arrive at the correct specialized answer.”
“Then the reason you were looking for me…”
“Yes. It was because of the quiz.”
At Phili’s straightforward answer, Ainen nodded numbly.
Still, her thoughts felt somewhat organized.
She’d wondered why someone with no connection to the royal family would be sought out.
It was because of the quiz.
‘So she was looking for the person who gave the specialized answer.’
Wait.
If that were the case, what the Empress wanted to know now was…
Phili drew closer with a subtle smile.
“So then, Ainen.”
“Y-yes?”
Her voice cracked slightly.
Phili paid it no mind and continued,
“How did you know about the Dragon Heart?”
* * *
He’d had a rather unpleasant dream.
A dream, or perhaps a memory.
He’d glimpsed something like sediment from Frondier’s absorbed knowledge.
It was too fragmented and blurred to discern the precise details,
but someone had secretly conveyed information about ancient language to Frondier.
But no matter how much I dig through my memories, I can’t figure out who that bastard was.
‘……This is probably the case where even Frondier can’t remember him properly. What he said, what his voice sounded like, what he looked like.’
All I know is that the way I unconsciously referred to him as “that guy” suggests he was male.
In any case, the old Frondier heard something strange from some man and threw himself into interpreting ancient texts.
It must have been a method to strip away Elodi’s Divine Power.
‘Given that Frondier managed to interpret ancient texts, he’s no fool. That man’s words must have carried some weight.’
Or perhaps he was enchanted by magic, hypnosis.
Either way, I need to be careful about that man.
──So, where am I thinking all this right now?
“Ugh……. Hmm.”
In a hospital bed, watching Saibel sleep face-down.
For some reason her stomach felt heavy while she slept.
Saibel had been watching over me since who-knows-when, sleeping soundly without a care in the world.
Sleeping face-down like that, she looked so peaceful that I didn’t have the heart to wake her.
……I’m the patient, but anyway.
Creak—
Just then, the hospital room door opened.
“Oh my, Frondier. You’re awake?”
“Huh?!”
It wasn’t me who reacted to the nurse’s words, but Saibel.
Her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright, straightening her posture in one fluid motion.
The nurse laughed at the sight.
“Your girlfriend has been incredibly devoted since yesterday.”
At the nurse’s words, Saibel remained perfectly upright and spoke without moving.
“N-not a girlfriend.”
“Saibel, your pronunciation.”
“Ah, yes, I see.”
In response to my correction, Saibel raised both hands and pressed her cheeks repeatedly.
……Does that actually help with pronunciation?
“Saibel, there’s hair on your lip.”
“Oh, ah, okay.”
“And drool on your chin.”
“Huh?! Ah, okay.”
“And you’ve got a runny nose.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Yes. It is.”
I’d had enough of this game.
Leaving Saibel behind with that resentful look, I turned to the nurse and asked.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“About a day. Saibel and Elodi here have been taking turns caring for you.”
“……Was I that bad? Bad enough that I needed someone by my side?”
“Ah, well……. I said it was fine, but she insisted on nursing me.”
At the nurse’s words, I looked at Saibel again.
Saibel avoided my gaze.
Still avoiding it, she spoke to me.
“It’s just…… you looked like you were suffering. I couldn’t just sit idle.”
“……Well, everyone was suffering back in the cabin.”
“That’s, that’s not it. I mean…… from a very long time ago…… it seemed like you were suffering.”
“Hm?”
What does she mean by that?
From a very long time ago?
Ah, is it because of the “human sloth” reputation?
My poor reputation certainly played a role in triggering this whole situation.
But truthfully, that reputation isn’t something that causes real suffering.
People just turn their eyes away from me, avoid my seat—that sort of thing.
I’ve never experienced visible harassment.
Well, people were probably more afraid of the Loache Family anyway.
I spoke.
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
“……Used to it? Something like that?”
“Well, I’ve never been seriously hurt or anything.”
“That’s only because things haven’t been like this until now!”
Saibel exclaimed, her voice rising sharply.
Her eyes held something like reproach—or perhaps persuasion.
“Over a hundred times already…….”
“……Hmm?”
A hundred times?
What a hundred times?
“Never mind. Forget it.”
Saibel closed her mouth.
I had no idea what she meant, but something about the way she was looking at me felt oddly deflating.
It was a look of pity, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“Oh my.”
Another figure entered the hospital room.
She approached me with a smile.
……Her expression was much like Saibel’s.
“You’re awake, Frondier.”
“Yeah. Hey, Elodi.”
──After that.
I learned the situation from them both.
First, Serf’s death had been confirmed.
A penetrating wound to the forehead—instantaneous.
No weapon was found at the scene, but they determined it was a Magical Arrow fired by Saibel.
Then there was the other Leader, Grobel.
I’d wondered why Serf was the only one mentioned when we were in the forest—it turned out Grobel had been knocked unconscious in an earlier ambush by Serf himself.
Serf must have been trying to manipulate Rockbel.
Grobel would have been an obstacle to that plan.
Grobel was sent to the Teibun Barrier.
Teibun is a frontier territory under the Urpa Family’s control, positioned at the exact opposite end of Yeranhez, our family’s domain.
This region, managed by Ridwi Urpa, is far more perilous than Yeranhez.
Unlike Yeranhez, where my father Anfar’s outstanding leadership and management kept all monster incursions at bay, Teibun could not claim the same.
When winter came, the monsters outside grew hungrier, caught the scent of prey, and crept inward inch by inch.
Because of this, bitter battles erupted in Teibun every single winter.
Grobel would be “used”—placed honorably among the soldiers—to help prepare the barrier for those winter wars.
Grobel’s own mistakes mattered less than how poorly things had unfolded.
Even if he’d been unconscious, he remained the nominal Leader of Aktuber.
He’d made his younger brother act, orchestrated arson, assault, and attempted murder.
And worst of all, he’d tried to harm two heirs of tremendously powerful noble houses—myself and Elodi.
A severe punishment was unavoidable.
I asked them a question.
“When can I be discharged?”
“Today. The cause of your collapse wasn’t serious, and there shouldn’t be any lingering effects.”
“So what was the cause?”
“……Mana Exhaustion.”
The way Elodi said it made it sound like she was delivering a cancer diagnosis.
Why was she speaking so gravely?
Mana Exhaustion wasn’t anything extraordinary.
I nodded.
“Ah, so that was it.”
I said it without any particular thought, but
my response caused both Elodi and Saibel to lower their heads.
……What was this atmosphere?
Then Elodi spoke as if something had just occurred to her.
“Right—when you woke up, Ainen asked me to tell you thank you.”
“Ainen?”
“Yeah. You helped her with something, right? A quiz, I think?”
“……Oh, right.”
That was about the Dragon Heart question.
“Apparently she won a Gift Certificate because of that. From the Terst Department Store.”
“……The Terst Department Store?”
Terst Department Store.
The name certainly lived up to itself—a department store under the royal family’s jurisdiction.
‘Adventurer Quiz, the final question no one would know, Terst…….’
Something felt ominous about it.
Ding—
As if answering that very thought.
My phone on the table chimed.
I took the phone from Saibel’s hands.
It was a text message.
[Hello, this is Phili Terst.]
……What?
Who?
While my thoughts scrambled to catch up, another message arrived.
[Let’s meet up soon.]

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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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