The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 41

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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 41
Chapter 11: Dragon Heart (1)
The Imperial Palace.
The heart of the Terst Empire, the capital city of Silester.
If you venture northward from its entrance, an enormous outer wall becomes visible from great distance.
This is the outer wall of the Imperial Palace.
A single length of that wall spans a full twenty kilometers.
Pass through the inner gates of that vast square fortification, and inner citadels unfold before your eyes in succession.
Only by traversing all those fortress walls and reaching the innermost sanctum can you glimpse the imperial citadel where the Emperor himself resides.
All who dwell within the outer walls have their entire lives contained there.
Markets, restaurants, salons, laundromats, hospitals—and even entertainment districts like bars and karaoke lounges.
A walled version of a mixed-use shopping complex, you might say.
Soon I stood before the resplendent inner citadel.
Its dignified majesty simply towered there, immense.
Designed with such thoughtless extravagance it bordered on the absurd.
The car came to a halt before it, and Philly and I stepped out.
“I must blindfold you from here. I apologize for the necessity.”
I nodded, and the Driver approached to wrap cloth around my eyes.
With just a single layer of fabric bound around my head, my vision vanished completely.
He was only a driver, yet the pressure radiating from him was considerable.
Did he serve as a bodyguard in emergencies?
At Philly’s direction, I spun in place several times before walking toward some destination.
Each time a junction appeared, I had to spin again and continue walking.
By that point, not only was the path lost to me, but all sense of direction had evaporated.
……Of course, I knew the entire structure of the Imperial Palace.
Philly’s efforts to conceal the interior from me were commendable, but ultimately pointless.
There was nothing to gain by mentioning it, so I said nothing.
“Alright, you can remove it now.”
At Philly’s words, I unwound the cloth and surveyed the space—weapons and shields of every conceivable kind filled it.
The Imperial Armory.
“Let me fulfill your conditions first. I’ll receive the information afterward. That should be the proper order.”
I nodded and looked around.
While pretending to search for an appropriate weapon, I transferred everything here into my Workshop.
Of course, given my current abilities, I couldn’t properly wield much of what was stored here, but more weapons in the Workshop was never a disadvantage.
Then I stopped in one location.
Following my gaze, Philly spoke.
“Ah, I should mention beforehand—that weapon is off-limits.”
“I understand.”
A single weapon, displayed differently from the rest.
It floated serenely in the air, suspended by rigorous magical apparatus and mechanisms.
A hammer with a short grip.
Its face—two perfectly symmetrical squares of steel on either side of the handle.
The mightiest weapon in the possession of the Terst Empire.
Thor’s divine artifact: Mjolnir.
‘Old memories surfacing.’
In my previous world, whenever I browsed communities related to Etius, this topic always came up.
‘Which is stronger—Thor’s Mjolnir or Zeus’s lightning?’
A childish debate, like asking who would win if a lion fought a tiger.
The reason this debate never concluded was that the protagonist Aster could use neither of them.
Mjolnir, as you can see, rests in the Empire’s innermost sanctum and is wielded by the Emperor in critical moments.
As for Zeus’s lightning, Astrape—no one had ever even laid eyes on it.
It was merely speculation: since Etius is a world where gods exist, surely Zeus must possess lightning—that sort of conjecture.
‘But I can use both.’
I’ve already placed them in the Workshop.
Though I cannot deploy them immediately.
Even the legendary weapon Gram has a limit—I can maintain its Weaving for only five seconds.
Mjolnir would likely be impossible to cast at all.
‘……Someday, perhaps.’
For now, I simply keep it reverently stored in the Workshop.
Eventually, the day will come to use it.
I picked up a decent sword from nearby.
Since I’d already verified its contents when I placed it in the Workshop, this one was among the finest specimens here.
“……You have a discerning eye.”
“Thank you.”
“Then shall we move on?”
My vision clouded again, the world spun, and we moved.
After a long while, I removed the cloth at Philly’s instruction, and this time a long staircase came into view.
“From here on, be careful. We’ll be descending the stairs. This place was built hastily later, so the facilities are incomplete.”
I followed Philly down into the darkened stairwell.
How far had we descended?
Just as she’d said, this place was clearly unfinished.
They’d simply dug into the earth without even lining the walls.
It was nothing but raw stone.
By the time I reckoned we’d gone down some ten levels.
We reached level ground.
“I’ll open the door now. Wait here.”
Philly walked toward the door.
Then, abruptly, she stopped.
Thump!
A rather sizeable stone fell right in front of her.
“Ah—ahh!”
Philly cried out in alarm and stumbled backward.
It appeared to be a rockfall from a section that hadn’t been properly maintained.
If it had struck her, she might not have died, but she could have been seriously injured.
──But that sight.
Something about it struck me as terribly strange. It couldn’t simply be my imagination.
‘What was that just now?’
Philly had stopped before the stone fell.
As if she’d known it was coming.
Yet the moment the stone actually fell, she started in genuine alarm and trembled.
‘An act for my benefit? Why would she?’
If that had been an act, then I’d have to believe every expression on Philly’s face was nothing but theatre.
But even if it were an act, there’d be no reason for her to perform it for me.
How had Philly known the stone was going to fall?
If she’d known, why was she so shocked?
“Ah, um. Well then. Shall I open it?”
Philly cleared her throat awkwardly and reached for the door handle.
As if her touch triggered it, a lock disengaged with a sharp click.
Fingerprint Magic.
I’d seen it before in the cottage on the Loach Family’s estate, but this lock here would be of a far higher order.
Setting aside the dissonance I’d sensed in Philly, I entered alongside her.
Inside, a glowing blue object rested at the center.
Its form brought to mind a triangle.
A very slender, small triangle.
It resembled three thick cylindrical rods joined together into a triangular frame.
The Dragon Heart lay before my eyes.
‘……Wait.’
Now that I thought about it, I might as well try this too.
I casually placed the Dragon Heart into the Workshop as well.
It wasn’t a weapon, so I doubted I’d have any use for it.
‘But if I were to Weave and consume this myself, what would happen?’
……Something about that felt dangerous.
“Well, you’ve confirmed it? Now it’s your turn.”
“Information about the Dragon Heart, yes?”
“Yes.”
Philly waved her hand, activating a spell.
Wind Whisper.
I’d seen her use this magic before with Quinea to prevent sound from escaping.
Though I couldn’t imagine who might be listening down here, she was certainly thorough.
“Is the information you possess about the Dragon Heart truly worth that much?”
That question was remarkably unlike Philly.
She had no reason to trust me, yet she was asking someone who trades in information about its value.
It meant she was that desperate.
“I can only tell you that much.”
“……I suppose so.”
Philly’s crimson eyes studied me, scanning left and right.
As if trying to see through me, to glimpse the falsehood beneath.
Not that it would change anything even if she could.
‘Philly Terst—if it’s at all possible, I hope you’ll become an ally.’
In the game Etius, Philly existed in a gray space without end.
Depending on how you played, she could become the protagonist’s enemy or ally.
I wanted to make her my ally.
But blind goodwill only invited suspicion.
And without understanding Philly’s true nature, blind goodwill might well tighten the noose around my own neck.
“……Philly.”
I called out to her.
Not as the Empress, and without any honorific.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Hm? What’s gotten into you?”
“Why do you need the Dragon Heart?”
“That’s none of your concern. That wasn’t part of the deal, was it?”
True enough.
She’d never intended to tell me from the start.
If the Imperial Palace itself was keeping it secret, there was no chance she’d tell me.
“Philly.”
“I’ll overlook it once—or rather, it would be entirely justified to cut your throat for it even once—but if it happens a second time,”
“What have you done to Aten?”
Philly’s eyes widened at my words.
In the game, Philly was sharp, capable, and shrewd in politics and calculation.
But her absolute first priority was her daughters.
Elisia, Sale, Aten.
And among them, Aten was priority zero.
The reason Philly wielded influence in politics, why she worked to save the Terst Empire—all of it could be traced back to Aten.
So for Philly to become my ally, she first needed Aten’s trust.
But for some reason, when Aster first met Aten, she treated him with notable coldness.
Until now, I’d assumed it was Aten’s nature, but viewed through Frondieur’s eyes, it appeared differently.
Aten disliked Aster.
She disliked someone she’d never even met.
Despite Aster having no faults in reputation, conduct, or appearance.
Rather, with all of that ranking among the highest, she simply disliked him without reason.
‘……Magic.’
That was the only explanation.
Aten was under some form of magic.
Probably the kind that makes someone feel aversion toward a designated target.
But magic that influences the human heart doesn’t activate easily.
It requires prolonged, repeated infusion to achieve any real effect.
It’s similar to brainwashing.
And for the process to go undetected, it would need to be even more complex and precise.
……Only one person could do such a thing to Aten.
And that was Philly alone.
“What do you mean by that?”
Philly tried to evade it.
It didn’t matter.
Aten was far too great a weakness for her.
“I know that you love Aten. That you live for her sake, giving everything you have.”
“…….”
Philly didn’t answer.
“So why you cast magic on Aten to make her despise Aster—that’s what I struggle to understand.”
“So you know that much.”
Philly stopped denying it.
There’s no point in denying it—if I go to Aten right now and tell her all this, it changes nothing.
From the moment Philly brought me here, her options have grown thin.
Kill me to keep me quiet?
I may be unremarkable in my own right, but I’m still the son of the Loach Family.
That’s not something you can simply brush aside.
If it came to that, there’s a real risk that everything about the Dragon Heart, moving in secret, would be exposed.
Magic that makes Aster feel revulsion toward her.
In other words, Philly wants to prevent Aten and Aster from growing close.
But Philly’s love for Aten is absolute.
So that magic must be for Aten’s sake as well.
Yet if the game progresses, in almost every possible outcome, Aten becomes Aster’s ally.
Philly’s magic will eventually break.
And when it does, Aten will fight alongside Aster and ultimately——
‘Now I understand.’
I dodged the falling boulder before it reached me,
and in that moment of sidestepping, I caught the dissonance—Philly’s surprise.
Added to that, the cruel ending of this game that only I know.
I spoke.
“Philly, can you see the ‘future’?”
At my words, Philly’s face went blank—every expression drained away.
But then, almost at once, she recovered that gentle composure,
and with the most natural smile—the most herself—offered her answer in a faltering voice.
“……Somewhat.”

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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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