The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 80

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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 Chapter 80
Episode 24: Taeban (2)
Before heading to Taeban, I conducted a final review in the Training Hall.
Perhaps thanks to successfully finishing the final exam, after repeating Simultaneous Weaving in the Training Hall, my Weaving skill level finally rose.
[Your unique skill ‘Weaving’ has leveled up.]
[The applicable targets of Weaving have increased.]
[Current applicable targets for Weaving: ‘Objects’ and ‘Skills’]
Now Weaving could be applied not only to objects but to skills as well. In other words, from this point forward, I could imitate the skills of others.
However, since Weaving as a skill fundamentally created replicas through ‘illusion,’ I couldn’t enjoy the true effects of the original skill. Within Menosorpo, a degree of success might be possible, but even that would be limited.
I’d need to conduct several tests to grasp the details, but what mattered right now was something else entirely.
My Weaving now bore an option called ‘Descent of Thanatos.’
– The trigger activates if Weaving affects reality for the first time.
– The trigger activates if Weaving wounds an External Monster.
– The trigger activates if Weaving wounds a god.
It was an option Thanatos had arbitrarily attached to keep Weaving in check. When he’d attached it or how he’d done it, I still didn’t know.
With such a wretched thing attached, I couldn’t do anything in Taeban.
Weaving was my primary weapon—if I so much as touched an External Monster with it, Thanatos would appear again.
But now that Weaving’s applicable targets included ‘Skills,’ I could modify Weaving itself.
I used the Degradation modification on Weaving itself by means of Weaving.
[The option ‘Descent of Thanatos’ has been removed.]
“……Good.”
I couldn’t definitively say that divine interference had vanished entirely, but at least Weaving would no longer be a stumbling block.
Now all preparations were finally complete.
* * *
I packed the necessary luggage from the residence and finally stepped out the main gate to head to Taeban.
But what awaited me at the entrance was a vehicle I’d never seen before. The driver’s face was unfamiliar as well.
I shot Malia de Roach a questioning look, and she laughed awkwardly.
“Ah, in case your resolve weakens and you can’t return, your father brought someone else for the drive.”
“…….”
It seemed a bit extreme, but it was good that Anper’s thinking had changed.
Since he couldn’t stop me from going to Taeban anyway, he was likely just trying to fuel my determination.
Only the servants and Malia de Roach saw me off from the residence. Artzie and Anper were nowhere to be found.
“Your mother’s rooting for you, so come back safe. Frontdier.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t die.”
“Yeah.”
Though she spoke like it was a joke, her expression was entirely serious, so I answered gravely as well.
As soon as I got in the car, the driver departed immediately. He already seemed to know the destination.
Even though it was in the same northern region, Taeban was located at opposite ends of the compass from Yeranhes.
It would take quite some time, so maybe I should get some sleep…….
* * *
“We’ve arrived.”
At the driver’s voice, I opened my eyes.
The moment I stepped out of the car, the driver left without so much as a goodbye, whooshing back the way he’d come. It must have been Anper’s orders.
“……It’s freezing.”
Yeranhes wasn’t exactly warm either, but here the very air seemed to scatter like ice crystals.
As far as I knew, the absolute temperatures shouldn’t differ that greatly, so this must be because there were no people around.
Where I stood, there was only a single road, and everything else was frozen wasteland. Directly ahead loomed an enormous outer wall that filled my entire field of vision.
Taeban’s situation was so abnormal that the region itself had developed in a unique way—a very sturdy outer wall enclosed the perimeter, and inside were residential and commercial districts serving as the foundation of the settlement. This was to separate the area from External Monsters and the prisoners managed by Taeban.
Here too I could see what appeared to be a massive circular building in the distance—that was the Prison managed by Taeban. Since prisoners were used for most of the barrier maintenance in Taeban, a sturdy Prison was naturally essential.
Near it stood the Barracks, and the walls divided the Barracks, Prison, and civilian zones. Viewed from above, it would resemble a huge circle subdivided into three distinct spaces.
Of course, I would soon experience a life not so different from those soldiers. Still, since I came from Constellation Academy, I would likely be treated somewhat differently.
“All right, let’s go.”
I steeled myself and began walking. But I’d taken only a few steps before I stopped.
A strange woman stood before me. It was such an uncanny appearance that I couldn’t tell if she’d been there all along or only just arrived.
The blonde woman lightly gripped both ends of her skirt and bowed gracefully.
The uniform’s design and the manner of her greeting both evoked a single word in my mind.
“I am honored to greet you, Young Master of Constellation Academy.”
A maid, that was what she was.
The maid was greeting me with impeccable maid-like courtesy, displaying an expression befitting a maid.
“……Who?”
So I addressed them politely for now.
I’d asked the question, but I had a fair idea who it was. Or rather, where they’d come from.
“From now on, I shall be at your service, Master.”
“Manggot, then.”
“Yes, sir.”
The maid acknowledged it readily enough. Well, there was no one else here to hear it, so why not.
The woman wore a soft smile, and both her expression and bearing were quite captivating. Her objective beauty was striking, certainly—but it was her gaze, that particular light in her eyes, that drew my attention first.
Either she was naturally inclined to seduce men, or she’d been trained to seem that way.
“Where did Hagly go?”
I asked about the one who’d introduced himself back in the infirmary.
“He is my superior officer.”
So he’d pulled rank and reassigned.
When his scheme to use me against Elody fell through, he’d evidently sought other means.
“…….”
I studied the maid’s outfit. The resemblance to actual maid’s garb was superficial at best—the costume was far too revealing. The maid’s own figure being what it was only emphasized this further. It bordered on looking cheap, a thread away from crossing that line. A carefully calibrated edge.
……Transparent enough in its intent.
“Your name?”
“In Manggot, I was called ‘Jae.’ If you wish, Master, you may give me another name.”
Was called.
In other words, no real name at all.
I observed Jae through the Analysis skill.
[Jae]
– Assassin of Manggot.
– The name Jae derives from the alphabet. Manggot bred assassins and named them in alphabetical order. She is thus their tenth assassin.
– Her parents gave her the name Selena, though she herself does not remember it.
– Her parents, during their lives—
The Analysis stopped there.
Instinct told me that from this point forward, an enormous amount of mana would be required.
“You said I could give you a different name, yes?”
“……Yes, of course. If you wish it, sir.”
Jae answered a moment late, as if she’d never truly expected me to take her up on the offer.
I spoke.
“Selena. From this day forward, you are Selena.”
Whatever her parents might have been, this name they’d once given her shouldn’t simply fade away.
That would be a waste.
“…….”
Jae—Selena now—blinked slowly at my declaration.
Her small mouth fell open slightly, her eyes trembling.
“What is it?”
“……Oh, no. Selena. From today, I shall live by that name.”
Selena smiled again.
She’d said she didn’t remember it, yet somewhere deep in her mind, the memory lingered.
“I’m heading to Taeban now. That won’t be a problem?”
“Fear not, sir. I shall keep you safe.”
With that, Selena bowed deeply again.
Her costume was far too revealing, and her bow not nearly deep enough, such that her pale skin and chest were laid bare. But then, that was the whole point, wasn’t it.
I realized that my time in Taeban would likely be far more exhausting than I’d anticipated.
* * *
“Ellaya. Pack your things now and go home.”
Ridwi said this the moment he saw me.
Since I’d originally requested to come to Taeban as part of Constellation’s vacation plan, making a formal greeting to the head of the household was only proper.
Yet Ridwi was being decidedly uncooperative from the start.
“Don’t you understand? Your father sent you here to die.”
Ridwi’s expression was thoroughly grim—not because of me, it seemed, but because of Anper. The thought was written plainly across his eyes: sending your own son to Taeban, no matter how disappointing he might be?
“You only know Taeban from rumors and writings, so you’ve wandered in here thoughtlessly. Go back now and cling to your father’s pant leg. If you grovel hard enough, even someone like him won’t cast you out. He’s still your father, after all.”
“I came of my own volition.”
“What?”
One of Ridwi’s eyebrows shot up higher than the other. Those bizarrely crooked brows were almost amusing.
“Then I absolutely cannot approve of this.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t associate with madmen.”
With that, Ridwi glanced sideways at me.
“And a man who drags a woman onto the battlefield isn’t just mad—he’s a catastrophe. You know the difference between the two?”
“What is it?”
“A madman threatens both enemy and ally alike, but a catastrophe destroys the entire operation.”
That made sense.
Selena hit harder because I hadn’t even asked for her to come.
“However, I came here with the permission of my family. Surely the head of the Urfa Family cannot simply cast me out without cause.”
“……Tch. There’s a cramped room on the left side of the second floor. That’s yours.”
Just as I thought. For all his complaints, he’d already made arrangements.
I bowed deeply to Ridwi, then headed for the second floor, with Selena following behind.
I heard Ridwi’s sigh-laden voice drift down. He hadn’t bothered hiding it from the start.
“……A cataaa-strophe.”
He was adding another syllable with each utterance.
* * *
Those who hold back External Monster incursions in Taeban fall into two broad categories.
Prisoners and non-prisoners.
Prisoners make up the largest share of manpower consumed, but they alone cannot contain the External Monsters.
They are merely a meat shield against mindless assault—though admittedly, the prisoners conscripted into Taeban are typically dangerous criminals guilty of heinous crimes, so they fight with considerable skill. As meat shields go, they’re rather premium stock.
Then there are the mercenaries, drawn in by the staggering sums Ridwi offers. Of course, the Urfa Family doesn’t foot the entire bill—it’s imperial coin, since containing External incursions is the Empire’s most pressing concern.
And that leaves the knights and mages, whose motives are as varied as they are diverse. There are devoted knights bound by absolute loyalty to Ridwi, mad researchers burning their very selves to understand the nature of External Monsters, and those dispatched as part of their duties after being promised positions as court mages.
Yet not a single one of them had come for ‘training.’
And if a snot-nosed child not even of age came during ‘vacation,’ well—that deserved to be called madness.
“Heard a madman’s shown up.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
The Barracks near the Urfa Residence.
The knights tossed gossip back and forth, rumors blown in from the residence itself.
“Brought a woman along, they say.”
“Really. A fine backside for such a lunatic.”
“The chest, you mean.”
Crude laughter followed their crude words for a moment.
“Hey, Robert. I hear the one from Constellation Academy is here. You know him? You were in the capital just a few days ago.”
One of the knights broke ranks and addressed a man who had been standing silent.
It was Robert, Philly’s personal knight.
The same man who had investigated Frontdier in the hospital, posing as a detective (though it was seen through quickly), was here in Taeban for reasons unknown.
Robert let out a long sigh.
“How many people do you think are in the capital?”
“Right, like you’d know some madman.”
The knights chuckled again.
“So, how long do you reckon?”
“A week. Ten thousand Quir.”
“Five days. Fifteen thousand.”
The knights wagered on how many days that madman would last before dying, making a brief jest of it.

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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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