The Academy’s Weapon Replicator - Chapter 81

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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 Academy’s Weapon Duplicator — Episode 81
Chapter 24: Taeban (3)
“…What are you doing?”
I finally asked about the spectacle unfolding in the room.
Selena looked at me and shot back as if to say, why on earth would you ask such a thing?
“I’m changing clothes.”
Selena was already down to her undergarments. Her sensuous figure was displayed before my eyes with almost perfect precision. Clearly, she was showing herself off that way on purpose.
“There’s nowhere else to change.”
As she changed clothes in a posture that seemed deliberately meant to provoke me, Selena was remarkably brazen.
“I see. So nowhere else to change but here.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Selena nodded with a smile. Even her lips seemed to seduce.
Crack—
I snapped the Black Lotus Necklace. While it was somewhat ostentatious to use for this, it seemed a good opportunity to establish the terms of my relationship with Selena.
Weaving, Black River
Rank — Divine Rank
Iokeira
I created Artemis’s Arrow and gripped it in my hand.
“Since you’re one of Manggot’s people, you must have heard rumors of what I did at Constellation.”
“Yes, I… suppose so?”
“Then you know about the ‘firecracker’ incident?”
……
Selena swallowed hard. It was a yes.
“This arrow never misses.”
I stepped closer to Selena. She retreated with a shrunken expression.
“Who told you to back away on your own? You said you’d assist me.”
“I’m… terribly sorry.”
I closed the distance between us and thrust the arrow’s tip forward.
“You’re supposed to report my every move and action to Manggot. Whenever that may be, whatever the interval—there must be some kind of hotline connecting this place to Manggot.”
Hagli, whom I’d met in Constellation’s medical wing, was the same way, and so was Selena. The people from Manggot always appeared without warning.
It was likely some sort of Teleport that Hagli had set up on the day Frontdier and he first met.
“You came wearing that ridiculous outfit from there, yet you claim there’s nowhere to change?”
“Ah, ah, haha. I won’t be going to Manggot for quite some time yet, Master. I’m truly here solely for the purpose of assisting Frontdier—”
“Quite some time. When exactly?”
“That would be… a fortnight from now.”
My expression turned cold. I’d been partly playing the role, but there was genuine displeasure beneath it.
“I told you. This arrow doesn’t miss.”
“…Pardon?”
“You said a fortnight. Let’s test it then. The moment you step away from my side for even an instant over the next fifteen days, this arrow will pierce through your throat of its own accord. Do you agree?”
Understanding dawned slowly on Selena’s face as she blinked several times, then went pale. In an instant, she dropped to both knees and pressed her head to the ground.
“I’m… deeply sorry! I’ve committed a sin worthy of death.”
“If you’ve committed a sin worthy of death, then death is only fitting.”
At my words, Selena simply trembled throughout her entire frame.
—I cannot see what expression Selena wears with her head pressed down like that.
From what I’ve observed so far, she’s shown considerable acting ability to seduce me, and what’s happening now could be a continuation of that same performance.
Though she trembles, she could be genuinely terrified, or she could be humiliated by my threat, or she could even be laughing at the thought that her act will work on me.
Either way, I cannot kill Selena. Manggot needs me for one reason alone: the Ancient Language. If I’m deemed to lack sufficient value and become more of a hindrance than an asset, they’ll slit my throat without hesitation.
“If you’re going to do pointless things from now on, do them at Manggot.”
“Does that mean… every time I change clothes, I should do so at Manggot?”
“It’s not just changing clothes. Whether you’re eating, using the toilet, or anything else that has nothing to do with assisting me—resolve all of it there.”
Selena murmured her assent in a voice barely audible.
She must be thoroughly displeased. She’ll be unable to employ most of her means of seduction.
“Disappear and don’t show your face.”
“…Yes.”
After answering, Selena vanished with her head still pressed to the ground. The manner of her disappearance resembled Hagli’s. The Transfer was always remarkable to witness.
“Phew. Now I can finally have some peace.”
At last, time to myself. Ordinarily this was how things should be, but Selena’s unexpected arrival had thrown it into disarray.
I was about to collect my thoughts when,
“I’ve… changed and returned.”
Chaos resumed.
“…….”
Selena was dressed in pajamas. Of course, like the maid outfit, they barely deserved the name—utterly impractical garments designed to emphasize her figure. Her waist dipped inward in a way that looked plucked straight from a manga.
Watching Selena in pajamas that served no actual purpose, I felt myself grow colder still.
“Why did you come back?”
“Yes, yes?”
“You’re in pajamas. That means you were about to sleep, wasn’t it?”
“That’s… yes. It’s late, so…….”
“I told you to handle anything unrelated to assisting me at Manggot.”
Selena’s mouth fell open.
“Then… sleeping is also something I should do at Manggot……?”
“And how does your sleeping have anything to do with protecting me?”
“……It doesn’t.”
“Get out.”
Selena’s lips trembled before she drew them into a thin line and lowered her head.
As she vanished, her final expression looked rather indignant.
* * *
Manggot was a cavern built into a cliff face, but its interior had developed into an entire city.
Commercial and residential districts were clearly demarcated, and nearly every facility humans could need had been installed.
Selena stood dazed in front of her home for a moment.
“Why did you come back, Selena?”
Hagli spoke to her from behind.
At Hagli’s question—so similar to Frontdier’s—Selena felt her irritation rise.
“……I was sent away.”
“Sent away? By Frontdier?”
“Yes. He said anything not related to his protection should be handled here.”
“Hmm, even sleeping?”
Exactly. Selena muttered the words on a sigh, her voice wavering on the edge of tears.
“I’ve never been disrespected like this in my life.”
“You’ve seduced men before, haven’t you?”
“Still! I was confident! You said it would work if it were me, didn’t you!”
“……Hmm.”
Hagli stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The truth was, even Hagli hadn’t anticipated this turn of events.
Frontdier had always been plagued by crippling insecurity. He’d smiled uncontrollably at being called ‘lord’ by Hagli alone.
Hagli had assumed that with a beauty like Selena beside him—and with that beauty actively seducing him—he’d succumb instantly, grinning like a fool.
“You said I could seduce him…… so I thought I could too, and I have nothing to say about it…… but it was absolutely terrifying…….,” Selena mumbled, her voice trailing into something between speech and genuine weeping.
Whether meant for herself or for him to hear, she made a strange, pitiful sound.
“It simply requires time. Frontdier couldn’t possibly be unmoved by you. He’s merely being arrogant right now.”
“Arrogant…… is that really what it is……..”
Selena could still hear the chill in Frontdier’s voice ringing in her ears. She’d thought she would die. And the mission had barely begun—hadn’t even been a full day.
“For now, focus on protecting Frontdier. Only—be especially mindful of your gestures and expressions. He won’t be able to say anything about those.”
“……Yes.”
In fact, Frontdier hadn’t criticized her seductive behavior at all. Realizing this, Selena nodded.
……But if he wasn’t criticizing it, didn’t that mean it hadn’t been working in the first place?
“He will fall eventually.”
Hagli spoke with absolute certainty.
“There is no woman who loves Frontdier.”
* * *
The next day, I headed to the barracks according to Ridwei’s orders. Selena accompanied me.
The barracks seemed to be divided by rank, with soldiers on the first floor and knights on the second.
I paused to observe, then climbed the stairs.
“Hey, that’s not the way for you.”
Someone at the top of the stairs looked down at me with a smug grin.
……Who is this? Not a face I recognized from Frontdier’s memories, nor from game knowledge.
Moreover, his affected, pompous stance ill-suited a knight, and his aura felt weak—completely unremarkable.
In other words, trash. I ignored him and moved past.
“Didn’t you hear? You’re supposed to be on the first floor.”
Smack.
He tried to grab my arm as I brushed past, but I swatted his hand away easily.
Yet there was something oddly insubstantial about the contact. What’s this—isn’t he a knight?
“This crazy bastard brought a woman along. Can you believe it?”
The man, embarrassed that I’d shaken off his hand, reached toward Selena instead.
Ah, I see.
Selena extended her fingertips to him. He froze with a sharp intake of breath, terror washing over his face. Between her index and middle fingers, she’d somehow conjured two needles. Where they’d come from was anybody’s guess, but they were more than enough to make him recoil.
“My mood is particularly foul at the moment, so I’d advise you not to touch me.”
Selena’s voice, laden with killing intent, seemed to growl like a beast. The man flinched at her tone and stepped back.
Her foul mood appeared to be genuine.
I wondered what had put Selena in such a state.
Though honestly, I couldn’t be sure.
Creak—
I pushed into the room marked “Waiting Area.”
A broad space, austere in every way, furnished with nothing but a handful of long benches scattered across an otherwise empty floor.
There were roughly a dozen men inside.
As I entered, their gazes gradually turned toward me.
One of them, spotting me, spoke with a vacant expression.
“…So he really did bring a woman. This guy’s actually insane.”
I looked around the room.
I’d expected them all to be strangers, but I was wrong.
In the far corner sat Robert. He caught my eye and brought a finger to his lips.
A signal not to acknowledge him.
“Morin was supposed to be out front. You didn’t see him?”
“There was some bastard picking a fight.”
That must be him, then. I let the knight’s remark slide.
The knights’ armor varied wildly in style and design, and each bore different insignia etched into the metal.
The knights conscripted for Taeban were drawn from nearly every region of the empire, though their numbers were never large. Knights are vital assets everywhere, after all.
“Hey, how long do you figure you’ll last?”
One of them asked me directly, point-blank.
“Last?”
“Yeah. There’s a wager going on.”
The one answering grinned widely.
“On what day you’ll die.”
That remark set off a roar of laughter. They were beside themselves, as if they’d heard the funniest thing imaginable.
Only four or five men didn’t laugh—Robert among them.
“In that case,”
I spoke slowly.
“I’ll wager that for one month, not a single person here dies.”
The laughter died. Their eyes held the look of men who’d heard something absurd.
“Is he really mad? Do you know what this place is? This is Taeban. No one dies here for a whole month? Where’d you get that delusional idea?”
“Fine. Then answer me this: besides myself, who among you do you think will die? Is there anyone here desperate enough to want to?”
The knights’ expressions hardened.
They indulge in such crude wagering precisely because this place is Taeban.
In a place where death is inevitable, men have little choice but to descend into madness. Those who don’t usually die first.
I was beginning to understand the psychology behind their calling me mad.
But I had no intention of fighting them.
In fact, I needed them.
“Let me say this once more.”
Moreover,
“While I’m in Taeban, no one here dies.”
They would come to understand, painfully, that they needed me.

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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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