Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (2)

Kraken silently glared at me.

But we both knew this was going to happen.

Both Kraken and I.

We were prepared for a slaughter disguised as a test.

“…Hmph.”

Then Kraken laughed.

“I lost. I can’t handle it. Can you pull this sword out?”

He relaxed his muscles. The tentacles returned to their original form, and he raised his hands as if truly surrendering.

“Alright.”

I raised my hand to retrieve the mana of the Nine Worlds.

But then,

Swoosh!

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, the small sword was pulled out from Kraken’s shoulder,

Thud!

And returned to my palm.

‘……?’

I looked at the small sword that fit perfectly in my hand for a moment.

‘This wasn’t made with weaving, but it came back to my hand.’

Neil Zack’s small sword is one of the few ‘real’ weapons I possess.

In urgent situations where I can’t use black heaven or weaving, this small sword has always been a reliable ally.

It is also the weapon I used the most during training.

But in all that time, the thrown weapon had never returned on its own.

‘Did it have this function?’

Did blacksmith Neil Zack not tell me about it? No, I had ‘analyzed’ this sword before. There was no explanation that it would return to the user’s hand.

Something has changed. Neil Zack’s small sword.

‘I’ll think about this later.’

I put aside my thoughts.

“How is it? Isn’t this enough to pass?”

What a shameless guy. He tried to kill me.

But he is right.

“Yes. You pass.”

“Great. I knew you were a flexible person. My eyes weren’t wrong.”

Kraken smiled and nodded.

I looked around and said,

“Anyone else? Anyone else coming out of this prison?”

The surroundings fell silent at my words.

Hmm, strange. This plan was originally to take Cora.

But Cora is nowhere to be seen. Where on earth,

“Me, me! It’s me!”

“…….”

Found it.

A small hand popped up in the crowd. Jumping up and down.

‘Right, that guy was small.’

He was just hidden among the prisoners.

I smiled and said,

“Alright, come down.”

* * *

After all the tests were over.

I checked Neil Jacques’ short sword in front of a prison.

“Hmm, as expected……”

The blade of the short sword is black.

The mana of the Nine Worlds has already been retrieved.

‘This is just like the black monsters I saw in Yerranhes.’

In Yerranhes, black monsters invaded along with the outside monsters.

Those monsters smeared their blackness on nearby monsters, making them stronger and tougher.

“Of course, I’ve imbued my mana into weapons many times.”

It’s the first time this blackness remains even after retrieval.

‘I think I could forcibly retrieve it if I tried.’

The blade of the short sword has turned black, but I think I can retrieve this mana if I want to.

But somehow, I don’t feel like it.

I turned my gaze inside the prison and asked,

“Renzo, what do you think?”

“……So.”

Renzo glared at me with murderous eyes.

“Why are you talking to me so casually, you b*stard?”

“Well, I came all the way to Obsidian and couldn’t see you. I was looking for you.”

I heard from Esther that Renzo wasn’t in solitary confinement.

So I thought I’d naturally run into him in the combat room earlier, but Renzo was nowhere to be seen.

“I heard you did well in the war. So I wanted to meet you someday.”

“You dare to speak so shamelessly. You, who did not keep your promise.”

“Promise?”

“During the last Mangot War, you promised to let me fight the gods! But you, you resolved the war before I even saw the face of a demon, let alone a god. How dare you lie to me.”

Renzo glared at me as if he would really kill me. It wasn’t a joke; he seemed genuinely furious.

I was startled and looked at Renzo for a moment before asking.

“…There were quite a number of monsters outside and inside Mangot, and there must have been shepherds too. Wasn’t that enough?”

“Of course not! They didn’t even make a dent!”

What a scary guy.

I don’t know about now, but back then, I would have been nervous with that many numbers and strength.

“It’s because you’re too strong. No matter how I think about it, that was the most dangerous area at the time.”

“That’s not the point! What happened to the fight with the gods? That was your promise!”

“I’m sorry about that, but in the end, you did fight a god. Wasn’t it Tyr? You said you defeated him.”

“That wasn’t the promise you made!”

“But I started that war.”

The gods invaded the human world. That was because of me.

In fact, I have a kind of guilt because of it. Although the result of that war was the end of the gods’ play of raising humans, many people died in the process.

It was a war I started. They died because of me. Sometimes, it weighs heavily on my mind.

But not Renzo.

I have nothing to apologize to you for, man.

“Even if it was a bit late, I kept my promise. Please understand.”

“…Hmm.”

Renzo, who had been quietly listening to me, put his hand on his chin and said, “Is that so?”

As expected, Renzo is reliable.

“By the way, Renzo, why didn’t you come out earlier?”

“Oh, you mean killing the monsters outside the barrier?”

“Yes. Won’t you participate?”

“No, I’m not interested.”

Renzo closed his eyes and shook his head.

I was a little surprised.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you would definitely join this plan,”

“Did you think it would be fun?”

Renzo asked back. At his words, I thought carefully again.

“…No, now that I think about it, no.”

“Yeah. It’s not fun.”

Renzo clearly finds the greatest enjoyment in fighting, but he doesn’t find it fun with a weak opponent. If he did, Renzo would be wandering outside the dungeon or the barrier, not the empire.

But even so, has even the monsters outside become boring now?

“But it’s a chance to get out of here. Don’t you want to breathe the outside air?”

I asked once more.

Leaving aside the fun, what is so good about this prison that Renzo stays here?

“…Haa.”

At my words, Renzo let out a deep sigh.

“Frondier, the biggest reason I’m not participating in that plan is.”

Then he glared at me.

…Why the sudden killing intent?

“Because you don’t worry about me getting out of prison.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

Clang.

Renzo grabbed the iron bars.

“You, who moved for the empire, wouldn’t let me out without any thought. Putting me in the monster extermination squad means that you have confidence that you can control even me.”

“….”

I shut my mouth at those words.

Indeed.

I had touched Renzo’s pride.

“Hmph.”

Renzo saw my expression and then sat back, crossing his arms.

“The most infuriating thing is that I can’t help but acknowledge that.”

“…Renzo. I have no intention of underestimating you, not even a bit,”

“That’s the problem, you.”

Renzo spoke with his eyes closed, not looking at me.

“If you don’t know how strong you are right now, perhaps that’s a blessing for humanity.”

* * *

The Imperial Palace.

A man awkwardly entered the Empress’s office.

“…Your Majesty. This is the report on the restoration and maintenance of the barriers and roads in Taebon.”

“Alright. Leave it there.”

Philly replied, her gaze fixed on the desk.

“Yes, yes.”

The man bowed his head and left with the same stiff movements he had when he arrived.

He paused for a moment, then glanced at Philly, who was focused on her work.

“Your Majesty, um, next time, can I send a bird to deliver the documents instead…?”

“That wouldn’t be possible, would it, Mr. Gregory?”

“Of course not. Hahaha.”

Gregory scratched his head with a dry laugh.

Philly lifted her eyes from the desk and looked at Gregory.

“…By the way, Mr. Gregory.”

“Yes, yes.”

“By now, you should be used to the work. There’s no need to be so timid like a hamster, is there?”

Philly rested her chin on her hand, her eyes filled with concern.

Gregory rolled his eyes for a moment before speaking.

“Well, I’m not used to doing this kind of work face-to-face.”

“You have quite a social phobia.”

“It’s more of a habit than a phobia.”

“Hmm.”

Philly looked at Gregory with an unreadable expression.

“How is your work in the secret department?”

“It’s, it’s fine. I can manage.”

Gregory spoke awkwardly, feeling it was a bit inappropriate to discuss such matters in front of the Empress. He had never been good at such formalities.

Philly smiled as if she understood.

“Elisia isn’t bothering you, is she?”

“Ah, no. They treat me very well.”

“That’s a relief.”

Gregory entered the secret department.

During the last war, Gregory had a significant impact through simultaneous communication with Malia. This caught the attention of Philly, who recognized his abilities.

Thus, Gregory is only nominally part of the secret department but operates independently. His direct superior is Philly, and there is no one below him. Considering he was once a prisoner under Indus, this is an enormous promotion.

Originally, Philly didn’t worry much about the secret department because Elisha was there.

The secret department had frequent mistakes and lost Philly’s trust, but Elisha restored order. Elisha was the perfect person to control the secret department’s subtle attempts to escape Philly’s oversight.

However, this was only because Philly and Elisha were mother and daughter. It wasn’t a system.

If Philly were to step down from her position as Empress, or if Elisha were unable to continue her work in the secret department for any reason, the department would risk reverting to its former state.

That’s when Philly noticed Gregory’s abilities.

Gregory’s abilities in surveillance, information gathering, and sharing were nearly perfect. His ability to control small animals allowed him to gather information even deeper than Malia’s sensory sharing. He could work within the secret department while simultaneously monitoring it.

Moreover, Gregory’s abilities were hereditary magic. If he had children, there was a high probability they would inherit his abilities. This could potentially become a system.

“Mr. Gregory, I’ve heard about your achievements through Mr. Frondier. Your abilities are exceptional. Even Mr. Frondier said the stability was entirely different when you were around. Conversely, if the enemy knows about your abilities, you will be their primary target.”

Gregory could gather information from almost the entire continent alone, and with Malia’s cooperation, that information could reach Agoris.

If he could cover such a wide network alone, he would become the most important person for the enemy to eliminate first.

“So, instead of hiding somewhere, you should act with other officials in the palace. It’s best to hide a tree in a forest.”

“…But now, the Empire doesn’t really have any enemies…”

“What did you say?”

“No, sometimes my mouth mumbles things I don’t even think about. Forgive me.”

Philly smiled brightly at Gregory’s excuse. Gregory broke into a cold sweat and avoided her gaze.

“Well, then, I’ll be going.”

“Yes, go ahead. Good luck.”

A strange tone in a strange voice. Philly was incredibly scary at times like this. Gregory hurriedly decided to leave.

Step, step.

Halt.

But his steps soon stopped.

“…I have a report.”

Philly’s smile deepened at those words.

The second reason Philly kept Gregory close.

Gregory bowed his head deeply, then looked back at Philly and spoke.

“Prondier called the crow.”