Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (3)

Gregory conveyed Prondier’s words to Philly.

Naturally, Philly’s mouth dropped open.

“Gather the prisoners for an Odyssey?”

“It seems to be something like that. Prondier himself insists that it’s ‘completely different,’ though.”

“Can you ask him again if he can say it’s different in front of me?”

At those words, Gregory paused for a moment.

After a while, Gregory spoke.

“He asks you to convey his apologies.”

“I thought so… Ugh.”

Philly grabbed his head.

The monsters outside, who were the empire’s grudge and nemesis.

Finally, the time has come, and the empire is preparing to drive out the monsters outside and expand the empire’s territory.

The time has come to fulfill a long-cherished wish.

But the situation is not favorable.

‘Humanity has entered a new phase. Without gods, there is no divine power, and naturally, the monsters’ resistance to divine power has become meaningless.’

It is an undeniable fact that humanity has weakened.

For those who originally possessed divine power, the disappearance of divine power is not just a matter of losing strength.

The possibilities they saw when using divine power have been closed. Now, their imagination of what they could originally do is blocked, and they can no longer use all the various applied techniques that start from divine power.

Although the possibility of a new power that is not divine power is just beginning to awaken, it is true that there are no personnel available right now.

Moreover, the damage from the war remains, so the Zodiacs are currently being cautious.

‘Prondier moved knowing all of this.’

Prondier is the one who knows the current situation of humanity better than anyone else.

He would have immediately known that the Odyssey was not progressing easily, and he still came up with a solution that was typical of him.

“Does Mr. Prondier not know the word ‘rest’?”

“In my experience, that is a plausible assumption.”

Gregory’s face was serious, despite his joking words.

“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be okay to leave it to him? I humbly think that Prondier will do well. Even if they are Obsidian prisoners.”

“……It’s not that I’m particularly worried about that.”

Of course, Philly doesn’t know exactly how much power Frondier has right now.

But just because he doesn’t know exactly, he has no worries that the current Frondier will struggle against the prisoners.

Philly’s concern was solely directed at Frondier himself.

“I told him to rest as much as possible to avoid this.”

Philly sighed with a lament.

“People who can do everything alone tend to try to do everything alone.”

* * *

The members were decided.

Cora and Kraken naturally joined, and Hagley, who seemed to have thought about it quite a bit, also participated.

Among the prisoners I saw for the first time that day, only one passed. It was only Moretti who stepped forward at the beginning.

Including myself, there were five of us.

“In the end, we end up with a familiar number.”

The number five is the recommended number for forming a team in Constell. To catch monsters, the minimum number is set at three, and if it’s to be called a team, there should be at least five, and then it goes up in units of ten.

“Then, please take care of us, Esther.”

I reached out my hand to Esther.

Esther looked at my hand with half-closed eyes and said,

“I can’t believe you actually got permission from the palace.”

She didn’t take my hand as she spoke. It’s a bit disappointing.

“You trusted me.”

“Hmph. As long as you got permission, that’s fine. It’s much better now that the annoying guy is gone.”

Esther said, looking at Cora. Cora, who was next to me, stuck out her tongue and said, “Beh,” but immediately hid behind me at Esther’s cold expression.

Esther, what kind of fear did you instill in the white tiger?

“Esther.”

I called out to Esther.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“……”

“With a face like mine, everyone thinks I’m joking when I say things like this.”

I smiled.

Even so, I’m doing my best to convey my feelings completely.

“It’s right after the war, and Renzo is in Obsidian. I know you’re having a hard time.”

“…Hmph. It’s not something you need to worry about.”

A typical Esther response.

But those words gave me a slight sense of discomfort.

‘It’s not something I need to worry about…’

In other words, there must be something to worry about.

“Well then.”

I opened a portal in front of the entrance to Obsidian.

Looking at everyone with wide eyes, I said,

“From now on, I’ll take care of you.”

I brought them to the cabin, an annex of the Roach family. Quinier wasn’t there. He was always busy, and I had already mentioned that criminals were coming.

It seemed that Frondier and Elodie often used it when they were young, but now no one uses the cabin.

Quinier had suggested using this cabin as a hideout. He said the location was too good.

I thought it was a pretty good idea.

Since I didn’t want to be seen by people for a while, I needed a shelter.

So, for now.

“Hmm, like this, I guess.”

I built a workshop next to the cabin.

“……”

Everyone I brought with me stared at the workshop with their mouths open.

The workshop is a storage room where everything I have replicated sleeps. Weapons, armor, items, various documents and information, knowledge like dictionaries, all gathered together.

The workshop is a kind of concept, so the more data I store to replicate, the bigger the workshop gets.

So, having been involved in all sorts of incidents and having gone through two wars, I really have all sorts of things in there, and the workshop’s height and width are now quite extraordinary.

“…What is this, a prison?”

Cora, who was next to me, muttered.

Calling it a prison is harsh.

“It’s like a warehouse that can’t be broken from the outside or inside.”

“Can’t you get out once you’re in?”

“Well, if I want it that way, you can’t get out.”

“Then it is a prison.”

…Now that I hear it.

At that moment, Hagley looked around the workshop and said,

“…Rather than a prison, it’s more like a dungeon.”

“Oh.”

A dungeon?

As I showed interest, Hagley continued.

“It’s a strange building with no windows to look outside. It can’t be destroyed by ordinary means. The only way to eliminate this building is to clear the conditions within the dungeon or destroy the core. In this case, it would be your life.”

Hagley looked at me as he spoke.

Indeed, if I die, this building will naturally disappear. Because it was taken out from within me.

According to Hagley, I would be the dungeon boss.

But that’s a story for later, and I took out the workshop for a different reason.

“The others are resting in the hut next door. They’ll have to move later anyway.”

At that, Kraken’s eyes narrowed.

“Rest?”

“Yes. They must be tired from staying in Obsidian.”

“……”

Kraken looked at me with a face that seemed to say, ‘What is this guy thinking again?’

But I had no particular ulterior motive.

They are the ones who will have to fight the monsters outside with me anyway.

There will be plenty of hard and painful tasks later. I don’t need to add to that.

“Come on, go ahead. This workshop wasn’t made to confine you.”

At my words, they hesitated a bit but soon started to move.

One of them.

I grabbed Cora’s collar and stopped him.

“Except you.”

“Ah.”

“You come in there with me.”

I pointed to the workshop with a smile as I spoke to Cora.

Cora’s face hardened coldly.

“Shouldn’t you pay the price for making Ms. Quinie suffer?”

* * *

Following Frondier’s words, the three moved to the cabin.

Kraken, Hagley, and Moretti sat awkwardly on any chair.

Moretti glanced around and spoke.

“…This cabin isn’t magically protected at all. There’s no lock, and we can leave if we want to.”

“Seems that way.”

Hagley replied plainly.

Moretti lowered his voice unnecessarily.

“Isn’t this an opportunity? Leaving us in a place like this without any guard. It’s like they’re praying for us to escape.”

“That’s probably right.”

Kraken said.

“That person is probably desperately hoping at least one of us escapes. That’s the kind of person they are.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

It was Hagley who answered.

“Anyway, if you want to escape, then escape.”

Hagley even leisurely extended his hand towards the entrance. As if the door was always open.

“…What? You guys don’t plan to escape?”

“No.”

“Nope.”

The two answered without a moment’s hesitation.

Moretti shouted with a distorted face.

“What are you thinking! We’re prisoners of Obsidian! No matter where that idiot came from, if they’re this unguarded, they’re completely underestimating us! What are you so scared of?”

“…”

“…”

The two didn’t budge despite Moretti’s provocation.

Moretti alternated his gaze between the two, then his eyes sank.

“Fine. Stay here forever. Cowards.”

Stomp. Stomp.

Bang!

Moretti walked roughly, opened the door roughly, and went out with rough steps.

As he said, the door wasn’t locked, and nothing was blocking him.

Such an easy escape, Moretti walked with an awkward feeling of too much freedom.

Hagley and Kraken, who were watching with their heads slightly out, exchanged glances.

“How long do you think it will take?”

Kraken asked.

“I don’t know.”

Hagley replied.

Then he added.

“We can’t read Frondier’s mind.”

“That’s true. Hmm, by the way, it’s surprising. That guy Moretti looked quite strong. How could he not notice Frondier yet?”

“No.”

Hagley shook his head.

“Judging by his appearance, even if Frondier’s identity is revealed, he wouldn’t know who it is.”

“…He doesn’t know Frondier?”

Kraken asked in a puzzled voice.

“No matter how insensitive he is to information, how can that be? How can someone from the Empire not know Frondier? Even if he’s in Obsidian, there would be stories.”

“Even if he heard, he wouldn’t have been interested. It’s not his business.”

Hagley looked at the still open cabin door.

“He’s hiding it, but there’s a unique tone in his speech. It’s more noticeable when he’s angry. His gait and stride are different from those of the Empire people. Frondier liked him because he wasn’t carelessly complacent. That characteristic is understandable when you see his appearance.”

“…Then that man Moretti.”

“Yes.”

Hagley nodded.

“He’s probably not from the Empire. His speech is exactly like that of Mangot. He must be someone close to that place.”