Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (4)

Cora was dragged by Frondier, who grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

“N-no! Let me go! aaah!!”

Normally, Cora wouldn’t resist Frondier.

Quinie trusted Frondier, and despite everything, Cora herself had received a lot of help from Frondier.

Moreover, she knew well what he had done as a hero of this empire.

“Save me! Save meee!!”

But now, it’s different.

Frondier, striding into the workshop, was truly terrifying.

Some bad memories were starting to resurface. Extremely terrifying memories.

No, why can’t I escape from this hand in the first place? I’m a white tiger! A beastman with the blood of a white tiger, dozens of times stronger than an ordinary human!

“Go in.”

Whoosh.

Frondier threw Cora into the workshop almost like throwing a piece of luggage.

When Cora quickly got back on her feet.

Whoosh.

“Ah…”

The entrance disappeared. In other words, the exit disappeared.

The hole that had been wide open without even a door when Cora was let in, vanished as if it had never been there the moment she entered.

Now, only Frondier and Cora were left in the workshop.

Cora stared blankly into the air.

“…Mom…”

“Stop making a fuss.”

Whoosh.

Frondier threw something that fell in front of Cora.

When Cora checked, it was a necklace.

“A necklace…? No, this is.”

Looking closer, it was a necklace Cora knew.

Quinie always wore it. A necklace with a black gem.

“That’s a necklace called Black Lotus. It was originally mine.”

“Black Lotus…”

Cora absentmindedly picked up the necklace and fiddled with it.

The ornament in the middle definitely looked like a gem, but it seemed somewhat transparent.

Wouldn’t this break if I put too much force on it?

Clang.

“Ah.”

Cora lightly tested her strength, but the necklace couldn’t withstand it and shattered into pieces.

Cora’s face turned pale.

‘I just broke Quinieh’s necklace…’

As she thought that, the broken fragments suddenly moved on their own, gathering together to form the shape of the jewel again.

“Huh, huh!”

Cora gasped. It was a strange sound mixed with surprise and relief.

“As you can see, it’s a necklace that easily breaks but restores itself. As long as it’s supplied with magic power.”

“I-I see. What do you want me to do with this?”

At Cora’s question, Prondier slowly walked over, picked up the necklace, and handed it back to Cora.

“Cora. Before you go to Obsidian, I heard your story.”

“From Quinieh?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Cora’s face fell. Coming to Obsidian wasn’t Cora’s intention, but still, she couldn’t say it wasn’t her fault. No one knew better than Cora how much Quinieh had suffered because of it.

“Quinieh is worried about you.”

“…Yeah.”

“And my mission is to eliminate that worry.”

“How?”

Cora asked.

Crunch.

At that moment, Prondier lightly pressed the jewel.

Then, the black lotus shattered without resistance.

Prondier spoke to Cora, who was staring blankly at it.

“See? Anyone can break this if they want to, not just you. But you didn’t even think it would break, yet it did.”

The black lotus was something Prondier could break even when he was much weaker in the past. In other words, it’s a necklace that any ordinary human can break.

However, if you don’t intend to break it, it won’t break. It has that level of strength. But Cora broke it.

“From now on, I’ll give you a mission.”

“A mission…?”

“Even after transforming into a white tiger, do not break this jewel.”

At those words, Cora opened her mouth. Soon, her eyes frowned.

“No. It’s impossible.”

As if it was frustrating to say it herself, Cora’s expression darkened as she spoke.

“I know what happened when I turned into a white tiger. So I’ve been trying not to become a white tiger until now. It’s the same until now. Even in the square, during the trial, of course, I got angry, but I didn’t become a white tiger. That’s how much I’ve improved. Now, I don’t know if I can become a white tiger, or what will happen if I do. But in the meantime, telling me not to break this jewel is nonsense.”

Prondier looked at Cora for a moment.

Cora still has an immature appearance in terms of appearance, speech, and behavior.

But it’s just immaturity, it doesn’t mean he has no thoughts.

It was none other than Cora who put Quinier in danger when she was very young. Even in Constell, and when Prondier left the empire as time passed.

It is always Cora who makes Quinier difficult.

And Cora knows that better than anyone else.

So Cora tried not to become a white tiger.

Even if she was consumed by emotions like anger, even if she inhaled powder, she would have gritted her teeth and tried not to become a white tiger. As a result, he was able to suppress the transformation.

But he is a white tiger. Half of his blood is that of a white tiger.

To prevent him from becoming a white tiger means to abandon half of himself.

But even so, Cora made that choice.

Is there a child as troubled as a troublemaker who knows they are a troublemaker?

‘I understand why Quinier hid things about Cora from me.’

Quinier is unsure whether Cora’s current actions are right or wrong.

Cora not becoming a white tiger is his own will. But the cause is clearly because of Quinier.

Cora doesn’t want Quinier to suffer or be in danger any more.

Even if it means becoming a criminal.

So is this the right thing?

‘I also don’t know if what Cora is doing now is right.’

Prondier is basically indifferent to others. To be precise, he doesn’t want to interfere.

If Cora was just someone living somewhere beyond the world, unrelated to Prondier, he wouldn’t care whether she became a white tiger or not. Prondier would affirm that way of life in any case.

But in this situation, guilt will surely pile up on Quinier.

That can’t happen.

“Cora, you have to become a white tiger.”

“No! Whenever I became a white tiger, it was always!”

“It’s okay here.”

Frondeer spread his arms wide.

“There’s no one here. The walls, floor, and ceiling of this place can’t be broken by anyone, and no one can come in or out. No one will get hurt.”

“…But you’re here! What about you?”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

As Frondeer spoke, he thought.

Quinie probably knew I would say this.

That’s why he hid it.

Because this method is certainly dangerous.

Quinie doesn’t want to put Frondeer in danger.

“Cora, this is an opportunity. A chance to harness the power of the White Tiger. A chance for you to become your true self. Right now, you need someone suitable to help you with that. Someone who can handle your full power without killing you.”

But now that Frondeer understood the situation,

His actions would be exactly as Quinie predicted.

“Because right now, I’m the only one in this world.”

* * *

Late at night.

Moretti walked through the forest.

How long had he been walking?

Moretti instinctively realized his situation.

‘I’m lost.’

Where should he go?

The area around the cabin was wide and had quite a few paths, so he thought he would soon see a main road. He had run straight into the forest to avoid being caught on the already existing paths, but that was a mistake.

‘No, as long as I get out of this forest, it won’t be a mistake!’

Crack, snap.

Moretti moved as straight as possible, forcibly breaking branches and rocks in his way. Humans get lost in the forest not only because it’s hard to know the direction, but also because they tend to avoid obstacles in front of them.

Every time he avoided an obstacle, his direction changed, and as he kept walking without finding his way back, he ended up far from the ‘straight path’ he initially intended.

This forest was dense and darker than he thought. Today, not even the stars were visible, so moving forward consumed a lot of energy, but it was the quickest way out of the forest.

‘Damn, I’m unlucky. Of all times, it’s a cloudy sky with no stars.’

Moretti looked up. The pitch-black sky. Not a single star was visible. It must be thick clouds covering the sky. The clouds were so dense that even the moon was hidden.

‘…?’

Moretti stopped walking.

I look up at the sky again.

A sky where neither stars nor the moon can be seen. In the dense forest, the sky is hardly visible, but there are no stars where they should be.

…But why is it so bright?

Rustle.

Moretti looked around.

A forest is inherently dark. If clouds cover the sky, it becomes pitch dark.

It should be like that now.

But the surroundings are bright.

“What… is… this…?”

Moretti glared at the sky again.

A dark sky with no stars.

The stars are not visible because of the clouds.

But if it’s not clouds.

Snap─

Then, there was a sound of something breaking in the air. It was a bit farther from where Moretti was standing.

Swoosh─

And soon, the sound of rain followed. But Moretti’s body did not get wet.

The sound of rain came from a distance. But it was strange that the rain could be heard but not felt. Is there such a narrow area where rain falls?

To Moretti, whose curiosity was growing.

The sound of rain getting closer.

“…Huh?”

Moretti looked in the direction of the rain.

He saw the approaching rain.

The pouring rain.

No, he saw something pouring down.

Swoosh─!

And as the sound of rain got closer.

Crack, snap.

The sound of breaking could be heard.

Crushing branches and dry ground,

──Black rain.

“What, what, aaah!!”

Moretti immediately turned around and ran.

He wasn’t mistaken.

The rain is destroying the forest. It is breaking the trees and carving eerie wounds into the ground as it approaches him.

How could he mistake something like that? Even if it is rain, it is not water that is falling.

Something other than water is falling as rain. Approaching him.

Breaking and gnawing at everything in its path.

“Hah, hah! Huff!”

Moretti had never seen such a terrifying sight in his life.

He had seen dreadful monsters many times. He had met strong opponents comparable to them.

Even when facing them and confronting the brink of life and death, he had never felt this level of fear.

At that time, it was a fear he could understand. It was a death he had prepared for. Even if he couldn’t accept it, it was a death he could understand.

But this? This is a disaster he had never seen before. Has the world come to an end? Have humans, who won the war against the gods, been punished by something beyond the realm of understanding as a price?

Moretti looked back several times as he ran. Seeing the scene he had just witnessed again, and again, and finally confirming it one last time.

Every moment, the black rain he had not mistaken.

Hoping for a changed scene, he ran, but nothing changed.

The rain seemed to approach slowly, but it was just an illusion, barely keeping up with Moretti’s full-speed run.

Nevertheless, just in case, he looked back one last time.

Thud!

“Ugh?!”

He collided with something in front of him. He didn’t care what he hit. If you keep turning your head back like that, you’ll eventually hit something, you idiot! Whatever it is, you have to dodge it and keep running!

“Alright, that’s enough.”

But the thing he collided with spoke. It was a human.

When he realized that, Moretti shouted involuntarily.

“R-run! A disaster is coming! Black, pitch-black rain is coming, destroying the world!”

“Your fuss is on a bigger scale.”

The man in front of him spoke in a calm voice and waved his hand once.

Swoosh…

The sound of rain subsided just with that.

When Moretti cautiously turned around, the approaching rain had disappeared.

“……”

He looked at the sky.

It was a clear moonlight.

“……A dream……?”

“Maybe.”

Only then did Moretti confirm the person he had bumped into. It was the mysterious man who had pulled him out of the obsidian.

“But you’ve returned to the starting point.”

“Huh……?”

Moretti looked around. There was no need to look far; the cabin was visible behind Frondier.

“……”

Indeed, as soon as he saw the black rain, he had reversed the direction he came from and ran. Naturally, he had no choice but to return to the beginning.

Still, the fact that he had definitely gone ‘straight’ until he returned might be some consolation.

“Do you want to try again? I won’t stop you.”

Frondier asked. He even extended his hand towards the forest as if encouraging him.

Moretti stared blankly at him, then asked again.

“……Was that a dream earlier?”

“Maybe?”

Frondier’s answer was the same.

“If it was a dream, wouldn’t it be okay to try again?”

“……”

Moretti looked at the forest again at those words.

He spoke without any expression.

“I won’t go.”