Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (36)

When Prondior had confirmed all the people covered in silhouettes, he let out a deep sigh.

As he sighed, his gaze lowered.

‘I’ve confirmed what needed to be confirmed.’

His eyes looked down at the fake and Quinée, the two of them.

‘Now the problem is how to switch back with that fake.’

The two were still engrossed in their meeting.

In fact, if he went down now and explained the situation, it would be resolved, but perhaps because of the earlier behavior of the fake Prondior, it felt awkward. He had somewhat grasped how Quinée viewed the existence of Prondior.

While Prondior was pondering for a moment, Quinée suddenly stopped speaking.

“What’s wrong? Senior?”

The fake asked, and Quinée stared at the fake before speaking.

“Prondior. I really need you.”

“Pardon?”

“After seeing your actions until now, I’m convinced. You’re a man I can trust.”

At those words, the fake Prondior looked at Quinée, seemingly a bit flustered.

Prondior, watching that, had a nearly similar reaction.

“Prondior, I’ll ask you once more.”

Quinée gently extended her hand.

“Be my knight.”

“…….”

“I will place our family in the glorious position of the Empire. For that, I need your help. You will never lose out. I won’t disappoint you.”

At those words, the fake seemed to hesitate for a moment, closing his mouth.

Seizing the opportunity, Quinée spoke.

“You said before that you couldn’t accept my request because you had to save the world.”

“……That was the case.”

“The world has been saved now.”

Quinie’s hand rested on the shoulder of the fake Frondior.

“You can’t run away with that excuse anymore.”

The real Frondior, watching from the tree, leaned slightly forward.

‘……I have to stop this.’

Quinie’s proposal now required careful consideration.

At least, it was not a matter for the fake to decide.

But at the same time,

‘……then what is my answer?’

Becoming Quinie’s knight. It’s certainly not a bad proposal.

Quinie is a capable merchant and a good person whom Frondior need not worry about. Given her exceptional skills, it is not at all unrealistic for her to achieve the dreams she desires.

The promise that came from Quinie’s lips, “You won’t suffer any losses.” Since Quinie said it, there is no better proposal than this.

Frondior saved the world.

So, that excuse cannot be made.

Then what is my excuse?

“Alright.”

As the real Frondior momentarily paused in thought,

the fake responded.

“I will become your knight, Senior Quinie.”

At that, the real Frondior’s eyes narrowed.

The fake answered on its own. Explaining that to Quinie later is already giving me a headache.

“…….”

Quinie stared at the fake as if in a daze, her sparkling eyes lingering on Frondior for a moment,

“……Hah.”

She let out a sigh.

“That’s enough now.”

And with a careless wave of her hand towards the fake.

With a puff, the fake vanished like smoke.

“!”

The real Frondior’s eyes widened at the sight. Quinie lifted her head and called out loudly.

“Frondior, where are you? You can come out now.”

He was momentarily frozen, but his actions were already determined.

He lightly descended from the tree and walked towards Quinier.

“How did you know? That it was fake.”

The fake in front of Quinier was not an ordinary forgery.

It was a Frondier that Quinier had conjured up with her own thoughts, created in her own image.

Regardless of what the real Frondier might think, to Quinier’s eyes, it must have appeared endlessly real.

“I thought it was a bit strange while we were talking.”

Quinier said with a slight smile.

“Because it always says what I want to hear.”

“……!”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

Since this was Quinier’s dream, the fake Frondier always spoke as Quinier wished.

Thus, Quinier realized.

Frondier does not do that.

“And I don’t think I can solve this problem with the Frondier that says what I want.”

Quinier shrugged her shoulders and grinned.

“It was fun, but that’s enough now.”

“……I see.”

“So what happened? Why did it switch with the fake? You’ll tell me a reason I can accept, right?”

Quinier asked with a smile.

Though she was smiling, she expected a reason that would be acceptable.

In response, Frondier explained the brief situation as detailed as possible, to avoid any misunderstandings.

“……Hmm. I was trying to pretend to be Amper in order to stop the wolf.”

“Yes. The fake handled it easily, so there was no need for that anymore.”

“Right. It would have been nice if I could have trusted you from the beginning.”

Quinier sighed.

But that would be difficult. In Quinier’s eyes, Frondier was still a four-year-old. She could not have accepted that he would exert strong power from the very start.

“So while I was talking to the fake, did you figure something out?”

“Yes.”

Frondier nodded.

“However, what I found out is that you already know.”

“I already know?”

“I checked everyone here from the tree.”

Frondier looked around once and said.

“They were all silhouettes.”

“Is that strange?”

“It could be, or it might not be.”

“What does that mean?”

Frondier took a moment to catch his breath.

From now on, he would say something a bit cruel.

“Senpai, can I ask you one thing?”

“Sure?”

“……Do you remember your mother’s face?”

In that instant, the sounds around Quinny stopped.

Quinny, forgetting even to breathe, looked at Frondier with her eyes widening little by little.

Her eyes seemed to open as if she had not realized that fact herself, gradually coming to a realization.

“……I see.”

And a mutter as if she understood.

It would be difficult for her to remember every member of her family.

Quinny was young at the time, and there were many people in the Viet family.

So, those figures she couldn’t remember were treated as silhouettes.

But could she really not remember even one person?

‘I understand that the silhouettes were simply used to explain the situation and location.’

But does that mean everyone has to be a silhouette?

This question kept swirling in Frondier’s mind, but he realized that the question itself was wrong.

Quinny did not cover them with silhouettes out of necessity.

It was simply unavoidable.

“In the end, it connects like that.”

Quinny murmured.

Her voice sounded as if she had set something down somewhere.

She finally looked at Frondier and said.

“That’s right.”

A simple affirmation.

However, the content is anything but ordinary.

“I can’t remember my mother’s face. Not just my mother, but I can’t remember anyone from the family.”

“Is that also a result of the incident that Kora attacked?”

“No.”

Once again, it was straightforward and immediate.

Of course, Frondier was not surprised.

He knew she would say no.

“I’ve never looked anyone’s face straight on.”

Quinée de Viet.

The reason she was able to revive the family was partly because she was the only one left in the family.

Until then, the Viet family was on the brink of collapse.

The head of the family, who should have been its pillar, had disappeared, and the family’s influence was plummeting by the moment, losing trust with the most important connections as a merchant.

Quinée had seen the bare face of the family, falling from a high position. At a very young age.

As a child, she was much shorter than others, and unless she looked up, she couldn’t see most faces straight on.

At that time, it was quite fortunate.

Because she didn’t want to see anyone’s face.

“……Was it the same for your mother?”

“She was the worst.”

Quinée chuckled softly.

“The person they called my mother was already half out of her mind by then. The head of the Viet family, her husband, had disappeared. Armel, yes, Armel was his name. My father’s name. Looking back now, that man must have known that the Viet family would find it even harder to endure at that time. He had made too many enemies. So he ran away.”

The Viet family before Quinée also had its heyday.

However, the head of the family at that time, Armel, was too greedy. He failed to adhere to the merchant’s principle: ‘Make money, but do not chase it.’ Blinded by money, Armel created far too many enemies, and it was too late for him to realize that no matter how much money one has, it means nothing once a certain line is crossed.

“……It’s an embarrassing story.”

Quinée lowered her gaze.

“Neither my father nor my mother, there wasn’t a single person I could proudly speak of. Since I can’t even remember their faces, let alone the people below them. The reason I was able to rise quickly after the entire family died, ironically, was because I didn’t get particularly attached to them.”

Quinée was truly speaking of her parents as if they were complete strangers.

Perhaps that was not a lie or a facade, but Quinée’s genuine feelings.

Quinie soon wore a perplexed expression.

“But does talking about this really help jog my memory? It’s just explaining how messed up our family was.”

“…If you really think this story isn’t significant, you would have mentioned it to me at least once before coming here.”

“It’s an embarrassing story, you know?”

“Even so, you would have said something.”

Ugh. Frondier felt a sense of unease the moment he spoke.

I see, this is the way of speaking. A subtly clever way of expressing myself without realizing it.

But for now, without showing any signs, Frondier continued.

“The reason Quinie’s forgetfulness still persists is probably because you want it to.”

“…I don’t want it.”

“That’s because you don’t yet know what you’ve forgotten.”

Frondier turned his gaze to Quinie and directed it toward the entrance of the mansion.

“As you mentioned earlier, let’s rewind a bit. To the moment Amper appears over there.”

“Hmm, okay.”

Quinie nodded. Time flowed quickly as if she had grown accustomed to it.

And then Kora and Amper reappeared.

“It’s still interrupted. The wolf suddenly disappears, and Kora appears.”

“That’s right. But for now, let’s not worry about that and focus on the situation itself.”

“This situation?”

Frondier took a step forward. He stood next to Kora.

“Kora here is glaring at Amper right in front of her. Of course, in the form of the white tiger. You’re sure about this part of the memory, right?”

“Absolutely. That’s the part I regained my memory of. There’s no misunderstanding here.”

“And Amper appearing over there is the same, right?”

“Correct. In reality, Amper is holding you, but…”

Quinie looked at Frondier as she spoke.

“Since you’re here, I feel like I’m unconsciously altering the image.”

“Alright. Then do you remember where you were at that time, Quinie?”

“Of course.”

Quinie cast her gaze behind Kora.

There stood Quinie. With frightened eyes and a slumped body.

“……Well, here’s the problem.”

“Problem?”

“Senpai, Kora is trying to kill everyone in this family.”

“……Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then please listen carefully.”

Prondior said this and approached Quinie, who was created as an image behind Kora.

“How do you think this child is still alive?”

“Uh……?”

“At that time, Senpai was only 6 years old. She was a girl who could hardly manage her own body, even if she was better than me. She wouldn’t have had the strength to escape from a beast’s attack, whether it was a wolf or a white tiger.”

“……So, before I died, Mr. Amper appeared,”

“No. What I’m asking is how she survived until Amper appeared.”

At those words, Quinie’s mouth stopped.

Until now, Quinie had been analyzing the situation as a third party. It was only natural. She had no memory of it.

She must have thought that this way would help her regain her memory, but it ended up preventing misunderstandings from being clarified.

“Senpai, did Kora really target ‘Quinie de Viet’ for hunting?”

“……No way.”

“Look at this composition.”

Kora stood with her back to Quinie, facing Amper in front of her.

“In my eyes.”

Prondior approached Kora.

It was just an image, but it was a vivid memory of Quinie, as her memories had recently returned.

Looking into those eyes, Prondior said,

“It looks like Kora is protecting you.”