Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (37)

At Prondior’s words, Quinie also took a moment to observe the scene.

“Kora is…… protecting me?”

“I can’t see scenes from the past beyond this point. That part is completely cut off. But Senpai will know.”

In this situation where Kora had her back to Quinie and was facing Amper.

Prondior did not know what the situation had been before this.

However, given the circumstances, it is unusual for Quinier to be alive at this moment.

Whether Quinier escaped from Kora using her clever wit and resourcefulness, or…

“Senpai, have you ever moved from this spot?”

“……”

Quinier’s eyes trembled.

Quinier was clearly reminded of the time she met Amper.

However, her memories from before that were fragmented.

Perhaps it was not just because the image of the wolf was strong,

“If Kora is truly protecting you, then your safety and the current situation of facing Amper can all be explained.”

Of course, Amper was not truly an enemy.

At that time, Kora was in a state of near madness, and she would not have been able to distinguish friend from foe in front of a strong opponent like Amper.

However, conversely speaking,

The fact that Kora, with only a thread of reason left, did not harm Quinier must mean there was a significant reason for it.

“Ah, ugh…!”

Suddenly, Quinier clutched her head.

With that, the surrounding scenery changed. The image became opaque, as if filled with noise, and it blurred, disappearing and reappearing repeatedly.

‘Is my memory coming back…? No, would it be more accurate to say I’ve seen a memory I wasn’t supposed to?’

Frondir silently watched her.

If Quinier was avoiding her memories, that would be one thing, but she was trying to regain them. If she reached out clumsily here, she might forever distance herself from retrieving those memories.

‘A bit cruel, but.’

Frondir steeled herself and spoke.

“Senpai, your memories have returned. The reason they are only partial is that there are memories you do not wish to bring forth.”

“Ugh…!”

“That is not the influence of Lethe. It is a decision you made yourself.”

Frondir spoke as if in pursuit.

Frondir, while spitting out her cold voice, felt a bit self-deprecating.

‘Yes, a fake cannot do this.’

These were certainly not the words Quinier wished to hear.

It was because I was real that I was hurting Quinier.

Even as she was astounded by that irony, Frondir continued to speak.

“The mass murder incident of the Viet family, and as a result, Senior Quinier, who has a phobia of corpses. But that incident was literally a mass murder, so there are very few who truly understand the circumstances of the event.”

“Ugh, ugh…!”

“Please tell me, Senior.”

Frondier took a step closer.

“What is it about that incident that we don’t know?”

“Ugh, ugh…! aaa!!”

Eventually, Quinier’s voice rose, and her scream echoed throughout the area.

Immediately, all sounds vanished.

The screams of the people, the harsh breaths of the wolves, the sounds of the mansion and pillars collapsing.

The mansion appeared intact, as if nothing was wrong.

Only.

“……Kora is still okay.”

Quinier was still in her place.

“We’re just following orders.”

Silhouettes surrounded her.

Frondier watched this scene from the side.

‘Is this……. right before the incident occurs?’

Young Quinier curled up in fear, and she was holding a child of similar build to herself. The child she was holding was undoubtedly Kora.

‘Then what are these?’

Even without the silhouettes, Frondier had no way of knowing their identities, but the fact that they were silhouettes meant that Quinier also did not remember them.

Just as she had never looked at her own mother, she likely had never looked at them either.

“Kora will be fine soon. Just give it a little time. We still don’t even know what the cause is, right?”

Quinier said.

Kora, suffering in her arms. Frondier glanced at her for a moment.

‘At this point, she’s already been affected by Armel.’

The reason Kora was suffering now was likely because she had inhaled a drug that would cause her to lose her sanity.

Frondier instinctively looked around. It was to find Armel.

But still, there was no sign of Armel nearby. Since Quinier, the owner of this memory, could not see him, there was no way Frondier could.

In the meantime.

The silhouettes remained silent at Quinier’s words.

“……You seem to be under some misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“We did not receive orders regarding that child.”

At those words, young Quinée blinked for a moment and murmured.

“……It’s me, isn’t it? That’s why you made Kora like this. To drop me somewhere else.”

“I have no personal grudge.”

“If you have no grudge, then why do you want to kill me?”

Young Quinée asked.

Then one of the silhouettes spoke.

The statement was something the child could hardly bear.

“It is the will of the head of the family.”

At that moment, Quinée’s expression vanished.

Quinée asked blankly.

“Are you talking about my mother, the head of the family? Or are you talking about my father who left home?”

“……You don’t need to know when you will die,”

“Since I’m going to die anyway!”

Quinée shouted.

She spoke again, choking back tears.

“……Since I’m going to die anyway, it doesn’t matter. I want to know before I die.”

“……Both of you agreed on this.”

“Mom and Dad, both? They met? Dad isn’t home anymore.”

“The Viet family has many enemies. The head of the family found a way to quell the anger the family has stirred up all this time. Most of those who hold grudges want their targets to face a similar tragedy.”

“……So, me?”

“If you die, the enemies of the Viet family will quiet down for a while. Not everyone will disappear, but at least those who were preparing similar plans to kill you will retreat. It’s also a good opportunity to strike at the backs of those who seek to take advantage of the family’s stagnation.”

Quinée listened to that explanation.

And Frondier.

Frondier checked several times to see if he was hearing the right story.

‘Knowing that the enemies are targeting their own daughter out of revenge, they would kill her themselves first? To control the timing themselves?’

It was an incomprehensible story. He could not understand it.

However, Quinée does not even remember her mother’s face.

They could tell just from how they treated Quinier.

Moreover, judging by this story,

the reason Quinier remembers the ‘entire family’ as a silhouette might be.

“If anyone in the family saw me die,”

“it wouldn’t change anything, Quinier.”

Another silhouette spoke.

“This is something the whole family has agreed upon.”

Quinier flinched, her shoulders trembling.

A six-year-old child dies. For the sake of the family’s survival.

Everyone agreed to this.

“……As I said earlier, there are no personal grudges. This is just a necessary thing.”

The silhouette stepped closer.

At that moment, strangely, the trembling of young Quinier stopped.

The child, rather than being quiet, lowered her already sunken shoulders and brought her mouth closer to Kora.

──Kora.

Kora, protect me.

From everything that wishes to harm me.

Immediately after.

There was a pop.

“!”

The silhouettes surrounding Quinier literally burst like balloons.

The silhouette that fell backward with a hole in it was splattered with black fragments and something like water onto Quinier.

……Perhaps that was the best imagination Quinier could muster at that time.

Quinier doesn’t even remember their faces. She probably never lifted her head even once.

Only the sounds of screams and shouts, and Kora’s growls filled the air. This was likely the best imagination Quinier could have in this situation.

……The silhouettes swell in an instant, and burst just as quickly.

They knew Kora was in danger. So, in preparation for any potential situation, not only the people surrounding Quinier but many others must have been hiding throughout the mansion.

However, knowing there is danger and understanding the extent of that danger are entirely different matters.

Perhaps only the head of the family, Armel, truly understood Kora’s peril.

Kora began to wreak havoc throughout the entire family, to the point where even Frondier found it hard to keep up with her with his eyes.

Somewhere in this rush, Quinie’s mother must have died as well. Just like the others here, equally.

The wolf was not present.

No, those wolves.

‘It was everything that sought to harm Quinie.’

However, Kora had never once put Quinie in danger.

Thus, the two facts did not align, and until now, the contradictions in Quinie’s memories had remained unresolved.

The tiger kills the wolf.

On this day, when they attempted to kill a single daughter for the sake of the family’s survival, the Viet family vanished, leaving only that one daughter behind.

Concealed by the family’s immense tragedy, this day harbored a great malice.

Kora returned to Quinie.

After fulfilling the command.

Even having lost reason, or rather, because of that, forgetting everything else and faithfully executing the command.

It was after that that Amper appeared.

“…….”

Prondior saw the appearing Amper.

What thoughts crossed his mind?

How far could he foresee after witnessing the scene of the incident?

However, the clear fact was that he did not know nothing.

‘If that were the case, there would have been no need to draw Gram to subdue Kora.’

He instilled fear in Kora, fundamentally excluding the possibility of a fight.

Above all, Amper turned away from that spot.

Without saying a word to Quinie.

He had understood that there was no need to protect Quinie.

“So this is how it was.”

And Prondior looked at the original Quinie, who was sitting there.

Quinie repeatedly clenched and opened one hand.

There was no fan, and no fan was being made.

When she could no longer cover her face with it, Quinie simply buried her face in her knees.

“……I couldn’t help it.”

Quinie murmured.

“Everyone tried to kill me. What was I supposed to do? I really, really hoped that Kora would protect me. But I never expected it to turn out like this. Please believe me.”

Looking at it this way, it might be natural that Kora ended up going to Obsidian.

The only request and command that Quinier had entrusted to Kora.

For Kora, ‘protecting Quinier’ was the paramount task that took precedence over everything else.

“I know.”

“I’m not at fault. This is self-defense. I, I…”

Quinier muttered without looking at Frondior.

In this way, she was just like the old her who didn’t look at her family.

Frondior sighed and approached.

“Senpai. Please lift your head.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes, I know.”

Frondior agreed with Quinier’s words.

Of course, many people might point to Quinier as the cause of the deaths.

The entire family had tried to kill Quinier.

So what was she supposed to do? Should she have accepted her own death for the sake of the family’s short existence?

A mere six-year-old girl?

Thus, Quinier’s excuses were not really excuses, and she had no intention of denying them.

The problem was not that.

“I understand, so please lift your head.”

“……Frondior.”

Quinier looked up. To that, Frondior said,

“If you truly had no guilt, you wouldn’t have lost your memory.”

The problem was that Quinier herself could not accept her own words.

She was hurt by her own excuses,

Caught up in the thought of justification, she couldn’t face it and only avoided it.

That hurt created forgetfulness, and that avoidance prevented her from confronting the lost memories.

“You won’t accept comfort, will you? Then I will say something else.”

“……Frondior….”

Frondior lowered her body in front of Quinier.

Kneeling to match the gaze of the collapsing Quinée, Frondier said.

“I’m your ally, after all.”

“……!”

“So please stop saying things like that.”

If Quinée’s self-justification were to hurt her,

If the claim that it wasn’t her fault only pushed her further,

“You don’t have to prove your innocence to me.”

If the Frondier here were fake, she could have continued to comfort Quinée until she felt better.

But the real one cannot do that.

The real Frondier lacks that kind of patience,

“Whatever mistake Quinée made has nothing to do with me.”

Because she is much more selfish than Quinée thinks.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”