The Academy’s Weapon Replicator

The sky was always blue, with the flow of the sun and moon completely unknown to the passage of time.

This place was in eternal daylight.

Elodie talked without knowing the time was passing, and perhaps she truly didn't know. That's the kind of world this was.

And while Elodie was busy chattering, I thought.

'...It's more fun than I expected.'

To be honest, I was prepared for boredom.

But Elodie, unlike her appearance, was quite the storyteller. Was it because she had talked to Frondier so much?

Her cute little face would smile this way and frown that way, the pitch of her voice moving elastically, and her little fingertips and toes stretching out.

It made me laugh, and I was getting immersed in the child's storytelling skills.

"So, Merlin became a great wizard. As King Arthur's aide, he created magic for the first time with the pure power of humans without the help of God, to guide the king on the right path! The origin of all magic that mages use without divine power today is Merlin!"

"Ooooo."

Clap clap clap-

Another story came to an end, and I gave a generous applause to the performer.

It was quite interesting to see the legend of King Arthur completely from Merlin's perspective. It must be because Elodie was a mage.

'But it's not just full of self-praise like Frondier's diary.'

I thought Elodie would brag about magic all day long, but that ended early on, and the rest was her telling the stories she knew in a fun way.

Did Frondier find even these stories of Elodie's annoying?

"Ehehe. Fron is strange today."

Elodie said, scratching her cheek.

"Strange?"

"You always seemed to be half-listening. It looked like it was bothering you to even listen."

That's what the original Frondier would have been like.

In fact, he was hiding even more disgust than that under the guise of annoyance.

Since he was inherently lazy, he intentionally showed his annoyance, so the mask hiding his disgust wasn't easily noticed.

...But it must have hurt Elodie.

"Hey, Fron."

Elodie spoke at that moment.

"I'm going to be a great wizard."

"Like Merlin?"

"Yes! So, I'm going to become a really strong wizard and create a peaceful world where we don't have to worry about monsters."

What a grand ambition.

It was a huge dream, hard to believe that this little girl held it.

But Elodie's words continued as if it wasn't over yet.

"So, that's why."

"That's why?"

"When that kind of world comes, Fron."

"Yes?"

"When a world comes where things like divine power and talent don't matter, Fron too...."

Thump-

At that moment, when Elodie uttered those words in a shrinking voice.

At that moment, when I understood what Elodie was trying to say.

A huge pulse resonated deep within my body.

'What is this?'

This wasn't my pulse. Could it be that Frondier's body was reacting to Elodie's words? No, it wasn't like I was feeling emotions like disgust or hatred.

Where did this pulse within my body originate from,

"Ah, no! Fron! I said it wrong! I didn't mean it like that!"

Elodie hurriedly approached me. She grabbed my hand, then caressed my face, and hugged me.

"No, that's not it. I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry. I'm not good with words. I wanted to convey it well. I didn't want to upset you."

While Elodie spoke so urgently, I was momentarily frozen, unable to understand the situation.

Then I realized.

The pulse I was feeling now was Elodie's heart.

The pulse that thought Frondier would be hurt by her words was transmitted to me. Because the Frondier Elodie was thinking of was me now.

'Upset?'

Those words just now.

The heart that wanted to make the world peaceful so that Frondier's incompetence wouldn't be seen as incompetence.

Just because she mentioned the fact that Frondier had no divine power and talent. Because that alone would hurt Frondier.

'All those words that Frondier had considered Elodie's bragging all this time were actually...'

I looked at Elodie hugging me, unable to say anything.

I didn't know where this feeling of Elodie's came from. Wasn't this current state even more diseased than Frondier's inferiority complex?

...A perfect character.

A character with abilities and personality so perfect that I didn't worry about her the most.

The character I paid the least attention to.

My expression hardened, and anger rose from deep within my body.

'...You stupid idiot.'

Whether those words were directed at the past Frondier or myself, I didn't even know.

Kuoong!

At that moment, a huge tremor shook the ground, lifting my feet slightly. I looked up at the sound.

'...What is that monster?'

A monster I had never seen before looked down at us, as if the sky were a joke, with its enormous size.

If I had to describe it, it was in the shape of a giant, but its whole body was black and its form was distorted like waves, as if it were incomplete.

The eyes near its head blinked a couple of times, and then suddenly,

Fwoosh!

Hundreds of eyes that had been hidden all over its body opened, and the whole thing looked at us.

Then, wings unfolded from its back, it held a spear as tall as itself in its hand, and flames erupted all over its body.

As if that wasn't enough, countless tentacles stretched out from its body, as if every pore had opened.

...I had never seen such a monster, such an absurd size, such a ridiculous body structure, a monster that seemed to ignore all natural phenomena. There was no way such a thing could exist in reality.

Hot, Elodie turned around as if she had realized something. She pursed her lips as if she already knew the being.

She confirmed the giant monster with her eyes, then turned back to me and said,

"Go inside the cabin. I'll finish it quickly and come back."

"...Finish it quickly and come back?"

"Yes. It's a guy who visits occasionally."

...In other words, it was a monster that Elodie herself had created in this dream. That's why it appeared in such an absurd form.

But usually, monsters that appear in dreams are not that big of a deal. They may look ferocious on the outside, but they wouldn't actually harm the owner of the dream.

However, no matter how I looked at it, that monster felt like a huge threat to Elodie.

"I've never won, but it's something I have to do."

"You've never won?"

"It's okay. Don't worry and go inside."

Elodie pushed me away. Since I had no abilities right now, it was better to run away as she said. Unlike Elodie, the owner of the dream, I could actually die.

Yet, I couldn't easily take a step.

...Creating a monster that she couldn't defeat, fighting it herself, getting hurt, and suffering.

It was as if...

"Elodie, wait."

"Don't worry, Fron."

Elodie smiled.

It was a smile that caused me, not her, pain.

"I won't let it lay a finger on you."

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