Chapter 31 of the Weapon Replicator of the Academy

Chapter 9: Menosorpo (5)

I opened the door on the floor.

The basement visible to my eyes was quite large.

I jumped down.

There was a rather loud thud, but it didn't affect my body much.

I looked around the basement.

Dust rolled around, and the place hadn't been cleaned, so a pungent smell stung my nose.

Was this basement known only to Frontier?

At least, it seemed the people who cleaned here didn't know about this place.

I looked around the entire basement. The structure didn't seem much different from the upper floor.

I picked up a book from a table in the left corner.

Naturally, my hand reached for the book, which read:

"Diary - Frontier de Roach"

My heart skipped a beat.

I slowly opened the diary to about the middle.

May 2nd

It's not cold even though it's raining. Is the cold completely gone?

Elodie boasted that she's neither hot nor cold all year round because of divine power.

It made me a bit angry.

...

June 14th

It's hot.

Elodie tried to coax me to go to the valley.

I scolded her, saying, "You're not even hot," and she got really upset.

She was just pretending to be upset. I know everything.

Stories from childhood.

Since it's quite an old story, Elodie seems to treat Frontier affectionately.

'The fact that this diary is here means that the old Frontier lived in this cottage?'

Without divine power, it might have been better for Frontier to be here rather than being noticed at home.

I flipped through the pages roughly and stopped.

An unusually short line.

I stared at the sentence as if it were branded into my eyes.

December 26th.

The interpretation of the ancient language is complete.

"..."

Ancient language?

Frontier interpreted the ancient language?

I looked through the diary again.

Indeed, Frontier had regularly recorded entries about the ancient language.

─The ancient language can have different meanings even when the words are made up of exactly the same characters. Each meaning is completely different and unrelated. Realizing this, I was very exhausted. I can confidently say that this language was not created for communication.

"..."

What is this?

Frontier was interpreting the ancient language and completed the interpretation?

Interpreting the ancient language means that Frontier discovered it somewhere.

Where?

I read the diary from the beginning again.

October 21st

It's terribly cold.

Elodie still wanders around outside in light clothing.

I'm getting annoyed.

Does Elodie know how I feel?

...

November 4th

I'm tired of smiling.

I'm tired of saying I'm fine.

I'm tired of this situation where I have to say I'm fine every day.

Damn it. Shit. Bitch.

Please shut up.

A sinister aura can be felt from the diary.

The dates on which Elodie is cursed become more frequent.

In this thick diary, the hatred Frontier feels towards Elodie accumulates over time.

'Did Frontier hate Elodie?'

No, this isn't just about hating.

It's hatred.

November 11th

The five gods who love Elodie.

Why Elodie? Why five?

One of them could have come to me.

No, it's fine even if they don't. I don't need divine power.

But having someone like that next to me is painful.

Go away, Elodie.

Go away.

Disappear from in front of me.

Stop smiling like that in front of me.

"Five gods..."

Elodie, loved by the five gods.

Frontier, with no divine power or talent.

Frontier's inferiority complex seemed more serious than I imagined.

December 2nd

The interpretation of the ancient language will be completed soon.

Once that's done, everything will be over.

My inferiority complex, this depression.

I won't have to see Elodie's thoughtless smile anymore.

Elodie will be in the same situation as me.

"What?"

Elodie in the same situation?

What does the interpretation of the ancient language have to do with Elodie?

Did Frontier discover something while interpreting the ancient language?

'No. From the diary, it seems Frontier learned the ancient language because of Elodie.'

My mind accelerated rapidly.

Even if I didn't want to, thoughts flowed and progressed.

Ancient language, interpretation, Elodie, five gods, the same situation.

'...Using the ancient language, Frontier tried to do something to Elodie's divine power.'

The tone suggests that Frontier tried to eliminate Elodie's divine power.

But it probably failed or was put on hold.

The year in the diary is three years ago.

Long before Frontier entered Constel.

When I played Etius, Elodie was handling the power of the five gods well, and it was Frontier who was nowhere to be seen.

Whatever Frontier tried to do to Elodie, it didn't work out.

After that, 'Human Sloth Frontier' just slept at Constel.

...Frontier, what were you trying to do?

Just being incompetent would have been enough!

That's enough to torment me!

'This is what makes you a complete villain...'

Thud-

At that moment, a sound of something colliding was heard. It came from above.

Instinctively, tension spread throughout my body.

Soon, a loud voice was heard.

"Ah, ah, young master, are you there?"

A leisurely voice amplified by mana.

Despite using the word 'young master,' it was incredibly rude.

"I know you're there, young master."

'...Enemy?'

I calmed my racing heart and took a deep breath.

"It's better if you come out willingly. If you don't open this door, I'll burn down the house."

...What kind of people are these? Do they have a grudge against me?

Frontier is generally seen as pitiful, and I don't think he did anything to deserve a grudge.

Or is the target not me but the 'Roach family'?

"I can't do that, guys. Finish it quickly."

A voice directed at subordinates suggested he wasn't alone.

Soon after.

Crack!

A bone-chilling sound of breaking air and a loud noise from above, as if an earthquake had occurred.

Probably arrows.

Since they said they would burn it down, they might be fire arrows.

They are thoroughly prepared.

They must have been certain from the beginning that I was here.

I quickly scanned my surroundings.

Even if they don't know I'm in the basement and not the house, it will be obvious once the cottage collapses.

I need to do something before that happens.

'Crafting...!'

I started putting all the objects I could see into the workshop.

Each time, I could confirm the structure of the objects.

'If this is a noble family's annex, there must be one.'

While searching frantically, I found a bookshelf.

A button installed under some of the books on the shelf, and a mana line leading behind it.

"This is..."

I approached the bookshelf and pressed the books that the mana was directed towards.

The bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a passage large enough for a person to enter.

--Found it, an escape route.

If I escape through here, at least for now,

"Young master! We didn't just come here! We brought a gift!"

What is he talking about?

Just as I was about to ignore him and head for the escape route,

"We brought a child with us!"

My feet stopped.

I twisted my eyes in unbearable disgust.

"I'm going to throw this child into the house. It will burn very well."

I thought it was a lie.

But I could faintly hear a cry. It was definitely a boy's voice.

"If you run, young master, you'll be branded as a murderer from tomorrow. And if you burned a child to death, the crime will be quite severe, won't it?"

Bastards.

Now I know who these people are. Or rather, who is controlling them.

Not enemies of the Roach family. They are not that simple.

An organization that claims to stand for the common people, Indus.

Those greasy scum have targeted me.

"Huff..."

I took a deep breath and climbed up the ladder.

* * *

"Hey, don't burn it too much. Just enough to break the door."

Serp, who was watching, warned.

Just getting Frontier out is enough. It would be troublesome if he suffocated to death.

"Well, at this point, it's as good as caught, right?"

They are not members of Indus, just following Serp's orders.

Serp hired them for a large sum of money. They have no idea who they are dealing with, let alone that it's the Roach family. They just received the order to "burn down the cottage and get the man inside out."

"That's right. He'll crawl out. We even brought Ella to threaten him."

One of the Indus members, Grobel, was excitedly talking.

Next to him, a much younger boy was giggling.

"Bro, did I do well?"

"Of course, you did. Your acting skills are getting better every day."

Grobel patted his brother Rockbel's head and smiled.

"Bro, but am I really going in? Into that burning house?"

"No, I was just saying. Do you think Frontier will crawl out just because of that? But if he does, you'll have to act again, got it?"

"Okay!"

Grobel reassured Rockbel.

Serp, who was listening, thought.

'But he can't stay in there.'

By now, the house must be filled with smoke.

An ordinary human without divine power would surely run out.

Even if there is a prepared escape route, can