Chapter 33 of the Weapon Replicator of the Academy

Chapter 9: Menosorfo (7)

"Prondier is in danger!"

At Risha's mansion.

As soon as Cybel met Elody, she blurted out those words.

"What? What do you mean?"

Elody naturally didn't understand.

Everything was too sudden.

Besides, Elody had hardly ever talked to Cybel. They only exchanged greetings when they happened to meet.

They knew each other's names because they were both so famous.

But for someone she had never had a conversation with to come to her house and mention 'Prondier'...

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, that is... "

When Elody pressed her, Cybel briefly explained the whole situation.

"Hmm."

After hearing Cybel's story, Elody seemed to be thinking, rubbing her lips.

During the explanation, Cybel appeared to have calmed down a bit.

"Of course, I don't know if Prondier is in immediate danger. Just because he's been targeted doesn't mean he'll be harmed right away. Still, just in case..."

"No."

Elody shook her head.

"Probably, he's in danger now. Prondier."

"What?!"

"If Indus really targeted Prondier, they won't miss the chance when he's alone."

"How would they know? That Prondier is alone?"

"There's someone among them who can tame animals. He must have been caught in their surveillance network."

Elody had known about the surveillance on her for a while.

At first, even she didn't notice it. The presence was so faint that it couldn't be detected by mana sensing.

But if it continued for weeks or months, one would inevitably feel the 'gaze.'

'They were just annoying, and since they weren't doing anything harmful, I left them alone.'

What a troublesome situation.

Elody's eyes darkened.

"Then what do we do? Where did Prondier go?"

"That's the problem."

Cybel might have come here with some expectations, but even Elody found it hard to guess where Prondier had gone.

Their relationship wasn't close enough to call it friendly anymore.

Maybe in the past.

'...In the past.'

Thinking about it, a place came to mind. The Roah family's annex, the cottage where they used to play together when they were young.

But would Prondier really go there? He hadn't even looked at it for years.

Memories of the past surfaced.

The foolish self who used to chatter to Prondier, saying "Pron~ Pron!"

"Ah."

Suddenly, she felt bad. She didn't really want to save Prondier.

"Die, Prondier."

"Why, why are you saying that?"

"No, let's go first."

"Do you know where it is?"

"More or less."

Elody's words brought a flush of excitement to Cybel's face.

Elody glanced at her.

Cybel was this happy just to find Prondier.

...Or maybe Prondier, or Prondier, no, surely not.

Cybel is just too kind.

"Alright, how should we go? By car?"

Cybel fidgeted, showing her anxiousness.

Elody grabbed Cybel's waist.

"No."

"Huh?"

"This is faster."

And then.

"Huh? Ahhhhh!!"

The two of them flew.

Cybel screamed as she saw herself rapidly distancing from the ground.

"What, what is this?! Flight magic?! 'Wings'?"

"No, a bit more advanced than that."

"Ahhhhh!"

Elody carried Cybel and flew toward the cottage.

For Cybel, it was a memorable first flight.

And her impression.

'So, so heavy...!'

Her body felt heavy due to the wind and gravity.

She wasn't flying by herself.

It wasn't a comfortable first flight.

* * *

"That's how we got here. Ta-da, impressive, right?"

Cybel said with a proud expression, even making a V sign.

I replied.

"...Yeah, really impressive. Thanks."

I had no choice but to say that.

I was grateful to her for running around in a situation where it wasn't even certain that I was in danger.

But Cybel seemed to be taken aback by my response.

"Uh, uh? Well, it's nothing... "

Her voice seemed to trail off.

Why is it nothing?

Didn't you just boast about how impressive it was?

"Who's this kid?"

Elody asked, looking at the child I was carrying.

"One of their siblings."

"Why is he here?"

"He's both my hostage and theirs."

"Huh?"

Both of them tilted their heads, not understanding my words.

I smiled bitterly and explained.

"They made this kid cry and called me out. When the kid got close to me, one of them shot an arrow."

"What? At his own comrade's sibling?"

"Yeah. But they're not really comrades. They seem to be hired mercenaries."

As I answered Cybel's question, Elody's eyes quickly turned cold.

"...Can I shoot an arrow too?"

"No."

"Why? They shot one."

"If you shoot, everyone will die. One arrow is an understatement."

Elody's arrows are one of the 'Five Gods,' 'Ludra's 'Storm Arrow.'

If she shoots, not only will people die, but the terrain here will change.

It would change so much that someone new to the area would look at a map and say, "Damn, this map is wrong."

"Then are you okay now?"

Cybel asked in a worried tone.

I shrugged.

"Well, with Elody here."

"What? You're going to leave everything to me?"

"There's no need. Their goal was to make me a murderer and bury me. That plan only works if I'm alone. With Elody here, it's actually disadvantageous for them. The teachers at Constele won't believe me, but they'll believe you."

I can feel Sarp's intention to use this kid to make me a murderer.

He probably wanted to make it look like I kidnapped this child.

If I were alone here and Sarp informed everyone that Indus, the 'good organization,' viewed me negatively, it would have been easy.

'Maybe Sarp hinted to Cybel about this, aiming to make everyone think there's something wrong with me if Indus targets me.'

But Elody has a reputation even better than Cybel's, and most importantly, she has the power to defeat all of them.

"The problem is this kid. We need to wake him up first."

I put the child down.

Elody brought her hand in front of the child's face.

A light of mana briefly shone, and the child slowly opened his eyes.

He looked around in a daze.

"...Ah."

Upon seeing my face, he seemed to realize the situation.

He looked at Cybel and Elody with frightened eyes.

"Don't worry. They're my comrades."

...I wondered if this would reassure the child, but fortunately, it did.

I asked.

"By the way, I don't know his name. What's your name?"

"...Rokvel."

"You're Grovel's sibling?"

The child nodded slightly.

He was trembling. Confusion and fear must still be swirling inside him.

"We can just send him back to them, right? One of them is his brother, isn't he?"

"If we send him back like this, he'll be taken hostage again."

"...Really? Would his brother let that happen?"

Of course, Grovel wouldn't just stand by and watch.

...If I know Sarp, he probably would.

"Then let's move. It's best not to meet them, right?"

Cybel said, but I shook my head. Elody probably felt the same way.

"It's too late."

As if on cue, a voice that was annoyingly polite rang out.

"──We've been looking for you for a while."

Sarp has a tamer who can spy. Running away would be pointless.

We could hear Sarp's voice, but we couldn't see him. He was hiding somewhere in the forest.

The sounds of footsteps and presence had increased. It seemed they were surrounding us from hiding.

"Don't move. Prondier, Cybel."

Elody said in a low voice.

With her mana sensing, she could probably roughly determine their positions.

Judging from Elody's tense state, it seemed the包围圈已经完成了。

"──Sarp Daniel! 现在放弃吧！"

Elody shouted.

"你现在已经知道这是徒劳的！给普隆迪尔栽赃是行不通的！我会成为普隆迪尔的证人！"

Elody, 你真会说话。

虽然这是我刚才说的话，但无论如何。

"嗯，确实。我没想到Cybel小姐会做到这种程度。"

Sarp still hid in the forest, speaking calmly.

He must really not want to show his face.

"So, I'm going to kill all of you here."

"……什么？"

Hearing Sarp's words, Elody seemed to doubt her ears.

Yeah, that's the kind of guy he is.

Indus's goal is to increase the influence of commoners. Beneath that, it harbors the more dangerous word 'revolution,' but on the surface, Indus is still on the side of justice. 'Revolution' is still premature for them.

However, Sarp Daniel, as an individual, has different goals.

'Noble-hater. Sarp Daniel.'

In the future of the Ethius game, Sarp, a notorious criminal, joined Indus to find a justifiable reason to kill nobles.

He gradually built up his reputation within Indus, waiting for the revolution to erupt.

Sarp doesn't usually take the lead.

He appoints a 'fake leader' for others to see, while he operates in the shadows.

'The problem is, this is just prior knowledge.'

I never fought Sarp during my time playing Ethius. The revolution ultimately failed, and Sarp was captured by the investigation team and sent to 'Teyvon's Wall.' I heard that the head of the house, Lidu Urfa, had a tough time.

I don't know his abilities or techniques.

'But can Sarp really defeat Elody?'

Even though we can't see his face, Sarp's voice is incredibly calm. It sounds like he's confident of his victory even with Elody here.

How?

There are only a few who can defeat Elody.

"Rokvel."

Sarp suddenly called Rokvel's name.

Rokvel, who was cowering beside me, suddenly stiffened.

"Stab Prondier."

Thud!

"……!"

──The situation was secondary.

First, I felt an excruciating pain that made me lose consciousness.

In the side, I guess.

Stabbed, by a knife, maybe─

As I fell, I saw the shocked eyes of Cybel and Elody.

In contrast, Rokvel stood there, completely unfocused, holding a dagger.

* * *

A sinking consciousness.

In that sinking consciousness, I struggled to regain awareness.

Stupid guy.

Fainting just because of one stab?

Wake up!

Wake up, damn it!

A massive wave of unconsciousness was surging in, and I barely held onto a thread of consciousness.

And the memories of the past were flooding in.

──I hate Elody.

──Why do you make my life difficult?

──Why are you always smiling in front of me?

──Why are you always so kind to me?

──Yeah, I know. You have divine power, that's why.

──With divine power and talent overflowing, you naturally smile when you see someone like me!

This is Prondier's memory.

His hatred, inferiority, and discomfort are turning my insides upside down.

Yeah, because I am Prondier.

It's like a hole that I had forcibly blocked has been punctured. His memories pour in like mud.

──Die, Elody.

──Fall into despair and die.

──This is my true feeling.

──This is my honest, unfiltered words.

Prondier's memories are becoming clearer.

A scene played out in front of my eyes like a film.

Prondier meeting someone at the cottage.

Wearing a robe that fluttered, making it impossible to determine the gender.

He whispered something to Prondier, who then began to interpret ancient language as if under a spell.

The fragments of that interpretation seemed to be implanted in me.

Finally, after completing the interpretation of a spell, Prondier trembled with ecstasy.

──With this, I can eliminate Elody's divine power...!

I felt his joy and ecstasy.

As if I, not Prondier, hated Elody.

As if I, not Prondier, wanted to eliminate Elody's divine power.

As if I, not Prondier, was genuinely happy about the plan.

...But.

"Get lost...!"

Of course, I am not Prondier.

Because I am not Prondier, I always had a sense of guilt. I had taken Prondier's life.

Lazy or incompetent, whatever, it was his life.

No matter how it ended, it had its own value.

But if Prondier is going to kill someone.

If he is going to plunge an innocent person into misery.

I have nothing more to hide.

Prondier interpreted the ancient language to eliminate Elody's divine power.

But that doesn't matter to me.

He must have studied hard out of hatred for Elody. I will use it to my liking.

'I will use the memory of interpreting the ancient language.'

'Prondier de Roah' will live like this.

Struggling with all his might in a world destined for destruction.

Give up, Prondier.

You are the lowest of the villains.

I reviewed Prondier's memories, reviewed them, and endlessly reviewed them. I absorbed all his knowledge into my mind.

It wasn't about learning new knowledge. It was like recalling a memory that had been momentarily forgotten. I quickly absorbed the knowledge.

I recalled what Daud said a while ago.

-Then this magic circle is likely 'ancient language.'

He said that.

Menosorfo is made of ancient language.

The symbols, patterns, and arrangement rules are ancient language.

After absorbing all of Prondier's knowledge, I faced the magic circle of Menosorfo in the workshop.

'...I see.'

I understood.

What Menosorfo is. How to use it.

The moment I fully comprehended it,

I opened my eyes.