Chapter 61 of the Academy's Weapon Replicator

Chapter 16: Ambush (6)

Swish, Chimera passed through Frondier and reached Philly. She stopped in front of her.

──Chimera's feet had stopped much earlier than her body. She had merely slid to a halt in front of Philly due to the momentum of her run.

"......Liar."

Elicia, who was standing beside her, murmured, and Philly felt the same way.

Philly looked at Chimera's left side. A long, chilling gash. Frondier had sliced through, splitting Chimera's torso.

The obvious fact was terrifying.

"Then, how about this."

Frondier's dry voice. Elicia gasped, her eyes filled with fear as she looked at Frondier.

"Ms. Elicia."

The same, arrogant title. But Elicia couldn't even think of pointing it out and took a step back.

Frondier's lazy face now looked different.

"Did you finish talking with your mother?"

"I, I...... No, not really......"

Elicia stammered. Her lips moved involuntarily.

Her mind was racing, but nothing coherent came out.

After all, it must have been Frondier who brought Philly here. Empty words wouldn't work.

She had already failed to persuade Philly, so lying to this man would be futile.

"Ms. Philly, what will happen to Ms. Elicia?"

"......Execution."

Philly said calmly.

No matter how other crimes might be overlooked, attempting to kill the Empress left no other choice.

"She won't die easily. She'll feel pain so intense that she'll wish for death."

Elicia shuddered. Frondier glanced at her.

"Then, how about showing your last mercy as a mother?"

"What do you mean?"

When Philly asked, Frondier extended his hand. Black droplets gathered in his palm. When he clenched his hand, they formed a dagger.

Philly and Elicia stared blankly at the bizarre phenomenon.

Frondier handed the dagger to Philly.

"Use this. Be careful of the blade."

"What is this?"

"A dagger laced with extreme poison. Just a slight touch will surely lead to death."

Philly held the dagger and swallowed.

So, the mercy Frondier spoke of was this.

To send her daughter to a painless death.

To kill her with her own hands. To stab her with that dagger.

"I told you. I won't tell Ms. Philly who the real culprit is. She will figure it out."

"......Yes."

"This time is no different. What to do with Elicia is up to you, Ms. Philly."

Philly stood there for a moment, holding the dagger.

Her expression was blank, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. This made Elicia uneasy.

"......Mom."

Elicia's strained voice made Philly look at her.

"Elicia, you know, right?"

"......"

"The empire is now a hell for you."

Elicia bowed her head.

It was true.

Elicia had undeniable evidence and two witnesses, one of whom was the Empress Philly, her own mother.

A life worse than death. That was all that remained for her in the empire.

Once, she had the ambition to stand above the empire and look down on its citizens, but now that ambition was gone.

"......Tell me one thing, Mom."

Elicia spoke softly, looking younger. No, she looked her actual age.

"Did you love Atene more than me?"

"......"

"Was that why you put Atene in the spotlight and used her to improve our family's image?"

Philly closed her eyes.

She recalled. As Elicia said, she had mostly appeared in public with Atene.

She couldn't forget the words the young Atene had once said.

- I don't like it, Mom.

- Being used as a figurehead.

- What do you think of me, Mom? Do you even think of me as your daughter?

- If you don't love me, I......

......Politics, after all, is about dealing with people.

Philly had survived in the political arena since she was young.

She thought everyone could naturally do the same, including her daughters.

But one of her daughters envied her, while the other felt used.

Putting Atene in the spotlight was because she believed it was the right decision.

She thought Atene's appearance, skills, and character were the best.

However, the one who was to inherit the throne was undoubtedly Elicia.

Just as she had no hesitation in using Atene for the family's image.

She had no hesitation in entrusting the empire to Elicia.

"Ms. Elicia. I always told you, didn't I?"

Philly said, with a sorrowful smile. Her face was different from when she dealt with others.

Philly always tried to show a different side to her daughters, a more honest side.

She thought that would be enough to convey her true feelings.

"I love each of you differently."

Elicia blinked at these words.

Each time she opened her eyes, tears welled up in them.

When the tears finally flowed, Elicia closed her eyes tightly. They trickled down her cheeks. She trembled, sometimes violently, and then lifted her face.

......Elicia had made up her mind.

Philly slowly raised her hand holding the dagger. The trembling hand was visible even to Frondier, who couldn't fathom the feeling of killing one's own daughter.

But if this was the most painless way to send Elicia off, Philly would be doing the right thing.

......There was a way for Elicia to survive.

If everything that happened in this tower was kept secret.

Elicia wouldn't die.

Despite committing several major crimes, she was the First Princess of the empire.

Of course, this was assuming that Constel had handled the monster attack well.

Philly and Elicia both knew this.

But Elicia didn't say it out loud.

She didn't try to escape.

She chose death herself.

She decided to repent for her sins.

Philly placed the tip of the dagger on Elicia's collarbone and stabbed it. The blade barely scratched Elicia's skin, and a tiny drop of blood, like a dewdrop, appeared at the tip.

......Beyond this, her hand couldn't muster the strength.

"......What, Mom."

Elicia, feeling the stab, opened her eyes faintly and smiled.

"It doesn't even hurt."

And so.

With those light words, as if they were not her last.

Elicia fell.

"......!"

Philly stared at her.

A dagger laced with extreme poison, which would cause death with just a slight touch.

Human life is so fragile.

"Ha, ha......! Hah......!"

Philly's breathing quickened. She blinked countless times. The mask she had always worn was no longer in place.

She had killed Elicia. With her own hands. By Elicia's own choice.

"Ah, ah......!"

She might have harmed others in her life, but her daughter was a different matter. She only realized it after the deed was done.

"Eli, sia......!"

Philly touched the fallen Elicia with trembling hands. She embraced her.

The wound, barely a drop of blood. But that was enough.

As if swallowing Elicia's tears from earlier, Philly now shed her own.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mom. Elicia, I'm so sorry......!"

Philly had done anything for her daughters.

But if the end result was to kill her daughter, what was the point?

After the deed, she realized everything. This wasn't what she wanted.

Philly couldn't accept this reality.

"Do you regret it?"

At that moment, a dry voice.

Philly looked at Frondier. He was the same as always. Lazy voice, lazy face. It made her furious.

How could this man be so calm in this situation? Could he really act like it wasn't his business?

"......I do! Of course! She's my daughter!"

"......Then."

Frondier, undeterred by Philly's outburst.

"Let's go to the hospital. To get the antidote."

He said something absurd.

"......What? What?"

Philly, about to say something, stopped. She couldn't understand what Frondier was saying. Her tears dried up.

"What do you mean? Isn't it a poison that kills with just a slight touch?"

Yes, that's why she stabbed Elicia with the dagger, with the resolve to kill.

Frondier nodded calmly. It was truly despicable.

"Yes. It's a paralyzing poison that will definitely kill if not treated within 24 hours."

Paralyzing?

24 hours?

So, Elicia, who was lying there, was just paralyzed?

Philly gasped. That was her only reaction. She couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry, so she just stopped.

She wanted to say something, so she glared at Frondier.

"......Do you know the meaning of the phrase 'mocking the royal family'?"

"I don't think so. It seems to be a very difficult word."

Huh, really.

Frondier's shameless answer only elicited that response.

* * *

'Slave's Chilling Dagger'.

The dagger I gave to Philly.

A weapon that made me shudder in the dungeon. A weapon that would 'surely' kill with a single scratch, but not 'immediately'.

There are times when such a deferred death is meaningful, like now.

It was very important to me what choice Philly would make.

More precisely, I wanted her to experience what it felt like to kill her daughter with her own hands.

Philly is a character who is almost entirely gray.

From the player's perspective, Atene felt like the sum of Philly's white parts, and Elicia the sum of her black parts.

In other words, Philly could become another Elicia if she chose to. More advanced, more cruel. And that hand could reach Atene if necessary.

No matter when, even if it didn't happen,

It was necessary to put a mental lock in place.

In the game Ethius, it's rare but not impossible for Philly to kill Atene.

However, after each of those instances, Philly always regretted it. To the point of shedding tears of blood.

But now, Philly understands. She clearly felt what it meant to kill her daughter. Even if her heart changed, she wouldn't harm Atene.

Anyway.

Chimera was dealt with, and Elicia fainted.

Now, the magic circle 'Laphelia' laid in Constel would lose its effect.

Just then, the phone in my pocket buzzed.

It was Malia, as expected.

"Frondier, Frondier!"

Malia's voice. She was sharing her senses with me, seeing everything through my eyes.

So, she must have confirmed that things here were settled.

"Yes, Mother. How about your side? Did the monsters retreat?"

I asked, concerned about Malia's urgent tone.

At first, I thought she was excited to congratulate me, but the atmosphere was wrong.

Meanwhile, I could hear Philly's murmurs like "Huh, damn, huh, wow, really" in the background.

"Right, the magic circle seems to be gone. But that's the problem!"

......What?

Confused, I frowned, and Malia added,

"The monsters, freed from the magic, are fleeing from Constel! And the direction they're fleeing in is towards a village."

"......!"

I froze at the unexpected news.

I hadn't anticipated this. I only thought about stopping them, not what would happen after.

I was incredibly foolish.

"Eloise and other mages are trying to eliminate as many as possible, but the scale is too...... They can't chase them all!"

Malia explained the situation earnestly, and the information clearly entered my mind.

But my body remained frozen, unable to move.