Chapter 9

The Weapon Replicator of the Academy - Chapter 9 (9/606)

The Weapon Replicator of the Academy Chapter 9

Chapter 2: The Branch in the Box, Misteltain (5)

The largest museum in the central continent, 'Remus.'

It is a grand space that allows one to experience everything from fine arts and sculptures to ancient weapons and culture, a true culmination of the past.

Quini visited the Remus Museum as a combination of hobby and study.

Viewing high-quality artworks can help cultivate an eye for the value of items.

However, today, she was a bit distracted by something, and she wore an awkward smile.

"You didn't have to come, you know."

"No, no, it's fun, it's really fun, really."

Anne, who was beside her, answered like an automatic response. From the way she added a word to every sentence, it seemed her soul was starting to leave her body.

"Why did you come along when you have no interest in this kind of thing?"

"My dad bought a painting recently, and it turned out to be a fake. He lost some face among his friends. After that, he suddenly came to me and said, 'Daughter, this kind of thing shouldn't happen to you,' and told me to study about artworks. He said there are a lot of such incidents these days."

"He's a good person."

"......Well, I needed it anyway, and since it was my dad's request, I had no reason to refuse. I thought I'd learn a bit."

Anne twirled her hair as she spoke. Quini smiled at her.

......But if you don't like art, you can't cultivate an eye for it. An eye for art is about feeling 'beautiful.'

Quini hesitated whether to say this but ultimately swallowed it in silence. Who knows, maybe her eyes would open up eventually.

"......Oh."

Quini stopped in front of a painting while walking.

It was a depiction of a praying woman. However, it wasn't in a church or cathedral. She was praying amidst a field of golden wheat. The woman was smiling, and her face was bright and sunny, not solemn or serious.

All these elements, though different, harmonized beautifully, creating a sense of both strangeness and grandeur.

It's amazing. Quini was embarrassed, thinking she might have said it out loud.

"Qu, Quini, look, look."

"Yeah, I'm looking. If you get to this level, you can recognize it too,"

"No, no, not the painting, beside you!"

Quini furrowed her brow at Anne's barely audible whisper and looked to the side.

Sure enough, she was even more surprised than before.

Beside her was Frondier.

Frondier, who was not in Constel, was in the museum, in front of an artwork.

Nothing about this made sense, and Quini froze.

Like Quini earlier, Frondier didn't seem to notice her presence. His eyes were fixed on the painting.

Frondier's face showed no particular emotion. It was the same lazy expression she always saw. From a different perspective, it looked like he was observing the painting.

Whether Frondier had an eye for art or not was unknown, but staying so long in front of one piece was certainly not ordinary. This piqued Quini's interest.

Yeah, Frondier, who knew Misteltain was a fake. He might have some expertise in art.

What do you think of this painting?

"......Amazing,"

Frondier's lips moved softly. The sigh that accompanied his words seemed to confirm his admiration for the painting.

"It's a fake."

It was a brief comment.

Frondier said nothing more and walked away.

It was the same calm, steady pace as always.

"......?"

Quini watched Frondier pass by.

After watching him, and watching him again,

"Hey, wait! Wait a moment! Hey! Wait! Stop there! Hey!"

She walked up to Frondier, her speech alternating between formal and informal.

"Ah, Quini-senpai. I didn't expect to see you here."

Frondier greeted her. His usual demeanor made Quini flinch for a moment, but she decided to return the greeting.

"Ah, yes, yes. What brings you here, Frondier? You don't seem like the type to come to a place like this."

"Hmm, I came to look at artifacts rather than artworks, and I was on my way to that section."

"Artifacts?"

"Yes, like weapons or armor."

Quini finally understood at Frondier's words.

Frondier, who knew Misteltain was a fake, was an otaku with a deep interest in old things!

But there was a more pressing issue at hand.

"Fr, Frondier, what did you mean by what you just said?"

"What? What did I say?"

"You called that painting a 'fake'! I heard it clearly!"

Quini pointed at the painting. She took the opportunity to look at it again.

It was still an excellent painting. It could easily stand among the greats, let alone be a fake.

"Ah, yes, I did."

Frondier replied.

His tone was as calm as ever.

Is this guy in the habit of calling everything, including Misteltain, a fake?

"Do you know where we are? The Remus Museum! The best museum in the central continent! It's not normal for there to be fakes here!"

Frondier touched his lips at her words, looking as if he was pondering something.

"......So, Quini-senpai, you're saying I should have formally protested to the museum for displaying a fake, right?"

"That's not what I mean!"

What is this guy?

Does he not even think he's wrong?

"Calling the Remus Museum a place with fakes won't just go away!"

"Whether it's the Remus Museum or the Louvre, a fake is still a fake."

Frondier said.

His tone suggested he thought it was a very obvious statement.

While the statement itself is true,

But what is the Louvre?

"Is this a fake?"

"Yes. A fake."

"Really? You won't regret saying that? Really?"

"Really. Really. It's a 100% fake."

Quini looked at the painting again.

......Indeed, it's an excellent painting no matter how you look at it.

While her standards for Frondier had risen after the Misteltain incident,

She still trusted her own eyes more.

"......Then, do you want to bet?"

"A bet?"

"Yes. A bet on whether this painting is real or fake. If Frondier wins, I'll send the price of this painting to the Roach family through the Viet Trading Company. If I win, the opposite happens. How about it?"

"How do you plan to verify if it's real?"

"I'll buy it. This painting."

Anne, who had been standing quietly beside her, gasped in surprise.

Quini looked at Frondier with a confident expression.

In fact, she had planned to buy something from the Remus Museum from the start. This painting would satisfy her.

......She was also angry at hearing it called a fake.

"Cancel it now, and it's as if it never happened."

"Sure."

Frondier said.

Quini was even more surprised, her mouth open and eyes wide.

But Frondier said something even more surprising.

"Can you send it to me personally instead of the Roach family? In cash, perhaps?"

"You really are something."

* * *

The Viet Trading Company, currently at the peak of its success.

But this is a recent evaluation. Before Quini took over, the Viet Trading Company had lost its former glory.

At the time, everyone thought the Viet Trading Company was beyond recovery. It was a realistic assessment.

Given the state of the Viet Trading Company, it was impossible to return to its glory days.

So, Quini decided to start over from scratch.

She eliminated all unprofitable business relationships, laid off employees, and severed ties with long-time noble acquaintances.

After removing all the bubbles that had stuck to the company, the deficit was resolved. However, the number of enemies increased accordingly.

The Viet Trading Company had conducted many transactions with other companies and families. Among them were many who would go down with the Viet family if it fell.

But Quini cut them off without hesitation. Things like 'time' or 'sentiment' from long-term relationships were not considered. Naturally, the number of enemies increased.

This led to the nickname 'Little Devil Quini.'

After that, the Viet Trading Company grew rapidly. As the company grew, all the families Quini cut off fell into decline.

This changed the public's perception of Quini from reckless to something else.

'Unfeeling, but with a discerning eye that chills the spine. Her ability to judge people and skills is comparable to a seer.'

Families that Quini did not cut off or reached out to first grew. Families that she cut off fell.

As this pattern repeated, the families that tried to bring Quini down found themselves in hot water.

Being cut off by Quini meant they lacked the necessary value. This naturally led to a decline in popularity and the label of an incompetent family.

Quini, with her ghost-like discerning eye for people.

While her ability is comparable to a seer, she is not one.

Thus, she cannot predict all sudden events.

This obvious fact was particularly annoying to Quini today.

"So, they got mixed up?"

"T, that's right. By the time they arrived, it was already in this state."

"So, they got mixed up?"

Quini's questioning made the butler fumble for words.

Quini sighed.

"Let's go see. We need to see how bad it is."

With that, Quini led the butler to the front of the mansion.

The front of the mansion was already a scene of chaos, with servants sorting through the items that had been unloaded.

"......Good grief."

Items that Quini had no record of purchasing were clearly visible to her.

"Recently, there's been a trend of fake item scams. Especially targeting companies like ours that buy items in bulk. They bring a similar vehicle, force the driver out, and swap similar items from both vehicles. They prepare high-quality fakes for valuable items."

"Preparing fakes means they knew what we were buying in advance."

"Yes. It seems someone stole records from galleries or museums."

Sigh, Quini sighed.

Only then did she remember Anne's words about her father falling for a fake item scam.

It's too much to expect her to predict this situation from just that one sentence.

Still, the Viet Trading Company was in a better position. They caught the criminals in the act.

The problem was that the items from both vehicles were already mixed up.

They had brought both vehicles to the mansion to sort through the items.

"......What are they doing over there?"

While the employees and servants were sorting the items, a group of people had gathered in another area.

"Oh, we hired some appraisers. We found a significant number of fakes that were very similar to what we bought."

"Hmm."

Curious, Quini walked over to where they were gathered. She wanted to see how similar the fakes were.

However,

"Ah, wait, no way. No way this is it."

In front of Quini were two paintings. The painting of the praying girl she had bought from Remus.

'No way......'

The two paintings were identical. The only difference was the girl's expression. One was smiling, and the other was expressionless. The one Quini bought was definitely the smiling one.

"Have, have the appraisals finished?"

"Ah, Quini-sama. I apologize. It was very difficult, but the appraisals are complete. I got so absorbed in the paintings without realizing it. Ha ha."

The appraiser laughed awkwardly.

The appraisals are complete. Quini swallowed. Which one is the real one?

Quini looked at both paintings again. To her, the smiling one seemed more real. The act of praying and the girl's smile. The disharmony made it even more beautiful.

"So, which one is the real one? Which one has higher artistic value?"

"Hmm, those two questions have different answers."

"Really?"

The appraiser pointed to the painting of the smiling girl.

"The one with higher artistic value is this one. We all marveled at it. Not just the girl's expression, but the use of color, the effort in the underpainting, and the unique combination of beauty. It even refined the coloring technique used in the original. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference from the original."

Then, the appraiser pointed to the painting of the expressionless girl.

"The real one is this one. This is also an excellent painting. However, the technique is a bit old-fashioned, and the girl's expression is disappointing. We initially thought this was the fake."

"But how did you determine it was the real one......?"

"Fortunately, one of us knew this work."

Another appraiser stepped forward.

"Alain Buisson's 'Prayer of the Girl.' Both the artist and the work are very obscure, and the artist has been dead for a long time. Very few people would know about it. The scammers must have brought the real one, probably bought cheaply from some gallery."

A fake with higher artistic value than the real one.

So, Frondier called it an 'excellent fake.'

......No, then.

"Is there any way for a regular person to tell this is the real one?"

"It would be difficult. The museum displayed it as real, so it must be very hard to tell. To distinguish between the real and fake, one would need to have seen the real one from before the fakes were made, or have a comprehensive knowledge of almost all paintings on the continent."

Quini blinked a few times, as if thinking about something, then spoke.

"It must have been luck."

"Excuse me?"

"So, it must have been luck. There's no other way to explain it,"

The appraisers were trying hard to explain something they couldn't understand.