The Academy’s Weapon Replicator
chapter-224-2

“……By intuition.”

It wasn't exactly a lie, but Ludovic's eyebrows twitched immediately.

“Are you trying to joke with me?”

“It's not a joke. I myself don't understand why I'm the only one who can detect it.”

I refrained from mentioning that the konjac monster was from another world.

Enfer and Azier had a rough idea of what I had done in Yeranhes, so they understood, but it wasn't something I could share with others.

“You don't understand the reason…….”

This time, another person spoke up. It was the woman who had been bickering with Ludovic. Her name was Daisy Foster, one of the two women currently in the Zodiac.

“Then there might be someone among us who can also sense the monster, right?”

“……Yes. I hope so too.”

I answered that way, but I knew the chances were slim to none. I could sense the monster because I had Helheim's Mana within me.

“Hey, kid.”

Then, another woman spoke to me in a sweet, almost cloying voice.

“You're the only one who's properly fought that monster, right? Did you find out anything?”

“…….”

I didn't answer immediately and looked at the woman for a moment.

To be honest, I didn't want to be on this woman's radar.

Her name was Ria Lis. Players simply called her 'Lily,' and some people in this world did too.

Lily, as if intentionally named that way, brought to mind the demon 'Lilith.' She had a very seductive face and figure, and her voice and expressions were all beautifully crafted, as if she were constantly putting on an act.

To put it bluntly, if Selena's 'acting' when she tried to seduce me became her true nature, she would become Lily. She was a mysterious woman whose age remained unknown.

Unlike Selena, Lily genuinely enjoyed men and was attracted to them. In fact, since her own abilities were outstanding, she didn't care about a man's abilities and only looked at their appearance.

If I were to get on this woman's good or bad side, things would become very tiring later on. So, I wanted to avoid catching her eye as much as possible, but...

“Hmm? What do you think? More information would be helpful.”

At Lily's persistent question, I sighed inwardly.

Anyway, sharing information was necessary. It wasn't something I could simply brush off with "I don't know." It was best to know as much as possible about the monster.

“From what I experienced fighting it, the monster seemed like it had just been born.”

“……Just been born? You mean it couldn't control its body properly?”

I shook my head at the question from another man.

“I realized this when I stabbed it in the back.”

At that time, the konjac monster had fallen to the ground after I stabbed it in the back. My sword had pierced through it and into the floor, almost completely immobilizing its body.

However, for a brief moment, it struggled to escape as if it didn't feel any pain, and then...

“……It screamed?”

“Yes. I wondered if the scream itself might have been some kind of curse with an effect, but that wasn't the case. Everyone present at the time was fine.”

“Then it was just a simple scream?”

“Yes. The puzzling thing is why the scream came out so late.”

From there, I had made one deduction.

Perhaps the monster was imitating everything about humans, one by one.

“The monster didn't have a face when it first tried to attack His Majesty. Only after I blocked it did a face pop out, and it tried to imitate eyes, a nose, and a mouth. I remember those eyes were focused on His Majesty.”

“……It's not just simple imitation. It's actually copying those functions.”

“Yes. At that time, it couldn't make proper sounds with its mouth. The reason it screamed so long after I stabbed it in the back was that it had just learned how to 'scream.'”

“……A monster that learns its surroundings at a rapid pace.”

When I nodded in agreement, the others fell into their own thoughts.

A creature capable of imitating eyes, a mouth, and even making sounds. Regardless of its internal structure, it was safe to assume that it could mimic almost anything.

I said,

“I've never seen anything with a similar mechanism of movement, so I can't say for sure, but learning usually presupposes a high level of intelligence.”

“……Does it possess that much intelligence?”

“It's a possibility. And if that intelligence is comparable to or surpasses that of humans...”

Ever since I realized that possibility, I had been thinking about it.

If I were that monster, what would I do with that learning and mimicking ability?

The answer came quickly.

“It might imitate my appearance.”

“……!”

From the moment it appeared, the monster had created a head, eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

It was clearly trying to imitate humans.

And I was the one closest to the Emperor because I could detect it.

If its mimicry became indistinguishable from an ordinary human, it would likely try to copy me.

“What if that's true?”

Lily asked me.

For some reason, the glint in her eyes seemed to intensify as she looked at me, but I ignored it for now.

“Nothing will change.”

“Nothing will change?”

“Yes. If the monster imitates me and becomes indistinguishable from the real me, it will naturally try to target His Majesty. In that case, please do not hesitate to eliminate it. If it's a fake, it will simply die.”

The Zodiacs listening to me fell silent for a moment. Then, as they all realized the meaning of my words, they looked at me with incredulous expressions.

I had just said that if it were a fake, it would simply die.

In other words, the opposite was also true.

“Wow.”

Lily's eyes sparkled as she spoke.

“So you're saying that the real you won't be harmed?”