The Academy’s Weapon Replicator-Chapter 11.2: Manipulating Fate (3) Part 2

As they descended the stairs, a wide cave appeared.

It looked like a natural cave. Flowers bloomed sparsely among the moss and rocks. And countless stones covered the floor.

If not for the entrance, it would be hard to believe it was a dungeon.

"Let's proceed with caution."

Jane spoke in a slightly lowered voice.

Then, she took out a wand from her bosom and lit it up.

In reality, Jane wasn't very nervous.

There wasn't much danger in a low-level dungeon with her around.

But she had to pretend to be tense, so the students wouldn't let their guard down.

Meanwhile,

Quinie was observing everyone from the back.

‘……Frondier really doesn’t have any sense of tension, does he?’

She could see it from the back.

Unlike Aster and Sybil, Frondier's walk was as if he was on a leisurely stroll.

Is that just his nature?

Could he really be so carefree just because he's lazy?

While leading, Jane discovered a hidden trap trigger. It was an old-fashioned trap, but surprisingly hard to spot in a place that looked like a natural cave.

Jane stopped walking.

"Aster, Frondier, stop for a mo... huh?"

Jane stopped and looked back.

Frondier had already stopped.

Seeing him holding Aster's arm, it seemed he had stopped Aster's steps as well, even before Jane could warn them.

"...Do you know if there's something ahead?"

"It's not that I knew, I saw it."

Frondier pointed to the ground with his finger.

A protruding stone that didn't fit in. The trap trigger that Jane had discovered.

"Got sharp eyes, Frondier?"

"Isn't it amazing?"

"I was just lucky."

Frondier responded modestly to Jane and Aster's compliments.

But it seemed like he was just being terse because he was annoyed.

Quinie silently observed this entire interaction.

Looking at the trigger Frondier found, it definitely wasn't impossible to spot if one looked closely enough.

'Hmm, was it really just luck?'

But then.

Quinie didn't miss the direction of Frondier's gaze.

'...?'

Frondier's eyes moved from the trap-laden stone floor to the right, and then directly at the right wall.

A simple wall that had nothing to do with the path they needed to take.

Though Frondier looked at that wall only for a moment, there was a clear sense of dissonance.

"Alright, let's avoid the stone floor just like Frondier said."

Following Jane's lead, the four in front of Quinie slowly bypassed it.

However, Quinie stopped in front of the stone floor.

...Even with her trap-disarming skill, she couldn't precisely know what trap would be triggered and how by stepping on this stone floor.

But Frondier's gaze earlier.

The way he looked at the right wall.

"..."

Quinie unfolded her fan and pressed down on the stone.

Swoosh!

An arrow flew out from a crevice in the right wall.

Clang, Quinie easily deflected the arrow with her fan.

Jane cried out in shock.

"What, what are you doing, Quinie!"

"Sorry. I thought it would be better to remove it in advance. We might have to come back this way."

"…Sigh. It's a relief you weren't hurt. Next time, please say something in advance."

"Yes, I'm sorry once again."

Quinie replied, looking at the arrow that had fallen to the ground.

'...It really did come from the right.'

At the end of Frondier's gaze, on the right wall, precisely there, an arrow flew.

Could it be that Frondier has a higher-level skill in disarming traps than she does? Or perhaps he has mastered such knowledge?

Quinie looked at Frondier. Frondier was looking at her as well.

Only Frondier would understand the real intention behind Quinie's actions. He smiled faintly as if he had been caught with a secret and then turned his attention forward again.

Quinie covered her mouth with her fan.

It was a habit she had when she laughed unintentionally.

......

....

Afterward, Quinie observed Frondier's every move more closely.

But Frondier didn't do anything.

In a lower-level dungeon with a party accompanied by juniors and a professor, there was hardly any crisis, let alone an opportunity for Frondier to shine.

After Quinie deliberately triggered a trap, Frondier became even more reluctant to take the initiative.

"Yawn."

Sybil interlocked her fingers and placed them behind her head.

Aster, who was beside her, warned her.

"Sybil, be on your guard."

"But it's so boring. The professor immediately spots the traps, and the occasional monsters that appear are insignificant."

This was Sybil's first dungeon. She had quite high expectations.

It sparked her adventurous spirit and curiosity, but she wanted to see Aster in action. However, he hardly did anything.

The traps were disarmed in advance, and if monsters appeared from the front, Jane would take them down, and if from behind, Quinie would quickly annihilate them.

'This isn't what I wanted.'

Sybil looked ahead at Aster. Aster didn't seem particularly bored. He occasionally checked the walls as if confirming the terrain, but that was it.

──Boring.

Sybil's excitement faded.

She had persuaded him because she wanted to know more about Aster. She wanted to get closer to him by exploring dungeons together.

‘So even if it was forced, it would be right to satisfy my curiosity, wouldn't it? There should be something here.’

Something, something.

Creak, creak.

Make me happy.

Suddenly Frondier touched the wall, just when Sybil and Frondier were very close to each other.

The hand that touched the wall sank in.

"Huh?"

Frondier's body leaned. The problem is, Sybil's body leaned as well.

"Whoa, whoa!"

The trap was simple.

As soon as Frondier touched the wall, the wall, around Frondier within 2 meters, fell forward. Naturally, Sybil, who was with him, was also swept away.

At the same time, the floor they were standing on rose. The wall became the floor, and the floor became the wall. It was as if a revolving door had been installed on the floor.

"Ugh...."

Sybil touched her head that had hit the floor. She looked around and saw no one other than Frondier.

They were beyond the wall. The trap separated Frondier and Sybil from the remaining three.

"W, what do we do...."

Sybil pounded on the wall that had been the floor.

"Professor! We're here! Can't you hear me?!"

The trap, which had been triggered once, showed no signs of moving again.

Sybil was scared. She was alone with Frondier in a place like this.

Frondier, whose true intentions she did not know, was merely a subject of caution for her.

She was confident that she would not lose in a head-on fight, but if he caught her off guard, she had no way to win in a fight of pure strength.

"Sybil."

"Y, yes?"

"I don't think we can hear their voices at all from this side. Let's move forward on our own."

"....Y, yes."

Contrary to her worries, Frondier was acting normal(?).

Sybil sighed in relief, looking at Frondier's back, who was ahead of her.

──of course,

Frondier had intentionally triggered the trap.