The Academy’s Weapon Replicator

The devil squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away, as if refusing to even look at Lunia or the scales.

He wished he could escape the effect of the scales by doing so.

Watching the devil, Lunia asked, "Your current leader is that devil named Marco, right?"

"..."

Naturally, the devil remained silent.

Click.

However, the scales moved. The scales, which had been slightly raised from the floor, rose a little further.

"Good. We can communicate."

"...Damn it, how..."

...But in reality, these scales were more difficult to use than the devil thought.

Even though it seemed like she could freely extract information from her opponent, there were quite a few limitations.

Firstly, since Lunia could only perceive the movement of the scales, the questions inevitably had to be answerable with a yes or no, like a game of twenty questions.

And while the devil mistakenly believed that the scales rising meant affirmation and falling meant negation, that wasn't actually the case.

These scales were a magic that discerned truth, but more importantly, they sought fairness.

Even if the answer to Lunia's question was 'no', if that answer itself was useful information for Lunia, the scales would move closer to equilibrium.

In other words, these scales were a magic that turned unfairness into fairness. In this case, it was the information each side possessed.

Therefore, if the scales judged that the amount of information on both sides was equal, they would reach equilibrium and the effect would disappear.

'So it would be better if he just kept quiet.'

For these scales to work as the devil mistakenly believed, the devil had to remain silent, just like now.

If the devil didn't answer Lunia's questions, she wouldn't gain anything, so the scales would answer for him in the name of fairness. Through the movement of the scales.

In other words, the devil's silence was exactly what Lunia wanted, and the scales moved in an easily understandable way depending on 'yes' and 'no'.

'Depending on the answer, these scales can even confuse me.'

Even if Lunia asked a simple question, the opponent's answer might not be so simple. Instead of a short answer, they could volunteer information, mixing truth with lies.

In that case, the scales would move based on the overall weight of truth and lies in what the opponent said.

However, to Lunia's eyes, they simply rose or fell. Ultimately, it was up to Lunia to figure out what the truth was within those words.

Whether they rose or fell could be a hint, but it didn't reveal the information perfectly.

This was why Lunia had been asking questions she already knew the answers to.

To make the devil believe that the effect of these scales was to reveal the truth. Only with that misconception would the devil believe that his lies were useless, even though lying was better than silence.

"I heard there was a child you were originally trying to capture besides me. Who is it?"

"..."

The devil remained silent. Naturally, the scales didn't move either. It was a question that couldn't be answered with a simple yes or no.

"Sybil?"

"..."

The scales remained still.

When the opponent remained silent, these scales wouldn't necessarily fall if the answer to the question was 'no'.

If they did, Lunia could simply repeat the wrong questions on purpose to create equilibrium. The scales only judged the value of the opponent's answer as information.

Therefore, sometimes even a 'no' answer could cause the scales to rise.

"Aten?"

When Lunia asked again, this time they rose.

'...Considering they were targeting Aten, I think I understand.'

Now Lunia understood. What they were thinking when they targeted Aten, and consequently, why Lunia was kidnapped.

The devils were unaware of the rapid growth of the Constel students.

'Tch, it still feels bad.'

And in the meantime, Lunia, who had focused solely on Constel classes, had fallen behind others in practical experience, and as a result, was the only one kidnapped.

'This is where it gets important.'

By now, the devil would have started to misunderstand the power of the scales. From here on, the real questions would begin.

'The fact that Aster came to rescue me means something happened to Marco. The leader who went to negotiate hasn't returned, so Frondier must have done something.'

Lunia didn't actually know how strong Frondier was. She had focused on building the rune during the war, so she hadn't participated in the scene where Belphegor was present.

However, like everyone else, she had seen Frondier defeating Belphegor through the WizarView. It was a sight that was difficult to comprehend even for Lunia, who excelled in magical theory.

She didn't know exactly what level of skill Frondier possessed, nor the source of that skill. But the fact that he had defeated Belphegor was undeniable.

No matter how slow the devils' information was, they would know that much. That Frondier had defeated Belphegor.

If they were trying to negotiate with such a Frondier, the devil called 'Marco' wouldn't be ordinary either.

From there, Lunia's thoughts reached a conclusion.

Unlike the others who were strong in practical combat, Lunia, who had focused on her studies, had an advantage over them.

"The devil you guys call Marco, is it Marchosias?"

"...!"

This time, both the scales and the devil reacted. This time, the scales were almost unnecessary.

"What does Solomon's 72 devils have to do with you guys? You're Satan's subordinates, right?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

This was just a question, not a use of the scales. Of course, the devil wouldn't answer, but it was closer to a question for Lunia to organize her own thoughts.

"Are the 72 devils and the Seven Sins planning to join forces?"

This time, the scales went down the other way.

Lunia's eyes sharpened at that.

'...When he doesn't answer and the answer is 'no', the scales usually don't move.'

But they moved. Downward.

These scales were for fairness.

The fact that they went down meant that there was another meaning to the opponent's silence.

If it simply ended with her being wrong, it would be evidence of unfairness from Lunia's perspective.

"...No way."

After a moment's thought, Lunia asked, "You don't know either? Who Marco is?"

"...!"

The scales rose.

"Then that guy Marco, he hasn't been under Satan for long?"

"Keuk...!"

Once again, the scales rose.

Aha, Lunia grinned.

Coincidentally, Lunia had another piece of good information.

"I heard Marchosias doesn't lie."

"...!"

"That guy, I think he'd be quite compatible with these scales."

This time, more than ever, the scales rose significantly.

* * *

"Kugh!"

"Aagh!"

While Lunia was interrogating one devil, Aster and his companions were defeating the devils one by one.

With Lunia's kidnapping resolved, the situation was almost settled.

Of course, in terms of individual skill, there were definitely devils that surpassed the Constel students.

And those with numerical superiority were also in a more advantageous position when simply considering the difference in strength.

For example, in Aten's case, she slowed down the opponent's speed and froze them with her domain of cold, but there were those who endured it using aura.

Aten's physical abilities were average, so if multiple devils who could withstand her cold charged at her, it wouldn't be easy to deal with them.

However, whenever that happened, Aster's sword would flash, and Sybil's sword would spew flames.

If they were all scattered, it might be a different story, but dealing with the Constel members gathered in one place was too much of a burden for the devils.

These two, who had experienced awakening-like growth during the war, were among the strongest humans in Constel.

Sybil had already achieved a decisive victory against their leader, Marco. Perhaps the only one who could handle these two was the original leader, Mizonas, who had even caught Azier off guard.

Additionally, there was Aten's cold that didn't hinder allies, and Selena, who showed exceptional ability in close combat and dealing with aura. The current Constel team composition was excessively good.

Originally, Satan had ordered them to be defeated individually out of concern for this synergy, but they had grown even further since then.

And above all,

"I've discovered something."

Dier was here now.