The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 87

There are two means of connecting the Academy built on the island to the mainland.

The first is the regular ship that makes periodic trips between the land and the Academy.

From traditional sailing ships made of wood with sails to the slightly pricier “magic ships” equipped with the “Orion Engine,” the pinnacle of Magical Engineering, that can move under their own power, various ships shuttle back and forth.

The second is a bridge connecting the land and the Academy.

It’s significantly cheaper since carriages can use it.

However, its downside is that the bridge isn’t very wide, so if too many people gather, traffic jams become an issue, plus it’s slower compared to the ships.

Regular ships, being at the mercy of the sea, are affected by the weather, but they can carry many people at once and are generally faster.

This time, Lucia and I boarded a “magic ship” equipped with the Orion Engine.

The insides of the regular ships, whether they’re sailing vessels or magic ships, were quite splendid and refined.

Most of the new students, who weren’t used to such extravagance in their lives, felt like they had entered another world just by boarding the regular ship to the Academy.

Inside the ship, there were plenty of Academy students, including us, who were on the go.

“Hey… hey, look over there… those guys…”

“Are they new students from the exchange meeting?”

“Seeing them up close, they’re really small.”

“Heard they got badly injured, but they look fine. It must be the Russells.”

‘Next time, I should book a room.’

It doesn’t take long to travel from the mainland to the Academy, so the standard for regular ships is seats.

It’s not like a cruise ship where you’d spend days inside; it’s a journey that only takes a couple of hours, so everyone sits in their seats, enjoying a brief trip.

While it’s not cramped like economy class, there are no dividers, and if people are simply a bit interested, they can easily see where everyone is sitting, making Lucia and me quite conspicuous.

Both of us were the main characters of the most recent incident.

Me, who had been beating a ton of Clover Academy students just before transforming into a Demon, and Russell, the injured pillar who had faced off against a Sword Master… the whispers and glances directed at us were bothersome.

I wondered if Lucia was feeling uneasy too, so I turned to look.

“…Ah…”

Fortunately, it seemed like I was the only one bothered by it.

Since we were on the same trip, Lucia ended up sitting right next to me, and she fidgeted in her seat, her fingers moving restlessly.

“Are you okay, Lucia? Is something bothering you?”

“Ah… no, it’s not that… It’s just… it’s my first time going somewhere with a friend… I’m a bit nervous.”

“You were with me at the Academy, though.”

“That… that’s different!”

I wanted to ask what exactly was different, but I figured it must be something.

After the ship set off, it would only take about two hours to reach the port.

I thought about going outside to look at the sea every now and then.

“Hey, isn’t that Russell?”

Someone who had entered the cabin late waved at us.

It was a handsome guy with long, braided dark green hair that hung down.

His features were sharp, and his deep skin tone hinted at Southern blood.

He appeared flanked by several girls, all of whom were lively and caught everyone’s attention.

That was Nivas Perda, one of the pillars.

“Wow, I heard you recovered, but I couldn’t come see you. Sorry~ I’ve been busy lately…”

Seeing Lucia, Perda approached but stopped as soon as he noticed me.

From behind, only Russell’s head, sticking out over the chair, was visible, so it seemed he didn’t realize I was there until he got closer.

His every move was irritating.

Perda looked at both me and Lucia before giving a smirk as if he’d seen something amusing.

“Hmm~ I see.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No, I knew you two were close, but I didn’t expect it to be this close.”

Nivas Perda.

The eldest son of the family responsible for ‘knowledge’ and a magician, just like Albion.

However, he had focused more on strategy studies, so in terms of combat ability, he was significantly weaker compared to the other three families, just like Prigia.

According to his character settings at home, he was supposed to be a charming guy who pretends to be friendly while quietly gathering others’ weaknesses and using them at critical moments.

Even putting that aside, everything he said was prickly to my ears.

Lucia was also on high alert at Perda’s arrival.

Just as she seemed ready to kick him away, someone leaned their face toward me.

“Wow, how cute~ Nivas, who is this kid? Can I hug them just once~~”

A girl with short light green hair who was holding onto Perda’s left arm rushed over to me and leaned in close.

I almost pushed her away, but I froze when I saw something intriguing.

Her ears were pointed.

‘A half-elf…? No, she’s a Half Elf…’

At a glance, her ears looked so short, you could hardly tell she had any elf blood in her.

Half Elves, who shouldn’t even exist in the first place, are usually shunned, so I’d hardly ever seen one in my life.

It was fascinating to see that a Half Elf was next to Perda’s family, which had the deepest ties with Elves in the Empire, especially since Half Elves are one of the most despised beings in Elf society.

The Half Elf girl looked at me as if I were a puppy, reaching her arms out to embrace me.

“Ah… ayayayayayay!!!!!”

“….Don’t touch without permission.”

But the moment she leaned in closer, she screamed and fell back.

Lucia had seized her arm like lightning and yanked her away from me.

Lucia looked really angry, and it seemed like the Half Elf girl’s arm might break from how tightly she was being held.

“…Perda, can I take this as a challenge?”

It was rare to see Lucia so furious she spoke without skipping a beat.

“Hey! Do you know who this person is?!”

Another girl sitting next to her looked panicked as she rushed to pull the held Half Elf girl away from Lucia, whispering something in her ear.

Perda just kept laughing at the scene.

“Sorry, this girl gets so excitable when she sees something cute. I’ll be sure to tell her to behave.”

“She hasn’t moved an inch, yet her mouth is still running.”

“I mean, she stopped that girl on my behalf, you know? Just learned from me.”

As I shot Perda a glare for not appearing the least bit apologetic, the Half Elf girl, who had been whispering, suddenly shouted.

“Wait, is this the famous ‘Ankle Hunter’?? The one who wrecked Lemnos twice and sent an entire class to the hospital? Really?!”

“Keep your voice down, you idiot…”

“It can’t be! There’s no way such a cute and lovely person could do something so cruel!! You’re just trying to trick me!”

Hearing what the Half Elf girl had said, Perda chuckled.

“Isn’t it fun? You’ll never be bored if you’re with her.”

“But to make up for it, let me give you a piece of good advice.

Half of the accommodations in the downtown area are trash trying to rip off students, so you should find a place you can trust.”

“I recommend ‘Glory of the Sea’ at the harbor.”

“…That’s a good spot; you can see the sea well from the terrace, and they serve great seafood in the restaurant~”

At Perda’s recommendation, another girl who had quietly been sitting there chimed in.

“And the beds are really cozy.”

“Soundproofing is pretty good too?”

“The lighting has a nice ambiance~”

It seemed they were recalling memories from a night spent there, as Perda and the girls each added their two cents.

Lucia didn’t seem to understand what they were implying, so that seemed to make Perda even more pleased.

“…If it’s that nice, are you going to stay there too? Then I’ll need to find another place.”

“That could be fun, but coincidentally, I plan to stay at the ‘Golden Wheatfield’ right next to it today, so don’t worry.”

Perda also recommended a few other decent places, mentioning various spots he thought would be good.

Noticing Lucia looking suspicious, as if something was off, she spoke to Perda.

“…You’re going out for the first time too, so how do you know all this…?”

“I’ve got my ways.”

It hadn’t been long since the new students were allowed to go out, so it was strange how well Perda seemed to know about the harbor, almost as if he’d been here multiple times before.

“Looks like Nemea seems uncomfortable, so I’ll make myself scarce. It’s not a big downtown area, so we might run into each other once or twice along the way.”

With that, Perda waved goodbye and walked toward the back seats, where our eyes couldn’t reach.

Watching him go, I frowned.

“That guy is just rude from start to finish.”

“…I hadn’t noticed given how quiet he was.”

“Half Elves are hard to come by, you know.”

But that’s that; Perda is a completely different matter.

If I meet him in downtown, I’ll kick him for sure.