The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 96

Slapping my feet on the ground, I was dazedly walking out of the hallway.

“Hey, hey, don’t make eye contact.”

“Yikes, that’s intimidating… Is something going on today…?”

Maybe it was the urgent expressions on their faces, but all the male students I passed in the hallway averted their gazes.

The more they avoided me, the more anxious I became.

Behind me, Casey was glaring at me with a pout.

‘What do you expect, you don’t even have any same-sex friends!’

Ouch, that hit the mark.

I thought there were quite a few in the Snow Country Exploration Team, but I had never really made same-sex friends in the Knight Order or the Academy either.

It’s no surprise that had been the outcome, considering I hadn’t made any effort. But delving deeper, the more fundamental issue was the poor environment.

In my family, there weren’t any boys my age, so that was out of the question. During my time as a squire, I was surrounded by troublemakers, and all we did was fight every day.

After finishing my bloody squire days, where I had to deal with leg injuries and smashed bones, and becoming a full-fledged knight, of course, my peers and seniors were uncomfortable even making eye contact with me.

How absurd is it that they act like victims while they were the ones who started it first?

Not long after becoming a full knight, I quickly became a Master, and with my mentor, I roamed the nation, leaving no time to make friends. Once I became independent from my mentor, I was back to wandering alone.

And in the Academy… well, it’s pretty similar to my squire days.

Just when I started to feel the burning gazes from behind, a group appeared in front of me.

A group of about five or six people was crossing the wide corridor.

At the front, there was a handsome guy with flowing blue hair. It was Zeek Albion, leading his gang of second-class students.

“…!”

As we walked face to face, it seemed like we’d bump into each other if we took a few more steps.

Albion’s group was pushing forward stubbornly without stepping back, but Zeek Albion glanced at my face and subtly shifted to the side.

There was a small ripple among his clique, but no one seemed dissatisfied with that choice.

After all, they had seen what happened when they started something in the hallway with me, many times.

‘He seems like he could take it, huh?’

But before we could even pass each other, I stared intently at Albion.

When he sensed my gaze, he swished his blue hair and turned his head slightly away.

Surely, this guy wouldn’t mind if I suddenly started spouting nonsense, right?

No, he definitely had to go along with it.

Changing direction, I boldly approached Albion, stretching my arm up to place my hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, look who it is, my buddy Albion!”

“What?!”

As soon as I touched him, Albion’s body jerked in surprise.

He seemed flustered by my sudden friendliness.

“What…!! What are you trying to do to Lord Albion?!”

“Everyone, just chill out!”

As soon as I laid a hand on Albion, the second-class students scattered quickly, looking ready to pounce on me, but Albion shouted them down.

“Hey, what’s up with this sudden…?”

Albion was bewildered, unable to comprehend my actions.

If I didn’t get it, how could an outsider understand?

But from my viewpoint, Zeek Albion had to play along with my antics.

I leaned down, lowering my line of sight to match his and whispered in his ear.

“Hey, smile.”

At my chillingly stated request, Albion’s eyes widened, and he immediately reacted.

“Ah…hahahahahaha.”

“Uh… Albion??”

When Albion started laughing after hearing me, all the second-class students and others passing through the hallway turned to look at us in shock.

“Ha ha ha, you should laugh, laugh.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.”

It was like a gang of lunatics laughing endlessly.

As I laughed, Albion followed suit and laughed with me.

“Ha…ha ha..hahahahaha!”

“Gigglegigglegiggle”

“Ahhahahahahahaha.”

As it continued, even the second-class students began to chuckle one by one.

Were they pressured to laugh?

There was no particular reason for the laughter; I had just grabbed him, and since I had nothing to say to him, we just ended up laughing.

It was as if laughter alarms were ringing, filling the hallway with mechanically chuckling students, creating an atmosphere of madness.

“What’s going on with you all??”

Someone shattered the bizarre situation.

“Edgar…!”

Edgar Lemnos, having finished his class, strolled in holding a book in one hand.

He looked bewildered at the sight of laughter filling the hallway.

Usually, his buddies would carry everything, but nowadays, for some reason, they all learned to carry their own stuff.

“Edgar!! What’s happening here..”

“Hey, Edgar’s here! It’s good to see you, buddy!”

As Edgar, completely oblivious, approached, Albion tried to warn him but got cut off first.

Edgar Lemnos still didn’t grasp what was happening right in front of him.

“Huh?? What’s going on all of a sudden!”

“Why? We’re friends, right?”

“What? Me and you?? What are you talking about out of nowhere?”

“A friendship built by clashing swords, right? What’s with that? If you’re gonna act like that, I’ll be hurt!”

Edgar looked at me with creepiness as I was grinning.

It wasn’t like I was enjoying this either.

But the more nervous I got, the bolder I had to be.

I put on a poker face and spewed some plausible nonsense, and started to see him look puzzled.

“… Is that so?”

Maybe my words seemed convincing, as Edgar didn’t outright reject them.

“No, but I’m… a magician, why am I…”

“Just laugh.”

“Ahhahahahahahahaha.”

The flowers of laughter bloomed once more in the hallway.

As we laughed there for a bit longer in the corridor, another victim appeared, drawn in by the sound.

“What’s going on? Looks fun, let me join.”

Nivas Perda, intrigued, slouched over and began laughing alongside Albion.

An unwillingly chuckling Albion, an uncertain Lemnos, and a curious Perda created a bizarre scene among the five pillars.

‘What a mess this is.’

Casey, watching the entire sequence with her eyebrows raised, seemed to be thinking just that without saying a word.

———————————-

“Yeah, alright, get going.”

After some moderate shaking and chaos, I sent them off.

The ordinary students watched me in fear as if I was a monster while I shook the five pillars like a toy.

I was increasingly forgetting that those five represent the noble families of the Empire.

“Ugh… my neck hurts…”

Albion, who had to keep laughing reluctantly, was the first to escape with a disgusted expression.

I guess he figured it was better to run than get caught again.

“Friends, huh… I…”

“Ha ha, that was refreshing. Call me again next time.”

Edgar Lemnos appeared to be deep in thought, still pondering how he should take being called a friend.

After the five pillars left together, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.


I confidently looked at Casey.

“Well, what do you think?”

But, unsurprisingly, Casey didn’t buy what I said.

“Bull. The first person you approached was scared of you, the second was confused, and the third seemed indifferent.”

“Bull? That’s just how friends are. If you find that strange, it’s just because you don’t have any friends.”

“…”

“If you think what I showed you is weird, then make some friends, and then let me know what’s weird about it. Then I’ll humbly admit it.”

Casey appeared to have a lot to say, but since the reality was that she also didn’t have any same-sex friends, she couldn’t refute me.

“I’ll think about it.”

With that, Casey returned to class.

Watching her retreat, I shivered at what I’d just done.

“Wow, I really went crazy there.”

Shuddering at my actions, I turned away.

I still had some time, but it was about time to head to the next classroom.

“Oh!”

“…”

“…”

Just then, at the corner of the hallway, I caught a glimpse of golden hair and red hair quickly hiding behind the wall.

“………..”

I was at a loss for words.

I felt like I could hardly breathe.

I wanted to run away immediately, but running away from here would just make things more troublesome.

Holding my throbbing head, I stood still until the two heads that had hidden behind the wall peeked out once again.

It was Amy and River.

“… What did you see first?”

“From the beginning..?”

I wanted to die.

—————————————

Edgar Lemnos strolled through the hallway, reflecting on the earlier incident.

‘Hey, we’re friends.’

Atlas had called Edgar a friend.

He’d been puzzled at first, feeling it was absurd considering how much he’d been beaten up before, but when he heard those final words, he reconsidered.

‘Isn’t friendship built from clashing swords? Hey! If you say that, I’ll be hurt!’

There is friendship that arises from clashing swords.

Edgar was aware of that kind of friendship through the tales of the family knights.

However, it felt quite distant from him.

Even as someone who wielded a sword daily, he could count his friends on one hand.

Sure, he had people who acted like subordinates, but a true friend? Probably only Zeek Albion… and even then, their conversations often went off track because Albion was a magician.

‘Is that so?’

The duel between Atlas and Edgar wasn’t driven by any personal grudge, nor did any feelings of resentment linger afterward.

At one point, Edgar thought that Atlas, with his truly amazing skills, reminded him of his father.

As the Empire’s sword, he had been taught to charge ahead, but he had sometimes wished there was someone by his side… no, someone who charged ahead of him, a friend like that.

Thinking of Atlas as a friend didn’t seem too bad.

He was a better swordsman than Edgar, and it looked like he got along well with the other five pillars.

Though presumed to be the illegitimate son of Nemea, judging by his skills, he could flourish on his own.

He would make a wonderful friend for the Lemnos family.

“I… was I friends with Atlas?”

It felt strange, but since Atlas had directly said it, Edgar thought, why not consider it that way?