The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 127

The Hunting Festival has come to an end.

Originally, there would have been several events left, like award ceremonies and campfires, but it was no longer a situation for such festivities.

The conclusion of the Hunting Festival was swiftly carried out by the remaining faculty members at the Academy.

With no time to tidy up, the students were forcibly ushered back to the dormitory.

The students at the Academy, who had been enjoying the festival atmosphere, expressed their dissatisfaction at the abrupt end of the Hunting Festival, but they couldn’t openly show their anxiety due to the strange vibe.

It wasn’t until a week after the conclusion of the Hunting Festival that the students were finally informed of the rough situation.

The students who had been moved out of the forest without their rings, along with the faculty members managing the event, were under the control of the Demon Bishop’s power, moving around like worker ants while unconscious, preparing for some ritual.

According to an investigation by the Inquisitioner afterward, the nature of that ritual was the Great Demon’s Descent Ritual, seemingly intending to use everyone who had participated in the Hunting Festival as sacrifices for Belphegor’s descent.

The Demon Bishop was in contact with several individuals, using the power of Domination while wearing the face of a professor.

However, it is presumed that he halted mid-way due to Amy and River, who were immune to his power.

Even although it was the Great Demon’s Descent Ritual, comprehensive preparations would have been necessary, but if he had succeeded in dominating everyone who participated in the Hunting Festival with the power of Domination, Hell would have descended upon the Academy by the end of the event.

The Inquisitioner shuddered at the horrifying plan that involved having the students and faculty prepare for the ritual and then take their own lives as sacrifices.

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After the quick conclusion of the Hunting Festival, the Academy did not change much compared to before.

The Black Forest was far away from the Academy buildings, so the students who had been enjoying the festival were completely unaware of what happened, and even those who had participated had no recollection of what they had almost endured due to the power of Domination.

Only a select few among the students knew the complete truth about that incident.

The Academy took a week to manage the incident.

Those who had lost consciousness and were manipulated by the power complained of headaches, the Black Forest was in disarray, and an investigation needed to take place, including the case of the professor who had been killed.

Excluding the fatalities, the student who had sustained the most injuries, Casey…

“How long are you staying here, Uncle?”

She had completely recovered overnight and was now hugging me.

“Aw, why are you doing this in the heat?”

I pushed her away slightly, but she showed no sign of letting go.

After reuniting at the Academy, she had been sulking, but now that she had recovered, she seemed to be totally fine again.

“You used to be so nice when I was little…”

“That was when you were a little kid starved for love and attention… And now you want to call me Uncle and do stuff like this?”

“I’m still a little kid starved for love and attention, so let’s keep it going.”

When I had forced her to let go, I often followed my mentor’s advice to hug her frequently.

After being rescued from the facility, Casey had been in a state like a doll missing something essential to being human. I was told to hug her often so she could feel warmth and the sound of a heartbeat.

Filling her empty heart with love was the best, and hearing the heartbeat was particularly effective, or something like that.

Once she got a bit older, I pretty much stopped, but it seemed she suddenly felt like doing it again.

“Ah~ Ah~ My head… Is there nowhere to lean…?”

When I mentioned it, she suddenly touched her injured head and pretended to sway as if dizzy.

I already knew she was fully recovered, but her acting was too good.

“Such a little rascal, only getting trickier.”

“I learned it by watching you, Uncle.”

“When did I ever do that??”

I was puzzled by her sudden behavior, but it was true that I had neglected her for the last few years.

Even though Casey had become an adult, the time she spent with me was incredibly short.

Having lived together for just a few years was stretching it to say it was enough.

It was just playful wiggling, so it felt right to indulge her a bit.

“Fine, then just keep it up.”

“I was going to do it anyway.”

“Now you’re not even pretending to care…”

Giving in, I sat down on a bench near the Academy’s front gate and started to stroke Casey’s hair just like we used to.

Normally, it would be around a time when students would be wandering about, but now with everyone on break, it was pretty quiet.

Occasional students were seen strolling outside; that was all.

I hadn’t come out just to play with Casey; I had specific matters to discuss.

“I sent a report about the incident in the Black Forest to the Commander, and they said you might need to come in for questioning.”

“The bishop who died, right?”

“If you just say ‘bishop,’ it sounds like I killed a church person.”

“The term Demon Bishop is too long, isn’t it?”

I casually brushed off the first two incidents with my reports, but it seemed that the emergence of a third incident in quick succession sparked a lot of talk on their end.

Initially, it was just a site investigation that would end quickly, but now they would insist on having me come in.

I heard it was a big request from the church.

The first incident involved the Great Demon that descended, the second was a new type of Demon, and the third was the Demon Bishop—all core forces of the Demon Church under heightened scrutiny from the church.

Given that they were borrowing powerful Holy Relics, it was only right they cooperate with this level of investigation.

“Uncle, since they’ll have to come here to investigate anyway… wouldn’t it be more efficient to just do it here?”

“If an investigator comes and we’re called, it would really raise eyebrows.”

What would the other students think if we were separately called in related to that incident?

Although the distance from the Academy to the capital was quite considerable, it didn’t mean much to me, so I had agreed to meet at the capital.

Fortunately, I managed to negotiate with the Commander that only Casey and I would go.

He said that consulting other students would yield no meaningful results, and I accepted that.

Casey as a knight and I as Shadow would both have to wear armor for the trip.

Luckily, the Academy wasn’t conducting any lectures at that moment, so we could make it quick.

“… Did you tell the people here?”

“I’ll do it now.”

But how should I phrase it… If I say I’m going to the capital as a key reference for the investigation related to this incident, they’d worry like crazy…?

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I sent Casey back and, upon entering my dorm room, pulled out a parchment sealed with the emblem of the Royal Knight Order.

The parchment was easily unsealed for reading without putting any strength into it.

Inside were the contents I had just shared with Casey, followed by something quite different.

“… Those guys are feeling pretty bold.”

The actions of the Demon Church are strange.

There’s an unusually massive scale of terror unfolding against the Academy.

Terror of this scale against the Academy is not something that could be attributed to individual thoughts.

It’s pretty much a decision made by their heads.

Having been invaded about three times in two months makes you wonder if it’s even right, but the Academy is one of the most heavily fortified places in the Empire.

In the first terror incident, those who couldn’t fight concealed themselves and spent a long time in hiding, preparing for the ritual at the bottom of the Black Forest and the dungeon.

For the second terror incident, they turned a master from a neighboring country into a Demon to avoid suspicion completely.

And this time… the third terror incident was initiated by the Demon Bishop entering the Black Forest, which the Academy could not manage directly.

They exploited the fact that most of the Academy’s combat forces were concentrated in the Black Forest and used their powers to infiltrate.

It was an astonishing move, knowing all the ins and outs of the Hunting Festival, which had never been publicly communicated from the Academy isolated in the sea.

There had to be an insider.

“There were minions of the Demon Church hiding during the first terror incident, just like normal people.”

There are quite a few people working at the Academy besides professors and instructors.

Among them are the barista at the café, the owner of the general store, the doctors at the hospital, and the chefs at the cafeteria.

While most labor-oriented tasks are handled by golems, everything else is done by people.

Among them, there was a high possibility that minions of the Demon Church were still hiding.

It’s tough to root out ordinary believers of the Demon Church, who are not Demons but simply believe in it.

“Do they still think this place is easy pickings?”

But I wasn’t overly concerned about insiders.

After all, the information accessible to regular believers who are not Demons is greatly limited, and if their larger plans have been thwarted twice, they should be laying low.

The Demon Church is hardly in a position to operate grandiose plans like this, given their current circumstances.

In a tightly organized operation, failing at such a scale and losing members is like pulling out the support props of a specific Great Demon.

After having two successive failures, Belphegor’s organization has likely become a mess by now, having lost a bishop.

Given that the Great Demons aren’t on friendly terms, they wouldn’t dare to keep crashing and ruining each other’s operations to preserve their barely held powers, at least not around the Academy.

But it seems they still haven’t gotten that memo.

If that’s the case, there’s no other choice but to firmly engrave it into them.

To let them know who they’ve turned into enemies.

“If they really want it, it’s about time to dance the blade again.”

It’s time for me to return to my role of ‘hunting’ demons.