The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 258

The entire mountain range was threatened by the black dragon’s subjugation,

The sight of fighting alongside the gold dragon was something out of a legend, yet the protagonist was far more interested in something entirely different.

“What? Are you lot really talking about being a legitimate heir? Have you all lost your minds?”

He arrogantly started to beat down the vassals who posed a threat to his little brother’s position.

“Who do these disrespectful brats think they are, looking down on a person? Do you think my little brother is that easy to mock?? Huh?”

“P-please have mercy…”

The heads of three families who agreed with Oneiroi’s audacious opinion were getting beaten up like dogs, despite their titles.

They couldn’t even think about resisting.

No one had the guts to oppose a guy who had just cut up a dragon right in front of them, especially when he was seething with anger.

“My worries were just useless fantasies… But I’m not sad at all. I’m just glad you’re safe, young master…”

Or rather, it seemed one of them was oddly pleased.

“This won’t do. I can’t just let this slide. Someone’s going to bleed.”

“Eek??”

As he drew his sword, everyone started screaming and running away.

He wouldn’t actually kill anyone.

He was just thinking of chopping off one of their ankles.

Considering what they had done, killing them would be too lenient, but he needed people to work, so he’d let them off with just that.

This was a warning.

If they dared to entertain such foolish thoughts again, next time the injury would move from the ankle to the neck.

Squirette’s trajectory traced a beautiful arc in the air.

“Gaaah!!!”

The screams of the heads echoed clearly through Titan’s Mansion.

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After it all wrapped up, three people gathered in the reception room.

Two were nobles with titles and territories, one of whom was the high noble Russell.

Sitting before them was me, Atlas Titan, smaller in stature and without a title, but I was not intimidated even in their presence.

In fact, if anything, if they looked small and weak, I had even less reason to feel that way.

Everyone here knew who the strongest was without having to say it.

“I wouldn’t say it was too severe.”

“Of course it wasn’t too severe. For treason, you should get your head chopped off, but I let you off with just an ankle. If you do something like that again, I will definitely behead you.”

Once I finished slicing off an ankle, Carlos and my uncle Patro signaled for a private conversation.

After being diagnosed by a doctor as Metios suggested, I was thinking of bringing the rest of the crew left at Blade Mountain, and they called me over.

They probably had a lot to say, and I did too.

“I’m not unaware of the Royal Knight Order, but I didn’t know you were part of it. You’ve managed to stay hidden all this time with such skills.”

“I get sent out on field work a lot.”

More accurately, it’s because I spent a long time doing things as a shadow.

While my name was listed among the senior staff of the Royal Knight Order, I hardly ever attended events.

I preferred it that way, plus there was a lot I had to deal with going around.

Naturally, I had already reached the highest tier by taking down Cronos, so I was already at that top level by the time I left as an apprentice.

As soon as I dropped the apprentice title, I was recommended for a senior position, and I was picked up by the Commander, who was then my master, a shadow, and I roamed around the Empire doing covert missions.

Once I reached the master level and became independent, I continued to be out and about a lot, so they probably hadn’t seen me.

“Yeah, it does seem like the senior members of the Royal Knight Order only seem to notice familiar faces. So now… are you seriously planning to reveal yourself?”

“Well, you see…”

My head throbbed.

For Metios’s sake… that seems like the right thing to do.

What I had built up would serve as support for Metios.

But if I do that, it would erase the merits I had for having kept it hidden up until now.

The current Titan’s head’s brother had reached the expert’s highest level as a senior member of the Royal Knight Order, and officially revealing it means… news of this would reach the Academy as well.

“If this gets out at the Academy, how am I supposed to show my face again….”

What I was worried about from the start was becoming a reality.

I can’t imagine how dreadful it would be.

While I’m a senior member of the Royal Knight Order, they’d be whispering about how I went around beating students.

I couldn’t refute it because it’s all true.

And it wasn’t just casual confrontations; I really went after them.

Andy, the swordsmanship instructor at the Academy, has the strength of an upper expert, but he was considered among the top there.

And I was much stronger, and I went around beating students?

That’s essentially like an adult beating up a newborn.

Students who had gambled on the duel with Lemnos would be frothing at the mouth.

If they knew, they wouldn’t have placed any bets on Lemnos in the first place.

There was an even bigger issue besides this one.

I needed to stay on the lookout for how much the Demon Church would invade while lurking in the Academy until graduation, and I would be doing so while everyone knew my identity?

Firstly, the professors would start watching me carefully.

Except for Andy, who already knew, the rest would have no choice but to be on edge wherever I went.

I wouldn’t even be able to participate in tests.

What kind of student takes tests with an upper expert? That’s like pulling the ladder from under someone.

The embarrassment is a huge problem, and the additional issues that arise can’t just be brushed aside.

But… well, as long as I stay hidden, I can’t say those morons won’t come back.

I’ve already revealed myself here; what more could I possibly hide?

There might be other forces eyeing Blade Mountain since Cronos fell, so it would be best to secure things as a warning.

“Of course. It’s settled then.”

Let’s think about the issues at the Academy once the break ends.

“If you just support him, Metios will do well.”

Patro supported my decision.

“…I see. The Royal Knight Order, huh.”

Carlos seems to be hung up on the fact that I’m with the Royal Knight Order.

Is he possibly thinking of the Commander?

Though we went to school together, for Carlos, who couldn’t become a master, the Commander was a source of deep contemplation.

“I owe you a thank you. Thanks to the Marquis, I learned I was in danger.”

“Did you two know about this?”

“We did meet at the Academy before.”

“I mentioned that something was happening at the mountain, but if you’re handling it this easily, I feel like I made a fuss for nothing.”

“No, it was very helpful. I originally planned to just show my face and leave immediately.”

“Right… you said that while you were on your sickbed.”

“On my sickbed?”

Patro exclaimed in surprise.

“Yeah. I got beaten up at the Academy…. I seriously almost died.”

“What on earth… what have you been doing?”

Patro looked at me suspiciously at the mention of me beating Carlos.

I stood my ground.

I only beat down people who deserved it.

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Things wrapped up quicker than expected, and those practicing at the training ground hurried back down.

“Ugh, it was cold.”

“It was a different kind of experience.”

“It was quite helpful.”

Even though only three of us went up, everyone seemed satisfied with the training ground.

I had finished most of the tasks I needed to do at Titan.

I solidified Metios’s foundation and smashed the culprit that was polluting the mountain.

As for Kruikeker’s corpse, I decided to let the city merchants handle it for now, but there was just one thing I was unsure how to deal with.

That was Kruikeker’s Dragon Heart.

“Should I just eat it? There are quite a few hero tales about ingesting a Dragon Heart.”

After removing all the meaty bits, a fist-sized black crystal called the ‘Dragon Heart’ appeared inside.

The Dragon Heart, a semi-permanent organ that generates mana simply by breathing, is the key to the magical capabilities that dragons seem to possess.

Dragons can use magic as effortlessly as breathing, thanks to the abundance of refined mana building up in their bodies without the need for separate meditation to gather mana.

When River pretended to eat the black crystal I was holding, he recoiled in shock.

“It’s nearly impossible for a human to digest a Dragon Heart. Saying it can be digested is absurd; one Dragon Heart contains far more power than a human’s total capacity. It’s a miracle if you aren’t consumed by the Dragon Heart.”

They usually say that, but there have been a few humans throughout history that have managed to digest a Dragon Heart.

Most of them were heroes worthy of being remembered in history.

Excluding the few notable exceptions, it meant that everyone else had failed.

“I’ll let the rest of the materials be disposed of as they see fit… but this one might come in handy later.”

I decided to seal it thoroughly with the belief that it would eventually be useful.

“What to do about this…”

It was an artifact located near Kruikeker’s heart.

Should I go visit the head of the Magic Tower?

———————-

“Brother… you truly are amazing.”

Metios thought honestly after seeing Atlas, who could clarify complicated situations with just his presence.

He had never thought of Atlas as anything less than amazing.

The fact that he never wavered through hardships, that he managed to bring down their father, Cronos, at such a young age, and that he eventually tasted success solely based on his own abilities out there.

If it were up to him, he wouldn’t want Atlas to leave Narni.

But it was dangerous for Atlas to be in Narni.

“But… isn’t this enough now?”

He had kept Atlas hidden all this time.

He himself didn’t want to blab about being the Titan heir, and he had been someone that mysteriously disappeared for years.

Atlas kept himself hidden, and Metios also concealed the fact that Atlas was in the Royal Knight Order from others when he learned of it.

There was a reason it had to be this way.

Their father, Cronos, holding a funeral after Atlas’s departure wasn’t due to any envy, but it was necessary to deceive others.

However, that was a long time ago.

So much time had passed, so hasn’t it become okay now?

Atlas was showing his true colors now to help Metios, having kept it hidden until now.

Yeah, it should be fine now.

Thinking so, when Metios entered his office, he noticed a letter lying on his desk.

Surely, there had been none before the meeting started.

“This is…?”

Metios’s eyes widened as he read the letter.