The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 259

The office, which is the working space of the Head of the Titan Family, isn’t exactly a place filled with fond memories.

This room, designed to highlight the majesty of the Head’s presence, was overwhelming as soon as you stepped in, with the sunlight pouring in through three windows, casting the Head’s silhouette in a striking way.

With the men of the Titan family towering over 190 centimeters, it truly felt like a giant was standing there.

I used to come to this office quite a lot in my childhood.

After training, I often recalled being summoned here to check my situation, whether I had absorbed the elixir and essence properly.

He wasn’t the caring father worrying about his son getting hurt.

I remembered him always looking ready to collapse, yet he would call me in and drain me further.

The office, with Metios sitting in for the colossal Cronos, felt less suffocating than before.

It just reminded me of how vast this place actually was once again.

It seemed like the oversized furniture still rejected Metios, not quite fitting his figure.

Nevertheless, Metios sat confidently in the position of the Head.

“So, brother, what is it that you called me for?”

I was brought to the office because Metios had summoned me unexpectedly.

There had been several events today, and some decisions needed to be made.

It felt necessary to redefine our course of action, yet I was called out of the blue.

Why did Metios want to see me privately?

There shouldn’t be a grand reason for a younger sibling calling their elder, but the atmosphere felt different somehow.

It didn’t seem like idle chatter.

Was he here to express gratitude for solving pesky issues?

It was typical of Metios to do it in a place where others weren’t watching.

“… Brother, I’d like you to leave today.”

“What do you mean, brother?”

That sounded nothing like a thank you, completely different indeed.

Suddenly summoned only to be told to leave was undeniably absurd.

What happened that made him say this?

Especially since the six families hadn’t left yet.

Oh, of course, four of them were likely still recovering from the mess I made.

“I was planning to leave tomorrow anyway… What’s going on?”

“Tomorrow’ll be too late.”

Metios’s words were completely different from what I had envisioned.

“Thanks to you, I have established my footing, but if you linger too long, the retainers may misunderstand. If you genuinely think of me… then please, take your leave now.”

I felt like I had been stabbed in the chest with a dagger.

It might actually be true.

Metios’s gaze towards me felt chilling, as if he were looking at a stranger.

I hadn’t done any of this for compensation.

I just wanted to settle the past that I had neglected and left behind.

It was to lighten the burden that my younger sibling had to bear because of my abandonment.

“….”

Suddenly, my chest felt tight.

I had been fine just moments ago, but this was strange.

I had things I wanted to say, but oddly, they wouldn’t come out.

“Alright, I’ll take my leave. I was planning to anyway since I finished what needed to be done.”

I turned my back on Metios, stepping out of the office while trying to hide my emotions.

“Okay, let’s get ready to leave. Where should we go next? Shimoa? Or Parker? There’s still ample time, so let’s figure it out.”

My sudden declaration to prepare for departure drew odd looks from everyone.

They probably thought, “What do you mean leaving? We were about to have dinner and settle down!”

I didn’t particularly want to act this way, but… what could I do? The homeowner asked me to clear out sooner rather than later.

“Right now? It’s already evening; you want to leave now?”

“What does it matter? It doesn’t take long to travel anyway.”

“B-but… I did mention I was going to the Titan’s training grounds starting tomorrow, right?”

“Oh, that’s fine. I’ll be there with you anyway. Departing for somewhere else now won’t affect that. I’ll continue to help, so don’t worry.”

I had been saying we’d leave soon from the start.

Most of the tasks were already wrapped up, so it wouldn’t be strange to leave at once.

The task of checking Cronos’s tomb, which was set when we first arrived in Narni, had been clarified within reasonable limits, and the serious situation in the mountain range had been addressed.

I’d organized the lineage properly for Hera too, and it was amusing seeing her still puzzled about how to address me.

I even assisted my younger sibling, who had been struggling to find their footing.

All of this happened within two days.

I had done more than enough.

The past I left behind here was settled with all of this.

“What happened?”

Amy, who had been listening to me, asked, but the only answer I could give was one.

“Nothing at all.”

Everyone quickly packed their things and gathered in front of the mansion.

The sun had long set.

The moon was shining brightly in the dark night sky.

Everyone happily complied with my suggestion.

I was always grateful they acted on their own accord despite my capriciousness.

“I’m really sorry for making you move at this hour.”

“No, you’re the one who has been working hard these past two days.”

River looked at me with concern as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“It was really nice with the mountains flying around, but it’s a pity.”

“I’ll make sure to let you come along to the training grounds, so don’t worry.”

Gemma grumbled softly but left it at that.

Casey said nothing.

Usually, she was fine with following my lead in such matters.

“Then… shall we head for Shimoa first?”

“Yeah. If we’re going first, let’s make it to our territory.”

I pondered whether to go to Shimoa, River’s hometown, or Parker, Amy’s hometown. Ultimately, it was decided we would head to Shimoa first due to River’s insistence.

I needed to see Lord Shimoa… or rather, River’s father, and I figured it would be a good opportunity to address that as well.

I had already looked at a map to find out where Shimoa’s territory was.

Just to be sure, I had visited alone a couple of times to confirm its location and then led my party back to set off on the journey.

It had really only been two visits, though.

We arrived at a hillside where the scenery of Shimoa was visible in one glance.

It seemed that if we went a bit lower, we’d reach River’s house, meaning the lord’s castle.

“Wow, this place is really nice to live in. No mountains to strain your neck looking up at. It’s good here.”

Even though it was a dark night, simply seeing Shimoa’s land made it obvious it was a nice place to live.

It wasn’t larger than Narni in size.

There wasn’t some grand city, nor were there massive wheat fields sprawling like a golden sea.

There was instead a modestly sized village and fields laid out like a decent balance between city and village.

I needed to take a closer look, but it seemed there would be some decent income to come from here.

From this point on, we followed River’s lead toward the mansion in Shimoa.

After walking a while, we saw Shimoa’s mansion appear.

Unlike the utterly foolish guards from elsewhere, as soon as they saw River, they opened the gates immediately, and an elderly butler dashed out to greet him.

“Ah… Young Lady?? What brings you here at this hour??”

“I arrived a bit late. Are the others still up?”

“Yes, but both will likely be asleep.”

“That is to be expected. Could you prepare some rooms for us? These are my friends.”

“Oh, understood.”

The old butler finished talking with River and then smiled at us, greeting according to customs.

“I may have been startled just now, but let me formally introduce myself. I’m Edith, the head butler of the Shimoa family. Please, come inside.”

Everyone was being assigned their rooms one by one.

As a man, I was assigned the first room, farthest from the others, and sat on the bed, blankly staring outside.

My mind wasn’t sorted yet.

In fact, it seemed I didn’t even want to sort it out.

“Atlas.”

At that moment the door opened, and River entered.

After returning home after a long time, he didn’t seem to change out of his traveling clothes; he just tossed his bag down and came straight over.

“What’s up?”

“To be honest, something happened, didn’t it?”

Following Amy, River began to inquire.

I felt like there was something else to say, but I instinctively shot out a firm denial.

“I told you, nothing happened.”

“Don’t give me that look and tell me where the lie is.”

Denying it, River grabbed my cheeks and pulled.

But I didn’t feel a thing.

It should have hurt like hell if he was pulling at my face so much, but it didn’t hurt at all.

“… You promised you’d tell me everything.”

With those eyes, there was nothing I could do.

“Did you just leave after hearing that?”

When I roughly explained what had happened, River got really angry.

“It’s rational! If I’m present, the retainers might think differently, so you should have left with me.”

“Instead of doing that, talk to them again. If you’re upset, you need to express it. Just calling it rational doesn’t excuse it. You need to clarify whether your younger sibling has any bad intentions or if they just made a mistake. It’s way better to be upfront about it than just suffering in silence. Why don’t you drop by Amy and let her know if something’s wrong?”

“Yeah…”

I had no rebuttal to River’s words.

Silently sulking, I sat there when River came over and hugged me.

The sound of his heartbeat in my ear and the warmth from his body seemed to calm my troubled heart.

“Are you afraid to talk to your younger sibling?”

“… Maybe.”

It was the same old story.

If the worst I had conjured up came from Metios’s mouth, it would truly… be truly disappointing.

My worries only deepened.

After considering things over,

I found myself back on the land of Narni instead of Shimoa.

“Ah… argh! This is driving me insane.”

It was a similar issue to before.

The same kind of uncertainty lingered as earlier.

It felt like a psychological defense mechanism embedded in my subconscious.

Wanting to avoid suspicion, I unconsciously set arbitrary conclusions and gave up pursuing deeper inquiries.

“… What’s going on here?”

When I returned, the state of the mansion seemed off.

The guards were nowhere to be seen.

There was no hint of life in the mansion.

Though it was nighttime, it was still too early to be sleeping, and the maids should have been bustling about, but it was eerily quiet as if everyone had fallen into a slumber.

At that moment, a terrible thought flickered in my mind.