The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 327

“I’m not feeling the World Tree!!! It’s all over! I’ll go down in history as the least impressive Grand Warrior forever!!”

“Calm down. It’s not like it’s disappeared from your body. It’s just that it’s too far away, so you can’t feel it well.”

“That’s basically the same thing!!”

It took quite a while to calm down Siana, who was sobbing uncontrollably.

Being so far from the World Tree must have confused her since she was used to feeling its presence strongly in the forest.

I really didn’t plan to go this far, but her sobbing was so pitiful that I found myself soothing her until she settled down.

“Ugh… So, you’re saying that we’re so far from the forest that the power of the World Tree is just weakened here?”

“Right.”

As I continued to comfort her, Siana stopped crying and glared at me.

Her swollen face from crying only made her look cute.

“Ha… Are you finally calmed down?”

“… What do you want from me?”

Siana’s sharp gaze was still wary of me.

She understood the situation and had calmed down, but the fact that I had been hiding in her dwelling and nonchalantly took the forest’s Grand Warrior, Siana, all the way to the Empire didn’t change.

After all, Grand Warriors are the most important figures in the forest.

In the forest, due to special particles released from the World Tree, normal space movement is difficult; so taking her away like this was practically kidnapping.

If I had used my powers there, things could have escalated further, but I didn’t feel guilty about that.

“Not particularly?”

But even if I said that, I truly had no thoughts on the matter.

My actions were merely out of irritation at her attitude.

“I do have one demand. Apologize for that comment and rank me as a friend in your clan gatherings. What’s this ‘younger sibling’ nonsense?”

I knew that the title ‘younger sibling’ was something Siana came up with, but it still irked me.

I had to demand at least a correction right away.

“What’s wrong with ‘younger sibling’? I’m older than you!”

“That’s according to Elf standards. Age is relative depending on the race.”

Siana’s claim was correct; while ‘younger sibling’ can mean a younger family member, it is typically used to denote someone lower in rank than the elder.

While there might be exceptions, oddly enough, I didn’t want to hear such words from Siana.

“And besides, you’re weaker than I am.”

“What did you say?”

Anger flashed across Siana’s face.

But that’s an objective fact.

She wasn’t weak, but I was certainly at a considerably higher level.

I couldn’t stand it if someone weaker than me started to act all high and mighty.

“Ugh… Uuugh!!! Let’s fight again!! No weird space movement this time!! ‘Younger sibling’ means you’re the one under me!!”

As soon as she heard my objective evaluation of her being weaker, she seemed to lose control of her emotions and took another reckless challenge.

After considering my entry, I didn’t expect her to propose a casual duel.

If this continued, I’d have a significant advantage even without using my powers, so I’d have to add a few rules later to avoid any complaints.

“Really? Then this should be fine since you can’t use any of your Grand Warrior powers anyway. You don’t have a bow, so I won’t use my sword either.”

I sealed all powers as a Master, and Siana, who couldn’t use her powers as a Grand Warrior anyway.

Moreover, while Siana could use various gear as a hunter, she left her strongest bow behind, so I also wouldn’t use a sword.

At this level, we’ve tied our strongest asymmetric forces, ensuring a fair duel.

“Ha… A swordsman saying he won’t use his sword? Did you underestimate me? Don’t regret it later!!”

With a radiant aura rising from her body, a fierce competitive spirit burned in Siana’s eyes.

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“I lost again…!!! Uuaaaah!!!”

About ten minutes later, Siana got beaten again and rolled down the snowy mountain, a mess, sadly crying.

Even without using powers, Siana, one of the top-tier elves and a highly respected magician and hunter on the continent, still faced defeat. Nevertheless, that only meant she was top-tier, not comparable to a Master who reached the peak.

Even after sealing all my powers as a Master, Siana couldn’t hold out for long and was subdued.

“Oh, right. The great Elf won’t go back on her word, right? Then call me ‘oppa’!”

“Uugh…!!”

Siana’s face turned beet red with shame.

“O…o….”

Now sorted as ‘younger sibling’, does she call me ‘oppa’ since she’s a woman? Or should it be ‘onnie’?

Whatever it was, Siana, who was about to speak, ultimately bit her lip.

“You barbarian!!! Do you think I would say something like that? Absolutely not!! Just kill me instead!!”

With her face flushed and furiously seething, Siana was quite a sight to behold.

Emotional and tearful, I wondered what it would be like if I had a younger sister.

I actually do have a little sister, but Metios is way too well-behaved to give any of this flavor.

Still, I figured that if I provoked her more, she’d cry again, so I decided to tease her just enough and let it go.

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After finishing our tussle, we sat on the mountainside, staring blankly at the majestic scene below us.

For Siana, who only lived in the dense forest, such scenery seemed quite magical, and she gazed at it in awe.

“Is that the Empire down there?”

“This is the Empire too. And that golden field is a wheat field.”

“So that’s what wheat looks like.”

Wheat isn’t grown in the forest.

There are certainly agricultural products to consume carbohydrates, but they are completely different from wheat.

While I’ve seen flour imported occasionally, it seems like this is the first time she’s ever seen wheat.

As Siana daydreamed while admiring the scenery, she glanced over at me.

“… You seem a bit different than before? You used to be at least ten times fiercer than you are now.”

“At least you’re the same.”

When I said she hadn’t changed much, Siana’s expression turned fierce again.

“No! I’ve changed a lot! Even the elders used to nitpick about me three times a day, and I don’t recklessly charge out based on my emotions anymore!!”

“Okay, okay.”

Since she claimed to have made an effort to improve, she seemed quite offended at my comment about unchanged nature.

The attitude she showed just a moment ago and the many hardships she must face living as a Grand Warrior likely weighed on her a lot.

“Well, it looks easier for you now than before… Something must have happened?”

“There were a lot more enemies in the world back then. It’s gotten a bit better now.”

“That’s a relief.”

I had quite an unpleasant personality when I first met Siana.

I used to be the kind of crazy human butcher who would just draw my sword at the slightest provocation, without any warnings like I do now.

Siana was also much ruder back then.

Fueled with passion but lacking in skills, she seemed angry all the time to conceal her shortcomings.

It’s said that people with shortcomings recognize each other, and maybe that’s why we were comfortable around each other back then.

“You definitely said you’re part of a Knight Order. What kind of position does that hold?”

“Given that the structures of our countries differ, it isn’t definitive, but to put it similarly… I’d say it’s like the royal guards directly protecting the World Tree.”

Even though the structure of the forest and the Empire differs, if asked to find a similarity, that would be it.

A Grand Warrior stands at a similar level to the leader of the Royal Knight Order, with the guards under him being at a comparable level to the Royal Knight Order.

To dig deeper, the Royal Knight Order is probably a notch higher, but my knowledge of the forest is pretty shallow, so I won’t claim to know exactly how their military placements are structured. This will have to suffice for now.

“Hmmm. So have you ever thought that being in the public eye felt suffocating?”

Siana threw a rather interesting question.

“Of course I have. Why wouldn’t I?”

“How do humans overcome that?”

“I… just tried not to be in places where those gazes were focused, so I often went on business trips. Some people actually enjoy that kind of attention, so I just left it all to them.”

“You’re saying to run away. That was a completely unhelpful answer.”

“It seems like it’s pretty tough being in that position, huh?”

At my question, Siana buried her face in her knees without a sigh.

“Come on, you were hiding at home, so you must have heard everything. I’m sick of it every day. But I can’t tell the elves about this. And since you’re my friend… It’s okay to tell you.”

I was about to ask if she had any other friends since we had only known each other for fewer than three days, but I decided against it.

While she’s inexperienced, I don’t think she’s totally thoughtless; she must have other circumstances.

“Ah, that makes sense. I don’t even know what I’m saying to a human. But this is your fault; you’ve shaken me up, so now my head’s all weird.”

With a very complicated expression, she buried her face in her knees, looking out at the white snowy landscape below.

Her troubled expression oddly reminded me of Metios.

I thought she was just a rookie, but I felt the weight of the burdens she carried.

I could let her go back as she is, but for some reason, I wanted to pay a little more attention.

“… So when are you going to send me back?”

“I could send you back anytime, but do you have plans afterward?”

When she heard my question on what she would do next, Siana gave me a look as if to ask why I wanted to know.

“There’s nothing else today.”

“Then how about we play ‘Deng’ or something?”

“What’s that?”

Since I’ve been a bit harsh, I thought about giving her a breather now that we’ve come outside.

After all, it looked like she wasn’t doing much at home anyway.