The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 342

When I arrived at Kirke’s dwelling, I was no longer surprised by the same familiar sight of Kirke, who looked at me with an expression that said she’d seen it all before.

“Hmm, you’ve been coming around here just to use the training grounds lately… Seems like you’ve got something else going on now?”

It was strange to hear Kirke, who usually joked around, speak in such a calm tone.

Her words had a sharp edge to them, like she had a thorn stuck somewhere.

Could it be that she was upset that I had continuously passed by her place without stopping by?

Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever properly told her how things turned out after asking her before.

“Kirke.”

“Got it. After all, I’m just a convenient ‘magician’ who spits out answers to whatever you say. So, what’s this new issue?”

Hearing Kirke, who despised magicians, refer to herself as one made me feel her displeasure acutely.

“I brought some interesting stories that you might like. You’ll definitely enjoy them.”

“Hmm? Interesting stories, huh. You know I have high standards, right?”

“Yeah. You’re gonna love it.”

There’s nothing better for someone like Kirke, who always just lounged around in this cramped den, than tales from the fascinating outside world.

Instead of trying to appease her, I opted for a far more effective method.

Though she seemed in a foul mood, acting meek would only make things worse.

…

“Kekekek!! What’s that!”

Kirke rolled around on the fur-covered floor, laughing hysterically, filling the cave with echoes of her glee.

She was happy listening to the experiences I had gone through in the meantime.

She especially burst with excitement hearing about Rex, who appeared as Cronos.

“Hehe, you’ve had quite an amusing time, haven’t you? Whether it’s a guy showing up as your father or someone wandering around looking like you, it’s a double dose of hilarity!”

Just hearing her words made my anger stir up.

I hadn’t thought of that connection at all, but now that she points it out, it really is similar.

It felt like a curse hung over my lineage.

‘Does that mean Metios is included too?’

I really don’t want to see that happen, so let’s just end things with Cronos.

“Sigh… So, you want to know the location of your impersonator?”

“With necromancy, you should be able to get a general idea of their location, right? We’ve done it before.”

“Hehe, necromancy is closest to what the public thinks of as mystical magic, but it’s not all-powerful. You need clear clues to locate something.”

Even though she says that, I want to ask her what difference it really makes when she’s actually performing it.

What I asked for was a necromantic search for a specific person’s location.

Magic in this world is highly systematized to the point of being merged with ‘engineering,’ but necromancy has a different flavor altogether.

According to her, it operates under different laws, so of course, the feeling would be different.

Saying that, Kirke began to prepare for necromancy by pulling out a Ouija board from a corner.

“Just tell me what they look like, what habits they have, and any specific traits.”

“That’s not the end of it, but… that information is also important. Just start with that, and we’ll go from there.”

As the letters on the Ouija board began to shimmer ominously, I shared the details I knew about the impersonator.

I described how they looked exactly like me, their vibe, how they were skinnier and limped while leaning on a staff, and seemed even more unpleasant in character, throwing in all sorts of details.

Kirke seemed to understand as she added the elements I described to the necromancy one by one.

With each element added, the flickering flames became increasingly distinct.

“Yeah, this is looking pretty good. Now… we need something more definitive. Just the ‘traits’ you’ve mentioned would leave multiple matches. A blonde with blue eyes, short, skinny with a limp—those traits are all over the continent.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, it’s gotta be their name, right? That’s the most important thing in this kind of spell. We could do without it, but as I just mentioned, it’d lead to several results.”

This necromancy required multiple specifics to pinpoint the search target, and the name was the most crucial.

I understood its importance, but sadly, I had a problem when it came to mentioning that information.

“Ugh… I can’t know the real name of someone impersonating me.”

“Well, think it through.”

I came chasing after someone who’s been impersonating my name, so how would I know their real name?

Should I just take a wild guess?

But if I got it wrong, the necromancy would end up backfiring.

Or I might end up pointing out someone completely different.

For a moment, I thought about just proceeding without a name, even if multiple results showed up, but then an impulse surged from deep within my chest.

“… Ras.”

“What?”

Some name spilled out of my mouth without me even realizing it.

“Go with the name Atlas Titan.”

It was absolutely impossible for that to be the right name, yet I inserted it into the necromancy spell while thinking it was nonsense.

“Choke… Haha, are you serious? You really want to search with that name? You know you’re looking for an impersonator, right? If you put your name in here and there’s no match, it’ll just show your own location and that’s it?”

“Yeah, search with that name.”

“Oh… Don’t really know, but I guess you must be pretty confident.”

I could see Kirke, who was originally looking for my impersonator, chuckle in disbelief when I said my name.

I was confused if this was the right call.

But my instincts were convinced that if I searched under these conditions, I’d find what I wanted.

It’s hard to explain, but the information stored in my head was practically screaming that this was the answer that most closely resembled my target.

“Hehe..! Let’s start then.”

As soon as the necromancy including the name of the seeker lit up above the Ouija board, Kirke began shifting the letters one by one, extracting the information she wanted.

Her actions appeared very witch-like, but sifting through the flood of information to isolate what she wanted resembled the work of a skilled librarian.

After combining several bits of emerging information, it wasn’t long before Kirke summed up the letters that arose and widely announced,

“I found the location. Thankfully, it’s not pointing to this place.”

The answer came quickly.

—————————–

‘Atlas Titan’ was wandering around in a disheartening mood.

“I have no idea what’s going on here. Did the world go to hell? Oh right, it’s already gone to hell. Damn!!”

It had already been a week since he fell into a completely unfamiliar place, endlessly wandering through the empire.

The only thing he learned after meandering through familiar sites was that this world resembles the empire he knows, but with some differences.

There were still many gaps in information, but just looking around made it apparent that many things were different.

The streets were choked with despair and screams instead of sulfur’s stench—they overflowed with a disgusting vitality, and the faces of the people were full of hope.

As he walked the streets, he got so annoyed that he turned everything he saw upside down, yet the expressions of the onlookers seemed quite cheerful.

How dare anyone have fun on their own? The lower class should only be emitting wails.

The biggest difference, of course, was… what had unfolded with the Titan family.

“Don’t kid me! Why… why the hell is my sister the head of the family when that old man is dead!!”

I thought maybe there’d be some clarity at the family home since the Titan family was still said to be standing tall, but all it did was sour my mood.

I’d clearly called for the head of the house, and the nauseating feeling I had when my younger sister showed up without a care in the world is hard to put into words.

Once again, my anger flared, and I swung my staff wildly, making people in the distance gasp and take a look.

“What the hell are you staring at? You wanna die too!!”

Seeing the looks that regarded me oddly drew me into a fit of rage, and the crowd dispersed in fright.

Just thinking about it made me even more annoyed.

With the intention of killing my sister, as I swung my staff vigorously, the captain of the knights jumped in out of nowhere to block my way.

That damn Hoffstern bastard was supposed to follow me as part of the gallant knights, so why is he glued to my sister’s side?

I’m the eldest son—I’m the one who should inherit the title, so why is everything falling into my sister’s grasp?

One thing’s for certain: I wouldn’t exist in this world.

If I were around, such a disgrace would never happen.

“Another world? Or is it the past? Damn it, I can’t figure out what’s what.”

Everything is grating on my nerves.

If it were a completely different world, that’d be one thing, but the similarities are so vague that I can’t grasp anything clearly.

With the old man dead and my sister inheriting the title, could it be a completely different world?

Clearly, the empire must have fallen into chaos; yet, seeing everyone looking fine makes it feel like a world where those events never happened.

‘Atlas’ had no idea how he had ended up in this place.

His memory remained hazy.

He couldn’t remember what he had been doing most recently.

As he kept trying to piece together his memories, the ‘Academy’ emerged as the result.

Yeah, that’s right; the academy.

I enrolled in the Academy and had intended to stall for time until the old man died.

“Surely… the regular ship set to leave around this time has just returned. It’s not too late.”

As expected, a large ship powered by the Orion engine was docked right before him.

The location he found himself at was the port, the last stop before heading to the Academy.

Let’s go to the Academy. Maybe there I’ll find something out.