The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 350

The person I was waiting for showed up quickly.

“I’m here!”

The one I had been waiting for was Amy, fully armed with a coat of anti-magic and a mithril greatsword.

I had left a note to join us after taking ‘Atlas’ away.

Sure enough, just as I thought she’d arrive soon, I noticed another person sneaking up behind her.

“Why did you come so quickly… wait, why is she here?”

“I’m curious. I didn’t see it after all.”

Casey casually followed Amy over here.

“Hmm. Is this the impersonator of the uncle?”

Casey ran over and stared intently at the unconscious ‘Atlas’.

She seemed expressionless, but I could feel her genuine interest.

“Does it look similar?”

“It looks too weak. I guess it could be mistaken for the uncle, but it’s definitely not. I’ll be watching from behind so you can do your thing without interruptions.”

And just like that, she seemed to lose interest.

It looked like she really came because she hadn’t seen ‘Atlas’ after arriving late.

“What are you planning to do with this person?”

“Good question. What should we do?”

There were still a few things I was curious about, so I kept him here, but this guy had a separate destination to go to.

“This guy is too suspicious. Since it looks related to what Hoenheim is investigating, I think we should leave him there.”

“Hoenheim is the master of magic, right? If it’s him, it should be fine. What does ‘Atlas’ even think about this?”

“This? It’s not just an impersonator; saying it’s a lunatic who thinks he’s Atlas Titan sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it?”

It would be more accurate to say I didn’t understand why it appeared in front of me.

It defied common sense, after all.

But that didn’t change the fact that it was here, so I had no choice but to accept it in my own way.

“I’m curious about how something like this came to be in this world. After thinking it over, the only explanation I can come up with is that it’s the work of a demon.”

“A demon?”

“Yeah. The last time I encountered the mirror demon, maybe the fallouts from that are surfacing now?”

But this hypothesis felt strange as well.

The mirror demon I encountered last time had created a specific other space where it could fully utilize its power, and it couldn’t exert influence beyond that.

However, ‘Atlas’ was far away from where the mirror demon was swallowed by Hoenheim’s other space.

No… could that mean it wasn’t completely duplicated?

So, the plan is to take him to Hoenheim and have him run experiments on him like a lab rat.

“What if… this person really is Atlas from another world and not something someone made?”

“Another world?”

Amy brought up an interesting point.

What if this original Atlas is actually a dimensional traveler… or a dimensional drifter?

“Yeah. Atlas recognizes this person as a version of himself derived from another possibility.”

“Given how similar they look, that seems like a feasible assumption.”

“So, Atlas thinks the person is a doll created by someone, and I’m suggesting that he might actually come from a completely different world.”

“Interesting story. But is that really possible?”

Bringing in a completely different version of myself from another world sounds like a magic I’ve never heard of.

If… that were really possible, wouldn’t Hoenheim have summoned his own self from another world to engage in a heated discussion?

When I think about it, I’m the most reliable proof that another world, rather than just another dimension, exists.

“I’m not sure about that, but if it isn’t that, then it doesn’t make sense.”

Illusions or transformation magic can lead those who see them to have suggestions that lessen their discomfort.

But as with the knight commander in Narni or Amy, who was fully armed, this guy seemed to have felt the same about me as everyone else, so I have to think it can’t be the case.

“Ugh…”

“Wait, he’s waking up.”

‘Atlas,’ the protagonist of the story, finally awoke.

As soon as he opened his eyes and looked around, he realized he was still alive and smiled.

“Ha… you’ve kept me alive. There’s a limit to how naïve one can be, you know.”

“Considering that your worthless life is still alive by my whim, wouldn’t it be wise to cherish it?”

‘Atlas’ being alive is purely my whim.

When my anger soared to its peak, I couldn’t kill him before the students, so I dragged him close to the forest intending to cut off his breath and dispose of his corpse when I thought it over, but I still couldn’t understand why this guy existed in this world, thus I spared him.

No matter how many times I saw it, it felt strange.

A stranger with my identical face made a sense of disgust crawl up from deep within my heart.

“I have a lot of questions for you. If you’re going to die, at least answer a few of them first.”

“Not even tied up? Do you think I’m that easy to deal with?”

‘Atlas’ suddenly sprang up and reached out.

It seemed like a simple outstretched hand, but black magic swirled around it.

As expected, this guy can use demonic power.

Seeing that he was much faster than the initial ambush, it looked like he was trying to conceal the magic as much as possible since there were people around.

While fast, that’s still not enough.

“Then you’d look foolish.”

Instead of dodging, I merely shifted slightly and kicked ‘Atlas’ in the chin.

-Thunk!!

As his head shook, a clumsy sound came from ‘Atlas’ as he fell over like a frog.

“I didn’t forget to bind you. Whatever you do doesn’t matter, so I just let it be.”

.

.

.

“Ugh!!”

The original ‘Atlas’ quickly regained consciousness.

I had awakened him, for better or worse, and now that he was up, that was what mattered.

“Alright then, let’s get on with what we need to do. It’s nothing special—just questions you should be able to answer.”

“Do you really think I’d give you what you want after doing this nonsense?”

Hearing a clichéd response made me laugh it off.

“You’re not from here. In the world you belong to, Cronos is still alive… and you’re the heir. Don’t you want to go back? Apparently, you could create havoc in your original world, but here, you better not mess with me if you want to return, right?”

“What…?”

Hearing that I’d send him back made ‘Atlas’’s eyes widen.

It seemed like something he never expected to hear.

“It’s annoying for me to have a guy like you around, so just hurry up and leave. So tell me if you know how to get back.”

“….”

It seemed my offer was quite enticing, as I could see visible agitation in his eyes.

After a brief moment of pondering, ‘Atlas’ answered mournfully.

“I don’t know.”

He was saying he didn’t know anything.

“I said I don’t know, dammit!! I came to my senses here; how would I know!!”

“If that’s the case, that’s too bad.”

If I could find out how, I’d… no, I wanted to capture all those involved and take them down, yet he didn’t know, so there was nothing I could do.

To wrap things up cleanly, I reached for the sword at my back, and ‘Atlas’’s eyes flickered.

“You said you’d send me back… but now you’re planning to kill me!!”

I wasn’t planning to kill him; I just intended to knock him out with the handle of the sword, but it looked like he was terrified by the thought of me grabbing the sword.

But as I looked at ‘Atlas’, who was so afraid, it almost made me burst out laughing.

“You really thought you’d be alive after killing those people?”

“What?”

“The ones I killed because they blocked the way for you and your family: Argo, Duoel, Brahan…”

Every time I mentioned a name, ‘Atlas’ turned pale.

He looked uneasy, as if I had discovered his secret diary.

The people I referenced were all names of those he had killed in an accident, using his demons to solidify his position in the original story.

I didn’t mention the countless others he probably killed just because he felt like it when he crossed paths with them.

“How do you know that?”

“Hmm, how do I know?”

The way ‘Atlas’ looked at me changed.

Until a moment ago, he seemed to think he could do something about me, his eyes filled with determination, but that was gone.

Now, they were filled with pure fear of an unknown presence.

“Uwaaaaah!! S-Save me!!!”

Dense magic began to rise from ‘Atlas’ as he turned his back, abandoning his staff, and desperately fled on all fours.

“Pointless.”

No matter how far he tried to escape, I had him right in the palm of my hand.

As if to invite me to slice through him, I aimed a downward strike toward him from a slight distance.

Having no legs should be fine for an investigation.

[Kiiaaaah!!!]

But then, a black demon burst from ‘Atlas’’s body, blocking the strike, albeit at the cost of his abdomen being severed and disappearing.

It was a higher demon with thick horns sprouting from its right temple, the demon with whom ‘Atlas’ had made a contract.

“Stay back… stay back!!!”

‘Atlas,’ whose contract demon had been halved, was left with only the remnants of the magic it had left behind. As he saw me approaching, he screamed.

He picked up whatever pebbles he could get his hands on and hurled them wildly while he limped away with great effort.

“I am the rightful heir of the Titan! You can’t kill me! I won’t accept that!!!”

“Oh, how pathetic.”

The sight of ‘Atlas’ flailing with his ruined face was truly difficult to watch.

Yeah. This was the original ‘Atlas Titan’ allowed in this world—a third-rate villain just providing early experience points to the main character.

Having lived in this body for such a long time, I realized how precarious everything I took for granted had been.

He had twisted the fate meant for him to live as a minor villain and made it this far.

“I still… don’t want to die yet…!! I’ve lived through enough and seen enough… to die in a place like this…!!”

‘Atlas’ screamed.

Now that I think about it, I believe it felt the same when he was hunted down by Hayden in the original story.

Just sending him into unconsciousness was all I wanted to do, but to him, I must look like a reaper.

“Do you think you’ll die in a place like this…!!!”

In that moment, an overwhelming presence emanated from ‘Atlas’.