The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 104

“Alright, let’s leave the people who went to the Hunting Festival alone and figure out what event we should have among ourselves. Anyone have any ideas?”

After waiting for a while for those participating in the Hunting Festival, the students who weren’t taking part and wanted to enjoy the festival gathered in the classroom.

Most were recommended students, but occasionally exam-entering students were mixed in.

Dorothy Woodville stepped forward to gather everyone’s opinions.

Dorothy, who already held real power in Class 5, was appointed to lead the event for this year’s Hunting Festival.

Since she was taking the heir class from the merchant group, she was quite reliable in events like this.

But Casey was nowhere to be seen.

It seemed she was participating in the festival after all.

If she really wanted to join, I couldn’t stop her, but I should warn everyone in advance that Casey is way too strong and needs to hold back a bit.

“Lady Dorothy! How about a haunted house?”

“A haunted house… so it’s an attraction where you wear spooky costumes and charge an entrance fee. I have to decline. The turnover would be too low.”

She asked for opinions but cut the first one down without mercy.

The student whose suggestion was shot down slumped down with a gloomy expression.

Dorothy smiled and crossed her arms confidently as she said,

“What I haven’t mentioned yet is that my personal wish for this festival is… to achieve higher sales than Class 4! No matter how much of a student event it is, business is business! If we’re going to do it, let’s do it with all our might!”

‘She has some interesting ideas.’

The students murmured at Woodville’s blunt statement.

Class 4 is Shaara’s class.

Shaara wouldn’t be directly participating in the Hunting Festival, so it’s likely she would lead her class’s event as well.

She could delegate to someone else, but that would mean losing face, so she would definitely take charge.

She wanted to ensure that the name Prigia did not get tarnished.

In other words, wanting to earn higher sales than Class 4 was tantamount to declaring war against Prigia.

“Why do you say that? Do you think Prigia will harass us just because we’re running a student event? Don’t worry, there’s no way that’ll happen, so let’s aim to be number one in the Academy.”

After saying this, Woodville casually glanced at me.

—

With only two weeks left, we had to quickly determine what to do.

Class 5 decided to set up a tea house, as it aligns with the classic festival structure and allows for quick turnover.

The suggestion to run a restaurant was declined.

There was no way that pampered young lords and ladies, who had never actually gotten their hands dirty, could prepare proper meals for the flood of guests.

And relying on their connections or money to hire chefs was also impossible.

Festival events must be meticulously prepared by the students themselves.

So we aimed for the much simpler tea house instead.

After the first meeting, I ran into Andy, who looked quite dissatisfied, in the hallway.

“The meeting must be over. You’re doing a tea house? Pretty basic…”

“It’s better than doing something weird.”

“That’s true.”

Andy looked extremely tired.

“Ugh… are you really not going to participate in the Hunting Festival?”

“Do you want me to?”

“No, you thought it through. Even if you win, all the students would be clamoring desperately for the title, and it would just look weird if you entered.”

Besides wanting to enjoy the festival, Andy clearly understood my reasons for not directly participating in the Hunting Festival.

Winning would rob the desperate students of their chance, and if I went in just for fun, it would be a nuisance to my team.

If it’s going to feel awkward no matter what, it’s just better not to go.

“What happened in the meeting? Why do you look so disgruntled?”

“Oh… It was chaotic. Just imagine being in my position, preparing for this. With only two weeks left for an event like this, only the people on the ground will suffer…”

“The golems will handle all the labor, right?”

“The ones managing it are people. There’s just so much to worry about… Sure, the golems do the manual labor, but there’s still so much to manage. I also have to go to the Black Forest where the Hunting Festival is held… and then I still have to teach classes. Ugh, I don’t want to do any of this!”

Andy grabbed his head and began lamenting his fate.

While all the physical work for the Hunting Festival was being done by the golems, everything that couldn’t be handled by simple labor fell to the professors.

As the swordsmanship instructor, Andy had to scout the Black Forest, the festival venue, assess the atmosphere, categorize danger zones, and capture several monsters as samples.

Though Andy was catching the monsters, there would be professors investigating poisonous creatures and toxic plants too.

Environmental assessments aren’t something that can be completed in a day or two, and then to arrange the area in the Black Forest—ensuring students won’t get seriously injured—within just two weeks?

Having to conduct lectures too? A few professors carrying that responsibility will want to die.

Why was it decided to cram all of what was originally spaced out over months into just two weeks anyway?

‘Now that I think about it, Professor Praha majors in Magical Biology, doesn’t he?’

“So are we going to capture monsters and hand them over to Magical Biology?”

“Yep.”

I hadn’t dared to mention it, but I figured I should at least check in.

“And you… what were you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Professor Buckingham’s attitude seems to have changed. That guy, who was so excited about the Hunting Festival, suddenly started acting cautious… What kind of magic did you cast on him?”

It’s surprising how one conversation can completely change someone, showing such a lack of caution.

He truly isn’t cut out for anything serious.

“I have no idea?”

Ignoring the topic, I sensed a presence coming from down the hallway.

“Atlas…”

Lucia, who had gone to talk with the five pillars, spotted me and waved as she walked over.

“I was looking for you. Go ahead.”

“Andy, if you see anything strange while scouting the Black Forest, let me know too.”

“Then couldn’t you just go yourself?”

“Just trying to slack off, huh?”

.

.

.

.

As Andy left, I continued my conversation with Lucia from the same spot.

“Looks like you’re going to have to participate.”

“Yeah…”

Out of the five pillars, three were participating in the Hunting Festival.

Prigia and Perda, who generally stay away from fighting, were out. That left Lemnos, Russell, and Albion clans involved.

“I don’t want to participate in something like the Hunting Festival… The forest is damp, smells bad, there are too many bugs… Not a fan.”

“But is not participating worse for you?”

“… Yeah.”

Whether it was a pride issue among the five pillars or an order from the clan, there seemed to be a solid reason to participate in the Hunting Festival.

She was clearly showing how reluctant she was through twitching fingers and fidgeting movements.

“Then, we need to form a team.”

“… I don’t want to do that either…”

Upon bringing up forming a team, she shook her head.

But going into the Black Forest alone would just lead to a lot of suffering without getting any decent score.

Hunting Festival teams operate on a basic structure of 4 members per group.

The ideal composition includes one warrior to handle close combat, one ranger or hunter to assess prey and cover mid-range, one magician to cast powerful spells from the back, and one priest to provide various buffs—a total of four members.

However, finding a priest among students at the academy is like trying to pluck stars from the sky, so I’m giving up on that role.

Instead, I’ll stock up on various potions from the general store to create a makeshift set of priests in my pocket.

Though the priest set in my pocket needs to be self-administered, which means in a truly dangerous situation, I wouldn’t be able to do anything—it’s better than nothing.

I’ll have to exclude rangers and hunters too.

It’s unrealistic to think that students from noble backgrounds, who were mostly pampered, would have abilities typical of rangers or skilled hunters.

But among the exam-entering students, there are definitely some with ranger skills or those who were competent hunters before entering.

Those students would be excellent additions to the team.

With the two most essential roles ruled out, all that remains are the warrior and magician.

Most of the teams formed in the academy consist of a warrior for the frontline with a magician handling everything else.

Still, having at least one magician would make for a good team.

It’s common to see teams comprised of four warriors only.

With Lucia being one of the five pillars, she would likely reach out to fill her team from all directions.

“Going solo would be tough, right?”

“… Then… Atlas can… join me…?”

“??”

As soon as Lucia said that, she quickly glanced around to see if anyone had overheard.

After checking that no one was nearby, I was relieved. I understood what she meant, but hearing it made my head spin.

“Me?”

“I like you… I don’t want anyone else…”

It sounded very weird when the word ‘team’ was suddenly omitted from what she said.

Her face was even flushed, which made it all the more strange.

“Everyone’s making me weak in the knees.”

Regardless, there’s no way I’ll participate in the Hunting Festival.

Absolutely, definitely not.

“If it’s not you… I’d rather go alone…”

“…That’s still not okay.”

I understood her meaning based on context, but was she doing that on purpose?