The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 13

About six new students had left the academy, but it continued to thrive without any issues.

River and Amy seemed to share a little bit of Hayden’s fate, the protagonist of this novel… the Devil Slayer at the academy.

Minor events happened to Amy, while all the major fighting events landed squarely on River.

For instance, in the first class, River showcased his skills during sparring, whereas Amy found a special item while chasing a cat.

“You could have pretended to come in and swung a beat late over there.”

“It’s tough to show a fake move and then follow it up with a real attack…”

“If it were easy, it wouldn’t be advanced technique.”

River and I had developed a friendly relationship.

I was really worried about feeling his body odor, but that concern faded quickly.

Every morning we trained together and sparred, with me giving various bits of advice, but it wasn’t quite like a mentor-student relationship.

This morning, we had sparred quite a bit with wooden swords, and the level of advice I gave to River was steadily increasing.

River, who has great talent and enjoys fighting, visibly improved through our sparring sessions.

Thanks to that, the early events that felt trivial didn’t evoke any sense of crisis.

As the sparring came to an end, River wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and said,

“Atlas, why don’t you perform properly during class?”

“I have personal reasons… and there’s no need to stand out.”

During class, I acted as moderately as possible.

It wouldn’t be beneficial to make a fuss and get noticed… so I tried to restrain myself as much as possible.

Being praised among the rookies isn’t exactly a good thing… But River, not understanding this circumstance, tilted his head.

“Being strong isn’t something to be ashamed of. It’s not good if the man who beat me is floundering in class.”

“Got it, I’ll think about it.”

“Here’s the water, Mr. Seymour.”

“Thanks, Amy.”

“Don’t mention it!”

As the sparring ended, Amy, who had been stretching nearby, approached and handed River a water bottle.

She followed me every morning, working out and taking care of me like this.

“Is there another one?”

“Yes, here… Hot?! Yes, four…!”

As I took another water bottle from the basket, my face startled her.

Since that day, Amy grew closer to River, but still maintained a strange distance from me.

From our casual interactions, it didn’t seem like she disliked me, but then suddenly, she would distance herself like she recalled something.

Did someone say something bad about me?

I wanted to ask later, but since I’ve done many things in the past, if that were truly the case, I wouldn’t have anything to say.

————————————-

It was the time when the factions between classes were beginning to solidify.

Most tried to attach themselves to the larger faction centered around the five pillars, but in this class, Lucia Russell, one of the five pillars, was avoiding people…

“Good morning, everyone~.”

“Lady Woodville, another good morning.”

The tiger didn’t consider taking the throne, so the fox sat down on it.

The cute girl with brown pigtails, catching everyone’s attention as she entered class, was that very fox.

Dorothy Woodville, the eldest daughter of the bourgeois family that owned the ‘Woodville Company’, the second-largest after the self-made Prigia Corporation in the empire, stood at the pinnacle of this class, instead of Lucia.

Many had challenged her for that position… but Dorothy quickly seized control of the class with her unique charm that captivated people.

Despite being a self-made commoner, the nobles didn’t seem to welcome her much, but her eloquence was remarkable.

Now that everyone settled into their factions, they seemed to be gaining some leisure.

“Oops, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

As I walked down the hallway, someone intentionally bumped my shoulder.

As their positions solidified, I could see those looking for toys.

It was forbidden to bring slaves to the academy, so they intended to make weaker students their slaves.

Annoyingly, some madmen set their sights on me.

They’d poke and prod, waiting for me to strike first, then use a duel or some other method to make me submit and exploit me, it seemed.

Class had gotten dull to the point they underestimated me.

A nagging annoyance washed over me as they poked at me like that.

‘Should I crush them?’

But for now, I could hold back.

Charles, whose leg was amputated on the first day, could argue he was wronged, but the circumstances now were special.

First, there were quite a number of eyes watching.

‘If I act here, I’ll end up with a messy cleanup.’

And… I didn’t know who had sent these guys, but they were nothing more than hands and feet.

Nothing good would come from smashing them; the ones truly pulling the strings would remain untouched, only creating further annoyance.

‘Once I find out who it is, I’ll deal with them immediately.’

I’d been investigating whenever I had the chance, so the head would soon reveal itself.

“Is this also personal business?”

“Yeah.”

River remarked, seeming unable to understand why I’d let those guys go.

“I feel like you could take them down one by one in a duel… If you won’t, should I?”

“It’s not the right time yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll handle it well… but as I said earlier, it makes me uncomfortable seeing the guy who beat me floundering. If you’re going to handle it, please do it quickly.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“Of course, it’s annoying.”

Finishing that, River left to prepare for class.

I was planning to stay quiet, but already being targeted meant I couldn’t remain quiet anymore.

It was getting too noisy to just beat up each provocateur one by one… quietly taking them out one by one…

Suddenly, I felt a gaze directed at me.

It was Lucia Russell.

She was still a gigantic figure.

Every time I saw her, I wished I could’ve been like that.

“Is there something you need?”

Lucia, who had been staring at me quietly, finally spoke.

“… I’m sorry.”

“Out of the blue?”

“I’ll give it a shot…”

With that, Lucia turned and disappeared somewhere.

What was that about all of a sudden?

—————————————————————

Walking briskly, Lucia arrived at the lounge, filled with soft sofas arranged under a gentle light.

It was like a private bar.

One of the secret spaces created within the academy, designed for the five pillars to use.

Immediately upon entering, Lucia addressed a man already enjoying a drink.

“Lemnos, don’t touch that person.”

“Ooh~~ What’s this, Russell… You could’ve spoken up. I thought you couldn’t say a word since you remained silent.”

The man, sipping whiskey at her words, nodded.

Edgar Lemnos, the heir of the Lemnos family known as the Red Dragon of the Empire, had short dark hair and a solid body visible even through his clothes.

He was larger than Lucia, who was already a substantial figure for a woman.

“… I said not to touch him.”

“Touch him? Who are you talking about?”

Feigning ignorance, Lemnos asked back.

The students who had started to relentlessly mess with Atlas since two days prior were all in the same class as Lemnos… and everyone in the five pillars knew they were his subordinates.

“He’s Atlas Nemea, the dwarf from our class. You have no business messing with him.”

“What will you do if I don’t like it…!!”

At Edgar’s words, Lucia flared up.

“So, are you finally going to duel me?”

“…”

Lucia’s hand, which had risen, stopped.

Lemnos and Russell, two families responsible for the power among the five pillars.

While they appeared to cooperate externally, they were, in truth, constantly engaged in backroom struggles for hierarchy.

Dueling wasn’t difficult.

However… Lucia had been forbidden from dueling by her father.

Fighting was acceptable, but breaking a parental command was apparently out of the question; Lucia’s expression hardened.

“Haha, just kidding, just kidding! It’s Atlas, huh… I don’t really know much about that, but I’ll make sure to talk to my classmates about it.”

Seeing Lucia’s expression, Lemnos chuckled.

But his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

—————————————————————

There was no need to specifically look for the head.

The head had come out confidently, sending its lackeys to keep bothering me.

“Hey, dwarf..! Duel me.”

What confidence! But seeing his face, I understood where that confidence was coming from.

“Edgar Lemnos… why do I have to deal with the five pillars?”

It was way too sudden.

Why would a top-tier powerhouse among the five pillars have any business with me, who was living like a squirt?

“You’re the one who made Charles Fraser resign with a duel. That should be reason enough to come find you, right?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…?”

How did this guy even know that?

The faculty members would have to know, there’s no way students would be aware of the link between Charles’ resignation and me, so whispers began to spread.

“This duel isn’t a request.”

As Lemnos spoke, his underlings rushed in to surround me.

Each of them had a weapon tucked in at their waists, and the atmosphere turned ominous.

‘If they’ve come out this far… I’m actually thankful.’

Charging in directly – now that was quite the manly move.

It was far more annoying to deal with whispers and nudges from behind, so I was grateful they came forward.

I should seize this opportunity to thoroughly crush them and establish some order.

Internal cheers erupted as I prepared for the duel.

“Alright… the duel…”

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

At that moment, someone broke through the crowd and stood in my way.

It was River, looking furious.

“Crowding in like this… Aren’t you embarrassed to be a five-pillar wannabe?”

No need to be like that, but River looked quite tense as if he thought I was in danger.

“I’m fine…”

I was fine.

Thinking River could end up in danger instead, I needed to pull him back for now.

As I tried to grab River’s shoulder and get him to step back, a shout rang out.

“Third party, scram!”

-PACK!

Something red splattered before me.

Blood.

Whose blood was it?

Let’s trace it back.

I could see the thick arm of Lemnos swinging through the air.

And there, with his mouth bloodied from being hit, was River, with his lip split.

River had bled while trying to protect me.

My head exploded with rage.