The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 130

The reason I hesitate with the Saintess isn’t anything too significant.

“Atlas, it’s been a while~”

“I don’t want to! Please don’t! Help me!”

“Come on, it’s fate that we’ve met like this. Just come here. I’ll give you a nice hug.”

As soon as Saintess Carmel saw me, she sprang up from her seat, threw her arms around me, and patted my head.

She stands about 170 cm tall—quite tall for a woman, really.

Carmel’s embrace is incredibly soft, filled with a sweet scent, a magic that might just make me drift off to sleep if I’m not careful.

“What fate is that! It’s obvious you came chasing after me!!”

Squirette’s black armor was already undone.

The Pope, the Saintess, and Saint McKinto—they were the ones who knew I was the Master in the Church Country.

From our first meeting, the Saintess showed an immense interest in me.

She wanted nothing more than to hold me tight, kiss my cheek, and constantly ruffle my hair.

Did I look like a wounded little lamb or something? What a joke.

It wasn’t that the Saintess’s actions were disgusting.

If I had to choose, it felt more like fear.

The Saintess is a woman chosen by God.

She may not possess direct combat skills, but she wields powers more formidable than any—God’s powers.

She is loved by all.

Her pink hair, which couldn’t possibly appear naturally, her marble-like fair skin, her tiny, red lips like cherries, her button nose, her smiling eyes, and her tinkling voice—everything about Carmel is adored by all.

Though her figure is concealed under thick clothing, her cute body can be seen in silhouette, with adorable hands peeking out from the sleeves.

All of Carmel is loved by everyone.

It’s not like she attracts people in a base manner, like a succubus or something.

She receives truly noble love, sincere and pure.

‘Ugh… so… soft… I want to sleep, damn it…!!’

Even now, it’s true.

Carmel’s arms around me are cozier than any woman’s embrace.

Silk wraps around me like a luxurious blanket, her chest softer than any pillow, her hand moving to brush my hair in rhythm with her breath…

I know that the Saintess possesses such qualities, but no matter how hard I try to keep my wits about me, I always find myself swayed.

I was terrified of this feeling, standing on the edge, knowing that if I allowed my heart to be vulnerable to Carmel, I might fall endlessly.

“If you’re a Saintess, step away a bit!!”

“Oh my, how harsh.”

I only hugged her for a moment, yet the overwhelming comfort hit me, and I pushed her away, trying to collect my senses.

Carmel looked genuinely disappointed.

“There’s no need to be shy… Hehe, no one else is coming in here, you know?”

“Let’s drop that and talk about work!”

“Don’t be so petty; you even used the Holy Artifact well. Can’t you at least do this much for me? That’s why the Pope still has to carry around a fake Holy Artifact to attend gatherings.”

“I borrowed it to take down a Demon Bishop; it was well worth it. You guys basically got it for free!”

Just before I entered the Academy, it was the Saintess who lent me the Holy Artifact known as the ‘Holy Sphere’, which the Church considered a sacred item.

Typically, the Holy Sphere is held by the Pope along with the Holy Staff to symbolize power during sermons, but she lent it to me.

It was indeed a significant item she lent, but given the results I achieved, I didn’t think of it as debt.

Recently, I’d caused minor setbacks to the Demon Church but had been the only one to stop the efforts of the Demon Bishop and Great Demon.

“Ahem, since I’m here as a special investigator, I’ll begin the investigation.”

“Okay. Let’s wrap it up quickly.”

Finally, the investigation began.

“I hear you’ve been infiltrating the Academy. Is that correct?”

“Yeah. I’ve been investigating as a student, reporting suspicious activity at the Demon Church. So far, I’ve thwarted three large-scale rituals…”

“Hmm… I see. So… have you made any friends?”

“Hey.”

She suddenly threw in a weird comment.

If she wasn’t the Saintess, I would have sent my fist flying.

“Hehe, I was worried because Atlas can be really prickly with people he doesn’t like. So do you have a girlfriend now?”

“Hey, focus on the investigation.”

“This is a truly important investigation. Next…”

“I’m not doing it. I’m leaving.”

As I shot up to leave, the Saintess grabbed my arm.

“Ahhhh, I’m sorry! That was a joke!!”

“Ha… I’m tired…”

“If you’re tired, should I offer you a knee pillow? Just lying down for 30 minutes will clear away your fatigue.”

“I’m not doing that.”

I almost fell for her suggestion.

Though she seems like a benevolent and lovely Saintess, to me she resembled a sweet trap, like a carnivorous plant luring in prey.

I judged it would be better to get to the point and leave.

“…Even if I talk about the incident, the report I submitted is the complete story, but since we’ve met like this, I have a separate suggestion.”

“What kind of suggestion? When you make one, it always piques my interest.”

“Just lend me some troops and a few artifacts from the churches in the region. For troops… Yeah, I don’t even need a Holy Knight regiment; just those who can tidy up will suffice.”

“Troops…? You’re planning to go to war or something?”

Carmel cocked her head at the sudden request for lending people.

“It’d be a war if I say it is. I need to hit the Demon Church back after all this time.”

“Hmm? What’s gotten into you suddenly? You attacking the Demon Church again… I suppose you’d want to repay them since they’ve troubled you the most at the Academy.”

Carmel accepted my proposal immediately without any thought.

“Are you not going to ask about the plan or anything?”

“Atlas has a history of destroying dozens of illegal facilities of the Demon Church alone… We have to coordinate.”

After becoming the Master, I’d focused my attacks primarily on the Demon Church for a while.

There was no particular reason for it.

It was just that most of the knowledge I had from the original work revolved around the demon hunter, Hayden, so I naturally started to trace the demons’ whereabouts.

My relationship with the Church Country improved during that time.

The head of the Holy Knight regiment once remarked that I was a true hero, not content with just being a Master, traveling the continent and reaching out to the weak.

It was just that I was a madman looking to get accustomed to the Master’s powers and picking fights everywhere.

“And… did you know this? Among the current Masters, you’re the only one who actively takes interest in demons… and battles against them?”

“Just tell me what you need, and I’ll prepare whatever I can for you.”

The Saintess smiled brightly.

We had secured the ‘cleanup’ crew we desperately needed.

Now it was time to counterattack.

————————————–

“Amy, come with me.”

“…What are you suddenly talking about? Where are we going together?”

Atlas suddenly appeared and said that.

Due to what happened at the Hunting Festival, Amy wasn’t in the best mood, wanting to reflect under a tree alone when he appeared right in front of her.

Unlike usual, he had a sword slung across his back and a sword at his waist that she had never seen before, vibrating strangely as though it had some sort of device.

But since this was Atlas suggesting they join forces, she figured it couldn’t be anything strange, so she decided to listen.

“We’re going to raid a Demon Church stronghold.”

The words that came out of Atlas’s mouth were completely unexpected.

“We’re going to… raid a Demon Church stronghold?”

“Yeah, just sitting here taking hits isn’t my style. I need to crush them once and for all so they can’t think of messing around anymore.”

He suggested attacking the Demon Church after they had attacked the Academy so many times.

He said it so casually, as if they were just going to go and smash up some little thief hideout.

‘Is that… possible?’

Although it might seem like a natural suggestion, it was something no one had ever attempted before.

To say that they would retaliate against the Demon Church for attacking them… it sounded easy, but was actually incredibly tough.

The continent is vast.

The Demon Church, driven from place to place by the Church, doesn’t just gather in one location; they constantly change their strongholds, paying extra attention to security at the more important sites.

Anywhere that someone with magical energy steps into the surrounding area of the Church, an alarm goes off with a barrier set in the opposite fashion, ready to flee at the mere approach of anyone carrying Holy Power.

And among the regular believers holding no magical energy, they disguise themselves as ordinary people, always circling around, monitoring to make sure the Church’s influence hasn’t reached them.

Despite the Demon Church growing in strength, this is the fundamental reason why they still haven’t been eradicated.

To say they would attack such a Demon Church… did he have a plan in mind?

“Why me? It’s better for just Atlas to go alone, right…?”

“I can’t go alone. You know the most about demons within the Academy.”

Atlas complimented the hard work he had done alone, causing Amy’s lips to curl upwards slightly.

While she liked that she was needed, the words to agree didn’t readily come to her.

She felt like she would just be holding him back.

Atlas had resolved everything by himself until now.

She felt like she had only dragged down his efforts.

“But… even if I go, I don’t think I can really be much of a help…”

“No, I need you. You’re the only one who can do this with me besides when you used to hunt demons alone!”

Atlas took hold of Amy’s hand and gazed into her eyes.

His hands, not particularly large, were warm beside Amy.

Looking up into Atlas’s sparkling eyes, she felt unable to decline.

‘Ugh… how unfair… This makes it impossible to refuse…’

Just as she was about to give in, her inner voice whispered.

– Let’s go. It’ll be a great opportunity. If you follow what I’ve taught you until now, you’re the best person for ‘scouting’ those traces of demons, just like Atlas said.

‘Is that so?’

Is she really going to be any help at all?

“Alright, I’ll go…”

“Okay, then let’s quickly grab our gear and head out.”

At this point, she never thought it would turn into such a big deal.