The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 131

Amy packed her gear in the dormitory and took Atlas’s hand as they moved together to a place that was completely white.

It was a dreadful magical realm filled with cold snow, and a fierce snowstorm was rampaging about.

The snowstorm was so strong that it was hard to even open my eyes.

Thank goodness for the anti-magic coat that helped maintain some body heat.

Atlas, whom I brought along, stood there seemingly unfazed, surveying the situation.

“Whoa?! Wh-where are we??? Could it be the… Snow Country??”

If this was indeed a place with a storm this fierce, there was only one place that came to Amy’s mind.

“It’s not the Snow Country. Just a bit of bad luck… It’s not like it normally has blizzards every day.”

Atlas stood there without any preparation for the blizzard, but he didn’t seem bothered at all.

“Come on.”

“Come??”

He grabbed the hand that he just let go of again.

“You can’t see anything ahead. Let’s hold hands and go.”

“Ugh… Okay…”

Even in the fierce snowstorm, Atlas seemed to just find it a little annoying as he boldly climbed the slope.

After a few minutes of relying on Atlas’s grip to move forward, the blizzard gradually began to subside.

“It’s calming down a bit now.”

“Wow….”

As it turned out, we really did get unlucky and encountered terrible weather.

Once the sky cleared, things that were previously invisible came into view.

A brilliantly blue sky, white clouds below our line of sight, and jagged rocks jutting up violently into the sky.

Amy and Atlas were hiking in the midst of the towering Blade Mountain range.

“This is the Empire’s famous spot, the Blade Mountain where even monsters starve if they get lost. It’s your first time here, right?”

It appeared to be the center of the Blade Mountain, reputed to be the most treacherous on the continent.

The midsection of the sharply rising Blade Mountain was said to be so rugged that even monsters couldn’t survive there—what on earth were we doing in such a place?

“Is… Is the Demon Church’s stronghold here…?”

“No, nothing like that. We just need to stop by somewhere first. It should be about here…”

Atlas brandished his sword, poking all around as he walked along the snow-covered ridge of Blade Mountain until he stopped at a certain point.

No matter how you looked at it, it was just a wall of rock that rose from the ground.

Atlas stood there knocking on the rock wall with his fists and shouted.

“Hey! Guest’s here! Open up!”

“Um… Isn’t shouting like that going to cause an avalanche…?”

As Atlas relentlessly pounded on the rock, the snowy mountain trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

In the place where the blizzard was raging just moments ago, I could see the snow piling up starting to slide down.

“Ah… Atlas!!! Snow!! Snow!! It’s falling!!!!!!”

Eventually, the snow stacked above us began to pour down.

A massive wave of snow crashed down from above, and I braced myself, grit my teeth.

[Come in]

In that moment, a voice came from inside the wall, and Atlas pulled Amy in along with him.

– Boom!!

The sound of a heavy door closing echoed, followed by the sound of a tremendous amount of snow tumbling down outside.

If we had been just a moment later, we would have been swept away by an avalanche, and our corpses would have never been found.

“Gah… Gah… I will never do that again…”

As the sound of snow pouring down behind us came like a waterfall, Amy trembled uncontrollably.

If we had been even a second late, we would have been swept away in that torrent of snow.

“Did you hear? Why aren’t you opening the door faster!!”

As Atlas patted the trembling Amy’s back, he shouted into the cave’s interior.

Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, Amy looked around.

The cave nestled in the Blade Mountain felt very ominous.

It was dark inside, but there was a bright light illuminated by candles deep within.

– It appears to have traces of sorcery…

The deeper we went into the cave, decorative items made from the bones of various beasts and monsters caught the eye.

Walking through the dark cave adorned with these ornaments and the unsettling magical runes inscribed on the stone walls was quite eerie.

Amy couldn’t help but wonder how Atlas knew about such a place.

“Atlas… where on earth is this…?”

“You’ll find out when you see it.”

When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, they came across quite a cozy nest.

Despite the abundance of skeleton decorations that looked like they belonged to beasts or humans, there were oil lamps hanging everywhere, fur hides comfortably laid on the floor, ornate carpets, and furniture that appeared handmade.

And at the end of this space sat what looked like the owner of this place.

A very emaciated woman wearing an exotic, elaborately patterned red garment.

Although her face wasn’t particularly large, her cheeks were sunken and pronounced, and shadows loomed heavily over her eyelids.

It was clear that, even under her thick clothing, her bones were likely visible through her skin.

Wrapped up with a headband mostly covering her head, the few stubborn strands of white hair peeking out made her look almost as ancient as a crone.

Lying crookedly on various animal furs while puffing a long pipe, she was truly the very embodiment of a witch straight out of a fairy tale.

“Well… if it isn’t Atlas! It’s been years, hasn’t it? Who’s this beside you?”

“My friend.”

“Hehehe, that’s quite an unlikely pair you’ve got there.”

The witch, looking much older than she appeared, greeted Atlas in a surprisingly friendly manner.

– Goodness… Circe… This is definitely a place to stop before attacking the Demon Church…

And it seemed she knew who Circe was, as the companion couldn’t contain their admiration.

‘Who are they talking about?’

– A Necromancer.

—————–

A Necromancer is a being that deals with the souls of the dead and curses.

Due to the nature of their work related to curses, the public impression of them is the worst, and while they are creepy, no one actively suppresses them like they do in churches.

Because of the inherent nature of their craft, even if they are not oppressed by particular groups, people tend to shun them.

The place filled with curses and vengeful spirits is often where people suffered and died tragically, making such places the happiest for them.

Normal folk would get chills just being near them, so it’s rare for anyone to be gutsy enough to invite a Necromancer, who raises the dead to fight, into their midst.

If a Necromancer resides in a village, they become the first suspect whenever anything happens, after all.

While many Necromancers do exhibit inhumane behavior just as their reputation suggests, they are still a hundred or a thousand times better than demons.

As malicious as they may seem, the power of a Necromancer belongs wholly to this world.

Compared to the invading demons from another realm, they are far preferable.

The Necromancer Wendy, residing in the Blade Mountain, is indeed a very powerful one.

From the first time I met her until now, she hasn’t changed at all, it feels as if time stopped in this place.

The first time I encountered Circe was when I was thrown barehanded into the Blade Mountain to reach the very top as part of my training.

Everyone knows that it’s a rite of passage for anyone aligned with the Titan House.

But now that I think about it, my father, who went fully armed as an adult, threw a ten-year-old kid without any gear into the Blade Mountain, as if he was sending me to my death.

At that time, filled with youthful bravado, I stubbornly climbed the Blade Mountain and, as expected, I got lost along the way.

Back then, I wasn’t the master I am now, and in the face of nature’s wonders, a kid hardly taller than 150 cm was completely powerless.

And it was Circe who saved me back then.

“Hehehe, you came back here, huh? If your father knew, he’d go crazy.”

“He’s dead, that guy.”

Upon hearing that my father had died, Wendy laughed even harder.

“Well, that’s good… so did you kill him?”

“Wouldn’t that be the best? He just dropped dead on his own, you know?”

“Hehe, I guess that’s a shame. You always said you’d definitely kill your father.”

Circe also didn’t have anything nice to say about my dad.

She hid in the Blade Mountain because she had been defeated by the head of the Titan Family long ago.

Even though I also bear the Titan name, she doesn’t seem to dislike me.

That’s because she knew I was ostracized by the family.

“What a shame…”

That part always feels unfortunate.

I should have done the killing instead of him just collapsing.

“Atlas… so your father has passed away…”

“Father? That’s more like a nemesis.”

“…”

Good upbringing won’t save Amy from being cut off mid-sentence when she tried to say something, seeing how adamantly I called him a nemesis.

“So… if you’ve come all the way here in the middle of Blade Mountain… it means you need something, right? Hehehe, I’m curious about what that might be.”

“First… let me show you what I’m offering as payment.”

As I attempted to hand over the sword I had brought, Wendy’s eyes lit up at something entirely different.

“Payment…? Is it this child?”

“Uh… me?!”

Circe looked at Amy and grinned.

She must have mistakenly thought that Amy was the reward I was going to give.

“Hehe, you’re hiding something strange within you, child. It looks like you’ve got some concerns because of it; why don’t you come with me?”

“Not a chance! Don’t even dream about it.”

I swatted away the hand that was reaching toward Amy.