The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 15

Remnos’ gang had me feeling uneasy, even after I turned them all into slugs crawling on the floor.

It wasn’t the cleanup that bothered me.

The real kicker was that Edgar Lemnos, the one who stirred up this whole mess, was simply snoozing away after just one hit.

“I can’t let this slide. Time to take action.”

It’s just not right to let the instigator waltz away unscathed like that. At the very least, I should wake him up and chop off one of his ankles.

“I’m borrowing this again.”

“Ahh…!!”

With the hand axe that was hidden away on the shoulder of a student leaning against the wall, I advanced toward Edgar.

I have no interest in chopping off the ankle of someone who’s already out cold.

I’m going to wake him up first and then do the deed.

“Hey, wake up.”

I gave him a little poke, but he didn’t react at all.

Looks like he’s in a pretty deep slumber.

“Is this your bedroom or something? Why are you sprawled out like this… huh?”

This position is going to complicate the ankle removal.

Those who don’t know the pain of losing a limb have no idea of the terror when that moment comes.

And fortunately for me, I’m the Master of Near-Death, so I’ve been through enough situations like this before.

I placed one finger on each of his left ear and solar plexus, pushing both at the same time.

It was almost a wonder how my fingers were able to sink in like that, and suddenly the sleeping Lemnos jolted awake, eyes wide.

“Wh… what the heck are you?!”

He must’ve been forced awake, as he was rambling and struggling to process his surroundings.

He doesn’t even seem to know what situation he’s in.

“Wait… what are you…?!”

“Ah, shut it. I’m about to take off your ankle, so just watch closely.”

I gauged the angle for the cut against his ankle, firmly securing Lemnos’s right leg and raising the hand axe.

As the axe went up, screams erupted from the onlookers.

Lemnos, still dazed, stared at me with a blank expression.

“What…?! What are you cutting off??”

Seeing the raised axe made Lemnos’ pupils enlarge.

He struggled to wriggle free from my grip, but there was no way his right leg, which I had pinned down with my foot and held with my hand, was coming loose.

A mere expert like him had no chance of escaping my grasp.

“What are you trying to do?! Stop! Stop…!!”

Realizing what I was going to do, Lemnos panicked, but there was no change in the situation.

Even that impudent Lemnos will learn a bit of manners once his ankle gets severed.

Etiquette stems from fear.

Respect for others begins from the fear that the person in front of you might crack your skull if you wrong them.

These spoiled brats know nothing of fear.

They can’t imagine that just because I look shorter, I might actually smash their heads.

What are they so arrogantly relying on?

Their little weapons on their belts? Their family background? Or maybe the fact that they rolled in here as a group led them to believe they were stronger?

All foolish thoughts.

The world isn’t that logical.

So, first, I’ll teach them a lesson in fear.

The raised hand axe comes crashing down.

The blood-soaked axe, drawn from the shoulder, beautifully arches as it descends toward Lemnos’s ankle.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

-Thud!!

The axe didn’t sever Lemnos’s ankle.

“What the… cut it off!! You lunatic!!!”

“Let go of me…!”

Before the axe could reach his ankle, Andy Robinson swooped in and carried me off.

Deprived of its target, the axe lodged into the hallway, and Lemnos, once again foaming at the mouth, fell unconscious.

“Hey!! Wipe your ankle and wait…!! I’ll definitely cut it off next time!! Just you wait!! Once I decide to do something, I stick to it!!!”

“Keep your promise of being quiet!!”

—

The Academy was buzzing with a major uproar.

A brawl broke out in the hallway… twenty-five members from Edgar Lemnos’s side against one of Atlas Nemea’s.

It wasn’t even a duel fought for honor.

It was a disgraceful act of mobbing someone while wielding weapons, extremely dishonorable.

Edgar Lemnos, who committed this disgraceful act, deserves condemnation and must apologize to Atlas Nemea, the victim.

Well, that’s what would happen in a typical scenario.

“Is this really happening right now!!!?”

Inside the counselor’s office, a professor with a clear monocle mark on his right cheek was beet red and spouting words like it was a fountain.

“Pleasure… this time it’s Lemnos? What kind of nonsense is this!! You’re getting expelled!”

That tomato-red face is one I won’t forget.

Professor Buckingham, one of the senior professors at the Academy.

As the head professor of Combat Magic Theory, he was also the instructor for Class 1, which included both Lemnos and Pleasure, who, in the original story, was a constant nuisance to Hayden, now my classmate in Class 5.

The worst sort of educator, arrogant and discriminating against students based on their backgrounds.

“Professor! Atlas was the one who was attacked first! Atlas was only protecting himself…!”

“Ha!! Don’t try to shield him this time, instructor!! There’s a limit to decency!!!”

I kept my gaze straightened and looked directly at Professor Buckingham.

Even though Andy was backing me up, Buckingham was beyond furious and seemed ready to expel me on the spot.

“Twenty-five people sustained light to moderate injuries!! Do you even know who their families are?!”

“But there weren’t any serious injuries! It was Lemnos who brought the weapons!”

“No matter what, that’s just not how it works!”

“Then what should I have done? Lemnos came with twenty-five people and weapons to take me down, what were my options? Should I have just stood there and gotten beaten?”

“How dare you! Open your eyes!!”

I could see Buckingham’s hand rising.

Based on his posture, he looked like he wanted to slap me.

Feeling a little grumpy, I thought it might actually work out for me.

If he hit me, I’d just rip his arm off right then and there.

Even though he was a professor specializing in Combat Magic, I could easily do away with someone who only calculated from his desk at this distance.

And then, with my Polymorph abilities that emerged from the ruins, I could just change my face and body a bit and they wouldn’t be able to touch me.

Andy’s face turned pale as he probably figured out what I was thinking.

“Stop it.”

Buckingham didn’t even get to slap me.

It was Principal Morgan who showed up with his arms crossed and yelled at Buckingham.

“Principal…! That guy must be expelled! If we let it go on like this, the damage will only get worse! If the families of the students protest, won’t the Academy’s reputation hit rock bottom?!”

“The only reputation hitting rock bottom is yours, caught in this mess… Would it kill you to be less emotional at your age? Follow the rules!”

Upon Morgan’s shout, Buckingham wore a pained expression and closed his mouth.

I felt a glance from Morgan for just a moment.

“What do you mean by following the rules?”

“If it’s not a duel and the fight arose from personal issues, then they should first come to a mutual agreement. If there’s a disagreement, both sides can be referred to the disciplinary committee.”

It wasn’t an immediate expulsion, but things just got complicated.

—

Andy and I left the counselor’s office with expressions like we had just bitten into something sour.

“A disciplinary committee… things just got troublesome…. What are we going to do?”

“Honestly, it’s a hassle, but I’ll have to pack my things.”

“You’re just going to run away after escalating this situation? I’m sending a letter to the Commander right now.”

“Go ahead~ I’m sure I won’t get caught~~”

I’d been on the run for years, so there was no reason to be scared of something like that.

“Do something about it!!! At least try to reach some sort of agreement!!”

“Do you really think I’d negotiate with those guys?”

I’d rather face expulsion than back down before those punks.

“Talk about pathetic…”

“It seems like those five pillars are also weaklings… if it were during our apprenticeship…”

“If it were during our apprenticeship, the one who got hit would have been the one getting scolded.”

“They would’ve realized how embarrassing it is to lose against multiple opponents with a ‘1 vs. X’ situation and act all noisy about it.”

“This isn’t a knight’s order.”

“Right? I completely forgot this is an Academy.”

I had grown too accustomed to the knightly order.

In this world, where healing techniques are developed to an insane level, losing an ankle or two isn’t even a serious injury.

Sure, it hurt, but with proper treatment, you recover quickly.

The fear at the moment of amputation remains, though.

As long as it doesn’t lead to death, most external wounds are treatable, which means for someone like me, the Master of Near-Death, I could turn my opponent into mush and heal them quickly, making it no big deal.

But here in the Academy… even a mere touch seems to become a problem… everyone’s just so weak-minded.

“Uh… a disciplinary committee is like a trial conducted by the Principal and four professors, right?”

“Yeah… since I’m an instructor, I can’t even attend… You’re going to have a hard time getting support from other professors once Buckingham has set his gaze on you. He’s the second most influential person after the Principal…”

“What? Doesn’t that mean I have no chance against him anyway? I should prepare to leave.”

“You…!! You come from an influential family too!! Use whatever connections you have to find professors who might support you and somehow get in their good graces!!”

“No way I’m relying on family connections…”

One name did cross my mind.

A professor at the Academy who is conducting research with support from the Titans… I’ve never visited yet, but I know their name and the fact they work here.

Since they only have the Titans as sponsors, they probably wouldn’t refuse my request, but…

‘What do I care about family ties at this point?’

I brushed that thought from my mind.

I didn’t want to rely on the Titans now.

“Anyway, just try something..! This isn’t just your problem now!!”

—

Once we got outside the counselor’s office building, I bumped into River, who had been waiting.

“Atlas!!”

Looks like he had been waiting out there the whole time.

As River came closer, I quickly checked his face.

“Huh? What’s going on??”

“Hang on a second.”

His cheek that Edgar Lemnos had hit was bright red and swollen.

Seeing that made my temper flare again.

I should’ve at least taken off one of Lemnos’s ankles, and yet I let him go too easily.

“Sorry for dragging you into this.”

“Ah.. I’m fine, just keep your distance…”

“I know, we were too close.”

When I snapped back to reality, I realized we were just close enough for our breaths to touch.

I had leaned in too close to check his face.

As I stepped back a bit, I could see his whole face was flushed.

“I went a bit overboard earlier… weren’t you scared?”

“I wasn’t… one bit scared. Amy was a little scared, though…”

Nope, you were scared too, I saw it on your face.

I appreciate you trying to reassure me.

“It’s just like how I got angry for you… you were angry for me too, right? Some might say it’s excessive, but I don’t think so.”

River’s expression was earnest.

“Being strong is always right. You were stronger than those guys. That means you were in the right.”

He said something that sounded ridiculous, but nonetheless, it brought me some comfort.

It seems I should think of a better approach rather than running away immediately, especially since I’d just made a friend.

I might pursue options beyond just reaching an agreement or a normal disciplinary committee.

“Isn’t it getting a bit noisy?”

Something feels off.

I noticed a commotion building in the distance as students began to gather.

“Atlas Nemea…!!!”

With a booming shout, a furious Lemnos strode toward me.

His cheek still looked inflated as if the swelling hadn’t gone down, making him look ridiculous.

Seeing Lemnos, filled with rage, I had a brilliant idea.

‘If I stoke the flames of his dissatisfaction, I might be able to avoid both the committee and any agreements.’

“Are you the Lemnos who fainted after landing just one punch on me?”

“That’s…!! You cowardly sneak-attacked me, and this happened!! I didn’t lose to you!!!”

“If only you had said that before you passed out, it would’ve been perfect.”

Just a little jab, and his face turned even redder; what a sight to behold.

Feeling angry now, are you?

You want to clarify who’s above whom?

If I keep prodding him like this, I might just be able to bring him around to my side.

“A duel…!!! Fight me for honor!!!”

He must have had that in mind from the beginning.

The fiery Lemnos, after getting beaten up, isn’t crying and whining; he’s here asking for a duel instead.

With him requesting a duel, I guess I won’t need to reach an agreement after all.

—

“That student is bound to become a thorn in the Academy’s side… letting it go like this will certainly lead to expulsion at the disciplinary committee.”

“Stop your wild imagination and thank me later for saving your neck this time by buying me a drink.”

“My neck? What are you talking about?”

“Oh come on… a guy teaching Combat Magic should know better… tch, that’s why officers are never decent… Just quit the nonsense and get to drinking!”