The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 205

Strange footsteps started echoing from the deck.

It seems someone has dared to assault this airship adorned with Perda’s emblem.

Unpleasant as it was, prioritizing the situation at hand was essential.

If they were bold enough to attack this airship, they clearly weren’t your average bandits.

As I hurried to get dressed, Amy and River tried to get up as well.

“I… I want to go out too!”

“You shouldn’t make noise and stay put when you’re not feeling well, both of you.”

“But Atlas acted weird during the middle of it!”

“Are you planning to leave us behind?”

“Listen to my words. I’ll wrap this up in ten minutes. If you want to join, come after that. At least get dressed first.”

I quickly threw on some clothes and grabbed the Squirette.

I didn’t know who the audacious attacker was, but I figured I could leave at least a couple of the higher-ups alive.

“Is that a kid? Why is he holding a sword?”

“Whoa, it looks expensive! Is that your dad’s sword?”

“Hey, kid, that’s dangerous. Do you want to give it to your older brother?”

“What kind of conscience do you have?”

“Kids can fetch a high ransom, so take good care of them.”

“Hehe, got it!”

The moment I stepped into the hallway, I ran into some Enforcers.

They seemed a bit under-equipped for folks attacking an airship, but that was none of my business.

“Are you done?”

“What?”

“Last words.”

As soon as I finished my sentence, the hallway was filled with blood.

The Enforcers’ limbs were torn apart as I swung my sword.

Except for one.

“Ahhh?! What… what’s happening??”

“Answer the question.”

“You… you!! How… what…?”

-Thunk!

The Squirette lodged itself in the Enforcer’s thigh.

“Ahhhh!! My leg!!!”

“I said to only answer the questions.”

Unless he receives substantial treatment, this Enforcer will die.

I severed the artery flowing through his thigh; blood spurted out like a fountain.

“How many of you came in?”

“5… 50 people…”

Fifty? That’s quite a substantial number for Enforcers.

Given that they were targeting an airship, the costs for transporting that many people would skyrocket, making smaller groups more common, so this was odd.

“Who sent you?”

“I don’t know…”

I never thought he’d know that.

“Good, well said.”

-Swift!

His head rolled off.

Better to die cleanly than suffer a miserable death from excessive blood loss.

With the hallway now a bloodbath, I was the only one left standing.

“Ahhhh!!!”

-Thunk!

Oh, there was one more.

A door opened from the front room, and a rapier flew, piercing the Enforcer’s neck.

Casey, wearing pajamas, walked out with a yawn.

“…What’s going on?”

“It’s quite a ruckus, and you’re getting up early.”

“I thought I had turned in early because of the noise. Please keep it down; my ears are sensitive.”

Her words struck me, leaving me speechless.

“Gather your equipment. Let’s go clean up the thieves.”

“I’m sleepy; can’t you handle it all by yourself, Uncle?”

“Don’t you dare slack off. You’re still part of the Royal Knight Order.”

I yanked her cheek playfully.

“Ouch, okay, I get it.”

——————————————–

“Ahhh???”

“Monsters!!”

Late at night, a thrilling chase ensued on the airship.

The ones being chased were the audacious Enforcers, and pursuing them was Atlas Titan, the boogeyman of the Empire Academy.

Initially, the Enforcers laughed at me—just a kid wielding a sword—but that changed quickly.

Already, many of them had their limbs severed, and my body was splattered with red stains that were anything but humorous.

Covered in blood and wielding a black sword made me feel like an apprentice knight again.

After slicing through several Enforcers, I took one captive to ask a few questions.

“What did you come on?”

“W-We arrived on wyverns!!!”

Seeing his comrades cut to pieces right before his eyes, the Enforcer answered nervously.

“Oh, really? Wyverns are notoriously stubborn, so people like you wouldn’t be able to ride them; you’d probably just get bitten, right?”

“I don’t know, but the wyverns our leader brought were tame…!”

“That’s fascinating.”

-Swish!

The Enforcer’s right arm detached from his body.

“Ahhh! I told you everything, why!!”

“I spared you an arm. You ought to be grateful.”

From the shock of having his arm severed and blood rapidly flowing out, he fainted.

If left unattended, he would bleed out.

“Wow, these Golems really work well.”

Even though the once elegant hallway was now smeared with blood, the Golems showed up and began ‘cleaning.’

“W-What are you…?!”

They were erasing bloodstains and stuffing the remaining Enforcers into large bags.

Some were still barely alive, but I didn’t care.

I had no intention of keeping any of them alive.

After setting such a pleasant atmosphere for a while, it all had to be wiped out.

Not to mention, they could never be considered regular thieves for attacking a flying airship.

Especially if they were riding wyverns.

“Ugh… such savagery. There’s blood everywhere.”

Cindy, an elven exchange student who had been attacked by an Enforcer, looked at me with disdain.

She wasn’t condemning me for killing them.

Rather, she was appalled at the brutal way they were dispatched, causing extensive damage to the corpses.

Although I had saved her, her attitude was irritating, but considering elves are generally brazen, it didn’t infuriate me much.

“Well, what should I do then?”

“I handled everything over there.”

Casey approached me, holding a rapier.

Behind her lay about five dead bodies with gaping holes in their necks and heads.

“Yeah, that’s neat and tidy; how great!”

“I probably should’ve just let you handle it.”

I was just saying it casually, but she actually seemed satisfied.

“The chef and assistants remained unharmed, and we were huddled together in the guest quarters, so Lucia is safe, but who didn’t we see?”

“Albion was just battling; I helped him. From what Nina said, Lemnos and Perda are probably fighting someone who looks like a leader above deck.”

Above deck, huh? I planned one last cleanup on my way out, so the paths should remain clear.

“Then… Prigia is left alone. I’ll head outside, you find her.”

“Got it.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, Casey and I split up in opposite directions.

With Casey at my back, I felt extremely secure.

First, I needed to clear the path to the deck.

As I approached, I sensed an exceptionally strong presence.

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When I reached the deck, an interesting scenario was unfolding.

A one-eyed man, clearly the leader, was being confronted by Perda and Lemnos, with Shaara held hostage.

From the looks of it, the one-eyed man was strong enough to handle Lemnos alone, but he was hesitant to act due to Shaara’s hostage situation.

“D-Don’t come any closer!! Do you care about what happens to the hostage?!”

“Ugh…!!”

Seeing seven of his comrades getting cut down before his eyes, the Enforcer panicked.

Shaara’s expression, trapped in the grip of the enormous Enforcer’s arm, twisted in pain.

There was no need to even brandish a sword at his neck.

With just a bit of pressure from that thick arm, Shaara’s fragile neck would snap easily.

‘I have to rescue Shaara before that guy even realizes it.’

I held the Squirette in reverse grip.

I wouldn’t employ any techniques, Aura Blade, or the Great Mountain Sword here.

The Great Mountain Sword could easily turn that Enforcer into minced meat from this distance, but it would pose a risk to Shaara, who was too close.

Using my martial arts would lead to similar results.

Should I happen to decapitate him, the muscle reaction could harm Shaara.

With my level of skill, I could even make it seem like two attacks were one, but I wanted to use a simpler and more certain method.

“I don’t know what dirty tricks you’re trying to pull, but don’t think it’ll be easy!! Boss, deal with those guys quickly!!”

“…Ugh.”

Though in pain from being pressed down by brute strength, there was no fear in Shaara’s eyes.

Instead, she looked at me with such unwavering trust, it was almost surreal.

As I gauged the distance for my attack, Shaara, who was being held, spoke up.

“Ew, the smell… You look like a pig, and you smell like one too. Just standing there, I feel like my nose is going to curl up and die. Are you munching on manure or something?”

“What?! You little!!”

The Enforcer, enraged by the harsh insult, dropped his gaze from me to Shaara.

He intended to torment her further for insulting him.

‘Now’s my chance.’

Not paying attention to what I was doing, I threw the Squirette while holding it in reverse grip, aiming as if I were throwing a spear.

The pointed tip of the Squirette embedded itself in the Enforcer’s arm and torso, pinning him.

Thanks to the cross guard, it didn’t completely puncture through, but being pinned to his torso, the Enforcer could no longer move his arm.

Simultaneously, the remaining arm was forcefully ‘torn away’ high into the air.

As I threw the Squirette, I lunged out, simultaneously disabling both of the Enforcer’s arms.

With both arms rendered useless, the now pale Shaara was released from the grip.

“Ahhhhhh!!!!!”

“Get back!”

“Cough cough… Yes, thank you.”

Upon seeing Shaara retreat, the Enforcer’s face flushed with anger.

“T-That little brat…!!!”

The muscle-bound Enforcer yanked the Squirette from his arm and torso with brute strength.

With the blockage removed, blood gushed out from the newly created hole in his torso, and he still had the Squirette embedded in his arm.

Did he seriously intend to crush Shaara and me to death?

“I’ll tear you apart…!!”

Even knowing he’d die shortly if I didn’t take him down, he lost control and lunged at me.

Since he wanted to die early, I might as well grant his wish, so I gathered all my strength and kicked him right in the gut.

-Thud!!

The Enforcer flew through the air.

He collided with the railing before tumbling overboard.

Turning around to grasp the Squirette’s handle and deliver a kick, I yanked the embedded Squirette out, detaching his arm.

“Ugh, how disgusting.”

Making a disgusted face, I threw the severed arm overboard along with the remaining pieces.

Now, only one one-eyed Enforcer remained on the deck, wielding a scimitar and dagger.

“Hey, you’re the last one left. What will you do? If you want to fight, draw your sword.”

As I gestured towards the Squirette, he lost all intention to fight and dropped his weapon.

“Ha… this is a dead end… I surrender…”

-Swish!

Though he raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, the Squirette shot out and severed his legs.

“Ahhhh?? My… my legs! I surrendered!!”

“You’ve got quite a high opinion of yourself. You need to adjust your posture.”

Blood sprayed from the neatly severed shins, but now he was finally at the same eye level as me.

They barged in rudely at midnight, so I wanted to wipe them all out, but it’d be wiser to let one or two live.

“Ah, I managed to save one! Still, I need to squeeze out who was behind this; I thought I’d kill them all.”

Looking at the pitiful corpses of the Enforcers, Perda seemed a bit disappointed.

She evidently wanted to know the truth about who attacked them.

But I didn’t think these guys would have any useful intel.

“These guys are lowly grunts; they wouldn’t know.”

“This one? He seems like he was at least a leader.”

When I confidently said they were nothing, Perda looked shocked.

She appeared to think the guy who looked like a leader might have useful information.

“No, the true leader isn’t this guy; he’s merely a figurehead.”

I dismissed that possibility.

The ‘strong presence’ I felt on deck wasn’t from this guy.

“What? You’re saying there’s more…?”

“Yeah, for example….”

As I swung my sword, aiming into the darkness, a ball of fire that had been flying toward me was severed.

-You’ve got a keen sense, Human.

The sword illuminated the night sky as wyverns surrounded the airship in encirclement.

The source of the ‘strong’ presence I felt was indeed the wyverns.