The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 216

The investigator relayed the findings from the investigation thus far and shared them with Amy.

There are several strange points about this incident, but the biggest issue is the complete absence of traces left by the people or livestock in the village, and what exactly could burn down an entire village uniformly.

If it’s a technique capable of burning a village entirely, there are various methods.

If someone learned magic, it could potentially set the entire village ablaze.

However, that conclusion didn’t align with the findings of the investigator.

To use magic on that scale, there would have to be considerable preparations, yet nothing of the sort was visible.

That alone sliced through several hypotheses.

“Wasn’t there a mention that an evil dragon had appeared? Didn’t you have an opinion about that?”

“If a gigantic dragon had appeared, there should be some trace of it, but there were no claw marks or footprints of any dragon anywhere in the village or its surroundings. Of course, it might have just used its breath from the sky without landing… but for now, that’s what we have.”

Amy, after deeply contemplating the gathered information, took my hand and stood up.

She walked towards the center of the village.

“I sense a demon’s presence, but something feels off.”

“What do you mean?”

“It feels like something else is mixed in… it’s just different.”

Amy arrived at the church, which she had been searching earlier.

“Why the church?”

“If it’s the work of demons, there would definitely be some trace left in the church by any means. Demons couldn’t possibly tolerate any affront to a church that serves the divine.”

They say the demons invading this world harbor a strong enmity towards the deity that interferes with their every move.

Thus, if there’s any trace of the divine, there’s a high chance they would unleash acts of humiliation against it.

What traces might remain in the completely charred church?

It was a precarious space, where the pillars were burned black and could collapse at any moment, but Amy didn’t seem to mind and started to rummage through the place.

“Was this here all along?”

While we were investigating, a booming voice echoed from the entrance of the church.

It seems Gemma, whom we had left with the others, had come looking for me.

“Everything’s charred black. Does this happen often among humans?”

“It’s rare, and that’s why we’re looking into it, curious about what caused this.”

Gemma came to my side like before and clung to my arm.

Amy’s expression seemed to shift slightly upon seeing that.

“Gemma, what’s everyone doing outside?”

“They said the investigator or the person with the interesting head color is left behind, and the others said there’s nothing more to see. They’re getting ready for you two to come out so they can return.”

“Is that so?”

“But what are you looking for? If you help, we can finish quickly.”

Gemma offering to help was good news.

No matter how sharply Amy sensed the demon’s presence, ultimately both of us are human.

Gemma, being a dragon, sees things differently than humans, so she might be able to find what we missed.

“We need to find anything suspicious. Can you do that?”

“If it’s something suspicious… is this what you mean?”

Gemma pointed to a melting metal cross that faced away from the totally melted window at the edge of the worship hall.

The melted glass mixed with black ash made for a rather bizarre object.

“It’s suspicious for sure, but… that’s just a cross.”

“Then how about the painting stuck to the floor of this church?”

“… There’s a painting stuck to the floor?”

Gemma’s eyes were shining golden.

“Yes. There’s some painting drawn beneath this floor.”

“… If you can see through it… is there perhaps a cave below?”

“Hmm… there really is a cave! How did you know? Can you see all the way beneath like I can?”

An image formed in my mind.

The scenes from the incident in the dungeon at the start of the term began to reconstruct one by one.

Back then, we had indeed dug into the dungeon from below and prepared a ritual one by one on the ceiling and the ground.

“Amy, could it be…?”

“… Let’s confirm directly.”

Hearing Gemma’s words, Amy wore a face filled with tension.

Just as I considered verifying, a sudden thought struck me.

Could this also be a trap that would initiate space movement if touched?

Was this a device to transport everyone that was here somewhere else?

Having been caught in such a situation once before, I resolved to be more cautious.

“Amy, it’s dangerous for just the two of us to check. Do you remember what happened at the mansion?”

“But the traces might be erased in the meantime.”

“There was plenty of time for that already. This is an incident that happened a few days ago. If there are still traces left, it’d be better to inform the capital first.”

Amy seemed eager to find evidence quickly.

Up until now, it was mostly her bad habit to solve situations alone.

But even so, she knew my suggestion was valid, and decided to wait.

“Is this it? It’s covered in ash, but there’s a dent that could be used as a handle!”

-Clank!

Gemma, who hadn’t been listening to our conversation, stuck her hand into the ground and lifted it.

Then a thick stone slab was raised, revealing a deep hole underneath.

“Uh? Did you just open it?”

“What… how could you open that…!!”

“Was that not supposed to be touched??”

And just after that, something powerful stirred from the hole.

“What the hell is that!!!!”

Before I could react, a dark void spewed forth from the hole and engulfed us.

“Everyone, hold… hold hands!!!”

All I could do was grab the hands of the two beside me.

At least I prayed that we wouldn’t be scattered all over the place.

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When I regained my senses, I found myself inside a dark cave.

“Waaah!!!”

As soon as I came to, I jumped up immediately.

The first thing I checked was my hands… fortunately, the last two I had grabbed were both fine.

“Amy, wake up. Gemma, you too.”

I shook everyone awake, and they stirred quickly.

“Uh… have we been caught again?”

“Seems like it.”

The idea of having been caught again pierced through me like a knife.

After being caught once, I had vowed never to let it happen again, and now finding myself thrown into such a place was a headache.

“…”

Gemma, who had awakened, looked around and clamped her mouth shut.

It appeared she was fully aware that her last action had brought her to this strange place.

“Is this all my… fault? Did I disturb that carelessly…?”

Gemma looked around the dark space, sniffling.

Previously, she would have reacted with anger, but it seemed she had improved considerably.

However, what she did next took me by surprise.

“I should… be punished… for what I did…”

Gemma approached me with watery eyes, sticking out her rear.

As if waiting for a punishment.

“Um… Atlas, what on earth…?”

Seeing that, Amy looked shocked.

“Are you not going to punish her? … No, wait, you’re not done preparing yet.. wait a moment.”

With an expression that seemed to realize something, she took her hand into her skirt and pulled something down.

What came down between her legs was a piece of black cloth, Gemma’s underwear.

“Now… now I’m ready…”

With her eyes tightly shut, Gemma lifted her skirt, revealing her plump rear.

“…. Atlas?”

Seeing that scene, Amy shot a disbelieving look at me.

At this point, it was already too late to stop.

I decided to charge ahead.

-Slap!!

“Haah…!!”

With a quick and precise motion, I slapped Gemma’s rear.

With a crisp sound, a red handprint appeared on her white backside.

Gemma rubbed her rear, clinging to my arm with a teary face.

“You have to be careful. If you mess around with dangerous objects, it could lead to irreversible consequences. Got it?”

“… Yes.”

She seemed to be tenderly rubbing the spot I struck.

“It’s a small habit formed through my training program.”

Amy looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

The darkness that enveloped us was pitch black, but all three of us possessed a vision that pierced through it, making it very natural for us to recognize each other in the absence of any light.

“The teacher is not at fault!”

Gemma defended me.

At this point, it seemed to backfire, but it looked like Gemma intended to use my title as “teacher.”

Does she mean to call me her instructor? It didn’t sound bad, so I decided to let it be.

Amy didn’t have a look of anger, though.

“I’m not trying to blame you… but still, you’re not giving any excuses.”

“I acted as I saw fit. Teaching manners means that punishing is part of it too. Did you find it contemptible?”

“I don’t think so, but my feelings are a bit complicated… I thought you had that kind of preference.”

I hoped she wasn’t misunderstanding my sexual preferences.

“Ah… anyway, let’s wrap this up for now and talk about it later…!! If we end up in another strange place like last time, that would be problematic!”

“Exactly. For now…”

I turned my gaze toward the direction where the wind was blowing.

“Since the wind’s coming from over there, let’s head that way first.”

“Yes.”