The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 22

On the evening of the duel with Lemnos, Lucia Russell had been sitting on a bench in the garden, waiting for Atlas two hours before their agreed meeting time.

Lucia, seemingly lost in thought, sat in a daze, her expression occasionally shifting slightly, but remarkably, her posture remained completely still.

Students passing by every now and then were taken aback by Lucia’s unmoving figure, but after gauging her deeply focused gaze into the distance, they simply walked away.

Atlas appeared in the garden about twenty minutes before the agreed-upon time.

“…. You came?”

“I thought I arrived early. How long have you been waiting?”

“Umm… I didn’t wait… that long…”

‘Seems like she’s been waiting a while,’ Atlas thought, not believing Lucia’s words.

It wasn’t a case of ‘just arrived’ or ‘didn’t wait’, it implied she had waited.

From Lucia’s perspective, it seemed she had indeed waited quite a while.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?”

“This place has too many people.”

While it was a somewhat secluded area, there were still students coming out for walks at times.

Not liking that, Lucia began moving to another location.

As she stealthily followed her, they arrived at a spot inside the academy building that she had never seen before.

It looked like an empty classroom, but judging by the scattered items, it seemed to have been a laboratory.

“Impressive you know a place like this.”

“I’ve found it out of necessity… while often being chased.”

Atlas thought this could be a useful spot for later.

“I saw the duel. I won.”

“I saw…”

“My goal for a while will be to face Lemnos. I didn’t even use the Aura Blade and just pounded him, so when he wakes up, he’ll be furious.”

“… Atlas, you’re strong.”

“Now you understand? I’m pretty strong.”

“Yeah, Atlas is strong… but I’m strong too.”

Lucia had meant to say that worrying about someone like Lemnos was unnecessary, but it was rather surprising to hear her declare her own strength so boldly.

She certainly had her pride in her own strength.

“Well… yeah, if you’re using a sword, you’ve got to have some stubbornness.”

But for someone in the sword-working business, a little self-assertion like that is necessary.

Now then, this is where it gets important.

Atlas got down to business.

“For a while, Lemnos will keep challenging me until he gets bored.”

“Until you win…?”

“With that mindset of his, he can’t defeat me. When he realizes that his mentality is flawed, he’ll understand that dueling will be pointless. The important part is that since Lemnos has been beaten, he’ll keep coming at me, and that means you, Russell, will no longer be in sight.”

Lucia was surprised once again.

Lemnos constantly pushing for a duel as soon as the new semester started was one of the stresses for her, especially being in a no-duel state. Now Atlas had said he’d take that on for her.

She was incredibly grateful.

“…. I’ve troubled you again… I’m sorry…”

And she felt very sorry too.

She could tell how stressful getting tangled up in such incidents was just from the way people’s attention had been drawn in the hallway.

Atlas had already experienced all that and yet had chosen to take on Lemnos as well.

“That’s fine. Just handle the cleanup afterward.”

“Cleanup…?”

“Now that Lemnos has publicly lost, the other five pillars are likely to take action.”

“What… should I do…?”

Lucia’s head began to spin.

Just managing Lemnos was overwhelming enough; what would happen if the other three moved?

“You just have to protect me.”

“Me…? I might be strong, but I’m probably weaker than you, Atlas… I don’t yet know how to protect someone stronger than I am…”

“I’m not asking you to protect me with strength. I can handle direct threats to my body by myself. But I can’t stop other forms of attack.”

“I…”

“You’re also one of the five pillars, aren’t you? There’s an immunity agreement amongst the five pillars… right?”

Physical conflict is banned amongst the five pillars.

Minor arguments or non-lethal duels are fine, but outright fighting is impossible.

If the pillars supporting the empire were to fight, the country would be shaken to its core.

“Support me.”

Though it seemed like Atlas was recklessly throwing himself at the issue, he had set up a way to escape.

Although it was pieced together from observing the situation, it was sufficient.

“Support me as one of the five pillars. That’ll be enough.”

“Is that really going to be okay…?”

“That’ll be enough. I’ll take care of the rest.”

If a Russell declares they will protect Atlas, the other five pillars would think twice before doing anything overtly hostile.

Attacking someone declared protected by a Russell would mean attacking the Russell itself.

“Really… if that’s okay… no, it’s necessary, right?

… I owe you one. And I won’t forget that rock. I’ll do my best to protect you.”

“Could you provide something like a seal? Anything with Russell’s emblem on it will do.”

“Uh… I don’t have one on me right now… but I’ll get one to you tomorrow.”

“Okay, let’s meet tomorrow then.”

As the promise wrapped up, Atlas stretched out as far as he could.

Lucia thought it was cute how Atlas’s small hand shot up in front of her.

“Ha~ now I can relax a little.”

With the protection of the five pillars in place, most unfairness at the academy would be blocked.

Though there might be some who charge in without understanding, she could just take care of them… Thinking ahead made her feel good.

But Lucia still appeared uncomfortable even though she had given everything she had.

“… I’m sorry…”

“What now?”

“… When we first met… I called you small…”

“Oh~ I remember that.”

“I was really mad then… I thought you’d hate me and that you wouldn’t talk to me again…”

At that time, Atlas had indeed been angry, but many things had happened since, so he’d forgotten about it now.

Perhaps it was because he had seen worse individuals… It was a perplexing feeling.

Lucia apologized, and since it was thanks to that incident that she was able to gain protection now, she should think positively about it.

“I may look like this, but… I like small things…”

Even without saying it, Atlas knew it all.

He knew about her liking small and cute things, that she had been forbidden to like them since she was young, and that she craved them even more because of it.

That craving was the reason she struggled to resist the temptation of demons.

In the novel, she had met a much nastier version of Atlas, heard harsh words, and was rejected.

Suddenly, what River had said before popped into Atlas’s head.

“You like small things, so that means I’m good for you… My body was the goal, huh…!”

“Huh?”

Lucia, whose mind still seemed to struggle with comprehension, went blank for a moment, and then her face turned bright red like a tomato.

“Th… that’s not it…!!”

She raised her hands to deny it, but they trembled.

She must be very shocked.

“It’s just a joke, a joke.”

“… I do like them, but… it’s not like that now…”

Even though it was a joke, she felt like she had caught a glimpse of his true feelings for a moment.

‘Likes… but what about?’

It seemed like he had ulterior motives.

Atlas made a mental note not to let his guard down.

Right now, he was stronger, but who knows how things would play out in the future.

“It’s a bit complicated. I wish you were a bit taller, just like you.”

“I don’t like being this tall…”

“Because you don’t feel cute?”

“… Yeah.”

“Funny how we both complain about our heights.”

A peculiar combination where Atlas, who was dissatisfied with being short, and Lucia, who was dissatisfied with being tall, wished to swap heights.

“Hey, Atlas… can I ask you one more favor?”

“What is it?”

What kind of relationship do we have, anyhow?

It feels like it’s just some random flow, but Lucia found this relationship quite pleasant.

There was no invasion of her personal space… This space where they were close yet not too close felt great.

“Call me not Russell… but Lucia.”

“By your name? Hmm… okay, Lucia. If that’s what you want.”

Lucia didn’t know what Atlas thought, but she wanted to consider Atlas a friend.

She wished to get closer in the future.