The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 224

It’s more suspicious to be flustered at a time like this.

I confidently introduced Bella as if it were no big deal.

“She’s a colleague I worked with when I was an adventurer. This is Bella, an archaeologist.”

Bella, with a flushed face from drinking, pointed at the two of them.

“… What’s up with those guys, Atlas? Hmm… I feel like I’ve seen one of them before? Hey, aren’t we acquainted?”

The team members, hearing Bella’s words and glancing over, screamed in surprise.

“Whoa, it’s that little brat!”

“What’s up, you here for a rematch or something?”

Everyone who had been drinking suddenly stood up, getting ready for a fight.

“Ugh?!”

They all looked at Casey, tense and ready for action.

Now that I think about it, didn’t she say she bumped into me while searching?

“She’s a bit rough around the edges, but she’s actually nice. Time to apologize.”

“… I’m sorry about that time.”

When I placed my hand on Casey’s head, she meekly bowed it.

“Ugh…!”

She apologized sincerely, but everyone still remained on edge.

“I told you not to cause trouble.”

“Is that something an old man should say? Those guys attacked us first.”

“You came in with a sword, didn’t you?”

“… Well, that’s true.”

After being scolded up front, the atmosphere eased a bit.

“So who is this lady?”

As Casey’s mood soured, the team’s attention naturally shifted to River.

River, taken aback by the sudden interest, lowered his head.

“I’m currently attending the Academy, in the same class.”

“Pfft! The Academy? You? What could you possibly learn there? Aren’t you around my age?”

Bella, knowing my age, laughed out loud at the thought of me being at the Academy.

“There was a professor there researching the Elixir of Growth.”

“Ohhh, I see. No wonder you seem a bit taller!”

“Can you feel it? I’ve grown almost 0.5!”

“Wait, so the Captain really did grow?”

“He went to the Snow Country looking for height-boosting potions and ended up growing somewhere else?”

The team laughed, congratulating me on my growth, which brought me closer to the goal I always had in mind.

The Snow Country Exploration Team’s goal was ultimately a means to reach that end, after all.

“Hey, I was worried because Atlas didn’t come back until late.”

“I thought I’d be quick, but here we are. Sorry.”

Seeing Bella talk to River made her narrow her eyes.

“How sweet! What’s this? Didn’t you say you couldn’t afford to be nice to me?”

“Shut up, I was busy getting the exploration team together. Do you even know how much running around I’ve done?”

“If the timing was the issue, it’s a bit jealousy-inducing, considering you bolted right after everything ended.”

Staying any longer felt like I’d sink into a swamp.

I quickly stood up.

“Shut it, I’m leaving first. I’ll drop by the hideout tomorrow, so keep that in mind.”

“Whoa, escaping already?”

“Make sure to take care of that drunk over there.”

I decided to leave before it got any louder.

.

.

.

On the way back to the hotel we had temporarily lodged in, River inexplicably got closer to me.

“… You smell like alcohol.”

“I’m not drunk. You can just step back if it bothers you.”

“That’s not too bad, so it’s fine.”

Even though I wasn’t drunk from the strong liquor, the smell clung to me.

River insisted on mentioning it, and whenever I tried to space out, he pulled me back in.

Casey, observing this, walked a distance ahead with an expression that said she saw something she shouldn’t.

“Um… that Bella person is beautiful, huh? Were you close?”

River tossed out the question lightly.

Bella is indeed an attractive woman. She’s assertive, quick to laugh, and sharp with numbers. Her earnestness was felt in her constant effort to improve.

But that’s not the answer to this.

“You’re prettier.”

I answered without hesitation, making River turn away.

“Uh… what are you saying?”

He turned his head, but I could see a slight smirk at the corner of his mouth.

“I was an adventurer until I entered the Academy. Have you heard of the Snow Country?”

“The Snow Country? Isn’t that a place right out of a fairy tale? Something about monsters from the Snow Country luring people to disappear?”

“That’s right. We managed to explore the Snow Country based on legends and found ruins underground. Bella was an archaeologist I adventured with back then… but it seems someone pressured her while I was at the Academy. Tomorrow…”

I cut my words off. I should be enjoying my break today, so why am I dealing with this?

“Ugh, I’m sorry, things just keep coming up… I’ll resolve everything as quickly as possible!”

Getting caught up in all these incidents was giving me a headache.

“Hey, should I help too?”

“It’s easier if I just handle this on my own. Having you along would make it seem like the Royal Knight Order is stepping in. This is solely the Snow Country Exploration Team’s issue.”

While having Casey’s help might make things easier, it would mean calling on the Royal Knight Order’s assistance.

This must remain solely an issue solved in the name of the Snow Country Exploration Team.

‘Could Hoenheim really be the culprit?’

When I first heard my companions say that, I thought Hoenheim was the only person with the power to take an interest in the Snow Country. But upon further reflection, there were too many strange aspects to that assumption.

It was true that someone from the Magic Tower was being oppressive, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was Hoenheim.

She was breaking up her sleeping time for research and called me over, so I didn’t think she’d act alone.

“First, let’s deal with the lackeys.”

If I beat up the culprits, evidence will surely surface.

——————————

“Hmm, hmm, hmm~ Good day again. Good, good.”

A man was checking his appearance in the mirror.

A middle-aged man dressed in an expensive suit and placing what looked like an artifact monocle into his front pocket was tidying his mustache, which rose into the sky.

His head was completely bald and shiny, but his mustache was much fuller than what ordinary people had.

The man’s name is George Essex, the owner of the largest auction house held in the capital.

“Today’s setup is working splendidly; I must be lucky!”

George happily fiddled with his magnificent mustache.

His natural tuft of hair, with no magical enhancements, could sometimes get styled perfectly according to different circumstances, indicating that on days when everything was in place, he would have excellent fortune.

Days like these meant he had much to get done.

“Is this the list of items?”

“Yes, my Count.”

George cheerfully picked up the ledger lying on his desk.

This ledger contained a list of items farmed for the auction scheduled for next week.

Auctions are a show.

How to arrange items, what stories to attach, and how to excite the audience have to be meticulously calculated, just like a popular art.

Although he stepped back from the frontline, George was once a dealer at an auction, a man skilled at robbing every participant of their wallets through his silver tongue.

“Dragon scale fragments, Sword Master’s hilt, splendid, splendid! It looks like this auction is filled with top-notch items again.”

As he flipped through the ledger, his sharp eyes suddenly stopped on one item.

His eyes, usually so keen, found something that should not be there.

“Hmm? That’s strange… why is an item from the Snow Country Exploration Team listed here?”

George’s finger pointed at the item found four entries from the bottom of the list.

It was presented as the “Golden statue of the ancient kingdom found in the Snow Country,” an item that shouldn’t have been on this list.

While it had previously been slated for auction, the recent changes must not have been applied yet.

Something that should have been perfect today had now marred his mood.

“Ah! I’m terribly sorry!! That was a mistake. Here’s the final draft!”

“Hmm, hmm, since it changed all of a sudden, I’ll let it slide this time… now let’s see.”

As he flipped through the newly received ledger, it was immaculate.

With this, next week’s auction could proceed successfully.

“Though there was a little slip-up, I’m more than willing to overlook it. Now, let’s take a look at the list of items for the auction after next?”

“Yes, here it is!”

This auction was well-prepared, and George immediately set out to prepare for the next auction.

As he quietly flipped through the pages when someone burst into the room.

“Count!! You have to evacuate!!!”

“What’s all this commotion?”

Rude as it was to not knock, he initially felt frustrated, but he was curious about what was happening.

If the reason was trivial, he planned to fire the person; if reasonable, he would just give a warning.

However, what came out of that person’s mouth was shockingly unexpected.

“The Gremlin has invaded!!”

“What?”

George’s complexion turned pale.

“Didn’t we hear that… it went missing?!”

He jumped up from his seat, shouting, but nothing improved in the situation.

“AAAAAH!!!”

Screams erupted from outside.

And the sounds of guards rushing in with their weapons clanging could be heard.

It seems they’re already close by.

“That’s not what’s important!! You need to evacuate quickly!!!”

The urgency of the evacuation snapped him out of it.

Right, I need to escape.

You can’t win against a Gremlin head-on.

Having experienced it already, he knew too well.

Run… flee and wait for that person to resolve the situation.

As he searched for the switch to escape through a secret passage, something suddenly flew into the room.

-Thud!!!

“Ah?!”

What flew in was a guard, foaming at the mouth and collapsing.

His legs were bleeding profusely.

“Gremlin? Everyone can hear you scream about the Gremlin? Hey, didn’t I tell you not to mess around?”

“You… how did you??”

A kid who looked significantly younger than him, with golden hair and sapphire-like blue eyes, appeared before him with a blood-stained sword resting on her shoulder.

Nicknamed the Gremlin… she was the captain of the Snow Country Exploration Team.

She was known for her bad temper, eccentricity, violence… and above all, her incredible strength, which made it nearly impossible for anyone in the capital’s organizations to handle her.

I thought I heard she was missing?