The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 250

“Illusion? What are you talking about?”

“Did you not hear your older brother scratching his neck while wandering around the mansion?”

Amy thought deeply.

Had that ever happened? It rang a bell.

I couldn’t say for sure about the outside, but there were a few times when Atlas came inside and scratched his neck.

“Brother said this mansion makes him feel claustrophobic. He mentioned it last time too, so it seems he’s still not fully recovered.”

Everyone recalled that Atlas had made such comments after entering the mansion.

“As you can see, for him, this mansion is filled with things he’d rather forget… He’s suffering from severe stress and sometimes even sees illusions. He used to do that a lot when he was little.”

“… Are you saying everything Atlas saw was just in his head?”

“I don’t know what he saw, but… it’s possible. I can’t have any insight on what he witnessed. It might be beneficial for you to check it out together.”

The materials here were incredibly horrifying, but they were not traces of demons.

If I had to classify what kind they were, they seemed to merely document Atlas’s growth process, rather than show any signs of demonic presence.

“Let’s head back now. Dinner is being prepared. Next time, you don’t need to sneak around like this. If your older brother wants to see you, I can arrange that anywhere.”

Regardless of how young, the head of the Titan family was still the head.

Everything happening within this mansion was all under her control.

“Next time, Atlas will come with us.”

After Casey said that, the two of them left the basement together.

Metios, who had been watching them exit, pressed one of the bricks, and quietly, a wall opened up, creating stairs leading up.

It was a secret passage leading from the head’s office to the basement.

Metios thought to himself, relieved that they were leaving.

‘… I’m really glad he didn’t cause a scene.’

Before going up, Metios pulled out a book that had been placed on the shelf.

————————————

After finishing off the monsters, everyone returned to the mansion.

“I’m exhausted, so tired.”

“Weren’t there tons of undead?”

“How could there be so many undead even halfway up the mountain?!”

Gemma, whom they had brought as a secret weapon, had a fantastic performance against the undead.

Although there were plenty of skeletons and ghosts, Gemma, irritated by it, unleashed a wide-area lightning strike, sweeping them all away.

If it had been a standard physical attack, it wouldn’t have harmed ghost-type undeads like the ghosts, but Gemma was a Gold Dragon.

The golden magical power of a Gold Dragon was like a nemesis to the undead.

While not divine power, it had properties that were contradictory to curses, and just by breathing, she could purify all the undead.

Thus, they managed to take down the undead fairly easily, stopping to watch once Gemma truly got into the fight.

After that, they didn’t discover any traces of demons, but they did handle a massive number of undead… and since they had found traces of the Demon Church in the nearby forest, today would have to suffice.

When they returned to the mansion, the maids were startled to see Emma, the Gold Dragon, and ran away.

“We’re back.”

“?!”

Upon entering the room, I noticed something strange about the two people who were meant to search the mansion.

“Ugh…”

“…!”

As soon as they saw me, both suddenly ran up and hugged me.

I wondered why this sudden show of affection, but their bodies were trembling.

“… What’s going on? Are you crying?”

I wasn’t sure about Amy, but Casey behaving like this was quite unusual.


She always had that confident demeanor since we started living together, except for that time when she was scared of thunderstorms when we first moved in… Now seeing her like this made me curious about what they had found.

“Atlas… I promise I’ll make you happy….”

“Did you see something weird instead of looking for what I asked you to?”

Suddenly she started saying strange things.


I thought I was living a perfectly fine life; what more happiness could she give me?


If my height returned to over 180 like in my first life, that would be perfect, I guess.


But I was truly grateful to hear her say such things.


I just patted her head without saying anything.

“… Do you know what’s in the basement?”

“No, I’ve never been.”

“….”

It seemed she had seen something in the basement.


Since I had never been, I had no clue about what she had witnessed.

“What did you see?”

“Your growth history. My brother told me to tell you that he’s happy to help you search anywhere he can.”

“… So something like that exists?”

Eventually, it seemed I needed to have a talk with my younger sibling.

.


.


.

Metios was working in the office with me when I arrived.


As soon as I entered, Metios stood up.

“I knew you’d come.”

“Then you know what I’m going to say.”

“Yes.”

I was furious that such records existed in this mansion, even though they weren’t ones left by Metios.


The fact that they were documented meant someone else had seen them, which was not something anyone would benefit from.


They all needed to be burned.

“Why are there such records left?”

“Originally, these were materials that were here. They were just moved down to the basement.”

“Why didn’t you just burn these ominous things?”

“That’s…”

Metios’s voice trailed off.


After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke with an unusually trembling voice.

“No matter how painful the memory, to me, it’s the last trace of my older brother in this mansion. If that were to disappear, how would I remember him?”

As his voice grew more intense, I realized he was getting upset.

“Even if they are going to be erased, that was something my brother should have done with his own hands. I can’t bear to choose to erase it myself.”

Metios had remained here alone after I disappeared.

Even if he wanted to remember me, he couldn’t sustain it on fading memories.


There were no records left about me in this mansion.


No portraits, no photos, nothing at all.


I wanted to question my father why he had not obsessively left any traces of me.


Why was it so embarrassing for the guests who came from outside to see my presence?


But Cronos kept a record of me more than anyone else.


Though it was the most sinister kind.

“I’ll gladly keep any portraits or pictures, but I’m burning all of that. You won’t try to stop me, will you?”

“If that’s the case… I’ll assist you.”

.


.


.

The incinerator behind the mansion was ablaze.


What was burning was the narrative of my past, a history of pain that I never wanted to recall.

“It burns well.”

I was smashing all the recording crystals and stuffing the journals in to burn.


There was enough material to fill a room, so just burning it all would take quite some time.


If I tried to burn it all at once, it would create a massive fire in the mansion.


Before setting it ablaze, I read through a journal.


As I read it, most of the memories came flooding back.

My childhood memories remained quite vivid.


Many people say that childhood memories fade away easily, but that’s only true for those who really were children.


To me, having lived a second life, the memories of living in Titan as a child linger vividly due to having the mentality of someone in their twenties.

“Do you remember, brother?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Remember that time you ate the poison frog concoction and your skin turned green?”

“…. I do remember that.”

It was too humiliating, a moment I truly wanted to bury in the depths of my mind.

“I remember being so scared and crying when you looked so terrifying. It was really back when we were little.”

Metios was sitting on a chair that a maid had brought.


Every now and then, he deftly tossed aside a folder of documents.


Suddenly, I had a thought.


Now that I was here, should I ask him about what I’d been searching for?


That surge of confidence welled up in me.

“Hey, little bro.”

“Yes, brother.”

Metios replied without even turning to face me.

“I saw traces of the Demon Church in our territory. They even summoned demons.”

“I had no idea at all about that.”

“And yesterday, I dug up father’s grave. There were traces of the Demon Church there too.”

“You did it in the end, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He didn’t seem that shocked.


Since I had boasted that I would do it for sure, he might have expected it.

“But, you know, the coffin was empty. Can you explain that?”

Metios pondered for a moment upon hearing what I said.

“… I don’t know anything about that. For me, it’s hard to understand that your father’s grave was empty. Father isn’t deceased either. Everyone in the mansion saw him collapse along with Mother and even witnessed him being buried in a coffin. He’s definitely dead.”

“So, are you saying what I saw was all in my imagination?”

The fact that I kept doubting Cronos wasn’t just because of a similar appearance.


It was because I was convinced after hearing about the necromancer’s failure.


He might be alive, but at the very least, he was not currently buried in the ground as a corpse.


Metios seemed to want to say something but held back, choosing different words.

“But one thing I suspect.”

She added one last remark.

“Brother, Father used to have dealings with the Demon Church.”