The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 272

A day ago, after the duel ended, Hamel, the head of the Shimoa family, felt as pitiful as a cow dragged to the slaughterhouse.

Not only had he started a conflict with Atlas, who came as his daughter’s friend, but he had also ended up losing that duel.

As soon as his partner, Lisa, saw Hamel, she began speaking with a furious expression.

“Why on earth are you treating our guest like that? At least try to come up with an excuse.”

This guest had come all the way out to this remote area.

Not to mention, they’d come as friends of his daughter, and he should be welcoming them instead of starting a conflict. Lisa’s head throbbed at the thought.

“But that guy… He’s River’s friend! I have the right to check if he deserves that kind of attention!”

“What’s the problem with that? You proposed to me at a much younger age than River.”

While Hamel proposed to Lisa at 18 and they got married that same year, River, who was now an adult, certainly seemed to be behind in the marriage race.

“If you think about it, River is way past her prime.”

“That’s a completely different situation!”

Hamel countered.

He had prioritized education to inherit the family rather than just aimlessly marrying into another family, so that naturally took longer.

However, that was a separate matter from River finding a partner now.

“There’s no difference. The kid is saying he likes her, so what’s the problem?”

“But…!”

In the end, Hamel knew.

What he was doing was merely a matter of emotion.

He thought he had protected his precious daughter from a Sword Master, but it turned out she had fallen for someone while attending the Academy he had desperately sent her to for refuge.

It felt like getting hit hard in the back of the head.

“Let’s set aside useless feelings and just think about what’s best for River. Where can you find a kid like that?”

While Hamel was swayed by his emotions, Lisa was not.

She believed it was only natural to help River find a good match if she had found someone special.

“Do you even know how old River is? She’s already 20! That punk Adolf has made sure she didn’t even meet a guy and enjoy her youth properly. Plus, after that old man died, she got stuck with the awful label of being a fallen human’s fiancée. And still, that kid likes her! Shouldn’t you be thankful as her father?”

At least if he had won the duel, it would have been a little better, but now that he was on the losing side, Hamel couldn’t even make excuses.

“You really lost, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… He’s on a whole different level.”

He was strong enough to protect River.

And, in fact, during their time at the Academy, it was practically a miracle he had saved her from the Sword Master’s clutches.

“And being a Titan, they’re from a prestigious family of Blade Mountain.”

“Yes…”

Shimoa was also a noble family celebrated for its history and tradition, but it couldn’t compare to Titan.

They had a good family and solid skills.

He wasn’t sure about their character, but so far, they seemed good enough.

Seeing them together, their relationship seemed nice, too.

With every moment, Hamel felt the strength in his shoulders slip away.

Just this morning, his spirits had been soaring high.

It was hard for him to accept that the daughter he thought he was protecting was now in another person’s embrace without him even realizing it.

“I can understand your feelings, having protected that girl for 20 years. I’m not ready to say goodbye to River either, but you have to wish for her happiness.”

All he could do was nod.

——————————

I couldn’t even relax in my hometown, but I was able to enjoy a more proper break in Shimoa.

In the first place, it wasn’t even possible to feel at ease in the hometown that always made me feel miserable, and there had been several incidents happening as well.

While I thought about possibly staying a bit longer, the issue was something else.

“Come on, guys, let’s not worry and just relax.”

Lisa was discreetly giving me hints.

It wasn’t bad advice, but it was a little burdensome, I suppose. It could be seen as caring, so I didn’t want to complain.

At least I was glad she didn’t complain about me too much and wasn’t shooing me away either.

She just very artificially called me and River aside, saying we had something to talk about, then left us hanging without much conversation.

“…It’s not like I have bad intentions…”

“Hey, they’re hiding behind that door.”

“Mom, stop it!!”

When I pointed out the presence behind the door, River yelled out.

Her face turned bright red from the overly transparent behavior, and she couldn’t hold her head up.

I resolved to leave Shimoa as quickly as possible before things escalated.

It wasn’t just my resolve, though.

River had strongly insisted on it too.

She was worried that something worse could happen if they lingered too long.

Every time we were called out, the stares from the others were also intense.

“Are you seriously preparing to leave already?? We just had a welcome feast yesterday, isn’t this too soon?”

“There are many places we need to visit… so it just turned out this way. Not that I’m leaving today.”

I had stayed longer than I expected.

There was a consideration that I had rushed out from my hometown.

Should I count that as partially voluntary and partially forced?

Since I started by staying a day longer, it felt like I’d been here for a while.

“You’re heading next to Amy’s hometown, right?”

“Was it Parker…? Everything is so far away.”

I didn’t realize it without adequate descriptions in the original work, but both Blade Mountain and Shimoa were far from the capital and just about anywhere else.

While I was wondering if that was normal, considering how vast the Empire’s territory was, I felt it was just the average distance.

It was so far that Amy thought she wouldn’t head back to her hometown at all during the break.

It reportedly took two months just to reach the Academy.

It usually took a month without any issues, but with various problems occurring on the way, it kept getting delayed.

Thinking back, that was probably why she was late for the entrance ceremony.

I could guess what kind of issues cropped up without her saying.

It was surely related to demons, and while she could have chosen to overlook such things, she likely couldn’t take that option.

That was why in the original story, Hayden ended up being delayed after dealing with the demons all along the way.

“You two will be shocked when I show up.”

“Didn’t you tell them?”

“I need to send a letter, but it’s probably faster for Atlas to arrive than for my letter to get there.”

Families understood these situations, so they weren’t expecting Amy to show up.

Sure, she could have sent a letter ahead, but it took an hour in a carriage for the shortest route, and using the cheapest postal service, it would practically take two months to deliver, which wasn’t worth it.

“…Everyone’s going to be uncomfortable. We’re close because we’re in the same mountain range.”

Turning it around, Lucia subtly showed off the closeness between Russell and Titan.

I just said I was about to leave, but I wasn’t leaving immediately.

In the morning, I trained at Blade Mountain, and by the afternoon, I returned to Shimoa, following River as she led the way.

River mainly guided us through places she often roamed.

During our stroll, something caught my eye.

“Is that Clover Kingdom… no, now it’s called Clover Territory, right?”

What used to be Clover Kingdom, now Clover Territory, was seen. It held the status of an independent kingdom in the past but was now incorporated into the Empire.

“Right. See those stones on the ground? They used to mark the border.”

“Wow… So borders were marked like that.”

Although it had now become one with the Empire, it was originally a kingdom.

The kingdom had disappeared, but the borders drawn back then still remained.

“…Just to check, soldiers from there aren’t crossing over and causing chaos, are they?”

I asked, a bit worried.

Despite being a small territory resembling a country town, Clover Territory had once been a kingdom, and considering how close it was, and how Shimoa was somewhat related to the downfall of Clover Kingdom, it wouldn’t be strange for someone to come and cause trouble out of spite.

In truth, it was the foolish Sword Master who borrowed the power of demons that was truly to blame, but a person from Clover Kingdom wouldn’t hate the Sword Master,

For them, the Sword Master was like a sage or deity.

They probably harbored significant hatred for Shimoa, which was the cause of it all.

“With the country’s support system failing, they won’t have the leisure for tasks like that. The Sword Master wiped out all the students who came to the Empire’s Academy… When they went to hunt, the church’s inquisitors and the Royal Knight Order all went with deadly expressions… It’s only been a month since that happened, and they haven’t fully recovered yet.”

For now, things seemed peaceful, but the future was uncertain.

While I was relieved that nothing strange was happening now, I also felt a sense of disappointment.

If anything had stirred up trouble, I had planned to fuss about it after the Commander had already done so.