The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 274

Discovering the attack of the Cat Beastmen meant that several had already fallen.

Unlike the Dog Beastmen, they wield quiet footsteps and bright eyes at night as their weapons, allowing them to sneak in unnoticed.

They are born assassins.

Upon emerging from the village, the Cat Beastmen were, of course, stained with red blood.

There were about three of them—very few, but they were beings that could not be approached freely by farmers who only farmed.

“What the hell are you doing this for?!”

“You’re the ones who betrayed us first!”

The farmers confronted the Beastmen armed with farming tools.

Neither side dared to move in, but the tension was palpable.

“Clear the way! If you don’t step aside, I’ll kill you!”

The Cat Beastmen threatened the farmers, flashing their sharp claws.

Though everyone held farming tools, in comparison to those claws, they were merely wielding blunt sticks.

“Ugh…”

Despite their lives being threatened, the farmers stood their ground.

“If you’re not stepping aside, then you know what to expect..!!”

“Eek??”

As they refused to back down, the leader among the Beastmen sharpened his claws.

After all, the farmers were outnumbered.

If even one person broke through, the encirclement would come crashing down.

The three Cat Beastmen charged towards the most feeble-looking farmer.

“AAAH?!”

Seeing the Cat Beastmen rush towards him, the farmer screamed.

At the moment the razor-sharp claws aimed for the arm holding the farming tool, a shining silver-white sword came flying in.

“Uh?!”

The Cat Beastman tilted his head to dodge the sword flying towards his neck.

Naturally, that wasn’t the end.

The one who had sent the sword flying, Amy Parker, instantly turned the blade towards the dodging Cat Beastman and struck down.

The Beastman gasped in astonishment upon seeing the change in the sword’s trajectory, but somehow managed to kick the ground and roll back to evade the attack.

“Are you alright, mister?!”

“Yes… yes!!”

The farmer saved by Amy, a resident of the three-way junction known as Hans with a blue roof, replied in surprise.

He hadn’t even seen who it was that saved him, but he was certain someone had come to his aid.

Though he had fallen awkwardly, he turned to take a better look and recognized the one who had rescued him.

“Um… are you a young lady??”

“Yes. It’s dangerous, so everyone stay back.”

The Cat Beastman who had barely avoided Amy’s attack stood back up with a graceful roll.

His movements were so silent they were frightening.

He stood up and frowned as he looked at Amy’s face.

“Hah… I thought I’d seen you somewhere. You’re the Lord’s daughter.”

“You’re a warrior of the Blue Cat Tribe, right? If there’s a misunderstanding, we should resolve it through conversation, so what’s this all about?”

Seeing the blood-stained claws, Amy’s face was filled with a rare fury.

The Parkers were few in number, so each family member was precious, yet three of them had been killed.

It was an unforgivable act.

“You wouldn’t understand something like this, being just a child. You seem to have learned some swordsmanship during our brief separation, but I don’t want to fight those I recognize, so back off.”

“…Don’t underestimate me!”

Amy charged at the warrior of the Blue Cat Tribe, brandishing her mithril alloy sword.

A pale aura began to blaze fiercely along the silver-white blade.

“Aura Blade! It’s so vivid!”

“It’s an Expert level. Get ready, everyone.”

Seeing the aura ignited from Amy’s blade, the warriors of the Blue Cat Tribe also wrapped their auras around their hands.

.

.

.

Fighting to protect her hometown, Amy was stronger than ever.

“HAAAH!!!”

Her attacks, unpredictable in speed and direction, made it possible to overcome the disadvantage of being outnumbered 2 to 1.

Amy thought she could handle at least two of them easily.

But the problem was the other Beastman.

One stood back, arms crossed, observing Amy’s skill as if appraising her, and she didn’t recognize him.

The only Blue Cat Tribe people Amy knew were the few who came to buy wheat.

“Ugh?!”

One of the warriors of the Blue Cat Tribe, trying to parry Amy’s sword, was caught by a following elbow strike to his solar plexus and fell backwards.

Amy seized the moment and brought down her sword.

-KLANG!!

And then something else blocked it.

“Stay back. You’re not her match.”

Blocking Amy’s attack were two sharp claws.

As if he had finished assessing the situation, he swaggered forward with a haughty demeanor as he spoke to Amy.

“You’re quite skilled for someone so young; I’d want my tribe’s children to take you as a role model.”

The aura that filled his hands was overwhelmingly powerful compared to other warriors.

He must have created it to show off.

It demonstrated the gap in strength between himself and Amy.

Though it wasn’t the highest grade, it was certainly stronger than Amy’s level at the moment.

“You understand the gap between our strengths, right? Isn’t it a pity to die this way? If you acknowledge defeat, I might spare your life?”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Amy’s fighting spirit was ignited more than ever.

This was Amy’s hometown.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

She had to win, without fail.

If it was just a matter of skill and aura physical ability, then… she could somehow overturn it.

“Well then… unfortunate for you.”

With a showy display, the Blue Cat Tribe warrior increased the size of the aura he held in both hands.

It was as if he intended to crush Amy with just the aura.

Amy tried her best to concentrate her aura to counter it, but it was clear that if she collided head-on, she would be shattered.

Believing he was victorious, the Blue Cat Tribe warrior slammed his arms filled with boulder-sized aura down.

But he had made one huge mistake.

Amy didn’t come alone.

She had simply run ahead quickly, but there were surely others following behind.

He had thought there were no other people in this rural area and relaxed his vigilance around him.

A human holding a black sword was charging fiercely behind Amy.

“Who the hell are you, you crazy cat?!”

Filled with rage, No-ho startled everyone.

The Blue Cat Tribe warrior hastily turned to the new target, but it was already too late.

“WAAAH?!”

The warrior’s right arm, showcasing its aura, was severed in an instant.

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.

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I don’t know all the details, but at times like this, I recalled my Master’s words.

“When out on a mission, there’s no need to get involved in every complicated detail. Think simply instead.”

“Are you going to talk about the Gordian Knot or something?”

“Wh-what? What’s that?”

“It’s a story where someone tied a carriage in a complex knot and solved it by cutting the knot with a sword.”

“I like that idea. It’s similar. Whenever you’re unsure about what to do, just think of two things: those on your side and those against you. Then, believe in your side entirely and eliminate the other.”

“What if things go wrong?”

“How could they go wrong? Just like with your knot, we’re the ones holding the sword. We decide what to do. If something feels off, we can tidy it up later.”

While it was indeed a bit dictatorial and forceful, given the nature of needing to make quick decisions, that advice proved quite helpful.

It helped me to minimize unnecessary thoughts and sort through things simply.

Even now.

“This… isn’t the end…”

“Oh, it is.”

I swung my pommel at the head of a Cat Beastman who tried to attack with his left hand after losing his right arm.

With a single blow powerful enough to smash rocks, he fell like a doll with its strings cut.

Though his words suggested otherwise, my priority wasn’t the plight of the Beastmen.

It was the fact that the bastard dared to attack Amy.

That was more than enough reason to make all the Cat Beastmen look like fools.

The other one, who seemed to be the leader, had his jaw broken and fell unconscious soon after.

I thought about just killing them, but since things had been fine until suddenly turning hostile, it stuck in my mind.

“Thank you so much!”

“I don’t know who you are, but thank you for dealing with those Beastmen.”

With that, the farmers, trembling as they gripped their farming tools, began to cheer and welcome me.

“There’s a young lady here too!”

“Didn’t you say the young lady was going to the Academy? She wasn’t expelled, was she…?”

“It’s vacation… By the way, those Beastmen… they’re of the Blue Cat Tribe, right? What the hell went wrong between them and us, when we were fine just before I left?”

When Amy asked what had happened, the farmers looked extremely flustered.

“Well… it’s a bit complicated for us to explain… the Lord probably knows best.”

Though it was just a fleeting action, I couldn’t miss it.

‘These humans are hiding something.’