The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 343

Strutting into the Academy with high spirits, the ‘Atlas Victims’ group was just killing time at the port, waiting for the Regular Ship, unable to figure out what to do.

“What now?”

“…Well, what can we do if he denies it? We have to report it just like we said.”

“But… isn’t the other guy the firstborn of a High Noble…? Will reporting it even change anything? We know that even a warrant won’t get issued. Isn’t that why everyone came here?”

Commoners and nobles face different laws.

Even if we go and say that the High Noble’s son beat us up, will that even make it to the higher-ups?

Most folks will just shrug it off and avoid confrontation, at best suggesting an off-the-record settlement.

It’s not like he’s killed anyone; just a few commoners got roughed up and had some stuff taken, so the firstborn of a High Noble getting punished for that is a tale for fiction.

Honestly, it would be lucky if the nobles don’t countercharge the commoners for sullying their dignity.

The fact that they didn’t file a report or come with a warrant doesn’t mean they’re ignorant.

They know exactly how useless it would be, and now they’re clinging to any possibility with nothing to lose.

“Still, I hoped there’d be some chance since a member of the Capital Security Force was with us… but it seems it was wishful thinking.”

It was a bonus that one of the victims had a connection to the Capital Security Force and that he had a remarkably righteous character, but that was where the positives ended.

With regular means, they couldn’t even investigate, so they were just trying to intimidate him somehow to ensure their safety before moving on to the next step.

Without using such tactics, he wouldn’t even cross the threshold of the Investigation Room.

But nothing seemed to work anyway.

He wasn’t fazed at all, and despite his looks, he was incredibly strong, leaving them feeling helpless.

In this place filled with bitter emotions, a man kept toiling over something.

He was running a small Merchant Group when he got thoroughly beaten up by ‘Atlas’ and turned to his friend Iris for help.

“Do you believe him when he says he’s someone else?”

The last thing he said was that Atlas claimed he wasn’t the criminal.

He said he was in the Academy the whole time, making it impossible for him to commit any crime, and that it was the doing of some impersonator using his name.

That statement gnawed at him all day.

What if they were all mistaken?

What if this Atlas Titan guy had been preparing for the new semester at the Academy and the person they met was just a lowlife fraud with no noble ties?

If his words were true… could they actually catch him?

Iris, a member of the Capital Security Force, shot up and exclaimed.

“Of course that’s a lie! You really believe that? I’ve learned something today! Nobles think they can beat someone up and just say it wasn’t them, and somehow, it’s all good!”

But Iris didn’t think that way.

She believed it was a rich brat’s pathetic excuse to shove responsibility elsewhere.

It was a convincing story, but perhaps because she was the only one who got hurt by him, it struck a chord.

That’s why once doubt sets in, there’s no end in sight.

With the background of being a High Noble, their own helplessness, Atlas Titan seemed to her nothing more than the head of a gigantic evil that needed to be taken down.

Even testimonies could be bought with strong power and money.

“Was he really in the Academy for a week? After causing a ruckus, he suddenly vanished, leaving to return to the Academy? And when they say it’s a witness, it’s not like there are many students around during break, so how could anyone guarantee that those accounts aren’t fabricated?”

“Uh… That’s a good point.”

A woman who had her precious belongings stolen agreed with Iris’s statement.

Just then, they heard the arrival of the Regular Ship they had been waiting for all day.

The time to leave had come.

“The ship seems to have arrived. It didn’t end on a good note, but… thank you for your help.”

Though they complained and cursed all the injustices, nothing about the situation improved.

All they could do was be shown the door and leave this Academy.

The huge Regular Ship felt exceptionally cruel.

“It’s too early to give up! There must be another way!”

Iris encouraged the woman not to give up, but her expression was far from cheerful.

Seeing that, a man spoke to Iris.

“What sort of way?”

“Well… I haven’t thought of anything yet, but I thought I’d ask some others too…”

“If it’s like you said, there’s nothing we can do. We might as well just head back and chalk it up to bad luck and live with our wounds.”

“Ugh…!”

Iris bit her lip in frustration.

While this group was lamenting, people started disembarking from the Regular Ship once more.

The first passengers would get off, and once the inside was tidied up, they would take along those waiting at the Academy and depart.

Amidst the awful silence, someone suddenly shouted.

“Huh?”

In that moment, the woman who had been robbed pointed at the Regular Ship with her finger, as if she noticed something odd.

“Isn’t that… him?”

“What???”

The place where her finger was pointing was where Atlas, who should definitely have been at the Academy, was nonchalantly disembarking from the Regular Ship.

.

.

.

The sight of someone they had seen just hours before at the Academy stepping off the ship like it was no big deal was nothing short of terrifying.

No one dared to speak up.

Maybe it was just someone who looked similar, but every victim there had the same thought in their heads.

That’s him.

“What the heck? Why… why is that guy getting off over there!!?”

“Is this for real? What’s going on…”

There was no way they misread that.

They felt the exact vibe they did when they first saw Atlas at the Academy.

While everyone was bewildered, Iris smiled.

“No… this is actually a good thing. If the Atlas at the Academy is the real one, and that’s the fake one over there, then he’s the criminal we’ve been searching for, and that person isn’t part of the Titan family at all!”

“So you’re saying he’s just a con artist, so we don’t have to worry, right?”

Having confirmed that the Atlas causing a ruckus outside was different from the one at the Academy, things became crystal clear.

And if the Atlas at the Academy told the truth… then that ‘Atlas’ was nothing more than a fraud.

From Atlas’s perspective, this meant it was someone they needed to catch pronto.

“…But why is a con artist at the Academy?”

Another thought popped into the man’s head.

If that guy was the fake one, why on earth would he show up at the Academy?

If he was an impersonator, wouldn’t he avoid places where he could get caught?

He could just be some dumb guy who didn’t even realize he was there, but the lingering aftertaste felt off.

“Does that even matter? That fraud probably doesn’t have any backing, so we can do whatever we want with him!”

Iris, showing no care for such questions, charged at the fake ‘Atlas’ with her club in hand.

“Hey!! You there!!!”

——————–

“From day one, everything’s been weird. This semester doesn’t seem like it’ll be smooth sailing.”

“Well, under these circumstances, it could be worse.”

Hours had passed since Atlas had quickly taken action and disappeared, and now, River and Amy were sipping drinks at the café in the Main Building, having finished their afternoon classes.

The sun was starting to set, but Atlas still hadn’t returned.

“Atlas… he’s late. It’s already dinner time, and it’s getting dark.”

“Must be busy with something important.”

Though they hadn’t seen Atlas all day, they understood.

A person parading around with his name and family was loose.

Not just roaming about, but assaulting people and stealing stuff—that’s a serious issue.

“I haven’t seen him all day… Should I stay over at Atlas’s place just to pass the time?”

“…But Gemma is there too, you know?”

“Even if Amy doesn’t come, I’m going by myself. You know the soundproofing there is good.”

River had already made plans to wait for Atlas in his room.

While Amy seemed worried about their roommate with Atlas, River felt no concern at all.

The villa he built was closer to a mansion than a regular house.

Even if he monkeyed around inside his room, no one would hear from the other rooms.

Besides, sneaking in to wait was something he often did when Atlas was living in the male dormitory.

Since Atlas said he’d be back today, he was sure Atlas would return if he waited.

“Ugh… I’ll go too.”

“Deal then! Hehe, today won’t be boring.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Amy readily agreed.

River was thrilled to finally have someone to hang out with until Atlas showed up.

-Boom!!!

“…Huh?”

At that moment, a sound like an explosion reverberated from somewhere, turning several heads in the café toward the source.

The café’s barista and even a professor immersed in writing a thesis turned to look.

That direction… had to be the port.

“Speaking of which, it’s about time for the last Regular Ship to arrive, right?”

They didn’t know what was happening down at the port, but