The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 396

“Atlas is back, huh!”

“?!!”

In a dizzying moment, thankfully, the door swung open.

“…What are you doing lying there?”

“Nothing at all.”

The person who entered was River. Behind him, Casey was giving me a look that seemed to say she had tried to stop him.

“Why are you so late? You said you’d come right away.”

“I wanted to come quickly, but what can I do if I got dragged back in?”

“I’ll forgive you since you made it back safely.”

As River stopped talking, he glanced around.

“This is Gemma’s room. Why are you lying here?”

“Oh, this? Gemma saw something pretty shocking, so she’s not in great shape right now. I’ll head out when she’s feeling better.”

“…Alright. I’ll be waiting.”

I wasn’t sure if he fully understood, but River closed the door and stepped out again.

Gemma, startled by River’s presence, rolled over and lay on the bed wrapped up in a blanket like a dead rat.

“…Is he gone?”

“Um… yeah, he’s gone.”

After confirming that River left, Gemma turned her head towards me.

“Um… yeah. There’s no problem at all.”

Gemma’s eyes, which had been sparkling like a wild beast, were now back to normal.

“The outside’s packed with people. I must be in really bad shape.”

“You still feel dizzy.”

When I placed my hand on her forehead, it was still hot.

“Get some rest. If you have something to say, tell me once you feel better. I’ll stay by your side until you fall asleep.”

“…Thank you.”

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Although there had been all sorts of commotion, everything eventually returned to normal.

The barrier was repaired, and the purification process that had taken over a month was now in its final stages.

The main reason for the speedy progress was that the Church Country, having grasped the severity of the situation, allowed the use of holy relics.

With nothing to do, Master and I went on a monster and demon hunt in the contaminated sea, naturally enhancing the Royal Knight Order’s reputation. Every time I reported to the Commander, I heard comments like, “Did someone hit those guys with a hammer? Why are they still stuck in one place?”

Being stuck in one place for over a month was really rare.

Master said, “If you’re jealous, just say you’re jealous,” but that was that.

And starting tomorrow, the Academy’s system would return to normal.

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“You’re up.”

“That’s a lot of sleep for me.”

Early in the morning before the sun rose, Master sat up and began ruffling my hair while I was still lying down.

“Should I take a picture? It’d be fun to show Linda.”

Master, holding a huge camera with nothing but a blanket covering us, playfully positioned us as the subjects.

I didn’t mind taking a picture, but I certainly didn’t want to send a picture of us without even a thread of clothing to the Commander.

Someone would surely be fuming over us slacking off while they were busy.

“I can’t handle this, so let’s not.”

“How boring.”

Master put the camera away into an unknown spot and gazed off into the distance.

While it seemed like he was just lost in thought, after so many years together, I could tell he was contemplating where to go next.

“Master, just in case, but are you leaving tomorrow?”

“Of course. I’ve been here too long.”

He didn’t deny it when I asked.

It’s been over a month already, so it’s clear he had been here for a while.

He was probably thinking of leaving now that the barrier was restored, having been told to stay until the Academy returned to normal.

‘Master is leaving…’

I recalled the past month.

The Academy faced an unprecedented crisis, but after surviving the most chaotic initial period, peace had settled over the place.

Of course, it wasn’t completely uneventful.

There had been both large and small attacks, but with two Masters in this island, they ended before any major damage occurred.

“Could you not stay for another month?”

“Suddenly being needy, huh? You finally realized how precious I am? You’re just too cute.”

When I told him not to leave, Master laughed and embraced me.

“I’m not being needy. The purification of the waters isn’t even done yet. How can we just leave it to the Knights?”

“You can handle that on your own, my apprentice.”

“Master, there are benefits to having you stay longer…”

“You can’t keep me here for that reason. You know that, right?”

I wanted to find a way to keep Master at the Academy a bit longer, but judging by his expression, it seemed clear I wouldn’t win this argument.

“Is there no way at all?”

“Being unable to stay in one place is my chronic illness. If you really want to tie me down, there is one way.”

“What’s that?”

Master bent down and whispered in my ear.

“Don’t wander like this. Once you settle down properly, let me know. Then I’ll think about it too.”

“Me, wandering?”

“Yeah. You’re not any different from me. You can go anywhere, but you can’t stay anywhere. You say where you place your feet is your home, but in reality, you have nowhere to rest your heart, so you just flit around like a migratory bird.”

“…”

I couldn’t argue against what Master was saying.

It was true that I couldn’t settle in one place and was always moving on elsewhere.

Should it be considered a problem?

Knowing the truth of this world, I just couldn’t sit still.

“But you’ve changed a lot. I guess you’re starting to feel like you want to settle down? Right now, you’re just putting things off because you have something important to do, but once it’s all done, let me know.”

Master finished that thought and stood up, heading toward the shower.

“…Sigh.”

What I wanted most was to grow taller, and next was… yes, to slay the Great Demons lurking around this world.

But the title of Great Demon wasn’t assigned to a specific entity; it was a lineage passed down.

No matter how many I killed, over time, another demon would grow to take their place.

The Leviathan I killed this time would eventually be replaced by another demon who would grow to become a Great Demon.

While Great Demons take a long time to regenerate similar powers after once being killed, focusing on the more dangerous ones could keep things quiet until the end of my life, but that merely shifted the immediate problem to the future.

Suddenly, I recalled what Hoenheim said the other time.

“They were researching a method to completely separate Hell and this world, based on the ancient civilization you discovered in the Snow Country. They completed the theory, but before they could act, the civilization fell.”

It wouldn’t hurt to check into that.

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Though many things had happened, the daily routine was mostly the same.

In the mornings, we’d gather and either practice sparring or train, starting with three and slowly growing in numbers.

Since I had mentioned wanting to make two people who would definitely reach the expert level before graduation, we always practiced sparring with them.

After finishing the sparring and taking a break, the thought of the Snow Country crossed my mind.

“Starting tomorrow, lectures will resume. I’m thinking of finding time to revisit the Snow Country.”

“Are you really planning to go back there??”

Amy seemed quite surprised when she heard about the Snow Country.

“What’s so special about the Snow Country?”

“It’s a land of death where fierce snowstorms blow so strongly you can’t see what’s in front of you.”

“Snow, huh… just hearing that sounds utterly uninteresting.”

Gemma showed some curiosity, but once she learned it was all about snow, she quickly lost interest.

“Instead, there are ruins of an ancient kingdom that existed long ago. The civilization had advanced technology that’s difficult to interpret even by the current Empire.”

“That sounds interesting!”

“But the Snow Country is already a place you’ve conquered. Is there really more to find there?”

“True, but I didn’t check everything in those ruins. We were primarily focused on finding treasures, and once our pockets were full, we didn’t look further.”

The vast ruins of the ancient kingdom buried beneath the thick eternal snow were far too extensive for merely ten humans to handle.

It was possible to delve deeper, but there’s a saying about excess—going further would risk all of our lives.

Having already confirmed everything that came up based on the records left by Bella’s grandfather, I thought we should do more later, but I had no idea that such a promise about grabbing a meal would be fulfilled so soon.

“The Snow Country is located right on the Empire’s border. You took over the Snow Country in over two years, didn’t you? You said you’d be at the Academy until I graduate.”

When it seemed I was about to vanish somewhere again, the atmosphere suddenly darkened.

“Of course, I’ll be here until graduation. I just want to clarify, I’ve been there before, so I can come and go whenever I want. I’m just planning to take some time to investigate.”

“Is that how it is?”