The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 84

A few days hadn’t even passed since the incident, but the Academy was trying to move on and forget the wounds of the past.

Most of the facilities had been cleaned up by golems, but the Special Arena, which had been torn to pieces by a demon, was still under repair.

Miraculously, there hadn’t been a single casualty at the Academy.

The professors responded quickly, and… before things escalated, a shadow had appeared and tidied up the situation in an instant.

The person who had sustained the most injuries was Lucia Russell.

She had fought against the sword master from the Clover Kingdom who was trying to flee after causing a ruckus, but was severely injured by the sword master’s attack.

When looking at the visible wounds on her body, it was a miracle she was still alive.

The burns covering her body were shallow enough to heal without leaving a trace, but when the doctors first saw the gash that extended from her shoulder to her abdomen, they thought her recovery would be difficult.

Wounds inflicted by an Aura Blade become harder to heal as one’s mastery increases, and Lucia’s wound was from a Master’s Aura Blade, not even an Expert’s.

They thought the muscles and organs that had been invaded by the dense concentration of aura would struggle to return to their functions, but surprisingly, after treatment, she was recovering quite well, leaving the doctors astonished.

It was as if someone had completely removed the toxins from the sword master’s aura that remained in her body.

It was an extraordinary event, but considering that Lucia’s family name was Russell, they thought it made sense.

Lucia, who had barely returned from the brink of death, felt no regret for her actions.

Because she was currently experiencing the greatest happiness of her life.

“Come on, say ‘ah’.”

“Ah… aa….”

Atlas held out a spoon towards Lucia’s face.

The steaming congee on the spoon was wafting hot.

She looked cute, perched on a little footrest, just short enough to reach the bed.

It was adorable how she tilted her head up when he approached with the spoon.

– Glug

The congee, so mushy it was hard to distinguish its shape, slid down her throat with just a little wiggling.

Atlas smiled lightly as he confirmed that Lucia had swallowed safely.

That smile was a rare sight.

He felt really grateful that she was just eating congee.

Otherwise, she would’ve likely been lost in thought and bitten her tongue.

“Isn’t it hot?”

“Nuh-uh… not at all… thanks.”

“Not at all, really.”

Saying that, Atlas scooped some more congee into a small bowl, stirred it to cool it down, then took a little with a small spoon and placed it on his palm.

Having deemed the temperature right, he nodded and took a spoonful of the appropriately cooled congee, looking very much like a mother feeding her baby.

It had been two days since Atlas came to visit.

Two days since Lucia was injured.

On the first day, River and Amy, among others, visited, but today only Atlas came alone.

For these two days, he had voluntarily taken care of Lucia, and it felt like he would continue doing so until she was discharged.

‘Is it okay to be this happy?’

Whenever she thought she wanted some water, Atlas would pour it for her.

He said she could only eat congee due to her severe injury, but he made sure it was cooled down to be easy to eat.

He also kept her company to chat… and amused her with some board games he brought from somewhere.

All that time, just the two of them.

Lucia seriously considered if she had ever been this happy in her life.

‘… No.’

No matter how she thought about it, there had been nothing.

She had always trained and studied in her family, and her father, the Head of the House, always urged her to lead an ascetic life.

She had no friends, no opportunities to play.

It was an environment where she was only allowed to immerse herself in swordsmanship… or rather, not allowed to immerse herself in anything other than swordsmanship.

Having been suppressed in an environment where she couldn’t even say she liked what she liked, she had hoped for life in the Academy’s dormitory… a life away from her family’s oppression.

Though it was somewhat different from what she imagined, it was happiness that she couldn’t even dream of back in her family.

“…Atlas… doesn’t it bother you to keep coming here…? I… can move on my own…”

It was true that her body was uncomfortable.

Her left arm hardly moved because of the still-healing cut, and when she tried to raise her upper body, she was tormented by splintering pain that made her break out in a cold sweat, but that was about it.

Once she raised her upper body, she could walk by herself, and her frequently-used right arm was fine.

Though it was inconvenient, she could get up on her own to go to the bathroom, and she could eat by herself, but Atlas wouldn’t allow it.

It felt like he treated her like a child by taking care of every little thing, but she didn’t mind.

Because she felt really cared for and loved.

When she had charged out against the sword master, she’d regretted her actions for a moment, but now such thoughts didn’t cross her mind at all.

If she made a mistake, she could’ve died or suffered lifelong aftereffects, but those thoughts didn’t even come to her.

She even thought it would be nice if this pain continued just like this.

‘No, I need to recover quickly…’

Though she was happy, she didn’t want to be in the same situation again.

When Atlas had come to see her lying in her hospital bed after the treatment was completed, he looked extremely sad.

Even though he wasn’t the one hurt, he looked like he could burst into tears at any moment, as if he’d been the one injured.

Though she appreciated his care, she didn’t want to see him looking that sad again.

As Atlas was tidying up the empty dishes, he widened his eyes and set down the tray when he heard her words.

“Not at all! And…”

Atlas raised his finger and poked Lucia’s left shoulder.

Lucia shuddered at the touch.

“Ow!”

“You’re still in pain. This condition is still what we call it being uncomfortable.”

As Lucia rubbed her tingling left shoulder, Atlas looked worried.

“Or do you not like me doing this?”

“No..!! It’s definitely not that I dislike it… it’s just that it seems like you’re spending too much time on me…”

The truth was, she wanted to tell him she hoped he would continue doing this.

But she couldn’t say it.

She just thought he was forcing himself to spend this much time on her.

“I found you first, so do you remember that? At that time, you were in a state where you could’ve died any moment. And then you went and said the sword master kidnapped River.”

“I… I said that?”

Atlas said softly, but Lucia didn’t remember that part.

After getting caught up in the sword master’s attack, she had no memory whatsoever.

When Lucia said she remembered nothing, Atlas sat down beside her bed and held her hand.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack… I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll keep coming to check on you until you fully recover, so keep that in mind.”

Hearing those words made Lucia feel relieved.

‘Atlas… is just like me…’

Seeing him look sad, she hoped that such things wouldn’t happen anymore.

Lucia found great comfort in that.

Though he hadn’t explicitly said it, she felt that this was at least more than a friendship.

Without thinking, she blurted out something she had been wanting to say for a while.

“… Then… I have one wish. Can you grant it?”

“A wish?”

She took him by surprise the moment she said it.

It was something she had thought about in her mind, but now that she was facing him, those words couldn’t come out.

“Um… um… it’s not anything strange..! It’s something I’ve wanted to say for a long time…”

“If it’s something I can grant, I will, no matter how much.”

Lucia decided to consider it a chance.

Because she thought he would agree to anything that wasn’t too unreasonable right now.

She closed her eyes and spoke.

“Then… once I recover… can we go out together outside the Academy on the weekend…?”

—————————————

After the sun had set, I saw Lucia fall asleep under the effects of the medicine and stepped outside.

It was well past curfew in the dormitory, but it didn’t matter much.

There was no roll call or anything like that.

Not long ago, I had bothered about such things…

As I passed by the hospital towards the dormitory, someone waved at me, having spotted me.

Taking advantage of the fact that the moon had yet to wane entirely, River’s golden eyes twinkled in the silver light.

River ran up to me, grabbed my hands, and hugged me tightly.

“I didn’t see you all day, so I’m going to do this for a bit.”

“… How do you plan to get back into the dormitory now that you’re out here?”

The girls’ dorms had defensive magic in place to ward off any intruders once night fell, unlike the boys’ dormitory.

If one was out at this hour, they wouldn’t be able to get back in, so why was she out?

River, who had her forehead resting against mine, replied shamelessly.

“The boys’ dormitory is fine, right?”

“True enough?”

“I’ll be bothering you tonight too.”

She grinned and tightened her grip on my hands.

Looking up, her golden eyes sparkled almost predatorily, like a beast eyeing its prey.

‘Guess I’ll have to stay on guard for around two days before and after the full moon.’

River’s laughter faded somewhat as if she had recalled something.

“Oh, by the way, how’s Ms. Russell…?”

River had been very concerned about Lucia.

She was well aware that they weren’t particularly close.

So it must have been a big shock for her to see Lucia charge out to protect River.

“She’s recovering smoothly. But is it really okay for me to visit her all alone?”

“Uh-huh… I thanked you yesterday, so I think that should be enough. She probably wants you to visit her alone.”

River had gone with Amy the first day to see Lucia.

While she said it was better for me to go by myself, I still felt a strong desire to get a bit closer to Lucia, which left some distance to bridge.

Even though she seemed a bit dissatisfied with my expression, she still reassured me.

“It would be nice if we could become closer during this time.”

“Hey, it’s none of your business anyway! You don’t understand how difficult it is…! Do you have any idea how much I’m compromising??”

“Owie! That hurts!!”

River, with a faux pouting face, bit the back of my hand.

Perhaps the wolf traits hadn’t completely faded yet, because her fangs were still sharp.

“Ms. Russell cares about you a lot, so treat her well like you did when you and Amy were hospitalized.”

“I’ve been treating her well already.”

“… True, you’re quite nice… Okay, enough about this. Let’s hurry and get inside; it’s cold.”

“Don’t talk like you’re entering your own room.”

As River laughed, she released one of my hands and led the way.

At that moment, a particular incident came to my mind.

“Oh wait.”

I truly hadn’t thought about it at all.

I just blurted out something that had popped into my head.

“I’ve decided that once I recover, we’ll go out to have fun outside the Academy on the weekend.”

“…. What did you say?”

In that instant, the cold air around us froze.

‘Oh crap, I shouldn’t have said that.’

I regretted it only after I said it.