The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

I kept moving non-stop after that.

It seemed like I was almost at the end, so I was about to wrap things up.

Since Metios was confident, we decided to do a little work during the meeting and not mess with it anymore.

Just a little bit of messing with it means…

“Did you say to side with the Titans at the meeting?”

“Yeah.”

It was about doing some preparatory work with the strongest family among the six that resided in the Blade Mountain, the Russells.

“Do you even know why this meeting is being held?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re all gathering to test how capable the young Head of the Titan Family really is.”

Carlos, who had been resting his chin on his hand while listening to me, let out a sigh.

“That’s not the only reason…”

“What?”

“You really have no idea what’s going on in the mountains, do you? You’ve been living completely disconnected…”

Carlos’s expression turned quite serious.

“This meeting is to find a solution for the abnormal occurrences of monsters in the mountain.”

The abnormal monster occurrences in the Blade Mountain.

It was the first I was hearing about it.

Even though I had visited the Blade Mountain several times in between, I had no clue.

Maybe something was happening at the peak?

“Monsters behaving oddly in the Blade Mountain? I’m hearing this for the first time!!”

“The families had an agreement. If it gets out to the public, it’ll just cause chaos, and they won’t help us anyway, so we decided to handle it ourselves.”

“Didn’t the Rangers find out the cause?”

“They were in danger as well, but barely managed to escape.”

This means that an incident in the mountains has left a hole in the Rangers’ surveillance, who are responsible for watching over the area.

If a Ranger could freely move around all the mountains regardless of the family, then such events would surely have been foreseen.

“So, specifically, what kind of monsters have been increasing to cause this kind of ruckus?”

“Undead-type monsters like Skeletons and Wraiths.”

I thought people were dying due to monsters like Thieves and Dire Wolves, creating undead, but it was the opposite.

Due to abnormal occurrences in the undead, the security has weakened, leaving room for Thieves and Dire Wolves to move in.

But undead?

‘Is there even a chance for undead to be produced in large quantities naturally?’

Undead can occur naturally, but there has to be a reason for them to appear in mass.

Usually, curses, which are considered negative energies, can concentrate in one place without circulating, causing undead to arise.

Old skeletons buried long ago rise again, and wandering souls roam about.

The Blade Mountain is a product of vast nature; there’s no way a curse could linger in one spot.

Countless people have died in the treacherous mountains, but there has never been a mass occurrence of undead.

“Everyone’s trying to stop it, but you do know that ordinary soldiers are helpless against undead, right? Everyone’s hoping to come up with a plan through this meeting.”

Real undead like Skeletons can be taken down by regular soldiers, but incorporeal entities like Ghosts or Wraiths are much more problematic.

It’s a bit like dealing with demons, but there are more ways to handle it.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all seven families are affected, as they have appeared all across the Blade Mountain.

‘…Wait a minute.’

Someone capable of producing undead all over the Blade Mountain…

One person came to mind.

As soon as I thought of it, I headed straight for the Blade Mountain.

“Open the door, Kirke!!”

I banged on what seemed to be an ordinary stone wall.

It looked like an avalanche could happen at any moment, but I didn’t care.

“You’re not opening it? Well then….”

Just as I was about to place my hand on my sword, the door suddenly opened.

“Hey.”

Kirke, who was smoking a cigarette and had a fierce expression, remarked as I stepped in.

“Hehe… I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it ain’t me.”

“What makes you think I would know what you’re saying?”

“I dunno. Whatever it is, I haven’t done anything that warranted you waving that sword around.”

Kirke desperately insisted it wasn’t her, but from my perspective, no matter how I thought about it, it had to be Kirke.

Who else could possibly be a great Necromancer capable of monitoring the souls of the entire continent?

“They’re saying there’s a massive influx of undead in the Blade Mountain, but I can’t think of anyone other than you who could do such a thing.”

“A massive influx of undead? Hehe, what’s so big about that to cause such a commotion? Alright, fine. It could be tough for people, I suppose…”

As a great Necromancer, I thought she would brush off the undead situation as no big deal, but I quickly retracted that thought.

Once those words left my mouth, my expression soured rapidly.

“Did you know or not? Just tell me that.”

“Hehehe… yeah, I did know.”

Without making eye contact, Kirke fiddled with her hair.

Of course, she wouldn’t have been digging around in the Blade Mountain for no reason.

She’d certainly know about a curse being spread across the Blade Mountain, causing the undead to arise.

“But just because I knew doesn’t mean I had to take action! If a bunch of undead show up and the curse intensifies, it only benefits me. I don’t have to warn the noble families of the mountains!”

“If you hadn’t said that, wouldn’t it be okay for me to mistakenly assume you caused all of this?”

“After helping me find that demon before… that’s just harsh!!”

The memory of when she helped me came flooding back.

It wasn’t necessary for her to tell me that, true.

Having all but severed ties with the Blade Mountain,

“Was it like this back then too?”

“Yeah. It started increasing way earlier.”

“Do you have any idea what the cause is?”

“I didn’t feel like finding out… so I didn’t bother looking.”

It’s a rather strange feeling.

Kirke, who would usually find the most interesting things while cooped up in a cave, seemed to be withdrawing from the topic.

“Is there any way to find out?”

“That is….”

As I unleashed killing intent all around, Kirke flailed her hands in panic.

“St-stop! Why are you suddenly raging…! You scare me when you’re mad…”

“I came back to my hometown only to find an avalanche of troublesome matters, so it’s only natural that I’d be frustrated!”

“… Yeah, I postponed it a bit, but I’ll try to see what I can do. Just come back in two days.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t know for sure, but I should have some outlines by then.”

I got a somewhat concrete answer from her.

With this much said, she should hopefully provide a response that’s at least somewhat acceptable.

But Kirke still had something to say.

“But, you know, Atlas… I have one thing I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Hehe… didn’t you say your father died before?”

My expression hardened.

Why on earth was Kirke, the Necromancer, bringing this up?

“Is he really dead?”

“… What do you mean?”

“I’m just saying… I feel like something’s off. After you left, I tried to use necromancy… but nothing showed up.”

I returned to my room and collapsed onto the bed.

This damn bed, while designed to be spacious, was still made for when I was a child, so it fit my body perfectly.

As I lay there silently after returning to the mansion, River cautiously approached me.

“Atlas, what are you doing?”

“I’m tired.”

Having too much agility is a problem.

Being able to handle various tasks in a short amount of time because I can zip around covers a lot of ground but is also a curse.

Of course, it’s better than not being able to get anything done at all, but if something urgent comes up or a task needs to be handled, I end up rushing to deal with it.

Is this workaholism? I don’t really like working that much.

I just do it because it needs to be done.

Honestly, I’d want to lie down right now and give up everything.

“It feels like we got a lot done today.”

“Ugh…”

“Not just a lot, but a ton.”

“Yeah. Just now, your younger sibling asked you to have dinner together… are you going to?”

“I guess so.”

Was it a way to celebrate getting work done?

No, families usually eat together. My sense of family has become a bit warped lately.

“I’ve never heard you mention you had a younger sibling.”

“Didn’t I just not talk about family?”

“No, you’ve mentioned your father a few times.”

I don’t remember discussing family-related matters much with Casey.

There was no point in sharing stories about my family that aren’t here with Casey, who I associate with as family; it would just make her feel excluded.

“Do you need help with anything?”

“… I feel like I’ll need it soon.”

If it were something I could handle alone, I’d resolve it, but it strongly feels like I’ll need some help.

Undead appearing all over the mountain…

Suddenly, the image of the Dragon Undead I saw last time came to mind.

‘There’s no way that’s it, right?’

It seems I need to see things for myself.

It’s rare for undead to come down from the mountains.

“Let’s go climb the mountain tomorrow. The view is pretty.”

“It’s well-known that the Blade Mountain is breathtaking…”

As I suggested climbing the mountain, everyone seemed excited.

While they chatted about what they would do when we got there, my thoughts drifted elsewhere.

‘What do you mean it didn’t show up with necromancy?’

There are usually three major reasons something might not show up with necromancy.

Either they’ve moved on without any regrets, are in a state where they can’t show up, or are still alive.

There’s a possibility for the first one, but considering it was a sudden death, it doesn’t make sense that there’d be no regrets.

Who could die suddenly without any preparations and not have any lingering attachments?

That brings it back to the second and third options…

‘Looks like I’ll just have to dig up some graves tonight.’

I figured it was essential to check.