The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Before the banquet even started, the duel without aura or true swords taking place behind the mansion in Shimoa was incredibly exciting from a third-party perspective.

Despite a height difference of over 30cm, Atlas showed no signs of being at a disadvantage against Hamel.

In fact, he was the one pushing forward.

As soon as it began, he swatted Hamel’s wooden sword aside, raising the tension in the atmosphere.

With the advantage of height, he could attack from above and from a distance, putting Hamel in a situation that should have been favorable for him, yet somehow, like stuck in mud, Hamel found himself at Atlas’s mercy.

Using a method to appropriately interrupt Hamel’s fierce onslaught, Atlas continued to get on his nerves.

–Thwack!!

Again.

A moment ago, he had swung horizontally aiming for Hamel’s shoulder. Instead of simply blocking or deflecting, Hamel pretended to counterattack, intentionally shifting the blade’s trajectory.

That action was like the beginning of a combo with three follow-up strikes, but instead of blocking or dodging, the lost control and veering off caused his movements to get tangled.

“Surprisingly well-versed in swordplay, despite appearances…!”

Hamel honestly admitted it.

He decided to blame his foggy judgment on foolishly judging others based solely on unnecessary factors.

Atlas was an outstanding swordsman in every aspect.

Initially, after missing with the wooden sword, he thought he was just being too lax with his attack, but earlier, the way he effortlessly deflected was no trivial matter.

To excel at the swift sword’s offense, one must have precise eyesight to clearly see where the speed is aimed, a quick reaction speed, strength to defend, and skills to effectively disrupt—all these aspects must be exceptional.

If even one were lacking, performing such a feat would be impossible.

Respect welled within him as he realized that this student was overwhelming him purely with skill and physical strength on the front lines.

“As you can see, I’m quite confident.”

It might sound extremely arrogant, but Atlas was proving it.

“First, I apologize. I underestimated you based solely on your appearance.”

“No need to apologize, everyone does that.”

Atlas accepted Hamel’s apology without hesitation.

The main reason was that he had not loudly proclaimed his thoughts, which was within the realms of tolerance.

Just by easily accepting the apology, Atlas thought he could be classified among the top 10%, so there was no need to worry.

“But I must win the duel.”

Acknowledging Atlas was one thing, but a duel was a duel.

In an instant, a fierce aura erupted from Hamel’s body.

He was convinced that if this went on, he’d get caught up in Atlas’s pace and lose, so he decided to unleash a strong technique to quickly end this.

“Haah!!!”

He was quick enough to notice the rapid combo and was skilled enough to cut it off.

Faster and stronger than any technique shown before, he was about to deliver a blow that Atlas wouldn’t be able to block or dodge.

“I knew you would come at me like that.”

All Atlas did in response to that technique was grab the wooden sword with both hands and raise it at an angle.

–Whoosh!!

At the moment the two wooden swords clashed, there was no intense sound of impact.

“Ha…”

Hamel stared at the wooden sword in his hand with a dazed expression.

“This… is hard to believe.”

In Hamel’s hand was only the hilt of the wooden sword.

The blade part had been cleanly severed and was rolling on the ground.

What’s strange was that even though it was a collision between wooden swords, one side remained intact while the other was “cut off.”

Clearly, Atlas hadn’t used any aura.

If he had, Hamel would have definitely noticed.

So what could this cleanly severed hilt resemble—a true sword?

“Are you going to acknowledge your defeat?”

Atlas said from below Hamel.

His wooden sword was now pressed against Hamel’s throat, as if it were in a position to slice through his carotid artery.

From the start, Atlas had a firm belief that he would sever Hamel’s wooden sword.

Hamel did not know of such a technique.

The level they were on was completely different.

“…Fine, I admit defeat.”

Hamel decided to accept his loss without hesitation.

Not acknowledging defeat as a swordsman here would be far too disgraceful.

———————

After the duel, the banquet began naturally with the same heated atmosphere.

Shimoa’s chefs showcased their culinary skills, and there was music too.

While everyone else was enjoying the banquet, a few people had gathered aside.

“Did I do well?”

“Yeah. You controlled your strength well… Thank you.”

As the self-proclaimed Master of Near-Death, he was confident that no one could match his strength control.

River seemed pleased with the way Atlas had managed his strength in the duel, smiling continuously.

“I was nervous when you said you’d duel.”

“Nervous, huh?”

“Every time you said you would duel, you embarrassed your opponent.”

“That was because they started trouble with me first.”

It was troublesome to judge based on the duels seen back at the Academy.

In that place, most who dueled provoked my emotions and paid an adequate price for it.

“Not this time, right?”

“I know how to distinguish right from wrong.”

A bit earlier, there were people gathered including myself and the Shimoa family discussing matters related to the duel.

It seemed there were some conversations to have after the duel was over.

“Ouch…”

Hamel, who had just been scolded thoroughly, was glaring at us.

He acknowledged his defeat but apparently struggled to accept the emotion.

This time, his wife Lisa was also with him.

As soon as Hamel arrived, he suppressed his feelings and spoke.

“Thank you for doing what my parents couldn’t do due to their lack of strength. I heard you helped the most during that incident.”

“I did it because I liked it, so no need for thanks.”

“Liked it…”

Upon hearing my answer, Lisa covered her mouth with her fan and laughed.

“Must be nice, right?”

“Ugh…”

Hamel still seemed unable to fully accept it emotionally, but at least he appeared to acknowledge me intellectually.

On the surface, the Sword Master had caused a commotion at the Academy due to fear of the Empire’s greatest swordsman, fled to the Clover Kingdom, and ultimately died facing a Shadow.

The Shadow was naturally me, but nobody needed to know that, and both of them knew from River that during the incident, I had called upon a Shadow and helped in various ways, which led to this result.

“Yeah, I acknowledge… Hamel. Call me whatever you want. Hard to deny, huh? Lost the duel and received help too.”

“Don’t say anything strange and just say what you agreed upon.”

Lisa poked Hamel in his side, sensing his sense of injustice.

“I’ve never seen it like this before, have you? This is River’s mother.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Atlas Titan, madam.”

River’s deep blonde hair and amber eyes were inherited by Hamel.

Lisa, with her black hair and blue eyes, exuded the intelligent aura of a noble woman.

She had a dignified presence without being overly authoritative.

“Please take good care of our River. Hehe, sounds reliable.”

She didn’t hide her smile, suggesting that I had made a good impression with my series of actions.

“Ugh… I can’t get over it. No way you were just a student. Who exactly are you?”

“I didn’t mention it earlier, but currently, I hold a managerial position in the Royal Knight Order. Thanks to that, I could help River more easily.”

“What?”

Upon hearing this, Hamel’s eyes widened.

“At your age… in the Royal Knight Order? If you had used a true sword, my head might have flown off.”

He looked incredulous, but reflecting on the events intertwined with the Sword Master, he began to understand one by one what I had done.

“… Well, I was going to let you know that sooner or later. Tonight, I will tell you what you were curious about. Both of you come.”

“Yes.”

Then he mentioned the stories he hadn’t shared earlier.

“Can I come along too? I think you mentioned it was a family secret.”

“Since you’ve accepted it, you need to know too.”

I worried about getting entangled in some strange incident unnecessarily.

But at this point, there was no backing out, so I decided to go along quietly.

“Well then, the interruptions will leave, so you two enjoy your time.”

Covering her mouth and laughing softly, Leon took Hamel’s arm and walked off to another place.

The remaining two felt a brief silence settle.

It was River who spoke first.

“Dad… that wasn’t his true nature. I think you were quite worried, huh?”

“I’m not worried. You seem to be pretty comfortable with him, so he must be a good person.”

Seeing a person’s character reflects their upbringing.

River is a bit aggressive, but overall has a strong sense of ethics compared to many people in this world.

Certainly, it must be thanks to his parents’ upbringing.

I have no intention of criticizing Hamel for his aggressive behavior towards me.

In the first life, in a country where gun ownership was legal, there was a joke about a guy firing a shotgun at a boyfriend who eloped with his daughter.

“Yeah. I tried to face the Sword Master as best I could, but… it was definitely hard. At least he sent me to the Academy instead of the territory because he was afraid of the Empire’s greatest swordsman.”

Ultimately, the Sword Master had been paying special attention to River for a while but couldn’t exert his strength because he feared the Commander would fly in the moment Clover’s Master drew his weapon on the Empire’s territory.

When the students of the Clover Kingdom became demons and attacked the empire’s citizens, the Commander seized that opportunity and annihilated the Clover Kingdom.

Had the Sword Master drawn his weapon in Shimoa, regardless of the outcome, the Clover Kingdom would have likely been annihilated.

Aware of this, the Sword Master was desperate not to venture foolishly into the Academy.

“Will I finally get the truth this time…?”

Last full moon, River had even grown a tail and ears made of golden aura.

Curious about the story entwined with boiling blood every full moon, I must wonder how he’s been weaving his way around it until now.

“Eh, it’s probably nothing serious. Everyone is waiting. Let’s head back for now.”

The party was still waiting in the banquet hall.

Let’s all enjoy the banquet together first.