The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

“No way! No way!!”

Amy dismissively waved her hands, negating my opinion.

Her reaction was far more intense than I expected.

If I started the investigation myself, all the suspicions surrounding Parker would be resolved in no time.

This wasn’t an emotional investigation; I could listen to both sides and reach a clear conclusion to finalize everything.

If necessary, I could even administer punishment myself.

“Just trust me. Even though it’s unofficial, I’m the one with the best performance in the Royal Knight Order.”

“If Atlas is doing it, then it does sound reliable, but… it’s really scary!”

Scary? Well, I’ve done some pretty troublesome things.

“Still, this happened in our territory. Atlas is just a guest… I don’t want them to get involved.”

“They’ve already involved themselves enough.”

“True, but…”

I wanted to keep them from getting involved just because they were guests.

I understood the meaning behind it.

Since this was happening in her hometown, she wouldn’t want the visitors who came for fun to get tangled up in this mess.

It might feel like a nuisance for them.

I hadn’t explained much about the situation back in Narni to others either.

I had at least mentioned it to Amy once.

“Then let’s do it together. I think that would make it easier on my mind.”

“Okay. So we’re working together then?”

“Yes, I’ll guide you there.”

We compromised to investigate together.

The root of all this trouble was the disappearance of people from the Blue Cat Tribe.

If we find a lead on that, the incident might be resolved quickly.

‘Should I sneak out for a bit?’

But… a good interrogation would bring everything to an end swiftly.

I should gauge the situation first.

————————————-

“…I’ve been caught.”

Wugechi, the warrior of the Blue Cat Tribe, let out a natural sigh as he saw his tightly bound body.

Something felt off in his right arm.

“Damn it… I can’t use it anymore.”

Recalling his last memory, there was an image of his right arm being severed by a human.

The wound was healed, so perhaps they had treated it, but his severed hand wasn’t reattached.

Losing a crucial arm as a warrior made me think battling would be difficult moving forward.

‘Am I the only one who’s awake…? They didn’t kill me…’

The fact that they chose not to kill the warriors but instead imprisoned them was worrisome.

Warriors capable of using aura could escape on their own, so it was odd that they’d put up with that risk and chose to cage them.

‘Are they planning to sell us into slavery? Cutting off one arm to make it hard to resist is a common tactic of slave traders.’

Thoughts were spiraling down a bad path.

His mission was to infiltrate Parker’s territory and gather information about the slave traders hiding within and the captives from his tribe.

Based on investigations, Parker only contained middle-aged farmers and a few children who hadn’t even turned ten.

There was no warrior around who could stand against the elite warriors of the Blue Cat Tribe.

That’s how it should have been.

‘I haven’t heard of any strong warriors in Parker.’

But Wugechi had been caught.

He wasn’t ensnared by a cowardly trap; he lost in a face-to-face clash and was captured.

His aura, filled with his strength, had been severed in an instant.

He didn’t know who that person was, but clearly, they had reached a level far stronger than Wugechi, who was just stepping into the high-level ranks.

They definitely reached at least a high-level strength.

‘And… the lord’s daughter wasn’t ordinary either. How incredible must this Academy be to make someone so strong in just a few months?’

The one who captured the warriors was the lord’s daughter, who had recently entered the Academy and had been away from her territory for a while.

Having had prolonged exchanges with Parker, he knew quite well what the lord’s daughter looked like.

He just didn’t know she wasn’t someone who trained with a sword that much, yet the last impression she left showed her at the level of a high expert, similar to Wugechi.

The high expert level isn’t something one can reach overnight.

Though Amy had secretly practiced alone in places where no one could see within the territory, Wugechi had no way of knowing that from the few times he briefly passed by.

‘If we don’t return, the Chief will come for us. He definitely won’t come alone…’

Wugechi decided to think coldly.

The Chief was certainly stronger than Wugechi.

But if the Chief tried to slice through Wugechi’s aura, that wouldn’t be possible.

Cutting through an opponent’s aura requires a significant advantage in strength.

No matter how many times he thought about it, Wugechi reached only one conclusion.

‘The Chief is in danger…!’

If the Chief came here with warriors to rescue their people, they could either be slaughtered by the warriors or have their limbs unresistingly severed, just like Arang.

Humans are such a race.

They pretend to be weak and kind on the surface, but they’re always sharpening their knives behind the scenes.

As those thoughts settled, Wugechi drew upon his aura from deep within.

Though he was fully bound, a beastman’s strength could potentially break free.

While other beastmen might not manage it, Wugechi could.

If Arang, who could tap into powers deeper than the lower dantian after long training…

“Why… can’t I…?!”

But regardless of his thoughts, his body wouldn’t move.

He should have felt power welling up to break free of the bindings, yet there was no sensation at all.

He couldn’t even touch the essence resting deep within him—he couldn’t even get close.

Before that, his aura didn’t even respond.

“Right… now that I think of it, slave traders use spells to prevent slaves from using their aura or mana…”

His mind went blank.

Could it be that they were not just blocking his aura but even preventing him from accessing his essence?

As he looked around desperately for any other means, suddenly—

“Guh?!”

Out of nowhere, Wugechi found it hard to breathe.

It wasn’t just a feeling; he genuinely couldn’t breathe.

Someone was holding his throat, or it felt like intense pressure was bearing down on him from above.

At first, he thought he was struck by a powerful gravitational spell, but there was no physical pressure at all.

This was solely a reaction from his body, sensing the crisis.

‘This is… Killing Intent?!’

People often say they feel like they’re under pressure, similar to having a knife at their neck when someone has refined killing intent.

Even staying still, one would feel chills running down their spine and goosebumps could start from such a sensation; a true assassin would possess at least that much.

But this was a different level.

It felt like hundreds of blades were simultaneously surrounding him.

‘Who in the world…?!’

Killing Intent denotes a person’s level.

Throughout his warrior career, Wugechi had met many people, but this was the first time he felt such killing intent that he couldn’t breathe.

[Don’t move.]

At that moment, a modulated voice echoed.

Whether it was a male, female, child, or old person, the horrid sound felt like a knife scraping against the sensitive ears of a beastman.

[I am the Master of the Empire, Shadow. Answer my questions from now on.]

Shadow, the Empire’s master, was known to Wugechi, as he had heard of them several times.

This figure, shrouded in mystery and known as the Empire’s secret weapon, was a terrifying human weapon that could roll into an area and obliterate it.

The tales had made it seem incredible, but seeing it in person exceeded any imagination.

“The Master of the Empire… why are you in a place like this…”

Was this a demand for an answer? Thanks to the lessening killing intent, he could barely speak.

Why would such an impressive master come to this rural area, he wondered; an uneasy thought surfaced.

Were they planning to exterminate their tribe living near the border?

—Thud!!!

“Cough?!”

But what returned from Shadow was merciless violence.

The massive blow felt as if a hammer had dropped on his spine, forcing all the air from Arang’s lungs out.

To refuse even a simple question was excessively coercive.

‘Did they hit me with a fist? No, it’s not that… not a kick either.’

With a sharp pain throbbing through his head, Shadow’s presence closed in on him.

He stood right behind Wugechi and whispered quietly.

[I said answer my questions; I never said you should ask me questions. Let’s confirm this once more: I ask, and you answer. Got it?]

Wugechi finally recognized his position clearly.

Shadow seemed to view him merely as a button that could yield answers.

The one-sided interrogation was about to begin.