The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

The general public wouldn’t know, but the archaeology community of the Empire has turned upside down.

The exploration team, once called the Suicide Squad, has truly discovered the ruins of an ancient kingdom that existed in the Snow Country and returned.

Not only did they come back empty-handed, but they also packed their Space Pockets full of artifacts and treasures.

No scholar ever predicted that traces of an ancient kingdom, which had only existed in legend, would actually be found within the Snow Country.

And even if it were found in the Snow Country, nobody imagined there would be crazy enough to explore it.

Everyone was slowly organizing the treasure they brought back, eagerly anticipating a rosy future ahead.

When the Snow Country Exploration Team returned to the capital, the archaeologists thought of something.

The peculiar leader who had guided them was nowhere to be seen anymore.

He was a leader with stunning golden hair and a small stature.

In a land where snow piled up to the chest of an adult every time, he had been at a significant physical disadvantage, which made it hard for him to gather a team for the exploration; yet somehow, through some unknown magic, they had become a decent team.

Nobody knew where he had gone when they returned from the Snow Country.

Although Atlas was gone, the exploration team still regularly gathered in the office he had set up for them.

While they all wished they could pack their gold and jewels and return home right away, the treasures they brought back required time to be disposed of.

“So when does the auction start?”

“Even though the best appraisers have rushed in, there are just too many items. It’ll take at least three months.”

“Hehe, once I get the money, should I buy a title and act like a noble? The last name… yeah, let’s go with Whitebones.”

“Uncle? Ugh, that’s terrible! What’s with that name?”

“My parents ran a butcher shop, so the white-boned corpses were my toys.”

They could have simply sold the treasures as gold or precious metals, but there were too many artifacts that felt too precious to squander.

They planned to properly appraise and auction the relics from the ancient kingdom as artifacts.

They might have been together for those procedures, but in reality, there was a bigger problem.

The industry was already aware that they had suddenly become wealthy.

Although they had hired bodyguards, the team was primarily made up of skilled individuals at least of Gold Plate caliber, and they were ensuring each other’s safety.

“Three months, huh… Once we get the money, that’ll feel a bit more real, right?”

“I wonder what the captain is doing?”

“Who knows? Probably hunting for some potion that makes you taller or something?”

“I didn’t think we’d have to immediately leave without even a proper farewell… It’s a little sad!”

“What can we do? He’s the kind of guy who shows up suddenly and disappears just as fast.”

Though they expressed their disappointment, they all understood.

In that short time, they had spent with Atlas, they had grasped just how much he cared about his height.

And they also remembered his desperate expression when they realized what they found in the ruins wasn’t the desired elixir… then laughing and dancing together in the tavern while he sulked alone in a corner.

Their adventures had come to an end, but Atlas’s journey was far from over.

Knock knock

Someone tapped on the only door in the office.

“Was there someone expected today?”

“The appraisers said they’d come tomorrow, right?”

Outside the building stood a security guard.

They checked the identities of the people coming in and required confirmation before allowing anyone through.

It could be a guard, but if it were them, they would’ve knocked and introduced themselves right away.

“So who is it?”

The office, which had been relaxed and chatting, suddenly tensed up.

“… I’ll open it for now.”

Brian, a member of the Snow Country Exploration Team and an adventurer with a Platinum Plate, cautiously opened the door.

Everyone grabbed the weapons they had placed within reach and prepared to greet the uninvited guest with tension.

The well-oiled door opened smoothly without a sound, and Brian had no choice but to bow his head upon opening it.

“Are you the Snow Country Exploration Team?”

The one knocking was a small girl.

She wore a gray robe, but the silver hair protruding from her hood and the bell-like voice, along with her doll-like figure, made her resemble a fairy.

Maybe she was the daughter of some noble household, as a certain nobility flowed from her, which the large robe couldn’t completely hide.

Except for Bella and a few others, she looked completely out of place in the dreary male den of the office.

“Aah, what a relief… I was nervous for no reason…”

The team members, who had been on edge, all let out sighs of relief.

“Haha, yes! We’re the Snow Country Exploration Team that broke through the Snow Country! Want an autograph?”

“Don’t scare the kid, Uncle!”

Brian lowered himself toward the girl.

Making eye contact with her, he grinned widely, showing his teeth.

“Bella, I think you came looking for us?”

“Looks like it worked out well.”

The fairy-like girl giggled and lightly covered her mouth with her hand.

The scene of her slender fingers covering her cherry-like lips felt surreal.

Bella, who considered herself a noble lady of a respectable family, had never experienced someone with such an unreal presence.

But the calluses on her slender fingers reminded her that she wielded weapons.

“I’m looking for someone.”

The girl in the gray robe spoke clearly, her voice echoing through the spacious office.

“She’s smaller than me and has very pretty blonde hair. Her eyes are blue and she carries a sword as tall as she is. Her character… at first glance, seems very nice, but if you poke her the wrong way, she just explodes without warning.”

As she continued speaking, the atmosphere among the team noticeably shifted.

They all knew exactly who the girl was talking about.

“I was told she’s definitely here.”

“What… are you talking about?”

The girl spoke with assurance.

“Why are you looking for her?”

“I’m from the Royal Knight Order. I’m tracking down a deserter.”

As the girl loosened her robe, a pale silver armor was revealed inside.

The sound of cold metal rang out.

In her hand was a shimmering silver rapier.

She looked every bit like a knight.

“Uncle, get out of the way!!”

Bella suddenly jumped up and shot an ice bolt at the girl knight.

Though the girl knight, claiming to be from the Royal Knight Order, effortlessly dodged the sharp ice bolt, it served as a signal for everything to go into chaos.

“Hey, hey, catch her!!”

The team members, still holding their weapons, stood up to fend off the intruder who invaded their hideout.

The office, which had been lethargic, instantly became a battlefield.

“… Uncle, where did he go?”

“Why is the Royal Knight Order looking for someone like that..!!”

The little knight dodged between the burly men and made swift attacks with the rapier, slicing their legs.

“Yikes!!”

“If you all huddle together like that, I can’t aim for you!”

“How are we supposed to do anything about the narrow space!!”

Even though more than ten skilled individuals, at least intermediate experts, were rushing in, they couldn’t even scratch the girl knight’s armor.

The team members with leg wounds began to limp.

Watching those movements, Bella felt a strange déjà vu.

She distinctly felt like she had seen someone fight like that before.

‘Atlas..! I’m not going to let you off when I see you again…!!’

Cursing at the source of her déjà vu, Bella shot another ice spell at the girl knight.

The girl knight skillfully dodged the ice and rushing team members and finally approached Bella, delivering a swift kick.

“Eek?!!”

“Don’t move. You’ll get hurt.”

A sharp silver rapier was pressed against Bella’s neck as she fell to the ground.

No matter how much courage she had built up while exploring, Bella was still just a noble girl who had learned a bit about archaeology and magic.

She felt a sharpness that made it seem like her skin would be sliced open if she moved even a little, and her face went pale.

Only after this did Bella finally look closely at the girl knight’s face, now that the robe was removed.

‘So cute…’

Even when covered by the large robe, she couldn’t hide her beauty, but seeing her now was even harder to believe.

Her long silver hair sparkled beneath the face she had bowed, and her amethyst-like purple eyes shone brightly. The position of her dark crimson lips, the drop of her high nose, made it look like a porcelain doll dressed in armor.

“Tell me everything you know. If you don’t, you’ll be branded as traitors too. I’ll execute all of you on the spot.”

Though they all held weapons, looking at the rapier pressed against Bella’s neck made the team members hesitate to rush forward.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying… The captain didn’t tell us where he was going before he disappeared…”

“Right..!! He disappeared while coming back with the treasures from the ruins!”

“He just told us to sort the rest out ourselves and left!”

“Really… we have no idea where he went…”

Even if they wanted to tell her, they genuinely did not know where Atlas had gone.

What they clearly remembered was him calmly slipping out while they were drinking.

Seeing the exploration team who sincerely claimed they had no idea, the girl knight showed a lonely expression.

“… You guys were abandoned too, huh.”

“What did you say?”

While the standoff continued, suddenly from her shadow, a paper slipped out.

Bella thought the scene resembled the last moment Atlas had left the Snow Country Exploration Team.

The girl knight skillfully opened the letter with one hand and began to read, eventually lowering her rapier.

“… I’ll be going. There really isn’t anyone here. I’m sorry for being rough.”

The girl knight tucked the letter away and picked up the fallen robe, walking out of the building.

Bella couldn’t let her leave like that.

“Wait…! You!!”

“…?”

At Bella’s shout, the girl paused.

“What do you plan to do when you meet Atlas…?!”

Hearing that, the girl knight responded without a moment’s hesitation.

“… I’m going to kill him.”

With that parting remark, she stepped back outside.

When Bella followed and watched, she found that the guards had already fallen.

Seeing the small girl knight who had suddenly stormed in and as suddenly left, Bella felt like someone was overlapping in her mind.

“Atlas…!! What have you been doing all this time!!!!”

She promised herself that next time they met, she’d give him a good hit.

Of course, that was assuming he was safe when that time came.