The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

“…What?”

The sweet and sour atmosphere suddenly turned icy.

River’s golden eyes were frightening.

Only after speaking did I realize I had said something wrong, but I couldn’t take back the words I’d already thrown out.

“…You still haven’t gone out with me at all over the weekend.”

“Well, new students can only go out of the academy after a month.”

River spoke with a hint of grievance, but it couldn’t be helped.

Typically, academy students could take the regular ship or ride carriages across the bridge to go out on weekends.

The port connected to the academy had a bustling downtown, thriving thanks to the noble students, making it a great place to visit.

However, new students were restricted from going out for a month under the pretense of getting accustomed to academy life, so even if they wanted to go out until now, they couldn’t.

“Now that the restriction is lifted, let’s go out together next time.”

“…Ugh.”

The tense atmosphere eased, and after a moment of contemplation, River said with a pout.

“…Okay, that’s fine. I owe Russell, so… but next weekend is my turn.”

“Got it.”

Once River received my confirmation, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

“Tonight is mine, so I’ll let it slide.”

Huh? This isn’t what I meant.

—————————————

The next morning, unsurprisingly, we both headed out together.

As soon as we arrived, we were both taken aback… I had intended to leave early, considering Amy would be waking up, but she was already out even earlier.

While Amy didn’t say anything specific, she was quietly observing the two of us.

From the look on her face, it seemed she might have caught on.

Even if she didn’t know the specifics, it was impossible not to grasp the atmosphere.

The fact that we were out together early in the morning could only imply one thing.

Aside from that, nothing was different from usual.

.

.

.

.

After exercising, I went to the tree where I usually measured myself and pulled out my dagger.

“Same as usual today?”

“Yeah, I haven’t been able to do it properly lately because things have been a bit off.”

River, the main source of the uneasiness, smiled awkwardly.

“Anything change…?”

Not expecting much, I leaned against the tree and aimed the dagger at my crown.

As I swiped, the sensation in my hand felt different.

“…Huh?”

It wasn’t the usual indented area; it felt like I was making a new mark… Surprised, I turned around to see a slight trace a bit higher than the previous mark.

“Did I… grow?”

I stared blankly at the etched mark.

“Did you grow taller again? Congrats!”

“Is your growth plate finally opening? That’s good news.”

Voices of congratulations came in from both sides, but I was lost in thought, still staring at the mark above me.

After over ten years of not growing, I’d changed twice recently.

It was clear something had triggered it, but I couldn’t figure out what the cause was.

“You don’t seem too happy about it this time?”

It seemed River found it odd that someone who used to jump for joy was now just standing still.

It was indeed good news, but this time, I couldn’t just be happy about it.

“…I’m trying to think about why I suddenly grew.”

“Is there a need for a reason to grow taller?”

“It’s worth considering if you suddenly grow after not having grown for over ten years…”

A lot had happened in the two days I hadn’t measured myself.

I fought with River and also obliterated the remnants of the Master.

I had no idea which of them was the cause.

Worst case, it was probably because I’d killed the Master.

“If killing a Master triggers growth… does that mean I have to kill all the remaining Masters?”

“Wow… a Master hunter? Are you planning to become a public enemy of the continent?”

Amy shot me a cold glare for my serious musing out loud.

Considering I had just killed one of them, it probably wasn’t something I could brush off as just nonsense.

“Fight all the Masters…? Please don’t even think about it.”

“I’m just mulling it over. It’s really not efficient…”

Of the eight Masters remaining on the continent, aside from the three from the Empire, there were five left; excluding the Sword Master who just died, that made four.

One more kill would raise my height by 0.1?

That wasn’t very cost-effective.

“Do you mean… if I grow ten per kill, would you do it?”

“Wow! That’s perfect! Just take out all four, and I’d be around 189! Just imagining it feels great!”

Thinking it over, there was a point to that.

The Sword Master wasn’t a complete Master.

He used to be a Master but was now just a remnant, and if taking down that remnant only yielded a 0.1 growth, then what if I defeated a genuine Master?

Would I truly grow by 1… or even more than 10?

“Is there a deranged Master out there ready to throw all reason aside or invade another country?”

It would be great if a Master sprung up to cause a major incident and get taken down without any repercussions.

Honestly, there was one person who came to mind.

“Is there really anyone who would commit such a major wrongdoing while we’re witnessing the kingdom get dismantled by the church and the Empire?”

“Of course there is. Masters are all lunatics by regular folks’ standards. You can’t apply common sense to them.”

Including myself, I could confidently say not a single Master was sane.

My mentor, the Commander; all of them were insane by normal standards.

While the Commander controlled himself during his external activities, one can’t become a Master with a normal way of thinking.

When the Sword Master joined Clover Academy as an adviser, the Commander’s acceptance wasn’t a normal person’s thinking.

Even though he seemed to assume that the Sword Master would sneak in through another hole despite being placed within sight…

Beneath that command lay the intent to capture and immediately kill him should he ever instigate something.

The Commander once mentioned, while drinking, that he regretted not being able to kill the Sword Master.

Knowing full well that the Sword Master would certainly cause a great incident if something happened.

After all, since I was here, it could’ve been delegated to me to handle, but still, generally speaking, it made sense to completely block it off.

“With such a disaster occurring, there could be even more chaos… for instance, the Five Kingdoms Alliance in the East, which still enslaves Beastmen, declaring their coalition of ’12 Clans’ is in league with demons like those in Clover Kingdom, and starting a war.”

“…Don’t say scary things. One deranged Master is enough.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so insensitive.”

River shuddered at the mention of a deranged Master.

After all, I had just tormented him with a deranged Master only a few days ago.

“Right! Don’t even think about it!! You know better than anyone what happens when the balance among Masters is disrupted!!”

“I’m just saying it casually. You really think I might actually do that?”

“Of course!!”

I did entertain the thought a bit, but the idea that defeating a Master was directly related to my growth was absurd.

If I simply grew taller by defeating strong foes, then me being short until now would mean my height issue was just a psychological problem.

Recently, the only physical changes I experienced were…

“Oh, there was one?”

I recalled the warm energy transferred from River’s body into mine.

What if that was the essence the Sword Master aimed for in River?

If so, then perhaps…

“Why…? Do I have something on my face?”

“…No.”

I had planned to consult Professor Praha about my growth but was troubled about how to explain it.

If I just said it plainly, wouldn’t it sound like sexual harassment?

‘Can I mention Master-related things…?’

I should probably just get an investigation later on.

—————————————

Lucia’s happy life didn’t last long.

Whether it was the aura implanted by Atlas working wonders or simply due to her robust health, Lucia recovered much faster than the doctors had anticipated.

They’d estimated at least a month, but she was discharged in just two weeks.

The fact that a severed arm was reattached the same day and she was released within three days in this world’s hospital showed just how severe her injuries had been.

While it was disappointing that her dream-like days with Atlas, who visited her during her free time, had come to an end, her recovery meant she could finally go out and have fun on weekends.

However, another problem arose for Lucia.

“It’s all well and good that you invited me, but… I don’t know anything about downtown either…”

She had only visited the downtown area near the academy once, so she had no idea what was there.

She suggested going to the downtown area because of a shop she had spotted by the roadside before boarding the regular ship.

But it wouldn’t do to go out and just visit one store… So Lucia sought someone knowledgeable about the downtown.

“So you’re asking me?”

Selected as that knowledgeable person, Shaara Prigia glared at Lucia with a rather displeased expression.

“Yeah… I thought you’d know better than I would…”

“Are you… are you bragging about me?!”

Shaara, who was already boiling over because Lucia had monopolized Atlas for the past two weeks, exploded with anger.