The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Shaara Prigia was quite dissatisfied.

She had successfully managed to invite Atlas to a “party” when he was in a good mood, but there was no way to move the date of the event forward.

If it were a party she was hosting, she could adjust the timeline however she liked, but this one was thrown by the family… specifically, hosted by the Prigia Duke.

In her impatience, she asked if they could change the date, but the Prigia Duke coldly refused.

Persuading the Golden Ball with nothing more than a mere crush was impossible.

Still, if the party were to happen, she was satisfied with the thought that during that time, she would have Atlas all to herself.

After all, no guests who weren’t invited would be allowed to step foot at the Prigia event.

Outwardly, the two were pretending to be total strangers, and they expertly ignored each other when around others, but going to a party together was a meaningful occasion.

Then, out of the blue, a terrorist incident occurred in the Clover Kingdom.

The situation was quickly brought under control, and most of the five pillars were unscathed… but just one person, Lucia, sustained severe injuries.

She had fought against a fleeing swordsman.

As a result of confronting the Master, Lucia ended up with terrible injuries.

Miraculously, she received treatment swiftly, but they said she nearly couldn’t wield a sword again.

It was pretty foolish to face an opponent she couldn’t possibly defeat.

Shaara thought they were as rigid as stones, but Lucia’s actions led to unexpected results that Shaara never even considered.

‘Russell…!!! Could it be… you calculated this too…?’

Atlas was now genuinely worried about Lucia, who had sustained severe injuries.

He spent most of his day visiting her in the hospital.

But even though their families were intertwined, when she went to visit out of courtesy, she saw an unbelievable scene.

“Uh, oh…”

“Ah… uh…”

That Atlas was helping Lucia with her meal.

He meticulously cooled the hot porridge to check the temperature and, in a voice full of affection, fed it to Lucia.

The steaming porridge paled in comparison to the radiant Lucia, who was happily accepting spoonfuls like a little chick.

As she munched and swallowed the porridge, Atlas wore an incredibly benevolent expression.

He wasn’t just visiting; he was taking care of Lucia through her recovery.

Shaara couldn’t bear to watch this any longer and urgently left the hospital.

Her hands trembled, and her breathing grew ragged.

As she exited, the last image of those two remained etched in her mind.

Seeing her classmates waiting outside, she thought they rushed out of concern, but nothing else registered.

‘Pretending to be clumsy all the time… it was all an act, wasn’t it?’

She suddenly keenly felt the stark difference in treatment between her and Lucia.

Even when they were together, in front of others, speaking was entirely out of the question for Shaara, while Lucia had developed such an intimate relationship.

This train of thought arose.

‘If I were to get that injured, would Atlas worry about me as much as he worries about Lucia?’

Atlas didn’t dislike Shaara.

If he did, he wouldn’t have approached her at all.

That night, whether it was because of the education aimed at making Shaara more human or simply because he was shorter than Atlas—who was a rarity at the academy—it was hard to say, but he had maintained a certain level of fondness for her.

The uncertainty left her with a heavy feeling and sense of defeat.

Then, much more quickly than everyone expected, Lucia, who had recovered, sought out Shaara the moment she stood up.

She said she was going to the downtown port area with Atlas over the weekend and asked for her help.

“If you’re going to ask something like that…”

Rage surged up to the top of her head.

After monopolizing Atlas for two weeks, now she wanted to go out and have fun downtown?

It was a common date course for couples to go out together beyond the academy.

Clearly, she must be asking for tips on that…

With two whole days over the weekend to play downtown and stay at a hotel by the port for a fun night? That was just too much!

‘You want me to recommend some places since you don’t know what’s good downtown?’

How could anyone complain about having to reject someone’s company when others wished for it?

She wanted to yell at her to leave right now, but she held back.

She almost got swept up in useless emotions.

Judgment should weigh things carefully on the scales, excluding feelings, no matter how personal they were.

‘Wait… maybe I could use this?’

A decent idea suddenly popped into Shaara’s mind.

“Alright, since it’s between the five pillars, I’ll help you with that. But just keep in mind I’m only sharing what I’ve heard.”

“Thanks!”

—————————

On the morning of the day she was to go out with Lucia, she felt disappointed at having only her usual clothes available.

Her simple wardrobe contained just a few outfits she wore often at the academy and a couple for workouts.

She could have brought more clothing from her family, but wanting to avoid that, she only returned with the clothes she had bought as an adventurer and the ones she had tailored nearby.

All her purchases from her knightly days were left behind in the capital.

After mulling over this and that, she finally chose the outfit she regularly wore to the academy.

Having prepared it to blend in middle of the nobles at the academy, it was, for the most part, the most luxurious outfit she owned.

While gathering her wallet and various items, her eyes caught the longsword hanging on the wall.

“Hm… yeah, definitely not.”

Taking a squirette with her would be too overboard.

Wearing a sword taller than herself while wandering the downtown area wouldn’t make for a good image.

She always carried her multipurpose dagger, so that would have to suffice.

There couldn’t possibly be a fight today where she would need a squirette down in the downtown area.

As she left the dormitory, she considered waving to River and Amy for a second but decided against it.

She felt it would only make things uncomfortable.

As she moved with those thoughts in mind, she arrived much earlier than the arranged meeting time.

“Uh… uh? Did I get here already? I thought I was early.”

“I came quickly too. I was probably just excited for the first outing.”

After a while, Lucia arrived.

She was wearing clothes that she often wore to the academy.

It was a monochrome outfit.

Given her personality, it was clear that she, too, had only prepared outfits that she wore at the academy.

But one noticeable thing stood out as different.

“You put on makeup?”

“Uh, um… did it show??”

Lucia, who usually only wore basic makeup at the academy, had surprisingly applied color makeup today.

While it wasn’t overly done, it was definitely noticeable that she had something on.

With her hair hiding some of it, even though Lucia was naturally a stunning beauty who would shine with just basic makeup, that little extra touch enhanced her already impressive looks.

Receiving a compliment made her face flush.

She seemed quite excited for the outing, but for Shaara, the thought of going out was concerning.

It weighed on her mind that she was still recovering from a recent injury.

The downtown area wasn’t exactly the safest place, either.

“Lucia, are you sure it’s okay to be moving around like this right after you’re discharged? What if you collapse?”

“…It’s fine, I’m not going to be swinging any swords… I’m doing rehab, but daily life is no problem.”

She seemed genuinely excited.

With that kind of response, Shaara felt she couldn’t voice any further concerns.

Just then, the regular ship arrived behind Lucia.

“…Shall we head out then?”

—————————

Even if one or two people were missing, the morning workout continued.

Amy glanced at the empty open space and asked River, who had come with her.

“What about Atlas?”

“He went out with Russell.”

“Excuse me?? He went out alone with just her??”

When River casually said that, Amy was taken aback.

Though unsaid, she had sensed that the atmosphere between those two had changed.

“Is that really okay?? Atlas was with River…!”

“No, I said it was fine.”

Before Amy could finish her sentence, River interrupted her.

Now that River said so, she had no more arguments to make, and she stared at him with round eyes.

River’s face seemed like it was nothing at all.

“It’s really okay. Next week, he’s going out with me.

So, Amy, how about we go out together the week after next? I’ve heard there are fun places in downtown.”

River clapped his hands as if he had thought of a good idea and shifted the topic.

Amy couldn’t help but feel uncertain if this was truly okay, but she took River’s quick change of subject as a signal that he didn’t want to discuss the matter further.

-Whoooop.

“That’s the sound of the ship’s horn.”

They could hear the regular ship departing in the distance.

It was the signal announcing that Lucia and Atlas were heading out of the academy.