The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Students admitted through recommendations don’t really have a community.

For them, being admitted through recommendations was a given, so there was no need to form a community based on that connection.

Instead, there are often communities formed based on connections between familiar families rather than the commonality of having a recommendation.

For example… gatherings of those from the southwestern part of the Empire, or meetings of the nobility working in the capital, for instance.

Broadly speaking, the community among the five pillars is an extension of this.

However, students admitted through the ‘exam’ are different.

Having entered the Academy based solely on their skills without any background, they needed to band together to survive among the brutal nobles.

– Exam-entry student group… Crow, a bunch of useless folks. It’s better not to expect any help from them. But… still, it’s good to have at least one foot in the door.

My companion had mentioned the gathering of exam-entry students shortly after our admission.

On the day of the entrance ceremony, Amy, who was late due to an incident that occurred on the bridge connecting the Academy to the mainland, made sure to introduce herself to everyone and sought contact from that side.

‘Didn’t they just say there are a lot of useless folks?’

– Most of the crows are indeed useless, but even useless folks can come in handy when you gather enough of them.

‘Come in handy, you say?’

– There’s no one more sensitive to danger than the weak. By listening to their voices, you can sometimes see the signs of a major incident.

Listening to my companion, Amy opened the small notebook she had received as proof of joining the ‘Crows’, the exam-entry student group.

At first glance, it looked like just an old black notebook, but it was under a powerful spell.

When someone writes something in this notebook, the same text appears in all notebooks that have the same magic.

Even now, the notebook was filled with writings from an unknown someone.

The content varied widely.

Some warned newcomers about what to watch out for, while others gossiped about someone.

The notebook was divided into three major sections. The first section was a ‘chitchat’ area that everyone could use as much as they wanted, continuously updated in real-time.

The second section was a ‘notice’ area that could be fixed for up to one month once you were no longer a newcomer.

The third section contained ‘information’ that could only be written by verified individuals and was semi-permanent.

As she watched the letters wriggling in her hand, Amy broke into a cold sweat.

‘This… is an incredibly expensive spell, isn’t it..?’

It seems this magic only operates within the Academy grounds, but it is a widely used spell for communication.

However, it was not just a one-time use; maintaining this in real-time continued was a different matter entirely.

While the Empire advanced in Magical Engineering, most still primarily relied on delivering handwritten letters.

There was nothing as safe as delivering sealed letters through ‘couriers’.

I couldn’t understand why they just tossed this kind of spellbound notebook at someone.

– Right. This definitely isn’t something that students can manage on their own.

‘So…’

– It’s not just a creation of the students. There’s support from graduates who safely graduated… and some of the faculty members might be involved too.

‘… So, that means they’re worried about us, who got in through exams, right?’

– You understood well.

Hearing that having something like this was necessary for survival made Amy very anxious, especially as a newcomer.

Typically, exam-entry students often face bullying, but Amy had very few such encounters after a brief period early on.

That was entirely thanks to Atlas and River, who warded off anyone who dared harass her the moment they laid eyes on her.

Now, being able to smoothly attend the Academy was all due to those two.

Thinking of this, I opened the notebook once more after a long time.

[Just got a C for the Magical Engineering practice assignment, and it’s unreasonable.]

[That professor sometimes gives us a C for no reason. Just think of it as stepping in dog poop.]

[Mountain hike << Why is this even a thing?? We can’t even go outside the Academy grounds and keep going to the same place??][You chose the mountain hike, suck it up...][Hey, isn’t there a transfer student among the newcomers this time?][I’ve heard the girls are taking them away after class. Might be a welcome ceremony; kinda scary...]Amid the various writings fluttering down, one caught Amy's attention."Did they say they took a transfer student...?"Just to be sure, she dashed out.......It turned out two female students from the same class were cornering and pressuring the transfer student... Casey, in the hallway.Even while being pressured by the two, Casey didn’t change her expression in the least."Is there something you’d like to ask me?""I do have a question. You only mentioned your name when you were introduced, so which family are you from?""I don’t belong to any family."When Casey said she didn’t belong to any family, the two girls changed their attitude slightly."Hmm... if you don’t have a family, then where did you get your recommendation from?""I received help from my mentor.""Mentor?""See? I told you it’s nothing special.""Come on, that can’t be right... be honest, which noble family did you have an affair with?""I have no parents.""Well educated, huh? Did they tell you to say that? If you couldn’t even use a surname, is it that a commoner would get a favor?""That might not be the case. I’m really curious; could you clarify? Saying I have no parents can lead to misunderstandings. Given your good looks, some might assume you caught a lord's eye and came here as a sponsor."The words were so harsh it made one frown.Despite the personal attacks, Casey remained quiet, listening without a single change in her expression.I should go and tell them to stop.- You don’t need to interfere.‘Why are you stopping me?’My companion stopped me from moving forward.While avoiding confrontation with the recommended students was preferable, Atlas would surely step in."Hey, speak up. It’s not that you don’t have parents, but you’re actually abandoned, right?"With little reaction from Casey, the two girls ramped up their personal attacks.‘Should I just watch?’- I don’t mean that."AAAHHH!!""AHHH!!!"Screams echoed through the hallway.Surprised, Amy turned around to find the situation had changed drastically.One of the girls was on the ground clutching her face, while the other was in Casey's grip.Casey was shaking the long braid she held like it was a shopping bag, swaying it back and forth gently.And with each movement, a faint whimper escaped the girl whose hair was being held.It happened in the blink of an eye."What the... aren’t you a bit weak? Didn’t you challenge me to a fight with all that nonsense?"Then, Casey, the culprit behind it all, spoke nonchalantly, with the same expression as before."Honestly... I’m not curious at all."But Casey seemed to genuinely not care.She tossed away the girl whose braid she was holding and grabbed hold of the girl bleeding from her mouth by the shoulder."If you know her, it’s not like you’re going to go easy on her.""Y-you’ll regret this...!! You... you!!"- Whack!!With a crisp sound, the girl's head turned, and she collapsed to the floor like a rag doll.Along with the strike, distinct sounds of small, hard things dropped echoed in the hallway.Several bloody pieces of teeth rolled around.It seemed a few had broken.Since she was in the same class, Amy recognized her.She fit the criteria for a family that would receive recommendations.Compared to the five pillars or Atlas's Nemea, it was a lesser family, but still a solid noble lineage.Generally speaking, her status was not something that commoners could easily meddle with."Not really curious at all."Yet Casey appeared to show no interest in that.She cast aside the girl she had been grabbing and held onto the shoulder of the one still bleeding."Knowing her wouldn’t mean I’d hold back.""Ha… Don’t do that; you’ll regret it...!! You… you!!"- Whack!!With a crisp sound again, the girl’s head turned, and she too fell back to the ground, collapsing like a doll whose strings had been cut.Despite the noise of the strike, there were also small, hard things dropping on the floor.Several little pieces of bloodied teeth rolled around the floor.Casey paid them no mind."Fireball!!"- Boom!!Rather than a fist, a huge fireball, the size of a watermelon, flew toward Casey.Though it was fired at close range, making it difficult to dodge, Casey merely shifted her body ever so slightly and dodged it like a ghost.The fireball crashed into the wall, creating a tremendous explosion."Who the heck is using magic in the hallway???"Even so, casting 'magic' in a hallway was pretty noticeable.As the explosion rang out, students began to gather.‘So, Atlas claims she had been careless, but who was the one who landed a solid hit here...?'- At least an Expert Class, probably closer to a Master Level... Who knows who’s here to help whom.It seemed like Casey didn’t have a personality that would suffer in silence like Atlas."You bitch...!!"The girl whose hair was grabbed continued to shoot fireballs.Perhaps confident in her combat magic skills, she fired several fireballs of that level quickly, but none even brushed against Casey’s clothes.- Bang!!"How dull; your magic is so slow it could put me to sleep."Even at close range, Casey dodged the fireballs with bizarre movement that made everyone question if their eyes were deceiving them.She stepped forward and slapped the girl hard across the face.- Slap!!"AAAHH?!"The girl slapped fell to the ground, again staring at Casey with a fierce glare.Though she had several opportunities to continue striking, Casey simply stared down at her.It was as if she was granting her time to recover."Alright, I’ll give you another chance; go ahead and shoot."Then, as the girl stood up again, Casey raised her arms in challenge."You think I can't do it...?"The girl pulled a wand from her belongings and gathered her magical energy.The heat became so intense, it seemed to condense around her wand—she was preparing not just a fireball this time.- She’s casting magic above the 4th circle. Looks like she’s planning to incinerate the entire hallway.She intended to burn the whole hallway down to the ground, trapping others.However, it wasn't just the two of them in the hallway; many other students were present."Are you insane?? Run away!!""AAAHHH!!!"Realizing what she intended to do, students fled to other classrooms.In the instant when it seemed something might burst forth, the girl raised her wand high."Fire...!!""Both of you, stop!!"But she couldn’t bring it down.The girl’s wand was seized by someone.Having heard the commotion, Swordsmanship Instructor Andy had confiscated the girl's wand, forcibly canceling her magic.He sighed deeply as he surveyed the situation."Both of you, come with me. Take her to the hospital."The girl with missing teeth was still lying on the hallway floor, groaning.- Didn’t he say he’s a disciple while living with his family? His hands move quickly without hesitation. Seems he learned well...‘Doesn’t seem like I’m mistaken here, huh?’