The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Suddenly, Atlas showed up.

With an unusually serious demeanor, Amy couldn’t help but feel her heart race.

“Amy, I have something personal to discuss.”

“Me? Uh… me?”

“Yeah, it’s really important.”

With that, the two found an empty classroom in a secluded part of the Academy.

‘What could it be…?’

Since he called it something important, it must indeed be significant.

During the brief silence, Amy’s mind raced with various wild imaginations about what he might say.

The most plausible thought was something related to demons.

If he called her out specifically, that was the most likely topic.

Amy had been consistently hunting demons, and even now, she was tracking traces of demons, so she had the most information about them within the Academy.

It made sense he would want to talk about demons.

However, she also kept a slight door open for other possibilities.

Though she hadn’t told Atlas, she often wondered if he was her benefactor since the moment she realized he was the Empire’s shadow.

It was the Empire’s shadow who rescued Amy during the Demon Church’s ritual.

She couldn’t remember anything about his face, physique, gender, or voice, but she did know the benefactor wore black armor and wielded a pure white Aura Blade.

It closely resembled the outfit Atlas wore during the terror of the Demons.

Since there weren’t many shadows, she pondered if he might be…

She imagined Atlas might recall and mention that.

—I don’t get it. If you’re curious, why not just ask directly?

‘If I say it and he doesn’t remember, that would be embarrassing…!’

So she just kept her thoughts to herself.

Atlas’s gaze, slightly below Amy’s line of sight, was fixed on her.

His deep blue eyes, reminiscent of sapphires, made Amy’s heart flutter unnecessarily.

Sometimes, when Atlas would just stare silently, it startled her for no reason.

While he often made intimidating remarks, when he kept his mouth shut, Atlas was quite the handsome boy.

His flowing blonde hair, marble-white skin, jewel-like eyes, and proportionate body made him look like a prince from a storybook.

She remembered being quite surprised when he approached her with a smile on the first day.

Though there was a slight height difference, it wasn’t that significant between Amy and Atlas, making their eye levels similar.

There was no issue at all.

“Amy…”

Atlas stepped closer.

Since Amy wasn’t as tall as Lucia, when Atlas got nearer, their faces almost touched, and she could feel his breath.

‘U-uh, no way… could it be…?!’

Even though she knew it couldn’t be true, pink fantasies floated into her mind.

She felt that if Atlas continued closing the distance without saying anything, she might get the wrong idea.

‘It shouldn’t be…’

Atlas seemed to have a romantic connection with River…

They were already close, but at some point, the distance had narrowed significantly.

Was it when they were out first together that day…?

No matter how dense she was, one couldn’t ignore the several occurrences in a row.

On the days they left together, River hadn’t returned to the dorm.

Just to be sure, she woke up much earlier than usual and checked everything.

River was nowhere to be found, neither in the open space nor the dorm.

So where was River coming from…? Without thinking further, the answer popped into her head.

She didn’t overreact to that realization.

Seeing a scene she’d only watched in romance novels unfold before her, she felt a rush of excitement, but she thought it was something that could happen between a man and a woman.

Atlas had stormed into Clover Kingdom to rescue River and fought against the Sword Master.

She recalled feeling quite thrilled when Atlas came down underground to save her.

‘Then it’s reasonable to fall for him…’

But that, this is this.

“Ah… Atlas, no…”

She needed to draw a clear line.

Amy thought that fluttering feeling was simply friendship.

Unnecessary misunderstandings would only ruin their current relationship.

Just as she resolved to push him away, Atlas spoke up.

“Have you seen any traces of demons recently?”

“Why are you asking about that so closely…!!!”

Well, there it is.

Her enthusiasm suddenly fizzled out.

She inadvertently raised her voice out of anger, and Atlas looked back at her with a confused expression.

“Well… it’s not quite a big deal to talk about.”

.

.

.

After hearing the details, Atlas had his suspicions about Professor Buckingham.

—That’s a relief. Professor Buckingham is a small-minded and petty human, and it might be good to tidy things up first.

‘But when I first investigated, there weren’t any traces…!’

Even the companion was seriously considering Atlas’s absurd opinion.

Professor Buckingham was someone the companions had been keeping a close eye on.

They had heard that he had a character prone to falling for demons, so he should be particularly monitored.

“Even if he’s a villain, it doesn’t mean he’s related to demons. What’s the issue…?”

“I just feel like he’s plotting something lately. I was wondering if you found anything.”

“And if he’s connected to demons…?”

“Then he has to be dealt with.”

Dealt with? What did that even mean…? She didn’t want to know.

“Um… Professor Buckingham is currently a professor at the Academy. You know that, right?”

“As long as I secure proof of him being connected to demons, I can deal with him immediately without issue.”

“I know he often has complaints, but he’s not related to demons at all. You know there were no signs of that either.”

“Until now, that’s true, but it might not be from now on. I heard he’s been saying weird things since this morning.”

“…Is that so?”

—As expected of the Master. Such swift judgment… Amy should learn from that kind of decisive judgment.

The companion was quite pleased with Atlas, who was coming up with plans to take down one person.

Clearly, just up until the dungeon practice, he said it was all because of demons.

At that moment, she’d felt it strongly, but the companion also felt like some transcendent being, not just a mere specter.

It was all terrifying. With threats coming from inside and outside, her head was spinning.

“I don’t want to regret taking down a random person, so I guess I’ll start investigating again today. We just need to find traces of demons, right?”

“Right… until now, there haven’t been any…”

“Atlas, I think you might be thinking something bad…”

“No, it’s not that being sneaky is the demons’ doing.”

Atlas thought deeply and then spoke in a low voice.

“I need to approach it from a different angle.”

———————————

After all the classes were over, Professor Buckingham Houston returned to his personal office.

Currently, all his nerves were focused on the Hunting Festival.

The meeting from the previous night had left him with a very significant outcome, and Buckingham felt satisfied about it.

Who would have thought there would be a way to crush Atlas, who had just been watching things go well…!

Indeed, listening to others’ opinions produced good results.

The Hunting Festival would serve as a great revitalization for the struggling Academy.

It would cut out the festering problems and serve as a turning point for a fresh start.

“Hehe, now that there’s an opportunity, dealing with multiple people all at once wouldn’t be bad…”

The very organization of the Hunting Festival had received positive reactions, so now he just needed to make specific plans.

Excited about what to prepare, Buckingham opened the door to his office.

“Are you Buckingham Houston?”

Standing there was a black knight.

The dull-colored armor reflected no light and emitted dark smoke.

A very powerful Recognition Interference Magic was cast, preventing any information about the person wearing the armor from being obtained.

Even their voice, gender, height, and all info were torn apart and made to appear entirely different.

However, that state of not knowing who they were made it clear what needed to be done.

“….!!”

The ring glowed, and magic was unleashed before a word could be spoken.

Though he’d heard that the officer had gotten lax, Buckingham was a soldier who fought on the battlefield.

The swiftly and accurately executed magic was weakened compared to its original power but was still sufficient for targeting a single individual.

‘An assassin? How dare you come after me…?!’

The spell he cast was ‘Paralyzing Web’, a much more effective way to incapacitate an opponent than sloppily using elemental magic.

The bright yellow flash hit the foe’s body, paralyzing them and binding them completely—a very powerful magic.

If used properly, when one person got hit by the yellow flash, the web could spread out, paralyzing dozens of people simultaneously, but because he had cut out many elements to unleash it quickly, the power was diminished.

Even so, it was more than enough to paralyze one person.

As the flash approached, the black knight didn’t even think of dodging and instead walked toward the paralyzing web.

Was it that they didn’t know the effect of the magic, or did the armor somehow block it?

It can’t be the latter.

While there are defense spells that negate magic below a certain level, if such a thing was working, the armor wouldn’t be spewing out such powerful ‘Recognition Interference Magic.’

It was all just bravado.

‘What do you take me for?!’

As Buckingham thought about how to deal with the paralyzed black knight, the knight swung the sword held in their right hand.

It was futile.

Even with an Aura Blade, the Paralyzing Web was a spell that activates through contact.

If the knight tried to cut it without dodging, they would be trapped by the magic immediately.

The magic and sword made contact.

Now, the black knight would spasm like a shocked rat from the paralysis and collapse.

I’ve won.

-Thunk!

“Ugh?!!”

Just as he was convinced of his victory, a shock hit the back of his head.

When he came to his senses, the black knight was firmly gripping their own face with their gauntleted hand.

It seems they had collided with the wall in that state.

“You should close the door when you come in.”

The black knight spoke in a crackling voice, their gender unknown, and quietly shut the open door.

Buckingham glanced at the closing door with concern, but no one realized the danger he was in.

“Ugh… you… what are you planning to do with me…?”

Struggling to speak through a crumpled mouth, the dark helmet turned its head towards Buckingham.

“I’m going to start judging that now, so you must answer truthfully to my questions from now on.”