The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

I quickly finished my conversation with Professor Buckingham and returned to the classroom with a light step, as if I had just come back from a stroll.

It hadn’t even been two hours since I heard from Shaara that Professor Buckingham was suspicious.

Short as it was, it felt long because of the tension.

Thanks to that, I ended up skipping another class, but it was worth it.

Upon arriving at the classroom, River stared at me intently.

“Atlas, where did you go skipping class earlier?”

“I just came back from stopping a potential threat.”

Amy, upon hearing that, wore a look of disbelief.

“…Did you really just come back from doing that?”

“What’s the big deal about letting it sit? Better to finish it quickly.”

“I think that’s a pretty big deal.”

Though it was great to get acknowledgment, it wasn’t all over yet.

Until this matter was resolved, I still had to keep an eye on Buckingham’s movements, and I also needed to catch the unidentified people who were buttering him up.

He might be a professor in charge of liberal arts, but judging by the fact that I don’t even remember his name, it seemed he was up to something.

It was strange he wasn’t suspicious, yet he spoke as if he truly felt that way.

Besides magic, there were several means to induce such feelings, but whatever the truth, they all had one thing in common: not something a liberal arts professor would typically use.

Be it becoming a preacher, an assassin, or a ghost, the details would undoubtedly surface in Buckingham’s next meeting.

“You’re going to get an F.”

“I’ll just take another class next time.”

“You say that so casually… But if you went to do something more important, then I guess it can’t be helped. Just don’t flunk out; I want to graduate together…”

“I’m already factoring that in, so no worries.”

“Um… You really did handle something important, right?”

River, who was quite concerned about grades, showed some concern, but that was the extent of it.

After that, he didn’t say anything else to me.

Even with Amy defending me, he merely expressed disappointment.

“Alright, everyone might think this is strange, but I called you all together to inform you about a recent decision.”

In the classroom, Andy was gathering students and looking troubled.

Normally, this would be the time for another lecture, but apparently something had been decided, so everyone returned to their respective classes.

The students gathered, questioning why they were there.

“What’s with all this gathering again?”

“It seems the principal is really rushing things with all these events happening in such a short time.”

“…”

I caught a glimpse and saw Dorothy Woodville sitting next to Casey.

Did they become close in the meantime?

It didn’t feel that intimate, but neither did it seem Casey was pushing her away.

I knew Dorothy Woodville was excellent at adapting to people’s moods, but I didn’t expect her to get to Casey of all people.

Though she was from a self-made family of commoners, being at the top of the class in this academy filled with pureblood extremists made her something else entirely.

“The Hunting Festival has been confirmed to take place in two weeks. If anyone wishes to participate, raise your hand.”

“Two… weeks??”

The students gasped at the announcement that the Hunting Festival would happen in two weeks.

‘Is the old principal losing his mind? Two weeks??’

It was absurd to think they could prepare for something like the festival in just two weeks, as if it were a local marathon.

I mean, even a marathon takes months to prepare, and now they expected the entire academy to be ready this quickly for a festival?

Andy looked like he was giving up.

I didn’t know what happened during the meeting, but it seemed he wasn’t too pleased about it either.

The participants Andy was looking for referred to those who would join the core event of the Festival—hunting monsters.

He asked for participation not as a test, but as it was a festival.

“…Just let us know by the end of this week. Take your time. If you perform well, you’ll get extra points, and the top four teams will receive prizes.”

Participating was definitely beneficial.

Joining the hunt would not only give extra points, but there were prizes as well.

Those who didn’t join would automatically have to take on the headache of setting up event booths, making it much easier and more relaxing to join the hunt.

“Atlas, are you going to join?”

River sitting next to me asked me casually.

The fact he asked meant my participation would affect his decision too.

“Definitely not.”

I didn’t see any reason to mess around in such an event.

Unless they offered something like hidden treasures hiding in the academy for the top prize.

“So the prizes are still undecided then?”

“Yeah, unless something changes, it will just be medals and extra points… and the injury prize, the ‘Monster Statue’ made of pure gold.”

I thought I’d just pass on this one.

Once I deal with Buckingham’s schemes and all the troublemakers, the Hunting Festival would turn out to be the great festival the students could enjoy as originally intended.

“I’m just there to enjoy the festival.”

At this point, hunting monsters seemed like something I’m already tired of.

The pure gold Monster Statue might be expensive, but the experience of the festival held much more appeal.

Maybe it wasn’t the festival I knew, but it would be my first at the academy, and I planned to enjoy it peacefully.

———————————–

Inside the Black Room, which supposedly existed somewhere on the continent, not even a sliver of sunlight penetrated.

It was as if the windows were blocked in a fit of paranoia to escape the god’s gaze looking down on humans.

While it seemed no light came in, the Black Room had a large central five-spoke wheel with a few chairs placed around it.

They’d gone to such lengths to block it out that it felt like there wouldn’t be enough oxygen inside, but there were no issues at all.

This room actually contained no humans whatsoever.

-Clack!

From that dark room, a sound of something moving echoed.

This room was indeed the conference room of the Demon Church, which the church was searching for with such intensity.

-Crackling

Noise started emanating from the empty chair.

In a meeting room where no one was present and no presence was felt, a noise arose, and dim shadows flickered above the chair.

Though their appearance looked ghostly as if they would disappear at any moment, the presence they exuded could make one feel like real people had appeared.

[Then, let the regular meeting begin.]

The ghost at the center declared.

Currently, the Demon Church does not operate like a headquarters or main base.

They run strictly in a cell structure, and there is no organic movement among the organizations.

The only reason these organizations feel interconnected is purely due to the meetings held on set dates.

Such a structure, which inherently weakens organizational strength, was not what the Demon Church desired.

Demon Worshippers who sought to unify as a whole were all obliterated.

The ‘Crusade,’ which was the operation conducted by the church against the demon worshippers across the continent, left the headquarters of the previously united demon worshippers in ruins.

To confront the church and the Masters, the demon worshippers sacrificed two thousand of their own and surrounding life forms, bringing forth the Great Demons, ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Baal Zebul.’ They inflicted considerable damage on the Masters but were ultimately banished back to hell.

Based on that shattered experience, the demon worshippers began operating strictly as cells.

They developed an extreme aversion to banding together, and as a prime example, they only recognized each other’s existence and shared opinions during meetings, while even doing that not through direct participation but via magical methods letting only their own sentient avatars participate in the discussions remotely, keeping their location and identities concealed from one another.

Even if one person was caught, the others would remain safe.

Once shattered, demon worshippers disguised themselves as members of the church and mixed back into society, steadily increasing their numbers.

It was easy to gather believers.

For ordinary people, the divine blessing felt so far away, while the sweet whispers of demons were all too near.

The church thought they had completely eradicated the demon worshippers but continued a relentless war against the demon church, which spread far and wide like cockroaches.

[The rituals held at the Academy have all ended in failure.]

[Failure? They were all successful.]

[What success could you even talk about when not a single person was properly killed? Are you out of your mind?]

[The plan to unleash the dungeon and sacrifice students as offerings to Lord Belphegor… the demons made en masse from Clover Kingdom didn’t yield any results either.]

Their current topic was about a series of two incidents that unfolded at the Academy.

It was an incredibly ludicrous situation.

Both rituals mentioned earlier were initially considered a success.

The Great Demon Belphegor descended upon the academy, and the demons summoned from Clover Kingdom successfully awakened in the heart of the academy.

Both rituals were a success.

But it didn’t lead to significant damage.

Belphegor was banished back to hell without having killed a single person, and the demons, after getting into a scuffle with the academy professors, were all exterminated.

To make matters worse, even their Master, the Sword Master, whom they barely managed to win over, had been killed.

[What’s going on with Clover Kingdom lately?]

[The divine hounds are quite skilled, so we’re facing quite a challenge. I expect it to fall within three days… ]

[I think it’s about time we pull out.]

[I was planning to do just that… we could have created a puppet state. What a loss.]

The failure of the demon terror led to the fall of a stronghold they had painstakingly set up in Clover Kingdom.

Sensing the situation, the church, needing a target for venting their fury, investigated Clover Kingdom while dismantling it, putting the demon church branch there, which had close ties with the royal family, in grave danger.

[With continuing failures, the Great Demons are greatly disappointed. The next ritual must succeed.]

The ghost in the center spoke sternly.

There seemed to be a lingering regret over the plans that had succeeded but ultimately led to failure.

[But… should we continue targeting the academy?]

[What are you talking about?]

[After looking at the common records from the last two attempts, I became convinced. There’s currently a ‘Master’ hiding in the academy. As long as the Master is protecting it, it would be incredibly difficult to strike there.]

Until now, the sole weakness of the academy was their handling of demons.

While they could defend against mid-level and lesser demons, they had no means of countering believers or high-level demons.

There is only one holy knight and one inquisitor on standby at the academy.

With just those two, it’s impossible to withstand the relentless attacks from the demon church.

Yet, the academy held its ground even with the great demon descending.

One of the demon church’s strongest forces had mobilized, yet they couldn’t cripple the academy.

In this situation, sending reinforcements with insufficient manpower to continue battering at the fortress-like academy might not be the right choice after all.

There were numerous vulnerable spots in the empire aside from the academy.

[But the academy must be brought down. The chaos that follows the academy’s fall is the desire of the Great Demon, ‘Satan.’ ]

I couldn’t express more upon hearing Satan’s desire.

The Grand Demon Satan, who hatched an ambitious plan to unleash hell instead of divine gospel in this world, held absolute authority within the demon church.

Their methods of action coincided with Satan’s will.

[Your opinions are not required. If ‘Satan’ wills it, then we must comply, no matter what.

Even if our corpses stack into the thousands, if ultimately, the academy crumbles, then countless people will die in the empire.

Do not fear failure. Even if your soul perishes, it will have eternal life in Satan’s hell.]

As the most powerful of those who directly served Satan, the ghost—the Demon Bishop—spoke, while some wretched ghosts frowned.

They were all demon bishops serving their own respective great demons.

While the demon bishop serving Satan held the loudest voice in what affected the current realm, those serving the other great demons seemed to disdain the brashness of Satan’s Demon Bishop.

At that moment, an unknown apparition stepped forward.

[Then… since I have some connections, I will give it a try.]

Though all were the same ghost, this one seemed to speak with considerable confidence.

[Demon Bishop of Lord Belphegor… would you be willing to give it a shot?]

[Yes, I shall convey the words of the Great Demons to the academy.]