The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

The holy knights were chasing traces of demons.

Upon arriving at the place where the thick aura of demons was felt during the morning patrol, there were only remnants that indicated a demon had once been present, but no further traces could be found.

“The traces of the demon have cut off here.”

The two main tasks they were currently engaged in were to find and exterminate the traces of demons, and to identify the heretics.

The interruption of demon traces could be divided into three major reasons.

First, it might have been a weak demon that couldn’t find a contractor and quickly returned to Hell;

Second, it could have entered the body of a found contractor;

Third, it could have been repelled by someone.

“There’s one more trace of a person aside from the demon.”

The leader of the red-flagged holy knight order bent down to closely examine the trace of a person that remained nearby.

The presence of a human trace at a location where the demon’s trace had disappeared was quite suspicious.

“Could it be that both traces of demons and humans exist simultaneously… Is it a demon?”

“There’s a possibility, but it could just as well be the opposite.”

Simply put, it might have been that the demon had lured a person into a contract.

This happened quite frequently.

However, he didn’t jump to conclusions.

“Didn’t everyone realize that the Empire’s Master is hiding in this academy?”

“Yes, I’m aware that all the recent incidents are somehow related to the Master.”

There is a Master hiding within the academy.

Whether they are a student or a professor is unknown, but they say that amid the crowd, this Master has greatly affected the academy.

The co-occurrence of traces of demons and humans could seem like the birth of a demon, but it might also have been a case where the demon was killed by a person.

“First… let’s continue the pursuit. We’ll know for sure if it’s a demon or the Master when we see it in person.”

He didn’t think of simply concluding it one way.

If they can just find it, they would surely uncover what happened.

————————————

Several days had passed since the holy knights began their patrols.

Let’s start with the good news.

Their efforts bore fruit as instances of absurdity among students and professors noticeably decreased.

While the lurking absurdities continued behind the scenes, at least in visible areas, the holy knights loomed over everyone.

As for the ban on unlawful cross-sex relationships…

Wasn’t it said that pain that cannot kill you only makes you stronger?

Everyone finally understood what that meant.

This happened on the way to school that morning.

“Heh heh, James.”

“Wow, those guys never seem to get tired of it…”

Yeah, like those students over there.

“The unlawful cross-sex relationship is…”

One holy knight stopped two students for leading an unlawful cross-sex relationship and separated them.

His actions were mechanical, devoid of any emotion.

But the moment they were parted, the two seemed to seize the opportunity and shouted in all directions.

“James, why is this happening to us? Even though we’re in love…”

“I don’t know, Emma. It feels like our love is going through a trial.”

“Why is this happening when there’s nothing wrong between us? Why can’t our love transcend these barriers?”

“I don’t know that either. I thought love had the power to overcome all barriers, but… here we seem powerless against such immense force.”

“James, while we are apart like this, I’m really scared imagining what’s happening between us. I don’t think I can endure this situation anymore.”

“Emma, I miss you so much. But I don’t know what decision we should make. It’s really tough caught between the Church’s pressure and our love.”

“Oh James!”

“Emma!”

If this were a play, the curtains would have dropped right about now, but the passing students merely glanced back with grim expressions and continued on their way.

Mostly the students without partners reacted this way.

Ordinary students chuckled at the sight and carried on, while the holy knight stood awkwardly like a statue between the two.

Whether he was angry or dumbfounded, it was hard to tell from his expression.

“Those upperclassmen seem to be getting worse.”

“I can’t wait to see what kind of repertoire they’ll come up with tomorrow.”

The holy knights claimed to be stopping unlawful cross-sex relationships, but all they could do was separate visible instances at most.

They couldn’t forcibly isolate students, and going beyond that was still a touchy subject.

At first, everyone was annoyed, but at some point, the holy knights were being used as a device.

A thrilling device that only fueled the students’ love more.

“That…”

“I’m never doing that.”

I casually mentioned to River, who had just witnessed that, and he waved it off saying he’d never do such a thing.

But we were also somewhat adapting to this relatively proper amount of stress.

Simply trying to initiate skinship without being caught by the holy knights or other students felt distinctly different than usual.

“But where are we going to study?”

“Come to think of it, there’s no place for all of us to gather and focus.”

It was about time to set a proper schedule, but the others could just gather in a dorm room, yet with a guy in the mix, that was out of the question.

“If we find an empty classroom, there should be plenty of options… Should we go there?”

“These days, holy knights are wandering around anytime, so we have to be careful… I’d prefer to avoid the Academy Main Building if possible.”

“Right, we really need to find a villa quickly.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Since that night, we had been scouting around.

The conditions were to prioritize places that wouldn’t attract attention, and those not too far from the dormitory, which we were focusing on.

That night, I snuck out of the dormitory to find a good spot.

This time, I was checking out a mansion recommended by Andy.

“The location’s pretty good… not too far, and it’s not by the sea or on a mountain, so it’s suitably remote.”

It fulfilled most of the ideal locations I had in mind.

According to Andy, this was originally a place where a professor who specialized in dark magic lived, but after he retired, nobody wanted to come in because it felt creepy.

Since it was something Andy, who joined this year, said, it must have been a story he heard somewhere, but looking at the mansion’s appearance, I could understand why it felt that way.

Considering I came here at night, it made the place feel even eerier.

The strangely twisted black roof and sharp fence, the walls intricately piled not of wood but of stone.

Symbols likely necessary for dark magic were scattered throughout the garden, adding to the spooky ambiance.

Casually entering through the front gate, I gripped the doorknob when I sensed a presence beyond the wall.

‘… Who could that be?’

This place is a ghost mansion devoid of any inhabitants.

There were no wandering homeless folks, and there shouldn’t be any students curious enough to be inside at this hour either.

Just in case, I thought about drawing my sword, but I hesitated.

‘… Hmm, since I’m curious about who it is, I should at least capture… I need to know their identity.’

Using my sword might be too lethal.

If it’s dangerous, I can draw it, so I held the doorknob with one hand and gently opened the door.

-Creeeak!

The unmaintained hinges creaked unpleasantly, and as the door opened, something heavy landed on top of it from the other side.

It sounded like a heavy metallic object had been placed there, just like a firearm.

‘A gun?’

If someone in the academy possessed firearms, the first person that came to mind was a specific individual.

“Is that you, Amy?”

“Atlas??”

As soon as I called out the name, the gun barrel that had been resting above the door was withdrawn, and out came a round face.

The identity of the person in the mansion was Amy, wearing the coat of anti-magic.

“Why are you here in a place strongly resonating with demonic energy??”

I was surprised to see Amy, but I quickly grasped the situation.

In such a creepy place, it wouldn’t be strange to find traces of demons.

It seemed she was hunting for the traces of demons as usual.

“No, I was looking for a good place to study.”

“A place to study?”

“We decided to form a study group. But since there’s no proper space to gather and study, I thought it’d be nice to secure a quiet house.”

“Not many would think of making a villa within the academy.”

With the idea of not being satisfied with the dormitory and constructing a new nest, Amy gestured as if she found it absurd.

“So, you came to this mansion?”

“This place has a good spot. Apparently, it was once a professor’s house, and it’s been vacant since he retired. If it can be fixed, we’ll use it… Or if not, we could just tear it down and build a new one.”

“Talking with you makes my sense of reality feel off. You mention these huge tasks so nonchalantly.”

“A recommended transfer student can manage such things easily. Just renting some golems, bringing down a house like this would be a piece of cake.”

The academy had various golems at their disposal, and following the correct procedures, any student could rent some of these golems.

Repair costs could be charged if something gets damaged, but that was a different issue.

“First… let’s see if the mansion is still intact.”

“Is there really a reason to do it now while it’s dark?”

“I didn’t want to draw attention from other students. But was there really a demonic trace here?”

“Yes, it was clear up until yesterday, but suddenly appeared today.”

“Whew, let’s drive it out before any more nonsense occurs.”

Unexpectedly, I decided to roam the mansion together with Amy.

-Creak!

The moment I stepped into the corridor, a wooden plank stuck to the floor made a displeasing sound.

It had indeed been uninhabited for a long time, but the condition wasn’t particularly good.

“As expected, it’s a mess. It’d be better to let the foundation remain and tear everything else down to rebuild.”

“Why are you speaking of constructing a house so easily??”

“If I bring in a few people indebted to me… I mean, engineers, it’ll be quick. Have you not seen how magic can assemble a house? If you just bring the materials, it can be done in a few hours.”

“With you saying that, it does sound exciting.”

We talked while examining the house.

Constructing a building would only take a few wizards and some dwarves.

With enough money and a few people owed a favor, it would get resolved in no time.

Worst case, I could just demolish it myself.

“Wait,”

Amy suddenly raised her hand.

Her expression turned serious more than any other moment.

“I feel magic energy.”

“Is it in this room?”

Amy stopped in front of a room at the end of the second-floor hallway.

“I’ll go in.”

“Atlas, wait!!”

What more was there to do, I thought.

I charged ahead of Amy, placing my hand on the squirette’s back.

Upon opening the door, a black mass of magical energy lunged at me.

[Hiiiaaaah!!]

“Ah!”

In an instant, a brilliant white flash illuminated the long-neglected mansion that hadn’t let a single ray of moonlight in.

-Whoom!

[Nooooooo!!]

The magical mass, not even taking shape, was cleaved by the dazzling radiance, scattering into mere wisps in the air.

It was indeed a demon, but it seemed it hadn’t successfully crossed over from Hell.

“Well… that was nothing serious.”

“Ugh…!!”

The extreme Aura Blade emitted a bright white light that lit up the dark corridor and illuminated Amy’s face.

Looking upset, Amy puffed her cheeks in silence and approached me.

“What were you thinking going off like that?! It’s dangerous!! How was I supposed to know what kind of properties that demon had!?”

Amy repeatedly pounded her fist against my chest.

“Uh… um, I’m sorry.”

Flustered, I could only nod my head.

I had rarely seen Amy angry, and it caught me off guard.

“Anyway… keep shining with the Aura Blade. Let me check if there’s anything else inside.”

Amy, unusually pouty, began to examine the room where the demon had been present.

“Hmm… this is a very suspicious place.”

“Didn’t this person resign rather than being cut off?”

The room was scattered with symbols of dark magic and disorganized materials, probably because it belonged to a professor of dark magic.

There were many shabby pieces of furniture about, making it hard to distinguish between artifacts and mere junk.

“It looks dangerous, shouldn’t we just smash everything here?”

“If there’s something activated by breaking, what will we do? We have to carefully examine everything one by one.”

“In that case…”

-Clank!

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

We heard something click underfoot.

Amid the decayed wooden floor, some mechanical device was hidden.

Immediately thinking about what I stepped on, the whole room lit up.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaa!!!”

We were flung into endless darkness.