The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

“Fortunately, I heard that the news of me demolishing the church hasn’t spread.”

It all happened so quickly, and with only Master Hulan as a witness, I managed to brush it off to the students as just an incident where an item seized from the church exploded.

Normally, it wouldn’t be strange for countless knights to come pouring in to bury me for what I did, but as soon as the incident occurred, the bishop quickly contacted the Church Country for support, so it got back to Carmel and McKinto.

What pissed me off even more was that these guys had direct lines but kept saying it wouldn’t work out.

The bishop said all the strange assumptions about me, the victim, were misunderstandings and even held a separate press conference to clarify…

In the end, silent feet travel a thousand miles, and when suspicion is thrown, people who just love to fuel groundless conspiracies will spare no effort in spreading rumors.

Anyway, my reputation among the other students is already at rock bottom, so what difference does one more bad line make? Yet, it still feels bad.

Let’s see during the summit.

——————-

“Our Atlas…?”

Hearing such a close remark, River looked visibly upset. He was already angry about the unreasonable situation, and now he probably thought I was inside laughing it up with another girl.

“Yes! I was worried about how well I could adapt to the academy, but it’s such a relief to have a friend come see me like this.”

River immediately redirected his arrow towards me.

“Atlas, who is this?”

“As I just said, she’s a saint from the Church Country, and she just healed all the wounds I had earlier.”

“They were injuries inflicted by knights, so of course, she should heal them.”

There was a strangely sharp edge to River’s words. He was doing his best to keep Carmel at bay.

‘Keeping Carmel at bay, huh?’

It’s very odd to be hostile toward a saint. The power of love from everything she possesses is still very much intact. The sweet scent that filled the hospital room was proof of that.

It would be normal to feel a fondness just by being in her presence, so why is he acting like this?

His heart and actions might not be aligning.

“Thanks, but if you’re done with your business, could you please head back? I still need to take it easy from the wounds inflicted by the church people.”

“Don’t worry, all the wounds have been healed. We still have a lot to talk about. We have many things we need to share closely.”

“…What is your relationship with Atlas?”

“I have a very deep fondness for him… We’ve been in sync for a long time, so we have a very trusting relationship.”

“Each other?”

I don’t trust him at all. Among the church people, he’s the one I trust the most, but trust? That’s a stretch.

If we’re just talking about feelings, the saint invokes a natural trust just by being seen, while my mind is on heightened alert toward her.

What about you? Just a classmate? I appreciate the visit, but I have something very important to discuss with Atlas from now on. Excuse me, could you give us a little space?”

“I’m…”

As the saint pushed back, River hesitated for a moment.

He seemed to think about organizing things and then clenched his fists as if he made up his mind.

“I’m Atlas’s lover.”

“Excuse me??”

“Oh my…”

Both the saint and I, along with the newly arrived Amy, were shocked. The atmosphere turned tense.

Carmel, hearing River’s bombshell declaration, looked at us with great interest.

Amy, sensing the strange air that followed, trembled, unsure of what to do.

I need to set things straight.

“Carmel.”

“Yes, Atlas. Is something uncomfortable for you? Would you like me to pat your head?”

“You said you’d be here for a few more days, right? Let’s call it a day for today.”

Carmel looked slightly surprised as she glanced back and forth between River and me, then smiled suspiciously.

“Hmm, I see. Alright, then I’ll do that. See you tomorrow, Atlas.”

Carmel gave a slight wink and exited the hospital room.

“And… you could’ve told me about such a lover before, you know?”

As she left, she made sure to add that one last remark before slipping away.

She said she would stay at the academy until this matter is resolved.

She wouldn’t be around for too long, though. She rushed over as soon as she heard about my situation, so while all this is happening, there are still things waiting for her attention back in the Church Country.

“Huff… I— I said it out loud…”

As soon as Carmel left, Amy seemed to release the tension and collapsed onto the floor.

Her previously determined face turned bright red.

I just smiled and held her hand.

Checking her pulse, I could feel her heart racing.

“It ended up being a good opportunity.”

“Since she’s a saint, is it really okay…?”

“It’s fine.”

Amy, who had been a bit intimidated by the saint due to having been helped multiple times, looked concerned.

“What you revealed was revealed, but… you were awfully aggressive about it… Is something wrong?”

“I… I just don’t like that person.”

“Really?”

River frowned as soon as the saint walked out. He pinched his nose with his finger.

“Let’s air this place out; the smell is so strong it’ll throw my nose off.”

River opened the hospital window wide, letting the fresh air in.

To Amy and me, it was a nice fragrance, but River seemed to find it too overpowering.

“It smells really good, but is it that you can’t be honest with your feelings, so you’re feeling defensive?”

“That’s not it. It’s just that something is really off about that person.”

I took the chance to ask, but he genuinely seemed to dislike her.

The wolf god within River might be rejecting the power of love that is the essence of the saint’s divine powers.

“The saint came personally…”

In contrast to River’s response, Amy smiled, gazing at the spot where the saint had been.

“Do you like Carmel?”

“Yes, she’s kind, beautiful… and she listens well to anyone. I’ve received a lot of help from her… she truly seems like a personification of divine love.”

“That person?”

Seeing Amy praise the saint, River looked puzzled.

“The saint is a very benevolent person. It might be awkward at first, but I’m sure River will come to like her over time.”

“She’s benevolent… I guess.”

She’s the kind of woman who would want to adopt me, saying her maternal instincts swell when she sees me.

“So… tell me directly. What kind of relationship do you have with that person?”

“Just a contact for business.”

“A contact?”

“It’s not a deep friendship. Being the top figure in the Church Country, I need to have some familiarity as a master. I often work with her.”

“If she came personally… does that mean the incident at the church has been resolved?”

“Right. It never should’ve blown up like this in the first place. Those stubborn idiots only made it worse. They insisted on calling in the higher-ups until the end…”

Just thinking about it annoys me.

I should go to the hospital room where the knights are and give them a good smack.

“Are you really okay? We can’t trust these days…”

“That… I’m sorry… but I’m really fine now. I think I can be discharged soon.”

“What if you pass out again…? Since you’re in the hospital, stay a few more days.”

“It’s boring being in here…”

“Then I’ll bring some books, and we can study together.”

“That sounds fun.”

“I’ll bring some study materials too.”

It felt immensely reassuring, as if we were back to our daily routine again.

Then suddenly, River looked at me and said,

“Atlas, are you hiding something from me?”

“!!!!”

“???”

The sudden statement shocked both of them.

“Hide hide hide something?! There’s no way that’s true!!”

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

I was startled, but especially Amy was so surprised she almost tripped over her words.

It’s not like only one or two things have happened lately, so her reaction was understandable.

“…Why the sudden question?”

“Going from fine to suddenly collapsing is one thing… it just feels off. I get this feeling that you would leave somewhere without me… that kind of feeling.”

“You’re right; I didn’t get to explain properly because I collapsed.”

I’m about to tell him why I collapsed.

I tried to share what happened, but I couldn’t explain it because of the headache.

Excluding the part about Amy, here’s the gist of what happened…

“There’s a trap in the academy that leads to Hell, and I fell into it before managing to escape.”

“What????”

“That’s a death trap!”

“Yep, it definitely was.”

After falling into Hell and battling the Great Demon, my condition went to ruins due to overexertion, and when I mentioned that the Great Demon’s horn I had cut off caused me this trouble, River showed a mix of emotions.

He seemed incredulous, a bit annoyed, and worried all at once.

Fortunately, since I explained that I fell into a trap at the mansion and ended up straight in Hell, it made a bit of sense.

After parting, he probably couldn’t imagine something like that happening overnight.

“Why would something like that still be lying around the academy grounds?”

“Do you know which professor was using the mansion?”

“Yeah… I’m pretty sure…”

“They intended to teach how to deal with demons, but they accidentally summoned a demon that was too strong and it all blew up. The church people cleaned it up, but the professor died, and as far as I know, the mansion was made into a haunted house post-investigation.”

As I explained what I knew instead of Amy, she looked very surprised.

“You know quite a bit, don’t you?”

Isn’t that just common knowledge?

The church people took away everything dangerous, but there were still research materials left behind from professors, so from the students’ perspective, there are decent materials and artifacts lying around there, which is also a place where demons are likely to appear, so I recall Hayden frequented it.

Seeing it at night, I only recently learned that it was that mansion.

“How come that place has a trap again when it was already destroyed a few years ago?”

“Maybe the people who investigated it back then missed some spots… or it’s developed recently.”

If it’s the latter, it could really be troublesome.

If traps like that appear not just in abandoned houses but in the academy hallways or secluded classrooms, students could simply go missing while wandering around the academy.

And then we might never find them.

“I really want to investigate that place in detail… but will we end up demolishing it?”

“I didn’t even sense that trap. Do you think I’ll just leave it there knowing there could be more like it? It’s easier just to destroy it.”

“Since the saint is here, would it be easier if you asked her?”

While we didn’t spot the traps, the saint might be able to find them.

I suggested that idea, but,

“What if I and the saint fall into the trap together? Can you handle that?”

“…That’s a bit unpleasant.”

When I asked Amy if it would be okay if I went into the trap with someone else, she seemed to imagine it and shivered.

“Falling into a trap together? What kind of nonsense is that?”

I realized I made a slip of the tongue and quickly began backtracking.

“Ah, I mean, going to Hell together, going to Hell!”

“Right! If we fell into Hell together with the saint, it would be quite a dilemma for the Church Country!”

Watching us speak awkwardly and raise our voices, River merely opened his eyes wide in disbelief.