The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

“Don’t do that.”

River warned me, mouthing the words without making a sound, but it felt like I could push my luck a couple more times.

I wouldn’t be able to do it too much, though. Everyone was focused on studying, and everyone here was already at a superhuman level.

The moment I raised any suspicion, I’d be caught.

I had always wanted to play pranks during our study sessions, which had been on my bucket list since my previous life.

I thought I wouldn’t get the chance after graduation, but who would have guessed I’d have this opportunity?

This time, I really wanted to use my hands, but that would be too conspicuous.

So, I decided to use my legs again.

Having already been the victim of my prank once, River was keeping a watchful eye on me.

Even while studying, he occasionally shot glances in my direction, but there was no way he could stop me.

My legs bent in a way that made me wonder if they could contort like this, slithering up River’s leg like a snake.

“….”

As I felt the touch once more against his leg, River shot me a glare before letting out a small sigh and looking back down.

It seemed like he had given up, resigned to the fact that I’d do what I wanted regardless of his warnings.

If that’s the case, I had to live up to his expectations.

As my big toe, teasingly brushing upwards, slid along his calf and then pushed into the inner thigh, I reached the most sensitive spot.

“Ugh?????”

That was an unexpectedly intense reaction.

I had touched the deepest part, and River jumped up so suddenly that it looked like he was about to fall backward.

And then he retaliated immediately.

“Ouch!”

Everyone turned to River, surprised, as he pinched my calf hard enough to leave a mark.

He adjusted his angle so that only I could see him glaring harshly.

It stung a bit, but I found it amusing and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Are you okay?”

“I think a bug startled me. Scared me.”

“Huh… I didn’t hear any buzzing… a bug?”

“Yeah… a really nasty one.”

His gaze was terrifying.

I figured it’d be best to stop before he really got mad at me.

It might already be too late.

“Then… who should I prank next?”

This time, I switched my target.

I lightly poked Lucia’s calf, who was sitting right next to me.

She was dressed very modestly, with only her neck and hands exposed.

She wore a long skirt and black stockings, so I could feel the soft touch of the thin fabric at her toes.

Her calves were long and solid, suggesting tremendous hidden strength.

She didn’t seem to react much, thinking that my light touch was nothing, so I edged further up.

There wasn’t an obvious reaction like River’s, but as I climbed higher, I suddenly caught a glimpse of Lucia’s profile.

“… th-that…”

Her face flushed bright red, and she merely buried her head down, muttering the contents of the book she was memorizing.

I figured it might be too risky to push it here.

“……”

And River was watching her discreetly.

But I wasn’t the type to stop over something like this.

There was one person left.

Amy seemed completely oblivious, busy working through her problems.

I extended my leg to prank Amy as well, but suddenly my line of sight shook.

“Hey!! Stop playing around!!!”

Unable to hold back any longer, River shot up and grabbed the nape of my neck, shaking me vigorously.

I didn’t resist, and my head flopped around in the chaos.

……

After that, I focused on studying.

Although I was studying something different.

In my mind, absorbing the valuable materials only available at the Academy was more important than ranking high on performance tests.

There were so many essential resources in the academy library.

As the atmosphere settled into studying after some time, Lucia brought up a topic.

“… By the way, when this performance test is over… the semester ends in a month, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And after the semester ends… what will you do during the break?”

The end of the final performance test meant the end of the semester.

It’s the break period until the next semester.

With about two months of break, there was plenty of time to do whatever one wanted.

Many students at the academy came from far away homes, causing some to question if we should be giving them more, but the academy’s stance was that if that were the case, they might as well stay at the academy.

As for me… I probably wouldn’t stick around.

I had thought about visiting home for a while.

“I should drop by my family home.”

“Your family home…? Nemea?”

“Not that, my real home.”

Lucia tilted her head, completely unaware of my true castle.

After years of neglect, I felt uneasy about Titan.

No, let’s correct that.

I wasn’t concerned whether the Titan family was collapsing; I was worried about my younger sibling, who took on the family head’s role at such a young age.

The vassals who had been suppressed under the strong family head might harbor unpleasant thoughts now that a mere girl was at the helm.

Since the number of people I held positive feelings for in that direction was extremely limited, if any such signs appeared…

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they thought, ‘they already annoyed me; I might as well tear everything down.’”

However, if all the key players who were aptly guiding the territory were ousted, the estate would collapse.

Thinking like this, all I could do was hope that those snakes would be satisfied with their positions and do their jobs well.

“Speaking of break… will you be able to come visit our territory when Atlas time comes?”

“Is it the territory of Shimoa?”

“Yeah, let’s bring Amy too. She’d love it if we brought our friends.”

“Me… me too! Come visit our territory in Atlas… I’ll treat you well.”

Despite only having a two-month break, there were so many places inviting us.

However, it wouldn’t be polite to reject an invitation, and Titan is at the center of Blade Mountain, Russell is at the edge of Blade Mountain, but Shimoa is on the opposite side.

Geographically speaking, it didn’t make sense to visit both Titan and Shimoa in that short break, but it was at least possible for me.

“Then I’ll have to make proper plans after the break.”

“Are you going to both?”

“I don’t see why not.”

It seemed like today was wrapping up.

Everyone was tidying up when a sudden thought struck me about the construction that had started yesterday.

I figured it would be fine to inform the people here that it’d probably be just those present if I invited them.

“I’m making something fun; wanna take a look?”

————————————-

“Is this the one you mentioned before?”

“Looks like a good location, right?”

River, realizing that the ongoing construction was the vacation house I mentioned earlier, observed it with interest, but Lucia, seeing it for the first time, was astonished.

“What the heck is this..?”

“A vacation house to stay in until graduation.”

“… But we have the dormitory.”

“I got so mad after the holy knights broke in and made a mess that I couldn’t stay there anymore.”

Mentioning a vacation house seemed to leave Lucia bewildered.

There was a lounge usable as personal space for the five pillars, yet she’d probably never seen a building erected like this.

Amy also gazed at it in awe.

It seemed to be her first time seeing it during the day.

The site where the mansion would stand faced the forest, so at night, the eerie feeling coming from the woods made it skin-crawling, but now, under the sun, it just looked like a mansion.

While the process of demolishing the old mansion had slightly disturbed the forest, there was no significant damage to the scenery.

“Wow… when did you start building this?”

“Just yesterday.”

“Just yesterday??”

I was astonished that it had only been a day.

My house was already looking pretty good in its reconstruction.

This was the magic-using modular mansion developed at the Magic Tower.

By using telekinetic magic and elemental magic to assemble the assembled parts according to the instructions, the shape of a mansion could be formed in an instant.

There’s a version where you only assemble it and finish, but this one allows for detailed work by artisans on top.

On the first day, my senior Rio had already completed the frame using the materials I ordered in advance.

“Hey! Raise it higher!”

“Y-yes!!!!”

It seemed our heavy machinery was currently at work.

Instead of his usual neat attire, senior Rio was wearing comfortable clothes and had tied his hair back to work easily, moving materials using telekinetic magic under the guidance of the dwarven craftsman with a gray beard.

There was no need for worry; it looked like they were getting along fine.

“Wow, a dwarf?”

“Senior?? What are you doing over there??”

And both Amy and Lucia exclaimed in wonder at the sight.

“Uh… uh???”

“Hey… hey!!! Be careful!!!”

As Rio’s focus was scattered upon noticing us, a bag lifted high by telekinetic magic began to sway and then fell.

Fortunately, it settled fairly safely with a thud on the second-floor floor, but Rio had to hear a few words from the dwarven artisans afterward.

“Ugh… don’t look. If you’re coming, you should have warned me…”

It seemed he didn’t want to show the comfortable clothes he was wearing while working, like those from the countryside, to his juniors.

He looked really embarrassed and couldn’t even meet our eyes.

“Are you okay, senior? The exam is right around the corner. You aren’t being dragged here against your will, right?”

“Don’t worry; it’s only for about a week.”

Rio, glancing at me, said this a bit timidly after Amy’s question.

“The pay is pretty good…”

“Exactly! Our client is quite the generous one! Hahaha!!”

At that, the gray-bearded craftsman laughed heartily in agreement.

“What? The client is here, and you’re slacking off? Is that what you’re doing?”

“Yeah, I came to check in. Think you can finish this week?”

“With a modular foundation, that should be enough! Since the foundation work is nearly done, as long as you focus on the interior, it should be fine.”

The gray-bearded craftsman boasted that most of the groundwork had already been completed by the wizard, leaving little more to do.

The earth elemental magic, useful for civil engineering, was the most basic element, and counterarguments would mean losing housing.

“Atlas… what kind of place is this…?”

“This is where we study… play… just a general spot to hang out. I’m trying to move out of the dormitory.”

I thought I would leave it as a vacation house, but that just wouldn’t do anymore.

Each time I entered the dormitory, unpleasant memories of the holy knights storming in flooded back.

I planned to finish the construction this week, furnish it with what I had prepared, and then stay here.

“Wow, you’re really making something like this?”

Just then, I felt a strange presence behind me.