The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Gemma Aurum reminds me of Shaara Prigia.

The difference is that Shaara knew how to leverage the powers she was born with to stand above others; she was a cunning fox.

Even though she understood her actions were wrong, she was willing to use them as long as she could subdue her opponents.

In contrast, Gemma Aurum is completely clueless about such things.

Having grown up in a bubble of pampering, she has no idea that her actions could be wrong.

Both have a steadfast confidence, thanks to their backgrounds, that no matter how severe their deeds, others won’t dare to resist them.

Until now, there hasn’t been anyone who dared to oppose them.

So, it’s time to enlighten her.

That there are plenty of people in this world who genuinely don’t care about that,

And that situations can arise where things she believed were impenetrable shields are utterly useless.

[This time, I’ll really take you down!!!]

The Gold Dragon Gemma unleashed a dense storm of lightning all around.

Her ultimate attack, simple yet boasting the strongest offensive power, golden lightning illuminated the night sky like it was day.

The golden lightning, spreading out in all directions like a web, seemed to incinerate anything it touched into ashes. It looked like an attack that couldn’t be defended against or evaded, but it couldn’t penetrate my thick aura.

With a single swing of the Aura Blade, the massive, sun-like orb of lightning that had risen was cleaved in two.

Lightning streams were sliced, creating the shortest path connecting Gemma and me.

[Haaaaah!!!!]

Leaping toward the gaping opening, Gemma roared with golden fury, as if she had no intention of falling for it twice.

The breath of the rushing Gold Dragon pierced through the gaps between the lightning, melting everything it touched with a sun-like yellow-hot plasma.

‘This seems a bit dangerous.’

Since I deliberately chose a place where I could rampage freely, there was no risk of collateral damage to others.

I could take the damage, but I chose not to.

This isn’t just a fight; it’s a process to break Gemma and move into her education phase.

Only by smashing her head-on can she grasp the difference in levels.

As soon as I saw the plasma filling my line of sight, I took a deep breath and redirected power from all directions into my body.

“Ugh!!”

And when I focused that circulating power into my sword and swung down, the plasma breath split in two.

[Wha… Huh??]

Gemma screamed in disbelief as she watched her breath get cleanly bisected.

The void plasma breath slammed into the arid mountains of the wasteland, erupting in an explosion visible to the beastmen in the plains.

While the Red Dragon’s breath could also spew forth high-temperature plasma flames, the Gold Dragon’s breath unleashed an even stronger output.

It couldn’t overwhelm the Master’s Aura Blade, but it couldn’t leave my body intact either, so I fully channeled my aura and struck.

Even though Gemma is a descendant of the Dragon Lord, for a rookie like her to exhibit such power in just one breath was akin to the potency of a 9th Circle Attack Magic.

With that single breath, it was clear that the Gold Dragon was indeed a different bloodline from the other dragons.

[You’ve got to be kidding me…! How can… it be sliced so cleanly…!!]

Seeing her breath shatter under her all-out effort, Gemma protested, but I couldn’t care less.

I can cut through even worse.

I swung the Aura Blade without hesitation.

[Aaaah!!!]

After just a few strikes, deep cuts marked Gemma’s chest and wings.

The massive Gold Dragon’s body fell, bleeding bright red like a mortal.

As Gemma crashed to the ground, something peculiar began to happen to her body.

“Ugh… why am I…?”

She had transformed into a human form again.

I had no idea why this was happening, but Gemma kept polymorphing back into her human guise.

Her true form should be that of a Gold Dragon; when her health drops, she should revert to her dragon appearance, yet each time she weakened, she changed back into a human.

Interestingly, she didn’t even understand why this was the case.

“Gemma.”

“D-Don’t come near me!!! Stay away from me!!”

As I approached, Gemma stepped back in sheer panic.

The wound that had been marked when she was in her dragon form still remained on her chest.

Though it wasn’t life-threatening, it had healed by now, but physical injuries weren’t anything to worry about.

“Don’t come closer…!!”

Gemma’s eyes shone with a golden light as she unleashed lightning from her hands.

With an ability to conjure lightning that looked like a 7th Circle elemental spell with just a gesture,

Even in her human form, her essence remained that of a ‘dragon.’

Just as I had before, I cleaved through the lightning with the Aura Blade and then punched her in the solar plexus.

“Gah!!”

Air rushed out of her lungs, and Gemma’s legs buckled, causing her to fall.

“It… hurts… Why… do I have to feel this pain…?”

Gemma murmured while clutching her injured spots.

It was truly amusing.

For someone who committed such deeds to question why she had to endure this humiliation; she didn’t realize that if it were someone else, their head would have been severed by now.

No, she held a firm belief that while others might lose their heads, she certainly wouldn’t.

“I… I hate pain…”

Maybe it was because she was feeling sorrowful, tears were now welling in her eyes.

Emma’s innocent face, now dirt-stained and crying, evoked sympathy.

Though it couldn’t touch me.

“Gemma, look at me.”

I took Gemma’s chin, sitting on the ground, and met her gaze.

Fear flickered in her eyes directed at me.

“Why do you think you’re being punished?”

“I don’t know..! I didn’t do anything wrong! Why are you hitting me…!”

To my simple question, Gemma cried and refused to respond.

“That’s not the right answer.”

Crying and trying to avoid her faults is a behavior seen in preschoolers.

It’s quite funny that a dragon over a hundred years old acts like this, but if she wants to act like a child, I have my own ideas.

“Wha… what??”

I held onto Gemma and sat on a suitable-sized rock, placing her over my thigh.

It was the typical pose of a mother disciplining her child.

However, this state still wasn’t complete.

One final addition was needed to finish it.

“What are you doing… this weird position…?”

Lifting her skirt and pulling down her underwear revealed Gemma’s chubby backside.

Unexpectedly exposed, Gemma squirmed and flailed her arms and legs.

“W-What are you doing!! You pervert..! So this was your real intention!!!”

Her face turned as red as a tomato, and though she resisted wildly, I lifted my right hand without batting an eye.

Then I brought it down hard.

-Slap!!!

“Gyaaa??”

A crisp sound echoed from Gemma’s backside.

On her pure white skin, my handprint flared red.

It probably hurt even more than the time I struck her chest, but this time, Gemma didn’t cry.

She was dazed by this bizarre situation she had never encountered before, fearing what would come next.

“You… what… what the hell is this…?”

“Nothing is more effective for a disobedient child than a smack on the bottom.”

That’s right.

Even past a hundred years old, if you’re going to act like a spoiled child, you’ll be treated like one.

Nothing is more effective in disciplining a child than a spank on the backside.

She’s a bit bigger than an average kid, but her behavior is childlike, so she’s still a child.

“No matter how much you cry and throw a tantrum, there’s nothing you can escape from. If you evade my questions, I’ll administer punishment fitting for that. That’s the rule here.”

“That’s unreasonable…!!”

-Slap!!!

“Hyii???!!!”

As soon as she replied back, I struck her bottom again.

Gemma let out a strange shriek and shivered.

“Then I’ll ask again. Why do you think you’re being punished?”

“The airship crashing was my fault, but…”

-Slap!!!

“Gyaaa!!”

“For you, gaining affection is just a matter of course. Considering your background, status, and looks, everyone will show you goodwill, even upon meeting you for the first time. But you cannot think of that goodwill as a given.”

“What’s wrong with behaving in accordance with the goodwill I received…?!”

-Slap!!!

“Whaaa!! Stop…! My… my bottom feels like it’s gonna explode…!!”

“A dragon’s bottom isn’t going to explode from just a human’s smack. And if it did explode, don’t worry. I’m very good at taking care of such injuries.”

“Wha… huh??”

Being captured by someone smaller and merely human was humiliating for Gemma; she kept struggling to break free.

-Slap!!!

“Gyaaaa!!”

But each time I struck her behind, her strength drained away again.

“You attempted to hijack an airship and ended up as a prisoner, but you’ve offered no apology whatsoever. You made the airship crash, yet you show no remorse or regret.”

“That wasn’t me who made it crash..! It just exploded on its own!”

“You walked into the engine room and messed with the control panel, didn’t you?”

“W-Well…! It’s not my fault for it being unlocked in such an important room!”

-Slap!!!

“Hyik!!”

It doesn’t matter what one might think—smacking someone is an indication of love.

A round bum can absorb impacts well, so it won’t leave a lasting injury from a smack.

When it came to Shaara, I was exhausted from her cunningness and just wanted to destroy her, but Gemma simply doesn’t know any better.

For a moment, I did ponder whether to kill her, but the face of the Dragon Lord floated in my mind, so I settled on a disciplinary approach as much as possible.

I wouldn’t dream of telling the Dragon Lord what I did to Gemma, but I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to see her well-mannered.

“I think you’re oblivious, so let me enlighten you step by step. Let’s go over the basic manners necessary to survive in this world.”

.

.

.

“W-What…?”

When I first landed my hand on Gemma’s bright and chubby backside, it turned a brilliant shade of red.

With so many swelling handprints overlapping, her smooth skin had become a rough patch, and in some places, there were even bruises.

In the midst of it all, she had even wet herself, causing her pants to be damp.

“I’ve made so many mistakes… please forgive me… I’ll go… apologize… I’ll… behave… So please, stop spanking me…”

Gemma collapsed weakly across my thigh.

I’ll wake her up soon to continue.

She still has a mountain of lessons to learn.