The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

He introduced himself as a traveling merchant heading to the capital.

Given that he came all the way out here, away from the road, he seemed like a hyena checking to see if there was anything worth scavenging after an airship crash, though he didn’t appear to be of significant size.

It was clear he could easily be subdued even if he suddenly changed his mind.

“Merchant?”

“I’m sorry…”

But I never expected the fools to attack as soon as I turned around.

The moment they drew their swords, Casey and I reacted immediately, and the thieves disguised as merchants all knelt down, each one fully exposed with stab wounds or gaping holes in their clothes.

Those who couldn’t do so were dead.

“I came to check out what’s falling around here… I can’t believe an airship crashed… What a strange occurrence, haha…”

“Indeed. Quite a peculiar situation.”

Gemma flinched at those words.

But it was a relief.

“What’s the nearest city?”

“Let’s see… I guess it’s Ama where I’ll be heading next.”

“Why the city?”

“Because only a city would have an Adventurer’s Guild. I plan to go there.”

While using the Adventurer’s Guild as a prime example, it also meant that being in a city would allow access to many other things.

While one could rob every territory with the power of the five pillars, it was much better to find what was needed in a city.

“Still, it’s fortunate we fell around here. If it had been yesterday, it would have taken at least a week to reach the capital.”

Perda tried to think positively about the situation.

We decided to keep the thieves sitting there and hand them over to the Ama authorities tomorrow.

“Still, it’s a bit chilly… Can’t you at least give us some clothes?”

“Why don’t you huddle together to keep warm? If you freeze to death, it’ll just save me the trouble of carrying one of you. So why reduce the number of mouths now?”

“I’ll do my best to endure.”

We had all pulled our beds close around a campfire, and a new map was added beside it.

It was something scavenged from the wreckage of the fallen airship.

“Here’s the capital, and here’s Ama. So we should be around here.”

I pinned a new marker between the original route marked with pins and thread.

The last pin roughly measured our fallen position.

Three pins: the capital, Ama, and us. It looked quite close from this perspective.

“We should have arrived by tomorrow, but it’s going to delay significantly.”

“You guys could teleport straight to the capital once you get there, so why the drama? Some of us here can’t do that.”

The Magic Tower in the capital has a teleport terminal that allows movement to specific cities or territories.

The fee is extremely expensive, but for those associated with the five pillars, it’s more than worth it when converted into time.

“Why did you say you were going to the Atlas Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Because we need to collect remnants from this airship, and I’ll rent a carriage at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Couldn’t the transport guild handle that?”

“If you rent a carriage suitable for your rank from the transport guild, you’d be advertising for the thieves to target you.”

You’d need to rent at least two good carriages fitting for a good reputation; even if it’s not that far to the capital, it still takes a good two days from Ama to the capital.

It would be hard to prevent all sorts of pests from crawling in.

“You guys aren’t weak enough to be taken down by some thieves.”

“The very fact that they’re crawling around is the problem. It’ll only delay us. Just like now.”

It would likely be easy to deal with them upon each encounter.

Only a few would reach the level of Expert, and just one of them would send most thieves running for their lives.

However, if a horse were to die from an arrow they shot, we’d get stuck there.

It’s better to scare off thieves from the start.

“Then does the carriage borrowed from the Adventurer’s Guild have some sort of device to fend off thieves?”

“It’s kind of like that, yeah.”

“What?”

When I mentioned that the thieves were scared away and wouldn’t show up, they looked at me as if I were odd.

“Well, just take a look. Have you seen me talking nonsense?”

————————

The next morning, we left early and arrived at the small city of Ama.

Though small, it was still considered a city in the empire.

It was a place where people heading to the capital would stop for breaks, so it was bustling with more people than the large cities of other kingdoms.

“Whoa?! You… brought these guys in? That’s really impressive… they’ve been notorious for robbing travelers around here lately!”

The guards of Ama welcomed the band of thieves I brought along.

Proof of my identity was easily managed with just one of the ‘Identification Tags’ I pulled out.

“So many people, like goblins!”

After a night, Gemma returned to her lively self.

But she hadn’t forgotten what I taught her.

“What’s with the goblins?”

“Can’t I say it like that?”

“If I called you a lizard covered in poop, wouldn’t that bother you?”

“Ah… I see… then what would be a more proper expression?”

“Maybe an ant swarm would be better?”

“Ants are still trivial creatures. Are they better than goblins?”

“Less irritating than those nasty monsters, at least.”

“That’s profound… I understand now.”

Though occasionally she made slip-ups due to her ignorance, she accepted criticism and adjusted her mindset.

Whatever resolution she made through the night, after dawn, Gemma stuck right next to me.

Maybe she thought it was better to learn by my side rather than risking mistakes by being apart.

A commendable learning attitude.

Just yesterday, the little empress had completely vanished.

‘Looks like I’ve shaped another person.’

At this rate, wouldn’t it be nice to become an instructor or teacher in old age?

I might even be renowned as a master of one-on-one behavior correction.

But while I observed, the rest of the party regarded me with a mix of awe and trepidation.

Several large guild buildings lined the streets.

Though not the capital, there were still many decent guilds as this city was close to it.

Transport Guilds, Weaving Guilds, Blacksmith Guilds; among all the guild buildings I passed, one that looked quite shabby caught my eye.

“That must be the Adventurer’s Guild.”

The Adventurer’s Guild tends to establish itself in the same type of place every time.

Not merchants selling goods but errand boys dealing with people, making it wear down and stand out as the most nondescript and rundown space.

Though now it seemed that lack of distinction had almost become its characteristic.

Upon entering, sure enough, a drinking party was in full swing.

“Ugh, filthy. Is this what the Adventurers’ Guild looks like?”

“Ugh, and how noisy… is it even possible to work after drinking since morning?”

“Those are just people that have already finished their work. Not everyone is an adventurer living large while wrestling powerful monsters; many live day to day just cleaning the sewers.”

Seeing the adventurers drinking in broad daylight in a hall that wasn’t properly cleaned made Lemnos and Albion scowl.

It wasn’t just drinking; they looked quite filthy.

Casey, Amy, and I had visited several Adventurers’ Guilds, but it seemed most of the people here were seeing an Adventurers’ Guild for the first time.

It’s not often that one ventures into the Adventurers’ Guild even when visiting a city.

“What’s going on?”

As we entered, a few ruffian adventurers loitering near the bulletin board approached us.

“Lost your way, noble lads? This isn’t a place for you, hehe!”

Those NPC-like folks always waiting for someone to pick a fight in every branch—why do they always have to show up?

It could qualify as one of the world’s seven wonders.

From drunken louts wandering around since noon to the thugs mingling, one could always count on the fact that regardless of the branch, the Adventurer’s Guild never changes.

“What are those guys?”

“Anyone unable to take quests over Gold left on the board, and those unwilling to clean the sewers are just waiting around for an easy task to pop up.”

“That sounds pretty detailed.”

“There are many like that around. If they had their heads screwed on right, they wouldn’t even need to hang around here. But let’s try to be understanding. Half of the adventurers can’t even read.”

As soon as I finished, other adventurers burst out laughing.

“Ha! Did you hear that? Someone just called you illiterate!”

“Wow, what a fantastic guess! You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”

“I… can’t read! So what?!”

I hadn’t even called any one person out, yet just like that, it seemed to fit perfectly and turned one adventurer’s face beet red with shame as he drew a sword from his waist.

“Damn aristocratic brats!! Do you even know where you are??”

The sword was as poorly maintained as his attire, old and dirty enough to get lockjaw if grazed.

As the adventurer drew his sword, Edgar placed a hand on the Flamberge.

He looked ready to unsheathe it the moment that fool took another step forward.

Tense air filled with noise, alcohol scents, and the musty odor of old wood and iron.

“How nostalgic.”

–BAM!

“Grahhh!”

Just then, the swordsman found himself sent flying into a table after receiving a blow to the abdomen from me.

It felt like a rib or two might’ve cracked, but he ought to be grateful.

Edgar had seriously considered lopping off his arm.

Better to suffer a couple of broken ribs than end up one-armed, don’t you think?

“Ugh…”

“Well, we know nothing at all.”

Adventurers, who’d been slyly anticipating what would happen, averted their eyes from me as I scanned the scene.

The Adventurers’ Guild may be dirty, stinky, and loud, and far from a pleasant environment, but it was somehow comforting in its stupidity.

“I could’ve handled that.”

“Yeah, but if he lost an arm, he’d be in even bigger trouble. Fools like that ought to starve to death instead.”

“Since when did you ever care about that?”

“Didn’t you know? I just send people to the hospital enough so they don’t end up disabled.”

After washing away the fools, the atmosphere brightened significantly.

I spotted the reception desk secured behind iron fencing.

As I walked over, the guide looked tense, clearly having just witnessed someone flying across the room.

“Uh… Welcome! How can I assist you?”

“I need to see the branch manager. Please assist me.”

“Do you have a reservation? If you don’t have a reservation…”

Hearing that scripted response was enough to make me want to yawn.

“Yeah, sure, that makes sense.”

It’s still possible to meet with the branch manager without making a reservation.

I undid one of the things I always carry and showed it to the guide.

Clink.

“What… is this?”

When the guide laid eyes on my identification tag, his eyes widened in shock.

The pristine tag gleamed white, showing off its unblemished color.

“Is this… mithril? I sincerely apologize for my rudeness.”

“Let’s just meet the branch manager.”

“Yes! Yes!!”