The Academy’s Ankle Reaper

Gremlin.

The nickname that would make blood boil, born during his time as a member of the Snow Country Exploration Team, comes with a notorious reputation.

He was determined to find relics from an ancient kingdom that had never revealed its existence within the empire-certified Magical Realm of Snow Country. He clashed with various factions within the empire, and there wasn’t a single testimony claiming Gremlin had ever been pushed back.

He crushed everything that stood in his way.

All obstacles blocking the path of the Snow Country Exploration Team fell before Gremlin’s blade.

The bank branch manager who had previously rejected a loan to Bella and mocked the ruins of ancient civilization, the doctor from the academy who dismissed them as a scam, and the lord who threatened the exploration team member Dwarf with toll fees to pass through lands they had to traverse—all were smashed to the brink of death.

The scariest part is, when an individual rampages like that, you’d expect someone to intervene… Yet he had hunted dragons single-handedly and walked around wearing mithril plates, leaving one to wonder what kind of backing he had, as no one dared stop him.

People remember when he finished the exploration mission and returned.

He made appearances at the auction house and the academy, bragging that he found relics in the Snow Country and filled with treasures, asking for proper verification to retrieve their worth.

He also added that if they tried to undermine or belittle him, he’d make sure to pay them a visit.

Everyone remembered the killing intent he radiated and how he brandished his sword; no one could forget it.

Even with that memory, they couldn’t help but feel helpless.

——————————

This can’t be happening.

Today was supposed to be my lucky day. Based on my jinx, today was meant for nothing but good, so why was this happening?

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

George was startled, memories of fear flashing in his mind.

A scream escaped his lips unconsciously.

The blonde Gremlin was approaching.

He could already see him darting down the hallway outside, making the guards look like fools.

What was truly terrifying was the fact that, while he was effortlessly cutting down those seasoned guards, his eyes were fixed on George.

It felt like a warning saying, “This is your future,” as he effortlessly butchered the guards composed of experts at the intermediate level and above, without even glancing at them.

It was clear to anyone that he was playing around.

Even though he could move quickly, he deliberately took his time to let George feel sufficient fear.

“Block him… You stupid idiots, BLOCK HIM!!!”

George shouted frantically, foam gathering at his mouth.

But there were no subordinates ready to respond.

The only ones nearby were people to help George escape; anyone capable of fighting was being slaughtered in real-time down that hallway.

“Count, you need to escape!!”

“Where am I supposed to go if I run away from my own establishment!!!”

As George spat out his rebuttal, bubbling foam frothed from his mouth.

The place he was in was none other than the auction house he owned; if he fled from here, where would he go?

However, this auction house had prepared for such scenarios.

How many thieves came for rare treasures, let alone one intruder? He felt he wouldn’t be completely robbed.

“Quick… to the safe!”

“Ugh… AAAAAAAGH!!!”

Right in front of George’s office, blood erupted from the body of one subordinate.

In the meantime, the remaining subordinates hoisted George up and slid down the emergency exit, arriving in a dark room.

In this room, deep underground, there was a safe where treasures for the auction were stored.

Fortunately, there wasn’t an auction this week, so the safe was currently empty, allowing them to open the door immediately.

-Swoosh

As George entered the safe, he heard someone sliding down the slope.

It was the Gremlin.

What would happen if he came down before the door even closed?

That thick door would be utterly pointless.

George, veins bulging in his neck, urged his subordinates.

“Close it!! Close it, hurry!! Do you all want to die!!!”

“Ugh… AAAAAH!!!”

-Thud!

The safe door closed.

“Ha… Hahahahahaha!!! That Gremlin seemed so relaxed, now he gets what he deserves, damn it!!”

Seeing the tightly shut safe door, George burst out laughing as reality sank back in.

Feeling finally safe, he fiddled with his mustache that had shot up toward the sky and confidently stood up.

“How dare you invade the auction house, an empire-certified establishment!! It’s too late! I’ve summoned the soldiers, and your audacious actions will be dealt with by the grand laws of the empire!!!”

He knew that the thick safe door was unlikely to carry sound to the Gremlin outside, but still, he boldly continued addressing him.

Before taking his leave, his subordinates had pressed the emergency alert button.

This was no backwoods; this was the capital of the empire.

In just a moment, armed soldiers would rush in and surround the Gremlin.

George just had to wait inside for the soldiers to arrive.

-Thud!!

“Cough… Coughcough! You don’t think that’s just a plain iron door, do you?”

Hearing the sound of metal being struck from outside the door, George chuckled.

There was no way something simply made of thick iron could withstand that.

The safe had four layers of powerful defensive magic installed.

It wasn’t the kind of magic that mere magicians would hurriedly set up in battle; it was installed carefully for a specific terrain.

Certified by the Magic Tower, this safe was said not to break, even if hit directly by a dragon’s breath.

Only three people could open this safe; George was one of them inside, one was abroad, and the other could never be touched, making it impossible for the Gremlin to enter.

“… then shouldn’t that sound also stop?”

“What did you say?”

Just as the subordinate finished speaking, the noise reverberating from the safe halted.

And then—

-Swoosh!

“AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!”

A sword shot out through the iron door, stopping right in front of George’s nose.

It was impossible for a sword to penetrate like that.

Yet, the sword before his eyes was a reality.

Inconceivable but realized, that horrifying spectacle made George crack.

But the shocking part didn’t end there.

-Whooosh!

George thought his eyes were deceiving him.

Not only did it pierce through, but it began slicing through the iron door as if it were butter.

How could such a thing happen? He didn’t want to understand.

After a few slashes, a hole large enough for a person to enter opened up in what had appeared cold and heavy iron, and a small figure trotted inside.

“Did you really think you’d be let off just because you believed in such nonsense? Your courage must be growing outside your body.”

——————————

The first place he visited was the auction house.

The auction house owner, George, was a noble steeped in pretense, but in reality, he was a coward.

He had turned cooperative and showed no concerns after being trampled once, but truly, a person ruled by fear easily succumbs before greater fear.

“I’m s-sorry!! But I couldn’t help it!! Please, forgive me just this once!!!”

George’s face was a mess.

His once carefully arranged mustache was completely undone, his neatly dressed outfit was in tatters, and his face bore bruises swollen red.

After stepping in, he was immediately pounded without hearing any justification.

Sitting on the floor, he desperately tried to justify himself.

He claimed he had no such intentions but was forced by external pressure.

“Who did this?”

“The Magic Tower!! It was from the Magic Tower!! They sent a letter!!”

A letter from the Magic Tower; the voice came from someone who occasionally visited places linked to it.

Only the archmages, who have direct operational rights over the Magic Tower, along with Hoenheim himself, could send such letters.

If Hoenheim sent it, he surely would have affixed his seal.

“Did you see the seal?”

“Seal? Uh… I… can’t remember… It all burned away…!!”

Seals burn away to avoid duplication, confirming they vanish upon verification.

That was true, but his inability to recall the seal was suspicious.

“You say it was unavoidable?”

“Y-yes!!”

“Did I ask you to help ensure I received the correct payment with just words? Did you forget the favors I did to settle those troublesome underground groups?”

Though he posed a threat, it was not an one-sided transaction.

I had resolved the most pressing issues they faced back then, and in return, I had secured a promise for fair evaluation and a legitimate deal.

And now he was going back on that?

“But… you disappeared.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t return?”

-Thwack!!

“Guh??”

I punched George squarely in the face, causing a few white shards to fly from his mouth.

Maintaining the title of Master of Near-Death, I was only rendering him incapable of death.

“You… You’re just scared of the Magic Tower… and only dare hit someone like me… you mithril scoundrel…”

George, teeth missing, staggered and spoke to me, but that was a misstatement.

“Me? Don’t worry. I’ll send whoever sent the letter to you right next to your hospital room.”

George’s eyes widened.

“Y-You madman.”

“Better listen well.”