Academy Ankle Reaper

10. How to tame a wolf

There was a fight from the first day, but everyone thought it was a fun spectacle.

A duel is like that.

When I heard the last name, it wasn’t that great of a family.

Seymour, who is much more prestigious, is a family that doesn’t have to worry about cleaning up at all.

Thinking about that, I don’t think River asked for a duel, though.

‘Charles Frazier… I need to remember.’

However, the look in his eyes as he glared at River and Amy after the duel was not something to be overlooked.

Let’s remember that we may do something later.

No one cared about the difference between winning and losing in a fair duel, just as no one would protect the recommended admissions students even though they treated them badly.

Because it was very natural here.

It is natural in this world that the strong bully the weak, that individual disputes are resolved through duels, and that there is no legal problem even if one person dies.

————————————————————————-

My first day at the academy went by without much fuss.

For about a week, this kind of situation will continue.

In the first week, all the professors did little more than introduce themselves and explain their future plans, and it seems that the discerning students are fiercely fighting each other.

Most classes were united around the ‘Five Pillars’, but our class was an exception.

“Russell..!! Where did you disappear to?”

“I’ll look over there.”

Day 1 Class is over and everyone is scattering, but the hallway is noisy.

Students in the same class were busy looking for someone.

I didn’t even have to find out who I was looking for.

“I’m looking for you, can I not go?”

“… !”

It was because Lucia was slightly sticking her head out in the nearest corner, observing their movements.

When I talked to her, Lucia was startled and hugged me.

“Shh… “

With a height difference of nearly 40cm, Lucia hugged me and her face was buried in her chest, but Lucia didn’t care.

The soft cushion covers her face effectively.

‘… I feel bad, but it’s good. It’s a complicated feeling.’

It is difficult to breathe properly because the mouth and nose are compressed. As she breathed in her breath with all her might, Lucia’s arms smelled of the sweet and pungent floral scent of high-quality balm.

I felt a little bit emotional when I first saw the difference in height between Lucia and I, along with the words “Small” I had heard when I first saw it, but I didn’t shake it off because the comfortable cushion feeling was quite luxurious.

It must mean to be quiet. It’s so big, but it hides well without even being noticed by dragons.

The reason our class was unusual was because Lucia was very shy and ran away when people crowded around her.

With no central pillar in sight, the students who were loyal to the Five Pillars family were taken aback. When the tiger vacated, the fox-like creatures are looking for an opportunity to pretend to be the masters.

Lucia realized that she was hugging me when she confirmed that the group she was looking for had completely disappeared in a different direction.

“… !!”

The soft cushion feeling disappears.

Lucia blushed as she realized what she was doing.

“This is… “

The bewildered Lucia tried to say something, but the time for sparring with the river is getting closer.

“Yes, there must have been some circumstances, I have something to do..”

As I turned my back and tried to go, Lucia grabbed my hand.

“Wait a minute..!”

“Do you have more business?”

Perhaps she was choosing what to say, Lucia kept her mouth shut for a moment and hung her head down without saying anything.

She said she had something to say, so I tried to listen…

“… Only once..”

In her fidgety words, Lucia caught her breath, her ruddy face restlessly ragged.

“Even if I hug you one more time… will it?”

“I hate it.”

She ran away without looking back.

Her first day at her academy came to an end.

———————————————————————-

In my free time before dinner, I arrived at the clearing I met River in the morning.

At the vacant lot, River had arrived and was waiting.

He doesn’t usually smile that much, but a faint smile forms on River’s face as he waits with a scimitar around his waist.

Yes, that smile.

That guy was smiling like that even when we had a duel in the morning.

Education to live righteously is education to run into injustice head-on, but fundamentally, it must be because of that personality that likes to fight, but with that personality, mediocre skills are rather poisonous.

Also, if you hit it head-on, you may get caught in the wrong place and die.

If River really boarded the protagonist’s destiny… You have to be equipped with enough skills to not be killed in a suspicious place.

“You hated me so much until the morning, what kind of wind is blowing all of a sudden?”

“You’re too weak, so you need to get stronger.”

“Am I weak?”

“Yes, I am weak.”

“I am… Weak… It’s fun. How strong are you?”

“I can’t even compare to you… Yes, it’s disadvantageous to just do it, so let’s do this. During this sparring, I won’t be using any other plant foods other than the four basic postures.”

“Ha..! It looked shallow… “

River strikes a pose.

Bending his legs forward and raising his sword a little, he looked like a wild beast ready to run at any moment,

This is the wolf’s posture, the basic swordsmanship posture of the empire.

The posture of a wolf, which is similar to that of a wolf with its fangs out towards its prey, is the starting point for all herbivorous techniques in Seymour style swordsmanship.

As soon as that arrogant nobleman saw that stance, he just blocked the frantic attack, and soon the match was won.

”I won’t let you say that again..!”

To cope with that, I straightened my back and slightly lowered my sword.

It is one of the basic stances of imperial swordsmanship, called the stance of a snake because it resembles a snake crawling on the ground aiming for prey.

The golden wolf started running.

At that speed, he could have dug into the side, but perhaps his pride was hurt, so he rushed head-on to break the defenses.

The scimitar is still fixed on the wide, easy-to-swing song located in the middle as it is in the ready position.

In an instant, I closed the distance and approached the range of my longsword that I could see with my eyes.

What kind of movement will he attack?

A distance where swords could touch each other.

Suddenly, the sword should move.

If there is no movement, stabbing with that posture,

Slash while slightly deflecting my long sword,

The easiest thing to do is to sever your arm while keeping the two swords interlocking and suppressing the movement that will attack you.

It’s easy to think of fighting with swordsmanship as playing a fighting game with your own body.

The one who panics loses unconditionally.

River’s sword moved.

Foreseeing what action it would lead to, my longsword also moved at the same time.

-Chang!!

The scimitar and long sword interlocked.

“Bout.”

Reaver’s scimitar was blocked by the longsword’s crossguard, and the tip of my longsword pointed at Reaver’s neck.

On the other hand, if I had applied a little more force, I would have fatally wounded River’s neck.

River’s first move was to twist the trajectory and slash, pretending to engage the swords.

After reading that, I changed from a snake’s stance to a wolf’s stance, raised my longsword, blocked the scimitar’s trajectory with a cross guard, and at the same time thrust the tip of the sword into Reaver’s throat.

I thought I won a match against River, but it must be puzzling since I was the one who got hurt.

“You’re not going to say this is the end, are you?”

“One round.. More..!”

Reaver, who confirmed that frontal psychological warfare was unwinnable, used his unique mobility this time.

Out of the range of the long sword, digging into the side, confusing which side to strike, and then launching a stabbing attack from a square.

In the first place, not knowing that the gap itself was a bait, River’s scimitar, which he had bitten off, sliced through the air, and the blade of the long sword lightly touched his shoulder.

“How is it, do you think you have enough skills to shout?”

“Ah… !”

River’s expression distorted a little.

Through the two battles, River must have realized that there is a big difference in skill between me and me.

But maybe it’s because of pride, or maybe there’s something more to check… River did not stop sparring.

“Ha ha… Ha ha…”

The aspect hasn’t changed much since then.

No matter how many ways River prepares and enters, the moment I move, the match will be won.

The sword of latecomers (後發先至), the sword that moves late and arrives first, is a high-difficulty skill that can only come out when you completely see through the opponent.

In the case of River, who uses the swordsmanship of the first choice, it must be a burning situation.

It wasn’t even a great swordsmanship, it was just using the basic 4 stances and destroying the family’s secret swordsmanship.

I know that I can’t win because of the difference in ability right now, but I don’t know if it’s to gain experience, if I still think it’s worth it, or if I can’t admit it.

However, River was desperately attacking me, and I could be sure that the spirit of not giving up was innate to the protagonist’s destiny.

In this world, even if you don’t know anything else, you can succeed unconditionally even if you do not give up even if you are blocked by a wall and thorough self-justification.

“You can be much stronger than this.”

I spoke first when we were continuing sparring without any signal from each other.

The sparring is already over.

All I’m doing right now is that I’m coping with River’s compulsion,

It is necessary to talk about this next time.

“My goal is to get you to the top level of Expert by the end of this school year.”

“Haa.. Haa.. The highest level of expert is right below the master… Is that possible?”

Once again, Reaver’s scimitar cut through the air.

I should have stepped properly, but when River tried to roll on the floor with his feet getting tangled, I supported River’s torso with my right arm.

“It’s all you do, why can’t you?”

Me and River’s bodies were pressed together.

Supporting his body with his small kidney, he turned his head and saw River’s pink nape right in front of him.

Sniff sniff

I had no idea.

Since it was right in front of my eyes, I inadvertently sniffed it.

River’s body was covered with sweat from the series of sparring, and his breathing was rough.

He was sweating profusely to the point of being so damp, but there was no unpleasant smell.

It had a refreshing scent of citrus.

“… !”

Perhaps he knew he had smelled it, River shrugged off his arm and moved away.

“What what… !! No, why do you smell sweat?”

“You just stayed by my side. It smells good. What perfume do you use?”

“Ah.. I don’t use that kind of thing!!!”

Unlike before, while panicking

“What is a disciple? Are you not aiming for my body?”

“Are you crazy!”

With his face reddened, River left the vacant lot at a much faster speed than when he sparred a moment ago.

I got a strange misunderstanding,

But it smelled good.

If you want to chase, you can catch up quickly, but I just looked in the direction where River disappeared far away.

“Then… Shall we take care of that as well?”

——————————————————

At sunset, a group of assailants with masks covering their faces gathered at the foot of a mountain near the dormitory.

They didn’t even wear a brooch to prove their student status, and apart from wearing masks, they all had one thing in common: they all had ugly weapons in their hands.

“Remember, blonde hair and amber eyes.”

As the assailant, who seemed to be the leader, explained the characteristics in detail, the rest of the assailants all nodded.

The foot of the mountain they were waiting for was located near the dormitory, and it was the only road connecting the dormitory from the vacant lot that River and Atlas had been eyeing.

The masked assailants were hiding in the bushes in the only passageway, waiting for River to return to the dormitory.

“Boss, no matter how much, this is a bit… Could it be severe… ? The opponent is also a noble… “

“A Frasier always pays back his grudge. She was bitten by a southern guard dog and how could she lift her face!!”

When the assailant right behind the captain spoke up, the captain lost his temper and took off his mask.

The face revealed in it was Charles, who had been defeated in a duel with River in the morning.

“We just have a ‘duel’. I asked for a 6v6 team fight, but that bitch just went into a duel alone. Even the unsavory things that will happen after that are our legitimate rights after winning the duel.”

“I wonder what the inside of a guard dog is like,”

“So when is he coming? I’m going to choke.”

The assailants gathered here were all his students.

The son of a viscount who belongs to the vassal group, an aspiring knight who entered the exam, a friend who just followed because it looked fun, etc.

These are the people who joined the rubbish proposal that a group of people go and harass a boy in a one-on-one duel with a girl.

“The time has come to pass… In just a little while, the dormitory is curfew, so I will definitely be back!”

“Hmm~ I see.”

So you don’t need mercy, I slowly emerged from hiding in the shadow of the tree.

“What?? What are you doing!!”

“I don’t know, what should I do with this… River won’t come this way?”