Academy Ankle Reaper

22. Newspaper Club Attack 3

On the evening of the day of the duel with Lemnos, Lucia Russell sat on a bench in the garden, waiting for her meeting with Atlas two hours before.

Lucia, who had been sitting blankly as if she had a lot to think about, occasionally slightly changed her expression, but strangely, her posture as she sat correctly did not even budge.

The students who occasionally passed by her were surprised to see Lucia sitting in an immobilized position, but she just passed by as she looked into the distance and looked at Lucia who was sitting still.

Atlas appeared in the garden about 20 minutes before the scheduled time.

“…. I’m here?”

“I thought you came quickly. How long have you been waiting?”

“Ehh… Rice…I didn’t wait that long…”

‘I must have waited a long time.’

Atlas didn’t believe Lucia’s words.

It wasn’t ‘I just came’ or ‘I didn’t wait’, I didn’t wait long.

She said it was a long wait.

By Lucia’s standards, she must have waited quite a long time.

“Go somewhere else?”

“Because a lot of people come here.”

It’s a deserted place, but I see students who come out for a walk every once in a while.

As if she didn’t like it, Lucia started moving to another location.

As she moves along behind Lucia, she arrives at a place she has never seen before, even though she is inside the academy building.

It looked like an empty classroom, but judging from the materials rolling around, it seems to have been a laboratory.

Yongkae knows a place like this.

“I found it because I was often chased.”

Atlas thought this would be a place to use later.

“I saw the duel, I won.”

“I saw it.”

“Lemnos’ target will be me for a while. He didn’t even use the Aura Blade as part of it, so when he wakes up, he must be pissed to the top of his head.”

“… Atlas was strong..”

“You understand now, right? Because I am very strong.”

“Yes, Atlas is strong… But I am also… Strong”

She said that she didn’t have to worry about things like Lemnos, but she confidently said she was strong herself, which was embarrassing for Lucia.

She definitely seems proud of her own strength.

“Um.. Yes, yes, you use a sword, but you have to be that stubborn.”

However, that level of self-assertion is necessary from the point of view of cutting.

Now then, it is important from here.

Atlas got to the point.

“For a while, Lemnos will only challenge me to a duel until he gets tired of it.”

“Not until you win..?”

“He can’t beat me with that mentality. If you fix your mind… You’ll know that the duel is meaningless as soon as it’s fixed. What’s important isn’t that

Because Lemnos is broken like that, he’ll only attack me, and then Russell, you won’t even come into my eyes anymore. “

Lucia was surprised once more.

As soon as the new semester started, the fact that Lemnos kept pushing for a duel was one of Lucia’s stress as she was banned from dueling, but Atlas said that she would take it for herself.

Thank you very much.

“…. I caused trouble again… I’m sorry.”

And I was very sorry.

I was able to indirectly experience how stressful it is to get involved in an incident like this just by looking at people in the hallway.

Atlas had already gone through that, and he said he would take on Lemnos himself.

“Because that is fine. Just do something behind the scenes.”

“Aftercare..?”

“Since Lemnos lost openly, there is a good chance that the other five pillars will move.”

“How… then… “

Lucia got her head spinning.

I couldn’t handle even one Lemnos, but what the hell would happen if the other three moved?

“You protect me.”

“I want you… ? Me… Strong, but probably weaker than Atlas…. How to protect someone stronger than me… I still don’t know… “

“I am not asking you to protect me by force. I can handle anything that poses a direct threat to my body. But I can’t stop you from coming in any other way.”

“I… “

“You are also the Five Pillars. The Five Pillars are mutually inviolable… Was it?”

Conflict is forbidden between the Five Pillars.

It’s possible to have a small fight or a duel without risking your life, but it’s impossible to fight by turning your back.

It is because the country will be shaken if the pillars that support the empire fight.

“You take my side.”

It seems like he just rushed at it without much thought, but Atlas made a hole to escape.

I guessed it based on the situation, but that was enough.

“Support me with the five pillars. That’s enough.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

“That’s enough. I’ll take care of the rest.”

If Russell, one of the same five pillars, declares that he supports and protects Atlas, it is difficult for the other five pillars to act behind the scenes.

To attack someone Russell declares to protect is to attack Russell.

“Really… If you’re okay with that… No, is that what you need?

… I owe you And don’t forget the rocks. I will do my best to protect you.”

“Can you give me something like a sentence? Anything with Russell’s crest on it will work.”

“Uh… I don’t have it right now… I’ll give it to you tomorrow… “

“Okay then see you tomorrow.”

When the promise was concluded, Atlas stretched as hard as he could.

Lucia thought it was cute that Atlas’s small hands rose up in front of her eyes.

“Ha~ I’ve had a good time with this.”

With the protection of the five pillars, most unreasonable things in the academy will be blocked.

There might be some guys who don’t know and rush at me, but I’ll just have to lay them down… It felt good to think that I would get a little older in the future.

But even though Lucia had given her enough, she seemed uncomfortable.

“… Sorry..”

“What else?”

“.. When we first met.. I said I was small..”

“Ah~ something like that happened”

“You were very angry at that time.. Because you were hated.. I thought you would never speak to me again..”

Atlas was angry at that time, but there were many things he forgot now.

I think it’s because I’ve seen a lot of worse guys… It’s a strange feeling.

Lucia said she was sorry, and thanks to that incident, she was protected like this now, so she should think positively.

“This is what I look like… I like small things…. “

Without speaking, Atlas knew everything.

I know that I like small things, that I like cute things, that I have liked it since I was little but was banned, and that’s why I long for it even more.

That longing was the reason why she couldn’t resist her devil’s temptation.

In the novel, I met Atlas, who had a much worse personality than I do now, and was rejected after hearing harsh words.

Suddenly, in Atlas’ mind, what River had said before came to mind.

“I like small things, so I like them too… My body was the purpose… !”

“Eh?”

Lucia’s face, which had been blank for a moment as if her head had not yet understood it, rapidly turned red like a carrot.

“That… It’s not like that..!!”

No, she raises her hand, but her arm is shaking.

You look very surprised.

“It’s a joke, a joke.”

“….I like it, but… But now it’s different…”

I thought it was a joke, but now that I think about it, I think I heard the truth for a while.

‘I like it…But?’

Looks like he was aiming for the body.

Atlas vowed to stay vigilant.

I am stronger now, but I don’t know what will happen later.

“It’s a bit complicated. I wish I was exactly the same height as you.”

“I don’t like being this big…”

“Isn’t it cute?”

“… Huh”

“That’s why both of them are dissatisfied with their height”

Atlas is dissatisfied with his short stature, and Lucia is dissatisfied with his tall stature.

It’s a strange combination where each wants each other’s height.

“”Atlas… Can I ask you one more favor..?”

“What is it?”

What kind of relationship do we have?

It’s just a relationship that somehow happened to flow, but Lucia liked this relationship quite a bit.

It doesn’t even invade her own space… I liked this distance where we could touch each other and be soft.

“I am not Russell… Call me Lucia.”

“By name? Ugh…. Yes Lucia. If you want.”

Lucia doesn’t know what Atlas thinks.

At least Lucia wanted to think of Atlas as her friend.

She said that she wants to get closer in the future.

—————————————————-

Lucia was in a good mood while going to school.

I had a long conversation with Atlas last night.

This is the first time I have had such a long conversation with a boy my age.

The two of us even made a promise.

Lucia helps Atlas as much as Atlas helped her Lucia.

It’s a good contract for each other.

It is a contract between the two of you that no one else knows about.

‘Well.. Will it suit you..?’

In Lucia’s pocket is a necklace she prepared to give to Atlas.

A luxurious necklace with Russell’s patterns engraved on it.

It’s one of the accessories I received as a gift when I was young, and it was uncomfortable when I was receiving swordsmanship instruction, so it was all stuck in a corner.

Lucia had a ring engraved with the more important family pattern, so it didn’t matter if she gave it to Atlas.

I can count on one hand the number of times I received a gift and wore it.

Since Atlas and I are in the same class, Russell headed to the academy in a happy mood after a long time, thinking that he would tell them when he met them.

“The duel is… invalidity… The truth of the ugly dwarfs?”

The Academy once again failed Lucia’s expectations.