An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 10: The Angel Caught in a Test (7)

Leffrey recognized the candidate who raised their hand.

A haughty expression that matched his slicked-back hair.

The blonde young man in a stylish suit had a tie pin with the White family's crest engraved on it.

'Jack White.'

The superhuman who would become the greatest hero in future Britain.

However, the problem was that he was the heir to the White family, a long-established noble and awakener family, and he was deeply prejudiced and arrogant.

Fortunately, he wasn't someone who doesn’t know of honor.

'He seems even more obnoxious because he's young.'

Leffrey looked around Jack.

The European awakener family candidates who had been with Jack were all turning away from him or glaring at each other.

'It seems their team fell apart during the first test. As expected, there's no need to form teams for this entrance exam.'

Perhaps this was what the professors wanted.

To mess with the candidates who teamed up.

Professor Klein Porphyrogennetos looked at Jack White and shook his head a few times as if disappointed.

"Jack, please get some rest."

"Excuse me?"

"Actually, the question of who wanted to go first only applied to these three people here. Those of you who entered the passages need to rest. You've worked hard."

Klein chuckled.

Jack bit his lip in anger.

"Just, I, will go, first."

"Why? Why are you in such a hurry to take the test? Ah, could it be... something happened during the previous test that damaged your reputation, Jack? So you're trying to quickly recover..."

"..."

Klein covered his mouth and bowed his head.

"Oops, that was a slip of the tongue. I didn't think it was actually true."

He then looked back at the three top scorers from the first test, including Leffrey.

"Is there anyone among you who would like to take the test first? No?"

As no one answered,

Klein clapped his hands once more.

"Then let's rest for a bit."

Hahaha- The professor's laughter filled the hall.

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The break time was nothing special. With a clap of Klein's hands, water and bite-sized food were placed in the center of the hall, along with potions that barely escaped being labeled as cheap.

'Bloody hell... a mere academy professor daring to insult me, the heir of the White family...'

Jack continued to seethe with anger from the humiliation he had received earlier, unconsciously searching for someone to vent his anger on.

'Preposterous, twisting the test like this? How can they judge skill with such a test?'

His dark inferiority complex was directed towards the three who had perfectly passed the first test. Competitors he couldn't help but envy, who stood in contrast to him, who had barely passed the test while abandoning his dignity. However, Yumari was the young lady of the Seocheon Yu, a family even more powerful than the White family, and he was afraid to mess with the Mooncat tribe, whose livelihood was assassination.

Then the only one left was that weak-looking boy…

"What? Is this for real?"

Jack was skeptical of the information his aide had sent him. Leffrey, of Korean origin, a complete orphan with no connections, not belonging to any power. His wealth was practically nonexistent. And…

"Presumed to have recently awakened?"

Crumple- Jack's fist, filled with anger, crumpled the paper at once. Jack immediately strode towards Leffrey.

"Hey!"

"...Are you calling me?"

Leffrey tilted his head. Seeing that, Jack felt his anger subside a bit.

'What kind of man is so...'

But the hardships and humiliation he had suffered during the previous test came to mind, filling Jack's head with anger once again. He had managed to escape that passage while suffering such shame, while this guy had just gone up to the surface by chance and gotten away with it.

'This kind of guy shouldn't be highly evaluated. So what I'm doing is justice...!'

Jack pushed Leffrey against the wall with a low voice.

"Ugh."

"You... give up on the exam."

"...Why should I?"

He said in a loud voice,

"Why? How did a weakling like you manage to get first place in the first test? With skill? No way. It was just luck."

"Luck is also a skill."

"Oh really? You're quite lucky considering you're wearing such a cheap T-shirt. Did you perhaps lack the skill to be born into a better family? Or the luck to meet better parents?"

"You!"

Jack lightly shoved Leffrey.

And muttered,

"I know everything. You have no backing, no family... and you're a lowly peasant who has to worry about what to eat tomorrow. But out of my mercy, if you give up on the exam right now and return to your filthy rat hole, I'll cleanly forget about you."

Jack sneered at Leffrey, who had fallen and couldn't get up.

"But if you shamelessly continue to challenge the exam, I'll bring justice upon you in the name of our family."

Jack laughed.

He thought he would feel a bit better after taking his anger out on this boy.

However…

'I feel sick...'

What was this disgusting feeling?

The expression that seemed to know nothing as he looked at him, the expression that held back anger at his insults, the expression of pain as he fell. Leffrey, who was literally a 'heavenly' beautiful boy, was enough to evoke sympathy with just his changing expressions.

'Damn it...'

That's right. What Jack was feeling was guilt.

Meanwhile, three girls were watching this commotion.

One was a black-haired girl with small horns and a taller stature than her peers. People called her Miss Mari of the Seocheon Yu.

Yumari was furious with Jack.

She didn't even think about the fact that she had told Leffrey to give up on the exam, and she was about to rush out and strike Jack's head.

She didn't want to see someone with the scent of the sky, someone with a fragile beauty,

being treated like that ever again.

However, she held back.

If doing such a thing made Leffrey realize the truth of this dirty world and leave, Yumari could easily close her eyes to it.

Although her fists would keep trembling…

Hongwol watched the scene from inside the box. And she swished her tail, thinking it was a good thing. After all, if Leffrey was cornered, wouldn't she be the only one he could rely on?

Leffrey had no family. So... he would have no one to rely on except her, with who he had formed a deep bond on that winter night.

And Soya was a little surprised.

'Oh really? You're quite lucky considering you're wearing such a cheap T-shirt. Did you perhaps lack the skill to be born into a better family? Or the luck to meet better parents?'

Mulling over the words Jack had just spouted,

Soya fell into thought.

'That boy, he wasn't born with a silver spoon.'

In fact, he was a child who could be called a dirt spoon, let alone a silver spoon. But…

'But to say he wouldn't take anything in return... even though he must need cash right now...'

Soya had always believed that she saw the world objectively and understood most things... but she couldn't understand this situation.

He was a truly strange boy.

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After the commotion subsided,

it was time for the test to begin again.

"Then who will..."

"I'll go first."

Once again, the candidate who raised their hand first was Jack White. There was nothing he wouldn't do to restore his tarnished reputation.

"Alright. Then, young master, you can go first. Please enter the attribute room of your choice. If you feel like your body is too injured to escape the room, don't hesitate to rip off the bracelet."

Jack nodded once and headed for the gray room without hesitation.

"The gray room. As expected of the White family."

"He'll be able to endure for 3 minutes. Damn it, that's why nobles are..."

Leffrey listened to the whispers of the people behind him and carefully observed the gray room Jack had entered.

'Gray magic is definitely the magic of the underworld. Jack is the next head of the White family, who uses necromancy, so he'll easily endure for 3 minutes.'

...It was a headache.

As if he didn't have enough to worry about, now he had to worry about Jack's sudden outburst.

"Alright! It's almost 3 minutes. And the young master's consciousness is still clear."

Klein, who had somehow brought out tea and snacks, quietly enjoyed his tea time while watching the room.

"3 minutes have passed. You have passed the test."

As expected, Jack easily surpassed 3 minutes. Now he just had to come out of the room and the test would be over. However, Jack didn't come out of the room even though 3 minutes had passed.

"...Oh ho. Are you perhaps aiming for a recommendation letter?"

Klein happily took a bite of a scone. (Bri’ish food)

3 minutes 20 seconds... 3 minutes 40 seconds... 4 minutes... and 4 minutes 10 seconds. At 20 seconds... 30 seconds, something happened. The door to the gray room opened.

In the end, Jack couldn't reach the 5-minute mark and rushed out.

The state Jack was in was dreadful. Most of his skin was stained gray due to underworld magic poisoning, and cloudy blood tears were streaming from his eyes.

Naturally, Jack had pushed himself too hard.

To make up for the disgrace he had shown in front of the European awakener family's children, and to receive Professor Klein's recommendation letter, which no one had ever received before…

Because that was the only way he could protect his honor.

With that single thought, he had pushed himself too far.

To the point where his life was in danger.

Even if he wanted to break the bracelet,

he had no strength left in his arms.

"H-Help me..."

But no one helped.

Professor Klein shook his head and ignored him, and the candidates who knew him were busy laughing at Jack's state.

Competition had made them cruel.

'I knew it from the moment he showed that pathetic side of himself.'

'What's he doing not breaking the bracelet? Does he think we're going to help him?'

'Ha, to think that's the next head of the White family... it's quite unsightly.'

And most of them didn't even care about the situation itself. They had nothing to do with it anyway. And there was no reason to do anything.

If one person dropped out like this, it was ultimately good for them.

A few looked at him with pity, but no one actually moved.

Jack hated these gazes that ignored him. But there was nothing he could do.

"Help..."

Tears welled up in Jack's eyes.

Jack felt it.

The gray mana gradually eroded the core of his mana circuit. If this area was damaged, it couldn't be healed with healing magic, and major surgery at an awakener specialized hospital would be necessary.

If he was even a little late, he would become a cripple unable to use mana.

Then…

'What if he becomes a complete cripple like that?'

'What? That would be good. We wouldn't have to worry about the Whites anymore.'

Shedding tears wasn't manly.

Shedding tears wasn't honorable.

Shedding tears was ugly.

So Jack held back his tears. No matter how much they welled up... At that moment, a sudden commotion came from afar.

"Get out of the way!"

"What?"

"Tsk, so arrogant just because he's the top scorer of the first test."

A boy was running towards him.

A boy who was desperately trying to reach him, pushing through the crowd with his small stature, as if he might be late. Jack couldn't hide the emotions welling up inside him.

Of course, Leffrey's thoughts were a bit different.

'Angelic Power!! That's my Angelic Power!!! Before that silver spoon rips off the bracelet and runs away, I'll heal him to farm Angelic Power and rip off a ton of money as repayment for the favor!'

Leffrey ran towards Jack with all his might. Jack, seeing Leffrey like that, felt... beyond just gratitude…

However, Leffrey was thinking about something else.

'Pizza, chicken, jjajangmyeon, tangsuyuk, sushi...' (jjajangmyeon. Noodles in black bean sauce | tangsuyuk. meat dish with sweet and sour sauce.)

These were the things he would order as soon as he got money. Including his past life, it had been at least five years since Leffrey had eaten out properly.

He was truly Leffrey, the angel of poverty…

'I can't miss this opportunity!'

An opportunity to get both Angelic Power and money.

Leffrey stood in front of Jack with an expression of genuine concern (in case his Angelic Power and money were stolen). Jack, seeing this beautiful boy who was genuinely worried about him, deeply regretted his previous actions.

There were still marks on Leffrey's neck that Jack had left.

Jack, looking at those marks…

Leffrey muttered in a voice filled with relief,

"...I'll heal you right away."

[Angelic Ability Activated]

The underworld mana that had been eroding Jack's body began to dissipate, surrendering to the true power of the heavens. Jack White's body was slowly but surely perfectly healed.

Along with it, status window messages popped up.

[Saving a life is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power]

[Healing your enemy is truly an angelic act!]

[You have gained a large amount of Angelic Power]

[Saving a future hero is truly an angelic act!]

[You have gained a large amount of Angelic Power]

Leffrey smiled brightly at the thought of having gained a large amount of Angelic Power and funds.

"Thank goodness."

It was truly a relief.

That Jack hadn't run away.

That he could eat pizza while tearing into chicken.

And since it was Western food, he should also have spaghetti.

"Thank goodness."

The boy's expression bloomed brightly.

Jack looked at the boy who had been treated so unfairly by him, yet had perfectly healed him and was now smiling in relief.

"Sob. Sniffle. Sniffle..."

Jack shed tears.