An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 130: The Angel Who Prevents Terrorism (3)

A technique to handle Karma.

It must be incredibly powerful, whatever it was.

If magic is about controlling mana, martial arts about controlling ki, and ESP about controlling psychic phenomena, then a technique that handles karma, a power that exists at the apex of all those powers…

‘It must be very, very powerful…!’

The eyes of Leffrey, the Speculation Angel, shone.

Leffrey spoke with a voice full of excitement.

“Yes, please teach me.”

Hearing those words, Iriel smiled gently once more. Leffrey’s eyes twinkling with anticipation, and his earnest expression.

‘This time, I'll be able to keep Leffriel under control.’

Iriel, as always, didn’t trust angels. Ever since a certain archangel whom she respected became the demon king who sought the world’s destruction, she couldn’t bring herself to trust any angel.

Even if Leffriel was behaving himself…

Even if he had lost his cruel memories…

Iriel opened her mouth,

“But there's a condition.”

“What’s the condition?”

“If I teach you this technique, then you must grant one of my requests someday. It’s a promise.”

Iriel added, "A promise made in Heaven’s name."

‘What’s a promise made in Heaven’s name? Is it like a mana oath?’

Considering it had the word “Heaven” in it, it’s probably an even stronger promise than a mana oath. Then that means there would be a greater penalty for breaking it.

“Hmm…”

Leffrey couldn’t help but hesitate. Iriel, seeing that, added in a slightly frantic voice,

“What? Thousands of lives could be lost at any moment, and you’re hesitating over this?”

“…What if you ask me to do something like this? To increase the number of favors I owe you to a hundred?”

Leffrey asked seriously. However, Iriel only spat out cold words with an expression of disbelief.

“Leffriel, you really have lost your memory.”

“W-what? I was being serious. Doesn’t everyone think about this kind of thing when they read about a genie in a lamp?”

Leffrey continued,

“Besides that, what if you ask me to join the demon king, or ask me to kill someone, or even ask me to hurt someone.”

“Just what kind of person do you think I am?”

Iriel firmly shook her head.

“No, I suppose it's natural to have such suspicions of me. After all, I’m also a remnant of Heaven, and most of those who were also remnants have already broken the world.”

Then she scurried behind the railing and started muttering to herself,

“I talked too much today. I’m tired… this is why I hate being outside my blanket…”

“No, really! Just teach me already! It’s urgent!”

“Then swear.”

Thousands of innocent lives were in danger, at risk of being killed in a terrorist attack. But Leffrey didn’t know who was behind it or even where it would happen.

‘If I knew how to handle karma, then I could easily find those hidden terrorists.’

“But what if I fail to learn it…?”

“I’m the first professor of this academy, the one who taught the current professors. I’m confident in my ability to teach.”

Iriel whispered once again,

“Swear, now.”

In the first place, she’s a crazy angel who slammed another world into the human world without a word. No one knows how many people died because of it.

Would an angel like that even care if another few thousand died?

Thump- Thump-

Ultimately, this was a battle Leffrey couldn’t win.

“Haah, I’ll… I’ll swear, but only if I can add a few clauses…”

“Tell me.”

“First, no copying the favor. Second, no requests that involve hurting others. And third, no requests that would benefit the demon king.”

And Leffrey, as if he had lost, spread his arms wide.

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“...You’ve really changed a lot.”

The golden-haired girl finally descended the silver stairs. The girl, in a white dress, looked so delicate and small, possessing an ethereal beauty that seemed not to belong to this world.

“Then, let’s make a promise.”

Iriel spread her wings. Although her wings have become quite tattered due to various incidents, they still retained a certain angelic dignity.

Just what on earth was about to happen,

For Iriel to even spread her wings that she had been hiding.

“I’ll only make requests that follow those three clauses, and you, in return, must grant my request. It’s a promise.”

“Alright. In return, Headmaster, you’ll teach me how to handle karma.”

Iriel then…

…Held out her pinky finger to Leffrey.

“Promise.”

‘…This is the promise made in Heaven’s name?’

Thus, the two angels locked pinkies.

“Good, then follow me.”

Iriel, smiling with satisfaction, immediately turned and walked deeper into the Silver Castle, not even looking at Leffrey.

“I'll start the special lesson.”

* * *

Headmaster Iriel, known as a professor of professors, a genius who created the six department system of the Central Superhuman Academy, Swordsmanship, Martial Arts, Assassination, Magical Studies, Archery, and Theology, because of that, some considered her a historical figure.

‘So even if she looks like this…’

Stretched-out T-shirts scattered everywhere, messy tables that hadn't been organized. Something that looks like toys strewn about.

A TV displaying ‘You Died’, a game console beneath it, an empty bag of chips next to it. And signs that Iriel had been rolling around on the floor.

‘Even if she looks like this… Iriel must still be a great teacher……!’

Leffrey had no choice but to believe in Iriel.

“I’m not very good at cleaning…….”

Iriel, as if embarrassed by this state of her room, was subtly trying to hide the mess by kicking things away.

Leffrey’s fantasy of Iriel, the mysterious and beautiful princess of the other world, was completely shattered.

At that moment, a novel caught his eye.

The cover was a colorful illustration that you would usually see on a comic book, but essentially, it was a novel. In Leffrey's common sense, such novels were called ‘light novels’ or ‘short novels’.

But the title…

“The title of this novel… ‘Our Demon King is so Cute’?”

“Ah, th-that’s…”

Leffrey, looking at Iriel with a suspicious gaze,

‘Don’t tell me… Iriel, the Pro-North Korean Angel?’ (TL Note: Literally that’s what it translates too lmao)

Leffrey, looking at Iriel as if she were truly pathetic, said,

“You… you’re praising the demon king? This is practically subversive literature.”

“Calm down. It’s just a novel.”

But Leffrey, having caught her red-handed, wouldn’t let it go.

“No, the novel aside, why on earth are you living like this? You live without cleaning?”

“Ugh. Just you wait. Live on earth long enough, and you’ll become lazy like me in no time. And aside from that, I can’t stay outside for long…”

Fidget, fidget, fidget- Iriel stammered out clumsy excuses.

Leffrey sighed,

Then he looked at Iriel and muttered,

“Okay, I understand, just teach me the technique already.”

“Alright. The training tools should be somewhere here…”

Iriel began rummaging through the pile of junk in the corner of the room. Thump—Crash—Rustle—Rustle—Aaaargh—

Aaaargh? Leffrey tilted his head at that sound. Just what was inside that pile of junk?

“Leffriel, do you prefer Western paintings? Or Eastern paintings?”

“...I don’t really know much about art.”

“Then just choose one.”

Hmm—Leffrey said without much thought, “If I had to choose, Eastern paintings?” And Iriel, as if she understood,

…came back holding something red in her hand.

“Phew, that was buried deep.”

“Wait, is that…?”

And that red something was a deck of cards, something people commonly called *hwatu*.

(TL Note: It’s Korean playing cards, if you want a visual on it just search ‘hwatu cards’)

“What are we going to do with this?”

“What else? We’re going to train to handle karma.”

Training? What kind of training requires hwatu?

“Actually, this training is more effective with playing cards, but it can’t be helped if you prefer hwatu.”

“Wait, playing cards? Hwatu? What kind of training requires cards?”

Iriel, skillfully shuffling the hwatu deck, said,

“What do you think? Hurry up and sit down.”

“…Wait, are you really an angel?”

Leffrey was one step away from becoming the Gambling Angel. And at this rate, he might even become the Apocalypse Angel.

(TL Note: Apocalypse Angel[In the raw korean text not the translated english one] refers to when a leader of a religion preach about the world coming to an end, and so they should give all their assets to the leader. OR I MIGHT JUST BE FOCUSING ON IT TOO MUCH FOR ONE HOUR STRAIGHT, TRYING TO FIND A KOREAN REFERENCE THAT DOESN’T EXIST.)

‘I have no idea what she’s thinking, but if I can learn a technique to control karma…’

Leffrey sat down in front of Iriel.

And muttered,

“Um, I don’t know any games played with Hwatu. Give me the playing cards instead.”

* * *

“What does it mean to determine the direction of the world? The direction of the world means an unavoidable fate, and fate means a predetermined outcome.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

Leffrey, unlike the relaxed Iriel, was making a pained expression. A mountain of coins was piling up in front of Iriel.

“I’m all-in…”

“If you can read the symbols and understand the flow, you can predict the outcome.”

And the result of their poker game was…

“Bust? N-no more money?”

Leffrey, completely cleaned out, could only make a sad face while muttering, “I’ve really become the Apocalypse Angel…”

“What does this even have to do with karma?”

“It has a lot to do with it.”

“Haah, I don’t have time for this. If you’re not going to teach me how to actually use karma, then I’m leaving.”

“…Then you’ll just lose the only chance to stop the terrorist attack.”

Ugh- Urk- Leffrey, frustrated, patted his chest.

“Sit down, now.”

“But I…”

Leffrey muttered in embarrassment.

“I already went all-in earlier…”

“Have you ever heard of Iriel, the Loan Shark Angel?”

Iriel smiled brightly.

‘What’s a Loan Shark Angel…?!’

Sometimes, Leffrey couldn’t understand what kind of being an angel truly was. Anyway, Leffrey ended up borrowing another 10,000 won. (TL Note: 10,000 won is about 8 USD.)

Iriel, not even looking at Leffrey who was in tears, asked while focusing all her attention on the cards.

“Have you heard that song?”

“What song?”

“It’s an OST from a movie about a girl who becomes an assassin. It’s quite famous, so you must have heard it.”

A movie about a girl who becomes an assassin. Leffrey knew the movie. It was about a stoic assassin who accidentally ends up protecting a girl, then teaches her how to assassinate people. (TL Note: HOLY SHIT, LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL?!?! If you don’t know, it’s a French movie that’s made in english and boy was it really popular in korea.)

“The song goes like this. Spades are the swords of a soldier, clubs are weapons of war, and a diamond represents the money at stake.”

(TL Note: Song is from Sting - Shape of My Heart, Leon: The Professional used that song in the movie.)

Leffrey nodded.

He definitely remembered hearing that song before.

It was because it was such a famous song.

“I told you before, right? To read the symbols and understand the flow.”

To read a card’s symbols. It was like a fortune-teller reading tarot cards.

Leffrey, dissatisfied, muttered,

“To read the symbols of cards, am I some kind of gypsy fortune-teller…”

At that moment, Iriel’s eyes gleamed.

“Leffriel.”

“Yes?”

“That's exactly a fragment of this technique. Prophets who appear in holy books, the fortune-tellers who wander the streets. What they have in common is...”

The headmaster, shuffling the cards, muttered,

“…that they speak of fate.”

“Ah, you mean they're all con artist?”

“…You truly have no faith.”

Thus, the card game between Leffrey and Iriel continued.