An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 138: The Angel Who Goes on a Date (3)

In a way, it was the perfect plan. Yumari and Hongwol had families, so they would have to return home during school vacation.

Only by targeting the time when those two—taller than herself and with better backgrounds—were absent could Soya monopolize Leffrey. And.

‘I have to use this time, when they're both gone…’

Soya muttered, her cheeks flushing as she imagined it.

“The perfect plan.”

But plans are always bound to be broken.

At that moment, she heard the boy's footsteps. Soya, her ear pressed against the door, waited for his voice.

“I stopped by Professor Hexi’s room and borrowed some clothes. But I don't know if they’ll fit.”

Even his flustered voice sounded beautiful. Soya, momentarily mesmerized by that voice, said,

“It’s fine, as long as they somewhat fit. We’re going shopping for new clothes anyway.”

It was a little annoying that she had to borrow Professor Hexi's clothes to go outside, but it didn’t matter.

“I’m cold, hurry up and give them to me.”

Right now, Soya was closer to Leffrey than anyone else.

“Okay.”

She peeked outside. Leffrey’s cheeks were flushed. Leffrey, blushing as he made eye contact with her.

Soya felt a surge of emotions she couldn’t name. It quickened her breath.

To hide those feelings, she muttered a word. Not knowing to whom she was saying it to.

“…Pervert.”

Leffrey, of course, thought those words were directed at him and lamented, ‘So I’ve finally become Leffrey, the Perverted Angel.’

“Are you dressed?”

“…Yes.”

“Then wait a moment, Professor Klein will check on you.”

“Huh?”

A sudden declaration of what Soya considered as black magic hate. The fact that Professor Klein is going to be checking on her, it meant that Soya’s perfect plan had already begun to crumble.

“Th-There’s no need for that, is there?”

“No need?! Do you know how dangerous magic experiment accidents can be!”

Creeeeak- The door opened with a creaking sound. Soya shouted “W-Wait a minute!” but the door continued to open.

And when Klein saw Soya…

…He gave a bitter smile and said,

“Leffrey, this…”

* * *

Early in the morning, Hexi sipped on her coffee and thought.

‘It has begun.’

The competition for the angel. Perhaps that's the reason why Soya had transformed like this.

‘Even before the empire fell, people fought fiercely to claim Iriel-nim. Then for a perfect angel…’

A priceless Heavenly Power. And the concept of salvation that an angel could offer. The fanaticism of countless people who believe in Heaven.

‘An angel is Heaven. And humans obey Heaven.’

With that thought in mind, Hexi recalled an organization that had been rapidly growing recently.

‘Was it the New Truth Church, or the New Angel Church? Even now, groups that fanatically worship angels are on the rise all over the country.’

They say that Heaven is a distant and lofty being that’s difficult to worship, so they worship angels as an intermediary? It was a cult, yet their logic made a strange kind of sense, so she remembered it.

‘No, that’s not the important part. There are countless other organizations besides those cults after our Angel-nim, too. Superhuman families like the Seocheon Yu, guilds, and…’

National powers were naturally included.

‘And if Angel-nim were to be kidnapped by those bastards…’

Hexi’s delusions continued. She imagined Leffrey leaving her side forever.

Just imagining it made her eyes water, her hands tremble. Seeing herself shaking uncontrollably, Hexi took a deep breath to regain her composure.

The privilege of choosing a hero. Even those who hate angels covet this privilege.

‘…’

It's said that many organizations were already moving to acquire Angel-nim. Although they wouldn’t dare to use force against him openly because of the Central Academy’s protection…

‘It’s still dangerous.’

Hexi brought out her main weapon, the Imperial Bow. A weapon so dangerous that she was only allowed to use with Park Jin-ho's permission.

‘I have to protect him…!’

Leffrey might be,

in even more danger now.

* * *

There's the term 'inssa' and 'assa' in this world. If you had to define Leffrey and Soya with one of those two words…

(TL Note: Inssa (인싸) is a slang term in South Korea for someone who is popular and outgoing, the opposite is Assa (아싸), for someone who is introverted or socially awkward.)

‘They would be closer to assa.’

It was a sad fact, but it couldn't be helped.

One must acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged.

And there's one characteristic common to assa…

‘They’re not exactly familiar with clothing stores.’

Leffrey and Soya were currently standing in a secret, exclusive department store that catered only to VIP members. This department store, one that existed only for the super-rich superhumans, was like one of the urban legends of this country to Leffrey.

It was like a fantasy magic school or something.

‘But to think such a place actually exists.’

Quiet and luxurious. Two words that didn’t go together, but here they were, combined. A black wall, a stark contrast to the white marble floor, and gold patterns that were subtly highlighted.

Even the decorations radiated an aura of elegance.

And then there were the people…

‘Th-They’re all wearing designer brands. Everyone’s reeking of money, so rich. Are they all other world nobles?’

Leffrey was slightly overwhelmed.

And it seemed Soya felt the same.

‘How did I even end up coming to a place like this…?’

The story goes back to that morning.

Soya’s body had suddenly grown. And she said it was all because of a failed magic experiment.

‘We need Professor Klein!’

Leffrey, shocked, ran to the Magical Studies Department, and Klein, hearing about the situation, immediately headed to the cathedral to examine Soya’s condition.

Of course, Soya hadn't anticipated this. If Professor Klein found out about this…

But Soya couldn’t avoid it.

Klein, after examining Soya’s condition, gave a wry smile. And Soya, her face completely red, couldn't say a word and could only open and close her mouth like a fish.

“Leffrey, this…”

But Klein was a professor.

Although the Central Academy professors were a bit… unusual, it’s not like they were completely heartless to their students.

“It’s not a dangerous magical accident. It’s almost certainly due to an excessive mana overload and her body’s reaction to it…”

Professor Klein, with a pleasant smile, cleaned his monocle.

“Once the potion’s effects wear off… oh dear, I mean, when some time passes, the mana overload will dissipate, and she’ll return to her original state. You’ve learned this in mana studies, right? Mana doesn’t want to remain stagnant, it’s constantly trying to flow.”

*It’s a well-known fact, even mentioned in a novel about how to communicate with dragons.* Klein, adding those words, pulling something out of his pocket.

(TL Note: If anybody know the novel send me in the comments since I genuinely couldn’t find it.)

“However, since we don’t know when the overload will end, I do feel there's a definite need to purchase clothing.”

Klein held a black card in his hand. From the size, it looked like a credit card…

Klein whispered to Leffrey through telepathy,

[I’m giving this to you. Even though we professors have received so much from you, Leffrey, we haven’t been able to give you anything in return that could truly be called a reward..]

Before he knew it, the black card was in Leffrey's hand.

[It’s a card with a credit limit far greater than you can imagine. It’s yours now.]

Then Klein stopped his telepathy and said,

“I’ll introduce you to a department store I frequent.”

Then Klein showed off his coat, saying things like, “This is the latest design from Tremérez Objet, which is considered one of the best brands, even in the empire. It’s a must-have item for any high-class magic noble,” and so on.

“Well then, off you go.”

Thus, Leffrey and Soya,

arrived at this secret department store.

Returning to Leffrey the Assa Angel…

‘This expensive clothing store…’

Actually, he wasn’t even sure if it was okay to call it a ‘clothing store’. They said they sold clothes, but isn’t it more appropriate to call it a boutique, a select shop, and so on.

It felt like he had to call it some fancy French terms or words. And the people walking around, their fashion sense was incredible.

“Wow.”

For Soya, The Poor Black Mage, who had lived a life almost like that of a beggar, this kind of scenery was nothing short of a culture shock. And it was same for Leffrey, the Beggar Angel.

“Hawaawa.”

The reason why such a strange onomatopoeia sound escaped,

It was all because of culture shock.

Anyway, that's how it was.

“Rainmaker. It’s a brand that was reviewed in ‘Monthly Magic’ once.”

“R-Really? Then, should we take a look?”

“I heard their products are the best, but it’s hard to get their stuff…”

Leffrey, who knew nothing about fashion, decided to enter the store of a brand that Soya said she had heard of.

“Plus, they’re saying that the owner’s personality is extremely eccentric…”

“Is it at least a real clothing store?”

Because he didn’t know any of the other stores.

If that’s the case, it’s better to go with what you knew, at least a little bit.

‘If I just went into a random store, and it turned out to be not a clothing store… that would be too embarrassing.’

Leffrey nodded.

And then entered the store labeled ‘Rainmaker’.

Inside, a single employee was there to greet the entering boy and girl.

“Hmm.”

A somewhat listless voice. He had a nonchalant demeanor that didn’t befit a retail worker, and he wasn't even looking at Leffrey and Soya.

“I didn't receive any notice about customers coming today.”

The employee didn't even glance at them, continuing to scribble something on his notepad.

Then he casually glanced at Soya.

“…What, what is that she’s wearing? Ugh, it’s making me sick.”

“Wh-What?”

Soya, at the sudden verbal attack, was enraged.

“My eyes, my precious eyeballs, tainted by such cheap fashion. Ugh.”

He even rubbed his eyes. And the employee's insults didn’t stop.

“Get out immediately. I have no art to sell to beggars like you. Leave!”

“No way…”

An eccentric sensibility that pursued beauty without regard for others.

“Jonathan, the Rainmaker. A traitor of humanity.”

No, maybe it was closer to a blind devotion towards beauty.

Or perhaps even fanaticism.

‘Rainmaker, they called the shamans who could bring rain among Native Americans ‘Rainmaker’. In modern times, it's a title given to those who brought profit, like rain, to an organization.’

And because he brought profits like a refreshing rain to human society, he had arrogantly dubbed himself the Rainmaker.

Jonathan Allway, a genius alchemist. But almost no one knew his real name; everyone just called him Rainmaker.

They say he thought Jonathan was a boring name. It was only when he died betraying humanity during the War of Annihilation that a certain general cursed his corpse profusely, and his name became known.

‘So Jonathan didn't become famous for alchemy.’

To think he would even have his own brand in a place like this. He had probably been making clothes from the start.

It would be correct to assume that he created a special fabric with alchemy and used that fabric to design clothes.

In fact, the miscellaneous items scattered around the place,

were proving that.

‘Jonathan is a top-tier item creator. It’s not strange for him to have his own brand even at this point, before he becomes famous.’

Leffrey, satisfied with his deduction, nodded. But regardless of what Leffrey thought, Soya and Jonathan wouldn’t stop bickering.

“Look at this insolence. Are you picking a fight?”

Soya, who had always had a prickly personality, gathered mana in her hand.

“Please don't breathe in this space! You’re tainting my art! Stop breathing! You ugly thing!”

Jonathan, as if it didn’t even matter, just kept pointing at the girl with his eyes closed.

“U-Ugly? You calling my magic power ugly? You’re a complete black magic hater! Unforgivable…!”

Jonathan still doesn’t care and just kept pointing at the girl with his eyes closed.

Just before things got out of hand,

Leffrey softly spoke,

“Jonathan.”

“…What?”

Jonathan, startled at his own name being called, opened his eyes. And he opened his mouth with disbelief.

“Ah… Ah…”

Jonathan Allway, currently the most talented alchemist, and one of the traitors who betrayed humanity. He was one of the demon king’s most devout followers.

Just why? Why did Jonathan become so loyal to the demon king? He was already successful in human society.

“Ah…”

He was a fanatic of beauty. And Luciel, the demon king, though he’s corrupted and fallen, still retained the beauty of Heaven.

He, a man who valued beauty above all else, couldn’t help but submit when he witnessed a beauty that couldn't exist on earth

“Beautiful.”

The Rainmaker muttered, as if in disbelief.