An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 179: The Angel Who Receives Observation Class (2)

There is power in a gaze. Even humans, whose senses are dull compared to other animals, can acutely feel the gaze of another.

They can feel it even when it's from behind, and sense it even in the midst of a fierce battle.

Thus there’s great power in a gaze.

When this power of gazes is used in confrontation, it's called a staring contest.

And right now, Soya and Yumari were having a staring contest.

Soya’s gray eyes met the dragon’s.

A clash of gazes.

The rules were simple. The first to lower their gaze or close their eyes loses.

“Ugh, ungh.”

The grey-haired magical girl quietly lowered her gaze and took a step backward.

“Y-You.”

Let's offer a few excuses on Soya's behalf...

First, dragons are terrifying creatures. And humans are creatures that succumb to fear.

Second, they grew up in completely different environments. If Soya’s family environment was hard mode, then Yumari’s was nothing short of hell mode.

Add to that the murderous training regimen she received from the Seocheon Yu family, famous for producing heroes, and Soya had no chance of winning in either malice or fortitude.

And third, Soya was a natural-born scaredy-cat.

…Oh right, these were supposed to be excuses for Soya.

In any case, having lost the staring contest, Soya could only mutter while refusing to accept her defeat.

“So that's dark karma? Leffrey keeps saying that the demon king has some crazy powerful invisible force, something even stronger than the Invisible Dragon."

(TL Note: Invisible Dragon. If you know, you know, but to make it short, it’s a ‘novel’ ;). )

Soya rambled incoherently.

Th-then that means you're wielding the same power as the Demon King right now. You're exactly what Leffrey was trying to prevent, a fallen hero.”

Yumari readily nodded, acknowledging it.

“Yes. Leffrey would try to stop me.”

Yumari whispered in a cold voice with a somewhat sinister smile.

“While it might be fun to have Leffrey chase me around trying to stop me, but the best thing would be for me to gain power, whether from the family or other means, and then…”

At Yumari's dark, greedy-filled muttering, Soya once again gripped her magic wand tightly.

“And then what?”

“To protect Leffrey in a safe place. And then educate him. So he’ll never sacrifice himself for this filthy world again.”

“You’re completely insane.”

Yumari smiled again, as if amused by Soya.

“You only realized that now? Miss Soya, for someone supposedly smart, you're a bit slow.”

Crackle—Crackle—

The sound of electricity sparking filled the air.

But what was strange was that the electricity wasn’t blue, but closer to black.

“Well then.”

Just like the lightning Ormantor emitted.

‘Wait, Leffrey thought Ormantor had been dragged back by the demon king. But could the demon king really possess such a technique?’

If the demon king had that kind of technique, why didn’t he interfere more in the human world?

‘Then where did Ormantor go?’

Seeing the black lightning enveloping Yumari’s body and her unbelievably enhanced power, Soya realized the answer.

‘Cannibalism of her own kind.’

“Then please take good care of Leffrey.”

Flash—With those final words, Yumari completely vanished.

“…..”

But Soya couldn’t even sense which direction Yumari had gone. She couldn't deduce which path she took or how she left.

‘What if she had aimed for my throat?’

Such overwhelming speed.

A speed that seemed at least two to three times faster than Yumari’s usual speed. Soya’s legs went weak and she collapsed.

“That's fortunate.”

The mascot-like Tantalus spoke to the collapsed Soya.

“That woman was a monster. It’s a good thing you didn’t fight her.”

“I, I know.”

Soya, overwhelmed with a sense of defeat, made a sullen face. What entered the eyes of loser Soya was the sight of a boy peacefully asleep, oblivious to the collapsing world.

That appearance, which seemed both like a maiden bathed in the light of dawn that pierced through the long darkness and like a warm bonfire in the middle of a lively festival.

Soya gently caressed the boy’s cheek. A warmth, like entering a warm bath for the first time, and also a sense of loneliness flowed down Soya's spine.

“Haa…”

Even though he was wearing plain clothes with no distinguishing features, there was something sacred about him, or was that Soya's delusion.

Soya lay her body directly on the cold wooden floor and tightly hugged the boy while suppressing the embarrassment welling up inside her.

And strangely, the overwhelming defeat she had felt until just a moment ago vanished, replaced by an indescribable warmth and comfort.

“I have to become stronger.”

Rustling- Soya, listening to Leffrey’s calm breathing, felt her eyes getting heavy. She had used up too much magic. And she had been tense the whole time raiding the dungeon. Plus, there was something warm and cozy next to her.

“I have to get stronger. Definitely.”

Nod—Nod—

And so Soya fell asleep.

And shortly after.

“Ha, haha. They say a quiet cat climbs onto the kitchen stove first.”

(TL Note: It’s a Korean proverb that means a docile cat (Or a person) that usually won’t do something because they're docile, all of a sudden did something unexpected. 얌전한 고양이 부뚜막에 먼저 올라간다.)

As the price for falling asleep like that, Soya had to endure a kitty punch under the guise of a flick to the head.

“Wake up!”

“Kyaaa! Ugh, urgh. You cat!”

“You're the cat here. What are you doing when everyone else is working hard?”

“What about you. Why didn’t you come back when Yumari was acting weird?! Do you even know what she did?”

“…Nyaa!”

“Don't make cat noises only when it's convenient!”

As the two girls argued, the boy who had been immersed in dark karma finally managed to open his eyes.

* * *

One day after midterms ended, as summer deepened.

Leffrey was in a state of depression.

‘Mari’s Volunteer Club withdrawal form.’

Mari’s withdrawal form, written in her neat handwriting. Leffrey looked at that withdrawal form several times, and each time he hung his head deeply.

‘According to Soya, she said Yumari wields dark karma. And although she hated to admit it, she said Yumari is stronger than her.’

To become a proper match for a hero who handles karma, one would have to become a hero themselves.

‘Thinking about it, it was strange. How could Mari, who hasn’t awakened as a hero yet, able to use the Marman Strike.’

Only those who have realized karma can see karma.

He didn’t know when it happened, but,

Mari had realized karma.

And not just any karma, but dark karma.

The karma wielded by the demon king, the absolute power that filled the timeline. And the fate of our world.

Naturally, a Fallen Hero wielding such a power would be stronger than a hero.

‘And when I held the corrupted Corestone and tried to absorb its essence.’

A philosopher once said this.

When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.

(TL Note: This is a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche.)

Then this saying should also hold true.

When we try to touch the abyss, the abyss also tries to touch us.

Literally, trying to touch the dark karma's Corestone, the dungeon's essence, to save people, and that same dungeon essence trying to touch Leffrey in return.

Having touched the dungeon's essence, Leffrey revealed all his dark thoughts through his eyes, and Mari empathized with those words.

“Sacrifice? Do you know how miserably those who sacrifice themselves for others die?”

“I do. I’ve lived in that kind of world too. A world where you get everything taken from you if you’re naive. A world where you can only think about profit.”

“Me too. Seeing my mother turned into an item, what else could I have thought? All I could think was that I didn't want to die like that.”

“I didn't want to die either. That's all I could think about too.”

So, in the end, Mari leaving was mostly Leffrey’s fault.

And on top of that.

‘Leffriel sacrificed everything to save Mari. And yet it ended up like this.’

The pain of having to live.

The pain of being abused, the hunger from failing to meet expectations, the loneliness from being ignored by everyone, and the humiliation and unspeakable horrors of being sold to those who hated dragons.

A literal hell and nightmare.

‘In the end, in the end.’

The sight of even a piece of the Sky Dragon Lumari's bones being exploited. What kind of emotions did the young Mari have upon seeing that.

A nightmare because she couldn't escape.

A hell because there was no salvation.

Yumari wouldn’t have been able to endure such an environment without wearing a mask.

‘In the end, it turned out like this.’

She wouldn’t have been able to avoid falling.

A life of just suffering and falling without salvation.

Even knowing that such a life awaited her child, would Lumari still have wished for her daughter’s survival?

And Leffriel, the most skilled at handling karma among angels, the one who knew everything and yet lived so passively…

Just why did he make such a foolish choice.

‘Shh! Stop crying and listen to your mother.’

‘We’re playing hide-and-seek, sweetie. Never, ever come out from under the sofa until mommy calls you first.’

‘Got it. Good boy.’

Why did he wish for her survival?

‘Good boy. My son is such a good boy. Too good.’

Why? Why? Why…

He had no choice but to keep living until he knew the answer.

Yes.

Until he knew the answer, he had no choice but to live.

“…Until I know that.”

And so, there was one person looking at Leffrey, who was depressed and rolling around, with disapproving eyes.

As always, it was Soya.

“Leffrey!”

“Whaaaat.”

“How long are you going to stay like that? Are you skipping class?”

“It’s a self-imposed break…”

“What self-imposed break. Professor Klein’s been nagging me to bring you over! Hurry up and get dressed!”

Shake shake- Soya shook Leffrey, who was in pajamas.

But Leffrey, rolled up in his blanket like a caterpillar, didn't budge even at Soya's nagging.

“Whyyyy. Don't wanna.”

“Ah, seriously. The second years in the Magical Studies Department have to prepare the first years for the observation class that’s happening soon!”

“B-but I’m a double major. I'm not actually part of the Magical Studies Department.”

Peek—

Leffrey poked only his head out from the blanket to look at Soya.

“And what's this about observation classes. Our academy isn't an elementary school, what are you talking about?”

Seeing Leffrey show interest, Soya’s face brightened. However, she quickly managed her expression, not wanting to show it, which was cute.

“A lot of students almost got hurt in the Dragon Lord’s Nest, remember.”

Many actually died.

And Leffrey was the one who brought them back with his super save.

“Because of that, and, well, whatever the reason, they’re saying that all academy students have to bring their parents. Like a hearing.”

“I see.”

Wiggle wiggle- Leffrey burrowed back into his blanket.

“Angels don’t have parents, so I guess I don’t have to go.”

“Leffrey! By that logic, I don’t have to go either. Since I disowned my family.”

“Then you shouldn’t go either, Soya. It’s dangerous outside the blanket, so stay with me.”

Stay with me? Then inside the blanket?

Soya muttered such words to herself.

Her cheeks turned completely red, showing how flustered she was.

“Even if you tempt me like that, it won't work!”

“…Tch.”

“And you think I'm saying this for no reason? Among the parents coming, the head of the Seocheon Yu will be coming as a parent! Yumari and Yu Si-hyun’s father! And other annoying Seocheon Yu bastards included!”

Perk—

Leffrey perked up at those words but tried not to show it.

“Ah, I really hate to say this last bit but.”

“…What is it?”

“And Leffrey, they say your family will be coming too. Um, according to the documents, it’s from the time of the Blessing of the Spirits, though I'm not exactly sure who… ugh, anyway, that kind of feeling…”

Leffrey immediately threw off his blanket.

And asked again with a serious face.

“What did you say?”