An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 20: The Angel Receives Education (1)

"Never trust a black-haired beast." This was a saying that Soya practically worshiped.

The black-haired beasts who had betrayed her in the past.

Her parents, who had ultimately severed ties with her, the adults who stole the magic formulas she developed, the acquaintances who begged for her help and then cast her aside when she was no longer needed.

Ah, how much she had cried because of them.

That's how the girl realized that even tears would eventually dry up if you squeezed and squeezed them out.

So the girl decided to no longer cry, to no longer trust anyone, and to live alone.

But living alone was too foolish. Everyone else received help from their families, friends, and organizations, playing as a team, while she had to overcome all adversity alone, playing solo.

'So what? I can do it.'

She couldn't.

During the first round of the entrance exam, when the candidates who had formed teams tried to drown all the other candidates and make them fail... in that moment when she was caught by an Undine and was losing her breath…

She once again realized how lonely it was to be alone.

And a boy reached out his hand to her.

The boy who kept reaching out no matter how much she pushed him away, who looked at her with a truly selfless, angelic expression.

Of course, whether the boy had ulterior motives or not was something only he knew…

Even if she tried to take advantage of his kindness... even if she pushed him away again... even if she unleashed her bad personality that she herself was aware of…

The boy didn't leave.

Without asking for anything from her... it was truly the first time she had met someone like this.

Soya knew nothing about the boy. But there were a few words that came to mind.

Friend, friendship... no, if it were such a shallow relationship, she would have already lost interest and left. Then... then could it be...?

"No, no, no!"

"W-Why are you suddenly like this?"

Soya screamed and hid her blushing face with the brim of her hat.

'No, no, no. This isn't a rational thought. My hair is dry and frizzy, I don't know how to dress up... my clothes are all worn out, I'm not tall...'

The girl looked at herself with a sense of despair, not even knowing why she felt this way.

Soya quickly changed the subject.

"You said you'd help me leave the dormitory, right? Is there somewhere else I can go?"

"Yeah. There’s a cathedral where I live in. It's big enough for two people."

"...A cathedral."

She almost said, 'You live in a fitting place.'

"Okay. I'll go there too."

"Then let's move the furniture... I mean, your belongings first."

Leffrey smiled brightly once again, as if he were truly happy that Soya was coming.

Of course, he was happy because he could keep Soya by his side, a high-end furniture and Angelic Power generator... not that he saw her that way. But the girl, seeing his expression, couldn't help but pull down the brim of her hat again.

'Why is he so happy? Does he really like me...'

A misunderstanding spread.

Quite a misunderstanding.

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And so, the cathedral had a new resident. The name of that resident was Soya, a precious individual who would become the greatest mage in the future.

"How is it? It's not that big, but..."

"How... how?"

"...Is there a problem?"

The new resident became immersed in the cathedral as soon as she saw it and muttered.

"Unbelievable. The structure of the energy channels follows the pattern of the Second Empire of the other world, but the overall structure is in the form of the First Empire. For a structure like this to function, it would need an incredibly powerful energy source..."

Before disappearing into the basement.

"Wait... S-Soya?"

Leffrey was worried.

About himself, of course.

Would a superhuman who was just a little strong and had slightly better reflexes be worried about a powerful mage who was almost a 6th tier magic user? Even if this cathedral exploded right now, Soya would have a higher chance of survival.

The boy cautiously descended into the basement.

In the distance, a girl was holding the cathedral's generator and muttering something continuously. It was quite a frightening sight.

'It seems like Yumari was like that when she blew up Mariana Camp...?'

Fortunately, what Leffrey was worried about didn't happen. Instead, messages popped up one after another.

[Inspiring a future hero is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

[Central Academy's educational facilities + inspiration received from the Last Cathedral]

[The future hero's potential increases by one level!]

[Soya gets one step closer to becoming a hero!]

'Potential increased by one level? Does that mean she'll definitely become stronger than in the future?'

Leffrey clenched his fist.

Was this the feeling of a coach raising an athlete?

[Title Acquired: Guardian Angel of the Young Witch]

Title? Leffrey immediately opened his status window

[Title: Guardian Angel of the Young Witch]

You have guided the young witch to the right path, bringing her one step closer to becoming a hero. This is only natural for a guardian angel.

Title Effect:

Once a day, for ten minutes, you can borrow 10% of the young witch [Han Soya] magical ability.

'Not bad.'

Honestly, it was very good. If it was the ability of Soya, considered the greatest magical genius in human history, even just 10% would be on par with other magic major students.

Maybe even higher.

'Even though it's only for ten minutes, to gain magic skills at the level of a Central Academy magic student...'

And he had a rough idea. He would probably get better titles the more he raised Soya. He started with "Young Witch," so what would be next? Skilled Witch? Black Magic Princess? Or…

'Black Magic Empress is the right title.'

Although Soya was the Black Magic Princess in his past life,

this time, he would make her an empress with his own hands.

And…

'Wait, Han Soya? Could it be that 'So' wasn't her last name?'

Did that make sense?

If So was her last name, then her name would just be 'Ya'?

As expected of Leffrey, the stupid angel. (Tbh idk what tf leffrey was talking about here)

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There was a cathedral in a remote part of the academy.

Every morning there went like this.

"Soya."

"Ugh..."

"Soya, you said you have an experiment this morning."

"5 more minutes..."

Leffrey straightened up and yelled.

"Soya! Wake up!"

"Kyaa! My ears are going to fall off!"

[Helping the future hero wake up is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

"Ugh. Black magic-hating..."

"What? It's sausage and vegetable stir-fry for today’s breakfast."

"Black magic-friendly...!"

Sausage and vegetable stir-fry for breakfast.

[Filling the stomach of the hungry is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

And if it was made by someone with master-level cooking skills... she couldn't resist. Soya quickly sat down at the table, wiping away her drool.

And after breakfast, Soya slowly went to wash up. Leffrey tapped his feet impatiently.

As soon as Soya came out of the bathroom, Leffrey dried her hair with a towel.

"You didn't dry your hair properly again."

"Ugh... nagging..."

Although they said this, they both have different thoughts. It was hair that could be dried instantly with a simple evaporation spell, but the girl let him do it because she enjoyed Leffrey carefully drying her hair.

[Helping a future hero with their shortcomings is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

[Helping a future hero with their shortcomings is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

And the boy who was blinded by Angelic Power and hoped that she would keep not drying her hair properly.

And outside the window, a pink cat was watching this scene with envy.

How nice would it be if the boy gently woke her up every morning? And if he cooked breakfast and dinner for her every day and waited for her at home... and if he…

The pink cat's delusions grew worse day by day.

That being said, why was Leffrey so diligently collecting Angelic Power? Wasn't his goal to live comfortably? Did he really need to gather this much Angelic Power?

There was a reason.

A very important reason.

'I can't keep up with the academy classes without Angelic Power...!'

Because the academy classes were extremely difficult.

In the first place, Leffrey had entered this school by half-cheating. Naturally, his specs weren't at the level required to enter this school.

Therefore, he had to push himself to keep up with the classes.

Naturally, he had to use his Angelic Abilities liberally to match the level of the classes, and even that wasn't enough in many cases.

So, of course, he needed a trick.

In Lusa's class, for example…

"Ugh, groan."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Your problem is that your side is open. I've told you so many times to be aware of your side and move accordingly."

She stomped on the student's side once again.

"Does it hurt? The part I'm stepping on right now is your liver. If you put pressure here, your other organs will scream in pain too. How's that?"

"Ugh, aaaaargh!"

While everyone turned away in fear, a boy came up and took a stance.

"...Stop it."

Lusa grinned at the sight.

"Kid, I've told you so many times not to interrupt during class."

"We all have to spar with you one by one anyway. I'll go first."

Actually, Leffrey wasn't that righteous. Although he might feel sorry for the person being beaten, he wasn't the type of brave person to step up and take the beating instead. Then why did he come up now?

[Fighting for the weak is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

For Angelic Power? Not entirely, but it wasn't the complete answer either. The complete answer was…

[Angels become stronger when they do the right thing!]

It was because of this buff.

Protecting a weak student from Lusa's overwhelming violence was truly the right thing to do. And since angels become stronger when they do the right thing, Leffrey could become much stronger than his original specs right now.

'Since I have to spar anyway, it's better to do it at the most advantageous time...!'

Thus, Leffrey's intentions weren't exactly angelic. But in the eyes of other students, it looked different.

'Leffrey stepped up again to take the beating instead.'

'Phew, once Lusa is satisfied with Leffrey, she tends to go easy on the rest of us.'

'He's such a righteous person... I respect him.'

All they could see was a boy confronting Lusa for the sake of the fallen student and for them. The collapsed student even squeezed out a word.

"Thank you..."

However, one girl wasn't satisfied with this sight.

"Leffrey, you're doing something stupid."

Yumari hid her anxiety and looked at the ring. If she really wanted to, she could just…

Anyway, Leffrey's sparring session began like this.

"Then come at me."

Lusa beckoned with her finger. Seeing that, Leffrey immediately activated his Angelic Ability. Martial Arts of the Archangel who Tramples Dragons. As an angelic martial art, it was the highest level of martial arts.

If he had to point out its weaknesses... the Martial Arts of the Archangel was a comprehensive martial art that dealt with various weapons, so its power was inferior to top-tier martial arts that focused on one thing, and it consumed a tremendous amount of Angelic Power when used for a long time.

But it was by no means a weak martial art.

Once again, the Martial Arts of the Archangel was ‘heavenly martial arts' itself. It had no form or style. That's why people didn't recognize it as a martial art.

Even Lusa, the martial arts professor, couldn't recognize Leffrey's Angelic Ability as a martial art.

"Haha, as expected, you..."

Lusa was impressed. He clearly looked like someone who had never learned martial arts before, but it was amazing that he could still fight her like this even without any martial arts.

He was a truly overwhelming genius.

A catch she couldn't miss.

"You must learn Fairy Martial Arts. Become my disciple!"

"Saying that while... beating people up..."

"I can't just let you go!"

'Ah... will there be any Angelic Power left for the next class.'

Leffrey couldn't help but smile wryly.