An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 84: The Angel Who Registers (1)

"So this is what a vacation feels like."

Vacation, that time of year everyone in the Academy had been waiting for.

Students were happy to escape the mind-numbingly difficult Academy classes, staff were smiling at the relief from the pressure of dealing with the world's top talents.

And for the professors, it’s a time where they can focus on dealing with the demon army without having to worry about the students.

Vacation was a happy time for everyone at the academy.

"Haam."

Leffrey, looking at the sleeping Soya, had the naive thought that vacation was truly a good thing.

'I don't have to struggle to wake up Soya in the morning, I don't have to rush around to check if she packed her assignments, and I don't have to struggle to get Hexi and Soya's clothes ready...'

Hmm.

'Being a guardian angel is harder than I thought...'

With that thought, Leffrey slumped his shoulders.

"Angel-nim."

A now familiar voice was heard.

The professor who stuck to this cathedral where only two students lived, with the suspicious title of dorm supervisor. It was Hexi, the archery professor.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any plans for today?"

Professor Hexi still had faint dark circles under her eyes.

'I was so surprised last time. She pounced on me as soon as she came back from the group business trip.'

The Central Academy professors, who had all gone on a business trip to Mariana to stop the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings, leaving only Lusa at the academy.

The other professors were fine, but Hexi strongly opposed to going on this trip.

Why?

Because there were no angels at Mariana.

But she couldn't refuse a direct order from the principal of the Central Academy, so Hexi reluctantly left, leaving Leffrey at the academy.

'Come to think of it, she called me three times a day even when they were at Mariana...'

And she did that even though the other professors tried to stop her.

But Leffrey didn't hate Hexi's calls.

[Listening to a lonely Artificial Hero is an angelic act!]

[Giving words of comfort to a struggling Artificial Hero is an angelic act!]

[Preaching to a wavering Artificial Hero and guiding them to the right path is an angelic act!]

Because he could gain a lot of Angelic Power from Hexi's calls.

'Hmm, about 30% of the Angelic Power I used in my battle against Yu Si-hyun came from those phone calls with Professor Hexi. I earned so much Angelic Power.'

In Leffrey's mind, Hexi already had...

'Truly… She’s Samryong (three-dragon) Professor Hexi…!'

...such a suspicious nickname attached.

What on earth was Samryong (three-dragon)? (TL Note: Holy another long one, I’ll give you readers context on what Samryong is in the TL afterword.)

It's so scary, he couldn't even ask.

But there was one thing Leffrey didn't know. The other professors who had gone on the business trip also knew about these conversations between Leffrey and Hexi.

Hexi always used speaker on her phone when talking to Leffrey because she wanted to hear his voice loudly, and Leffrey, oblivious to this, was only focused on farming Angelic Power.

The hellish defense of Mariana against the Heavenly King and his subordinates. Hexi would call Leffrey during every break, and Leffrey would kindly carry those conversations.

Day, night, even dawn, Leffrey never got angry… and he never showed any sign of wanting to end the call quickly.

Of course, it was because of Angelic Power, but the professors couldn't help but think.

'Leffrey...'

'He’s tolerating all of Hexi's whining.'

'We’ll have to reward him for this once we’re back at the academy.'

And his voice was so soothing, just listening to it felt healing. His tone and the way he spoke, all so gentle and polite, using the prettiest words…

Of course, Leffrey was half-acting, only speaking this way to gain Angelic Power, but the professors thought…

‘Listening to that voice… reminds us of why we’re protecting humanity.’

‘As protectors of this world, we shouldn't have favorites… but I really want to protect this child.’

Later, not just Hexi, but even the other professors looked forward to hearing Leffrey's voice.

‘Damn it, I’m not Hexi, I can’t call…’

‘I have to admit it. His voice gives me strength…’

‘Hexi, hurry up and call so we can hear Leffrey's voice.’

It could be called the only joy of that grueling defense of Mariana.

Of course, Leffrey didn't know any of this.

But whenever he gained Angelic Power,

[Giving strength to a weary swordsman is an angelic act!]

[Giving strength to a weary mage is an angelic act!]

…he did tilt his head at those messages.

Thus, after the professors returned, Leffrey immediately had to stop Hexi from… well, from practically attacking him.

Rushing towards him, embracing him, letting out "Haa- Haa-" sounds, and only after diligently supplying her with Angelic Power could he finally get his freedom.

“If you have no plans for today…”

Hexi's eyes narrowed.

It meant she had something bad planned in mind.

“Train with me, Angel-nim.”

“…W-Well”

Training with Hexi.

Hexi made Leffrey go through various training exercises under the pretext of teaching him about ranged attacks.

Simple target practice, moving target practice. And how to create distance in mobile combat, who to target first, and how to hit a fast-moving opponent.

‘They were all helpful exercises. Lessons you couldn’t get even if you paid.’

But subtly, Hexi would force Leffrey to act ‘angelic’.

An angel’s way of ranged combat, an angel's method of evasion.

And the arrows of light that an angel could supposedly summon.

‘This is too difficult.’

These were trainings still too much for Leffrey.

“Angel-nim?”

“I have plans for today!”

“What are your plans?”

“Th-That… I have to go register as a superhuman!”

Superhuman registration. All awakened superhumans were required to register at the Superhuman Management Bureau to fill out a superhuman registration card. That is the national law.

Leffrey, since he immediately entered the Central Academy after awakening, had yet to visit the Superhuman Management Bureau.

‘The last time they sent me a registration guide, I was so scared. I thought I was going to jail.’

Unregistered superhumans were called villains, and they were evil superhumans who ruled the underworld of Korea.

‘I can’t become Leffrey, the Villain Angel.’

Leffrey nodded.

“Ah. I’ll go with you…”

At that moment, Soya woke up, rubbing her eyes.

“Leffrey? Hexi… Professor?”

“…Should I go with you, Leffrey?”

The moment Soya woke up, Hexi immediately dropped all formality.

No matter what, Hexi was a princess and a professor, someone who valued dignity and hierarchy.

The dignity and hierarchy between professors and students, and the dignity and hierarchy between warriors and their leaders.

‘That’s why it's a relief. Because Hexi maintains her dignity in front of Soya, Hongwol, and Mari, who often visit the cathedral.’

She even scolded Leffrey in front of the other students and intentionally ignored him at times.

‘Of course, the moment they’re gone, she immediately clings to me trying to apologize, but.’

Leffrey said with a smile,

“No, it's not a big deal, so I shouldn’t make the professor go out of her way for me. I’ll go alone.”

“…Okay.”

Although Hexi wanted to protest, she couldn’t bring herself to show her clingy behavior in front of Soya.

Thus, Leffrey left the academy for the first time in a while.

* * *

Leffrey, riding the bus, looked at the city scenery for the first time in a while.

Old Seoul.

The city with the worst population density.

The city with the most other world residents, the most fortified city, and the former capital of South Korea.

‘The capital is now New Seoul, but…’

Even so, New Seoul had a population of less than two million. And Old Seoul had over forty million.

Even if they moved the capital, Old Seoul was still Seoul.

Elves, dwarves, and beast folk walked around busily... various religious people held up signs, praising Heaven.

But the most common sight was poverty.

There were countless poor people everywhere.

It was the tragedy of the city, whose population exploded when the areas previously known as The Citadel and Seoul merged during the Great Gate Disaster.

Leffrey slowly sank into thought.

‘I used to live around here.’

The slums that sprawled throughout Old Seoul weren't a good environment for a young orphan to grow up in.

Superhuman gangsters kidnapped and trafficked people, guilds would block off entire areas when they were annoyed, and sometimes, monsters that escaped from gates roamed the night streets, devouring people.

‘…Only Soya would understand this feeling, among my friends.’

Among the students at the Central Academy, only Leffrey and Soya were from truly poor backgrounds. The others…

…didn’t know about a life like this.

Or perhaps they knew, but just pretended not to.

The bus turned another corner and finally entered the main road.

Grand buildings, a fusion of modern science and magic, lined both sides of the street.

70% were owned by other world nobles who had acquired Korean citizenship, superhuman families, and large guilds, and the remaining 30% were owned by the privileged class of old Korea, the conglomerates.

Modern castles that stood in stark contrast to the slums he had seen before, showing a clear divide between these two classes.

And suddenly, the bus became dark.

As if night had fallen.

The darkness lingered for a long time, a long, long time, and as the bus turned a corner… Leffrey could finally see the light again.

But the sun wasn’t visible.

The only light he could see was the light emanating from behind that building.

A massive castle, incomparable to the other castles he had seen.

An organization managed by the Five Great Superhuman Families of Korea, with the director being from the Hanshin Guild, the best guild in the world and the favorite of patriotic Youtube channels.

The Superhuman Management Bureau.

‘Unnecessarily large. It's overkill…’

It was said to be the largest single building in the world, right? Leffrey felt a little thankful. That there wasn't an even larger building in the world.

The time and effort it took to build would have been such a waste.

"This stop is the Superhuman Management Bureau's first stop, this stop is the Superhuman Management Bureau's first stop. If you are getting off at this stop, please press the stop button…"

Thus, Leffrey arrived at the Superhuman Management Bureau.

The lobby. A wide expanse of cold marble floor, chandeliers magically floating in the air.

With dozens of chandeliers, it felt as if he were looking at the night sky.

"So spacious."

The lobby was truly spacious.

It felt like the outdoors, even though it was indoors.

If it was designed to make ordinary people walk a long time and inconvenience them, it was a huge success.

"The superhuman registration office… is here."

Leffrey, after wandering for a while, finally found the superhuman registration office.

In front of the office stood a large number of children and their guardians.

"Um, I'm here to register as a superhuman…"

The receptionist glanced at Leffrey.

Leffrey wasn't wearing his school uniform because he didn't want to stand out. But Leffrey was an angel who didn’t own any good clothes other than his school uniform.

The receptionist scoffed.

“Where's your guardian? Your family? Or are you part of a guild?”

The receptionist was a bit tense.

But Leffrey couldn't answer and just…

"W-Well…”

…muttered those words.

The receptionist, feeling relieved,

“Heh, of course. Hand over your ID.”

The receptionist blatantly ignored Leffrey, snatching his ID with an arrogant expression.

"Leffrey? I've heard that name before... Tsk, this is why other world names are. Sigh, whatever. You'll need to have your abilities measured, so wait until your name is called."

"How long will it take?"

“Why do you need to know? Just go and wait.”

The receptionist waved their hand, shooing Leffrey away to a cold hallway.

And so, a few hours later.

Leffrey kept swinging his feet, idling away.

‘I'm bored.’

Just as Leffrey was about to lose his mind from boredom, a girl, accompanied by an escort, was approaching from afar.

Then, that rude receptionist from earlier came out to the hallway, bowing deeply, almost ninety degrees.

“Welcome, Miss.”

“…This is so annoying. Why do I have to come here myself?”

“We apologize. It’s an unavoidable regulation.”

The young girl grumbled,

“You’ve made all the preparations, right?”

“Yes, we’ll begin the measurement right away.”

And then the receptionist and the girl disappeared.

“Sigh.”

Leffrey, seeing that, pouted and looked at his smartphone.

‘Where is your guardian? Your family? Or are you part of a guild?’

That receptionist, asking about his guardian. Would he have been treated differently if he had a guardian?

‘Is there anyone who can help me?’

Leffrey cautiously opened his phone's contacts.

****

TL Afterword: So Samryong or (삼룡이) is a short story about a deaf man who fell in love with an ‘angelic’ bride/mistress, and the deaf man somehow in someway always tries and or wants to go back to the ‘angelic’ bride/mistress, and in the end, he tried to save her from a burning building, going to the roof but accepting his death once he saw there was no escape, being truly happy to die with his ‘angel’/the one he loves. (THIS IS VERY SIMPLIFIED BTW.)

BUUUT! It can also be mistaken for (Three-dragons) and I think Leffrey doesn’t know the story of Samryong and mistook her sus nickname as (Three-dragons).

Anyway thank you for reading this, if you even read this lmao.