Chapter 106: The Angel Goes to Sea (5)

Episode 106: The Angel Goes to Sea (5)

“Grrrr…”

“Th-The dog is biting people!”

Even before the Monster Carnival began, chaos was unfolding in the Mariana Camp. Leffrey sighed and grabbed Soya’s shoulder.

“Soya, stop it.”

“Those guys need to be taught a lesson.”

Soya was brimming with confidence.

She was always a confident child, but lately, her arrogance seemed to have amplified.

‘It can’t be helped. I’d also get arrogant if I were her.’

Soya was the top student for the entire first year. She won the midterms due to sheer luck, and the final exam because Leffrey and student council president Yu Si-hyun essentially wiped each other out.

A magic prodigy, scoring first place twice in a row. Just how many offers and opportunities had she received? Starting with interviews and news reports, to big-shot company commercials, executive offers from large guilds, scouting proposals from superhuman families…

‘Even the Seocheon Yu sent an invitation.’

The Seocheon Yu, at that.

Of course, Soya, who had always been taken advantage of by adults, refused most of the offers outright. Maybe it was because Leffrey was already taking good care of her, so she didn’t really need anything else. Or, maybe she refused because…

…accepting those offers would reduce the time she could spend with Leffrey.

Only Soya knows the answer.

But seeing her look at Leffrey and smile after rejecting all those offers, perhaps even Leffrey knows, but is pretending not to.

Anyway.

“Soya!”

Leffrey had to stop Soya.

“A dog barking in a sacred Monster Festival…”

At that moment, a man rushed over. He was tall and had a muscular build, easily identifiable as a giant, even from afar. Almost 2 meters tall, his muscles weren’t at the level of a bodybuilder, but definitely those of a personal trainer. (TL Note: 2 meters is roughly 6’5” for American readers.)

Dark, tanned skin and shiny, black hair.

This man’s name was Jeb.

The captain of the Mariana Camp.

Jeb skillfully grabbed Tantalus’ snout and slammed it into the sand. *Boom*—It was as if the sand itself exploded, and the students and soldiers could only cough and look around, trying to assess the situation.

Jeb was smiling.

He had shoved Tantalus deep into the sand, and yet, Jeb was smiling.

Leffrey gulped.

‘Soya’s still weak, so even Tantalus is weaker than he should be, but… To think that he subdued Tantalus in a single attack…’

Leffrey looked at Jeb once again.

‘Is this Jeb, the World Breaker? Humanity’s greatest Strength stat master, the one who can pull mountains and shatter the sky?’

Jeb, the World Breaker, had lost to Yumari in a one-on-one battle in the future and then disappeared, along with the collapsing Mariana Camp. The prevailing theory in the Angelic Studies field was that if Jeb hadn’t died then, humanity’s fall could have been delayed by a few more months.

‘Yes, that’s what the Angelic Studies have concluded.’

For your information, Leffrey is the head of Angelic Studies. Why? How could this stupid angel…? Well, now that Leffrey is the only normal angel left, naturally, he’s also the head of Angelic Studies.

‘And I’m also the angelic public opinion, the angelic news sources, and the anonymous angel, too!’

Anyway, that’s how it is.

Jeb was a powerful warrior. To the point that Leffrey came to those conclusions.

‘I still can’t believe he was defeated so easily by Mari.’

No matter how strong Yumari was, even if she’s one of the greatest heroes, he couldn’t understand how she could have defeated Jeb so easily.

Mari should have suffered severe injuries, or at the very least, the fight should have dragged on for much longer.

‘Could it be that Jeb was weakened back then?’

Leffrey didn’t know.

But judging from his current demeanor and aura, there was no way his title of ‘humanity’s greatest Strength master’ was an exaggeration.

“Hey, brats, did you all eat well yesterday?”

Jeb shouted, standing on top of Tantalus. The Central Academy students, holding back their anger, looked up at Jeb silently.

“I heard some reckless kid smashed a wall in the cafeteria.”

Jeb looked at Leffrey.

Leffrey, a bit startled, only then remembered the incident of him punching through the cafeteria wall last night.

‘This won’t do. Angel’s Secret Technique, Chapter 5.’

He activated another secret technique.

‘Angelic Smile!’

Leffrey smiled, using all the know-how he had accumulated so far.

His only weapon was his beauty.

And his cuteness.

Lastly, with a touch of angelic power.

‘This is… the ‘you can’t spit on a smiling face’ strategy…!’

Sparkle sparkle—The angelic smile was truly angelic.

It could melt even the coldest heart and make even the toughest, most stoic man smile. And Jeb was no exception.

The corners of his lips subtly rose.

Jeb, realizing that he was smiling, quickly covered his mouth with his hand and then, with an *Ahem* sound, avoided Leffrey’s gaze.

The Angel’s Smile was victorious once again today.

An undefeated streak. It was terrifying.

“…Well, we’ll leave yesterday’s incident at that and get right to business.”

Snap—As Jeb snapped his fingers, a massive beam projector was installed before them.

“I’ll explain the rules for the festival.”

Then a series of PowerPoint slides appeared.

“The rules for the Monster Festival are simple. C-rank monsters, 100 points; D-rank monsters, 10 points; and F-rank monsters, 1 point. The professors and I will deal with the A- and B-rank monsters, or in other words, the demon army executives, so don’t worry.”

Jeb laughed heartily, then showed them the next slide.

“Make sure to collect the core stones when you kill a monster. Core stones are the vital resource for our modern civilization. In the end, collecting these will be your job once you’re adults, so think of it as a preview of your future.”

Jeb continued,

“And a professor from the Central Academy has proposed an interesting rule. You’ll also get points just for submitting core stones ‘obtained’ from this shore. Think carefully about this rule.”

Leffrey’s face paled slightly.

To get points for simply submitting core stones obtained from this shore? That meant… They could just steal others’ core stones and submit them?

‘What kind of crazy rule is this… Professor Lusa must have come up with it.’

The boy quickly glanced at Lusa, and Lusa, pretending to be distracted, avoided Leffrey’s gaze.

But the Central Academy students, with their competitive nature, were delighted by this rule. And so were the soldiers of Mariana Camp.

‘My plan to make them friends…’

Leffrey felt a little dizzy. But in the corner of his mind, a thought bloomed: ‘I can exploit this, too.’

‘Wait, if they can be stolen, that also means they can be given. If I use this rule properly… I might be able to earn a lot of Angelic Power.’

And he might even be able to make the Central Academy students and Mariana Camp become friends. And even more Angelic Power from that.

Leffrey pulled himself together.

“The points for the Monster Festival will be tallied five days later. We’ll see then, you Central Academy brats and the veteran soldiers of Mariana Camp, who the true warriors are.”

Jeb declared,

“Let the festival begin!”

With that, the veteran soldiers instantly rushed towards the sea, and the Central Academy students, swept away by their momentum, followed suit.

Truly, in the blink of an eye, the students and soldiers disappeared.

“Ugh, I hate water…”

The only ones hesitating were girls who hated water, like Hongwol…

“The water… must be deep, right? I’m definitely not saying this because I’m short…”

…and girls who were scared, like Soya.

“…As expected, Leffrey, you have good instincts.”

Or someone with a strong sixth sense, like Yumari.

Yumari’s horns were glowing, slightly enlarged. Her gaze was fixed on the sea where the students and the soldiers had entered.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

Hongwol, who hated entering the water, asked.

“It’s stupid to enter right now. You’ll probably just suffer without even gaining any core stones.”

Leffrey replied.

Hongwol tilted her head.

“Why? We have to go in if we want to hunt monsters.”

“The monsters serving the Demon King aren’t stupid. They have intelligence, and they know how to fight. They would have naturally built strongholds and fortresses.”

Leffrey continued,

“The kids who rushed in now will probably exhaust all their strength just battling those strongholds and fortresses.”

Soya chimed in,

“So, you’re going to enter after everyone have destroyed all the strongholds and fortresses?”

“Yep!”

Leffrey confidently replied.

To profit off the kids’ hard work.

Truly an angelic plan.

“And those who are truly strong among the Mariana Camp troops… They’re probably hiding over there in the sand dunes, observing the situation.”

Leffrey pointed at the sand dunes.

They twitched slightly.

‘Just like the Carnivals in my past life.’

The reason Leffrey could tell where the troops were hiding was due to the information he brought from his past life. He knew roughly where the magically concealed shelters for the Mariana troops were.

But to someone… This seemed quite incredible.

“Ho… That boy is really…”

Jeb, who was watching the scene, couldn’t help but be impressed. It was impressive enough that he didn’t fall for the troops’ traps and charge into the sea, but to think that he even found the hidden troop’s shelter.

“That hidden shelter, Professor Klein, you built it, didn’t you? Could he…?”

“That’s impossible. Even I’m surprised. To think that Leffrey would see through my concealment magic…”

Klein nodded, looking proud.

“As expected of my disciple.”

“You’re so doting, some professor you are.”

Meanwhile, the sea began to roar. Water exploded, massive waves crashed. Screams echoed from afar, roars thundered from nearby.

“Deep in the Sea…”

Rumble—Crash—Rumble—Crash—

As the afternoon approached, students and soldiers started to flee back to shore.

And those who chased them were… The Demon King’s horde.

Finally, it was time for Leffrey and his friends to make their move.

“Soya, Mari, Hongwol, can you all listen carefully to what I say?”

Leffrey asked like a true angel.

Mari nodded, Soya confidently replied, “Of course,” and Hongwol grumbled, “Ugh, to take orders from a man…”, feeling awkward.

But no one refused.

Because an angel guides a hero, after all.

“Let’s go.”

Leffrey muttered.

Then, Leffrey and his friends charged forward.

“Soya, the blue goblins have strong physical resistance, but weak magic resistance. Target them first!”

“Got it.”

Leffrey gave an order.

“Mari, go with Soya and take care of the magic killers that will appear, the Flying Swords. Flying Swords have incredibly high magic resistance, but they’re weak to electricity.”

“I understand.”

Then Leffrey looked at Hongwol.

“Wol.”

“Boy?”

“Wol, you hide stealthily, and if you see a strong monster that targets Mari and Soya, attack it from behind. Strong monsters will have the mark of the demon king somewhere on their body, so they should be easy to recognize. But if you can’t tell, I’ll let you know!”

And Leffrey didn’t forget to add the last part.

“Guys, and don’t forget to collect core stones! Core stones are all money… No, I mean, points for the festival!”

Thus, Leffrey sent out his auto-hunting team.

So, what was Leffrey going to do?

‘What else is there to do…? I can’t just sit around and enjoy the beach… Can I?’

Leffrey leaped into the air. The angel, with a light jump, could see the entire battlefield.

‘I have to earn Angelic Power, too. Opportunities like this don’t come every day.’

The festival battlefield was filled with injured students and soldiers. Critical injuries were teleported to Mariana Camp for treatment, but those with minor injuries had to deal with them on their own.

‘Besides, if they get teleported to the camp, they’re immediately disqualified, so… They’ll just endure those injuries.’

This was something Leffrey couldn’t tolerate.

To endure injuries… ?

Those are all Angelic Power, but they’re not being treated and are just suffering…?

“I won’t miss a single one. That Angelic Power… Is mine!”

The legend of Leffrey, the Healing Angel, was about to spread beyond the Central Academy, to Mariana Camp.