Chapter 118: The Angel Meets the Assassin (3)

Episode 118: The Angel Meets the Assassin (3)

The two women locked shins in the middle of the training hall, remaining silent. One of them was a beautiful elf, but there was something dreary about her, as if she had experienced the joys and sorrows of life many times over.

The other woman had a similar build, but her face was hidden behind a unique, unadorned mask.

Just the two women maintaining their stance was enough to create large cracks in the training hall’s wooden floor.

“Merrill, what’s your business here?”

Lusa, as if enjoying the situation, subtly raised the corners of her lips.

“…”

But Merrill couldn’t answer. Because she didn’t even know why she had intervened.

Merrill, clutching her mask,

Recalled what had just transpired.

Lusa, cunning as she always was, targeted another student instead of Leffrey, who was fighting back. Leffrey shouted, “Professor, please stop!” and rushed to protect the human child.

An otherworldly being trying to protect a human.

Leffrey, enduring Lusa’s attack, was bleeding profusely from his mouth. Yet, the way he kept fighting… was just like any other human.

‘Wait, is he really an otherworldly being?’

That blood, it was red. The same red as human blood.

His ears weren’t long, nor was he short like a dwarf. His skin wasn’t scaly, and his eyes weren’t those of an otherworldly being.

The only thing that stood out about him was his angelic beauty…

Lusa, being a sneaky elf, targeted another weak student, and Leffrey, without a moment’s hesitation, jumped to protect that student.

At the sight of that…

Suddenly, a faint, dark memory surfaced. Back then, her only light was…

“Child, hide behind me. This professor will protect you.”

That…

The way Leffrey was acting…

“Come with this professor. You have talent.”

Wasn’t it reminiscent of someone? Even the stance Leffrey took to block Lusa…

‘It’s Cheongu Swordsmanship stance.’

All otherworldly beings are enemies of humanity. Leffrey was an otherworldly being. And even worse, he was an angel, a race said to be the same as the demon king!

‘So, I have to kill him.’

Lusa’s kick shot out again.

That boy, saving a weak child just like someone she knew, a boy who was identical to a human in every way except for his inhumanly beautiful face.

‘So…’

The pounding of her heart whenever she saw him. The beauty of the boy’s movements, and the stance of True Cheongu Swordsmanship, as if taught by Park Jin-ho himself.

That was why.

Merrill, the assassination department professor who hated otherworldly beings, stepped in to protect Leffrey, an otherworldly being.

It was because of these complex reasons. And Merrill couldn’t possibly speak of these things.

She couldn’t even sort out her own feelings.

‘No, even if I did… I can’t say it.’

So, Merrill decided to change the subject.

“Seriously… do you damned knife-ears have some disease where thorns grow in your mouth if you don’t oppress humans for even a day? Is this what you call a class?”

A few of the martial arts students almost nodded in agreement… but they caught Lusa’s gaze and whistled, scurrying away.

“Why are you interfering with someone else’s department? Have you ever seen me bother with the fact that the Assassination Department only accepts humans? Just what are you doing?”

But Lusa didn’t back down. Lusa, the Martial God. If she avoided fights, she wouldn’t have such a title.

“So, why did you intervene? This is my class.”

Lusa scoffed.

Merrill now pissed, shouted,

“I couldn’t just stand by and watch you knife-ears beat up another person… so I intervened. What, you have a problem with that?”

“Ah, is that so? If you couldn’t stand by, then you should be prepared for punishment.”

Lusa took a stance, as if she wanted to teach Merrill a lesson. Merrill, as if she were waiting for this, drew a dagger from her pocket.

The students stepped back, creating a distance, murmuring to themselves.

Everyone was clearly flustered.

‘W-What’s going on?’

And so was Leffrey.

‘Professor Lusa. Seeing that smirk on your face… You’re actually thinking of fighting her, aren’t you?’

Why were they suddenly acting like this when they were getting along just a moment ago? When professors started fighting, it was a disaster, a war.

It meant people would die.

Even Yumari swallowed hard, as a chilling killing intent, powerful enough to make even her take a step back, filled the training hall, emanating from where the two professors stood.

“Stop it!”

But Leffrey was able to endure thanks to his [Angels become stronger when they do the right thing!] buff.

“What are you two doing?!”

Leffrey looked at Lusa and Merrill. Lusa, flustered at Leffrey’s sudden appearance.

“Professor Lusa, today’s class is a bit too much!”

“W-Well, you know. There’s a reason why the class is like this…”

“But I don’t know.”

Leffrey pretended to be clueless.

“Uh, huh?”

Lusa, flustered, stammered out.

Leffrey, ignoring her, immediately turned to his next target.

“You’re Professor Merrill from the Assassination Department, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Why are you interfering with another department’s class?”

Leffrey asked boldly, holding his head high as if he wasn’t scared at all. But it only made him look even cuter…

Thump—To someone, it was such a shocking move that they could hear their own heart skip a beat.

‘I want to take a picture…’

Merrill, who had been staring at him blankly, shook her head and retreated.

“Tch, I don’t even want to argue with a kid… Professor Lusa, remember that I’m always watching you.”

“Running away like a chicken ’cause you’re scared.”

Thus, the commotion in the Martial Arts Department ended. Leffrey, recalling the appearance of Merrill, who had revealed herself, was lost in thought.

‘knife-ears? Isn’t that a derogatory term for elves.’

Come to think of it, during the War of Annihilation, Merrill hated monsters as much as she hated the demon king, and she had also been quite harsh towards otherworldly races.

‘Right, Merrill… must have called elves ‘knife-ears’, beast folk ‘half-beasts’, dwarves ‘stunted shorties’, fairies ‘flies’…’

And so on, she used various derogatory terms.

‘I just thought it was because Merrill had a bad personality and was cynical… but…’

Then what was this message?

[Easing the hatred of a hero consumed by hatred is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

A hero consumed by hatred. Even the foolish Leffrey could tell who it was referring to.

‘Merrill is a hero consumed by hatred.’

Leffrey looked at Lusa, who seemed disappointed at losing a chance to fight.

“Professor Lusa, you said earlier that the Assassination Department only accepts humans, right?”

“Yes, just like how the Archery Department accepts many otherworldly students, the Assassination Department only accepts humans. You know why, don’t you?”

Yes, Leffrey knew. The fact that Merrill hated otherworldly beings.

And the fact that resolving that hatred would be converted into Angelic Power…

‘If I don’t dispel Merrill’s hatred, the demon king will surely use it to darken this world.’

Merrill hated otherworldly beings. There was no way the demon king would ignore that emotion.

‘Don’t tell me… the reason why she challenged Headmaster Iriel, who is a revived angel, and why she’s trying to do something to me, an angel…’

Angels are also otherworldly beings.

Everything made sense when he thought about it that way.

For Leffrey to enjoy a safe and peaceful academy life, he had to dispel Professor Merrill’s hatred of otherworldly beings.

‘Then I have no choice.’

Leffrey, for his own safety, made a decision.

‘It’s not for my own safety! It’s for the other world students who attend the academy, and even more so, for the sake of this world!’

And for Angelic Power, of course.

‘I’ll change Professor Merrill’s heart!’

Sparkle sparkle—Yumari, seeing the light in Leffrey’s eyes, sighed. Back when she saw Leffrey intervene in the professors’ fight, her heart…

…had sunk.

‘Leffrey… he’s making another selfless vow, sacrificing himself again.’

Sparkle sparkle—Yumari, looking at Leffrey’s shining eyes, sighed again. Her horns grew slightly larger.

‘In the end, to protect Leffrey, I have no choice but to lock him away…’

Leffrey, safe in her arms.

Safely, forever…

As her own and only hers…

The girl smiled greedily.

Flinch, Yumari quickly hid her grown horns and scurried to a corner. Fortunately, the martial arts training hall was noisy, so no one noticed Yumari.

Except for a few male students who liked her.

‘This isn’t me! This isn’t who I am…!’

Thus, Yumari donned her mask again.

* * *

Leffrey organized his thoughts while hanging laundry.

‘Merrill. The only thing known about her past is that she was Park Jin-ho’s adopted daughter.’

If that’s the case, there’s a high chance that Park Jin-ho knows about Merrill’s past. So he had to ask Professor Park Jin-ho about Merrill, but…

‘But that’s too dangerous. If Professor Merrill finds out that I’m digging into her past…’

He would probably have to take an ‘assassination class’ from her, personally.

For her to find out that he’s an otherworldly angel she already hated, and on top of that, to learn that he’s digging into her past? If that happened… shake shake—Leffrey shook his head.

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

“Haah, there’s no answer.”

Leffrey sighed, then looked at the notes in the Volunteer Club’s suggestion box. Each one, a means to gain Angelic Power.

“Hmm, sealing a cursed grimoire? I’ll send Soya to auto-hunt this one… no, I mean, I’ll just ask Soya…”

Thus, Leffrey quickly looked through the notes.

Relationship counseling. Pass. Another club’s evil deeds? This one’s for everyone. Treating injuries? I’ll take that myself. And…

“What is this?”

Leffrey tilted his head. Because there was a strange volunteer request.

“Find a student?”

It read:

There’s a child who was taken away by a superhuman family after awakening their bloodline skill. I heard he entered the Central Academy, but I haven’t been able to reach him recently.

I heard about your Volunteer Club through another student. Please, I beg you, find my child.

Leffrey, after reading the note, muttered,

“I have to meet this person myself…”

Leffrey had a hunch.

A hunch that he would gain a lot of Angelic Power from this.

And so, as the weekend arrived, Leffrey got a leave pass and headed out.

To personally meet with the parent who left this note.

“Hmm, Jongno District, Old Seoul… Le’Tree Cafe… Is this it?”

Leffrey looked up at the café. It was a normal, ordinary café. However, with few customers, it seemed like a place that people who liked this kind of atmosphere might visit occasionally.

And in a corner of that café sat a truly innocent-looking, pure woman. A beauty who seemed like she wouldn’t even know what war was, someone who wouldn’t be interested in conflict.

The beautiful woman, seeing Leffrey, smiled.

“Here, over here. You really came? I’m the one who made the request.”

The woman seemed pretty happy to see Leffrey, so happy that she was flustered. Seeing that, Leffrey gulped.

‘Wait, don’t tell me, the client is…’

The professor who always wore a mask. But her mask was removed after being defeated by the demon king. And the demon king had broadcasted that face for the world to see.

So, Leffrey knew what she looked like without her mask.

‘No way, Professor Merrill?’

That woman, acting like a clueless parent… was Merrill, the assassination department professor, the one second only to Park Jin-ho in how cruel they annihilated their enemies.

‘…It can’t be helped.’

Leffrey smiled.

And politely bowed.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Leffrey, the president of the Volunteer Club.”