Chapter 72: The Angel Learns the Style (3)

Episode 72

Leffrey declared boldly,

First place on the final exam?

He would give it a shot.

‘Actually, it’s not as simple as that, though…’

This final exam would be conducted across all years due to the professors’ situation. This meant that to become the top student, he would have to defeat the monsters in the second and third years.

‘There are so many monsters among our seniors… Koo Sang-hyuk, Erica, Jin-Cheol, Lou White, and Yu Si-hyun.’

Especially the problem was Yu Si-hyun, the second-year top student and the student council president.

‘Yu Si-hyun. She possesses an Ultimate Skill.’

She was a student who had mastered an Ultimate Skill, and there was absolutely no way for Leffrey to defeat her.

Ultimate Skills could only be countered by other Ultimate Skills.

Lusa, wiping away the tears that had welled up in her eyes, suddenly grinned as if trying to appear okay.

“Phew, I’m losing my mind. Asking a kid like you to get first place… Kid, forget it.”

But Leffrey, looking at Lusa, shook his head.

‘Lusa’s nickname is the Martial God, but in the future, she’ll be called the Fallen Elf.’

Actually, no one in the present time called Lusa a Fallen Elf. Although there were those who gossiped behind her back, saying she was corrupted because she ate meat and enjoyed human entertainment…

No idiot would openly use the derogatory term ‘Fallen’ in front of her. Lusa was the elves’ hero, the Martial God.

Then why would Lusa, who had such an honorable title, be called a Fallen Elf in the future?

‘Lusa was of the Elven Royal Family with the right to meet with the World Tree.’

One day, Lusa met with the World Tree and burned the elves’ sacred tree to ashes.

An unprecedented incident.

That was when Lusa started being called the Fallen Elf by the elves.

‘Lusa, while burning the World Tree… said she did it to avenge her family.’

And the message that appeared earlier.

[Protecting the family of a hero is a duty you must fulfill as an angel!]

The family that drove Lusa to seek revenge against the World Tree… must be that young World Tree sapling.

Leffrey closed his eyes.

‘Thus, humanity lost a powerful ally, the World Tree. The elves also fell, and this must never happen again.’

And more importantly, protecting the World Tree, the god of the elves, was an incredibly angelic act. And considering that it would also prevent the fall of Lusa, a hero…

‘Protecting the god of an entire race? And preventing the fall of a hero? This is just a guess, but…’

He would probably gain more Angelic Power from this than anything else he had done.

‘I can’t resist Angelic Power!’

And even…

‘Leffriel is also showing interest in this!’

Leffrey, who wanted to learn Leffriel’s strength, couldn’t miss this opportunity.

Lastly, Leffrey recalled a young boy, sobbing under a sofa.

Leffrey opened his mouth,

“Professor, I know too.”

“…Know what?”

“What it’s like to lose a family to power… and how painful it is.”

Sparkling tears welled up in Leffrey’s green eyes.

“So, you don’t have to pretend to be okay.”

Leffrey, without another word, embraced Lusa’s shoulders.

“I’ll do my best. I’ll do my…”

The boy’s voice was choked with sobs.

Lusa closed her eyes.

At that moment, Leffrey felt a rough hand on his back. It was Lusa’s hand, hardened by years of training, where calluses formed and peeled away, over and over, eventually losing all its softness.

Her hand was warm.

“You…”

Lusa muttered in a choked voice.

And she collapsed.

* * *

For the first time in his life, Leffrey tried to make a cocktail.

‘Jack and Coke? A type of Bourbon and Coke, made by mixing Jack Daniel’s, a popular bourbon whiskey, with cola? So it’s a very famous cocktail?’

It was a very unfamiliar drink to Leffrey, the perfect angel.

He had never even heard of Jack Daniel’s, let alone Jack and Coke.

“Ugh, Leffrey, make sure to add the Jack first and then the Coke. Otherwise, it won’t mix well.”

Lusa, lying down, muttered.

But how did Lusa end up like this?

Lusa, collapsing due to overwork, her trembling hands while laying down.

“I miss a refreshing… ice strawberry, no, a refreshing Jack and Coke…”

She muttered those words.

Leffrey, flustered, repeating “Jack and Coke? Jack and Coke?”, quickly searched for “Jack and Coke” on his smartphone.

He thought it was some kind of medicine, but it turned out to be the name of a whiskey cocktail.

“Ugh, Jack and Coke.”

“Ah, I see. You have all the ingredients in the fridge, right? I’ll make it for you right now!”

Leffrey hurriedly searched the fridge.

He was so busy searching the fridge that he didn’t see the smile on Lusa’s face.

A hastily made Jack and Coke, bourbon whiskey mixed with cola in an on-the-rocks glass.

Easy to make, even for a beginner like Leffrey.

As soon as the Jack and Coke was made, Lusa snatched the glass away and chugged it down.

[Quenching the thirst of a hero is an angelic act!]

[You have gained Angelic Power.]

‘It’s nice to gain Angelic Power, but is it okay to give alcohol to Professor Lusa?’

Lusa, oblivious to Leffrey’s worries, held up her glass and said,

“Ahh- Good. One more.”

“Professor Lusa, but you need to prepare for the exam…”

“Ugh… I’m feeling dizzy again…”

Then Lusa collapsed again.

Leffrey, flustered, quickly mixed another cocktail.

Gulp gulp-

“Ahh, now I feel alive. This is what I live for.”

And then, without hesitation, casually lit up a cigar.

“Cough cough, P-Professor.”

Lusa took a deep drag from her cigar, then embraced Leffrey again.

“Hey, it’s okay even if you fail.”

And she grinned.

“This is who I am. A true woman of this era who can dust herself off and overcome anything with a good drink and a good cigar.”

Lusa hugged Leffrey tightly and whispered softly,

“So even if you fail, it’s not your fault… Got it?”

Leffrey nodded.

“Then go. You need to prepare for your final exam. You bragged a lot earlier, so you’re confident, right?”

“O-Of course.”

“Hmph, are you even a man? Go quickly.”

Thus, Leffrey politely bowed and left the office, leaving Lusa behind.

The moment he left, the cigar fell from Lusa’s mouth.

“Damn it, showing such a weak side in front of a student. You’re such a fool, Lusa…”

“Sister…”

At that moment, a voice called out.

A girl with green hair was looking at Lusa with a pitiful expression.

“Don’t tell me… mother’s, the World Tree’s punishment, is still ongoing?”

“…Stop talking nonsense. I’m just a little sleepy from preparing the exam.”

Lusa growled.

“Sister, you’re always… Then… who was that student?”

Lusa momentarily made a sad expression.

Then she smiled slightly and slowly opened her mouth,

“…Family.”

* * *

Leffrey groaned.

‘I’m still too weak to think about getting first place… I need to reach at least the top tier of the final exams… and for that, my overall combat power needs to be at least on par with Soya’s.’

Soya was weaker than Hongwol and Yumari.

But she was much stronger than Leffrey.

Why?

‘Actually, if you just look at our stats, I’m stronger than Soya. My stats, excluding Magic, are all higher than hers, and the skills I’ve learned are better.’

But Leffrey couldn’t defeat Soya.

‘Soya isn’t exactly familiar with combat. But she created her own [style] of magic, and figured out how to fight in her own way.’

That’s right. Soya had a fighting style, but Leffrey still lacked his own. That’s why even though Leffrey was objectively stronger in terms of stats, he couldn’t defeat Soya.

Leffrey racked his brains.

‘Then I have no choice but to choose between swordsmanship, martial arts, and magical studies, and follow just one professor’s style.’

Leffrey wasn’t a genius who could create his own style. Therefore, he had no choice but to copy an already existing style.

And the only styles Leffrey could copy were the styles of the professors, who were masters in their respective fields.

‘But then I have to give up on the other two techniques. If I give up on them, can I really become the top student in the final exams?’

Ugh- Leffrey squirmed.

If only Professor Hexi were here in the cathedral, he could have asked her.

‘Of all times, the professors all went on a business trip together.’

“Ughhh!”

Leffrey sighed deeply.

Tick tock-

The more Leffrey worried, the closer the final exams approached.

“Then there’s only one way.”

Leffrey slapped his cheeks a few times to pull himself together, then sat down in the cathedral basement training hall, legs crossed.

He activated the Klein-style meditation technique—entered his mind to meet Leffriel.

“Leffriel!”

“…”

Leffriel, still staring at him with a sullen expression.

“Help me out here.”

Leffrey boldly demanded.

“No.”

“Come on. Please?”

“…No. Give me back my body.”

But Leffriel’s attitude was still cold.

‘Well, I expected this much.’

Leffrey was slightly flustered, but Leffrey, the tenacious angel, didn’t give up.

“Leffriel, you know my situation. If I don’t get first place on the finals, the World Tree sapling will fall into the hands of a large guild or a superhuman family. As an angel, you have to stop this!”

Leffriel, hearing those words, replied in a monotone,

“Leffriel is not an ordinary angel. That’s not Leffriel’s mission.”

Then he continued,

“Leffriel’s mission is to maintain the balance of this world. The World Tree sapling has no value to the balance.”

Leffriel’s eyes were cold.

They were the same emerald eyes as his own, but they felt somehow bluish.

‘He’s not listening.’

Leffrey sighed.

It was time to use a new ‘Angel’s Secret Technique’.

‘Angel’s Secret Technique, Chapter 5. Angel-lighting!’

An angelic technique that uses angelic eloquence to angelically persuade someone.

That is Angel-lighting.

Leffrey opened his mouth.

“Balance? Sure, one human life, or even a dryad’s life, might be of no value to the balance.”

Leffrey continued,

“But to someone else, that might be their entire world. A single person could be a weight heavy enough to shatter someone else’s balance.”

Leffrey said once more,

“Leffriel, you fell into this world because you were pulled by that weight.”

“I… Am not… Like that…”

Leffriel shook his head.

“Did you forget your weight? Leffriel… really?”

“I am the one who maintains balance. The judge of this world. There’s no weight that can bind me.”

Leffrey asked once more,

“Then why did you fall into this world? If there’s nothing that binds you… you can just fly away, right?”

“…”

Leffriel’s face fell with frustration, and he slumped down, defeated.

“I don’t know.”

“Is that all? You’re just going to end academy life with ‘I don’t know’?”

“But…”

Leffriel, his head bowed, muttered in a voice so small that it was barely audible,

“I’ll tell you… a little about how to fight.”