The Angel Who Drew the Holy Sword (5)
"What is your true identity?"
The question was short, but it carried a world of implications.
No way... no way...
'No way... has she figured out that my race isn't human?'
Refri realized the situation was turning dire. No way had she uncovered that he was an angel fallen to earth, right? If she had, he'd be dragged off for research alongside his suspicious Angel Power energy.
He absolutely had to avoid that.
"My identity? My parents weren't from another world or any subrace—they were just ordinary Koreans. For real."
This was the best answer he could muster. It was a fact that his parents in his previous life as Refri had been human Koreans. Naturally, having such parents meant Refri was just a normal human too.
That was logical angel Refri's perfect response.
And, of course...
The orb stayed white.
It wasn't a lie, after all.
"Hmm. That's not what I meant. To be more precise... I'm curious about your past."
Past, huh. Why on earth was she asking that?
Refri roughly guessed Rebecca's intentions.
'...Right now, Rebecca sees me as a pure user of holy power, brimming with faith in the heavens. That's why she's probing my identity and my past. She probably wants to confirm through my answers that I'm full of faith.'
So, Refri needed to show that his faith was worn thin and tattered—that even if he failed to draw the holy sword and suffered divine punishment, his heart wouldn't break.
That meant revealing his past.
'My past...'
Of course, it was private, and he didn't want to share it. Besides, Refri's past was...
'Is there really no other way? I don't want to say it...'
In the end, the boy hesitated to speak of his history.
Rebecca spoke first.
"It wouldn't be fair to make only you reveal your past. I understand."
She slowly reminisced about her own history.
"Then I'll start with mine."
The early parts matched what Refri knew. Rebecca, the saintess of that other world, was born in the empire's countryside and, due to her immense holy power, served as a nun in the grand cathedral. She gradually built achievements until she rose to the rank where she was called a saintess.
"And then the Demon King's invasion began."
After the invasion started, Rebecca did everything she could as a saintess. Holy power was a force more dangerous than any mana—it constantly gnawed at her body—but she never rested for a moment.
"But it wasn't enough."
Yet Rebecca's efforts alone couldn't stop the empire's fall. And like any world or civilization on the brink of destruction, madness took hold.
The empire was no different.
"The people hoped a hero who could draw the holy sword would appear. They wished for it desperately, madly."
Mad with desperation, they longed for a hero. They yearned so fervently for one who could draw the holy sword that they did everything possible.
Rebecca revealed the deep burn scars hidden beneath her nun's habit.
"The price of divine punishment. When I failed, next came my mother—who had borne me, so they deemed her somewhat promising—then my younger brother, and even my baby sister who couldn't yet speak. They burned one after another in divine punishment."
Rebecca murmured as if entranced.
"Ah, I never want to see that sight again. Not ever, even if it were my enemies..."
It was a story so heartbreaking that even listening Refri felt anguish.
But Rebecca continued calmly.
"So now, I believe in nothing."
She smiled faintly and gripped Refri's shoulder.
"And I'll never use holy power for people again."
Her smile was somehow twisted. Madness flickered in her expression.
"Never."
Hearing all this, Refri sensed something off. His instincts screamed it.
A massive misunderstanding.
'Wait, this story doesn't add up.'
Earlier, Rebecca had said, 'Ah, I never want to see that sight again. Not ever, even if it were my enemies...'
But then, in her previous life, why had she opened the sanctuary's door on her own? The guess that it was 'to watch the cat clan fail at drawing the sword' didn't fit.
So why had she opened it?
'I see. It wasn't Rebecca's will—it was the other professors'. Probably the dean or Vice Principal Park Jinho...'
Why had the other professors ordered Rebecca to open the sanctuary door?
What if the cat clan actually succeeded in stealing the holy sword?
'Just like I thought last time... No matter how genius Soya is, Klein couldn't miss a gate opening inside Central Academy. And no matter how good the cat clan's intel network is, they can't beat the academy's information power. This whole operation was already exposed.'
This was a guess he'd made before.
So then...
A simple conclusion.
'It's a trap. The professors think the cat clan, cursed by the Demon King, will inevitably fall to corruption. They're using this chance to wipe them all out.'
Considering the professors' ruthlessness, probably the entire Gumyo Fortress...
Now it made sense. Those proud cat clan members joining the Demon King—the one who cursed them—right after the operation failed... Why past-life Hongwol hated Central Academy so much...
'The real failure wasn't the cat clan—it was the professors! They succeeded in killing the clan leader Jeogwol and the elders... but they couldn't kill Hongwol.'
Hongwol had probably survived because she didn't participate in the holy sword theft.
Why not? Some injury?
No way to know now.
'But in this timeline, Hongwol enrolled in Central Academy outright, so naturally, she's at the forefront of this operation now.'
Then Hongwol would die by the professors' hands. Soya, involved too, wouldn't survive. With the clan leader's bloodline dead, Gumyo Fortress would end—and the hundreds of thousands living there massacred alongside.
Respecting life is the duty of an angel.
Refri had a duty to stop it.
"...I'll be going now."
No reason to stay longer. The door was already open.
A door leading to death.
"Where do you think you're going? Didn't you need my key?"
"The sanctuary door is already open."
"Impressive. You've already figured out our professors' plan."
But Professor Rebecca's key didn't activate.
"Professor!"
"You haven't shared your past yet."
"Professor! Open it, please!"
"Why should I? If I open it, you'll burn up like my little brother, clinging to that foolish faith."
This was the true meaning of Rebecca's words: 'I can't bear to see that sight again...'
Even risking the professors' plan failing, she couldn't watch Refri burn trying to draw the sword.
Rebecca reached out and grabbed Refri's hand.
"Refri. Don't go."
Clunk clunk— No matter what, the door wouldn't open.
'Soya... Hongwol...!'
His vision blurred with tears. The boy turned back, holding back sobs.
No more hesitation.
"My past is similar to yours, Professor."
"...Pardon?"
"I... I once desperately hoped a hero would come down too."
Refri slowly shared his past. A tale from when he had black hair and knew nothing of Central Academy or Angel Power.
"Do you know the term 'illegitimate child'?"
"...Yes."
"I was the illegitimate son of a chaebol heir—what you'd call a rich young master."
It hurt. Sharing this was pure agony.
But...
"That young master treated my mom like a toy—not even human. So what was I? A byproduct of playing with a toy. Worthless..."
Reviving those memories was excruciating.
But...
"Still, Mom and I believed in him. Someday..."
Someday...
We could be a normal family. A child held that faith.
"Then an incident happened."
"An incident?"
"Yes. I don't know how long you've been in Korea, but chaebol families marry among themselves, like nobility. It came time for that young master to marry for power and wealth."
Refri closed his eyes and murmured.
"Before the wedding, he tried to clean up his leftover toys. Couldn't risk complications."
The rest was the nightmare Refri always had. His mother frantically hiding the boy under the sofa, the fighting, the screams. She never revealed where her son was.
One boy prayed to the heavens hundreds of times. Please save Mom.
He waited for the heroes from cartoons and comics. Please defeat these villains.
But his prayers never reached the sky.
The room fell silent...
A tiny gap letting in light—blood seeped through it.
The boy held back tears with all his might, and he never slept peacefully again.
"Do you believe me now? That I have no heart left to hurt? That I believe in nothing?"
'Yeah, for those kids... I'll share this past a hundred times over.'
Enduring pain to save people is the mark of a true angel!
Angel Power gained.
And the orb was still white.
Rebecca murmured in shock.
"You're just like me after all."
Tears welled in her eyes.
"Then why... why are you trying to draw the holy sword? You say you believe in nothing, that you're disillusioned with this world like me—why?!"
"Because I can't wait any longer."
"...For what?"
Refri said it without turning.
"A hero."
Refri vowed never to read fantasy novels again. He didn't want to pin hopes on some hero straight out of one.
He no longer believed in a hero chosen by the heavens.
What he believed in was...
'If the heavens won't send a hero... I'll raise one myself. That's me, the guardian angel of heroes... Refri.'
Clunk—
The firmly shut door opened.
In the end, Professor Rebecca decided to let him go.
She could only mull over the boy's words.
'Can't wait any longer... for a hero. So he's sacrificing himself to take the hero's place...'
Of course, it was a misunderstanding. That's not what the boy meant.
"Such a... such a good kid... I swore I'd never use holy power again..."
Rebecca bowed her head.
"But now I have to protect you...!"
In the end, Rebecca couldn't hold back her tears.
Tears she shed for the first time in a decade.