Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Fallen Angel Lakias
Idnia, startled, looked at the price tag and saw a product description written on it.
“Snacks from another world excavated from the deep layers of a dungeon? The price… 5 Aka coins?!”
Five Aka coins for a single chocolate bar… with the current exchange rate being 1 Aka coin to 5 shillings, that made it a staggering 25 shillings.
In other words, one chocolate bar cost 2.5 million won.
An absurd price, but to Idnia right now, it was irresistibly tempting.
Until now, she had not missed Earth. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say she hadn’t thought about it.
She had been too busy overcoming the waves crashing down on her to look back.
Just living the second life she had gained by luck after crossing death was already enough to keep her occupied.
Yet merely a few snacks and canned goods like these stirred a great tide within her heart.
Suddenly, tears flowed.
For some reason, longing welled up, and Idnia began to cry.
“Uh… what are you doing, Idnia?”
Sendia called out to her.
Idnia quickly wiped her tears and turned around.
‘If it were anyone else, fine, but I never gave you permission to call me by name so casually. And besides….’
Idnia clicked her tongue as she saw Sendia picking out and buying various snacks.
There were no Earth-made snacks, but the others were also being sold at quite high prices, and seeing how much she was buying made it clear just how wealthy she was.
‘Or… am I, a member of a ducal family, just too poor?’
Her mouth watered on its own from hunger.
Clearing her throat, Idnia asked,
“Do you know about these? These items from another world?”
“Ah, these? They’re occasionally excavated from the deep parts of dungeons. Adventurers find items from other worlds and use what they need, but food like those snacks gets brought to merchant guilds and sold…. I’ve tried them before… they’re delicious. But they’re so expensive that unless I receive them as gifts, it’s hard to justify buying them. This place is especially overpriced.”
‘I see. In the game, items from Earth didn’t appear… but then again, I was reincarnated here as Idnia, so there’s no rule saying objects couldn’t cross over too. Hmm. Still, they’re way too expensive.
You can obtain these in the deep dungeon, right? It’d be faster if I just went there myself.’
Idnia accepted Sendia’s explanation.
For some reason, an urge surged within her to enter a dungeon right away.
But then…
“Ah… wow… there are so many fascinating things.
Are those snacks? And what’s this metal container?
How did they print packaging onto a metal surface like this?”
She noticed Mari staring blankly with her mouth slightly open as she looked at the items.
Judging by how she was fiddling with her student ID brooch, it seemed she wanted to eat them but couldn’t bring herself to spend such an outrageous amount.
At that moment, Magram had given everyone 20 Aka coins, so the other students were excitedly using the shop.
Some even went as far as exchanging more money because 20 Aka coins weren’t enough.
While everyone else was buying and eating, Mari could only watch, practically sucking her fingers.
“Do you… want to eat something?”
“Ah, Lady Idnia. Ah… yes. B-but it’s too expensive. I could never afford something like this. My tuition and support all come from the Bishop and the people of my hometown, so I can’t spend it on something personal like this….”
“Hmm. That’s true. Honestly, I want to try it too. But it’s just too expensive.”
“Huh? Lady Idnia, you too?”
“The Duchy of Betelgeuse is in a dire situation… I came here with the Bishop’s support as well. But since I have the Aka coins Professor Magram gave us, it’s making me uneasy, so I’m thinking it might be better to exchange them into shillings now.”
“Ah, that’s true. If we exchange them now into shillings and later convert back into Aka coins, it would be more profitable….”
Mari caught on to the idea and headed toward the currency exchange counter.
But soon, she stopped in her tracks.
“Ugh… what is this exchange rate….”
“As expected, the Academy doesn’t make things easy.”
The exchange counter had a suit of animated armor holding a sign, and the rates were as follows:
‘Buying 1 Aka coin: 5 shillings. Selling: 1 shilling.’
To buy 1 Aka coin, you had to pay 5 shillings, but when selling Aka coins for shillings, the rate was fixed at 1 to 1.
“They’re blatantly ripping people off. To think they’d try to squeeze money out of students so openly.”
“Ah… hahaha….”
Idnia and Mari both slumped their shoulders at the same time.
“Ah, but in that case, the best thing to do is spend the Aka coins Professor Magram gave us right now! Since 1 Aka coin equals 5 shillings, this is when they’re worth the most! If we spend the 20 Aka coins we have, that’s like buying 100 shillings worth of goods!”
“…Wait. Calm down, Mari. That’s exactly what people say right before they squander their entire fortune. Get a grip.”
Idnia had to break into a cold sweat trying to stop Mari.
Meanwhile, the shop’s operating hours came to an end.
“Ah, damn it.”
It was good that she hadn’t been swept up into unnecessary spending, but it was still disappointing.
‘Since I had 20 Aka coins, maybe I should’ve just used them. At the very least, if I had bought a chocolate bar, even if I didn’t eat it, it would’ve been good for my peace of mind.’
As Idnia watched the animated armors putting away the shop displays, she felt regret.
At that moment, help arrived from an unexpected direction.
“Hey, you two… Idnia and Mari. I’ve got some leftovers. Want them?”
Sendia handed them sweet rolls with sugar icing and cookies.
Until now, everyone had been starving, and when the shop opened, all the students had rushed to buy food like mad. Whatever was left, they kept for themselves—no one was sharing.
Since there was no guarantee the shop would open again tomorrow, everyone stockpiled food, unable to trust the Academy’s bizarre management.
But Sendia offered part of what she had bought to Idnia and Mari.
‘Seeing the northern students beating others up… I guess I shouldn’t provoke people too much.’
Having witnessed violence between students, Sendia made a gesture of reconciliation.
“Ah, of course I’ll accept it gratefully. Thank you, Sendia. We had a bit of tension earlier, but let’s get along from now on.”
Idnia willingly accepted Sendia’s gesture.
“Th-thank you….”
Mari also succumbed to the food in front of her eyes.
It seemed she had been sulking a bit after losing to Idnia in the spirit summoning class, but hunger came before pride.
‘Come to think of it, these were items that increased affection in the game, and it really does raise affinity in reality too.
Though instead of the protagonist Mari or me giving them, I didn’t expect Sendia to be the one.’
Sensing that the game’s system was subtly reflected in reality, Idnia happily split the sweet roll and shared it with Mari.
The next class was Defensive Magic, which was also a required major course.
The students gathered in the lecture hall where Magram had taught and waited for the professor to arrive.
Then suddenly, a magic circle formed on the ground, and blood-stained wings burst out from the floor.
The wings, pierced with rusted swords, fluttered as they broke through the magic circle, revealing a fallen angel with massive wings.
Two on each side—four swords in total—were embedded in its wings, and with its eyes closed, it shed an unceasing stream of bloody tears.
A fallen angel, both beautiful and grotesque, had appeared.
“Ugh….”
“A succubus, an ifrit, a dragon… and now a fallen angel? It’s shocking, but not surprising anymore.”
“Shh, it might hear you.”
The students were horrified by the grotesque yet beautiful appearance of their new professor.
“Welcome to Abjuration, the class of defensive magic.
Fleshly beings.
I am Lakias.
Once the commander of the heavenly army, but as you can see, I have fallen and am now a tenured professor bound to this Academy.
Ah… even with my eyes covered, I can tell. This sweet scent of flesh.
How utterly lovely!”
Lakias covered its mouth and nose with its hand, yet seemed intoxicated by the scent of the surrounding humans.
Everyone looked on in confusion.
“W-what’s wrong with it?”
“How would I know?”
“But… it’s incredibly beautiful.
I’ve only heard stories about angels… I never thought I’d see one with my own eyes.”
Though bewildered by Lakias’s bizarre behavior, they couldn’t help but admire its beauty, even with blood streaming from its eyes and swords piercing its wings.
That grotesque yet beautiful figure captivated many of the boys and girls.
“Now then, I should teach you defensive magic, shouldn’t I? First, I will teach you the most basic—shield magic.
My beloved flesh, I shall gently touch your heads.”
The fallen angel Lakias extended its fingers.
Those slender, jade-like white fingers rose into the air…
And appeared above the heads of every student.
“Now. Accept it.”
“Mm….”
Seeing Lakias’s hand before her, Idnia turned her head away.
But the other students stood frozen, like frogs before a snake.
Lakias’s fingers pierced through their eyes and burrowed into their brains.
“Ah—!”
“Aaaah!”
The students writhed in agony.
Ordinarily, having fingers pierce one’s eyes and brain would mean instant death, but Lakias’s fingers existed on a different plane, passing through their bodies like a ghost through a wall.
As the fingers penetrated their brains and emitted light, knowledge was engraved into their minds.
“Good. Now you ‘know’ shield magic. Ah… but there are a few pieces of flesh that resisted.”
Idnia, Saintess Mari, Isolde Polzen, Crown Prince Rudolf, Prince Lorenzo of Mazdari, and other top-performing students had rejected Lakias’s method.
“I already know the shield spell. I do not require such a method of instruction.”
Rudolf spoke with undisguised displeasure.
“I don’t know the shield spell… but I have no desire to learn it that way.”
Idnia did not know the spell, but she refused to learn it like that.
“I see. Then….”
Lakias clapped its hands, and smoke burst forth as teaching assistants appeared.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Is it our turn now?”
Grumbling, the assistants ran over and began teaching the students directly.
Among those who resisted Lakias, only Idnia and Mari didn’t know the shield spell, so each of them was assigned an assistant who carefully explained the incantation, the method of casting, how to circulate mana, and its structure.
“Now then, follow what I taught you. Circulate your mana and cast the incantation—‘Bang peh-yo!’”
“Shield!”
When Idnia shouted the incantation in Korean, her mana moved naturally, and a shining shield of magical energy formed before her wand.
“The rest of you, try casting it as well.”
Those who had received Lakias’s instruction succeeded in casting the shield spell without difficulty.
Even those who resisted, including Idnia, managed to cast it successfully—but only one person, Mari, failed to form a shield.
Normally, all eyes would have turned to her, but most of the students were staring at Lakias in blind fascination.
Even those who had resisted were too disturbed, repulsed, and captivated by Lakias to pay attention to Mari.
“Now then, the one who cannot perform it shall continue learning with an assistant, and I will teach the rest of you about magical duels.”
With a captivating smile, Lakias deliberately added,
“My beloved flesh.”