Going Home
I arrived at Professor Santoto’s office.
For a private faculty room, it was surprisingly spacious.
“You’re here. Carrot.”
“You’re here. Lotus root.”
Two rabbits seated on the sofa in the center of the office greeted us.
Twins, maybe? They looked identical.
But I knew which one was Professor Santoto at a glance. The rabbit in the suit, chewing on a carrot—that had to be her.
“Ah. This is my little sister, Instructor Forest-Rabbit-Rabbit. She’s also in charge of Class 3, same as me, so introduce yourselves.”
Professor Santoto introduced the rabbit beside her.
I’d been wondering what kind of rabbit she was; turns out she was an instructor.
Instructor Forest-Rabbit-Rabbit rose from her seat and introduced herself.
“I was originally planning to do the formal introductions tomorrow, but things worked out this way first. Anyway, good to meet you. I’m Instructor Forest-Rabbit-Rabbit—just call me Instructor Suptoto for short. Lotus root.”
Instructor Suptoto offered her paw for a handshake.
The moment I took it, she started squishing and kneading my hand all over.
“Hehe. Soft hands. Nice.”
“……”
It was a pretty pervy way of shaking hands.
Still, it didn’t feel bad. Instructor Suptoto was a cute animal, after all.
Once our handshake was done, she returned to her seat.
Seo I-eung then asked her,
“Hey. You’re not gonna shake my hand?”
“I have no interest in shaking hands with girls. Lotus root.”
“What kind of crazy rabbit are you?”
“Watch how you talk to your instructor.”
Wait—was she a female rabbit? No wonder that skinship just now had felt a little too interested.
Well, she was still an animal, so it didn’t really matter.
“Ahem. Both of you, sit down first. Carrot.”
Seo I-eung and I took seats on the sofa opposite Professor Santoto.
“All right, let’s get to the point. You already know why we called you here, don’t you?”
Chin resting on her paws atop the table, Santoto fixed us with a steady stare as she asked.
I could guess the reason. It had to be about us taking down the dungeon boss. There was no other reason they would summon us.
“Is it because we beat the boss?”
Seo I-eung answered.
Professor Santoto let out a long sigh, then hopped up onto the table in a single bound.
“Do we look like the type to call you in over something that trivial? Carrot?”
“Then why did you call us?”
“We called you for a very important reason.”
“So what is that reason already?”
Hop.
This time Instructor Suptoto hopped up onto the table as well.
Both of them put on solemn faces, stared straight through me, and shouted in unison.
“Kang Hahwi! Show it to us too! Carrot!”
“Kang Hahwi! Show it to us too! Car—wait, no—lotus root!”
“Show you what?”
I answered this time. I had no idea what they wanted to see.
“Carrot! Your angel form! We want to see it in person!”
“Lotus root! It was too blurry on the screen!”
“…Why do you want to see that?”
“Th-that’s…”
“Uuuuhm…”
The rabbits floundered. Their eyes darted every which way before they finally stammered out an answer.
“A-as a professor, I have a duty to confirm my student’s transformation form!”
“R-right! I have the same duty as an instructor!”
Hearing that, Seo I-eung narrowed her eyes and tossed them a question.
“Then why aren’t you asking me to show my transformation?”
“Lotus root! A girl’s transformation is just—mmph!”
Professor Santoto hurriedly clamped a paw over Instructor Suptoto’s mouth, then forced an awkward smile.
“We were going to ask you after we confirmed Kang Hahwi’s angel form first. Carrot!”
“Ahh. Is that so?”
Seo I-eung snorted. Clearly she’d already decided they were lying.
I thought the same. Their faces alone made it obvious.
Whatever their real reason was, though, I couldn’t transform right now. Angelization was only possible once a day.
“I’m sorry. I can only transform once a day, so it’s impossible right now.”
I told them the truth.
Santoto and Suptoto froze in place as if struck by lightning.
“Wh-what…! How deplorable…!”
“It can’t be… I was looking forward to it so much…”
“Then just take your top off right now! I want to see those abs up close too!”
“Lotus root! Take it off! Take it off!”
Finally the rabbits showed their true colors.
Just as I’d expected—their goal had been to see me shirtless.
I still didn’t understand why rabbits were so obsessed with a guy’s body. No matter how you looked at it, these were not normal rabbits.
I did not take my top off.
The second Seo I-eung pulled out her phone and threatened to report them, the rabbits slammed their heads to the floor and apologized on the spot.
After that, I made them a promise: I would definitely show them my angel form tomorrow.
They looked ready to cry if I didn’t.
“Carrot! Thank you!”
“Lotus root! You better show us tomorrow!”
Having perverted rabbits like these as our professor and instructor… the future looked pretty bleak.
“But you’re not saying anything about us beating the boss. Isn’t that a pretty big deal?”
Seo I-eung asked while sipping her tea.
Professor Santoto tilted her head.
“Hm? Why would we even bother mentioning that? All you did was take down an F-grade boss.”
“It was a demon boss, though? Not something a freshman can clear solo.”
“The kids at the First Academy knock those out easy. Even the freshmen.”
“Comparing us to them is a little unfair… That’s where all the elites from around the world gather.”
While Seo I-eung was talking with Professor Santoto, I called out to Instructor Suptoto.
“Instructor.”
“Lotus root?”
Instructor Suptoto, who had been lying across my lap, pricked her ears up.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Ask me anything. I’m smart, so I can answer it all. Lotus root.”
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. I doubted she would give me the answer I wanted.
What I wanted to know was information about angels—information that wasn’t even on the internet. I didn’t think Instructor Suptoto would know it.
Still, it couldn’t hurt to ask. She was an educator, after all. If a student doesn’t ask their own teacher, who else are they supposed to ask?
“Do you happen to know anything about angels?”
“Of course I do. I even met one a long time ago.”
An unexpected answer. She’d actually met an angel?
“Was there someone else who could transform into an angel besides me? Or did you meet a real angel?”
“I met a being whose species was angel.”
My thinking changed. If she had actually met an angel in the flesh, then maybe Instructor Suptoto could give me the answers I was looking for.
I unleashed a barrage of questions on Instructor Suptoto.
Of course, the questions weren’t free. Every time I asked one, I had to stroke her rear once.
Anyway, the questions and answers went like this.
First question: when she had met the angel.
“Hmm. When was that again… Around five hundred years ago, I think. Lotus root.”
Second question: where and how she had met that angel.
“I ran into them by chance in the world I used to live in. The world before I became a dungeon monster.”
Third question: whether there was any way to meet that angel again.
“You can’t. Setting aside the fact that there’s no way to contact them, the angel race already went extinct long ago. Hey, why’d you stop stroking? Keep stroking.”
Fourth question: why the angels had gone extinct.
“A long time ago there was a war between the angels and the demons, and the angels lost. I don’t think any angels survived that war. Not certain, but that’s what I believe.”
And finally, the question I’d been curious about from the start: whether the angel race possessed power that was especially strong against demons.
“Lotus root? I’ve never even heard of angels having an ability like that. If they did, they wouldn’t have lost the war.”
After hearing the answers, my head felt a little more complicated.
Then what was that power I used earlier? Am I a special case?
While I was still turning it over,
“No. There was an angel who was especially strong against demons. Carrot.”
Professor Santoto cut in.
“Lotus root? First I’m hearing of it.”
“Suptoto, your memory is trash. Carrot.”
Professor Santoto clicked her tongue, then shifted her gaze to me and continued.
“Kang Hahwi. Want to hear the story about the angel who was strong against demons?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe. Show me your angel form tomorrow, and I’ll tell you then.”
I stared at Santoto with an expression of pure disbelief.
“Ah. And do you know the Zero Two dance? Do that dance in your angel form and I’ll tell you.”
Now she’d piled on extra conditions. She was a genuine, out-of-control pervert rabbit.
I set down my teacup, gently pushed Instructor Suptoto off my lap, and stood up.
“It’s fine. I don’t need to hear it.”
I decided not to listen. It had only been idle curiosity; it wasn’t important enough that I had to know. There was no reason to dance some weird dance just to hear it.
Seo I-eung and I said our goodbyes to the professor and instructor.
“Kang Hahwi. Let’s get out of here already. The more I look at those rabbits the more they seem crazy— I mean, weird.”
“Yeah.”
Whispering quietly to each other, we hurried toward the office door.
“Unnie.”
“What.”
“If Kang Hahwi doesn’t show his angel form tomorrow, you’re taking responsibility.”
“……”
Leaving the now-normal-sounding rabbits’ voices behind us, we made a quick escape from the professor’s office.
For the rest of the time, we took a short look around some of the other training facilities.
And as time passed, when the soft yellow light of the setting sun spread across the sky and gently dyed the earth,
we freshmen gathered back in the lecture hall, listened to the explanation of tomorrow’s schedule, and wrapped up our first day at the academy.
And so that short yet long day came to an end.
Avoiding the female students who kept trying to talk to me, I was heading home along an empty path when—
“Mya, mya…!”
I ran into a cat in the alley.
Fluffy fur. Enchanting light-brown eyes. Features that could rival a beautiful girl.
It was more beautiful and cuter than any cat I had ever seen.
Whoa… how can a cat be that pretty…
It was the first time a cat had ever left me this impressed.
While I stood there staring blankly, the cat stared straight at my face, then hesitantly, little by little, began approaching me.
“Mya, myaong…!”
But why did its meow sound so awkward? It felt exactly like a person trying to imitate a cat.
“Myaa…”
Before I knew it the cat was right in front of me. It twisted its body around and circled my feet.
Is this one a dog-cat too?
I crouched down and carefully reached out to stroke its head.
No rejection.
“Myaaang…”
The cat’s face turned bright red. Did it have a fever?
“Myaong…”
Judging by the tremor in its voice, it seemed the poor thing wasn’t feeling too well.
Is it not eating properly? It doesn’t look like a stray… Don’t tell me it got abandoned by its owner?
I was looking at the cat with worry when—
“Oh my, how cute!”
A woman suddenly approached. Naturally, a complete stranger.
She crouched down right next to me, put on a fox-like smiling look, and asked,
“What’s this little one’s name?”
It wasn’t my cat.
Unable to meet her eyes, I dropped my head and was about to force out an answer when—
“KYAAAAAK!!!”
The cat shot its tail straight up and threatened the woman with a ferocious expression.
“W-why is it acting like this?”
“KYAAAAAAAK!!!”
Startled, the woman stood up and backed away.
“I guess the cat really hates anyone who isn’t its owner…”
“KYAAAAAAAAAK!!!”
The cat kept up the threats. In the end the woman looked back and forth between me and the cat, scratched her head awkwardly, gave a quick bow, and left.
“Myaong!”
Was it happy about winning the fight? It wore a triumphant expression.
What a strange cat. Still, it had helped me. It had gotten me out of an uncomfortable situation—even if that hadn’t been its intention.
“Myaoong!”
The cat watched the woman’s retreating back the entire way. Only after she had completely disappeared did it leap over the wall without so much as a goodbye and vanish.
Ah. I wanted to pet it more.
It was a little disappointing, but if I kept using this alley I would probably run into it again someday.
Thinking I should bring a churu treat next time, I started walking toward home again.