SRS 180

Mikael eventually decided to eat only one of the several lunch boxes. Yohan sat there and quietly watched him eat. Mikael wasn’t bothered by him observing his meal without averting his gaze for a single moment.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

After putting down his utensils, he patted his cheek with the back of his hand to express his embarrassment. Yohan checked several times to confirm that Mikael’s eyes were gray, then shrugged his shoulders once.

“Just because.”

Since the conversation that night, he hadn’t been able to feel that divinity from Mikael again. However, the fact that Mikael was an angel, and that their god had forgiven him and temporarily lifted his punishment, remained the same. Even now, with him not deliberately revealing his divine power, a holy aura was flowing from him.

However, it was still different from that night.

If Yohan’s hunch was correct, a phenomenon similar to a divine possession had occurred to Mikael back then…

It felt as if a god of the Divine Realm had borrowed Mikael’s body to deliver the message directly. No, it must have been. It certainly seemed as though Mikael was talking, yet they did not feel like his own words.

In that case…

“I thought you might have been a much more strong angel than I thought.”

Mikael’s rank as an angel would by no means be low.

After all, while conveying his god’s words and will exactly as they were, Mikael’s own consciousness had been intact.

Until now, there was no need to worry much about what kind of angel Mikael was, how strong he was, or how closely intertwined he was with the Divine Realm.

Because Mikael, who had not revealed his power, was nothing more and nothing less than Yohan’s friend, the one who shared secrets, and the one who had fallen from the same dimension together.

“Do you feel a distance from me?”

As Yohan was lost in thought, Mikael, who had keenly noticed the change in his emotions, asked. Just as before, and just as today, it was a question that hit the nail on the head. Yohan smiled bitterly, then stretched out his arms and shook his head.

“It would be a lie to say I don’t feel it, but I’m trying not to. You told me that before whether you are an angel or human, you are ultimately just Mikael.”

These were the words Mikael had told Yohan when he was confused about how to treat him after learning about Mikael’s true identity.

“Yes, no matter what I become, I will always be Mikael.”

Mikael reaffirmed that once again. He picked up his cutlery once more, and gave him a smile. Read onA smile that perhaps looked a little wistful.

“And if you distance yourself from me, I will be very sad.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

It was simply that Mikael appeared to be a higher figure than he had expected; he did not want to distance himself from him because of that.

Mikael finally smiled. Yohan, wondering if he had made his friend anxious with something unnecessary, took out another lunchbox and offered it to him. Mikael shook his head.

“…You don’t have to show affection with things like this.”

Yohan flinched in surprise as Mikael remarked that he kept looking after him for meals ever since he started hanging out with Suhyeok. Right. When did he start looking after meals like this? One thing was certain: he wasn’t like this when he had just entered Fantasiademia. It must be a habit developed from hanging out with Suhyeok, just as Mikael had said.

Yohan met his gaze, and after a brief silence, they burst into laughter.

***

As time passed, Mikael, whose health had improved, returned to school. As the course schedule changed, Professor Ariel’s lecture venue also shifted from the Sky Garden to the front yard of Griffin Hall. The students, gathered in small groups waiting for the professor, were delighted to see Mikael after such a long absence, but then the delight turned to surprise.

“What? Wings?”

“Mikael, you… were you a bird beastman?”

“A bird? A bird beastman?”

Since Fantasiademia was a place where mortals of various races from various dimensions gather, beastmen were not exactly unfamiliar. Therefore, while the majority of students assumed he was a bird beastman the moment they saw Mikael’s wings, the eyes of the students in the Divine Studies class narrowed.

“No, he can’t be a bird beastman, I feel a bit of divinity emanating from his wings…”

“A divine beast?”

“No. It’s not the wavelength of a divine beast. Rather, this is…”

“…a little similar to the angel professor?”

Those who had been huddled together speculating gasped in shock. Their friends’ eyes wavered. Several students who had overheard the conversation nearby opened their eyes wide in surprise.

“You’re saying Mikael is the same as the angel professor?”

As one of them shouted out loud, everyone’s gaze turned visit our sitetoward that student before shifting back to Mikael. Upon seeing the dozens of pairs of eyes gathered around him, Mikael simply smiled.

“That’s how it turned out.”

It was an excessively simple remark compared to the repercussions the students had experienced and would continue to face. At the same time, it confirmed that their hypothesis was correct.

Just as the students began to murmur in shock, Professor Ariel appeared and put an end to the commotion. Thinking the timing was perfect, Yohan greeted the professor. The rest of the first-years followed suit, bowing to welcome Professor Ariel. Perhaps it was because of his position as the top first-year. Sometime ago, the system among the first-years had solidified into a pattern where the others would follow suit if Yohan greeted first.

“Nice to see you all.”

Professor Ariel, who had chosen to travel in his dragon form rather than riding a griffon after the course content changed, returned to his human form. While a few students, still unable to adjust to the professor’s dragon appearance, received treatment in the back, Professor Ariel continued his lesson on dimensional missions as usual.

“When you go on a dimensional mission, you can make a contract with the corresponding dimension to receive a temporary body. Strictly speaking, you are currently souls, but your physical bodies are permitted only within the Nameless Realm, right? It is a contract that treats this as a real body, albeit temporarily, even in the outer dimensions.”

“Then, if I go to an outer dimension through a dimensional mission, does that mean I possess the same mass as the people in that dimension?”

“That is correct. However, this is strictly temporary. If you stay in that dimension beyond the designated contract period, your physical body will vanish, and you will remain as a soul, wandering as a dimensional castaway. In Fantasiademia, we operate a separate collection team to retrieve these souls, but the recovery rate is less than 10 percent, so you would be wise to be careful.”

Professor Ariel emphasized that the content was important and must be taken notes. He moved among the students sitting in rows to check their notes one by one.

“If you become lost in a dimension, there is one thing you must remember. ‘Who am I?’ Do not forget that. You must remember stolen content your name, the events of your past, and the missions you have to fulfill in the present in order to avoid losing yourself.”

“What happens if I lose myself?”

“If you forget yourself, then the corrosion of your soul begins.”

“Corrosion?”

“Yes. It is a phenomenon where the soul itself gradually wears away and disappears. We call this ‘corrosion,’ and a soul caught in this corrosion struggles to survive. It cannot exist even in a spirit state and eventually vanishes completely from the world. It is different from death. This is a phenomenon akin to erasure.”

“…….”

As Professor Ariel’s voice grew more solemn, the students’ expressions turned serious. It was not a particularly unusual reaction, as the world of those who believed death was the heaviest thing was changing. Yohan also frowned at the information he had just learned.

Being lost in a dimension was fine, but disappearing from the world would be miserable. He realized why Professor Ariel had emphasized in every previous class that impulsive actions were strictly forbidden during dimensional missions and that one must return after only performing the actions designated for the mission.

“Therefore, you must strictly adhere to dimensional missions. When carrying out your duties, remember that you are students of Fantasiademia and adversaries of the Dimensional Destroyers. You are not souls burdened with your own individual names, responsibilities, and pasts, but souls belonging to Fantasiademia. The faculty knows quite a few students who acted on personal emotions and ended up disappearing. I sincerely hope that you do not walk the same path as them. That concludes today’s lecture. The atmosphere is too heavy. Everyone, please get up quickly and start the day on a high note!”

Unlike his solemn teaching style, Professor Ariel quickly returned to a cheerful, innocent, and harmless demeanor befitting his youthful appearance. He comforted the students and lifted the spirits of the gloomy atmosphere.

Because the learned informations were so heavy, attention quickly shifted to Mikael’s race. In the brief peace and heavy silence, the students of Room 304 met [unauthorized copy]Mikael’s gaze and quietly rose from their seats, attempting to leave the courtyard faster than anyone else. Just then, Professor Ariel spotted Mikael and his eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled.

“It looks like you have cast off a heavy burden. Congratulations, Student Mikael.”

“Thank you.”

Mikael bowed his head slightly in gratitude for the professor’s blessing. Professor Ariel wished him well for his future endeavors, then transformed back into a dragon and flew away into the distance. Through their conversation, Yohan realized that the professors had already figured out Mikael’s true identity.

That is why, despite skipping classes that much, he was only marked as absent and not expelled.

Every professor knew Mikael’s circumstances.

Upon realizing this, his heart fluttered with satisfaction. With a bright smile, Yohan turned to look at Mikael.

“What?”

“I felt like you’ve been treated with a lot of consideration in many ways.”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

Yohan chuckled at Mikael, who did not deny it, and walked ahead.

“You are loved, Mikael.”

Mikael stopped in his tracks. Yohan turned around when he noticed this and saw Mikael standing there, looking slightly surprised and lost in thought.

Hate obscures many things and narrows our vision.

Yohan recalled something from when he taught young priests during his days as High Priest.