I got into school for nothing-123
I got into school for nothing (123)
Lesson 25. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder - 4
Yesterday, on the day of the Student Council's promotional video shoot.
Amidst the chaos of a war-like filming session, with Ban Yuwon's harsh directions, the Student Council President's anxious glances, and Mira observing it all, they finally reached a break time.
Somehow, the conversation turned to the faculty, their common adversary.
“Lyu Cheolmyeong is truly the worst. His gaze is just so greasy, you know? I’m so glad I didn’t take Aura Combat.”
“He was always known for being a womanizer. Many other students also find his gaze unpleasant, it seems.”
The President shivered as she spoke, and Begun Delawalker, the Treasurer, fingered his monocle and nodded in agreement.
Rika, the Head of External Affairs, who was perched on the desk beside them, tilted her head and asked, “Is that so?”
“That’s because, Rika, you’re......”
“Me? What? ......What?”
“Th-then, has he ever caused trouble?”
An unsettling atmosphere hung between the President and Rika, and Ban Yuwon hastily interjected a question to divert their attention.
Graham nodded heavily and replied.
“The Chancellor strictly forbids relationships between professors and students. While he doesn't interfere with what happens between students, he absolutely will not tolerate a Union Academy professor abusing their position to harm or exploit students. So, at least on the surface, Professor Lyu Cheolmyeong has never been involved in an inappropriate relationship with a student.”
“On the surface, he says......”
Ban Yuwon braced himself for the impending shock, his body tensing, sensing that an unpleasant story was about to follow.
Begun smiled wryly and said.
“It's merely a conspiracy theory circulating among students, so don't fret over it too much. Stories like ‘a student officially reported as missing actually fell victim to a professor...’”
“That’s genuinely disturbing......”
“Even with the Chancellor’s immense Authority, it’s impossible to keep tabs on every single student during special activities. While adjunct professors might be overlooked, if a full professor truly sets their mind on doing something to a student... you get the feeling?”
“The mere fact that such suspicions exist tells me Professor Lyu Cheolmyeong isn’t a decent human being.”
Ban Yuwon recalled Lyu Cheolmyeong's unusual gaze toward Rucell and frowned.
Of course, Rucell wasn't the only one he looked at with such eyes, but the problem was that she belonged to Rebellion.
This insidious harassment currently happening within the Academy.
If it were to extend outside, like during special activities, then—.
“If we’re talking about people with dark rumors, Cantone is definitely on that list.”
“Don't even mention him. He’s our main enemy, after all.”
At Mira’s words, the President furrowed her brows and idly flapped the membranous wings on her back.
“He’s the worst. He’s a purist, obsessed with one’s dimension of origin... Since I’m not from a high-ranking dimension and an Iblis, I was particularly targeted by him.”
“Then how did you become the Student Council President?”
“Because I’m pretty and strong. Kyahahaha! The Student Council President only needs to look good to the students and the Chancellor, not the professors!”
Ban Yuwon couldn't believe she'd say such a thing herself, making an absurd expression, while Rika beside him, with a wry expression, confirmed her words.
“But it’s true. The President had an interview with the Chancellor right after admission and acquired solo exploration privileges. I heard that Ice Princess in your grade is the same case.”
“She did, didn’t she?”
“It’s not a common occurrence. It happens once every fifty years, or even once every hundred years if you’re unlucky.”
“Many said the Academy's golden generation began with me—.”
The President laughed heartily, naturally gilding her own lily.
Then, she looked at Ban Yuwon with a meaningful expression and added.
“And it feels like your generation is about to explode in a spectacular fashion.”
“......I generally understand how the President became the President. So, about Cantone?”
When Ban Yuwon brushed off her words, the President, though displeased, obediently returned to the main point and explained.
“Just call me Senior Shatie. As for Cantone, like I said, he’s a purist, so he doesn't treat any students outside the Special Class as actual students. He’s particularly harsh towards the Special Admissions students—he considers them unnecessary to the Academy and is constantly looking for opportunities to expel them.”
What's wrong with that guy? Is he mistaking the Academy for his own?
Ban Yuwon recalled hearing that the Special Admissions students were selected based on the Tower of Babel’s criteria, not even the Chancellor’s.
“He sounds like a lunatic.”
“He’s also the one who set the Student Council’s direction. He gathered the Special Class students and forged them into a power bloc.”
“What do you mean?”
“A club.”
Mira added in a cold voice.
“The reason I thought of gathering the Special Admissions students was because of Cantone. He was the first to gather the Special Class students and create ‘Noblesse’.”
“What a mess.”
“He has several smaller clubs under his wing, but you can just lump them all together as ‘Noblesse.’ After all, no one outside the Special Class can join.”
“I heard that students admitted to the Special Class would be in serious trouble if they didn’t join the designated Noblesse club?”
It was natural for Ban Yuwon to recall the music club that Aire, Misty, and Leixu had belonged to.
Could extracting those guys have a significant impact later on......?
“Anyway. Just know that these are the guys we’re up against.”
The President, no, Shatie, who had somewhat forcefully summarized the situation, grinned and patted Ban Yuwon’s shoulder.
Mira’s expression hardened, and she swatted his hand away instead.
“Shatie, don’t carelessly lay a hand on my man.”
“Scary, Mira...... I was just trying to get along.”
“Ahem! When this video is uploaded, the alliance between the Student Council and Rebellion will be firmly established.”
This time, Begun stepped forward to change the topic.
“Depending on the external reaction to the video, the Academy will have no choice but to listen to our voices. The real fight begins then.”
“Exactly, exactly! Things are going to escalate. One of us will have to kneel. ......Be careful, I said it as a joke earlier, but they might truly pull some tricks during special activities.”
“It should be fine for the first activity since Professor Yumina will be accompanying us.”
At Mira’s words, Shatie pricked up her ears and said.
“Next week, wasn’t it?”
“That’ll be fun. That’s always the most fun time. They always pick missions with extremely low difficulty. I feel like some kind of absolute being, you know?”
“And then during summer vacation, they get a long-term quest, roll around without an escort, and their mental state gets completely shattered.”
“But I think he’ll just smoothly resolve it. You saw him clear the Tower.”
“You’re right about that.”
As soon as special activities were mentioned, the people who had been complaining about the professors started chattering noisily, making senior-like comments such as "This is how it was in my time," and "It's going to be tough for you later."
This feels more like a college atmosphere, Ban Yuwon thought with a chuckle at that moment.
“Ah, there was a rumor like that.”
Rika, sitting cross-legged on the desk, scratched her thigh vigorously with her hand and said as if making a joke.
“There were whispers that Cantone would harass students he didn’t like inside the Tower. A professor interfering with the Tower? It sounded too absurd for anyone to take seriously, so everyone just laughed it off.”
“Oh, for crying out loud.”
Ban Yuwon immediately lamented upon hearing that.
That’s almost 100%!
“It’s not too late, seniors. If you’ve heard any more ‘jokes’ like that, please spill them now.”
“Huh? I can’t remember anything even if you ask like that. I’ll tell you if it comes back to me later.”
“Right—.”
* * *
“So, back then, everyone just laughed it off, but no matter how I think about it, the current situation is suspicious. The fact that an item that teleported us to a place we knew nothing about was dropped as a reward, and the fact that all those guys were using psychokinesis.”
“I see. But more importantly...... the Student Council has many female officers. I’ll put my scent on you.”
After listening to Ban Yuwon’s story, Rucell became serious, clinging to him and beginning to rub her scent on him.
If she would just use her head, she’s a talent who would be a hundred times more useful than Light, so why did this child choose to act like an animal?
“Ban just insulted me, didn’t he?!”
“You’re imagining things. Dokgo Yeon, what do you think?”
Ban Yuwon, having completely given up on getting an opinion from Rucell (and Light, for good measure), looked at Dokgo Yeon and asked.
Of course, his eyes were still fixed on the jeweled bracelet that contained the teleportation ability—no, not a portkey.
Fortunately, unlike when he dealt with the previous treasure chest, the concept of ‘Seal’ manifested by Language Magic was slowly being consumed, successfully halting the bracelet’s function.
“Well, I think it might be a bit premature to suspect something just because the source of their power, psychokinesis, is the same......”
Dokgo Yeon also looked down at the bracelet with a dubious expression, but then, with a thoughtful look, she reached into her pocket.
“Let’s examine the letter. If there was truly external intervention, it should be obvious just by reading this.”
“Ah, you’re right.”
Dokgo Yeon, with an expression of self-admiration for her cleverness, broke the seal, unfolded the letter, then let out a 'Hmph,' twisting her lips into a smile, and folded it back up.
“Well?”
“I can’t read it.”
Dokgo Yeon handed the letter to Ban Yuwon.
Ban Yuwon wanted so badly to point out her reddened earlobes, but seeing her grip the hilt of her short sword with trembling hands, he dared not say a word and silently accepted the letter.
“Can you read it?”
“Of course. This is my specialty, after all.”
In truth, he couldn't read it immediately either.
This was a phenomenon that didn't occur on Earth, but languages from higher dimensions (magic languages, for example) sometimes required a moment of interpretation the first time he encountered them.
Still, as his Authority grew, the time needed for interpretation decreased—and a text like this one was fully understood after just about a second of looking at it.
“According to this letter, an unexpected surge of armored creatures is causing concern about a monster wave. It seems they wanted to inform the neighboring city of this fact and request reinforcements. The original owner of the letter was likely a soldier... and we were meant to find the letter from that soldier’s corpse and fulfill the mission in their stead.”
“It’s not a treasure.”
This letter was neither treasure nor secret knowledge.
The psychokinetic trackers had framed them with an absurd accusation... and it was highly probable that the trackers in Room 34 weren't the intended ones in the first place.
Light tilted his head and asked, “Then what was the original scenario?”
“Well......”
He considered the possibility that there were no separate trackers, and the condition was simply to escape from monsters, but if that were the case, the Trick Room’s condition wouldn’t have been ‘Don’t let the letter be taken’.
If we limit our thoughts to a human with a clear intent.......
“Perhaps it was originally a ploy by someone who wanted to destroy that city?”
“That’s convincing. Even recalling what happened in Room 23, in a Chain Room, it’s highly likely to involve human conflicts, not just battles against monsters.”
“In any case, at this point, it’s safe to assume there was external interference. Analyzing our tendencies, sending trackers, and subtly diverting us from the ‘Tower’s route’ to a place of their choosing...... Quite sinister, isn't it?”
Dokgo Yeon’s eyes narrowed, and her cross-shaped pupils gleamed stark white.
She drew her short sword, intending to slash the bracelet, but Ban Yuwon reached out and stopped her.
“Would it be alright if I analyzed it first?”
“Won’t that risk activating it?”
“This is why I learned magic, after all.”
Ban Yuwon added the concept of ‘Stop (停止)’ to a designated area, preventing the artifact from activating.
Then he reached out and touched the artifact.
What he was about to do was analyze the concept of ‘Space Transcendence’ contained within the artifact.
The goal was not to analyze ‘Space Transcendence’ itself, but the specific sub-concept it contained—that is, where this damned bracelet intended to take them.
‘Since I’d already figured out how to read spatial coordinates when I analyzed the student ID long ago.’
As long as its activation is blocked, the analysis itself isn’t too difficult.
Ban Yuwon periodically manifested additional ‘Stop’ magic, analyzing the bracelet—and upon discovering the results, he wore a peculiar expression.
“I think I understand why I was able to get Stigmata from those guys earlier. If we had teleported like that, we might have faced a Constellation.”
“Like with the Observer of All Things before?”
“Exactly. Perhaps this Constellation is watching us right now?”
Indeed, to break into a Chain Room and swap out the trackers, it would have been difficult without a Constellation’s intervention.
Perhaps they expended too much power there, as they don't seem to be interfering right now.......
Ban Yuwon snorted with amusement and picked up the bracelet.
He even took out one of the talismans he had, affixed it to the bracelet, and completely consumed the talisman’s Hyungi to ‘Seal (封印)’ it.
“Are you taking it?”
“It’s an artifact, after all; it would be a waste to discard it. Since we know its true nature, there’s no need to worry about falling victim to it.”
—Constellation [Clockwork of the Toy Army] rages, asking how dare anyone lay a hand on its sponsored individual.
—Constellation [Breath of Life] expresses admiration for your analysis and sealing of a Constellation’s ability, while simultaneously proposing an impeachment of Constellation @#$^!# to the Tower.
They did nothing when we were about to be victimized, but now that everything’s resolved, look at them trying to get a piece of the action.
Ban Yuwon snorted with amusement, tucked the bracelet into his inventory, and then picked up the letter.
“Now that Cantone’s conspiracy has been crushed and we can proceed on the normal route, I have a proposal for you all.”
“Wait, don’t tell me, I’ll guess.”
Dokgo Yeon fell into thought.
Rucell, who was still enjoying her hug with Ban Yuwon, casually tossed out a remark without much thought.
“Come to think of it, there was no trick saying we couldn’t destroy the letter.”
“Aaaaaah! You’re always like this, always! You pretend to know nothing, then snatch away the most opportune moment to show off!”
“Kyaaaang!”
“What do you mean, Ban? We’ve protected it this whole time, why would we destroy it?”
While the enraged Dokgo Yeon squabbled with Rucell, Light, the only one in the room who hadn’t understood Ban Yuwon’s proposal, tilted his head and gazed at him intently.
This foolish yet adorable fellow.......
“Think about it, Light. This letter is a request for external assistance, isn’t it? That means if we pass through Room 34 with this letter, the next location will probably be that external city.”
“Right, we’ll have to deal with more bothersome people there, won’t we? The ultimate goal would be to work together to stop the monster wave.”
“Exactly, exactly. So what if we destroy the letter here? For your information, this room’s trick was not to let the letter be taken, so destroying it isn’t breaking the trick. It means we can proceed normally without being eliminated.”
“We won’t be able to go to the external city... right? Because there’s no letter to deliver?”
“And?”
And.
Where would the party, now without the letter, head next?
Would they leave the Chain Room and enter a regular room? No, even Light, simple as he was, didn’t think that was likely.
“Uh, um... wouldn’t we have to go back to report that we couldn’t deliver the letter?”
“Exactly.”
Ban Yuwon conjured a flame at his fingertip with elemental magic, preparing to set the letter alight, and grinned.
“And then a monster wave will engulf that city.”
Those who’ve played a lot of RPGs call this:
Skipping (Bothersome) Mid-Quests and Going Straight for the Boss.
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