I got into school for nothing - Chapter 145
I got into school for nothing (145)
Lesson 29. The Truth Will Eventually Be Revealed - 5
That day after school, Ban Yuwon had entered a private study room in the academy library to work on a collaborative thesis with Aire.
With exam season fast approaching, securing a private study room was no easy feat, even for a Special Class student. However, for Ban Yuwon, who, though not officially announced, was now a Student Council executive backed by both the Student Council President and the Head of Public Relations, it was a task of no difficulty.
“―So, I barely managed to resume my solo exploration this time. Do you think this makes any sense?”
There, he frankly confided in her about the circumstances surrounding his solo exploration.
Hearing his story, Aire tilted her head, an expression of surprise on her face.
“Why did you tell me?”
Ban Yuwon shrugged, replying, “I figured you probably already guessed.”
Aire slowly nodded.
She paused from the magic thesis they were co-authoring and continued.
“Your existence brings about changes in the Tower. Not just me, but everyone who’s seen the Rebellion’s videos suspects it. That’s why the Chancellor favors you so much...”
“In the long run, it might have been better to hide it, but at the time, I wasn’t in a position to be picky.”
“The Chancellor would have found out anyway. So, it’s better to solidify your position by openly acknowledging it now.”
She comforted Ban Yuwon with her cool words, then tapped the table with the pen she held.
Thump― Thump― It was a heavy sound, unbelievable for just a pen tapping a table.
However, as Ban Yuwon had already ensured thorough soundproofing, the sound didn’t spread far, echoing within the confined space before fading away.
“As expected, it’s fast and powerful. ...it seems.”
“Huh?”
“Your solo exploration.”
Aire, who had been whispering something in words difficult for Ban Yuwon to understand, quickly steered the conversation back.
“It seems to be quite different from the path to the Tower’s summit. If we are climbing the Tower’s front, you are climbing its rear.”
“Hmm...?”
But her words piqued his interest, so Ban Yuwon focused on her.
He had, after all, brought up the topic precisely because he wanted to hear her thoughts.
“That is a facet granted only to you. But if that’s truly the case, then it can never be the path to God’s Seat. Do you understand?”
“...Because you can’t discriminate against just one person when challenging for God’s Seat?”
“Exactly. If the Tower is discriminating against only you, then your solo exploration is less of an exploration and more of...”
Management?
Aire murmured the word herself, tilting her head, but Ban Yuwon, upon hearing it, found himself understanding something.
The Tower was, after all, the Ban family’s legacy. Wasn’t it only natural that Ban Yuwon, having inherited it, would be managing it?
“Management, huh.”
“It’s just an educated guess. But once you go in and come out this time, the direction will become clearer.”
“No, that was a satisfactory answer. But if that’s the case, then exploring with my teammates becomes unsettling.”
“That’s merely special, not unique, so it should be fine.”
She said this, not entirely convinced herself, but Ban Yuwon thought the same.
“In that sense, let’s wrap up early today. We only have the finishing touches left anyway, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll take care of the rest.”
In fact, the thesis itself had been completed in the 11th week, but they were currently working on bolstering the theoretical foundations and refining the conclusion.
The subject of their magic thesis was the study of incantation shortening.
While it was a major research topic encompassing most magical fields, its high accessibility made advanced study difficult. Thus, simply reiterating existing theories and adding the author’s thoughts would have been sufficient for an alternative assignment.
But if they had been content with just that, they wouldn’t have even started.
“Deep interpretation of Language Magic, shortened incantations by adding simple auxiliary chants... a completely new theory. Everyone will be surprised. Truly, your insight as a mage is exceptional.”
“Well, it is my specialty.”
“...But you’re not a dragon.”
Aire’s sudden remark made Ban Yuwon burst out laughing.
“I’m a pure human.”
“You are certainly not pure.”
“Alright, then consider me half-rotten.”
Aire hadn’t meant it that way, of course.
Ban Yuwon shrugged and stood up, then, recalling a conversation he’d had with Misty, he spoke.
“Oh, right. Misty asked if she could join our next research project.”
“Misty...? Misty Aiole?”
These days, she’s been spending quite a bit more time with the club and working together, so why was Aire reacting as if she’d never heard of it?
Ban Yuwon had wanted to create an opportunity for Misty, who always consistently followed Aire and diligently contributed to the club’s operations, even if it was just as a bonus, to grow closer to Aire.
“How?”
“You’re not asking ‘why,’ but ‘how’?”
At Aire’s firm attitude, as if Misty didn’t even possess the minimum qualifications to write a thesis with them, Ban Yuwon could only shake his head.
“And no more theses for a while. We’ll be busy enough just sticking with this one for the entire second semester.”
“Is that so... Then I’ll go. See you in Thursday’s lecture.”
“Alright.”
Until the moment Ban Yuwon exited the study room, she fixed him with an unreadable gaze.
Thinking she was truly a difficult person to understand, he teleported in front of the Tower of Babel, only for Cellon, who had been quiet the whole time, to react belatedly.
―A dragon... Did she just say dragon?
‘She did, why? Are you going to spout nonsense about me being a dragon too...?’
―No, what if she’s a Dragonoid?
Ban Yuwon paused.
‘So dragons actually exist? Then did Aire polymorph, polymorph?’
―You said that before, why are you so fixated on polymorphing? There’s no way True Dragons would still exist in this era. What I meant, of course, was a Dragonoid, someone who inherited dragon blood.
‘What, they’re gone now? My hopes were for nothing.’
Dragon Slayers, Dragonborn, Dragon Swords, even Dragon Heroines.
To think there were so many elements derived from dragons, yet he couldn’t expect any of them.
Ban Yuwon lamented the futile disappearance of one of his fantasies about a fantasy world.
―Anyway, listen. While your Language Magic is certainly astonishing, no matter how incredible it is, connecting it to dragons isn’t something just anyone can do.
‘And?’
―But Dragonoids can wield their own unique magic system called Dragon Language. So, it’s natural for her to feel a similarity to Dragon Language when she sees your exceptional Language Magic abilities and to have such doubts.
However, even after observing him closely, Aire couldn’t be certain Ban Yuwon was of her kind, which led her to drop hints like that.
‘So it’s just a baseless assumption, after all.’
―I’m certain, she’s a Dragonoid. She was sending you a signal to reveal your identity by revealing her own. It was strange from the start how she carried so much pure elemental mana...
‘Always with these baseless claims... Besides, if she’s a Dragonoid.’
Then there’s a high possibility that Light, who’s been hanging out with Aire and learning things from her lately, is also a Dragonoid, isn’t there!
“What am I supposed to do if any more useless settings are added to Light’s character...!”
―Huh? Why is he coming up now?
* * *
If there was one sad truth, it was that there was no Eden on the ‘other side’ of the Tower.
“Doesn’t that sound rather cool, what I just said?”
―It’s no use saying it with a tearful face.
“Dokgo Yeon would probably want to cry more than me. She was probably expecting a Fruit of Life from here, too.”
He should have guessed from the moment he was kicked out after the last exploration.
Expecting Eden on the ‘other side’ of the Tower, which was structured completely differently from the Tower he had experienced over the past few months, was an unreasonable expectation to begin with.
“At least it’s changed into a more proper environment than when I fought the giants last time.”
He looked up at the night sky, brightly lit with embedded stars and a moon, and then down at the land below, where mountains and meadows, a long winding river, and rocky plateaus lay.
Compared to the previous exploration, which was nothing but rocks, this place could truly be called pristine nature.
‘If this is modeled after a creation myth, then the world would have been formed by it, so this scenery seems natural.’
The problem was that there were no monsters for him to fight, and his student ID’s room display was completely messed up, fluctuating between 11 and 100.
“No, it’s not even 11 to 20, but it extends the range all the way to 100...”
―That means the ‘front side’s’ standards hold no meaning.
Of course, it would.
Ban Yuwon sighed and raised his head, and that’s when he saw changes occurring in the space in real-time.
“What in the... What is that?”
The sky opened.
The night sky literally tore apart, and from the rift, a brilliant pillar of light poured down onto the ground.
Ban Yuwon mumbled blankly as he watched it.
“That’s completely an orbital bombardment...”
―You always have to ruin the mood like that.
When the light ceased and the sky closed once more.
Ban Yuwon felt presences, which he hadn’t detected until now, appearing all around him.
“Monsters... no, humans?”
He gripped his staff, thinking battle was finally about to begin.
But seeing them head not towards him, but towards the spot where the pillar of light had descended, he tilted his head.
―Let’s go.
For some reason, Cellon was being more proactive.
Ban Yuwon silently nodded, then moved stealthily, concealing his presence with Gwoeyeonggong, and approached the place where the pillar of light had fallen.
The humans gathering at the spot where the pillar of light had been were steadily increasing... It was clear.
They were NPCs. They weren’t people who were originally there; weren’t they just popping up as if they’d suddenly fallen from the sky?
―Ugh.
Cellon suddenly groaned.
―Do you know what that pillar of light was?
‘I know it contained immense mana, but that’s it.’
To Ban Yuwon’s affirmation, Cellon quietly responded.
―Correct. It was a mass of incredibly dense and pure mana. Perhaps this was the starting point...
‘Starting point?’
―Look.
The gathered humans began moving extremely quickly, building something.
It almost looked like fast-forwarding.
At first, he thought they were moving too quickly to discern their individual faces, but that wasn’t it.
It was as if they were mosaicked; even when he scrutinized them intently, he couldn’t make out their faces.
‘Are they really targets to be hunted?’
However, when he advanced beyond a certain distance, an invisible wall blocked Ban Yuwon’s path.
It was then that a ‘Trick’ appeared before his eyes.
[1. Cannot approach the Tower.]
[2. Must protect them until the Tower is completed.]
“The Tower?”
―So you noticed too?
Cellon’s voice trembled faintly.
―The Tower is showing you its history. The events that transpired during the construction of the Tower in the Age of Gods, long ago, when even we weren’t permitted to glimpse them...!
There was no need for words like, ‘Why me?’
Though it felt truly strange anew, at this moment, Ban Yuwon was absolutely certain that his ancestors had built the Tower of Babel.
Otherwise, the Tower would have no reason to show him such a sight.
―If we explore together, perhaps, truly, all of the Tower’s secrets might be unearthed. If that happens, I, no, even other Constellations...!
Cellon became overly excited by the historical scene the Tower was displaying, and began rambling words that Ban Yuwon struggled to understand.
Ban Yuwon didn’t listen to him.
He briefly considered trying to find his ancestors among the humans busily building the Tower, but since they were all mosaicked, he couldn’t distinguish anyone anyway.
“Cellon, it’s starting.”
―Why is the Tower, which was so cold and cruel to us, so readily revealing its true nature to this guy―― Huh?
It was as if a tempting scent was spreading from the very spot where the pillar of light had fallen.
The presences of monsters surging from all directions could be felt.
[3. Death here will incur a heavier price.]
A Trick added in sync with the moment.
Even at a time like this, the Tower was still the Tower.
Was it unwilling to reveal everything so easily, even to its successor?
“――――!”
“~~? ―!”
As if they had sensed the approaching monsters, a commotion began to spread among the humans building the Tower.
Ban Yuwon couldn’t approach them, but he was probably the only one restricted by the Trick in this space.
If he just stood by, he would fail to meet the Trick Room’s conditions and receive a penalty.
Ban Yuwon had to protect them.
“So it’s a defense game, huh? I can do this.”
―Because you have plenty of cards to play, right?
“Exactly.”
“Hiss, hiss-s-s!”
Ban Yuwon emptied his entire inventory.
Eve, his trusty companion, Tikke, reborn as a powerful familiar with a wicked cannon barrel, as well as all twenty-five Stormrain Swords, emerged and scattered in all directions under his control.
‘Although I haven’t perfected my martial arts yet, thanks to establishing its system, I can now control all the Stormrain Swords.’
Of course, they couldn’t unleash the same power as when controlled meticulously one by one, but now was not the time to be picky.
“It’s a shame Lilyth hasn’t awakened yet... Livi.”
―Creak.
He called out the name finally decided upon according to Rucell’s wishes.
The last to emerge from his inventory was a full plate armor, perfectly assembled from head to toe.
That living armor, moving as vividly as if a person were inside it—Livi—appeared, wielding Lyu Cheolmyeong’s greatsword, a relic Ban Yuwon had acquired during the last special activity.
“I wanted to name you Alphonse...”
―You’re not even human.
“How do you even know that?”
If one were to count each raindrop forming the Stormrain Swords, it would be a legion of nearly thirty.
His artifacts and familiars, each with their own will, gathered to encircle the Tower construction site.
―Kee-ruik.
―Kwah-haa-aaah...
Monsters, grotesque and dark, as if goblins had been dyed black, twisted their entire bodies and thrashed on the ground, now filled the land and let out eerie wails.
“Well, at least I’ll properly salvage a concept or two.”
Ban Yuwon muttered jokingly, gripping the Executioner’s Longsword, and stared ahead.
His familiars, each preparing for battle, heightened the atmosphere.
“Come on, then!”
―Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
And so, the full-scale defense game began.
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