I got into school for nothing - 171
I got into school for nothing (171)
Lesson 34. Free Subjugation - 6
Summoning a mountain giant to neatly obliterate an enemy ship, Dokgo Yeon finally felt a little of her stress alleviate.
Her seething mind finally seemed to calm a little.
‘I was unnecessarily suffering from a base impulse that doesn't suit me. I was aware of my obsession with talent, but there's no need to concern myself with his romantic relationships.’
After putting a lid on emotions she could never tolerate, only one possibility remained.
Dokgo Yeon was leaning on that possibility, justifying her actions, her impulses.
Ban Yuwon—the extraordinary talent she had met for the first time in her life—
Her desire to nurture and perfect him with her own hands was so strong that she reacted sensitively even to him being subtly influenced by others.
‘But my worries were excessive. It wasn't something I needed to interfere with unnecessarily.’
Being obsessed with carnal desires, neglecting one's training, falling into inner demons, or learning the wrong martial arts are common occurrences even in Murim history.
How many martial artists have had their lives ruined because of women who sought to arbitrarily grasp and wield men in their palms!
Therefore, if one dedicates oneself solely to martial arts, it is best not to meet women at all, and if that is not possible, it is best to marry someone chosen by one's family and pay no attention to other women.
However, if neither can be achieved—then one should simply embrace a woman whom one can perfectly control.
‘Rucell definitely wouldn't do anything to harm Ban Yuwon. On the contrary, she'd been captivated by him since they first met... She's a woman who would offer her life to protect him. I even intended for it to be that way.’
That day, when As Light was absurdly eliminated due to a silly mistake.
Believing Rucell and Ban Yuwon were at a crossroads, hadn't she deliberately avoided being eliminated to advance their relationship?
When she saw Ban Yuwon and Rucell return as a clingy pair, she was flustered by how much further their relationship seemed to have progressed than she'd imagined, yet she was satisfied that her intentions had been fulfilled.
‘Rucell is a good woman. Ban Yuwon won't be ruined because of her. At least, the past me judged it so. So there are no problems. Ban Yuwon will continue to progress...’
She would always stand before him, guiding him.
Everything was going smoothly.
There was no reason whatsoever for her to be annoyed.
No reason to feel bad seeing them together.
No reason for her heart to ache—none at all.
With this, everything was sorted out.
“Good.”
Dokgo Yeon let out a small shout of exertion and slapped her own cheek.
It was a cute sight that would have made Ban Yuwon's eyes widen in surprise, but unfortunately, Tikke wasn't there.
“If I smash some more, I'll feel even better.”
However, just as she was muttering a psychopathic remark and was about to retrieve the mountain giant and hurl it again, magic bullets flying from all directions disrupted her movement.
—Whirrrr
“Hm?”
Gwangjo, supporting her, moved more agilely and slipped out of the barrage of magic bullets.
But as a result, they had penetrated deeper into enemy lines, and seeing pirate ships closing in from all directions as if they had been waiting for just that, Dokgo Yeon realized her movements had been intentionally lured.
—Whirrr
“It’s not your fault. That was a formidable attack.”
Comforting the apologetic Gwangjo, she stood ramrod straight on its back.
From the scabbard at her waist, she subtly drew a short sword dyed entirely black.
Whether it was magic bullets or anything else, she intended to cut down everything that attacked her from now on.
‘Excluding those at the professor level, there hasn't been anyone strong enough for me to truly show my power. Well then, let's see how formidable these pirates are.’
Wooosh— With a heavy hum of activation, a massive pirate ship appeared before her eyes.
Honestly, a spaceship shaped like a giant cruise liner could only be described as having poor taste, but looking at it head-on now, she couldn't help but acknowledge its grandeur.
“So it's you, the one that man is after.”
The man who walked out onto the bow smiled at Dokgo Yeon, looking down at her.
He looked quite young, with grayish-brown hair, and wore an eyepatch over one eye, as if all pirate captains should.
One hand was not a human hand but a mechanical forearm... As soon as Dokgo Yeon saw it, she couldn't help but recall Irekto, whom Ban Yuwon had told her about earlier.
‘Ban Yuwon had said Irekto got his mechanical arm with Lusein Rown-Palomer Aquinas Ortima's support—perhaps that procedure was also related to these people.’
She had no intention of losing to an enemy who had abandoned their human body.
Instead of a human body, which held countless mysteries and infinite possibilities, he had chosen a weapon with clear limitations as his own body, so he would never be able to surpass her sword.
“Your eyes are strange. Everything else is fine, though. Still... hm, the more I look, it's not bad. It's almost a waste to throw you to that man as a plaything for his nights.”
It seemed Dokgo Yeon wasn't the only one sizing up her opponent, as the man evaluated Dokgo Yeon with rude remarks.
A snort escaped her.
“Men always pretend to be in heat like that before facing a woman.”
Dokgo Yeon drew her short sword and aimed it at her enemy.
Although her footing was unstable, Gwangjo was supporting her with all its might.
Since Ban Yuwon had sent such an important subordinate to support her, thinking of her, she had even less intention of losing.
—Meaning, of course, that she was energized because *her* disciple was supporting her.
“The louder they bark, the less impressive they are below the belt. It would be better to have nothing at all; I'll just cut it off myself.”
“Oh my, I've met quite the fiery woman...!”
The moment the mechanical forearm aimed at her, a line of darkness stretched out at the speed of light, targeting her.
If Ban Yuwon had seen it, he would have remarked, ‘It’s just a plain dark laser, isn't it a bit uncreative?’ A dark magic attack.
Dokgo Yeon herself could have brandished her death-imbued sword to block it, but Gwangjo reacted first.
What it possessed was none other than the concept of ‘Light Wings,’ which was held by a Constellation’s avatar.
As it flapped its wings, imbued with pure light mana, the dark laser crumbled away so futilely.
“Light mana...?!”
“As expected, it’s unimpressive.”
“Do all Union Academy first-years raise pets that wield light mana these days? How absurd. Ah, you guys, don't interfere. I’ll handle this.”
Besides the ship he was on, three other massive ships were approaching from the left, right, and rear, but at the pirate captain-like man's words, they halted in place.
Could he be the overall commander of this raid? Dokgo Yeon narrowed her eyes, checking the enemy's presence once more.
“You’re Dokgo Yeon, right? I’m Kuran Luchato. An Exodus executive.”
“I knew it was Exodus, but an executive, huh.”
“We absolutely loathe precisely measuring and dividing ranks. If you lead a fleet of this size, you're an executive. Just roughly remember that. Ya!”
With those words, the man launched another surprise laser attack.
There was almost no delay before and after the attack, its speed was outrageously fast, and once hit, it left damage that even Dokgo Yeon couldn't ignore, making it an attack seemingly without flaws. However, its compatibility with Gwangjo was outrageously poor.
As it perfectly blocked the laser with just a flap of its wings, Kuran Luchato's brow furrowed.
“It’s my first time seeing something block my attack so easily. Where did you even get something like that? It would be perfect to put on our bow instead of a figurehead.”
“Surely, you don't mean to talk with me right now?”
Dokgo Yeon said directly.
If he wanted to kill or capture her, he could have just attacked all at once with his subordinates. What exactly did he want to do by making such petty attacks as now?
“Ah, well, something like that. Honestly, I don't really like the client, and seeing you in person, I kinda like you... I'm even thinking of just taking you with me.”
“Ridiculous.”
The reason Dokgo Yeon didn't immediately swing her sword and cut him down was simple.
She wanted to recover the stamina and internal energy she had consumed attacking their ships so far.
With the main force of the dimension pirates, including the giant ship he was on, currently tied up with her, she also wanted the beast-kin to deal with the rest of them.
More than anything, for someone with a mechanical forearm, his ki flow was surprisingly stable, so it didn't seem like she could easily cut him down if they truly clashed.
‘If time were dragged out, it would be disadvantageous for them. There was no reason to refuse a conversation.’
The way he treated her as mere spoils of war was ridiculous, and the fact that he was throwing vulgar jokes at her, someone who was by no means attractive as a woman, made her furious.
She was a woman who knew how to see the bigger picture and act accordingly.
If enduring brought benefit, she could endure it indefinitely.
“No, it's not ridiculous at all. Union Academy is what's ridiculous, rather.”
“You're really going to try and persuade me?”
“Ah, before that, a quick fact check. I'm your senior.”
Kuran Luchato, who had prattled on in a frivolous tone that vaguely reminded her of Ban Yuwon, casually pulled back his robe.
The man was wearing a Union Academy uniform.
“It’s not that I have a uniform fetish. Seriously, I’m not that old to begin with. And this thing is surprisingly excellent armor, you know? The material is so good that if you just hack the magic code a little and add various functions, it won’t fall short anywhere, is what I’m saying.”
Whether the enemy was truly a Union Academy alumnus or not, she couldn't help but agree on that point.
Because Ban Yuwon also argued that logic and wore his uniform every time he entered the Tower of Babel.
Furthermore, in Ban Yuwon's case, he truly stuffed all sorts of defense-related concepts into his uniform with his Authority, so it was sometimes even better performing than the armor As Light wore.
Dokgo Yeon recalled him injecting defense concepts into his uniform, and exclaiming, ‘Seriously, how much more can this thing take?!’ and despite the current situation, she let out a chuckle.
“Huh, what was that? You just laughed. That was totally cute, though? Did a sense of familiarity bubble up once you knew I was your senior? Did you fall for me?”
“...This trash, he’s really pushing it.”
“That was definitely a laugh filled with affection, wasn’t it? Isn’t it possible you’ve already fallen for me, you just haven’t realized it yet?”
“That’s not how it is.”
There are no romantic feelings between me and Ban Yuwon! Absolutely not!
The presence of a man spouting nonsense again about a matter she had already settled within herself, Dokgo Yeon could no longer tolerate.
“Alright, enough with that talk! Let’s get to the main point. Hey, I’m overextending myself here, you know? That bastard Lyu Cheolmyeong has nothing going for him, yet acts like a big shot and loves to threaten people, uh? I’m trying to persuade you to get you away from a guy like that, aren’t I?”
“Persuade? Where?”
“Ah, right, that starts now.”
Seeing Dokgo Yeon truly about to swing her sword, Kuran Luchato stopped joking and put on a serious expression.
“You—how much do you know about Constellations?”
“I thought you were going to say something, but it’s not about Union Academy—”
“It is about Union Academy.”
Kuran Luchato cut her off sharply.
An inexpressible disgust emanated from his tone.
“More precisely, it’s about the Tower of Babel.”
“.......”
“Commanding such powerful subordinates, and with your own skill level surpassing that of a student. Someone like you will soon realize it on your own, even if I don't tell you, so I’m trying to save you some time—What?”
Perhaps he was mistaken that Gwangjo was Dokgo Yeon’s subordinate.
In reality, it was a subordinate commanded by Ban Yuwon, and if he heard that Ban Yuwon had five or more subordinates with equal or greater power than this one, he would be utterly astonished.
But what bothered her more was the man’s words.
Constellations and the Tower of Babel? Of course she knew there was some kind of relationship between the two, and she had even discussed it with Ban Yuwon.
But it seemed he wasn’t trying to talk about *that*—
“What?!”
However, before he could get to the main point, something happened that made him abandon the conversation himself.
—BOOM!
With a violent explosion, one of the four ships surrounding her violently exploded.
Then, BOOM! BOOOOM! The other two ships exploded in quick succession, clearing her vision in an instant, leaving only Kuran Luchato’s ship, which faced her.
In this shockingly rapid turn of events, even Dokgo Yeon blinked, struggling to grasp the situation, when suddenly.
“—Hup!”
Someone lightly landed on Gwangjo’s back.
“...You.”
“Long time no see, Dokgo Yeon! How’s your progress with our Yuwon-nim since then? How far have you gotten? Do you know our fan club is in an uproar because of Rucell-nim right now?”
“Anneri Dedota.”
“Ah, right, right. To avoid any misunderstandings, let me mention the client first this time.”
The woman who had served as the guide for the Rebellion party on the planet they first went to for special activities.
That woman, who had revealed her identity as a dimension mercenary at the end, stood there, wrapped in black leather clothing that would have made Ban Yuwon exclaim, ‘Kunoichi...!’
“Ban Yuwon hired me. I heard you fell for a bait tactic, so I rushed to help, but luckily, you seem fine.”
Dokgo Yeon didn’t ask how one could possibly blow up three dimension pirate ships in a row.
“...How much does it cost to hire a mercenary of your caliber?”
“Normally, for Yuwon-nim, it’s a 50% discount, and on top of that, there’s an additional 10% discount in exchange for a kiss... So, about this much.”
...Dokgo Yeon guessed the wealth Ban Yuwon had accumulated since entering Union Academy and fell silent.
This mercenary was far more expensive than they could have imagined.
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