I got into school for nothing - Chapter 196
I got into school for nothing (196)
Lesson 39. I Must Have Him - 1
Dokgo Yeon opened her eyes, lay still for a moment staring at the ceiling, then belatedly remembered that this was not Union Academy's dormitory.
'It's nice not having to listen to the beast whimpering.'
The beast, Rucell, was her opposite in many ways.
Her movements were without rules, faithful to instinct, and free.
No... it would be more accurate to say Ban Yuwon had made her free.
However, Dokgo Yeon didn't believe for a moment that he could free her as well.
Nor did she wish for it.
"Young Lady, are you awake?"
"...Yes."
Dokgo Yeon closed her eyes tightly, then opened them, slowly shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
As she threw back the covers and rose from her spot, Heukseol approached as if she had been waiting, helping her wash and then dressing her.
"Ah..."
Heukseol murmured, sighing in admiration at the sight of Dokgo Yeon's beautiful, unblemished naked body, firmly sculpted by consistent training, being concealed by her clothes.
"If that boy saw this, he'd fall for you in an instant."
"Are you still on about that? I clearly told you he's just my disciple."
"But relations between men and women are unpredictable, Young Lady."
"In that case, there's even less chance. I discarded being a woman a long time ago."
Dokgo Yeon snapped back truculently, but Heukseol saw a faint smile lingering on her lips.
A change in emotion that only she, who had served her closest, could perceive.
Could that boy discern this?
Ah, she was curious indeed.
"I just wish I could see his face..."
"Contact with external dimensions is forbidden within Shin-gyo territory. You know that, don't you?"
Heukseol, of course, knew that fact well.
When Dokgo Yeon was chosen by Union, the argument that she should be deposed from her position as Young Sect Leader gained traction, solely because she had been selected by the forces of Union Academy.
However, the Sect Leader, who had consistently maintained an indifferent attitude towards his child, unusually stepped forward and formally ordered her to investigate Union Academy and return, thus removing the accusation against her and allowing Dokgo Yeon to leave the sect with a light heart.
"Even so, Young Lady has the authority to use that device freely, so if you could just show me a tiny glimpse..."
"This isn't the time for idle chatter. Has the Myeolryongdan been fully assembled?"
"Yes!"
Dokgo Yeon shot an unappreciative glance at Heukseol, who lately seemed to seize every opportunity to pry into what had transpired between her and 'that boy', causing Heukseol to instantly snap to attention and hastily compose herself.
"Everyone is on standby. Just give the order, and I will seize every one of those curs who dare to bare their teeth at their master without knowing their place, and deliver them before the Young Lady."
"I wish to move myself. I will take charge of the Parangdan, and Heukseol, you are to lead the Myeolryongdan and deal with the remaining two units."
Dokgo Yeon finished speaking, fastened the scabbard containing her short sword to her waist, and exited the room.
Left alone, Heukseol chewed over her words with a bewildered expression before starting in surprise and rushing after her, shouting.
"No, Young Lady!"
"Currently, I am the Meryongdanju."
"Commander! Surely you're not saying you intend to face one of the sect's military units by yourself, are you?"
"Indeed. Is that so surprising?"
"The Parangdan Commander is a master capable of projecting a Sword Aura six feet long! Moreover, all of his subordinate captains have reached the Peak realm...!"
"Even Ban Yuwon can wield a Sword Aura of that caliber. What's so special about it?"
She tells me not to talk about him, yet now she's practically dying to boast!
Of course, wielding a Sword Aura at an age similar to Dokgo Yeon's was certainly something to boast about.
After all, Sword Qi, which simply imbues the sword with energy to increase its sharpness, and Sword Aura, which extends that energy outside the sword while maintaining its sharpness and hardness, are incomparable.
And even more so if one can not merely condense energy, but infuse it with resolute Sword Intent...
By the end of the first semester, during the two-week special activity, the Sword Aura Ban Yuwon had perfected was—though she would never tell him this herself—on par with the realm Dokgo Yeon had achieved.
"Even so, I would never lose to Ban Yuwon. It's the same here. Wielding a Sword Aura isn't everything."
"If that's truly your will, then I shall follow the Young Lady alone. With the Myeolryongdan's skill, they can manage perfectly well without me..."
For reference, Heukseol also served as the Vice Commander of the Myeolryongdan, where Dokgo Yeon held the position of Commander.
She had always firmly refused other titles, insisting her sole duty was to protect Dokgo Yeon; however, with Dokgo Yeon's transfer to Union Academy, Heukseol had reluctantly taken on the Vice Commander role to safeguard the Myeolryongdan in her absence.
Yet now, when Dokgo Yeon, as Commander, was concerned about moving separately while the Myeolryongdan was active and had ordered Heukseol, her Vice Commander, to lead them, this was the answer she received.
"Perhaps appointing you as Vice Commander was a mistake after all."
"I know. It is enough for me to simply be the Young Lady's bodyguard."
A sigh escaped her.
Dokgo Yeon finally let out a sigh and nodded.
"Heukseol, it seems you still don't grasp just how much I've grown. ...It is also the duty of a ruler to instill faith in their subordinates. Follow me."
"Yes!"
Dokgo Yeon immediately strode out of the room, heading with Heukseol toward the pavilion where the treacherous Parangdan, who had conspired against her, was located.
She had already obtained the Sect Leader's approval.
Of course, her enemies wouldn't know this yet, but they had dared to bare their blades at her in her absence, so they ought to accept this much as their just desserts.
"Oh, Meryongdanju...!"
"It's the Young Sect Leader."
The warriors guarding the main gate reacted with a start as soon as they saw Dokgo Yeon slowly approaching, but before they could even raise their voices, Dokgo Yeon swung her short sword with a chilling voice.
*Swish*, only after she re-sheathed her sword did two headless bodies collapse to the floor.
Heukseol, secretly astonished by Dokgo Yeon's skill, which struck with such speed that even she couldn't clearly perceive its beginning or end, quickly moved her body to catch the corpses before they hit the ground.
"There's no need to hide them. The Parangdan Commander will already be aware."
"Young... no, Commander. Are we going in like this?"
"No."
Dokgo Yeon replied curtly, then infused her bracelet with death and tossed it high into the air.
The bracelet, soaring as if it had sprouted wings, stopped at an altitude of about one kilometer, then disgorged the giant trapped within it.
An otherworldly monster, hundreds of meters in size, upgraded by Dokgo Yeon's energy, plummeted, bringing black death with it.
"What is that...?!"
Heukseol's eyes widened in shock.
Before Dokgo Yeon could even satisfy her curiosity, the mountain giant let out a terrible *CRASH!* as it utterly obliterated and flattened the Parangdan's pavilion.
"Dokgo Yeon――――――――!"
Immediately after, the fierce roar of a wounded beast echoed through the air.
The mountain giant's appearance and fall had occurred in such an instant that even a powerhouse of Dokgo Yeon's caliber would have barely managed to evade it, let alone block it.
How could anyone weaker than her possibly stop the mountain giant?
Most of the regular unit members were crushed to death before they could even react—indeed, at this point, one of Shin-gyo's proud military units could be considered annihilated.
"They truly deserve to be called the weakest. To be crushed to death, unable to deal with even one dullard like that."
"No, Young Lady, you shouldn't say that..."
The dumbfounded Heukseol even forgot to maintain her professional demeanor as she interjected.
She had not missed it.
That Dokgo Yeon had personally infused her own energy into that terrifyingly massive giant, temporarily enhancing it.
Laden with the Death Sword Energy that always gave Dokgo Yeon an advantage against powerhouses of equal rank, it had for an instant become the very concept of death itself, colliding with the pavilion.
If they could have withstood that, there would have been no need to conspire against Dokgo Yeon from behind; they could have simply crushed her head-on!
—*Whoosh, Thud*
Whether the Parangdan Commander, who had barely survived the mountain giant meteor, screamed Dokgo Yeon's name in fury or not, Dokgo Yeon coolly retrieved the bracelet that had sucked the fallen mountain giant back into itself, like a Poké Ball absorbing a Pokémon, and put it back on her arm.
Then, to Heukseol, who was staring blankly, she let out a faint chuckle and proudly showed off her arm.
"This bracelet is a gift from Ban Yuwon. I don't like it; it looks like some trinket girls wear, but it's practical, and since he insisted I take it, I suppose I have no choice but to use it."
Didn't she just say she'd discarded being a woman?
It seems the Young Lady must have about a hundred women residing within her heart.
That's why she can discard one whenever she needs to, still with such an abundance.
Of course, if she had blurted out such words, she might have suffered an attack from the mountain giant herself, so Heukseol wisely shut her mouth and stepped back.
Not even her own direct power, but merely one of the artifacts she commanded, had already brutally crushed the main unit of Shin-gyo's proud military force.
Any further interference from her would simply be overstepping her bounds.
"You bitch, you've finally joined hands with those maggots from Union Academy!"
Alas, not everyone in the world was as adept at reading the atmosphere as Heukseol.
The Parangdan Commander, who had barely survived the mountain giant meteor, now wasted no time fleeing, instead drawing his longsword and charging at Dokgo Yeon, his eyes wide with fury as he bellowed.
"With that vile power, you insult the legitimacy of Shin-gyo, and now you trample the lives of warriors loyal to the Sect Leader like dust!"
"Silence, worm."
"Guhk?!"
Dokgo Yeon stepped forward, appearing before the Parangdan Commander's eyes and swinging her short sword.
With a single stroke, she sliced below his knees, reducing his excessively tall stature so that he could no longer look down upon her and shout.
"Everything I have gained from Union Academy will be used for the sect. It is *you* whose intentions are highly suspect, for you attempted to dismantle the Myeolryongdan, the elite force of Shin-gyo."
"Aghhh, the Myeolryongdan simply met the wrong master――!"
Blue energy surged from the Parangdan Commander's entire body, his legs severed before he even had time to react.
A blue wave, literally a fierce surge of blue energy, swept towards Dokgo Yeon—yet it too was scattered and vanished entirely by a single sword stroke she delivered the next moment.
"As of this moment, the Parangdan ceases to exist. Do you still not understand that it was the Parangdan who met the wrong master, not the Myeolryongdan?"
"This cannot be! How much I've sacrificed for Shin-gyo!"
"Hah."
Watching the Parangdan Commander, who had instantly lost all his power and influence, scream in righteous indignation, Dokgo Yeon snorted.
"If you swore loyalty to Shin-gyo, you should also have known that I *am* Shin-gyo."
The final sword stroke she brought down cleanly severed the Parangdan Commander's body, and beyond it, sliced through a remaining, uncollapsed part of the pavilion, causing it to crumble.
The dead could offer no more excuses.
"Let's go. The Myeolryongdan likely hasn't completed all their missions yet; as Commander, I should lend a hand, however small."
"Yes, Commander!"
Although Dokgo Yeon had entered Union Academy and revealed a side of herself no one had expected, Heukseol realized that her overwhelming martial power had not waned but had, in fact, advanced even further, and felt her heart pound fiercely.
Her enrollment in Union Academy had been a resounding success.
For competitors she had previously found difficult to deal with directly, and thus left untouched even half a year ago, she could now openly crush them like this!
"And after all this is over... yes, I should report to the Sect Leader."
"The Sect Leader will likely commend you greatly."
Indeed, Dokgo Yeon had displayed overwhelming martial might today.
Of course, the fact that this martial prowess was directed internally rather than externally from Shin-gyo might be a slight flaw...
But within Shin-gyo, power and legitimacy were everything.
For Dokgo Yeon, whose legitimacy had been questioned upon entering Union Academy, to firmly re-establish her position, the process of eliminating impure elements like the Parangdan was essential.
That's why the Sect Leader had likely permitted this matter, even knowing it would weaken Shin-gyo... And now that Dokgo Yeon had handled the situation decisively, it was improbable that her status would be jeopardized in the future, unless she made a significant mistake.
"――Yes. That she passed on the Hyunsingong to an outsider."
――As long as she didn't violate the sect's laws, probably.
Comments