I got into school for nothing - Chapter 197
I got into school for nothing (197)
Lesson 39. I Must Possess Him - 2
Ulrike Prominence, heir to the Prominence Family, one of the Ten Great Families, successfully completed the two-week special activity with Team Phoenix.
As they had to strive for absolute perfection, they used almost the entire allotted time, but by not wasting a single moment and solidly strengthening the foundation of the dimension, the highest evaluation was beyond doubt.
"Lady Prominence, are you truly alright?"
"Yes, of course."
However, the members of Team Phoenix cast worried glances at their team leader, as her condition had seemed a little strange for about a week now.
Even when they were together, she often seemed dazed, and whenever she had a moment, she would seclude herself in her own space, doing something.
Some team members wondered if she had discovered something in this dimension, but they dared not ask her directly.
After submitting their special activity report, the now-free group gathered in front of the warp gate—a pride of Union Academy that utilized the Tower of Babel's Authority to transport students directly to their home planets, rather than relying on interdimensional ships.
Unless accompanied by a full professor delegated with full authority from the Chancellor, all students who completed special activities were instructed to return using this gate.
"Well then, everyone, you've worked hard. Have a good break."
"Lady Prominence, you have a pleasant break too!"
"It was an honor to work with Lady Prominence this semester!"
One by one, the team members disappeared, offering greetings that were excessively formal for classmates of the same year.
Ulrike Prominence sent them off with a gentle smile, but the moment everyone vanished, she shed her mask, her expression turning as cold as ice.
"Worthless... how can they all be so utterly useless?"
Up until this special activity, they had been precious talents in her eyes, but now they felt as incompetent as scarecrows left idly in autumn rice paddies.
It wasn't that the capable individuals had suddenly changed.
Only her standards had shifted.
Yes, ever since she watched the Rebellion channel.
'Ban Yuwon, who was nothing more than a commoner with no abilities, acquired a level of skill comparable to that of a graduate in just one semester. Moreover, the special phenomena that occur whenever he climbs the Tower, and the fact that he was scouted for Union from a dimension that had nothing... he must be deeply connected to Union!'
Though she didn't like them, the abilities of the common rabble accompanying him weren't bad either.
She couldn't deny that all of them were superior to her own team members.
Of course, among them, Ban Yuwon was the most outstanding.
His abilities, intellect, and handsome appearance lacked nothing to be placed by her side.
That incredibly haughty fairy princess was utterly smitten with him, so it couldn't just be her own delusion.
'He's too good for that girl... No, I must possess him.'
Initially, she had watched the channel to be wary of him and plan countermeasures, just in case of any potential possibilities—but while watching the videos, Ulrike's thoughts changed completely.
Of course, he possessed dangerous talent and insight to be left alone, but that didn't mean she had to unconditionally exclude him.
After all, he was an ability user from a lowly dimension, devoid of tradition or custom.
There was nothing for him to stubbornly cling to or be bound by, so wouldn't he find the right path if she simply removed the influences that had instilled wrong ideas and led him to wrong actions?
She would discard one of the incompetent members of her team and fill the vacant spot with him.
The driving force that moved Ulrike now had entirely transformed into a desire for Ban Yuwon.
'Even if they didn't satisfy me now, I had intended to gradually nurture them over time, but now that I've discovered a fully formed gem, I can no longer anticipate their future with any enthusiasm.'
Tsk, she clicked her tongue and moved not towards the gate before her, but to the academy's main building.
The main building, usually bustling with lectures during the semester, lay in quiet slumber, having welcomed the vacation.
Fearing she might awaken a sleeping monster, she treaded carefully, eventually reaching the spiral staircase leading up from the sixth floor of the main building.
Above this floor were the offices of the full professors, and this spiral staircase was enchanted to turn away those without purpose and guide those with purpose directly to their destination.
Ulrike's destination was, of course, the room of her supervising professor, Clio Hecate.
'Magic that even the Prominence Authority cannot overcome... still unpleasant.'
Muttering curses inwardly, she diligently climbed the winding spiral staircase.
After climbing for an indeterminate time, Ulrike lifted her head and saw her destination.
Taking a moment to compose herself before the door, just as she was about to knock, *creaaak*—the door opened on its own, and a welcoming voice drifted from beyond.
"Welcome, my dearest student."
"Ah."
She had tried her best to suppress her presence, Ulrike thought with a wry smile. She stepped inside and immediately bowed deeply.
"I have returned after completing my special activity, Master."
"You didn't come just to say that, did you? Come, sit here."
A peculiar individual, wrapped in faintly glowing bandages over a robe, from head to toe. Yet, through the bandages tightly wound around her face, purple eyes gleamed with an extraordinary spiritual energy, enough to make even Ulrike, heir of a Ten Great Family, feel intimidated.
Clio Hecate, the most enigmatic being in this academy, apart from the Chancellor and Zenon.
Nothing she uttered failed to come true, and no one who opposed her ever met a good end.
Other professors and students referred to her with reverence as 'The Prophetess Who Determines Fate.'
"Your steps climbing the stairs were light. Is it love?"
"No!"
Ulrike, startled by the sudden question upon sitting down, shook her head frantically. However, she admitted that her predicament was quite similar.
"There is a junior whose skills I've observed, and whom I wish to somehow bring into my team."
"Since you are a second-year, your junior could only be a first-year. You must be speaking of student Ban Yuwon."
"...That's right, Master."
"Hehe, if you were to pick the most famous person now compared to the beginning of the semester, it would be no one else. I didn't even have to use foresight."
Hecate loosened the end of the bandages wrapped around her body, much like Mira, and brought over a teapot and teacups.
With surprising dexterity, she poured tea using only her bandages, without moving her hands at all, then extended a cup to Ulrike and spoke.
"Then, would you tell me how you came to know about this junior?"
"Ahem, truth be told, we aren't exactly close..."
No matter how much she trusted and relied on her Master, she couldn't reveal the darkness of the Prominence Family. Even if her Master already knew about it.
Especially not here, in this academy where monsters resided.
"It was triggered by watching the UniTube channel run by that junior. He's young and talented, but unfortunately, he's gone down the wrong path and is associating with unsavory companions, so I felt I must save him..."
"Ah-ha... You were certainly jealous of that incredibly popular fairy princess in the academy, with her beauty and abilities. I too heard rumors of their deepening relationship."
"—!"
She thought her breath would stop.
Ulrike glared with frustration at her Master, who seemed to see right through her feelings yet deliberately poked at her. Hecate, however, simply laughed delightedly, *Ahahaha*—and brought her teacup to her lips.
"Isn't that good? Love is, by its very nature, about taking from one another."
"It's not love."
"I have no intention of expounding theories on that ambiguous emotion. One thing that is certain is that the desire closest to it is possessiveness. You wish to possess him, don't you?"
"That's... yes, I do."
Hecate smiled at her student's honest reply.
"But what to do? To tell you upfront, it's impossible to form a team with students from different years."
Then, with a smiling face, she delivered words that plunged Ulrike's hopes into the abyss.
Ulrike, who was well aware of this fact, earnestly pleaded.
"Can your Master's abilities do anything about it?"
"Think carefully, Ulrike. The reason why students from different years cannot form teams is simple. Once a team is formed, you are bound to stay together until the end. It's also why changing teams means having to climb the Tower again from the start."
"I've only just completed the first semester of my second year, so it's not too late. There are not a few third and fourth-year students who have experienced 'Lost' and are climbing the Tower anew..."
"If you graduate first, that child, when he becomes a fifth-year, will have to climb the Tower again from the beginning."
"There's no need to worry about that. When I graduate, he will follow me to my family. Or, perhaps, before then, we will conquer the Tower together and no longer need to climb it."
Her Master sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead at the sight of her student, who, despite never having met Ban Yuwon, declared with such overconfidence.
She had never failed to obtain what she desired, so she assumed a man's heart would be just as easily won.
This was not mere 'princess syndrome,' but something far more terrifying.
Yet, Hecate, even as she foresaw her dangerous ideology, the nightmare she dreamt—
"There are exceptions. In truly unavoidable circumstances, there have been precedents of students from different years forming teams."
For her own purpose, she reluctantly uttered a possibility that could be the worst for someone else.
"Master!"
"Just remember this."
She gravely warned her student, who brightened and grabbed her bandaged hands.
"This is absolutely not something a student can deliberately aim for. And that's because... it's only possible if the team has no members."
"No members...? So, if all his team members disappear?"
"That's not all. To prepare for all contingencies, the members of Phoenix must also be gone. That way, even if other students try to intervene, there won't be any open slots, will there?"
"Ah-ha!"
It was simple after all!
Ulrike Prominence clapped her hands, genuinely delighted.
"That's something I intended to do anyway. Master, you needn't worry!"
"Ulrike, my dearest student."
"Ah! Your student has again shown an unbecoming lack of decorum before her Master."
To her student, who startled at her call and covered her mouth, bowing her head, Hecate offered a melancholy smile and said,
"Since you reflect on your own, it is fine, but be careful what you utter from now on. For it will no longer be possible to turn back."
"Master..."
Hecate's purple eyes gleamed deeply.
Ulrike Prominence, the future she had foreseen the moment she first met this false heir, flashed before her eyes once more.
Actions stemming from Ulrike's trivial desires would awaken long-hidden truths and legends.
The true heir, chased out by the fake, would realize their place and seek to return.
Ultimately, the situation would escalate beyond control, drawing in the entire universe.
At the end of the hellish banquet, having learned everything, she would likely curse Hecate for deceiving her—
'The Tower Lord will return.'
'He will tear down all that is old, establish a new order, and bring peace to the entire universe.'
There was no way to reverse the prophecy already uttered.
To complete her prophecy, on that day, Hecate willingly fired the signal flare that would drag countless souls into a living hell.
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