I got into school for nothing -216
I got into school for nothing (216)
Lesson 43. Too Popular - 1
Aire was one of the few who reigned merely by her presence, even in an academy where geniuses from all dimensions gathered.
Many were shocked that such a person had been elected as the vice president of the Student Council.
“Why her? There's no benefit to be gained.”
“How foolish... Don’t they realize what kind of antics this academy’s Student Council gets up to?”
“She’s always been aloof since her admission. Wasn’t it the same with clubs...?”
“Even so, the Student Council!”
The reaction from the Noblesse club, which was exceedingly aristocratic and elitist, only allowing Special Class students to join, was particularly fervent. Yet, it wasn't as if they could go and challenge Aire about it.
“Shouldn’t we inform the Melodia Family and take action?”
“We already contacted them, but they said they ‘respect her will.’”
“Damn it, do the Ten Great Families have no pride?”
“Still, they are one of the Ten Great Families. One of the Ten Great Families that, purely in terms of accumulated wealth, has no equal...”
Aire’s inauguration as vice president wasn’t accompanied by any special ceremony, merely a brief announcement. Yet, all members of the academy, from students to assistant and full professors, were so engrossed by it that their day’s schedule was thrown into disarray. This alone spoke volumes about the extent of her influence.
“What in the world are you doing?!”
And Misty grabbed Ban Yuwon by the collar and shook him violently.
“How could you put our princess in such a position! You asked her to, didn’t you! No, you ordered her, didn’t you!”
“Aire just made up her own mind, she said.”
“It’s the same thing! The princess likes you, so she probably accepted without a second thought...!”
Yet, just yesterday she was calling her Aire, but now in her panic, Misty’s true nature quickly emerged.
She couldn’t even mind the place.
For the place they were currently in was the training room of the Union Journey Club, founded by Ban Yuwon, so everyone was paying attention to them.
“How did they end up like that?”
“Alright, let’s guess. Didn’t our club president get caught two-timing between Miss Aire and Miss Misty?”
“Don’t you subscribe to the Rebellion channel? Junior Yuwon’s two-timing is public knowledge!”
“And now it’s three legs.”
“What are you talking about, it’s four legs.”
Ah, thanks to that, another useless misunderstanding was spreading....
But thankfully, before an even more dreadful morning drama could unfold, Aire herself arrived and pulled Misty away.
“Don’t you dare judge me arbitrarily.”
“Ugh! But...”
Misty, hurt by Aire’s slightly sharp tone, retorted with an exasperated expression.
“It’s true you were influenced by Ban Yuwon!”
“Of course. But what of it?”
“The Student Council isn’t just a simple club; it wasn’t something to decide on so easily. Just by joining it, many people will see you as...”
“Me?”
Misty couldn’t continue her sentence.
Things like how it would be difficult for her to live in the Special Class, or how she would receive unfavorable looks even after graduating and returning to her home dimension....
Aire’s presence was simply too weighty for such plausible words to be uttered.
Aire, as if discerning her thoughts, offered a faint smile. Then, she raised a transparent, beautiful hand, sculpted as if from ice, and touched her index finger to Misty’s forehead.
“Ah...?!”
“I always act based on what’s most important to me. Following Professor Yumina, who transcended the limits of her race, and being with Ban Yuwon, who transcended the limits of magic, are all for my own sake.”
“That’s what it was?”
He had never dared to dream of affection, but he had at least thought there was something akin to friendship.
Aire seemed a little flustered by Ban Yuwon’s interjection from beside her, but she deliberately ignored him and continued speaking.
“So, Misty, you should also act only according to what’s important to you. The time allotted to us is too short to hesitate, caught up in illusions.”
“Ah...”
Aire removed her finger from Misty’s forehead and stepped back.
Then, she cast a quick glance at Ban Yuwon, as if gauging his reaction.
—That’s how it began.
She delivered an unnecessary excuse in a voice that no one but Ban Yuwon could hear, and then disappeared.
To come all this way, saying she would participate in club activities, only to turn around and leave.
It seemed she, too, was a little embarrassed.
“...Misty, are you alright?”
Ban Yuwon watched Misty, who was still frozen in place, and asked.
After a long silence, she suddenly collapsed onto the spot with a thud.
“What’s important to me... is Aire...”
She mumbled, her cheeks flushed crimson.
Ban Yuwon instinctively took three steps back from her.
“Hey, that’s creepy, so only say things like that when no one else can hear.”
“Alright, I’ve decided!”
“Suddenly shouting and standing up is also creepy.”
“I’ll protect Aire! I’ll eliminate anyone who tries to stop Aire from doing what she wants!”
Ban Yuwon wondered if Aire touching Misty’s forehead with her finger was some kind of brainwashing magic, but it seemed, thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
However, after entrusting her, who clearly seemed to be afflicted with some kind of status ailment, to Leixu, he gathered the seniors who had been watching them with intrigued expressions and checked their progress.
“Senior Kshana, you’ve made a lot of progress even during the break. Good work.”
“Oh, no! It’s all thanks to the amplification device you made for me.”
There were those like Senior Kshana, a second-year, who had steadily developed herself since discovering the true value of her unique Authority thanks to Ban Yuwon.
“Senior Stonemason never betrays my expectations. To not have grown at all, it almost makes me wonder if he deliberately manipulated it.”
“I don’t work during breaks. That is my creed.”
There were also cases like Stonemason, who made one realize the saying, "Once useless, always useless."
Ban Yuwon even began to suspect that this person was deliberately choosing such words and actions to make him dislike him.
“Bear with it, junior. People from such home dimensions have their own struggles...” Woohyeolrin, a third-year who could be called the ace of the special admissions team, defended Stonemason with a wry smile.
Indeed, students from the Special Admissions for Lower-Rank Dimensions often suffered from monster waves and dimension pirates, unlike students from higher-ranking dimensions where the environment was stable in many respects.
Even Ban Yuwon himself had suffered throughout the entire break....
“That’s right, there’s nothing we can do about that. And what happens from now on is important too.”
Feeling a sense of exhilaration rather than burden from the gazes fixed upon him by many people, Ban Yuwon continued.
Many had forgotten, overshadowed by the news of Aire’s inauguration as vice president, but now there was an event more important than such gossip.
“You all know that the Union Founder’s Festival is in a month and a half, right? A special club competition will be held there.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, there was something like that last year too. Though we didn’t even have a chance to participate.”
The seniors, their interest piqued by Ban Yuwon’s words, began to whisper amongst themselves.
He lightly activated his Language Magic to draw everyone’s attention, then continued.
“This time will be different. While your growth in the first semester was excellent, this competition, where you will be judged under the club’s name, will play a decisive role in improving the image of the Special Admissions that you’ve all so desired.”
“To think Yuwon was caring for us that much...”
“Huh, is there a need for all that? It’s already enough, isn’t it?”
“Senior?”
Seniors like Kshana, deeply moved.
Seniors like Stonemason, annoyed.
Seniors like Woohyeolrin, raising their spirits, proclaiming the time had finally come.
Ban Yuwon looked at them all and smiled faintly.
“It will be a fairly large-scale competition. They say the content of the competition is the purification of abandoned dimensions.”
“...”
“That’s... truly.”
The students of Union Academy train with the goal of becoming gods.
Special activities, such as responding to distress calls from lower-rank dimensions and solving their problems, are also an example of this.
But naturally, the students of the academy alone couldn’t possibly solve the problems of so many dimensions.
An abandoned dimension refers to a dimension where civilization has perished, left neglected after failing to solve the problems that arose within it.
In severe cases, barricades were even built to block the dimension wall, to prevent dangerous things from spilling out of that dimension.
“Isn’t that too dangerous?”
“It’s an equally certain opportunity. If you get scared and back down here, you’ll just return to your former state.”
Ban Yuwon, looking around at the club members murmuring with worry, anxiety, excitement, and anticipation, saw Woohyeolrin and Stonemason exchange glances, and smiled bitterly to himself.
“Alright, so you’ll all have to work yourselves to death, won’t you? I’ll be checking regularly, so be aware. If anyone fails to meet the standard, I might just kick you out of the club.”
“What’s the standard?”
“My standard, of course.”
“He’s a tyrant!”
“Did you only just realize that?”
A few harbored complaints at Ban Yuwon’s somewhat ruthless words, but he didn’t change his stance.
However, strictly checking the club members’ levels was ultimately for their safety and the club’s goals, so no one, except Stonemason, dared to openly argue with him.
After instilling a firm sense of purpose and dismissing the seniors, Ban Yuwon returned, and Rucell handed him a drink.
“Will it really be alright, Yuwon?”
“Yeah. At this point, we need to clearly weed out who needs to be weeded out. ...Didn’t Light come?”
“He didn’t,” Dokgo Yeon said, turning her eyes to him after giving sharp glances around at the club members scattering to begin their training.
Ban Yuwon, having read her unspoken words from her gaze alone, shrugged his shoulders and said.
“Really? Well, he said he’d cooperate with the exploration until we settle things, so don’t worry too much.”
“Climbing the Tower with an uncontrollable ally is nothing short of suicide.”
“Wait a minute.”
Feeling that Dokgo Yeon was about to say more, Ban Yuwon hastily cast a barrier to prevent their voices from leaking out.
“I cannot shake the thought that you are overly lenient with Light.”
“You were the same, weren’t you?”
“Not anymore. I’m at the point where I regret having taught martial arts to such a... thing.”
“Dokgo Yeon, the current Light isn’t Light.”
He wasn’t trying to play silly riddles.
To explain Light’s current state, there was no other fitting way.
“If it were Light’s own will, I’d have just let him do whatever he wanted, be it Solo Exploration or dropping out. But as long as it’s not, I have no intention of giving up on Light.”
“Why? Did you develop feelings for it without my knowledge?”
“No, don’t say such creepy things. He’s my friend.”
“Friend, huh. I wonder who’s saying creepy things now.”
Dokgo Yeon scoffed, but still took a step back.
“I am conceding a great deal to you. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve bent my will to your opinions. This is something that would utterly astonish people who knew me in my home dimension.”
“I know. Thank you.”
“And that is because I believe you will bring me enough benefit to make me yield. Let me be clear on this point. I am not worrying about Light. Understood?”
“Yes, I know that well too.”
Dokgo Yeon felt like arguing more, seeing Ban Yuwon’s expression that seemed to indicate he didn’t know it well at all. However, Rucell’s grinning face beside them, listening to their conversation, displeased her even more, so she decided to stop badgering him.
“Beast, let’s spar.”
“It’s always me you pick on, isn’t it? Hehe, but I won’t be so easy anymore.”
Rucell willingly agreed to her words and prepared for a spar.
Dokgo Yeon, about to draw her sword to humble Rucell’s confident demeanor, paused and, as if a thought had suddenly struck her, turned back to Ban Yuwon and asked.
“Ban Yuwon, if you were to...”
“Say it.”
“If I were to... no, it’s nothing.”
Ban Yuwon, seeing Dokgo Yeon bite her lip and turn away mid-sentence, said in a clear voice to her back.
“If anything ever happens to you, I will definitely come to save you.”
“I told you it was nothing!”
That day, Dokgo Yeon’s sparring partner changed from Rucell to Ban Yuwon.
And the next day was the first time they would explore the Tower in the second semester.
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