I got into school for nothing - Chapter 230
I got into school for nothing (230)
Lesson 45. Foundation Festival Preparation - 5
Having somewhat bared their hearts to each other, the two rested a little longer in the garden before emerging.
Ban Yuwon, who felt like he’d been thoroughly wrung out—not just his inner thoughts but every speck of dust from his body—thrust his face towards her.
“Is my face still swollen?”
he asked in a thoroughly pitiful voice.
“If you’re attempting to incite guilt, desist. Do you truly believe I wouldn’t notice you trying to tease me like that all day?”
Dokgo Yeon tightened her grip on Ban Yuwon’s hand with excessive force, squeezing him, her eyes glinting sharply.
“You should be aware that this is me holding back. If it weren’t for you...”
Squeeze! A powerful force seized the hand they held.
But even as he let out a scream like a Demon King meeting a wretched end by a hero’s holy sword, Ban Yuwon did not release her hand.
Dokgo Yeon, as if her anger had somewhat abated, lessened the pressure on her hand but still didn't let go.
It was a peculiar sensation, as if they would remain perpetually linked unless one of them intentionally broke the connection.
Upon reflection, it was quite remarkable.
While Ban Yuwon and Dokgo Yeon were certainly close, they were never the type to hold hands until this very day.
The mere thought of Dokgo Yeon walking hand-in-hand with someone of the opposite sex was utterly inconceivable.
Yet today, a unique situation—a date between a man and a woman—had arisen, and with their tacit agreement, an atmosphere was created where it was hard to refuse even something like holding hands.
It's the same principle as when someone, even without the intent to form a relationship, accepts a date request, and then upon meeting, finds themselves linking arms, thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be odd to agree to a date but then refuse a linked arm...?’
Perhaps he should prostrate himself before Ortima if they ever met again, Ban Yuwon began to seriously consider.
“Aren’t you hungry? Shall we go to dinner?”
“...Indeed.”
Ah, her replies had noticeably shortened.
It was clearly a strategy to simply say nothing at all, given she made a misstep every time she opened her mouth.
Now that she had fallen silent, Ban Yuwon’s mouth itched to make her speak more, but as if Dokgo Yeon had read his mind, she shot him a glare and squeezed his hand tightly once more.
Ban Yuwon felt as though his heart had been seized, and he froze rigid on the spot.
“Didn’t you say we were going to dinner?”
“R-right, of course.”
He gave up.
Not only Dokgo Yeon but Ban Yuwon too was equally swayed by her every subtle word and action.
Ultimately, the two of them spent the remainder of their time together, awkward as a high school couple on their very first date.
Before entering the garden, both of them had been engaged in something closer to a subtle war of nerves than a proper date, keenly aware of the gazes of others.
As they walked through the streets bathed in the hues of twilight, both were so absorbed in each other's reactions that they had no time to spare a glance for Union Academy or the citizens of Ronica.
“Who did you come to this restaurant with before?”
“Of course, you’re the first. ...Though I did get a recommendation from Graham senior.”
“Is that so? Hmm, I see...”
Still, Dokgo Yeon seemed quite pleased, and unlike when she was at the Academy or the Tower, a smile played on her lips.
The words Ban Yuwon had uttered, enduring his embarrassment, his genuine feelings, seemed to have had some effect after all.
“...Hah.”
After finishing their meal with a light drink, only when it was time to return to the Academy did Dokgo Yeon exhale a sigh, her body relaxing.
“Finally, this charade can end.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Must I explicitly state it for you to know?”
“Hmph,” Dokgo Yeon snorted, releasing Ban Yuwon’s hand as she spoke.
Then, realizing that she herself hadn’t grasped his true feelings until she’d heard Ban Yuwon’s words today, she let out a small cough.
“It was enjoyable. It appears that in life, one can even encounter perverts such as yourself.”
“Isn’t it a bit much to call someone who just said you’re beautiful a pervert? I’m genuinely, objectively, saying you’re pretty, you know?”
“Ahem, but...”
Just as he was about to genuinely protest to Dokgo Yeon, who, despite secretly being pleased, was blindly treating him as a pervert, she let out another cough and nervously glanced at him.
Her being conscious of another’s reaction was a first, in itself.
“Hm?”
“I-is that all?”
“...Huh? What are you talking about?”
Ban Yuwon was speechless.
Dokgo Yeon spoke in an incredibly domineering tone... yet, as if she herself were flustered while speaking, she rapidly fired off words like a machine gun.
“I shall forgive you for presumptuously evaluating my appearance. As for giving a subjectively positive assessment... very well, it is your taste, so I shall not interfere further. ...Aside from that?”
“So, other aspects besides my looks?”
She didn’t explicitly affirm, but it was as good as an answer.
Hearing that, Ban Yuwon suddenly realized he might have made a mistake earlier in his flustered state.
For Dokgo Yeon to pathologically dislike being treated as a woman, there had to be other factors at play beyond just her appearance. Yet, he had blindly fixated on her beauty, so from her perspective, wouldn’t that have caused her the opposite kind of distress?
“You mean, how I truly feel about you? Wait, just a moment.”
“...I’m going back.”
“Hey, wait a minute! Hold on!”
When Ban Yuwon pointed it out again, an unbearably embarrassed Dokgo Yeon turned her body with a swift whoosh.
If he hadn’t meticulously read her movements with his Giwon Sword and held onto her, he truly would have lost her.
“After all that trouble asking!”
“I told you I was acting strangely today! I spoke utter nonsense, which is rare for me; just forget it!”
“First, let’s just clear up this misunderstanding, please!”
After a fierce struggle that lasted five minutes (though to others, it would only have appeared as a lovers’ quarrel), Ban Yuwon finally managed to hold onto her, gasping for breath as he barely managed to speak.
“What I don’t want you to misunderstand is that I thought there was no need to even mention your other qualities.”
“I already know you think highly of me, so there’s truly no need to elaborate further...”
“It seemed you were conscious of your appearance, so I focused only on that, didn’t I? It must have sounded like I was just a shallow guy who only cared about looks.”
“You actually are, aren’t you? No... no, you’re not. I told you it’s fine. Ugh, you absolute beast!”
He wondered why she was suddenly blaming Rucell.
Seeing her fumble at the empty space at her waist, he wondered if she was seriously trying to draw a sword.
“It’s not just ‘thinking highly of you,’ it’s... I actually like you quite a bit, you know? You always look out for all the members, and you guide them so they can grow properly...”
“So, you’re saying I’m like a mother?”
She was still bothered by that joke, he realized.
One wrong answer here and he could utterly ruin everything.
“No, I mean that quality of being so encompassing and accepting is what’s attractive.”
“How is that different from being like a mother?”
“You don’t think of your mother as pretty, do you?”
“Is that what it always comes down to?”
“Still, isn’t that a crucial difference?”
To Ban Yuwon’s words, Dokgo Yeon didn’t reply, instead turning her head away.
In truth, there were many other things he could have said.
Like the aspects that struck him as cute, or the charm he discerned in her slightest actions—there was no shortage of them.
For instance, the way she was now pouting slightly and averting her gaze was unbearably cute.
He also wanted to convey that he thought she was ‘beautiful’ in every single one of those aspects.
However, if he were to say such things, the atmosphere between them would likely become even more awkward; it was probably best to be moderately satisfied with having achieved today’s objective and gracefully withdraw.
...And he already had two women he was responsible for, besides.
“So, the misunderstanding, is it cleared up now?”
“It was my mistake... I shouldn’t have come to such a place from the beginning.”
Without even attempting to remove Ban Yuwon’s hand from her sleeve, Dokgo Yeon sank down where she stood.
Yet, she soon let out a long sigh, *hoo*, and tapped her cheeks, a gesture so similar to how Ban Yuwon typically gathered his thoughts that he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I concede that my attitude until now has been objectively... peculiar.”
At last, she opened her mouth once more.
Her voice was noticeably calmer, and Ban Yuwon felt relieved.
“We’re using the word ‘objective’ quite a lot today, aren’t we?”
“Are you going to nitpick every single word like that?”
“My apologies.”
Dokgo Yeon rose from her spot and, as if to demonstrate she wasn’t fleeing, brushed off his sleeve.
“Thanks to you, my mind has cleared a little. I will rectify my judgment regarding Ortima. You were likely concerned I would entertain misguided thoughts, but no matter how profoundly mistaken I might be, I would never heed the words of such a worm, so your worries were, in fact, in vain.”
“It wasn’t in vain, though. You just said your mind cleared.”
“You keep nitpicking every... Ugh, it’s getting weird again!”
Thwack! Dokgo Yeon hit his chest, then hesitated for a moment before mumbling in a significantly quieter voice.
“Thank you.”
“...Right.”
Dangerous.
He almost hugged her.
And then he’d get kicked.
As Ban Yuwon desperately tried to suppress his instincts, her words continued.
“I was born as the daughter of the leader of a colossal religious organization.”
“That... yes, I actually somewhat anticipated it. You occasionally mentioned ‘sect.’ It’s a martial arts group too, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
A demonic cult!
It *was* a demonic cult after all!
“I possessed extraordinary aptitude from birth, and these eyes... yes, they are innate. They bestow immense Authority, yet cannot be separated from me. I was treated like a divine avatar.”
“Ah...”
Ban Yuwon still couldn’t read the concept of Dokgo Yeon’s eyes.
At first, he’d thought it was a Demonic Eye, and since he had never once witnessed any special abilities originating from her eyes during the previous semester, he’d considered it might simply be a physical trait or a side effect of her martial arts... but it seemed it was, indeed, an Authority after all.
“In the dimension where I was born, there were those who harbored excessive expectations for me, and others who considered me a thorn in their side... but it was a place where no one ever regarded me as an ordinary girl.”
Was she trying to recall the past? Dokgo Yeon’s pale, beautiful fingers slowly traced the air.
Then, at a certain moment, she tightly gripped something in the air and tore it away.
“That’s why I discarded it. I lied to the beast. It wasn’t that I wished to discard it; I had no choice but to, because it held no meaning. Humans don’t consider a monster’s gender when they kill it, do they? Nor do they consider a god’s gender when they worship it. That’s why.”
“Dokgo Yeon...”
“Even if you were to demand something that never existed, now of all times, it would only be baffling, wouldn’t it? I would appreciate it if you understood that all my foolish behavior here was entirely for that reason.”
It wouldn't have been merely baffling; it must have been frightening, too.
The unknown always coexists with fear.
To have pointed that out so bluntly, Ban Yuwon had indeed acted rather boorishly.
“But it’s fine now. Thanks to you, I’ve somewhat grasped it. Your ability, it seems, is indeed most effective when seducing women.”
“No, no matter what I say, you always twist it like that.”
Struck right in the heart, it was hard to breathe!
She turned to Ban Yuwon and let out a quiet chuckle.
Because of that, he couldn’t properly question the true meaning behind her words.
“Still, let’s agree to forget what happened today.”
“Hm?”
“Right now, including Light and Prominence, there are far too many other matters we need to resolve. We have no time to be preoccupied with anything else.”
“That’s true, yes.”
To say such a thing at such a moment was truly Dokgo Yeon-like, Ban Yuwon thought.
Since they had already laid some of their cards on the table, they could have pushed a little further. However, this ability to consider not just the present but also the future, and to calmly retreat, was not something one could expect from Rucell, whose instincts would run wild at crucial moments, or from a fairy like Mira, who would impulsively cast curses.
“Truly, there is no one who treats me without fear as you do. Even the full professors of the Academy would be reluctant to look me directly in the eyes.”
“Well, you see, for us, even among friends...”
“He said to bring you during winter break.”
“Hm?”
At Dokgo Yeon’s sudden words, Ban Yuwon blinked, his face forming a foolish expression.
“Who?”
“The Master.”
Who?
He wanted to ask again, but unfortunately, he had heard it too clearly, leaving him no opportunity to question her.
“Uh... the big boss of that religious organization said to bring me during winter break?”
“Yes. My father did. He says he wants to see your face.”
It was surprising enough for the words “my father” to come from Dokgo Yeon’s mouth, but now was not the time to be astonished by such a minor detail!
No, your way of speaking suddenly changed! Aren’t you still acting strange?!
“Hey, Dokgo Yeon, about that, perhaps your father—no, the Master—has some misunderstanding...”
“It’s tiresome.”
Unlike Ban Yuwon, who was utterly tense, Dokgo Yeon now seemed quite relaxed, even smiling.
She was so cute it was almost irritating.
“How long do you intend to address me so bothersomely? From now on, call me by my name.”
“Huh? My name? Yeon?”
“Ah, um, hm. ...It’s not bad. Well then, I’ll head in first. Tomorrow, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When he casually replied to her instruction to call her by name, the relaxed expression vanished from Dokgo Yeon’s face.
Dokgo Yeon, having quickly finished her words, touched her student ID, then vanished from the spot.
Ban Yuwon, left alone, had to remain standing in that spot for a good ten minutes afterward.
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