I got into school for nothing - 264
I got into school for nothing (264)
Lesson 51. Solid Alliance - 6
Aire's words about meeting now were no exaggeration.
The very moment Ban Yuwon's party read that message and thought of fleeing, Aire and the Melodia Family Head appeared before their eyes.
As the group froze, unable to react to what had happened, the Family Head stepped forward and faced Ban Yuwon.
“You have opened the traitor's ruin.”
With that single sentence, the Family Head revealed that he understood the entire situation, smiling gracefully as he observed Ban Yuwon, who showed no agitation, and some party members who clearly did.
He then placed a small medal around Tikke's neck, who had been following behind, and handed it to Ban Yuwon, speaking again in a stern voice.
“As I have already stated, he is a traitor. Though his traces as a True Dragon allowed us to journey to this D-13 Dimension, we have no intention of showing him deference. Nor, of course, do we intend to punish a grave robber.”
After all, it was Asha who had been destined to enter that ruin.
“We merely came to receive a promise. A promise that you will not harm Lady Aire's body with the impure things you obtained from the traitor's tomb.”
“Huh?”
Aire? Why her?
He looked back at her to see Aire shaking her head, as if it were solely the Family Head's idea.
Nevertheless, the Family Head did not back down.
“All dragons grow careless, and pay for it with their lives. A sword of kin-slaying is like a small thorn harboring deadly poison; before it pricks you, it is nothing more than trivial and annoying, but once pierced, your soul will writhe in agony.”
“Yuwon won't pierce me.”
“Human affection is like a reed. It sways with trivial matters and breaks effortlessly, so you should not judge them with your senses.”
“......”
The Family Head spoke coldly, treating their relationship as insignificant.
Aire glared at the Family Head with a very annoyed expression.
Ban Yuwon decided to intervene at that point.
“I also have a Dragonoid among my party members. At the very least, I will not attack Aire simply because she is a Dragonoid. Should our positions change later and we find ourselves in opposition, then let us both take a step back.”
“......For now, I shall be satisfied with that. We will discuss this in more detail later.”
“You, move.”
Aire pushed the Family Head aside, who had considered Ban Yuwon's proposal deeply before nodding.
It was a moment that clearly defined their hierarchical relationship.
......No, it also just looked like a daughter throwing a tantrum at her kind father.
“Yuwon, forget what he just said. That man is overprotective.”
“No, it's fine. Besides, he stepped forward for Asha.”
“Yes, that. Don't forget that. I was the one who decisively saved Asha this time.”
Indeed, it seemed Aire's will had heavily influenced the Melodia Family Head's actions this time, at least in visiting Camelot and threatening the King.
Though he couldn't be sure, she likely hadn't been pleased that her clumsy provocation of Asha at the previous masquerade ball had ultimately led to Ban Yuwon liberating Asha.
So, when the opportunity arose this time, she didn't hesitate to mobilize even the Melodia family to act.
Thinking Aire was rather cute as she puffed out her chest and boasted that she had been more helpful to Asha than Ban Yuwon, he extended his hand to her.
“Yes, thank you for your help. Honestly, I didn't expect it, but it was a great assistance.”
“Hmm?”
Aire's eyes widened as she noticed something placed on Ban Yuwon's outstretched palm.
A hairpin adorned with a beautiful, snowflake-shaped jewel.
It was a bribe—no, a gift—that he had begun crafting the moment he sent his rescue request to Aire, quickly completing it overnight using his improved accessory-making techniques.
Perhaps fortunately, the concept of 'Ice' was something he had obtained by slaughtering a horde of Frost Giants during his first solo exploration, and a considerable amount remained even after he had created the Frost Fortress.
This time, he had cleanly expended all of it to create an artifact that would assist her ice magic.
“A high-level artifact...... was it in the ruin?”
“No, I made it.”
“You did?”
“Only the concept.”
“??”
Though she tilted her head in confusion, she took the hairpin, let her mana flow into it, and then smiled with great satisfaction.
Even the Melodia Family Head, who had been pushed aside by her, watched it from the side and nodded repeatedly, so it seemed the intention as a bribe had been well received.
“I'm leaving.”
“Are you sure, Lady Aire?”
“I came out on my own, so I need to go back quickly.”
Aire, who had brushed aside some of her bangs and timidly fastened the hairpin, urged the Family Head on as she retreated.
The appearance and departure were so abrupt that Ban Yuwon, who had instinctively reached out to stop her, soon lowered his hand.
Many questions still lingered about the true nature of the Melodia family, but for now—they could be considered allies.
He'd think about the rest later.
“See you at the academy, Yuwon.”
“Right, at the academy.”
Her head bobbed up and down in a light farewell as she turned around.
The hairpin adorning her bangs sparkled transparently, suiting her immensely.
The moment the Family Head activated his spatial magic, the two disappeared from the party's sight.
As soon as they confirmed it, Anneri and Kang Eunyoung exhaled, releasing the tension from their entire bodies, and collapsed nearby.
“She was the strongest person I've ever met in my life.”
“I wonder if she's even human.”
“It's the first time I've seen both of you so tense.”
“It's our perfectly normal son who's strange. His guts are truly enormous.”
Kiira's situation wasn't much different either.
“Young Master can really have a private meeting with someone like that.”
Her legs were trembling as if she'd been playing Dance Dance Revolution for three hours straight. Seeing even her, a considerable powerhouse, react this way, he realized that the Ten Great Families' reputation was indeed well-earned.
On the other hand, Ban Yumi's rather composed expression confirmed that her earlier frightened act was undoubtedly a complete lie.
“It wasn't!”
Ban Yumi, receiving a gaze that roughly conveyed that meaning, retorted with a serious expression.
“What wasn't?”
“Earlier, it was that, that bastard, I thought he was going to kill all of us. But now that I look closely, he had no killing intent at all.”
“Yumi truly has good instincts.”
“Even if you know the opponent won't attack, it's not easy to remain calm when facing a swirling typhoon right before your eyes, you know......”
Anneri muttered, shaking her head in amazement.
But one shouldn't forget that Ban Yumi harbored the potential to surpass even the Melodia Family Head in the future.
Perhaps her attitude naturally grew stronger because she understood the weight of the Authority she possessed.
......Or perhaps it was simply her innate rudeness.
“Then, let's head back as well.”
Ban Yuwon clapped his hands, gathered everyone's attention, and announced.
Although it had originally been planned to last nearly two more days—the request had long since fallen apart, and there was nothing more they could do by lingering in the D-13 Dimension.
“Thanks to Melodia, there's truly nothing left for us to do, as controlling the Guardian Alliance is no longer our responsibility.”
“With a father so pathetic, his daughter must be suffering immensely. Yuwon, please take good care of her at school.”
“I'm already taking good care of her, which is why I'm on this business trip, right?”
Ban Yuwon, despite declaring their disbandment, felt a lingering sense of regret, a lukewarm feeling, but the Rebel Force members, accustomed to such events, boarded the spaceship without a fuss.
“Let's take the next request immediately. This job was more like a picnic than a proper mission.”
“Oh really? I really enjoyed dating the Young Master, though.”
“Do you always have to provoke me like that, or you won't be satisfied? And you, I distinctly told you not to flirt with my brother—!”
“Haha! As expected, a lady should be this lively!”
Anneri, watching the two cling to each other and start fighting like a warrior tribe, let out a small laugh, an expression like she was watching children.
“Indeed, we're planning to depart from here immediately. I've found a blacksmith who can process the Dragonmetal.”
“You've already given that alloy such an uncool name, Sis?”
And to educate the impudent newcomer who spoke such words, she also raised her fist.
“Are you people perhaps creatures who can only communicate with their fists?”
Ban Yuwon sighed and called Lilyth, transforming her into a spaceship.
“Then I'll head straight to the academy from here.”
“Ah, Ban Yuwon!”
Ban Yumi's voice stopped him as he waved and boarded the spaceship.
When he looked back without a word, she hesitated for a long time, then began to make excuses for her earlier behavior.
“Don't bother with any useless misunderstandings. What happened earlier...... it was like, even if we were born on different days, we'll die together on the same one.”
“What madman in the world would swear an oath of brotherhood with his older sister?”
Besides, the phrase about dying together sounded a bit scary, like she meant if things went wrong, she'd just drag them all down with her.
“Anyway, that's how it is!”
“Understood. You take care too, Sis.”
“What did you understand?!”
“Ah, and Anneri.”
“Yes!”
He beckoned to Anneri, and she hurriedly ran over, pressing her ear close to his lips.
He should have just used a telepathic message, Ban Yuwon regretted, as he whispered to her.
“If by any chance you end up fighting the Prominence family, keep all the bodies intact and bring them to me.”
That would probably be the fastest way.
Even if he gained control of the Prominence family, there would still be many he would inevitably have to kill without compromise.
Anneri, having fully understood Ban Yuwon's message, gave a wry smile, but nodded and stepped back.
“......As expected, Lord Yuwon calmly surpasses our imaginations. Understood, please leave it to me.”
“Well then, I've said all I need to say, so I'm leaving.”
He exchanged a final glance with his mother and sister, then boarded the spaceship, winking back at Kiira, who was playfully winking at him while shaking the earring in her ear.
[That was chaotic.]
―It feels like watching a lion emerge safely from a den full of lionesses.
“Let's go, let's go.”
“Shisss.”
He stroked Eve, who coiled around his arm with a hiss, as if to comfort him, and leaned back deeply into the seat.
He was sure he had resolved to maintain a proper distance from the mercenary women on his way here, but......
[Pfft.]
“Lilyth, stop laughing like that, it's annoying.”
―You know, for someone so popular, it's obvious you haven't dated many women. It really shows here.
“Cellon, you be quiet too. Please.”
“Shisss.”
“Yes, truly, there's no one like our Eve. Oh, and Tikke too.”
The spaceship immediately exited the atmosphere and plunged into space.
Watching the Guardian Alliance fleet, still lingering in space before slowly dispersing, sympathy welled up for Asha, who would have to command them in the future.
Come to think of it, that scout ship he first saw when entering the D-13 Dimension, where had it come from, after all?
It didn't really matter where it came from, but...... in the end, Ban Yuwon couldn't find anyone among the knights he met who was connected to that scout ship.
‘Well, whatever. It just means Galahad was riddled with that many holes.’
Lilyth entered the dimensional wall.
Just as Ban Yuwon was about to close his eyes and lie down again, he spotted a naked pervert floating unclothed through the dimensional wall outside the spaceship monitor.
So such a thing truly existed, he marveled blankly, and this time, he finally closed his eyes, taking a short nap until their arrival at the academy.
Thus, Ban Yuwon's first solo special activity came to an end.
* * *
“Aaaaargh—!”
While attending a Tuesday lecture, Asha, who had been wondering why the intensity of gazes directed at her felt unusually high, finally understood the reason only after opening her mirror once the lecture ended, and let out a scream.
“Why was there a live broadcast from Camelot?! Why did Melodia invade—and why was Aire there?! It's my dimension! And they left me out completely!”
“Be quiet, you fool. What's going on—.”
Dokgo Yeon's eyes narrowed as she scolded Asha and opened her mirror.
“Things have become rather interesting. To abandon me and go do something so amusing alone, that man has a mischievous side.”
“What are you talking about? Yuwon is trying hard for my sake!”
“......Hmph.”
“Both of you, please don't fight.”
As the two glared at each other, Rucell clapped her hands and interjected.
“Let's first figure out what happened.”
At Rucell's mediation, the three calmly checked the broadcast's contents, each wearing a subtle expression.
Dokgo Yeon was greatly shocked by the dignity of the powerhouse she sensed even through the screen, an individual connected to Aire more intimately than she could have imagined.
Rucell pouted at the thought that, undoubtedly, Aire would be meeting Ban Yuwon and making special memories after this broadcast ended.
Asha—.
“No, shouldn't both of you pay a little more attention to my father or my homeland? Huh?”
“Well, it's obvious. In fact, it was less than I imagined. You're quite strong, yet why do all the warriors in this country seem so pathetic?”
“He's exactly as I imagined Light's father to be. Obstinate, yet weak to the strong—he truly takes after Light.”
“Both of you are really too much....... I miss Yuwon.......”
Not only were those two being too much, but Asha had a lot to say to Aire, who had appeared leading a Ten Great Families' spaceship and even invaded Camelot.
Of course—being sponsored in the name of a Ten Great Family was something to be grateful for!
And it was also grateful that she had completely crushed the spirit of her father, who often oppressed allied nations with his authority, was thoroughly self-serving, and tried to exploit his daughter like a chess piece!
‘Everyone here is connected to me, but ultimately, I didn't achieve this myself. For now, they are simply overwhelmed by the prestige of the Ten Great Families, but once they realize that I am the one truly above them, they won't simply bow their heads so readily. If I want to truly become the master of this alliance—I must strive forward.’
She clenched her fists tightly.
Because she had decided to abandon her days of swinging her sword without thinking.
Instead of leaving everything to Yuwon or Aire, she herself had to step forward.
It was then that she spotted Aire, striding confidently down the hallway.
......And she also noticed an unfamiliar hairpin fastened in Aire's bangs.
“Aire.”
“Hmm.”
It wasn't a misunderstanding after all.
She subtly emphasized her hair so that the hairpin would be clearly visible as she replied.
It was definitely a gift from Yuwon!
Asha suppressed her urge to question her about it for now and asked something else.
“It's about sponsoring me, so why didn't I know about it?”
“I was planning it slowly, but a problem erupted in the D-13 Dimension, so I dealt with it all at once. Anyway, that's what happened. Come to Melodia with me during the break.”
“If you invite me, I'll gladly visit, but don't treat my problems as a bundle deal!”
“But it was an issue that Melodia couldn't directly intervene in. It would violate the guardian contract.”
“Huh?”
Asha, about to press further, tilted her head at Aire's subsequent words.
What couldn't they intervene in? Yuwon would have dealt with the Dragon-Slaying Sword, and the Melodia Family Head himself would have disciplined Camelot.
“Not those things, but something more important.”
“Something more important...... remained?”
“Asha, this wasn't a coincidence. Those worthless pieces of trash don't have the ability to find ruins.”
“Wha—?!”
“It wasn't excavated; a seal was broken. The seal of something even more dangerous, along with the ruin.”
Aire, adding that, faintly smiled as if to tell her not to worry, and took Asha's hand.
“Even if Melodia cannot intervene, I can. Yuwon also obtained a special weapon, so we'll subjugate it together then.”
It was truly noble friendship and a spirit of sacrifice.
That is, if one ignored the unsettling words that followed.
“Aire, wait a minute. Don't make me guess. Don't make me speculate!”
“You've already figured it out, haven't you?”
“How fortunate.”
Dokgo Yeon scoffed from beside Asha, who was covering both her ears and shaking her head.
“You were grumbling about them having fun without you in your own dimension, but it seems you'll be able to play a leading role next time.”
“I'm not happy, not at all......!”
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