I got into school for nothing - 265
I got into school for nothing (265)
Lesson 52. The Backside of the Tower - 1
"Woooooow! It's beautiful! So beautiful!"
Asha, who had been sulking and frowning all afternoon, beamed brightly as if she had never been in a bad mood when Ban Yuwon returned from his special activity and presented her with a beautiful heart-shaped diamond pendant, saying it was a replacement for having broken the Soul Liberation.
"I know it's not much of a replacement for having broken your necklace, but... will you accept it?"
"Oh, it's not a propos... It's nothing! It's really nothing, I swear!"
Whether Ban Yuwon had broken the Soul Liberation — which she herself had forgotten about — or traded it for candy, she honestly didn't care in the slightest.
Although it seemed she was preoccupied with something else, Ban Yuwon desperately decided to pretend not to notice, if only for Asha's own pride.
"I'm sorry, I'd kept it because I thought it might be a clue, but I didn't expect to use it so suddenly."
Asha's carefree smile was dazzling.
...I've been thinking this for a while, but ever since she was freed from the Dragon-Slaying Sword, her personality has become clearer, or to be frank, she seems to have turned a bit silly.
"Well, come to think of it, she was always a bit like that, so I guess it's fine."
"Huh? What?"
"Nothing. I'm just glad you like it."
"Mhm!"
As he watched Asha brightly smile and put the pendant around her neck, Aire, who was surprisingly seated with them, suddenly interjected.
"You said you liked pink diamonds."
"Aire!"
Asha clapped a hand over Aire's mouth, but it was too late to stop the words that had already slipped out.
For the record, the three of them were currently gathered in Aire's private room in the girls' dormitory.
As if to symbolize her authority and wealth, it was incomparably larger than other students' rooms and adorned with jewels everywhere; a fact that made perfect sense once you knew Aire was a Dragonian.
They say dragons love shiny things and treasures so much.
No, more importantly, Asha's comment was the problem right now.
'Pink diamond...'
Ban Yuwon wasn't particularly interested in jewelry, but he knew there were various types of diamonds, even though they were commonly known as transparent gems.
He tilted his head, thought for a moment, then said with a voice full of conviction.
"I think I can make it."
"What?"
"Converting graphite into a diamond is impossible for me, but changing the color of an already cut diamond is doable. Wait here."
If he fully mobilized his Codeword and the concepts he possessed, changing the structure by adding or subtracting molecules wouldn't be entirely impossible, but it might take days or even weeks.
So, the simplest method was to add the concept of color.
Maintaining the diamond's transparency while only adding color was not difficult at all.
"Alright, I'll just touch it for a second."
"Ahhh...?!"
Ban Yuwon's hand approached Asha's collarbone, touched the jewel, then withdrew.
Even though the jewel was between them, Asha's heart fluttered at his bold way of touching her, but something more important was happening right now.
Asha looked down at the pendant hanging near her chest, and seeing the dazzling pink diamond, she was speechless.
"Looks like it turned out well."
"This... this."
Caressing the dazzlingly beautiful pink heart-shaped jewel, Asha could only utter awestruck exclamations.
Meanwhile, Aire narrowed her eyes, trying to pierce through the jewel with her gaze.
"...How did the color change?"
"I can change hardness too, so isn't it a bit late to be surprised by something like this?"
Since he hadn't interfered with its molecular structure, if examined by an expert, it might be revealed that it wasn't a naturally occurring pink diamond, but the diamond itself was real.
Moreover, considering the concepts Ban Yuwon had directly imbued into it, its value would be at least a hundred times greater than an ordinary pink diamond, if not less.
"If you can do this, why can't you create it from scratch?"
"Don't ask me that."
"No, you probably can."
Aire, having reached a conclusion, nodded with a look of conviction.
"You're just a little short on Authority right now, but you'll be able to soon."
"Yeah, I hope I can too."
Ban Yuwon had certainly considered such a possibility himself at one point.
That is... during the end of the first semester, when he entered the virtual space governed by an orb in Professor Zenon's lecture and experienced the Tower's Authority.
But he ended up focusing solely on creating the Giwon Sword, and remembered missing the chance to test other things.
"Oh, now that I think about it, isn't it time for Babel Tower VR again?"
"Virtual reality? Ah, Babylon and Constellations. You're right, the second semester is already in its latter half."
When Asha made a nostalgic expression upon hearing that, Aire looked annoyed.
"I don't like that man."
"You don't like the Chancellor either."
"I hate everything that stands above me."
Aire's blunt attitude was surprising, but recalling the Melodia Family Head's attitude towards her, he found himself nodding instinctively.
Aside from that, the thought that he had become close enough for Aire to reveal such inner feelings to him made him a little happy.
Well, that must be why she included him in a gathering that usually only involved her and Asha...
Perhaps the conversations and promises he had exchanged with the Melodia Family Head last time had brought about a change in her feelings?
Or perhaps she had thought something because he had entered and exited the ruins containing the secret of the True Dragon.
To Aire, who was staring intently at him as if waiting for a reaction to his words, Ban Yuwon gave the answer she wanted.
"Well, I think I understand why you don't contract with Constellations."
"Mhm."
"Constellations? Why? Still, if you contract with a good Constellation, you can become safely stronger... Mmmph."
Even though she had awakened as a Dragonian, Asha still couldn't let go of her attachment to Constellations, so Aire quickly reined her in.
Asha struggled, her cheeks squeezed by Aire's hands, but it was a futile resistance against Aire, whose years as a Dragonian were on a completely different level.
"The dragon's conviction, its spirit. I need to instill them in her once more."
"Mmmph-mph-mph!"
"Let's go."
As Aire stood up, gripping Asha's hands tightly with the hand she'd removed from her cheek, Asha attempted a final counterattack.
"Aire, you're not doing this because I received a pink diamond gift from Yuwon, are you—— Owowowowow!"
"Looks like your delusions need fixing too."
One couldn't help but admire Asha's unwavering will, which refused to lose her fighting spirit even while being thoroughly tormented.
"Oh, come to think of it."
"Yuwon, save meee!"
"What is it?"
Aire, who was about to disappear, turned her head and faced Ban Yuwon.
As he responded, ignoring Asha's wails, Aire wore a somewhat ambiguous expression, choosing her words carefully.
He tilted his head and waited patiently for her to speak, and Aire slowly said.
"The medal the Family Head gave you."
"Oh, that."
He had jokingly told Tikke to bring back lots of money, but he hadn't actually expected compensation from the Melodia Family Head.
But when he checked after the work was done, a medal engraved with the Melodia Family's crest was already hanging around Tikke's neck, and he had planned to properly analyze that medal, whose material clearly wasn't ordinary, at some point.
But without needing to, Aire explained it to him.
"That's a Melodia Bank VIP exclusive account, issued only to a select few by the Melodia Family."
"That medal is?"
"With that medal, you can access the bank anytime to deposit or withdraw Ronia. You can also transfer it to other interdimensional bank accounts you hold, and if you leave it in the account for a long time, you'll earn a small amount of interest. It's the fruit of the Melodia Family's spatial magic."
"Is it a miniature ATM? It's already beyond what you'd call spatial magic..."
Ban Yuwon had already opened an account in Union where his UniTube profits were converted into Ronia and deposited.
He could withdraw Ronia from other dimensions through interdimensional banks affiliated with Union, but since these banks weren't established just anywhere, unless he carried piles of Ronia in his inventory, he had to put up with some inconvenience.
But with this medal, even in places where Ronia was used as currency but no interdimensional bank was established, he could travel with complete peace of mind.
"Since the Melodia Family is the wealthiest in the universe, their credit rating is top-tier."
"You don't need to emphasize it so much; I already trust them, so don't worry."
"But the true meaning of that medal is free entry to Planet Melodia."
"Ah."
After such a lengthy explanation about the VIP account, it seemed there was a separate main point.
"Come visit during vacation. With Asha."
"Ah— yeah, I understand. It might be a bit difficult this winter vacation, as I have prior engagements."
"...Right."
"Ah, Aire?! It hurts, I hurt——!"
Her expression slightly clouding at the mention of prior engagements, she nodded, then gripped Asha even tighter and teleported.
Ban Yuwon dazedly watched the two figures disappear, leaving him behind, when he suddenly realized he was alone in the girls' dormitory.
Originally, male students were forbidden from entering the girls' dormitory for any reason, and if he didn't have the ability to teleport, he would have no excuse even if he were expelled right now.
It was good that Aire recognized him as a friend, but to just disappear and leave him alone in her room... should he call this careless, or that she didn't see him as a man at all?
'No... or perhaps not.'
Recalling the conversation that had just transpired, Ban Yuwon shrugged, then quickly stood up.
Since he had finished talking with Asha, it was now time to report his safety to the woman who had worried about him more than anyone else.
—Are you really not going to prepare a gift for her? She's surprisingly jealous, you know...
'Let's say I brought a gift. How do you think that older sister would react?'
—Wouldn't she want to book a wedding hall?
'Cellon, you're a truly terrifying assassin.'
Clicking his tongue at Cellon's obsession with trying to pair him with Yumina at every opportunity, he teleported to his meeting place with Yumina.
He was only able to escape from her, who was profusely shedding tears of relief upon seeing his safe return, three hours later.
* * *
Thanks to the special activity ending a day earlier than expected, Ban Yuwon resumed attending lectures starting Wednesday.
Perhaps because he had been so caught up in specific events since the beginning of the second semester, the lectures, which had resumed after the midterm exam season, felt refreshingly new.
It might also be because he had been embroiled in such major incidents before and after the midterms.
Even during his solo special activity, which he had started with a relatively light heart, he ended up creating Requiem and encountering the heads of the Ten Great Families — it was a continuous string of surprises.
"Hah, I'm truly speechless."
During Yumina's Magical Combat lecture on Wednesday morning.
Immediately after the midterms ended, the peace of Ban Yuwon, who was enjoying that rare sense of season when university students could truly revel in their campus life, free from worries about assignments or exams, was shattered by the almost tearful voice of Misty.
"Hah, truly. How could Lady Melodia herself... Hah..."
"Misty, I'm sorry, but either cry or complain, but pick one."
"I'm not crying?!"
Ban Yuwon realized for the first time today that when a person truly envies someone deep in their heart, pure tears can flow.
Leixu, a female student from Melodia just like her, sitting next to Misty, voiced Misty's true feelings on her behalf.
"Yuwon, can't you show us the medal you received from the Melodia Family Head?"
"Leixu, why are you calling him by his first name only!"
"Misty wants to see it too."
"Oh, really? If even Misty wants to see it, then I can't refuse."
"No, I don't!"
But as soon as Ban Yuwon took out the medal, Misty buried her nose in it.
Of course, since the lock was set with Ban Yuwon's Won-gi, she couldn't access the account, but simply touching the medal seemed to greatly excite her.
"Is this the first time you've seen one?"
"Of course not. There's one in our family home."
"Me, too! My family is quite well-off...!"
Leixu subtly joined in, capitalizing on Misty's scoffing reply, and discreetly promoted herself.
It's easy to forget, but both of them were noble ladies from prominent families in Melodia.
It made no sense that the heads of great families, especially from Melodia, would not have a Melodia Bank VIP account.
"But that belongs to the family, and is by no means mine."
"Neither Misty nor I are heirs to the family. So it's ultimately like a pie in the sky."
"Aha."
"And he received it in his personal capacity... directly from the Family Head, no less...! In the presence of the Princess!"
Indeed, he understood perfectly why Misty was so vexed.
Ban Yuwon, having received the medal back, shrugged and searched for words to comfort Misty, when he realized she was looking at him with a strange expression.
"Why?"
"Ban Yuwon, you're not perhaps with the Princess..."
"With Aire?"
"Hey, hey, hey, you're not, like, engaged or something, are you?"
"What?! I, I don't have a fiancé either..."
Misty trembled, as if unwilling to even imagine it, and Leixu, despite being startled, didn't forget to promote herself.
Ban Yuwon replied, dumbfounded.
"You opened one account, and how far have you progressed in your imagination? I was just told to come visit Melodia, so rest assured. The Princess is still *your* Princess."
"Th-then..."
Misty hesitated even more than before, drawing out the moment, then looked left and right to see if anyone was listening, and spoke in a small voice.
"What about that 'Light' kid...? Th-this time, the Princess moved because of him, too, didn't she?"
"Misty is wondering if that 'Light' kid has the green light from Lady Aire!"
"No, it's not, honestly!"
Come to think of it, did Misty and Leixu still not know that Asha was actually a girl?
No, judging by their attitude, even if they knew Asha was a girl, they probably wouldn't let down their guard.
Trembling at the horror of the 'yuri front' he hadn't experienced in a while, he struggled to choose the most innocuous answer.
Just then, Aire entered the classroom and sat down next to Ban Yuwon.
When she shot them a glance, Misty and Leixu both froze on the spot.
"Ah, Aire..."
"Asha likes Yuwon."
"Aire?!"
She must have been listening to everything, after all.
Aire, who answered instead of Ban Yuwon, added briefly.
"Asha and I are simply friends."
"Right, then I'm a little relieved..."
Misty, who had genuinely felt relieved and patted her chest, had her gaze fall upon the snowflake-shaped hairpin beautifully adorning Aire's bangs.
"Aire, where did you get that hairpin?"
"Secret."
"..."
Even though Aire had clearly said 'Secret', Ban Yuwon struggled immensely to avoid the gazes of Misty and Leixu, which immediately fixed on him.
However, such resistance was useless, as Yumina, the professor for the lecture, soon entered.
From the moment she entered the classroom, she was locked onto Aire.
"Oh my, student Aire! Your hairpin is absolutely beautiful!"
"Yes, I like it very much."
"Is that so? Whoever gave it to you must be very fond of you. How lovely."
"Yes, I really do like it."
Aire, who greatly respected and followed Yumina, answered with a polite and courteous tone, unlike how she usually treated other students, but for some reason, Ban Yuwon felt as if a highly localized blizzard was forming in the room.
—See, I told you I should have prepared something for her too.
'Where on earth did I choose the wrong option...?'
The Magical Combat lecture was among the most comfortable and enjoyable classes offered at the Academy, but today, he fervently prayed for the lecture to end quickly...
Comments