I got into school for nothing - Chapter 279
I got into school for nothing (279)
Lesson 54. What Not to Touch – 4
How long had it been since midterms ended? The week after the special activities concluded, a palpable tension began to spread through Union Academy, hinting at the approaching final exams.
Unlike the first half of the second semester, which had been rife with events and controversies, the time had truly come to focus on evaluations through the Tower of Babel, special activities, and classes.
This tension was particularly thick among the first-year students. A prime example was the group project initiated by the Special Class students, spearheaded by Ortima, collaborating with several full professors who were especially favorable to high-ranking dimensions. Their goal was to counter the prevailing trend, which had been solidified by Rebellion's overwhelming dominance.
"What's that?"
"Like the paper you and the Princess are writing together."
Misty's straightforward explanation immediately clicked with Ban Yuwon.
As it turned out, the magic thesis they had started writing with Aire since the first semester, born from their shared understanding, was a lucrative project. It not only replaced the written evaluation for Yumina's Magical Combat class but also offered substantial bonus points depending on the thesis's completeness.
‘That’s because Mina noona... perhaps she particularly favors me. Since it’s her area of expertise, other professors can’t really object to the scoring. If that’s the case, then conversely...’
Other full professors, who didn't want the Special Class to fall behind Rebellion, could certainly pull similar strings.
While excessive favoritism would lead to sanctions, the professors weren't fools. They would appropriately, yet irritatingly, favor the Special Class just enough to prevent any official objections.
And even if he wanted to object, the problem was that Ban Yuwon was already doing something similar himself.
No matter how remarkable the magic thesis he and Aire had written together was, they would only look at the score Ban Yuwon received. It was obvious they would push back with a "If you can do it, why can't we?" attitude.
"Well, let them do what they want. It's not like I was aiming for top honors with this paper anyway."
"Then why write it? Just to spend time alone with the Princess?"
Facing Misty, who glared at him with narrowed, accusatory eyes, Ban Yuwon seriously wondered if she was secretly colluding with the Special Class to mess with him.
"Getting closer to Aire was one of the reasons, sure."
"You finally admitted it, you wolf!"
"And I also wanted to gain deeper knowledge about magic. In fact, thanks to the thesis with Aire, my magic skills have improved significantly."
"I'm so jealous, so jealous...! I wish I could research magic alone with the Princess, instead of these flashy brats who keep pestering me!"
"Ah, so you're also involved in that 'project' thing, after all."
"You're not going to ask what it is, are you?"
"Of course not," Ban Yuwon said, shaking his head and chuckling.
It seemed she had let his words about not being interested in the top spot go in one ear and out the other.
Yet, he wasn't entirely uninterested in them either.
More precisely, in one of them.
"There is something I'm curious about. How is Lusein Ortima doing?"
"He's dangerous."
It was an immediate, blunt answer.
"Honestly, everyone was taking the situation too lightly. They just treated it like a prince's whim, but his condition has been getting weirder and weirder..."
Ban Yuwon had somewhat anticipated this.
This was because he had noticed that when other Special Class students looked at Ban Yuwon, it was as if they were looking at someone who deserved to die. But when they looked at Dokgo Yeon, their eyes held a subtle expression, as if they didn't know how to deal with her.
As he stared at her, Misty sighed and continued.
"It seems like it was his first true love. But because of the penalty he received in the competition, he can't even perceive her... now he's practically a madman. He kept looking for Dokgo Yeon, and now he's even drawing pictures of her. There's talk that this project was even planned by his aides to somehow bring him back to his senses... Honestly, I wondered if this is what lovesickness truly means."
"Pfft."
Lovesickness? Ban Yuwon laughed heartily, recalling what had happened during the special activity where Ortima first revealed his desire for Dokgo Yeon, and remembering the fellow's actions back then.
That things had come to such a pass was entirely due to Lusein Ortima's arrogance, recklessness, and, to a lesser extent, his impatience.
"This is truly amusing."
Regardless of Lusein Ortima's current predicament, the sins he committed in the past would never vanish.
For that scumbag, who tried to achieve his goals by sacrificing an entire dimension, and even numerous Academy students along with it—his current state, tormented by a single, unfulfillable desire no matter what he offered, was truly fitting.
"Amusing, you say? How many dimensions will that man command in the future, and how vast are his assets? Aren't you afraid?"
However, Misty, who knew the relationship between Lusein Ortima and Rebellion but was unaware of the detailed events that transpired between them, believed that regardless of what he had done in the past, his current treatment was a severe insult given his social standing.
Compared to other Special Class students, she was relatively enlightened, but the period she had lived as a high-ranking noble lady from a higher dimension was simply too long for her to shed her inherent way of thinking.
Nevertheless, the fact that she worried about Ban Yuwon's safety rather than defending Lusein showed that she had, to a fair extent, been influenced by them.
"Afraid? Even an heir to one of the Ten Great Families can still get a knife in the neck."
"You're not even human."
"Not human, you say? I'm the one who kept that bastard alive, you just don't know it."
Misty snorted at Ban Yuwon's earnest words.
"If that guy dies, countless lives would be lost. Never mind me, don't say that in front of his royal guard. They're seriously out for blood right now."
"Thanks for worrying about me."
"Wor-worrying? Ha, who's worrying...!"
Misty, who had flared up as if struck in her weak spot, saw the smile playing on Ban Yuwon's lips and exclaimed, utterly vexed.
"Don't you dare smile like that. If it weren't for the Princess, I swear I'd...."
"Hmm."
Misty's words hung unfinished.
This was because, as always happened when the two talked in the classroom, Aire approached, sat down next to Ban Yuwon, and shot Misty a glacial look from her sky-blue eyes.
For Misty, the moment an unworldly beauty, transcending mortal standards, singled her out from countless ordinary people and glared at her was surprisingly ecstatic.
Perhaps she was even more inclined to talk to Ban Yuwon precisely because of this "reward time."
"You two seem to get along."
But the words that came from Aire's lips were far from welcome.
Fearing that Aire might misunderstand the relationship between her and Ban Yuwon, Misty shook her head vehemently and exclaimed.
"Get along? We don't! We're practically enemies, in fact!"
"Enemies...? You, Yuwon's enemy?"
"No, that's not what I mean! It's more like we're... rival friends, you know...."
Unable to bear Aire's chilling gaze, which clearly conveyed the thought, ‘Yuwon's enemy? Then she is my enemy too,’ Misty hastily made excuses, practically on the verge of tears.
Pitying Misty for her difficult life, he turned his gaze. Just then, Leixu, who was sitting in front of Misty, turned to him, her eyes sparkling.
"Sh-should I be a spy? I usually have no presence at all, so I can find out all sorts of things!"
"No, it's fine. Don't, you'd be in danger."
And in case you didn't know, you have quite a presence.
More so than even our Asha... Should I just send Asha to infiltrate as an operative instead?
* * *
Surprisingly, he learned about the first-year Special Class's project through UniTube.
In other words, their project was nothing other than operating a UniTube channel.
However, since streaming videos from inside the Tower of Babel like Rebellion was unthinkable, what they chose to do was plan special activities that the Special Class would participate in by class unit, then create splendid videos showcasing the diverse and spectacular unique Authorities characteristic of those from higher dimensions.
"Didn't they say cameras would break down from ridiculously large mana reactions?"
Asha tilted her head, watching the Special Class students on screen wildly rampage through their planned special activities, engaging in dimension pirate subjugation.
Ban Yuwon placed a stick cracker into Asha's vacantly open mouth and gave her the answer.
"Lusein Ortima must have activated his Domination ability."
Ortima's Authority, which interferes with the very laws governing the world, is indeed formidable enough to be compared to Ban Yuwon's own Language Authority.
To think he endured the humiliation of controlling a camera with his Authority—it truly seemed like his mind had been significantly impacted.
"Nom... Does that mean it can withstand it?"
"The Tower of Babel is out of the question, but a battlefield like that would be possible. The reason it hasn't happened until now is probably that no one ever thought of making someone who's an heir to one of the Ten Great Families act as a cameraman."
At Ban Yuwon's words, Tikke, the cameraman—who was certainly not underpaid—adjusted its aperture and reacted with a fuss.
"Don't misunderstand, Tikke. You're an excellent cinematographer, representing our Rebellion channel. You're different from Ortima."
—Whirr
Tikke seemed satisfied by that.
Suddenly feeling a gaze, he turned his head to see Rucell opening her small mouth, making an "Ah—" sound.
"It's started."
"Ah――."
After submissively placing what Rucell wanted into her pouting mouth, he glanced over to see Dokgo Yeon clamping her lips shut, as if determined never to imitate them.
Did she truly not know that made her even cuter?
If she knew and was doing it on purpose, then he'd have to admit she was quite cunning.
"But why dimension pirates?"
Rucell munched on a cracker, crunching it, and suddenly spoke.
"Special activities involving combat against people usually don't come up for first-year students."
"Perhaps it's because the video where we fought dimension pirates was what brought us attention from all dimensions?"
"That's a possibility. But I..."
First, she looked at Dokgo Yeon, who still had her lips tightly sealed, then at Ban Yuwon.
Shifting her gaze between them, she voiced a hypothesis.
"Perhaps this is a sign being sent to Master?"
"Hm?"
"It's well-known that Master has made enemies of most dimension pirates, isn't it? And now the Special Class, led by Lusein Ortima, is directly confronting dimension pirates. Would it be too premature to see this as a friendly signal directed at Master?"
"Why would they flatter me, not Dokgo Yeon... No, wait a minute."
Ban Yuwon checked all the videos uploaded to the Special Class's channel on UniTube.
Most of them were videos of them wiping out dimension pirates. Aside from their true intentions, the videos received overwhelmingly positive responses because many UniTube users strongly disliked dimension pirates.
They were engaging in battles without hesitation, not just against nameless grunts, but also against fleets belonging to Exodus and Crimson Spear. Anyone observing would think they were a group of avengers harboring bitter resentment against dimension pirates, rather than the proud, high-dimensional students of Union Academy.
"The Ortima Family shouldn't be entirely unrelated to the dimension pirates. Furthermore, Crimson Spear is practically controlled by Prominence. This... something is genuinely strange here, isn't it?"
If all this was simply to flatter Ban Yuwon, it was even more astonishing.
Moreover, if Rucell's guess was correct, then Lusein Ortima had concluded that to win Dokgo Yeon's heart, he first needed to win over Ban Yuwon.
This, in turn, meant he acknowledged that Ban Yuwon had a significant influence over Dokgo Yeon.
Was he truly taking such extreme measures, enduring all of this, solely for the reason of seeing Dokgo Yeon's face again?!
"Is that bastard truly a monster...?!"
"He's not an heir to one of the Ten Great Families for nothing... though he might have gone completely mad."
Ban Yuwon realized, with astonishment, that the snowball he had started had created an unprecedented situation: one highly advantageous for Rebellion, yet utterly unpredictable for the Ten Great Families.
Next to him, Asha, who had been clucking her tongue, noticed Ban Yuwon's gaze and once again opened her small mouth, pestering him for a cracker like a baby bird.
And you? Aren't you also a True Dragon's heir?
You too?!
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