I got into school for nothing - Chapter 338
I got into school for nothing (338)
Lesson 66. Irregular - 4
Ulrike Prominence shed tears of blood as she canceled the penthouse suite she had reserved at Ronica’s finest hotel, a reservation she had secured by even mobilizing her family’s influence for the first time in a long while.
“I curse you, Family Head. If I suddenly drop dead one day, just assume your tomb is already prepared, alright?”
“Ah, well, who told you to go around throwing the Prominence name around so aggressively to book a hotel? How intimidating must you have been for our family to receive a direct inquiry, huh?”
The one who replied grinned shamelessly, gouging out her heart with their words.
Just as Ulrike was vowing to find and deal with whoever that employee was who had directly contacted the family, Ban Yumi — Yumi Prominence, the Family Head of the Ten Great Families' Prominence family, who had surprisingly visited Union Academy herself — completely changed her smiling expression and wore a bitter smile.
“I didn’t come here to bother you; I came myself because this is an important matter. My brother’s standing isn’t so trivial anymore. This isn’t something to just send a quick text about, like ‘got it, buy me a Melona on your way here,’ and be done with.”
“Those are words I’d never imagine coming from the Family Head, especially considering how you usually treat Ban Yuwon. You, who treats him more casually than anyone else in the world?”
“Are you an idiot? Yuwon is the most precious to me. He holds the most weight, got it?”
With both their hair and eyes the same shade of red, and with two beautiful women with similar features — as if to prove they were indeed cousins — facing each other, all eyes around them were instantly drawn to them.
Ulrike, who knew full well that provoking the Family Head would elicit such a reaction, smiled as she checked if the lines Ban Yumi had just uttered were well-recorded.
That was enough for venting her anger.
“Ah, they’re coming.”
“Ban Yuwon? ...What, it’s a woman.”
Ban Yumi’s eyes narrowed as she looked up in delight, only to spot a woman approaching in Oriental-style clothing.
It was a form-fitting outfit that one wouldn’t dare wear unless incredibly confident in their figure. Yet, on this woman, it went beyond merely suiting her, with alluring proportions that effortlessly drew all eyes, making Ban Yumi inexplicably annoyed just by looking at her.
When did this brat charm another woman like that!
And she even has beast ears and a tail, triggering my trauma all over again!
As Ban Yumi suffered from her trauma resurfacing — recalling the past when she had been 'shown off' to when her brother first got involved with a woman, and subsequently holed up in her blankets, wailing — Ulrike began to explain who the woman was.
“She’s said to be a new maid he acquired from the Murim dimension. Judging by her posture as she walks, if anything, she’s stronger than me, certainly not weaker.”
Groaning in distress, Ban Yumi’s mouth fell open at the explanation.
Murim? Since when did martial arts fiction include beast-kin elements...?
“The Murim I know only has old grandpas who fly by stepping on air and shoot energy blasts.”
“That’s quite the prejudice,” Heukseol chuckled softly, having narrowed the distance in an instant since spotting them.
Heukseol, who had instantly closed the distance upon spotting the two and was now standing close to them, chuckled softly before bowing politely and saying,
“I am Heukseol, serving Master Ban Yuwon. The Master is waiting, so please follow me.”
“A hideout?”
“That is correct.”
Until Ban Yumi arrived at Union Academy, insisting she had to meet her brother directly, Ulrike had secretly been hoping to send her away early and perhaps get a little date time with Ban Yuwon. At this point, however, she completely gave up on her sweet date.
On the other hand, Ban Yumi, who had also intended to send Ulrike back to the Academy quickly and secure some time with her brother, was equally displeased with the situation.
“Because of the esteemed status of the person I serve, it is for the sake of safety.”
“Everyone on this street must have recognized me anyway... Hmph, it can’t be helped.”
“Then,” Heukseol said, drawing forth a beautiful longsword.
Before they could even misunderstand, thinking, “Surely, it wasn’t all an act, and she’s not about to cut us down?!” a wave emanating from the sword enveloped the three of them.
The next moment, a spatial transfer occurred, transporting the three of them into the hideout.
Ban Yuwon, who had been sipping tea while nestled in Yumina’s arms, brightened at the sight of the newcomers and extricated himself from her embrace.
“Oh!”
“Guests have arrived, so please stop now.”
“But Yuwon is just so admirable...”
“Hah, this woman.”
Ban Yumi glared fiercely at Yumina, flames flickering in her hand.
“To flirt with my brother right in front of me? You must think the Ten Great Families are quite a joke.”
“Oh my, I believe he’s not your biological brother, though?”
As the two women with similar names clashed, sparks practically flying between them, Ban Yuwon, who had received the Stormrain Sword — a blade that shared his Authority — from Heukseol, stored it in his inventory and turned away.
“Let’s talk business. I have something new to tell you. Aire?”
“Hm.”
Ban Yumi, whose attention had been drawn to Yumina, only then realized that all the Rebellion members had gathered inside the hideout.
However, as Aire’s explanation began and the events they had experienced in the Tower that day unfolded one after another, Ban Yumi could no longer engage in petty battles of will.
“So, these... True Dragons, or whatever they are... enemies potentially stronger than Constellations, might appear?”
“Usually, once news like this gets out, they always show up in person later on. So, yeah. It seems that’s how it’s going to be.”
The situation had become complicated.
As if things weren’t complicated enough, Ban Yuwon had already tasked Seldon with a search operation centered around the keyword ‘True Dragon.’
That had merely been a means to provoke the Ten Great Families, but if things went wrong this way, they might inadvertently provoke a group aiming for the True Dragons’ revival.
It was fortunate, at least, that they had chosen an indirect method involving dimension pirates—but even if things went wrong, Seldon had to be saved.
“For now, just be aware of it. My people and I will look into it.”
“Alright, then, on to the main topic—”
Clarent, the Ten Great Family famous for its swordsmanship. Prominence’s conclusion to Ban Yuwon’s bold proposal — to turn that sudden, out-of-the-blue duel request into an event involving all Ten Great Families — was ‘yes’.
“Even the old folks liked it. After all, it’s a good opportunity to show off the newly ‘reopened’ Prominence, isn’t it?”
“Newly reopened Prominence...”
Ulrike seemed quite keen to object to Ban Yumi’s tone, but Ban Yumi continued without a care.
“But here’s the strange thing: when we conveyed this fact to Clarent and the other Ten Great Families, they all agreed immediately, as if they had conspired beforehand.”
“Really?”
“Ortima was the only one who feigned annoyance, but the very next day, an ‘okay’ sign flew in.”
He knew that. After all, it was Ban Yuwon himself who had told Lusein and Luisha to persuade their family.
Even so, the reactions of the other families were too dramatic...
Were they all, like Clarent, paying attention to Ban Yuwon all along?
When he stared intently at Aire, she nodded.
“I spoke to the Melodia Family Head myself.”
“Then everyone’s really coming? All ten... no, all nine families?”
“Yes.”
Although referred to as the Ten Great Families, currently there were only nine such families existing in the universe. The reason everyone hushedly avoided speaking of it was that the S-10 Dimension had ceased to exist 500 years ago...
“No, there are ten.”
Yumina said quietly, taking one of Ban Yuwon’s hands.
“Because I’m going too.”
“...Huh?”
“If Sister Mina says so, then fine.”
“Huh? Uh-huh?”
“Just grasp the general idea, Family Head. It means representatives from all ten families will be attending.”
“Ah?!”
Only then did Ban Yumi properly grasp Yumina’s true identity, and she was speechless, a bewildered expression on her face.
Those who had experienced Yumina’s home dimension inside the Tower just this week, having been enveloped by that dimension’s uniquely dense and overwhelming atmosphere, already vaguely realized that place — the Garden of Four Seasons — was an S-rank dimension.
Much earlier, having heard it directly from Yumina, Ban Yuwon understood why Yumina garnered attention from many in the universe, not just as a full professor at Union Academy or the Chancellor’s adopted daughter, but by her very existence—
Well, that didn’t change anything.
Yumina’s decision to attend the gathering of the Ten Great Families was simply to lend Ban Yuwon whatever meager symbolism remained to her.
Yes, symbolism.
Now that her home dimension was entirely gone, how much actual influence could Yumina possibly wield, regardless of whether she once symbolized the entire S-10 Dimension, let alone a Ten Great Family?
Her attendance at this meeting merely served as a statement: that the last descendant of a Ten Great Family, whose dimension had been swallowed by a terrible catastrophe and who had been rescued by Union’s Chancellor, had chosen Ban Yuwon as her partner, so he was not to be taken lightly.
“Then it’s already 40% complete?!”
Ban Yumi spouted incomprehensible words, a shocked expression on her face, but Ban Yuwon desperately ignored her.
No, more than that, the way she so naturally included herself in it was utterly adorable.
Ban Yuwon sighed and asked,
“Then the schedule must have been set quickly, of course?”
“Next Friday.”
“That’s ridiculously fast...”
Before Ban Yuwon, who was shaking his head in disbelief, the replies sent from each family were laid out.
Not only Ortima, Melodia, and Clarent, with whom discussions had already taken place, but also...
Fides, Selene, Fridwen, Amore... and finally, Hecate.
Never mind the words Ban Yuwon recognized scattered throughout; the name of the last family particularly bothered him.
“That’s right, it’s my supervising Professor Hecate’s originating family.”
Seeing Ban Yuwon’s eyes fix on the Hecate family’s letter, Ulrike said with a bitter smile.
She now knew she had been treated as a pawn by Professor Clio Hecate, but she had cleanly come to terms with it, believing she had simply been foolish.
Since the incident, she hadn’t had any particular contact with her, and Professor Hecate, perhaps because she had achieved her desired outcome, hadn’t contacted Ulrike either.
“I knew Professor Hecate was particularly popular among students from the Ten Great Families because of her equally noble origins.”
“It is said that while studying at the Academy, Professor Hecate had a major conflict with her family and then dedicated herself to the Academy. Still, her authority wasn’t diminished, so even to the somewhat arrogant students from the Ten Great Families, her words are quite effective.”
“No way, no way, already 50%...?!”
“Snap out of it, you crazy big sister.”
Clio Hecate was a being whose age couldn’t be accurately determined, someone who had her entire body wrapped in bandages to begin with. All he knew was that she was female, so what?
“Furthermore, we can’t figure out what her true objective is, so we must be wary. Before, I thought she was hostile towards the Ten Great Families, but it turns out she’s from one of them. If that’s the case, and I consider if she just wanted to help me, then the fact that she’s been at the Academy for hundreds of years, communicating with the Chancellor, is unsettling...”
Bzzzzzz, Ulrike Prominence’s Mirror vibrated.
It was Ulrike Prominence’s.
Something made Ban Yumi have a premonition, and she reached out, saying,
“Hey, wait a minute, I have a very uneasy feeling about this.”
“Me too, Family Head. But we should still check. Maybe it’s just a call saying the cancellation for the hotel I’d just canceled didn’t go through...”
Muttering with a hint of personal hope, Ulrike checked her Mirror and frowned deeply, thinking, ‘Of course.’
“It seems Professor Hecate has succeeded in her premonition again. She’s saying she also wishes to attend that meeting.”
“Let’s ignore her.”
“A full professor at the Academy?”
“Can’t we snitch on her to that Chancellor guy?”
“We’re talking about the possibility that the Chancellor is behind this person right now.”
The party collectively sighed.
As an added bonus, immediately after that, an alert arrived stating, ‘Cancellation is not possible, but a maximum of five people can enter’ the suite Ulrike had reserved. An impromptu deathmatch broke out among the female members, excluding Ban Yuwon, right there, but that wasn’t particularly important.
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