I got into school for nothing - 44
I got into school for nothing (44)
Lesson 10. You are My Master - 4
"Master? ...Are you okay?"
With the girl calling him "Master" right before his eyes, Ban Yuwon momentarily recalled the patriotic martyrs who had fought for Korean independence and observed a moment of silence.
In other words, he was escaping reality.
Of course, that didn't last very long.
Because Rucell was staring at him intently from an uncomfortably close distance.
"Master?"
"This is preposterous..."
Rucell, subordinate to me?
Telling me to become the master of a slave!
"Seems you're okay. ...Heh."
"No, what's so good about it for you...?"
Ban Yuwon had fallen into a state of complete panic.
"It's wonderful, absolutely."
Meanwhile, Rucell’s smile, having cleanly resolved all the issues tied to her Heart Furnace through an "utterly unexpected method," looked incredibly refreshed. The problem, however, was that the distance between her and Ban Yuwon was uncomfortably close, making it difficult to even move.
It was as if she was forcibly imprinting the rather undesirable relationship that had just formed between them upon him...
"Rucell, could you step back a little?"
"Yes!"
With an immediate reply that sounded as if she were saluting, Rucell really did widen the distance between them, if only ever so slightly.
This meager gap was the result of his persistent requests since a little while ago.
No, or perhaps he should call this fortunate?
Because, despite it clearly being 'subordination,' Rucell wasn't properly listening to his words.
‘Right, this is just a slice of the relationship between Rucell and me, exaggeratedly expressed with the word "subordination." The proof is that its depth is still only 1.’
According to Ban Yuwon's experience dealing with language concepts so far, a depth of 1 was barely perceptible.
For a concept to hold independent meaning and yield significant results, it needed to be at least 10.
So, he could rest assured until the subordination reached a depth of 10.
Probably.
Please.
‘I can never tell my parents that I've acquired a classmate—a girl who relies on me, no less—as a slave, not even if I die...!’
Ban Yuwon cradled his throbbing head, deciding to first organize the current situation.
He absorbed all the concepts scattered around — including those of the Orc Centurion Kuroth, who had just fallen dead — and killed all but one of the Masked Goblins, who were now overcoming the pressure and charging at them.
"Kuurgh, human scum! I'll kill you!"
"I'm troubled, so quiet down, you goblin."
"Squeak!"
He ripped off its mask and shoved it directly into its mouth, silencing the creature completely.
After absorbing all concepts except for that one, and checking only the altered concepts within Ban Yuwon's body, the results were roughly as follows.
[Core]
Life 345
Body 293
Hyungi 198
Soul 460
[Passive]
Martial Arts 246 [Swordsmanship 77, Hyunsingong 28, Shadow Step 7, Pierce 35, Slash 35, Flow 36, Counter 28]
Resistance 10
[Active]
Supernatural Strength 35
"Whew."
The depth had changed significantly once more since the calculation after Room 10.
In fact, considering Ban Yuwon had barely defeated any monsters, this much was already something to be grateful for.
Absorbing a large amount of Supernatural Strength from the Orc Centurion, in particular, was an unexpected gain.
Likewise, by gaining Resistance from the creature, his Resistance depth finally reached 10, and he looked forward to seeing what effects this would have.
"Besides that, something peculiar is the Wildness plundered from the orcs, and also, Judgment...? Why did this even appear?"
"Wildness!"
Rucell reacted strongly to a part of Ban Yuwon's muttered words.
He turned back, wondering, and she gripped his arm with a very serious expression.
"For our race, Wildness is important."
"You were rampaging just a moment ago because you couldn't control that Wildness."
"Now that I have a Master, it's fine."
Rucell, with flushed cheeks, parried Ban Yuwon's sharp, piercing retort.
To be honest, if asked whether he absolutely hated being called "Master" by a beautiful girl his age (though he didn't actually know her age yet), the answer was no. But that was precisely why it sent shivers down his spine.
It was similar to the feelings of an adolescent who loved adult videos but would never admit it in front of a female friend.
"Please, I'm begging you, just stop calling me 'Master'..."
"Then, Master Yuwon...?"
"Just call me by my name, please."
"I can't. Because you're my Master."
Rucell said that, then nodded.
If he wasn't mistaken, she even seemed to be admiring her own flawless logic.
Look at this resolute attitude, not even a needle could squeeze through!
Ban Yuwon sighed and offered a compromise.
"Alright, I get it. But you have to call me by my name when others are around."
"Mmm... yes."
A dramatic compromise was finally reached.
Ban Yuwon, who had been exhaling a sigh of relief, then realized Rucell's physical condition and his expression hardened.
Rucell's injuries were so severe that they made Ban Yuwon's own wounds look like child's play.
In truth, with only two of them left, he wondered how much further they could ascend the Tower, but he couldn't just leave her with such severe injuries.
"For now, want a bite of this?"
"Yes, Master!"
He had gone to the trouble of taking out the elixir of life made from the fruit of Eden, intending to hand it to her, but just as Rucell's complexion seemed to brighten, she immediately closed the distance he had painstakingly created.
Then she grabbed his arm and brought her face close to his.
Ban Yuwon stiffened his body in tension, thinking he might be kissed just like this, when Rucell suddenly opened her mouth.
"...You're not asking me to feed you, are you?"
Rucell didn't answer, only giving a slight nod.
Facing her unwavering pink eyes, Ban Yuwon pondered for a moment before realizing there was nothing new about this situation, and helplessly spooned a mouthful of jam into her.
But at the same time, the thought occurred to him, ‘Isn't this a bit different from a master-slave relationship?’
He truly couldn't understand.
"Nom...!"
Regardless of Ban Yuwon's internal struggle, the change was dramatic.
As Rucell, having eaten the jam, opened her eyes wide and stomped her feet in place, expressing her emotion with her whole body, all the injuries on her entire body began to slowly heal.
Her stamina and mana, which had been depleted during the fierce battle, also slowly replenished.
Not only that, but just as Ban Yuwon had experienced, Rucell's potential, as well as her unique characteristics, must have grown.
"Hoo, hoooh..."
"Ah... should we sit down and talk for now? Come here."
"Hoo, yes."
Rucell wore a comfortable expression, as if she had just bathed in warm water.
Ban Yuwon confirmed that the goblin he had tossed aside wouldn't die anytime soon, then led her to a suitable spot and sat down.
"So, what was it? You said Wildness was important?"
"Yes. Our race cultivates Wildness to find our true form. But I..."
"Because of your Heart Furnace, you must have hesitated to cultivate Wildness until now."
"That's right."
It felt as if this was the first time he was hearing about Rucell's true circumstances.
As Ban Yuwon's expression turned serious, Rucell also swallowed hard and began to truly open up about her story.
"I was born into a beast-kin race. What's a little special is that my ancestors were formidable, and my father was a Constellation's contractor."
"Hm?"
He recalled her complicated expression when they had previously discussed Constellations.
As Ban Yuwon nodded, naturally understanding, her words continued.
"My father regretted his contract with the Constellation. However, the Constellation had no intention of releasing our family, which carries the blood of a great beast, and bestowed upon me a blessing that was akin to a curse, through my father."
"That's what you call the Heart Furnace?"
"Yes. It burns emotions to gain great power, but at the same time, it makes one excessively swayed by those emotions..."
Judging by what he had seen so far, it was unequivocally a power closer to a curse.
It even made the growth of 'Wildness,' which could be called the core concept of the beast-kin, something to be wary of.
"So I... tried to hide my emotions and react as passively as possible to external stimuli."
"Ah... I see. If that's why you became so passive about everything, it makes sense."
In fact, because of that, Rucell, despite being born with absurd potential, reportedly hadn't even acquired half the Wildness she should have by this age.
If she was this strong with only half of it, he desperately wanted to know how incredible her original potential truly was, but he'd put that aside for now.
"So that Constellation bastard..."
Ban Yuwon, having heard that far, frowned and asked.
"Did it say it wouldn't remove the Heart Furnace unless you contracted with it?"
"To be precise, it said it would evolve the Heart Furnace into a powerful ability without penalties if I contracted with it. But my father had no intention of letting me contract with that Constellation, and he sought other methods."
"The Tower?"
"No, I didn't know I would come to Union Academy. The Tower's selection is a realm that humans dare not comprehend..."
Rucell's father had rather hoped she would find and contract with another Constellation.
Because he believed that someone with a Constellation's power would have a way to resolve the Heart Furnace.
However, it was difficult enough for a human to even find and contract with a powerful Constellation, and even if one were found, there was no guarantee that Constellation would be benevolent, so there had been no progress.
In the meantime, the Constellation, realizing Rucell's father's intentions, created another contractor in their world and began to pressure him...
"Just as our family was facing a crisis, I was summoned to the Academy."
"No, then is your family okay?"
"Yes. Because the weak one who needed protection has disappeared. By now, they should have regained their original position."
Rucell spoke firmly, yet couldn't hide a bitter expression.
Ban Yuwon was a little shocked, wondering if she even knew how to make such an expression.
In fact, he was even more shocked by the fact that she was treated as weak.
"Hold on a moment."
Having heard this far, he noticed something strange.
"Then what on earth does my subordination to you have to do with that?"
"Because you're my Master."
That wasn't an answer.
As Ban Yuwon's eyes narrowed, she hastily offered a supplementary explanation.
"It's an instinct etched into the soul of beast-kin. For beast-kin, everything is subservient to the one they recognize as their master, and a master's command takes precedence 'above all else.' That's why you, Master, can control my Heart Furnace."
"Now that I hear it, finding a master seems far simpler than finding a Constellation, so why until now...? No, I guess it wasn't simple at all."
"Yes."
Finding and serving a master felt inherently resistant, but since that was actually a similar problem to finding and contracting with a Constellation, he decided not to dwell on that part.
Why Rucell, knowing the method, hadn't found a master until now—there had to be a reason she couldn't.
"For beast-kin to serve a master, an absolute condition is required: the master's soul rank must be vastly higher than their own, allowing for complete subordination."
"Soul rank... subordination, you say."
"Yes. But... it's not a boast, but my soul rank is quite high. It was even higher because I bore the Heart Furnace, a Constellation's curse, from birth. By the time my self-awareness was formed enough to seek, acknowledge, and serve a master on my own, it was already impossible with anyone I knew..."
That's why her father had completely ruled out that method from the start.
But then, at some point, facing Ban Yuwon, she had thought, ‘I might be able to serve this man as my master.’
Perhaps that moment was when she was first subdued by Eve and became docile.
‘Of course. No matter how incredible Eve was, she couldn't have easily subdued a powerhouse like Rucell.’
But Rucell had become surprisingly docile, and looking back, that itself was a kind of signal.
A signal that ‘commands’ and ‘restraints’ from Ban Yuwon were acceptable.
That's why she had slowly started to relax from that moment on.
Because if it was Ban Yuwon, he would subdue her even in an emergency.
Because if he became her master, she would be able to control her Heart Furnace!
‘Soul rank.’
Ban Yuwon focused on that part of Rucell's explanation.
It was a rather obvious realization, yet striking.
Only after she was subordinated to him could Ban Yuwon finally check the depth of Rucell's soul.
A value that barely exceeded 200.
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon's soul was 460.
...It's well over double?
‘Come to think of it, when I awakened my Authority, my soul's depth was already 300.’
Hadn't Rucell just said that because she was born with the Heart Furnace, her soul rank was inherently high?
Does that mean Ban Yuwon's soul was also exceptional from birth because he was born with the Babylonia Code?
And thanks to that, he could become her master before anything bad happened to Rucell.
As Ban Yuwon, newly realizing this fact, let his shoulders droop, Rucell spoke at just the right moment, as if she had sensed his burden.
"It's a relief you decided before it was too late, Master. ...Thank you, truly."
"Am I strange for finding the word 'decision' so heavy?"
"Heh."
Rucell tried to deceive him with a cute laugh, but Ban Yuwon wouldn't fall for such things anymore.
Because he knew that her friendly and comfortable demeanor towards him wasn't simply to show affection.
Of course, if she disliked him, she wouldn't even have considered making him her master, but it wouldn't be beyond a certain degree.
‘Indeed, it was strange from the start that such a pretty, well-figured girl would come onto me after knowing me for such a short time.’
Ban Yuwon, now finally reaching a rational conclusion, felt his mind at ease.
Whether she knew he was thinking such foolish thoughts or not, Rucell boldly rose from her spot and spoke.
"Then let's go as far as we can, just the two of us! Thanks to you, Master, I can now control my Heart Furnace however I want...!"
"Wait a moment."
"Yes?"
Rucell tilted her head, looking back at Ban Yuwon.
Ban Yuwon was immensely pleased by her transformation into someone so active and vibrant, incomparably different from before entering the Tower, but separate from that, there was something he needed to do now.
"Wildness. You've seen my abilities enough to have a rough idea, right? I have a condensed form of the orc's Wildness."
"Ah...!"
Rucell's eyes widened in surprise.
It seemed she had only just remembered that their conversation had started because of Wildness.
"Really, will you... give it to me?"
"If you'll accept it, I'd gladly give you as much as you want."
"I, too, would gladly take as much as you're willing to give!"
Ban Yuwon bestowed upon Rucell all 20 units of Wildness he had accumulated.
Her naturally possessed Wildness was a formidable 250.
With her Wildness increasing by 8% in an instant, Rucell couldn't contain her elation and jumped up and down in place.
"Let's go... fight quickly! I'm not afraid of anything anymore!"
"We're doomed."
"Why?!"
Of course, it wasn't because she had said such a thing, but their Tower exploration was never easy enough for just the two of them to endure.
In the end, they couldn't hold out any longer in Room 19 and both were Lost.
As his first duty as master, Ban Yuwon resolved to teach Rucell about "the spell that must never be memorized."
―However, as soon as they emerged from the Tower, they were caught by Yumina, and he no longer had the luxury to do so.
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