I got into school for nothing - Chapter 82
I got into school for nothing (82)
Lesson 18. Mid-Term Exam - 4
"But something is still missing."
—The connecting link, you mean.
"Right. Honestly, even if that person last night was Mira herself, that information isn't particularly significant."
So, first, Ban Yuwon contacted Yumina, the most reliable adult in the Academy, via Mirror communication.
"Were there any students who returned to the Academy by spaceship last night?"
"Did she know anything about Mira of the Student Council?"
"And did she know anything about the potion circulating within the Academy?"
—Isn't she flirting with you right now?
"Hey, you, there are things you can say and things you can't."
Yumina harbored no romantic feelings for Ban Yuwon.
Hadn't she openly revealed from the start that she desired something from him?
Thus, Ban Yuwon didn't feel particularly uncomfortable accepting her goodwill.
On the other hand, with Rucell, a disturbing concept of 'subordination' lay at the base of their relationship, making Ban Yuwon slightly uneasy as he pondered whether he could truly accept her goodwill as pure affection.
—She's definitely flirting, no question about it. And she's a beast-kin, after all.
"That's... *Ahem*. To be honest, it's not like my looks are lacking anywhere, right?"
—That's true, but you're really obnoxious.
"Listen. But Rucell is more than that. In terms of looks, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she's the top at the Academy... Her personality is gentle, and her emotional state is the most stable among the members. In fact, when she's not fighting, Rucell gets the best reactions from fans."
—So, you're worried whether she would act the same way towards you even without the subordination, huh? ...Isn't that a pointless worry?
"..."
Ban Yuwon hesitated for a moment, thinking that if he affirmed this, he'd look like a dweeb, but then he realized he already looked like one just by having the thought, and he promptly shut down his brain.
"...This isn't what's important right now."
—You're really shamelessly running away.
"No, I'm not! It's pointless to think about it now, so I decided not to."
—Right, right. I'll look forward to your future response~.
If only that Cellon had a physical body, how wonderful would that be.
Then Ban Yuwon could have beaten him up with great satisfaction.
After sending a message to Yumina saying he'd wait, Ban Yuwon decided to take care of something he had intended to do for a while, now that he was spending time in the city anyway.
That was to find a weapon shop.
"Welcome! Oh, it's Rebellion, isn't it!"
"That's right. Nice to meet you."
Previously, when Ban Yuwon was on a date with Rucell, some of Ronica's residents recognized them, which had surprised Rucell.
But that was a thing of the past.
Now, most of Ronica's residents knew of Rebellion.
"I never expected you'd visit our shop! You're someone who makes artifacts yourself!"
"I need some good weaponry."
"Are you perhaps making an artifact with our shop's weapons?"
"Something similar."
"My goodness...!"
Dokgo Yeon had blamed herself for their latest exploration ending too early in Room 23, but considering the first-year class as a whole—and even more so given last week's 'Lost' count—it was a remarkably fast progression.
Moreover, the video of this Trick Room, just as Yumina had predicted, garnered significant attention, finally pushing their subscriber count past 100 million.
And with Ban Yuwon's recognition increasing, especially after his overwhelming performance this time, he was finally able to completely shed the perception of riding on the backs of stronger individuals.
"I heard that artifacts require complex designs from the production stage; will your shop's items really suffice?"
The owner of Ronica's largest weapon shop likely treated him so warmly for this very reason.
As Ban Yuwon was someone who naturally enjoyed being in the spotlight, he was in a rather good mood.
"Please show me several high-quality longswords. If possible, ones similar to this. Swords that contain a lot of mana would be even better."
When Ban Yuwon half-drew the Executioner's Longsword from its scabbard and presented it, the owner took it, inspected it, and nodded.
"Its capabilities as an artifact seem considerable, but... purely in terms of sword quality, our shop has many excellent items. With a 20-centimeter hilt and a 90-centimeter blade, how many would you like to see?"
"Hmm..."
Recalling that Dokgo Yeon had told him Russein Ortima's Astraea artifact consisted of twenty-four orbs, Ban Yuwon grinned and said,
"Twenty-five."
* * *
That evening, Ban Yuwon dined with Yumina at Ronica's most luxurious restaurant.
Though there was no growth in his internal concepts, he savored the high-end dishes whose flavors were no less exquisite than those served at the Academy's own restaurants, and received answers to the questions he had sent via Mirror communication earlier.
"There were no official spaceship or dimensional ship landings last night. Actually, the procedure for that is quite strict, you see? So, those who receive permission to take off and land without reporting... full professors, some associate professors, Student Council executives, and the top ten teams in special activities are part of that group."
"Nom... The Student Council, huh."
"The Student Council's Head of Public Relations, Mira, a third-year student from the Artifact Production Department, a fairy. She's a very excellent student. Thalia... Professor Campanella also cherishes her. There are no official records of her going out. Unofficially, though... Student Council executives actually go out very frequently. They have a lot of duties, and sometimes they go to support other teams' special activities alone."
"Hmm, munch, munch."
Ban Yuwon listened to Yumina's kind explanation, pushing the last piece of steak from his main dish into his mouth.
The meats commonly eaten in this world called Union were certainly those also frequently consumed on Earth, like beef, pork, lamb, chicken, duck, or goose. However, it was peculiar that the more exquisite the menu, the more often edible monster meat was served.
This restaurant was no exception, and since the taste was excellent and he didn't even particularly want to know what kind of monster it was, he quietly continued to eat.
"My, oh my, Yuwon, you eat so well. Shall I order another plate of steak?"
Just as the explanation seemed to have ceased, Yumina was staring intently at him.
A pleased smile hung at the corners of her mouth.
His hearty manner of cutting and devouring large pieces of steak had tickled her heartstrings.
"It's fine. There's still dessert left. More importantly, the explanation..."
"Right, right. Actually, I managed to get one of those potions."
At Ban Yuwon's urging, Yumina pulled a small bottle from her bosom.
It was an angular crystal bottle, and as Ban Yuwon watched the slowly swirling purple mist inside, he involuntarily gasped.
"No, it's clearly dangerous just by looking at it! And you drink this?"
"It's a matter of graduation at Union Academy, you see. The truly desperate students would even stake their lives on it."
"Where did you get it?"
"Yuwon, do you think the Principal is leaving this situation alone because he lacks ability?"
"Ah—okay, I understand."
That explained everything.
Not only the Tower, but everything at the Academy was a trial leading to a divine feat.
All students at the Academy were competitors, and their clashes were absolutely fair.
Therefore, the Chancellor would stand by and let everything unfold, as long as the situation didn't escalate to the absolute worst.
And the standard for 'the worst' would likely be vastly different from Ban Yuwon's own.
"...Thinking that the Chancellor didn't actively stop Ortima for that reason makes me really want to punch him."
"I think the opposite, though. While Russein Ortima is unforgivable, you, Yuwon, clearly grew a lot from your clash with that bastard."
It sounded as though a kind teacher had just uttered words that should never pass her lips.
"The Principal is certainly someone who wouldn't bat an eye at a student's death... but Yuwon, you are already receiving special treatment. So don't worry."
"Why?"
"Hmm... that's still a secret."
If she had said that much, she might as well have told him everything, but Yumina merely pressed her index finger to her lips, making an obvious aegyo gesture.
The truly frightening thing about her aegyo was that even knowing she was overtly acting cute, she was so adorable that there was no way to argue with her.
"Sorry, I don't think it would help you much if you knew now."
"It's fine, Noona."
Although he answered as such, Ban Yuwon roughly guessed why the Chancellor would treat him specially.
'Even if he doesn't know that my ancestor built the Tower of Babel... it wouldn't be strange if he'd figured out I'm connected to the Tower. After all, a ruckus breaks out every time I enter it.'
He didn't know how the Chancellor would treat Ban Yuwon in the future, but it would be fine as long as he kept in mind that the man was not a complete ally.
"But wait a moment. Then isn't it against the rules for Noona to get this for me?"
"You and I are cooperating, aren't we? Forging an equal cooperative relationship with a full professor is a student's skill."
He felt like he might fall for her bright, cheerful smile.
Unlike the Chancellor, he could be certain that this person was his absolute ally.
Ban Yuwon smiled back at her, accepted the potion bottle she handed over... and the next moment, his expression instantly turned cold.
When Ban Yuwon checked an item using his Authority, he could usually confirm the creator's name.
—Of course, the potion's name was "Mira's Cursed Potion."
"You figured it out?"
"Yes. Senior Mira is indeed the culprit. It seems she created this opportunity to meet me today to find out if I had identified her yesterday."
However, a mere fairy with only a pretty face couldn't possibly win against the darling of civilization, raised in a harsh modern media society.
Perhaps if it were an unprepared situation, but in front of an 'enemy,' Ban Yuwon could put on any expression he wanted.
"Phew, after hearing your questions and gathering some information, I also developed a hunch to some extent..."
"Being too capable is also a problem, isn't it?"
Usually, when such an incident occurs, one would flail about for at least a week, wasting time searching for clues and testing hypotheses, eventually missing the opportune moment and escalating the situation. Then, just when everything seems ruined, one would somehow catch the true culprit and resolve the crisis, only to realize that the culprit also had their own circumstances, leaving a bitter aftertaste until the very end, wouldn't they?
But to identify the culprit on the very day the incident was encountered!
Now, all that was left was to investigate the true culprit's circumstances, and everything would be resolved.
...No, there's no real need to investigate that.
"It's only natural that the Student Council covets you, then."
Yumina rested her chin on one hand and narrowed her eyes.
"Since you're already in conflict with the Special Class anyway, joining the Student Council might not be a bad choice."
"I'll think about it."
In truth, not all the problems were resolved.
From Ban Yuwon's perspective, both the physical and circumstantial evidence were perfect, but for others who didn't benefit from his Authority, this potion was still just an anonymous buff potion.
Of course, knowing the culprit, tracing her movements might easily resolve it, but... Ban Yuwon hesitated.
Leaving Yumina aside, the only entity he could ask for cooperation to resolve the situation was ultimately the Student Council... but it was unlikely they would readily acknowledge the charges against Mira, one of their executives.
'Depending on the situation, I might not be able to lay a hand on Mira herself and simply have to resolve the potion's side effects and call it a day.'
Given his personality, he wanted to push through forcefully, but considering he was already at odds with the Special Class, he had to maintain the most amicable relationship possible with the Student Council.
If he didn't approach cautiously, considering the Student Council's tendencies...
Indeed, he shouldn't have gotten involved in such a matter in the first place.
Regardless of how this ended, it would feel very unpleasant, so in that sense, didn't it perfectly fit the aesthetic of a 'case'?
"Sigh."
"Heh."
Seeing Ban Yuwon's expression grow complicated, Yumina smiled contentedly again and reached out to caress his cheek.
The way she lightly pinched and stroked seemed both to comfort him and to tease him.
"Ahem."
"Hmm?"
He wanted to make her realize with his cough that her actions were a bit excessive, but she seemed not to have noticed the sign.
...Or perhaps she was pretending not to notice.
After being fondled a little longer, Ban Yuwon finally conveyed his intentions directly.
"Noona, um, the skinship is a bit..."
"Oh, that's the price for the potion. If that's not enough, then the meal cost too."
She countered so boldly?
Ban Yuwon was dumbfounded, but he wasn't feeling bad, so he decided to yield his body to her whims a little longer.
The next morning, Rucell relentlessly interrogated him about what had happened with Yumina.
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