I got into school for nothing - Chapter 86
I got into school for nothing (86)
Lesson 19. Changeling - 1
In "Changeling," "change" means, as everyone knows, "to alter" or "to become different."
So what about "ling"? Generally, it's correct to understand it as a suffix attached to nouns or adjectives, indicating "something younger or smaller than ~~."
It's a word that corresponds to the "-aji" suffix in Korean, which is attached to nouns like "so" (cow) and "gae" (dog) to denote animal offspring, such as "song-aji" (calf) and "gang-aji" (puppy).
Therefore—the word "Changeling" refers to a "switched child."
It's a well-known term in Europe, with various theories, but......
The most dominant theory is that it originated from absurd complaints parents would make when their child was ugly, weak, or so unlike them as to raise suspicion of infidelity, crying, "A fairy swapped our beautiful baby for an ugly one!"
And it seemed that this wasn't much different in other cultures, or even other dimensions.
Saturday morning.
Sitting across from Ban Yuwon at a table in the back-alley cafe in Ronica where he had previously been taken, Ketra grumbled.
Ban Yuwon took a sip of the drink before him, then smiled and replied.
"So, after the abilities of the fairy race became known to other races, they started making up blatant lies about fairies swapping children, and that's how the word was created, right?"
"Of course it's a lie. Our fairy race is superior to other races in terms of both appearance and ability. Why would we bother swapping with the child of some inferior race? But the word 'Changeling' became so famous that the word itself gained power. That's why our fairy race's unique Authority just came to be called Changeling. Isn't that truly unfair?"
"I think your way of speaking is just as unfair, senior."
As Ban Yuwon retorted, dumbfounded, Ketra chuckled and waved his hand.
"I wasn't dissing the human race just now. To begin with, humans are, on average, quite beautiful compared to other newly-emerged races. Especially you, Ban Yuwon junior... ahem, ahem."
So don't unnecessarily shove your face so close.
Anyway, the problem with social butterflies, regardless of gender, is that they have too little personal space with others.
Since enrolling in Union Academy, Ban Yuwon had only associated with friends who, when compared to himself, were loners—never social butterflies. As a result, his basic mindset had grown closer to that of an outsider, and he still felt slightly uncomfortable dealing with Ketra.
"Ban Yuwon junior, what do you think the women walking by on the street would think if they saw us together? With two handsome men like us, they'd be itching to strike up a conversation—."
"They'd probably think, 'Oh, they're Union Academy students. If I succeed in hooking one, my life might just blossom, right?'"
"You're so dry."
Hmph, Ban Yuwon snorted.
While he wasn't unpopular to begin with, he could never forget the period in his third year of middle school when it accidentally came out that his family was wealthy, leading to an unnaturally sharp increase in girls approaching him.
It was a bitter memory that, due to the lesson he learned then, he developed a mild case of paranoia and ultimately never had a proper relationship throughout his high school years.
Perhaps his antics of going abroad to try and flirt with people stemmed from the thought that he could speak more comfortably with foreigners who knew nothing about him... No, perhaps that was just plain idiocy?
"So what if there's a bit of calculation involved? It's a man's quality to transform a woman into her most charming self. If you burn through a dazzling night enough to draw out her true feelings... ."
"Senior, you didn't, by any chance, ask me to meet you just to pick up women on the street, did you?"
"Regrettably, we'll save that for another time. If the two of us team up, we could charm every woman in this city."
"There won't be a next time."
The second coming of Bansanova would never happen again.
More than anything, the members of his team wouldn't welcome it.
Rucell, despite claiming to be Ban Yuwon's slave or whatever, would pout whenever he seemed involved with another woman (though she would never blame him, which was even more burdensome).
Dokgo Yeon tended to view male-female relationships negatively.
And finally, As Light had the mindset of a completely sheltered young lady; he would undoubtedly denounce one-night stands and purely physical relationships as impure.
'...What is this? Are my team members perhaps all just terribly troublesome?'
Ban Yuwon, belatedly realizing this, had yet to realize that he himself possessed an equally troublesome personality.
Meanwhile, the fourth-year senior, who had realized this fact a little earlier than him, eventually gave up his black coffee and smiled warmly at the first-year junior, who was now drinking milk tea.
Along with the incredibly bothersome thought that perhaps it was his role to make this kid into a man.
"Let's talk about that again later. More importantly, have your curiosities about the fairy race's Authority been satisfied now?"
"Yes, to some extent."
Ban Yuwon had asked Ketra, who had called him out today to express his gratitude, for detailed information about the fairy race's Authority.
By listening to the details, he could devise countermeasures, and perhaps even replicate it with his own Authority.
Ketra, who wasn't usually the type to talk freely about his race's unique Authority, had explained the Authority, "Changeling," without much reluctance, as the help he received this time was so clear.
"It's an Authority that can swap anything from small objects to even beings and concepts. But it usually requires a medium, and the success rate increases only by creating conditions as similar as possible. Is that right?"
"Exactly. Swapping liquids, like in the student cafeteria yesterday, has a high success rate, but to swap memories, common sense, or perception—for example, to make someone else perceive me as Ban Yuwon—we'd need to match our conditions as closely as possible beforehand. Our race, appearance, height, the caliber of our souls or abilities, or at the very least, our clothing."
Even just to change perception, not actually swap Ban Yuwon and Ketra's existences, such extensive conditions were required.
In short, it meant it was impossible.
"But why did you specifically ask about that part? It's an idea that even our race, who wields this Authority, struggles to come up with easily."
"It's because there's an overlap with the magic I've been researching lately. Honestly, it was an incredibly fascinating subject."
Of course.
It was a lie.
"I enjoyed it too. It's always great to talk to smart people. It'd be good if you joined the Student Council too, junior. Not only is there Mira, but there's also an incredibly beautiful student council president, you know?"
"Uh..."
He truly hated saying this at this moment.
Ban Yuwon neatly emptied the glass of milk tea, feigned a little embarrassment, and asked the senior who still misunderstood him.
"I'd like to hear more details about Senior Mira, specifically about your relationship."
"Ah, junior. You really don't need to worry about me, I told you!"
As expected, Ketra grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Mira and I have zero, absolutely zero, chance of developing in that direction. Alright, then, for the remaining time, I'll imbue you with all the information you need to win Mira over."
Finishing his words, Ketra checked his watch, then chugged his coffee and rose from his seat.
"It's awkward to keep sitting, so let's change places. First, how about we get you a fashion that Mira might fall for?"
"Fashion?"
"Let's go."
Leaving the cafe, Ketra led Ban Yuwon to none other than a high-end clothing store in a department store.
Ban Yuwon didn't want to go to such a place with another man, but he endured it, reminding himself that it was all to extract information.
He already knew, but Ketra's fashion sense was, in some ways, even better than Ban Yuwon's, who had been forcibly dragged around by his older sister every holiday to develop his own sense of style.
He filtered out half of the various clothes and accessories Ketra recommended on the spot, tried on the other half, then filtered out another 20% of those, and purchased all the rest.
"Junior... you have a lot of money, don't you?"
"Oh, I'll buy this too! ...More importantly, please tell me about your first meeting with Senior Mira."
"It probably won't mean much. Hmm, but it's natural to want to know as much as possible about someone you like. Alright."
While enjoying a rather extravagant shopping spree, he steadily extracted information about Mira from Ketra.
Mira, a freshman of the fairy race—a race so few in number at the Academy that they could be counted on one hand—had drawn many people's attention with her appearance and abilities when she enrolled.
Rude men from the Special Class had made crude advances to try and make her their own, only to be stopped by Ketra and other Student Council executives, which led to her joining the Student Council.
Her magical abilities were outstanding, but her alchemy skills were particularly exceptional, quickly attracting the attention of Campanella, the professor in charge of the Artifact Production Department.
The team formed around her had been annihilated in the Tower multiple times, leading her to eventually gain Solo Exploration privileges after a rigorous screening, and she began climbing the Tower rapidly, now reaching "the same floor as Ketra."
Her excessively high standards for people meant she couldn't find suitable friends, and even in the Student Council, she rarely spoke to anyone except Ketra, who was of the same race as her.
Despite being perfect in terms of ability, she had an unusually nonexistent connection with Constellations, which had made her quite anxious at one point.
She enjoyed mischievous pranks, which didn't suit her cool demeanor, loved extremely spicy food, disliked vulgar language, detested those who didn't try, and possessed great ambition for self-improvement.
'Is this for real?'
Ban Yuwon, who had been transformed by Ketra's hands into someone completely different from before entering the department store, now possessing the elegance of a modern noble, wore a look of shock that didn't quite match his new attire.
'No matter how I hear it, she's clearly fallen for Senior Ketra, but at the same time...'
Ninety percent confident in his hypothesis, Ban Yuwon asked again.
"How is she these days?"
"I told you, I don't really know what she's up to these days. But we do meet regularly. As I said before, it's absolutely not a romantic relationship—."
"Ketra?"
At the voice calling Ketra's name, the two of them turned their heads in unison.
The sight of the girl with hair as brilliant as gold was striking enough to be spotted instantly on Ronica's bustling main street, crowded with countless people.
For some reason, she seemed a little rushed, and a little distressed.
"Mira? What is it, did you happen to find us?"
"Us... Ah."
At the word 'us,' Mira seemed to finally grasp that Ketra was with someone else and turned her gaze to Ban Yuwon. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at his appearance, then she subtly frowned.
As her hurried breathing calmed, the two of them approached her.
"Are you alright? What's wrong? We were just about to go have dinner, want to join us?"
"No... no, I'm fine. So it's true, after all."
Mira, strongly denying, squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them.
She repeatedly pursed and unpursed her lips, as if something within her might overflow if she wasn't careful.
"Freshman, you're quite dressed up, aren't you?"
she said, complimenting Ban Yuwon's appearance as if reluctantly.
"Exactly. What do you think, isn't he your type? I knew Ban Yuwon junior had good features, but any clothes you put on him just fit perfectly—."
"I get it. He's definitely my type. He must be a descendant of royalty, right?"
"I actually thought so too."
Royalty, my foot.
By the way, what did she 'get'?
Ban Yuwon narrowed his eyes and met her gaze.
"...Hmph."
Mira, whose eyes met his, showed a slightly surprised expression, then twisted one corner of her lips into a smile before averting her gaze from him.
"Ketra, I'm leaving."
"Huh? What's going on? You rushed all the way here just to..."
"—I'm sorry, goodbye."
Mira touched her student ID and vanished on the spot.
"What the—why is she like that? Did exam stress finally get to her?"
Ketra blinked, a little surprised by her sudden appearance and departure, then looked at Ban Yuwon, seeking unspoken agreement.
However, instead, Ban Yuwon took out the Talisman he had prepared and handed it to Ketra.
"Huh? What's this?"
"I can't do Changeling or anything like that, so I'll just be frank."
Severance. Curse-Lifting.
Protection. Reversal.
He imbued all the Hyungi he possessed into these four concepts, completing it.
Pushing it into the hands of a man who was similar to Mira in race, abilities, appearance, and even the caliber of his soul, Ban Yuwon said firmly.
"Senior, you've probably figured it out by now, right? Use that immediately. ...It's my final 'request'."
With this.
Ban Yuwon finally resolved the current situation perfectly.
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