I got into school for nothing - Chapter 90
I got into school for nothing (90)
Lesson 19. Changeling - 5
The next morning, despite it being exam period, a time when students should only focus on their test papers and opponents they had to defeat in spars, the academy students were somewhat restless.
The reason was clear: when Mira, the head of public relations for the student council, appeared in the student cafeteria this morning, her golden hair had been dyed pitch black, as if splashed with ink.
Not only that, her brilliant green eyes, once like transparent emeralds, also turned a sinister glowing purple.
Of course, that didn't mean her beauty, which had ranked her among the academy's most prominent beauties, was diminished.
Quite the contrary, some students praised her beauty with comments that would have disgusted her if heard directly, such as: "She matured instantly," and "The unique charm of the fairy race exploded within her," and so on.
"They're just spouting whatever comes to mind on this anonymous forum."
"Given the timing, everyone must be surprised."
The reason was simple.
The drastic physical changes Mira had undergone... what they signified was a 'Constellation's Contract'.
Indeed, the students' excessive reactions were entirely due to this.
The signs of a Constellation's Contract varied, but generally, the more significant the physical change, the higher the probability that one had received great power from a mighty Constellation.
"Isn't she already one of the most outstanding third-year students? She was already so powerful without a Constellation's Contract, and now she's made one..."
"It's fine, Light. You're strong too."
"I... that's not it."
—First Year, Class 11, As Light. To Sparring Room 13.
At that moment, his student ID vibrated, and Light's name was called.
The two had been waiting together for their comprehensive evaluation spar.
"Ah, really... I'll be quick. Stay here."
"I have to spar too, idiot. We'll talk in the room tonight."
"Ugh."
He seemed to want to talk with Ban Yuwon a little longer, hesitating, but eventually pouted and grumbled his way into the sparring arena.
'He really is like a girl.'
The more he practiced his spear techniques, the more feminine he seemed, not just in appearance but in aura as well. Because of this, Ban Yuwon, who shared a room with him, was growing increasingly troubled.
It was unthinkable to expose Light's identity to the academy now, nor could he tell Light to 'stop being so cute, I feel my desires might rampage'.
At a time like this, Rucell's advances were only escalating, and on top of that, he'd taken on a human landmine with an unstable mental state as of yesterday.
'I should've made the contract terms more detailed to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, but I just had to show off there... Anyway, what is it after all? I completely broke the curse. There was even a possibility that the backlash from unbinding the curse that returned to Mira would attack the original owner of the curse, the Constellation, but now the Constellation made a contract with Mira?'
Is that Constellation perhaps a pervert?
No, I suspected it was a pervert from the start, but if I had to guess, wasn't it more of an S than an M...?
Just as he was deeply pondering the Constellation's sexual preferences, Ban Yuwon's name was also called.
—First Year, Class 11, Ban Yuwon. To Sparring Room 7.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming."
Ban Yuwon first sent Mira a message asking why she ended up contracting with that Constellation, and then entered Sparring Room 7.
Looking at the person who entered through the opposite door, the girl with golden bobbed hair and a cute impression was, surprisingly, someone he remembered seeing a few times.
"Misty! It's Misty!"
"W-what? Don't call me so casually, inferior student. I have the proud family name Aiole, you know?"
Misty Aiole, a student from Class 1 who secretly followed Aire and who also took Magical Combat with him, was his sparring opponent.
"But it's perfect timing. I wanted to personally confirm your magic skills that the Princess praises so highly."
"Magic skills? Ah, I'm sorry, but—"
—Prepare for spar.
At the mechanical voice, Ban Yuwon and Misty instinctively took their stances, cutting off their conversation.
The start was immediately declared, and Misty instantly created hundreds of stone arrows in the air, firing them at him.
Indeed, the swift incantation worthy of a mage from the Special Class, and an overwhelming number of projectiles!
"Let's see you block this! ...Huh?"
But Ban Yuwon was nowhere to be seen.
The moment she took her eyes off Ban Yuwon was but a brief instant, a mere fleeting second to activate her magic's trigger.
Though flustered, she quickly chanted the next spell, floating a massive stone monument in the air, and stomping her foot, activated a detection spell that generated a shockwave across the ground, just as she was about to pinpoint his location.
She realized Ban Yuwon had already taken a position behind her.
"What? You used magic—"
"Sorry, magic is too slow."
The moment Ban Yuwon's drawn Executioner's Longsword tapped Misty's neck, the magic protection covering the sparring room activated, and a *clang*—like breaking glass—sounded from her body.
Exceeding the regulated damage, Misty was declared incapacitated for combat.
—Winner, Ban Yuwon.
"Ah..."
Misty, defeated without even getting to use proper magic, collapsed weakly to the floor.
As soon as the winner was declared, Ban Yuwon withdrew his sword and sheathed it, when she suddenly shrieked.
"Why didn't you use magic?!"
"Elemental magic is slow. It's faster to move myself. Besides, spars only leave a result, so the grade is the same no matter how you win."
"What is that...! I don't accept it! Let's fight again, but only with magic!"
"Alright, let's do that during the Comprehensive Practical Combat class later."
The two of them took not only Magical Combat but also Comprehensive Practical Combat, which was held on Tuesday mornings.
Since the purpose of that class was to gain experience by fighting various opponents under diverse conditions and to develop practical combat abilities, he could certainly indulge her in a magic-only battle.
"Ugh, I really don't like you... What does the Princess even see in someone like you?"
"Don't worry, she has someone else she likes. And I'm sorry, but could you leave now, Misty? I have to spar again right after this."
"Call me Aiole!"
The winner of a spar gets the opportunity for consecutive matches.
The more he won consecutively, the fewer spars he would need, and the faster the sparring evaluations could be completed.
Misty stormed out, angry until the very end, while Ban Yuwon waved his hand lightly and prepared for his next spar.
After that, Ban Yuwon consecutively won three more spars, and for his next opponent, he met Dokgo Yeon.
"Huh, what is this?"
"It means your rank has risen that high, Ban Yuwon."
Dokgo Yeon replied calmly, and gripped her short sword.
But Ban Yuwon shrugged his shoulders, and raised both hands.
"You have another spar after this, don't you? With that guy. Don't waste your energy unnecessarily; conserve your stamina."
"That's not very manly. Are you running away?"
"No, if it's a spar where only the result matters anyway, I might as well just cleanly push your rank up instead of creating unnecessary variables."
Dokgo Yeon frowned, seemingly displeased by his detached attitude, but ultimately sighed and put away her sword.
"I wanted to face you on a proper stage, but..."
"Ask me later, when I'm stronger. It won't take long."
"You always say such flashy things."
Though her words sounded like an insult, a faint smile played on Dokgo Yeon's lips.
Ban Yuwon firmly tapped his own body to dismiss the protective barrier, thereby conceding defeat, then gave Dokgo Yeon a thumbs-up and turned to leave.
But just as Ban Yuwon was about to leave the room, Dokgo Yeon spoke to his back.
"That talk about seeing the unfortunate end of a love story last time, is it perhaps related to the woman who's become the topic of conversation today?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Since she's in the same student council as the man who came to pick you up last week, I wondered, and sure enough... that woman, be careful."
Dokgo Yeon spoke plainly.
"She has the kind of eyes often seen in people who don't care much for their own lives. There's no telling when or how she might go berserk. If you get involved with her, you'll have a headache."
"..."
Dokgo Yeon didn't miss Ban Yuwon flinching at her words.
"You're already involved, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you so popular with troublesome women?"
He wholeheartedly agreed.
But did Dokgo Yeon, who said that, realize that she herself was at the forefront of those troublesome women?
She probably didn't.
Not wanting to get unnecessarily hit by saying something rash, Ban Yuwon kept his mouth shut and left the sparring room.
As soon as he exited the room, his student ID vibrated, and a simple text string appeared on it.
—Comprehensive Sparring Score: 8th Place
"Not bad."
Of course, it wasn't a confirmed record.
If he wanted to, he could challenge someone ranked higher, just once, and swap ranks.
Conversely, if those ranked lower perceived Ban Yuwon as an easy target, they could challenge him, but there were limits to that as well... so it was likely that his spars were finished here.
"For written exams, I've already finished five subjects combined from yesterday and today. Magical Combat has been replaced with a thesis until the final exam, and other subjects have also been replaced with assignments..."
If he takes one practical exam on Wednesday and one written exam on Thursday, the exams will be completely over.
He was confident he scored perfectly on all written subjects taken so far, and all practical subjects had been top-tier, so his grades should be promising.
"Indeed, if you get perfect scores in all remaining subjects like this, you'll be within the top 5."
"?!"
Startled by the voice suddenly coming from behind him, he turned around, to see a woman with hair as beautiful as ebony, softly curling, and purple eyes... It was Mira.
Ban Yuwon replied to her with a reluctant expression.
"How do you know that, Senior?"
"When you're a student council executive, you can access the academy's database to a certain extent. Of course, there are some parts only managed by professors, but if you just change the access permissions a little with Changeling..."
"You've always been pretty devious, then."
"Yes, and it matches my current hair color, doesn't it?"
Mira didn't refute Ban Yuwon's words, but smiled gently and approached him.
"I came to tell you directly. About the Constellation contract."
"Is that Constellation a pervert?"
"Yes."
She first agreed, then, as if hearing a word from the Constellation, frowned and added.
"The Constellation... 'Gravedigger of Purgatory' seems to have been very satisfied with the farce that occurred yesterday."
"Farce..."
It had indeed been a farce.
The drama between Mira and Ketra, which should have ended in ruin, was thrown into disarray by Ban Yuwon's intervention, but thanks to that, Mira and Ketra's ending became a little less grim, and a little more amusing.
Meanwhile, the changes in Mira's emotions and actions had honestly reached a point Ban Yuwon couldn't even begin to guess at... And it seemed this 'Gravedigger' fellow had liked that.
Still a pervert.
"I'm too embarrassed to explain it precisely—but anyway, it said it would contract with me without a price, so I agreed."
"Are you sure about that?"
That Constellation was the mastermind who manipulated Mira's mind to cause the recent incident.
Although it claimed it was due to her failure, it was also the entity that had driven her to the brink of death with a curse.
But to readily accept a contract with such an entity, he couldn't help but worry.
"If anything happens, you'll resolve it, won't you? And that's still inside me."
But she replied nonchalantly, and caressed her abdomen.
Ban Yuwon, of course, knew very well what she was referring to.
It was the fragment of his soul that he had put into a demon core and made her swallow with coffee yesterday.
If he hadn't done that, he couldn't have saved her, but because of it, his soul fragment (to which he'd assigned the number 10) had not yet left her.
—Seeing that she ended up contracting with a Constellation, it seems it was a good idea to leave it as is.
"Well, that's true, but could you please not make that gesture?"
"Why?"
"It just... seems to have a different meaning. Anyway, don't do it."
Mira tilted her head, as if genuinely confused, but still removed the hand that had been rubbing her abdomen.
"Is that an order? Then I'll obey."
"No, it's not an order. Sorry."
It's just a contract, not subjugation.
Right?
—Bzzzt.
He was at a loss as to how to deal with Mira, whose hair was now black and whose condition seemed even more serious, when, fortunately, Ban Yuwon's student ID vibrated.
It was a summons from the Chancellor.
"Finally... the inevitable has come."
"Are you getting scolded because of me?"
He didn't know why she was smiling as she said that.
And she looked very happy and pleased.
"I'll comfort you gently, so go and do your best."
"That's giving me goosebumps."
Thinking that the word 'gentle' was the last thing that suited her, Ban Yuwon gripped his student ID.
Space movement soon activated.
—A splendid achievement.
The moment Ban Yuwon was summoned to the office, the doll sitting on a mat spread over the desk abruptly pointed a finger at him and exclaimed.
Today, the doll was dressed as a stereotypical English gentleman, one that might be described in a Sting song.
—To confront a Constellation directly and emerge victorious, truly a satisfactory outcome. It was a perfect unbinding. I commend you, Ban Yuwon.
"...I really don't know what tune to dance to, Master."
Ban Yuwon, who had been extremely tense, felt a wave of emptiness wash over him upon hearing the Chancellor's words, and his shoulders slumped.
Honestly, he had braced himself for a lecture or even a threat from the Chancellor about behaving better in the future, but this mad English gentleman was pounding his staff on the desk and applauding.
—'Dance to what tune,' you say? You speak strangely. Did I ever give you specific instructions?
"You clearly told me to unbind it, not just detoxify it—"
He stopped mid-sentence, and Ban Yuwon trailed off.
No, the Chancellor hadn't explicitly ordered him to do anything.
After asking if he had received a request from the student council, he had merely subtly pointed out the core of the situation.
While one could call that 'inducing action', he had never specifically instructed him to punish someone or save someone in his stead.
"Wait. You said you'd grant me Solo Exploration authority if I resolved this matter. That means you clearly intended to make me move—"
—Regardless of how things unfolded, I deemed it sufficient to gauge whether you possessed the skill and courage to undertake solo exploration. And that is indeed what happened. Therefore, I shall grant you Solo Exploration authority.
The Chancellor declared this without hesitation, and once again tapped the desk with his staff.
At that moment, Ban Yuwon realized that an extra space had appeared on his student ID.
He was certain that this space would be updated when he entered the Tower alone.
—Solo Exploration authority includes priority. You can enter anytime you have free time, not just on weekends, but weekdays too. Make good use of it.
"Hmm, I'm still not quite convinced..."
—You judged and rescued a wrongdoer of your own volition, so bear that responsibility yourself. Nothing more is needed.
He had intended to do that from the start, anyway.
The English gentleman, who had been staring at Ban Yuwon, still wearing a bewildered expression, suddenly spoke.
—Gathering vassals is also an accomplishment required to become a ruler. You must be feeling the change yourself.
"Change? Hmm, not really..."
Ban Yuwon tilted his head, and called up the concepts within his body.
His Charm, which had been 70, had increased to 100.
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