Novels online

I got into school for nothing - 92

I got into school for nothing (92)

Lesson 20. My Vassals Can Be Duplicated? - 2

On Thursday morning, Ban Yuwon looked incredibly sleepy.

And for good reason. He had spent the entire evening before with Mira, holed up in the Artifact Production Department's workshop until dawn, ostensibly to create an artifact.

The highlight was when Professor Campanella finally showed up at the very end.

"Mira! And... Ban Yuwon, a student?!"

Her eyes widened in shock upon seeing Mira with Ban Yuwon, and then, when Mira bowed her head in apology, Professor Campanella burst into tears.

Once her tears had somewhat subsided, she began prying into their relationship as if she were Mira's older sister. She then offered them tea, and proceeded to endlessly recount her own unrequited love story. In the end, she earnestly pleaded with them to visit her first during the major exploration period in the second semester of their first year, then turned and left.

To be content with just asking to be sought out first during that period, rather than pushing them to specialize in Artifact Production — it showed a remarkable degree of timidity.

"Ah— yeah, Rucell. Please, do it until your heart is at ease."

Thanks to that, this morning Rucell had immediately clung to Ban Yuwon upon seeing him, busily re-marking him with her scent.

...This was, in fact, the biggest reason for Ban Yuwon's accelerated fatigue.

At least it was a relief that she didn't ask at all what had happened or whom he had met, but...

"...You met a woman, didn't you?"

"It seems you had a very enjoyable night."

Just like this, those words eventually spilled from the mouths of the other members!

"I just got acquainted with a senior from the Artifact Production Department and received some help making an artifact. Enjoyable? Bullshit, I'm dead tired."

"Ban, weren't artifacts something you could just create by blinking? ...Wait, the Artifact Production Department?"

Light quickly caught on.

Lately, Ban Yuwon had been thinking that this guy might actually have pretty good instincts.

"You don't mean... that senior named Mira?"

"Yeah."

"..."

At the moment Ban Yuwon affirmed it without much thought, Light's expression twisted into an ugly grimace for reasons he couldn't quite fathom.

"Ah, I see..."

"What's wrong? Have you met before or something?"

"No, I haven't. I haven't, but... I don't particularly want to meet her."

Seeing Light's mood visibly sour, Ban Yuwon shot a questioning glance at his companions, asking if they knew why.

Rucell was still diligently marking him, while Dokgo Yeon spoke with an indifferent expression.

"Perhaps he's jealous because she's contracted with a Constellation."

"Ugh."

"Hey, come on, she's a third-year, and we're first-years."

"But Ban is a first-year, yet he's receiving sponsorship from two Constellations. Is that why you're meeting with that senior, too?"

The moment he heard that, Ban Yuwon realized Light was currently in a very troublesome state.

What flashed through his mind was the image of Light after their first exploration, squeezed squarely between a table and a wall like a little kitten.

Back then, he had managed to appease him with hot chocolate, but even that trick loses its effectiveness if used too often.

"Dokgo Yeon, pass."

"You handle it yourself. He's sulking because of you."

"Are you two my parents?! Ugh."

Dokgo Yeon's fiery thunderbolt descended upon Light's head as he yelled.

She glared at the now subdued Light with a cool expression and spoke.

"All exams will be over by this morning, won't they?"

"Th-then why?"

"Once they're done, the two of you should go on a date or something."

"A date?!"

"Kyaaang!"

At Dokgo Yeon's utterly unexpected suggestion, not only Light but even Rucell perked up her ears.

Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon thought, 'To use a word like 'date,' Dokgo Yeon must have really been influenced by this side,' an indifferent thought.

"I'm a man!"

"What does it matter if you're a man? Don't you agree, Ban Yuwon?"

"You're throwing this at me here? Well... I don't really care, but."

Not only should individual sexual preferences be respected, but crucially, Light isn't a man.

However, perhaps misinterpreting Ban Yuwon's answer, Light crossed his arms, covering his slender body, and gaped.

"You, you..."

"She just meant for you two to go out and have some fun, Light. Just calm down already."

"Ah."

Light finally managed to close his mouth.

He had realized he was overreacting.

Only Rucell seemed slightly displeased by this turn of events, glaring pointedly at Dokgo Yeon, but she was met with a dismissive snort.

"You already went on a date last time. Today, you'll be with me all day for special martial arts training."

"That's true, but, ugh. I want to go on a date too."

"Alright, then, Rucell, how about we hang out on the weekend?"

"Yes!"

"..."

Seeing Ban Yuwon so easily appease Rucell, Dokgo Yeon spoke with a somewhat sour voice.

"You've become quite adept, Ban Yuwon?"

"Don't say things like that, it makes me want to die."

* * *

Ban Yuwon always lived with Light in their dorm room, but perhaps because of that, they rarely had the experience of speaking their minds frankly, just the two of them.

Since he had been thinking that they would have to solve the issues related to the Holy Sword together someday, Dokgo Yeon's suggestion this time was a welcome one for Ban Yuwon as well.

11:30 AM.

After perfectly filling out and submitting the answer sheet for the last subject of the mid-term exams, Ban Yuwon emerged from the testing room and frowned at Light, who had buried his face in his hands.

"You don't mean..."

"No, I wrote most of it. I really did write most of it. But I couldn't concentrate well at the very end..."

Light glanced at Ban Yuwon as he said this.

Of course, Ban Yuwon's expression remained stern.

"You're not planning to use me as an excuse, are you?"

"My apologies, I'm sorry."

"Anyway, it's fine. If you messed up the midterms, you can make up for it in the finals."

Ban Yuwon thought he should start studying a week earlier for the final exam season than he had for this one, and then led Light towards Ronica.

"So, what are we going to do? ...What did you do with Rucell? And with that woman?"

"What does it matter what I did with other people? We can just do what we want and have fun."

He said it grandly, but he hadn't really done anything particularly special with Light either.

He fed him delicious food, tricked him into wearing clothes that were clearly women's as "unisex fashion," and after that, his repertoire ran dry.

The current time was 3 PM.

Ban Yuwon grumbled, debating whether or not to take him to a cafe.

"Seriously, how can their culture be so behind? Even though they have everything else..."

"Ban, what's that?"

Light, in a considerably better mood thanks to the money Ban Yuwon had showered upon him, stretched out his hand and pointed to a large building situated on the main street.

"Ah— that's a movie theater. It's a place that screens videos filmed by other people with cameras, just like Tikke films our videos."

"Let's go!"

"I figured as much."

In the metropolis of Ronica, there was a movie theater.

Since there were cameras capable of filming videos, it was natural for movies to exist, and, of course, for there to be movie theaters to screen those movies.

The problem was...

"The right hand of the Constellation, Black Flame, is with me. I shall burn you all to ashes and establish His justice!"

"A, a dragon...! A gigantic dragon made of black flame!"

The protagonist proudly flaunted a Constellation's flashy abilities (the Chancellor would probably like it).

"What He desires is merely my soul, and the suffering of villains like you!"

"Kuaaaah!"

The protagonist, who by all appearances seemed to have been tricked into a fraudulent contract by a Constellation.

"But what if it's the power of the Constellation, Scent of Laughing Petals?"

"Laughing!"

"Petals!"

"Scent!"

And even the supporting characters, blatantly promoting a seemingly weak Constellation.

"..."

About 30 minutes after the movie began, Light, who had been staring blankly at the screen, quietly grabbed Ban Yuwon's hand and pulled him out of the theater.

Then he yelled.

"What was that?! Why were the characters just praising Constellations without any context whatsoever!"

"Maybe it's because it's a movie sponsored by Constellation contractors? By the way, other movies are the same. Especially the scenes in romance movies where they deep-kiss with abilities supposedly granted by Constellations—it makes my teeth ache."

"It's the worst!"

Ban Yuwon thought so too, which was why he hadn't returned after his initial visit out of curiosity.

But the timing was bad.

Light, already stressed out by Constellations, had reached his breaking point.

He let out a low sigh as he looked at Light, who, despite being dressed in pretty clothes, was making a gorilla-like expression.

"Want to blow off some steam? It's a secret from everyone else."

"...Huh? Th-that's. Ugh, I'm."

He made an offer he hadn't made to anyone else.

Hearing that, Light's pupils trembled as he wavered, but when Ban Yuwon strongly pulled his hand, he feigned reluctance and followed him.

Thirty minutes later, the two were dashing through a cave teeming with goblins.

"It's very different from what I imagined! ...But it is relieving my stress!"

"What did you imagine?"

"I'd rather die than tell you!"

They asked Eve and Lilyth to lure the monsters in the dungeon together, then gleefully swung their weapons, tearing through them.

Goblins, being mere goblins, couldn't even scratch them, and could be cut down several at a time with a single strike, making the exhilaration immense.

Preparatory work was needed, but their kind vassals took care of that much for them!

"Uryaaah!"

Light swung his spear with gusto, as if trying to unleash all the stress that had built up during the exam period without proper release.

He was so excited and rampaged so much that Ban Yuwon's share of goblins was only about three.

"Hoo, hooo..."

After breaking through the section teeming with goblins, running for a while, and then charging straight into the boss room, Light vertically cleaved the Goblin Warrior that had been posing grandly inside. He then planted his spear into the ground, stopped, and let out a sigh of satisfaction.

Then, with a somewhat refreshed expression, he spoke to Ban Yuwon.

"Humans are truly cruel, Ban. To kill other creatures just to relieve stress."

"You, is that really what you should be saying at this moment?"

To betray him after enjoying himself most thoroughly.

Ignoring Ban Yuwon, who wore an incredulous expression, Light let out another sigh, pulled out his spear, and turned around.

"Ban, let's spar."

"Good."

"If I win, tell me in detail what happened with that woman."

It really seemed that Mira was bothering him immensely.

Ban Yuwon chuckled and asked.

"Then if I win?"

"If you win..."

Light aimed his spearhead at him, his eyes sparkling.

"Then listen to my story."

"Light, you know, that's what they call an unfair trade."

"Here I come! Hyaaah!"

Cheekily, Light charged forward without even waiting for him to prepare!

Ban Yuwon hastily drew a sword from thin air and parried Light's spear.

—Clang!

"What was that, the Holy Sword?"

"Just did some upgrading!"

It was far beyond "just some upgrading," but if he showed him properly, Light would just sulk again, so he couldn't do that.

The two fiercely clashed their weapons, neither yielding an inch.

—Clang! Claaang!

At the time of their enrollment, Light's skills had been overwhelmingly superior, with a difference akin to heaven and earth compared to Ban Yuwon.

However, Light himself had sealed the Holy Sword—a weapon with overwhelming performance but which sometimes went berserk, inducing abnormal behavior—and had instead focused on mastering spear techniques, causing his combat abilities to actually decline.

Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon, who was growing faster than anyone else across all dimensions, had not only seen his physical and mana conditions elevated by the awakening of his unique Authority, but had also received systematic swordsmanship training directly from Dokgo Yeon. As a result, he had become a completely different being compared to two months prior.

—Kagagak! Chiiing!

Now, fighting with all their might, they were engaged in a fierce, thrilling, and evenly matched battle.

"You, aren't you using your vassals?"

"That's only fair to each other!"

Even if he didn't know everything, if Ban Yuwon were to truly mobilize all the means at his disposal to fight Light, who had abandoned the Holy Sword he had been with for more than half his life and was now fighting with a spear he had only learned since entering the academy, the result would hardly be convincing.

That's why he, too, was fighting using only martial arts.

Because it was a skill he had learned only since entering the academy, just like Light.

—Perhaps that's why, every time they clashed, he couldn't help but think of 'her'.

"Dokgo Yeon is truly amazing."

"What, are you jealous of Dokgo Yeon now?"

"How can I not be? Without the Holy Sword, I'm nothing, but all of you...!"

"Nonsense."

To be honest.

If this had been Light from last week, Ban Yuwon would have had the upper hand even fighting under the same conditions.

But that wasn't the case now.

What that meant was that Light's growth over the past week had been even greater than Ban Yuwon's.

Of course, this was limited to combat skills, and Ban Yuwon had been particularly busy with other matters this past week, so his growth in combat abilities had been somewhat slow, but.

"Even so, it's still true that you're getting stronger quickly, isn't it?"

The two of them stood in a brief standoff, their weapons locked.

Light, exhaling heated breaths, gritted his teeth and glared at him.

His face showed that he couldn't accept Ban Yuwon's words.

But Ban Yuwon ignored it and continued.

"Even without the Holy Sword, you're quite the genius. No, perhaps your true talent was actually hidden because of the Holy Sword."

"Being 'quite' isn't enough, not with just that..."

"The harder you work, the more you'll grow in the future. By the time you genuinely acknowledge how amazing you are even without the Holy Sword, you'll probably be able to wield the Holy Sword as well."

"Don't just say whatever you want when you don't know anything."

"Yes, I actually don't know much."

Ban Yuwon pushed Light back forcefully.

"Kuk... Hyaaah!"

He let out a sharp cry and thrust his spear, but Ban Yuwon easily noticed the subtle tremor in the spearhead.

It was the timing he had been waiting for.

Inhaling deeply, Ban Yuwon simultaneously unleashed the profundities of Flow (流) and Counter (反), forcefully deflecting Light's spear. Then, he aimed the Executioner's Longsword at Light's chest, which was now completely exposed.

"So, tell me. I'll listen to everything."

"...Hoo."

Light, having dropped his spear, let out a small sigh and plopped down onto the spot.

"I can't tell you everything honestly, but..."

"I know. You're a liar, after all."

"...I really dislike you, seriously."

As Ban Yuwon sheathed his sword and sat down beside Light, Light, though pouting, obediently began to speak.