I got into school for nothing - 93
I got into school for nothing (93)
Lesson 20. Can vassals be copied? - 3
As Light was born as the first prince of the most prosperous kingdom in his dimension.
"A prince, you say."
"Why, why?! Is it that strange that I'm a prince?"
"No, keep going."
There was a legend passed down in the kingdom.
It was a tale of a man who, at a time when the dimension was in chaos due to alien invasion, rose up wielding a sword forged from a star that fell to earth, drove them out, and established a holy kingdom.
Indeed, a Holy Sword was kept in the kingdom, and a legend was passed down alongside it, stating that someday, should alien invasions recur, a descendant of the first king would once again grasp the Holy Sword, rise up, and expel them.
This was because, even though alien invasions had been occurring for over a century, no successor to the Holy Sword had appeared.
"And amid all that, you were chosen?"
"Yes, but listen quietly."
As Light was chosen by the Holy Sword when he was eight years old.
More precisely, it was when he was eight that he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit from the necklace that had been passed down through generations to the first prince of the royal family, along with the Holy Sword.
"......"
"Why, why are you making that face and keeping your mouth shut?"
"You told me to listen quietly."
The Holy Spirit was none other than the ego of the Holy Sword.
As a safeguard arranged by the first king, who worried for his descendants, the Holy Sword's ego was separately preserved. This was to make it easy for the Holy Sword's successor to find it, and even if they couldn't wield the sword, the Holy Spirit's power would protect the descendant.
"The Holy Spirit... it is the Holy Spirit, right?"
"Yes. Legendary armaments naturally house an ego, you know. Unlike you, who artificially smashes them in..."
"That Holy Spirit protects you."
"Not just me, but our kingdom has been protected by it for generations. ......Amazing, right?"
"......"
As Light's life, chosen as the successor, dramatically changed.
He had to wear clothes he wasn't used to, and endure harsh training at a young age.
However, because the Holy Spirit's blessing always protected As Light, both his body and mind grew increasingly robust, and by the age of thirteen, he found himself wielding the Holy Sword on the battlefield.
Consecutive battles erupted against monsters that invaded his dimension, other-dimensional refugees, and dimension pirates. As Light continued to grow amidst these conflicts.
It was at the age of sixteen that he realized he had changed so much he couldn't go back.
"I thought it was because of the continuous battles. At times, I didn't let go of my sword for almost ten days... I couldn't even imagine myself without the Holy Sword in my hand."
"That sounds like you overdid it quite a bit."
"It's just, at some point, I started thinking. That my reason for existence was merely being the owner of the Holy Sword."
He had lived wielding the Holy Sword since he was eight years old.
Therefore, he could do nothing without the Holy Sword.
It was only natural that he would come to believe that the person he was while holding the Holy Sword was his 'true' self.
"At least in the kingdom, I had no value at all without the Holy Sword. Perhaps that's why I plunged into battle even more. From then on, no one needed to force me to go to the battlefield anymore..." RAN. Also obes
He fought for another year like that.
A year without any changes, just a year where he became better at wielding the Holy Sword.
When he turned seventeen, he received the call from Union Academy.
Wielding the Holy Sword, he took the academy's entrance exam to protect his dimension.
"You, you really managed to resolve yourself to let go of the Holy Sword here."
At this point, it was almost admirable how he could give up the Holy Sword.
As Light's face twisted into a pained grimace at his words.
"On the battlefield, I wasn't a commander; I was just a rampaging beast, intoxicated by the Holy Sword's power. At the time, that was enough. But in the Tower... it wasn't like that."
The entire team suffered damage because of him and ultimately had to retire from the challenge. This made him resolve to let go of the Holy Sword for the first time in his life.
However, he, who had never found any meaning in himself without the Holy Sword, began to feel the disparity between himself and the talented individuals around him after picking up another weapon, and his negative thoughts deepened....
"The Holy Spirit keeps getting angry, telling me not to do useless things. It wasn't this violent when we were in our own dimension. The necklace... for a very brief moment, I could even take it off my body. But now I can't. So I started thinking, maybe it would be better to just give up and pick up the Holy Sword again."
"As Light, I'll be honest with you right now. Isn't that totally a curse?"
"......"
As Light couldn't immediately deny it.
Instead, the necklace around his neck reacted violently.
"Ugh!"
"As Light!"
"I-it's fine. I was... expecting it to get angry if I told you about it."
Ban Yuwon urgently activated several types of Language Magic.
Perhaps the experience of the past few days helped, as the pain suppression (鎭痛) and protection (保護) he swiftly wove were bestowed upon As Light, curbing his pain.
"Thank you, Ban...!"
His appearance, trying to smile through teary eyes, was so adorable that to resist the urge to immediately pull him into a hug, Ban Yuwon had to hit himself on the head with his fist.
Then he realized.
Hadn't he just directly cast Language Magic that affected the body on As Light?
Was this because his magical abilities had grown, or because As Light had become accustomed to his mana through using the talismans he created, instinctively accepting it?
'Wait, if this works, couldn't I directly solve As Light's problem...?'
However, the moment he unconsciously reached out to As Light with that thought, the necklace around As Light's neck began to emit threatening sparks, so he couldn't push his luck any further for now.
Of course, he hadn't given up.
He now understood roughly what kind of influence the necklace had on As Light, and what needed to be done to handle the Holy Sword.
If he could slowly get As Light accustomed to Ban Yuwon's mana and Authority as things were, he would eventually be able to attempt bolder methods.
"As Light, let's get a bit closer from now on."
"Uh, what?! You, too, me...!"
"No, not that, you idiot."
Ban Yuwon cuffed As Light on the head again for making unnecessary misunderstandings.
To be honest, it wasn't just once or twice that he felt like he might fall for this guy's charms, but now was not the time to be thinking about such things.
"I might find a way to help you with my abilities. So, all you have to do is keep working hard like this."
"But like this, I'll only become more of a burden in explorations, and it might still be better to wield the Holy Sword, even if I have to endure the side effects."
"As Light, you're making one mistake."
There was no help for it.
To prevent As Light from getting carried away, he had no choice but to say the words Dokgo Yeon had been holding back.
"You seem to have forgotten because you've held it for too long, but you don't exist because of the Holy Sword; you were chosen by the Holy Sword because you had the ability. The fact that you are the Holy Sword's owner proves your talent more than anything else."
These weren't the first words Ban Yuwon had spoken.
Hadn't As Light himself said something similar before?
But it seemed As Light's self-deprecating thoughts had increased in the meantime.
"What if that talent was specialized only in wielding the Holy Sword? What if I could only grasp the Holy Sword as a descendant of His Majesty, the first king, and had no other talent whatsoever!"
"As Light, if you were the Holy Sword."
"I'm not the Holy Sword..."
Ban Yuwon glared at As Light, silencing him, then continued.
"If you were the Holy Sword, what criteria would you use to choose your owner? In a situation where the dimension would be ruined if you chose wrongly?"
"Well... someone as strong and wise as possible, someone with outstanding qualities."
"Then you have your answer."
There's no way there could be such a thing as 'talent specialized in wielding the Holy Sword' in isolation.
If it were merely ownership passed down through bloodline, a master of the Holy Sword would have appeared long before As Light.
If As Light's talent hadn't been sufficient, the Holy Sword would never have responded to him.
"So, from now on, think the opposite. You can wield the Holy Sword because it's you. And your spear skills are actually improving incredibly fast, so don't be needlessly gloomy. Don't get discouraged by comparing yourself to others unnecessarily either."
"......"
"No, and you were 6th in the comprehensive evaluation sparring, fighting without the Holy Sword. Are you kidding me? Do you want everyone below that to just die? I'm 8th, for crying out loud."
"That's true, but..."
Of course, if Ban Yuwon hadn't unluckily run into Dokgo Yeon midway, he would have achieved an even higher rank, but that was a pointless 'what if'.
He had only recently switched his main weapon to a spear, yet he'd mastered it quickly. Furthermore, he'd grown significantly even during this evaluation sparring, ultimately achieving a single-digit rank. Who could possibly underestimate As Light's potential?
"If you've understood, then get up now. Even if we consider this week a break, we're going back into the Tower next week. There's no time to agonize."
"Yeah..."
It seemed he had accepted it for now, though perhaps not completely.
As Light gave a small nod, then took the hand he offered.
"Ban, you said you didn't like it earlier."
"Huh?"
"That was a lie. I don't dislike it. ......Just saying."
"Yeah, thanks."
His heart skipped a beat, but he tried to reply nonchalantly.
He probably didn't do that on purpose.
If he were cunning enough to make such a remark on purpose, he wouldn't have revealed his true identity in the first place.
......Right, if his instincts were that good, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation to begin with.
'The Holy Sword's criteria for choosing its owner,' he thought.
Ban Yuwon had acknowledged As Light's idea as the answer, but the truth was different.
That 'Holy Spirit' likely had a condition more important than anything else.
Namely, to be naive enough to be easily deceived.
'There are two spirits (靈) residing in that necklace.'
The Holy Spirit and a Demonic Spirit, he didn't know which one it was, but the one As Light currently thought was the Holy Spirit was probably not the real one.
If he simply distinguished good and evil by 'Holy' (聖) and 'Demonic' (魔), he should get rid of the Demonic Spirit immediately, but the fact that the sword As Light wielded, while communicating with the entity, clearly radiated holy power bothered him.
Then was the true one the Demonic Spirit?
Or was the Demonic Spirit simply suppressing the Holy Spirit by some means and controlling the Holy Sword instead?
'Hmm, I still shouldn't touch it. Even if I could.'
A sigh escaped him.
He was already busy just growing himself, but there were so many people he had to look after.
If only it were possible, he'd want to split his body into about five, but the concept of 'division' being unattainable for humans was truly regrettable.
"But you know what?"
"Huh?"
For some reason, As Light, who hadn't made any move to stand up and was still quietly holding his hand, suddenly spoke to him.
"So, what happened with that woman, Mira, in the end?"
"Huh?"
"Eyy."
"Ugh?!"
As Light pulled him hard.
Ban Yuwon couldn't resist his strength and had to plop back down onto the floor.
"You, you punk!"
"Friends aren't supposed to hide things from each other, you know. I told you my story, so you tell me yours."
"Ha, this is truly unreasonable to the very end."
To set the conditions himself and then pretend ignorance!
Moreover, for someone who was still hiding his own gender, such brazen words came out so easily.
Ban Yuwon was dumbfounded, but since he had already resolved to endure the unreasonableness for a while now, he had no choice but to humor his stubbornness.
"There are privacy issues, so I can't tell you everything."
"What?! That's unfair!"
"You really need to take a look at yourself."
In the end, after various discussions, it got late, and by the time the two returned to their dorm, dinner time was long past.
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