Chapter 171
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Lesson 34. Free Servitude - 6
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By summoning a mountain giant and cleanly obliterating one of the enemy ships, Dokgo Yeon finally felt a bit of her stress easing away.
Her head, which had been boiling over nonstop, at last seemed to settle down a little.
'I was needlessly tormented by that low impulse that doesn't suit me. I knew I was obsessed with talent, but there's no need to meddle in his relationships with women.'
With the lid firmly shut on that utterly unacceptable emotion, only one possibility remained.
Dokgo Yeon was leaning on that possibility to justify her actions, her impulses.
Ban Yu-won, the first truly remarkable talent she'd ever encountered in her life—
Her desire to nurture him and see him fully realized with her own hands had grown so intense that she became hypersensitive to even the slightest influence from others on him.
Not to mention a woman? Wasn't that the kind of existence that profoundly shaped a man's life?
'But my worries were overblown. There was no need for me to interfere that much.'
Obsession with lust leading to neglect of training, falling into heart demons, or learning flawed martial arts—such cases were commonplace in martial history.
How many martial artists had ruined their lives because of women who tried to seize control and manipulate them at whim!
So, if one devoted themselves solely to the martial path, it was best to avoid women altogether. If that wasn't possible, then form a marriage alliance with someone designated by the clan and show no interest in other women.
But if neither was feasible—then simply take a woman one could perfectly control.
'Lucelle surely won't do anything to harm Ban Yu-won. From the moment they met, she was already captivated by him... She's the type who'd lay down her life to protect him. That's what I intended, after all.'
That day, when Light had retired due to an absurd mistake.
Seeing Lucelle and Ban Yu-won at a crossroads, she'd deliberately held back from retiring herself to advance their relationship.
When they returned afterward as a perfectly matched pair, even more progressed than she'd imagined, she was startled but deeply satisfied that her intentions had come to fruition.
'Lucelle is a good woman. Ban Yu-won won't be ruined because of her. At least, that's what I judged back then. So, there's no problem. Ban Yu-won will keep growing...'
And she would always stand ahead of him, guiding his path.
Everything was going smoothly.
There was no reason for her to feel irritated.
No reason to feel upset seeing them together.
No reason for her heart to ache—none.
With that, it was settled.
"Good."
Dokgo Yeon let out a small grunt of determination and patted her own cheeks.
Had Ban Yu-won seen it, he might have widened his eyes in adorable surprise, but unfortunately, Tike wasn't there.
"Smashing a few more should make me feel even better."
But as she muttered those psychopath-like words and recalled the mountain giant to hurl it again, magic bullets rained in from all directions, interrupting her movement.
—Kruuurru
"Hm?"
The light beast supporting her moved even more nimbly, slipping through the barrage of magic bullets.
But as a result, they had penetrated deeper into enemy lines, and seeing pirate ships closing in from all sides as if they'd been waiting for it, Dokgo Yeon realized she'd been lured into position.
—Kruuurru
"It's not your fault. That was no easy attack."
She soothed the apologetic light beast and stood tall on its back.
She slyly drew the pitch-black shortsword from its sheath at her waist.
Whatever attacked her now—magic bullets or otherwise—she intended to slice them all down.
'Excluding professors, there hasn't been anyone worth showing my full power to. Let's see just how impressive these pirates are.'
Wuuung—a heavy engine hum echoed as a massive pirate ship loomed before her eyes.
Honestly, the enormous luxury liner-shaped spaceship was nothing short of bad taste, but facing it head-on now, she had to admit its grandeur.
"So you're the one that man is after."
A man strode to the bow and grinned down at Dokgo Yeon.
He looked quite young, with ash-gray hair, and like any pirate captain should, an eyepatch over one eye.
One hand wasn't human but a mechanical arm... The moment Dokgo Yeon saw it, she couldn't help recalling Irecto, whom Ban Yu-won had mentioned before.
'He said he got that mechanical arm with support from Lucein Ortima—maybe even that procedure was tied to these guys.'
She had no intention of losing to an enemy who'd abandoned their human body.
Instead of the human form, brimming with countless mysteries and infinite potential, they'd chosen a weapon with clear limits as their body—they could never surpass her sword.
"Your eyes are weird. The rest looks fine, though... Hmm, actually, the more I look, the more that works too. Might be a shame to toss you as that guy's plaything for the night."
Not just Dokgo Yeon inspecting her foe—the man crudely appraised her in turn.
She snorted.
"Men always put on that horny act before dealing with a woman."
Dokgo Yeon drew her shortsword and aimed it at the enemy.
The footing was unstable, but the light beast supported her with all its might.
Ban Yu-won had sent one of his important familiars to aid her out of concern, so she felt even less inclined to lose.
—Which meant, ultimately, that her disciple's support was boosting her spirits.
"The louder a guy barks, the weaker his equipment down there. Might be better off without it—want me to cut it off myself?"
"Whoa, I've landed myself a fiery one... Huh?!"
The moment his mechanical arm targeted her, a line of darkness stretched toward her at the speed of light.
Had Ban Yu-won seen it, he'd have dismissed it as 'Just a plain dark laser, huh? Lacking creativity.'—a dark magic attack.
Dokgo Yeon could have blocked it with her death-infused sword, but the light beast reacted first.
What it wielded was the concept of 'Light Wings,' once held by a constellation's incarnation.
With a flap infused with pure light magic power, the dark laser crumbled pathetically.
"Light magic power...?!"
"Pathetic as expected."
"Do all Union freshmen these days raise pets that handle light magic? Unbelievable. Ah, you lot stay back. I'll handle this."
Not just the ship he rode, but three more massive vessels approached from left, right, and rear—yet at his words, they halted.
Perhaps he was the mastermind behind this raid; Dokgo Yeon narrowed her eyes and reassessed his presence.
"You're Dokgo Yeon, right? I'm Quiran Luchato, Exodus executive."
"I knew about Exodus, but an executive, huh."
"We hate rigid ranks and hierarchies. Leading a fleet like this makes you an exec. Just remember that roughly. Hya!"
With those words, he fired another surprise laser.
Nearly no delay between activation and firing, absurd speed, and damage even Dokgo Yeon couldn't ignore if it hit—it was flawless, except for its terrible matchup against the light beast.
A mere flap of its wings perfectly blocked the laser, furrowing Quiran Luchato's brow.
"First time I've seen something block my attacks that easily. Where do you even get a beast like that? Perfect as a figurehead for our bow."
"Don't tell me you want to chat right now?"
Dokgo Yeon said bluntly.
If he wanted to kill or capture her, he could've attacked with his subordinates all at once—instead of these half-hearted shots, what was he after?
"Ah, yeah, kinda. Truth is, I don't like the client much, and seeing you up close... you're growing on me. Maybe I'll just take you for myself."
"Ridiculous."
The simple reason Dokgo Yeon didn't swing her sword and behead him right then was straightforward.
She wanted to recover the stamina and inner energy spent attacking their ships so far.
With their main forces, including his massive ship, tied up against her, she hoped the others would mop up the rest.
Above all, despite the mechanical arm, his aura was stable—not someone she could easily cut down in a proper fight.
'Dragging this out disadvantages them. No reason to refuse a conversation.'
His treating her like spoils was laughable, and his crude jokes toward a woman utterly unattracted to him boiled her blood.
But she was a woman who saw the big picture and moved accordingly.
If enduring brought gain, she could endure as long as needed.
"Nah, it's not ridiculous. What's ridiculous is Union."
"You really think you can persuade me?"
"Ah, before that, fact check: I'm your senior."
Chattering in that flippant tone reminiscent of Ban Yu-won, Quiran Luchato casually parted his robe.
He wore a Union Academy uniform.
"Not a uniform fetish or anything. For real. I'm not that old to begin with. And it's surprisingly great armor—the material's top-notch. Hack in some magic codes, add features, and it's unbeatable anywhere."
Whether he was truly from Union or not, she had to agree on that point.
Ban Yu-won used the same logic, donning the uniform every time he entered the tower.
Plus, with his authority, he crammed in all sorts of defense concepts, often outperforming even Light's armor.
Dokgo Yeon recalled him injecting defense concepts while marveling, 'How much more can you fit in here?'—and despite the situation, she chuckled softly.
"Whoa, what was that? You just laughed. Totally cute. Feeling friendly now that you know I'm a senior? Falling for me?"
"...This trash is really starting to..."
"That laugh was full of affection. You just haven't realized you're already smitten with me?"
"That's not it."
There are no romantic feelings between me and Ban Yu-won! None at all!
She could no longer tolerate this man spouting nonsense about an issue she'd already settled within herself.
"Fine, enough of that! Let's get to the point. Look, I'm pushing my luck here too. That Ryu Cheol-myeong bastard's got no guts but loves clinging and blackmailing. See? That's why I'm trying to persuade you away from him."
"Persuade? How?"
"Right, starting now."
Seeing Dokgo Yeon truly about to swing, Quiran Luchato dropped the jokes and turned serious.
"You—how much do you know about the constellations?"
"I wondered what you were getting at. Not Union—"
"It is about Union."
Quiran Luchato cut in sharply.
His tone carried an indescribable disgust.
"More precisely, about Babel Tower."
"..."
"With a familiar like that and skills surpassing any student. You'll figure it out yourself soon enough, so I'm just saving you time... What?"
He was probably mistaking the light beast for Dokgo Yeon's familiar.
In truth, it was Ban Yu-won's, and hearing he had five or more of equal or greater power would shock him.
But more concerning were his words.
Constellations and Babel Tower? She knew there was some connection, and she'd discussed it with Ban Yu-won.
Yet it didn't seem like that's what he meant—
"What?!"
Before diving into the main topic, he abandoned the conversation himself.
—Kwaaaang!
A fierce explosion rocked one of the four ships encircling her.
Then kwaang! Kwaaaang! The remaining two burst in succession, clearing her view in an instant—leaving only Quiran Luchato's ship facing her.
In the stunning turn of events, even Dokgo Yeon blinked, trying to grasp the situation.
"—Hyah."
Suddenly, someone landed lightly on the light beast's back.
"...You."
"Long time no see, Dokgo Yeon! How far have you gotten with our Yu-won since then? You know about the fan cafe meltdown over Lady Lucelle, right?"
"Aneri Dedota."
"Right, right. To avoid misunderstandings, let's start with the client this time."
The woman who'd guided Rebellion Party on their first special activity planet.
The one who'd revealed herself as a dimensional mercenary at the end—clad in tight black leather like something Ban Yu-won would yell 'Kunoichi...!' at—was standing there.
"Ban Yu-won hired me. Heard you got caught in a decoy op, so I rushed over. Glad you're okay."
She didn't ask how one could blow up three dimensional pirate ships in a row.
"...How much does it cost to hire a mercenary of your caliber?"
"Yu-won normally gets 50% off DC, but with an extra 10% for a kiss reward... about this much."
...Dokgo Yeon shut her mouth, estimating the wealth Ban Yu-won had amassed since enrolling at Union.
This mercenary's price tag exceeded their wildest imaginations.