Chapter 182
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: Lesson 36. How do you feel now? - 2
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"Alright, now that the crisis seems to have passed, shall we tidy up this devastated land?"
Drawing everyone's gaze as she lightly landed on the ground, Yumina smiled brightly and snapped her fingers.
At that moment, the several-kilometer-long thorn vine that had pierced through the Predator's body scattered seeds across its flesh before crumbling away into nothingness.
However, the seeds embedded throughout the Predator's corpse soon bloomed into tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of flowers. The sight of the massive monster's body rapidly shriveling as it was drained of nutrients was downright eerie.
"No, this isn't the time to just stand around gawking."
Absorbing the Predator's nutrients and returning them to the earth was a good thing in itself, but it wouldn't hurt for Ban Yu-won to siphon off concepts midway that wouldn't do much for the planet's environment anyway.
Yes, Drilling, to be exact.
[Acquired Drilling 1,325]
"As expected, life is all about that one big hit."
He'd desperately gathered depth up to just around a thousand even after snatching the Solitary Magic Formula, but simply absorbing this from the ancient monster called the Predator dying right beside him had yielded this much!
Ignoring the stunned looks from everyone around him, Ban Yu-won landed Lilies back on the ground.
A massive hole gaped nearby, expanded by the Predator's emergence to encompass even the surrounding forest. As soon as the group touched down, a small hand drill popped out from the pit.
—Whirrrrrr
"Yeah, you knew it was feeding time and came running, huh."
Ban Yu-won fed every bit of the Drilling concept to Abyss, who had finally returned after completing all its tasks.
Growth normally had its limits, but thanks to its perfect compatibility with the concept, the little guy devoured the [Drilling] that shone with such intense depth it could blind you.
Having done so, it shed its hand drill form entirely and transformed into a step drill straight out of a cartoon—a conical drill shape.
A form perfectly tailored to Ban Yu-won's tastes, prioritizing romance over practicality.
Practicality could always be supplemented with his own Authority anyway, so there were no issues there.
"What is that thing?"
"My pet drill."
"Pet drill..."
Abyss, born from the Solitary Magic Formula without Ban Yu-won explicitly granting it life, possessed a sense of self and could move on its own. Like most of Ban Yu-won's retainers, it floated freely in the air, leaving Dokgo Yeon speechless.
"Spread out!"
Meanwhile, Yumina's work was progressing apace.
The countless blossoms on the Predator's corpse transformed one by one into clusters of tiny, dandelion-like feathery seeds, riding the winds she conjured to scatter in all directions.
Some dissolved into the air, some clung to nearby trees, and the rest burrowed into the earth.
They were merely flowers in form—in truth, a spell efficiently recycling the Predator's energy back into the world.
"Phew, that about does it."
Having breezily finished the massive undertaking, Yumina smiled and checked over each Rebelion member one by one to ensure they were alright.
"All the protective artifacts are shattered..."
"But was it okay for us to take down that bug just now? Even if the dimensional pirates don't count, that thing was native to this planet..."
"Think about it. Could a senior class handle a world where a bug capable of devouring an entire planet runs rampant? The E-1 dimension has potential and mana density that defy being called a lower dimension. It's recognized as a special case, so don't worry about the evaluation scores."
Ban Yu-won felt a shadowy glimpse of power behind Yumina's bright smile as she assured them that, with the footage he'd captured on Tikkelo and a proper report, they could score top marks. But he decided not to pry too deeply.
"So what happened to Ryu Cheol-myeong?"
Noticing how Yumina referred to him by name alone—as if she'd been keeping tabs too—Ban Yu-won gave a wry smile in response.
"He's gone now."
"No corpse left behind? It'd be nice to have something to prove his death."
"If it's proof you're after."
Mira handed Yumina the greatsword she'd kept.
Yumina took it, inspected it, and lit up with approval. Clearing her throat with a dignified ahem, she declared,
"We have confirmed former Academy Professor Ryu Cheol-myeong's illicit interference. By the authority of Full Professor Yumina, I affirm your victimization and promise appropriate compensation from his seized personal assets."
"Already seized, huh."
"We had no hard evidence, just suspicions we'd harbored for a while, so we were only monitoring him. We're digging into his ties to the dimensional pirate group, but the trail cuts off midway..."
Yumina's expression turned icy for a moment.
"His accomplice must have foreseen his end and bailed. I have my guesses on who, but... regrettably, no proof."
Even with Yumina and Union Academy's executive branch moving as swiftly as possible, the tail had been cleanly severed. It meant they'd planned to sacrifice Ryu Cheol-myeong from the start.
Ban Yu-won could understand the puzzlement over what the man had been banking on to act so boldly.
"The more life experience someone has—and the stronger they get—the more prone they are to this kind of foolishness."
As if reading his mind, Yumina gave a bitter smile.
Shati flinched at hearing Yumina speak so casually to Ban Yu-won for the first time, but Yumina's gaze remained fixed solely on him.
"When you're weak, you desperately rack your brains to survive. But once you cross a certain threshold and grow strong, your sense of crisis dulls. The more others fawn over you, the more you overestimate yourself and underestimate risks."
Those who survive repeated brushes with death fall into one delusion.
That they are the protagonist of the world, able to cleverly overcome whatever comes next.
Repeated enough times, it builds reckless boldness and uncontrollable arrogance, leading inevitably to the foolish choice that seals their doom.
"Ryu Cheol-myeong was probably the same. He'd even succeeded a few times in the past smuggling lower-dimension students this way..."
Yumina's face twisted into something unspeakable as she muttered a few curse-like words under her breath, too quiet for even Ban Yu-won to catch clearly.
Watching her, he voiced the question he'd asked her several times before.
"Why didn't the Chancellor stop him sooner?"
"Yeah, really... why?"
Expecting her to deny or deflect in some way, Ban Yu-won froze at her unexpected agreement.
"I want to ask my teacher why she let someone like this slide... but I can't."
"Sis?"
"...Alright, shall we head back?"
"Before that."
As Yumina averted her eyes and tried to change the subject, someone stepped forward and grabbed her arm.
It was Shati.
"Talk to me."
"Huh?"
Shati's eyes blazed fiercely.
As a flustered Yumina blinked, Shati closed the distance again...
and bowed her head deeply.
"Master."
"Master?!""
With the help of Yumina, master of plant magic, the massive hole torn into Jeda of the Jade Star was filled with greenery again in a matter of hours.
Naturally, the newly restored territory was all annexed into Wolf Fang Tribe lands, and having safely overcome the crisis, the tribe widened the power gap with others by more than double, solidifying its position as the planet's dominant force.
Ban Yu-won's group had originally planned to linger in Jeda a few more days to prepare for any contingencies, but in the end, there was no need.
That very afternoon after the descent body fell, envoys from each tribe arrived waving white flags. By nightfall, the leaders of the planet's major tribes had all gathered in Wolf Fang territory.
For a chieftain to personally enter Wolf Fang lands was as good as declaring they entrusted their life to the tribe.
"The Rabbit Foot Tribe... pledges eternal loyalty to the Wolf Fang Tribe."
"The Monkey Hand Tribe acknowledges defeat and pledges loyalty to the Wolf Fang Tribe as well."
Was it because the constellation's descent body had fallen, weakening its interference? The other tribes' chieftains arrived utterly deflated, gladly kneeling before Kanid.
This was a submission rite akin to choosing a master, with binding power far surpassing any middling magic contract. Once performed, hierarchy could never be defied.
Kanid readily accepted their surrender, gaining control over potential threats without spilling blood.
"I am the chieftain of the Ghost Horn Tribe. Did your tribe truly slay the descent body of the Forest Ruler?"
Among the gathered chieftains, the Ghost Horn chieftain stood out as the strongest in both tribal power and personal might. His forehead horn and mane evoked a Korean dokkaebi fused with a lion—honestly, in raw power, he seemed a match for Kanid.
'He probably has a divine beast origin on par with Kanid's... What kind of planet is this? With Kanid and Lucia, that's three divine beast descendants already. Then that Predator pops out—can't let my guard down anytime soon.'
At this point, one might wonder why he hadn't been chosen as the descent body... Likely, he'd shrewdly withdrawn upon realizing it was a sacrificial pawn.
Meeting the man's sharp gaze, Kanid smiled confidently.
"Of course. My son-in-law here, Ban Yu-won, slew it himself."
"..."
All eyes in the room turned to Ban Yu-won.
Strictly speaking, it hadn't been his power alone—Lucelle with her awakened Primal Heart, Sellon with her holy light magic, and the decisive blow from Abyss, incarnation of Drilling. But since all those people and tools were his anyway, he saw no need to deny it.
Sensing something in Ban Yu-won, the Ghost Horn chieftain eventually nodded and knelt before him.
"Indeed, a man with a monstrous soul. If he's the future of the Wolf Fang Tribe, I have no hesitation in submitting. We shall stand with you eternally."
"Huh? Me, the future?"
"At least for our children."
Lucelle whispered plenty loudly in his ear while linking arms with him.
At that moment, everyone at the meeting—Wolf Fang members and submitting chieftains alike—erupted in cheers.
No, wait, it almost sounds like Lucelle's pregnant right now...!
"...She's not, right?"
"Hee-hee, you've still got graduation ahead."
"Phew, thank goodness..."
But was it really?
Five years from now, his future was all but set...
Sensing an inescapable fate, Ban Yu-won tilted his head.
Huh? Wait, am I the master here?
Or the slave?
"Hmmm, as proof of our loyalty, I offer my daughter as concubine to Lord Ban Yu-won..."
Stop adding more.
Please, just stop.
The grand feast celebrating the tribal union lasted through the night.
Everyone reveled noisily with food and drink.
Mira couldn't join the revelry, nor did she want to.
Oddly enough, Shati—the true outsider—was right in the thick of the chaos, laughing uproariously and chugging booze.
But Mira wanted to be alone right now, so it worked out fine.
She found a quiet tree and perched on a branch.
"Hoo..."
Sipping fruit wine, with the distant clamor from the plaza below as background noise.
Mira recalled the report on Ketra that she and Ban Yu-won had reviewed after the battle.
He'd been with Crimson Spear even before enrollment, spearheading a project to sacrifice fairy folk and bolster specific dimensions.
And the project's core was Mira herself, the fairy princess.
No, that's not right. The moment I enrolled, that's when I became the core.
The more contact with the same race and student status, the higher the changeling success rate.
That was why Ketra had approached her initially.
To use the changeling for kidnapping key figures.
Their entire relationship had been a lie from start to finish.
—But.
He'd ultimately exposed the project to her and chosen to sacrifice himself in her place.
Ryu Cheol-myeong's Exodus ploy must have been a golden opportunity.
Perfect for baiting and maneuvering both Crimson Spear and Exodus.
And it had played out exactly as he'd willed.
Probably not purely out of feelings for her.
It was Ketra's resolve as a fairy to die for his kind.
"Even if it was all fake, if he clung to it until death... was it real?"
Mira thought of Ketra.
She could admit it now.
Her desire to ignore him wasn't about loyalty to Ban Yu-won.
I just wanted to pretend my failed past never happened. I wanted to relive that cool, perfect first love with Yu-won.
No matter how she dressed it up, her first love's end had been the worst.
Even if Ketra had planned to abduct her, she'd tried to curse him before knowing that.
It had been a mess—ugly and filthy.
But Ban Yu-won had said he'd accept it all.
That was why she could truly repent and apologize.
Before Ketra could cowardly atone alone and flee into death, she'd bowed her head to him.
Expressed her gratitude.
"...Yu-won."
Blindly ignoring it didn't erase the past.
The shackles that had weighed her down all those years of feigning ignorance over her past and guilt finally broke free the moment she faced it all honestly.
Ban Yu-won must have known, giving her that crucial push at the key moment.
Mira was free now. Her self whole, matured.
She could love Ban Yu-won more boldly.
"Yu-won..."
She really couldn't hold back.
She wanted to throw herself into his arms right now.
Tonight.
Truly give herself to him completely.
—Need a hand?
"I won't let you ruin this love too."
—Hard to believe, but I've always been cheering for you.
"Shut up, Gravekeeper."
Mira snorted and rose.
She ran a hand through her luscious black hair and flashed a seductive smile.
"Luring a man to bed? That much, I can handle now."