Chapter 207
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: Lesson 41. Paper Please - 2
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The heir of one of the Ten Great Families seemed to be gunning for Ban Yu-won, only for the constellation backing that heir to notice Ban Yu-mi's existence and try to wipe out everything on Earth except for her. Even summing it up now, it was a total clusterfuck that made no damn sense.
After the battle, nothing had really been resolved when you thought about it coldly—but man, those rewards were sweet.
All his retainers had returned stacked with mountain-loads of concepts, so even after handing over a hefty chunk to them, the depth of every concept Ban Yu-won held had deepened once more.
Especially awakening Crimson Flame, which pushed the depth of his Elemental Magic all the way to 500—that was a massive haul.
Compared to before vacation started, he'd grown nearly twofold. Now, even if he sealed away his language powers and operated solely as an elemental mage, he'd dominate the top ranks among the freshmen.
'So... out of what I picked up today, the only concepts my body can't absorb are Synthesis and Meteor, right? Just those two.'
He'd jammed all 30 depths of Synthesis straight into cores, and the gathered Meteors had their own purpose.
"Lilith, eat up."
[Me? This? Why?]
Ban Yu-won grinned at Lilith, who sounded like she hadn't seen it coming.
"This Meteor probably contains the relic concept you were after."
[Wait, was that relic not just huge—it was actually an asteroid?!]
Lilith freaked out over the relic's unimaginable true nature but hustled over anyway, slurping up the concept he offered before ducking back into his Inventory, claiming it'd take time to digest.
And with that, the accounting was done.
If this had been the Tower, slaying a constellation's avatar would've netted direct rewards from the Tower itself—but without that, he couldn't help feeling a bit shortchanged.
"Alright, now let's head to Earth."
[How?]
Keira's voice boomed in his head, laced with fury.
She'd been trying to punch through the atmosphere in her firebird form, only to get bounced back like hitting an invisible wall.
Ban Yu-won's eyes picked out the barrier concept blanketing Earth's surface, interwoven with a tangle of finer sub-concepts.
Putting it together...
"It says it's expelling aliens?"
"Yeah. And it kicked me out too."
Ban Yu-mi replied with a face like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Her, raised on Earth her whole life, suddenly branded an alien and booted out—how could her feelings not be a mess?
—Swoosh
"I get through fine."
"...Yeah, you do."
And her little brother Ban Yu-won passed right through without a hitch!
Looking back on everything that'd happened to her today, or Kang Eun-young's attitude, she had a rough guess... but seeing it confirmed for real hit different.
"Ugh...!"
Ban Yu-mi shot Ban Yu-won a look that defied description, then spun away, unable to take it anymore.
Ban Yu-won let out a quiet sigh at his sister's overwhelming reaction—overwhelming in several senses—then turned to the others.
"Still, I think there's a way for you all to get into Earth."
"As expected of Yu-won!"
"Hah."
Aneri clasped her hands in admiration while the young man next to her—who'd charged the orc fleet and ended up with his clothes in tatters—grumbled.
"Listening to this crap is too much. Sis, you seriously gonna say stuff like that?"
"Newbie, quit cockblocking my love life and shut it."
"Love life? That bombed, so liquidate it quick and focus on the mercenary gig."
Ban Yu-won ignored the dimension mercenaries bickering and analyzed the barrier.
It seemed to outright reject lifeforms born off-world, but he and all his retainers could pass freely—so the restrictions weren't that intricate.
"What about Lucelle, then?"
"Probably impossible. I could resist with my powers, but the backlash would be huge soon after..."
"So even being a retainer doesn't cut it."
"How the hell is this even possible?"
Aneri, back after reining in the newbie, eyed the barrier with keen interest.
As a dimension mercenary who'd roamed countless dimensions and planets, she'd seen and heard plenty—but this Earth case was a first.
"Sure, dimension natives can pool power to make barriers against invasions from other dimensions or orc waves. But they're never perfect, and usually consumable, needing constant energy top-ups. This one, though..."
Aneri tapped the barrier, nodding with conviction.
"Flawless from every angle, and it's rock-solid like it's drawing endless energy from somewhere. Did this dimension really just evolve? Even an S-rank couldn't pull this off. Union level, maybe..."
"This is the dimension I was born in."
"Right! As expected of Yu-won!"
Fine, no more asking this woman's opinion from now on.
Still, thanks to her, he got an unexpected hint.
Earth was Union-level.
Like Aneri said, a freshly evolved dimension like Earth couldn't muster this kind of barrier on its own.
Per his mother and sister's accounts, the Status Window had announced alien expulsion, so Union involvement seemed likely somehow.
'I joked about it to Aneri, but maybe it really is tied to me.'
Babel Tower, Earth's relic, being in Union was suspicious enough. Plenty of reasons Union and Earth could be linked.
In that case... Ban Yu-won manifested the thought wholesale into language concepts and put it to paper.
He handed the mana-infused sheet to Lucelle, who nodded and plunged into the atmosphere.
And passed through safely.
"What...?"
"?!"
Everyone watching froze in shock—it was hilarious.
Ban Yu-won called Lucelle back and checked the paper she'd returned.
Confirming concept consumption.
"Hmm... this should hold for about a week."
"How'd you do it?"
Keira dropped her powers, buzzing with excitement as she shoved her face right up to his.
Ban Yu-won nudged her back gently—she looked ready to plant one on him—and replied.
"Issued a stay permit."
"...Like a visa?"
"Exactly."
"No permanent residency?"
"Haven't got the authority for that yet."
"What authority?!"
Kang Eun-young cut off their loopy banter.
"Anyway, point is we can get to Earth. Gotta at least say hi to your dad..."
"Hi?"
"Yeah, a farewell hi."
Kang Eun-young gave a wry smile.
"We're fugitives by origin. Our long grace period's finally up."
Afterward, Ban Yu-won and Ban Yu-mi heard the full story from their mother—her origins, Ban Yu-mi's status, everything.
Most of it Ban Yu-won already knew from Keira, but there were new bits.
Like how his mother, Prominence Family guard knight, was originally from a branch line... or actually fairly close kin to Keira by blood.
"Kinda figured. But Prominence is infamous for infighting as long as history— no need to get chummy now. Should I call you Aunt?"
"This look's just camouflage for Earth life. Strictly by rank, you're actually higher, Keira."
"...Let's get along from now on. Fellow fugitives and all."
"Hell of a pivot."
They got nitty-gritty on Prominence's status and forces twenty years back too—but the more they knew, the more absurd the enemy seemed.
"At least the constellation rampage has them stuck for now. Best time to bail from Earth."
"Prominence's will clashing with their patron constellation's—bound to need coordination between them for a bit."
"Yeah, makes those weird Prominence moves the last few years click. Tie it to Crimson Spear's actions and..."
For some reason Kang Eun-young had Aneri there too, and that's when Ban Yu-won saw through her intentions.
Meanwhile, Ban Yu-mi stayed silent through the epic tale.
Ban Yu-won could guess her feelings and held his questions, but Kang Eun-young didn't.
"Sweetie, what do you wanna do going forward?"
"You said I'm not your daughter."
"Where's that come from? I raised you twenty years—you're my girl."
"Still..."
Ban Yu-mi fidgeted, glancing between Kang Eun-young and Ban Yu-won.
Kang Eun-young chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Ah..."
"Don't sweat the small stuff, Yu-mi. Just chase what you want. Mom'll cheer you on like always."
"Mom..."
Ban Yu-mi teared up and melted into Kang Eun-young's arms.
Blood or no, no one could deny they were mother and daughter.
...Would've made a perfect finale if it ended there.
Of course, reality didn't play nice.
Ban Yu-mi wiped her tears, eyes sparkling as she asked Kang Eun-young.
"For real, I can do whatever I want?"
"'Course. I'm your guard knight, remember?"
"Then... I want two things."
Two, not one.
But soon the pair switched to power-encrypted private talk, so Ban Yu-won was left clueless.
Clueless stays clueless.
"Ms. Aneri, fancy a long-term contract?"
"If it's Yu-won's mother? Absolutely! I'd have bailed otherwise."
"You're looping me in too, right?"
And post-chat, sure enough, Kang Eun-young hired Aneri.
Couldn't hear details, but he could guess the gist.
Especially with Keira casually joining in.
Who could've predicted those three banding together like that?
"Reclaiming a Ten Great Family throne? Things just got huge."
Lucelle fretted as the women (plus one scowling servant) chatted.
Ban Yu-won whipped around at her, face like a vampire staked through the heart.
"Lucelle, I was politely playing dumb—don't blow it wide open."
"If you're gonna help anyway, better drop the denial sooner, no?"
Post-awakening, Lucelle's intuition had gotten annoyingly sharp.
And denial wasn't the only reason!
"This one's getting too big for her britches."
"Ow."
Ban Yu-won yanked Lucelle into his arms, pinched her cheek in some half-punishment, half-reward smackdown.
"......"
"......"
"...Ah."
Then he noticed the long-term contract crew staring.
Ban Yu-mi's glare was the scariest.
For now, time to obediently issue those visas.