Chapter 215
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 215
Chapter Title: Lesson 42. Image Change - 5
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After the meeting ended, only Ban Yu-won, Mira, and Shati remained in the spacious student council room.
Shati was humming a tune as she personally brewed some tea, while Mira—worn out from all the verbal sparring—leaned back against the wide sofa.
Ban Yu-won, thinking even that scene made for a lovely picture, suddenly voiced a thought that crossed his mind.
"Mira, how about you start carrying a fan around too? It'd suit you even better than that woman."
"Cut the nonsense and come sit down already."
Mira brushed off his silly remark and patted the spot next to her.
As Ban Yu-won settled in beside her, Mira naturally rested her head on his lap and let out a deep sigh.
"Hoo..."
"You did great, Mira."
"Mmm."
Ban Yu-won stroked her hair, and Mira—now fully in the mood to act spoiled—let out a cat-like mewl as she snuggled deeper into his arms.
Shati, who had returned carrying a tray of teacups, caught sight of them and curled her lips into a sly grin.
"Oh come on, getting all lovey-dovey in the sacred student council room!"
"Student council business is over."
"What do you think about what that woman said, Senior Shati?"
Ban Yu-won, with Mira's head still in his lap, took the teacup Shati offered and asked.
"Hm? The vice president nomination? It could be interpreted a few ways, but probably... kyahat."
Shati, who had taken a seat across from them, sipped at the coffee in her cup and flashed a toothy grin.
"It's mostly a check on the Planning Director. The vice president role is a whole different beast. More authority means more spotlight."
"Plenty of people will throw obstacles at whoever gets appointed, and there'll be comparisons to Ketura senior and me too."
"Exactly. So in truth, if the Planning Director became vice president, she'd actually have less freedom in student council activities than she does now."
A classic case of smiling to your face while plotting a knife in the back, all under the guise of praising Ban Yu-won.
But Mira seemed to see it differently and snorted derisively.
"She's not the type to scheme that intricately. If she had the brains for it, she never would've pulled that idiotic orc wave stunt on Earth."
During the break, Mira had been nonstop busy rallying the fairy folk alongside Shati and leading their tribal council. Naturally, she only learned about the chaos on Earth after everything had been resolved.
The fact that Prominence had targeted the fairies was reason enough for her to despise them, but the attack on Ban Yu-won had poured fuel on the fire.
"It was just jealousy talking—no forethought. She lashed out desperately for attention, and by sheer coincidence, it ended up pressuring Yu-won."
"Mira, underestimating your enemies is a bad habit."
"Hmph. Anyway, what matters now is who we pick for vice president."
There was no way the student council would just blindly accept Prominence's suggestion on the spot.
Vice president selection was entirely the student council's prerogative, so they'd tabled the agenda with a simple "we'll handle it."
That said, leaving the position vacant indefinitely—as Prominence had pointed out—would be problematic.
"Just promote one of the current members. Anyone but me."
"That might've worked before her suggestion, but now..."
"...You're saying if we pick someone else, people will start comparing me to them?"
"Spot on."
What a headache!
This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to join the student council in the first place. And now, right after becoming an official officer, this mess cropped up.
As Ban Yu-won seriously contemplated bailing even now, Shati kept talking.
"Which is why we need someone who's not an existing member, but whom the academy students would accept as vice president. Ideally, a lowerclassman with potential exceeding even the Planning Director."
"That's a way too stringent last condition."
Harsh as it sounded, at this point, finding someone in the academy who could rival Ban Yu-won in combat prowess or influence meant looking among the graduates.
Of course, there were lowerclassmen who might fit if they looked hard enough, but...
"We can't exactly recruit heirs from the teen clans into the student council..."
"Excluding Special Class, there's no one at all. Rebellion members don't count."
If a member of Rebellion—which was basically seen as Ban Yu-won's personal organization—took the vice president spot, it would spark even more backlash than him doing it himself.
"Couldn't we find someone cooperative from Special Class?"
"Isn't the rule to keep Special Class out of the student council?"
"That's only because the student council regulates their recklessness. If they're willing to cooperate with us, there's no issue."
"Special Class is a lump of arrogance and elitism. No idiot would betray their group to side with us... Ah."
Mira had reflexively shot back at Shati's words when she suddenly let out an exclamation of realization.
Ban Yu-won tilted his head at Mira's stare, then quickly realized what she was thinking.
No, ask her again?
"Sure. If it's your request."
Aire nodded without a second thought.
"I'll be vice president."
"For real? I'm the one saying this, but this is full-on betrayal. Special Class might even chuck you into space, and I won't know a thing."
"Betrayal?"
Aire chuckled at his words.
"Dragons don't run in packs. I've simply decided to ally with you, and no one can interfere with my will. So no one can call me a traitor."
"I see..."
Her dignified air nearly made him swoon.
Judging purely by attitude, she resembled Dokgo Yeon—but their essences were worlds apart.
Dokgo Yeon was a tyrant who tolerated no one above her, trying to control everything through sheer force.
Aire, by contrast, was overwhelming power incarnate—naturally superior to all other beings simply by existing.
"But you said you don't do groups, yet Rebellion keeps trying to recruit you."
"Because I want to. Dragons are willful by nature."
"Getting bolder since revealing your identity?"
In any case, with Aire as vice president, all their worries would vanish.
Forget her raw strength; even in Class 1-1 of the first-years—tightly knit around Ortima—no one dared cross her.
Ban Yu-won always found it amusing how those from higher dimensions quaked at her every little move.
It never failed to make Aire's existence feel all the more wondrous.
'I heard from Reshu—a student from the same dimension—that she's from the tenth dimension, Melodia. But I think she said she wasn't from one of the teen clans.'
The top ten dimensions—from S-1 to S-10—were collectively called the Ten Dimensions. Each was ruled by one of ten clans or royal houses. That was the extent of Ban Yu-won's knowledge on the teen clans.
Which already raised a question.
If even Ortima, heir to one of the teen clans, couldn't approach her, and she wasn't from a teen clan herself, then what of Melodia's teen clan?
"What are you two whispering about with a barrier up?"
"Oh, hi!"
"You scared me."
Misty and Reshu plopped down in the seats in front of them and greeted Ban Yu-won.
Just like last semester, the four of them were taking Yumina's magic lecture together this term too.
Ban Yu-won dropped the barrier and greeted them back.
"How was your break?"
"Good. Lonely without seeing Aire, though."
"H-how about you? I saw the video... You okay after that?"
Misty still worshiped Aire unabashedly, while Reshu—now on somewhat friendlier terms—expressed concern for Ban Yu-won.
Seeing Aire poke Reshu with a frown, she was clearly worried about Reshu falling under his sway. But he'd appreciate it if she acknowledged he had the right to choose his own allies.
"Earth's sealed off. No worries for the time being. The future's the problem."
"What're you gonna do? How'd it even..."
Misty glanced around furtively at Ban Yu-won's nonchalant reply, then lowered her voice.
"How'd you piss off that princess? Everyone from the tenth dimensions knows her temperament. She has to have everything she wants or she won't calm down, and anything she dislikes? She smashes it. That's her rep."
"Already opposing Lord Ortima—no, just Ortima... I'm worried."
"Reshu, I told you not to keep taking his side!"
"You two are worried about him?"
Aire tilted her head as she cut in.
"Why?"
"I'm not worried about him. I'm just afraid if he does something stupid, it'll drag you down too..."
"No need to worry."
Aire stated firmly, eyeing Misty—who seemed terrified of any link between her and Ban Yu-won.
"Prominence can't contain him."
"Call me by name since I'm right here."
At Ban Yu-won's gruff remark, Aire stared at him with wide eyes, as if he'd said something utterly novel.
Then, nodding as if convinced, she spoke again.
"I'll be Ban Yu-won's ally."
"Eh...?"
"Heh..."
Time froze.
To think someone besides him could wield world-stopping words.
Ban Yu-won admired her poise casually, but spotting the unnatural pallor on Misty and Reshu's faces, he realized her statement carried far more weight than he'd imagined.
And time began to flow once more...
"L-Lady Aire!"
"Lady Aire?!"
Ban Yu-won jumped at Reshu's sudden honorific and shouted.
Misty hurriedly clamped a hand over Reshu's mouth, but without a barrier, every eye in the not-so-vast lecture hall turned their way.
"Alright then, let's start the first class of the new semester~~."
And with perfect, artistic timing, Yumina entered and scattered their attention.
Misty and Reshu whipped their gazes back to the podium in a panic, but even after, they kept sneaking peeks over their shoulders at Aire and Ban Yu-won, looking utterly dazed.
"What's their deal? Is it that weird for us to team up?"
"Probably. Like I said, we don't form groups."
Last semester, Aire had practically been on his side anyway.
If it was just club activities together, maybe that explained it...
Or perhaps...
Bringing her into the student council was an even bigger deal than his vague imaginings?
In the end, Aire simply said to go ahead and announce it whenever, so they parted ways without getting answers about Misty and Reshu's over-the-top reactions.
He had Reshu's personal contact, of course.
She'd never refuse a private meetup, but he'd been hesitating—afraid she'd jump to needless conclusions. Conveniently, Misty reached out first.
The two met at a café in Ronica, the city outside the academy.
"Do you know how the dimension Melodia got its name?"
Ban Yu-won pondered Misty's out-of-left-field question.
Melodia was just how he'd interpreted it in Earth's familiar tongue; the actual name was some complex ancient language.
Which implied the name carried deliberate meaning...
"Famous for instruments?"
"Your language comprehension is insane, as expected. Close—it's bards, not instruments."
Misty, every inch the noble lady, elegantly set down her teacup of black tea and fixed him with eyes brimming with complicated emotions.
"A bard who soothed a dragon's wrath with music received the dragon's blessing and created a world. That's Melodia's origin."
"So the teen clan ruling Melodia is..."
"The clan named 'Melodia' after the dimension itself. Most atypical among the teen clans. Immense wealth and prestige, but militarily weaker than the others. Still, no one dares ignore them because the dragon's blessing they received endures to this day."
"Ha."
"Now you get why even Ortima—the heir to a teen clan—tiptoes around Aire? And why us Melodyans do too."
Crystal clear.
"Aire emerged backed by the Melodia clan, yet not one of them. She offered no explanations, but no one doubts her ties to dragons. She doesn't even need to explain—her innate presence alone made Ortima back off without a peep."
"That's why Reshu reacted like that."
"Probably saw you overlapping with the primordial bard—the human blessed by the dragon."
Misty sighed and took a sip of tea.
She set down her now-empty cup and shot Ban Yu-won a glare.
"Can't you tell me now? What did she mean by becoming your ally?"
"...You'll find out tomorrow."
Ban Yu-won had no choice but to say that.
The day after the new vice president's announcement—
Just as he'd predicted, the entire academy flipped upside down.