Chapter 233
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 233
Chapter Title: Lesson 45. Founding Festival Preparations - 8
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With the start of the second semester, time flowed even faster, as if it had accelerated.
Though there were some creaks here and there in the team, the exploration of Rebellion continued to lead the pack. The second semester's curriculum, now free of the blatant saboteur Ryu Cheol-myeong, was exceedingly pleasant.
Except for the facts that Ulrike was still under a severe delusion and sending Ban Yu-won glances like a girl in the throes of her first love;
that Kantone, who was no better than—if not worse than—Ryu Cheol-myeong, had become strangely quiet lately for some reason;
and that even greater discord was brewing among the team members who hadn't yet adjusted to the somewhat changed relationship between Ban Yu-won and Dokgo Yeon.
Everything else was perfect.
[It's all because you carelessly play around with your lower half. You flirt with women as naturally as breathing.]
Ban Yu-won shot back with an equally insulting gesture at the woman pointing her finger at him from the 3D hologram floating over the mirror.
"Don't make me laugh. Do you have any idea how much self-control I'm exercising? Even regular students tempt me without a care these days."
[Ugh, gross! Why is that place full of nothing but such sluts?!]
Ban Yu-won smirked at his older sister, who recoiled in disgust.
"How about things on your end?"
[What? Why do you care about that? You think I'm like you? I don't just hook up with any guy.]
Ah, so that's how she sees it.
Ban Yu-won shook his head with a pitying look and added,
"Not that, dummy. How's the mercenary work going?"
[...I'm seriously going to kill you, you little shit.]
It took a little time for Ban Yu-mi, who glared at him murderously from the screen, to calm down.
[It's going smoothly. ...It's a pain in the ass, but the stuff you prepared is helping out. For a newbie mercenary group, we're doing pretty well. ...That's what Aneri said.]
"Haven't run into any dimension pirates?"
[A few minor clashes. You might not know this, but Exodus and Crimson Spear aren't all there is to dimension pirates. There are plenty of small-scale ones like us. Of course, most of them go down in one hit if they cross me.]
Who could've predicted this?
The day would come when he'd have cosmic conversations like this with his own sister.
Not that she's really my blood sister.
Ban Yu-won steadied his slightly dizzy mind and continued,
"As long as you're doing well, that's good. I'll call again later."
[Hey, wait a sec! You were about to hang up just now, weren't you, you jerk?!]
"Yeah, I was."
[Wait!]
She yelled, then scanned his face anxiously before sighing and muttering softly,
[I miss you.]
"What?"
[Huh? What what?]
Ban Yu-mi suddenly straightened up, realizing she'd let it slip unconsciously.
It was astonishing that she thought she could fool him now by putting on a straight face.
"Just now, Sis, you... "
[I didn't say anything?]
"Yeah, sure. Hanging up then."
[Is that all you can say?!]
Ban Yu-won kept teasing his sister after that, eventually greeting his mother and Aneri as well before ending the call.
Lilith, who had been eavesdropping from the side, spoke up in disbelief.
[Does teasing her like that really amuse you?]
"I've been under her thumb my whole life, and now that I've finally gained the upper hand, you want me to hold back?"
[That's different! This involves a girl's pure feelings!]
"Exactly. That's the problem."
Lilith would probably never understand how hard it was to treat his sister like a woman.
[Just hug her tight and kiss her, problem solved, right?]
"The world doesn't work that simply. ...Probably."
Ban Yu-won let out a deep sigh and turned his head. There floated a girl clutching a staff, hovering in midair.
Her black hair, neatly braided and draped over her chest, gave her a serene appearance rare to see at Union Academy. But her eyes, sparkling like galaxies embedded within, exuded an intimidating pressure that made her seem anything but an ordinary human.
And she was wearing the Union Academy uniform.
It suited her perfectly, as if she'd been wearing it for years.
"How's it feel, Ceron?"
"Probably okay."
She nodded gracefully and swam through the air toward him.
From texture and weight to her vivid presence and scent—even under the All-Reading Eyes, her transformed human form was flawless. Ban Yu-won was somewhat impressed.
"Shhhk, shyruk."
"Yeah. Thanks, Eve."
He'd admitted to getting a little help from Eve, but even accounting for that, the reality of an artifact turning human was so absurd that he couldn't tell anymore if it was Manbeon's uniqueness, Eve's, or Ceron's.
Probably all three.
"Adapted to moving around?"
"Yeah. I can move pretty much as I will now."
Ceron had researched the Manbeon on her own and successfully humanized it.
But because it had been sealed in staff form for so long—and because the concepts making her up, like her soul, were insufficient—it had taken considerable time to stabilize the human form and move properly.
And now, with the Union Academy Founding Festival just two weeks away—she had finally revealed this complete form.
"Did you have to turn into a human, though?"
"What?"
At Ban Yu-won's question—he'd half-expected a magical artillery battery based on the staff—Ceron half-lidded her galaxy-like eyes and glared at him.
Now that he looked, they resembled Yumina's gemstone eyes.
"Magic is far more bound by form and habit than you imagine. You should be praising me for wielding magic in staff form all this time."
"But you were originally a constellation, not human."
"Constellations have bodies too, you know?!"
He'd thought from the start that if she had a separate main body and could descend, she wasn't just a thoughtform.
So where was that main body?
Where had she been originally that she could be sealed in the tower, even after betrayal?
'Maybe there was an incident big enough for Ceron's main body to descend directly into the tower.'
Ban Yu-won tilted his head, met Ceron's blank stare, hesitated briefly, and then carefully asked,
"Do you remember anything about your contractor?"
"......"
Ceron shut her mouth.
Ban Yu-won had recently heard directly from Yumina that she was Ceron's contractor.
Even if she hadn't come out at the time... Ceron must have heard it too.
After a moment of silence, Ceron shook her head.
"I don't know. I still haven't recovered a lot of memories......"
"But she'll recognize you."
"Scary."
Ceron muttered shortly, clutching the staff tightly with both hands.
"Not yet. After I recover more... Then in the tower, I can find out."
"......Yeah?"
"Besides, just meeting that child isn't enough. I have to track down everyone involved in my sealing and punish them thoroughly."
Revenge, or obsession.
They'd always just joked around, but now that Ceron had a human form, her emotions were vividly clear. He couldn't brush it off lightly.
In the end, Ban Yu-won said nothing more and closed his mouth.
He thought it was silly that things between Ceron and Yumina could be resolved simply by meeting, yet dragged out like this... But ultimately, it was their hearts and choices that mattered, so he'd leave it be for now.
"Alright...... So, what now? I recall you were interested in solo explorations. Want to go?"
"No, it's fine."
Ceron firmly shook her head at his suggestion.
She'd been focused on humanizing and hadn't had proper conversations with him, but she knew most of what had happened to him in the past month.
The masked ball entangled with Prominence, the club showdown special tournament.
And not just that—the issue with Light being consumed by his instincts.
Too many things were piling up right in front of him.
But Ban Yu-won just shrugged.
"Isn't college life supposed to be a whirlwind of assignments, friendships, dating, clubs, practicals, and part-time jobs anyway?"
"I get that your idea of college is some unicorn fantasy."
Ceron snorted, stopped floating, and sat next to him.
For reference, they were in the dorm right now. Lately, with Light starting to act more independently, he wasn't coming back to the room until bedtime, so it felt like a single room.
"You've been putting it off for a reason. Let's tackle it after this mess. Solo exploring on top of everything would make that little head of yours explode."
"I'm touched by your concern."
"More importantly, holy light magic."
Holy light magic out of nowhere?
As Ban Yu-won tilted his head, she said,
"You'll be clashing with constellations more from now on, so I want to teach you more holy light magic."
"You said I can't learn holy light properly anyway."
"That's what I thought until now. But seeing you casually rip unique concepts even from constellations changed my mind."
"Hmm...... Yeah."
Ban Yu-won had actually thought for a while that if he really put his mind to it, he could wield holy light directly.
The Hong Yeom from the Prominence family made sense since he had their branch bloodline awakening in him, but bearing the stigmata—a concept exclusive to constellations and their contractors—and ripping the Divine Wind from the Merciful North Wind earlier... His authority over concepts itself ignored all restrictions.
No matter how special holy light magic was, it shouldn't be an exception...
'Maybe Ceron just couldn't fully trust me with true holy light, so she made excuses.'
But imitating her had produced impressive power even at that level, and she did rely on him in many ways, so he hadn't pointed it out.
Her bringing it up now wasn't from a sudden surge in trust...
"It's because of Professor Yumina, right?"
Ceron, avoiding his eyes, flinched as he nailed it. Her hands trembled on the staff.
As expected, learning he had a priest-contractor relationship with her own contractor had changed Ceron's feelings.
To the convinced Ban Yu-won, Ceron shrieked in a shrill voice,
"If you have the insight to figure that out, why not just shut up and learn obediently?!"
"Nah, I just wanted to see your reaction."
"You... you scoundrel...!"
"Is learning holy light from you part of a package deal to pass it on to Professor Yumina? Ah, looks like it."
"Ughhh...!"
Ban Yu-won shook his head at Ceron, whose innermost thoughts he'd thoroughly exposed, and tapped the table.
"Fine, we'll do it your way. Let's start. I'll be taking a bit of your concept, though."
"Hmph, I was prepared for that. ...You nurture it well and give that part back to her."
"You've done this a lot."
Ban Yu-won snorted in response but paused.
He'd shared concepts he'd cultivated with his familiars plenty, but not so much with others.
And the method for implanting concepts into others was...
"......Hey."
"I saw you brushing her off curtly last time. You can't do that to her."
Ceron turned away from his incredulous gaze and continued, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Hey?"
"Be good to that child. She needs a lot of love."
"Hey!"
"Alright, let's begin. I'll hammer it in thoroughly, so brace yourself."
[See?]
Lilith, who'd watched the melodrama, nodded with a convinced look.
[Hugging tight and kissing really is the answer.]
Two more weeks passed.
Ban Yu-won, having fully mastered his secret weapon, welcomed the Union Founding Festival.