Chapter 262
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 262
Chapter Title: Lesson 51. A Solid Alliance - 4
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"Whoa, that really caught me off guard."
[That's exactly what I wanted to say! How does he show up at that exact timing?!]
The moment they plunged through the dimensional wall, Lilith and Eve—who had returned to Ban Yu-won's side using the space-transfer ability of the Origin Sword—were buzzing with excitement.
And who could blame them? They'd gone all out disguising themselves as Exodus executives, swinging Requiem wildly to break through the pirate fleet, and just as they declared, "Alright, mission accomplished—I'm heading back!" the man himself appeared leading his fleet from the dimensional wall.
Thank goodness they'd swapped in at a timing so perfect that even the Crimson Spear guys didn't notice; otherwise, they might've gotten caught in a crossfire from both sides.
"Good work, Eve. You too, Lilith. It was risky, but thanks to you, everything's set up perfectly."
"Hiss."
Just moments ago, Eve had been in her Exodus executive disguise, letting out booming laughs, but now she was coiled around Ban Yu-won's arm, flicking her tongue.
At this point, it wasn't just suspicion—Ban Yu-won was certain she could speak if she wanted to. But if she didn't feel like it, there was no need to force her.
Besides, they could communicate just fine with her hisses and breaths alone.
"Merc life is short, but this is the craziest job I've ever had."
Watching the real-time feed from Tike's projection, where Crimson Spear and Exodus were locked in fierce combat—with the Guardian Alliance caught in the middle, unsure what to do—Keira shook her head.
The earring dangling from her ear swayed alluringly.
"My body's been comfy, though."
Ban Yu-mi spoke in a bored tone as she tore open a snack bag beside her, apparently settling in for a proper space battle show.
Not long ago, she'd been tensed up, muscles ready to spring into action against the pirates, but now she looked ready to sprawl out on the floor.
Her pre-battle readiness and her instant flop afterward made her seem like a wild beast through and through.
The earring in her ear gleamed brilliantly.
"What's comfy matter if we're getting wiped out anyway? Someone went and looted the whole ruin on their own."
"Wiped out? Nah."
Aneri flicked the earring in her own ear as she retorted to Selden's grumbling.
Unable to stand the three women's blatant, infuriating earring flexing any longer, Selden finally shot to his feet.
"Argh, you got those identical earrings as gifts and you're thrilled? Sis, I'll buy you a ring with a huge diamond, so sit tight right there!"
"No need for yours. Sit."
"I'm seriously feeling wronged here..."
"Selden, be quiet for a bit. It's getting good."
Kang Eun-young reined him in at just the right moment.
She was one of the few in the mercenary group who treated Selden like a person, so he couldn't raise his voice anymore and plopped back down.
But he spotted the bracelet dangling from her wrist.
Selden turned to Ban Yu-won with a look of utter disbelief.
"...Hey, am I the only one left out?"
"You think I'm crazy enough to give gifts to some guy?"
"Whoa...!"
Selden made a face of pure exasperation but kept his volume low, mindful of Kang Eun-young and Aneri's glares.
Ban Yu-won, meanwhile, was baffled at the idea that Selden thought he'd get a gift—what was cute about him?—but let it slide.
Still, Selden had one point.
"We still haven't split the loot from the ruins. Here's your shares."
With that, Ban Yu-won pulled out ingots made from the rare metals found in the ruins... half of them, anyway.
The Dragon Slayer Sword replicas had all been absorbed into Requiem and vanished, and the books were useless to them since they couldn't read them, so this was all he could give.
Even so, as parts of the original Dragon Slayer Sword's metal—infused with materials impossible to find in this era—their value was immense.
"I took a big chunk, but you couldn't have even entered without me, so be satisfied with this."
"No way, you did everything anyway—how can we take this?! ...Rookie, you're dead later."
Aneri shot Selden a glare that could bury him alive as she shoved the spoils back at him.
But Ban Yu-won wouldn't take them back.
"I've been analyzing the excavated books from the ruins this whole time... and it looks like they contain true dragon materials."
"What?!"
Aneri's instinctive yank of the metal back toward herself was comical.
Ban Yu-won smiled thinly, and she realized what her instincts had done, flushing in embarrassment—but her grip on the metal didn't loosen.
It was treasure too precious to yield, even in front of her "favorite," Ban Yu-won.
Keira, drawn by the word "true dragon," examined the silvery metal glowing with a bright light, her expression newly intrigued.
"True dragon...? How? True dragons are at the point where their very existence is in doubt these days. Dragon Slayer Sword? Like, made from dragon materials to slay dragons?"
"Something like that."
Ban Yu-won pulled out one of the research books from the ruins and opened it.
It was written in a mix of ancient languages with a clearly different grammatical structure—probably dragon tongue.
An ultra-secret document that would curse and repel anyone unqualified just for trying to open it.
Of course, it was useless against Ban Yu-won, master of the power of language, and he was slowly translating them one by one.
"It's right there in Asha's ancestor's research logs on creating the Dragon Slayer Sword. They ground their kin's bones and scales, boiled them in blood, mixed with various metals, and experimented. Each alchemical step carries deep ritual meaning, so replicating it casually would be tough."
Ban Yu-won pointed to an illustration taking up a full page.
In the exact style as the ruin walls, it depicted a massive dragon being fed into a furnace to extract metal in exaggerated fashion.
As an alloy, it included other metals besides dragon materials, but those probably weren't ordinary either.
The book warned that melting and processing the ingots required following the exact sequence in the text; any deviation could trigger horrific curses or mana explosions.
"Even if some miracle let someone unrelated to Camelot or true dragons extract the metal, touching it without reading the book would've brought disaster."
"Isn't the book scarier than the metal? It's like the Necronomicon's isekai edition."
"Sis, time to shed that Earthling mindset."
"Yu-mi, if you're gonna do merc work, you need to know what's valuable."
Unlike the others born in other dimensions, Ban Yu-mi—born on Earth and unaware of true dragons' significance—looked nonchalant, but Kang Eun-young smacked her shoulder.
Even her mother, who'd seen it all and rarely flinched, couldn't stay calm this time.
"If it's really true dragon material, this... isn't something a newbie merc group should handle."
"Don't worry, Seira. No one will even recognize it as true dragon alloy anyway."
"Gotta find a tight-lipped blacksmith."
Even half would be enough to arm the whole group, scoured from the entire ruin.
As the members marveled and rejoiced—Selden included, though he quickly noticed Aneri's death glare and bowed 90 degrees to Ban Yu-won.
"Sorry, boss!"
"Even when you're right, drop the 'boss' crap."
And his thug-like mannerisms weren't helping.
Ban Yu-won sighed, turning back to the feed, then tilted his head at a sudden change on screen.
"What's that ship?"
"Ship?"
Keira leaned over his back to look, then gaped.
"Wh-what? Why are they here?"
"Who? One of the Ten Great Houses show up?"
Nothing could make Aneri rush—not even the sky falling.
She'd carefully stowed the rare metal in the safest spot she knew before approaching.
Suddenly appearing amid the three-way clash of dimensional pirates and Guardian Alliance was a massive spaceship dwarfing them all—single-handedly. Seeing the musical note emblem on its side, she reacted as strongly as Keira.
"Melodia... it's really one of the Ten Great Houses?!"
The Ten Great Houses faced restrictions on direct intervention in lower dimensions.
Even Prominence's indirect attack on Earth via the Orc Wave during summer break drew tons of criticism and warnings.
To move freely, they needed special conditions—Melodia was either ignoring them... or had met them.
"Who'd have thought another faction would actually show."
Kang Eun-young muttered with a headache, shooting Aneri a sharp look.
"We won't get caught, right?"
"Of course, Seira. Even the Melodia house head wouldn't notice."
Erase evidence—that's ninja basics.
No traces of true dragon metal remained in this space.
Ban Yu-won had collected all the samples he'd shown, shoving the dragon-related research book—enough to drive any expert mad—deep into his inventory.
Meanwhile, Melodia's ship fired a light wave, freezing and shattering dozens of nearby dimensional pirate ships.
With just a casual spell.
No telling how many mages chanted in unison inside, but one move wiped out nearly 70% of the pirates' forces.
— Retreat.
The message from the ship was simple and clear.
The surviving Exodus ships turned tail without a word, following executive orders, but Crimson Spear didn't.
— Too light for a Ten Great House move. We might be easy, but what about those behind us?
Arrogant, brimming with confidence.
Like a fox rampaging under a tiger's authority.
Maybe Crimson Spear's rapid rise came from flaunting their backers.
...But today, they'd picked the wrong foe.
Melodia's ship fired another wave; despite evasion maneuvers, Crimson Spear's fleet shattered—save one ship.
— Tell your master.
A voice devoid of highs or lows echoed through space.
— We fear only the World-Severer and this great universe's laws. We can crush presumptuous moths flaunting lost eternal flames anytime.
Even they lacked the guts to provoke further.
The lone surviving Crimson Spear ship meekly turned and vanished beyond the dimensional wall.
As Ban Yu-won watched, seriously pondering if he could pull that off someday, Kang Eun-young let out a groan.
"Looks like something really happened to justify Melodia intervening here."
"True dragon. Melodia upholds the true dragon's legacy. They'd have special clauses for that. Maybe... Seira, they might already sense what was unearthed from the ruins."
Aneri, who'd bragged even the house head wouldn't notice, now muttered in fear.
Ban Yu-won nodded, impressed at the Ten Great Dimensions' difference, then quietly opened his mirror and sent a rescue signal.
—Me: Save me.
—Aire: See you soon.
I'm saved.
Friends are the best!