Chapter 265
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 265
Chapter Title: Lesson 52. The Back Side of the Tower - 1
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"Waaaaah! It's so pretty! Incredibly pretty!"
Asha, who had been frowning and moping all afternoon that day, beamed from ear to ear the moment Ban Yu-won returned from his special activity. He presented her with a beautiful pendant embedded with a heart-shaped diamond as a replacement for the Soul Liberation she'd forgotten about—and which he'd accidentally shattered.
"It's not exactly a fair trade for your necklace, but... will you accept it?"
"Ah, it's not a propo—nothing! It's fine, really, nothing at all!"
Ban Yu-won had taken care of the Soul Liberation she'd completely forgotten about. Whether he'd shattered it or swapped it out, she clearly didn't mind one bit.
She seemed preoccupied with something else entirely, but for the sake of Asha's pride, Ban Yu-won desperately decided to play dumb.
"Sorry about that. I kept it thinking it might serve as a clue someday, but I never imagined I'd end up using it so suddenly."
"It's really fine. That thing was proof of my bondage, after all. Thinking of it returning to me as your gift makes me grateful, even!"
Asha's smile was flawless and dazzling.
...He'd been thinking this for a while, but ever since her liberation from the Dragon Slayer Sword, had her personality become purer? To put it bluntly, she seemed a bit more airheaded now.
"Well, she's always been like that, so it's fine."
"Huh? What was that?"
"Nothing. I'm just glad you're happy."
"Yeah!"
Watching Asha happily slip the pendant around her neck with a bright smile, Aire— who was sitting there with them—suddenly piped up.
"You said you liked pink diamonds."
"Aire!"
Asha clapped a hand over Aire's mouth, but it was too late to stop the words from slipping out.
For reference, the three of them were gathered in Aire's private dorm room in the girls' dormitory.
True to her status and wealth, her room was incomparably larger than the other students' and adorned with jewels everywhere. Knowing she was a dragon kin made it all click into place.
Dragons do love shiny things and treasure, after all.
No, more importantly, Asha's comment was the issue here.
'Pink diamond, huh...'
Ban Yu-won wasn't particularly into gems, but he knew that even diamonds—the ones known for being clear—came in various types.
He tilted his head thoughtfully for a moment before speaking with conviction.
"I think I can make one."
"Make what?"
"Turning graphite into a diamond is impossible, but changing the color of a already cut diamond? That's doable. Hold on."
Using his Word Magic and all the concepts at his disposal, he could theoretically add or remove molecules to alter the structure—but who knew how many days that would take?
The simplest way was to infuse the concept of color.
Adding color while preserving the diamond's transparency was no big deal.
"Alright, let me touch it for a sec."
"Ahh...?!"
Ban Yu-won's hand approached Asha's collarbone and brushed the gem before pulling away.
Even with the jewel in between, the bold contact made Asha's heart race—but right now, something far more important had her attention.
She looked down at the pendant dangling near her chest and fell speechless at the sight of the brilliantly shining pink diamond.
"Looks like it turned out well."
"Th-this... this..."
Asha dazedly stroked the stunning pink heart-shaped gem, letting out nothing but gasps of admiration.
Meanwhile, Aire narrowed her eyes, trying to peer into the jewel.
"...How did you change the color?"
"I can alter hardness too, so isn't this a bit too underwhelming to be surprised about?"
He hadn't tampered with the molecular structure, so a professional inspection might reveal it wasn't a naturally formed pink diamond. Still, the diamond itself was real enough.
Plus, considering the concepts Ban Yu-won had infused, its value likely exceeded a regular pink diamond by a hundredfold or more.
"If you can do that, why can't you start from the shape itself?"
"Don't ask me."
"No, I think you probably can."
Aire nodded with a look of certainty, as if she'd reached a conclusion.
"It's just a matter of your Authority being a bit short. You'll be able to do it soon."
"Yeah, I hope so too."
Ban Yu-won had indeed considered that possibility before.
Specifically... during the end-of-first-semester season, in Professor Xenon's lecture, when he'd entered a virtual space ruled by orbs and experienced the Tower's Authority firsthand.
But in the end, he'd focused solely on creating the Origin Sword and missed the chance to experiment further.
"Oh yeah, doesn't that mean we can't do Babel Tower VR again now?"
"Virtual reality? Oh, Babylon and the Constellations. You're right—second semester's already in its latter half."
Asha made a wistful face at the mention, which soured Aire's mood.
"I don't like that guy."
"You don't like the Chancellor either."
"I hate anyone standing above me."
Aire's blunt attitude was surprising at first, but recalling how the head of House Melodia had treated her made it all make sense.
Separately, Ban Yu-won felt a twinge of joy that she'd opened up to him like this, enough to confide her true feelings.
That must be why she'd included him in her usual hangouts with just Asha...
Maybe the conversation and promises from his last meeting with the Melodia house head had softened her heart?
Or perhaps it was because he'd entered and returned from the ruins holding the secrets of true dragons.
Ban Yu-won met Aire's steady gaze—she was staring at him, waiting for a response—and gave her the answer she wanted.
"Well, I think I get why you haven't contracted with a Constellation."
"Yeah."
"Constellation? Why? Contracting with a good one would let you power up safely... Oof!"
Even after awakening as dragon kin, Asha still couldn't let go of her lingering attachment to Constellations. Aire quickly shut her down.
Asha squirmed with her cheeks squished in Aire's hands, but it was futile against someone who'd lived lifetimes as a dragon.
"I need to re-instill the dragon's conviction and spirit."
"Mmmph!"
"Let's go."
Aire released Asha's cheeks, grabbed both her hands firmly, and stood. Asha launched one final counterattack.
"Aire, you're not doing this just because I got a pink diamond from Yu-won ri— Ow ow ow ow!"
"Looks like I need to fix that overactive imagination too."
Asha's unyielding resistance, even as she suffered, was truly admirable.
"Oh, right."
"Yu-won, save meee!"
"What is it?"
Aire, who had been about to leave, turned back to face Ban Yu-won.
As he ignored Asha's cries and responded, Aire made a somewhat ambiguous expression, choosing her words carefully.
Ban Yu-won tilted his head patiently, waiting, and she spoke slowly.
"The medal from the house head."
"Ah, that."
He'd jokingly told Tike to squeeze as much money as possible out of her, but he hadn't actually expected real compensation from the Melodia house head.
Yet when he checked afterward, a medal stamped with the Melodia crest was now around Tike's neck. It clearly wasn't ordinary material, and he'd planned to analyze it properly sometime.
But Aire explained it without him needing to.
"It's a VIP account for Melodia Bank, issued only to select individuals from House Melodia."
"The medal itself?"
"With it, you can deposit and withdraw Ronia anytime at any branch. You can transfer to accounts at other cosmic banks, and if you leave it sitting, it even accrues a little interest over time. The pinnacle of House Melodia's spatial magic."
"A mini-ATM or what? That's beyond what you'd call spatial magic anymore..."
Ban Yu-won already had an account at Union where his YouTube earnings were converted to Ronia and deposited.
Cosmic banks with Union agreements existed in other dimensions for withdrawals, but they weren't everywhere. Unless he hoarded mountains of Ronia in his Inventory, some inconvenience was inevitable.
With this medal, though, he could roam freely even in places using Ronia as currency but lacking cosmic banks.
"House Melodia has the most wealth in the universe, after all. Top-tier credit."
"No need to emphasize that—I'm already trusting it, so don't worry."
"But the medal's real value is free access to Planet Melodia."
"Ah."
She'd gone on at length about the VIP account, but the main point was something else.
"Come visit during break. With Asha."
"Ah—yeah, got it. I've got prior commitments this winter break, so it might be tough."
"...I see."
"Ah, Aire?! It hurts, I'm hu—!"
Her expression darkened slightly at "prior commitments," but she nodded and gripped Asha even tighter before teleporting away.
Ban Yu-won blankly watched the two vanish, leaving him alone—then suddenly realized he was stranded in the girls' dorm.
Male students were forbidden from entering the girls' dorm for any reason. Without his teleportation ability, he'd have no defense if caught and expelled on the spot.
Being accepted as a friend by Aire was nice, but leaving him alone in her room? Was she defenseless, or did she not see him as male at all?
'No... neither, probably.'
Recalling their recent conversation, he shrugged and stood.
At any rate, he'd finished talking with Asha. Now it was time to report his safety to the one who'd been worrying about him more than anyone.
—Are you sure you don't need a gift for that girl too? She might be surprisingly jealous...
'What do you think my older sister would do if I showed up with a gift?'
—Reserve a wedding venue?
'Cellon, you're one terrifying assassin.'
Tongue clicking at Cellon's obsession with pairing him off with Yumina, he teleported to their meeting spot.
It took three full hours after that before he could escape Yumina's relieved flood of tears upon seeing him safe.
Thanks to the special activity ending a day earlier than expected, Ban Yu-won resumed classes starting Wednesday.
Perhaps because he'd been so fixated on specific incidents since the start of the second semester, the lectures resuming after midterms felt refreshingly novel.
Or maybe it was because he'd been swept up in massive events before and after midterms.
Even his solo special activity, which he'd approached lightly, had ended with him forging Requiem and encountering a head of one of the Ten Great Houses—a nonstop parade of surprises.
"Ha, this is just ridiculous."
It was Wednesday morning, during Yumina's Magical Combat Studies lecture.
Right after midterms, with no assignments or exams looming—the prime season for college students to truly live the college life. Ban Yu-won was savoring that peace when Misty's nearly tearful voice shattered it.
"Ha, seriously. How could Lady Melodia herself... Ugh..."
"Misty, sorry, but pick one: cry or complain."
"I'm not crying, okay?!"
Ban Yu-won learned for the first time that day that pure envy could bring genuine tears to someone's eyes.
Reshu, the other Melodia native girl sitting beside Misty, spoke up on her behalf.
"Yu-won, could you show us that medal you got from the Melodia house head?"
"Reshu, why are you calling him by name?!"
"Misty wants to see it too."
"Really? Well, if Misty wants to see it too, no choice then."
"No, I don't?!"
But the moment Ban Yu-won pulled out the medal, Misty buried her nose in it.
It was locked with his primal energy, so no account access, but just touching it seemed to overwhelm her.
"First time seeing one?"
"As if. They're back home in the clan."
"M-me too! Our family does pretty well...!"
Reshu subtly boasted while piggybacking on Misty's retort.
Come to think of it, it was easy to forget, but both were young ladies from major houses on Melodia.
It wouldn't make sense for heads of Melodia's great houses not to have VIP accounts at Melodia Bank.
"But those belong to the clan, not me personally."
"Neither Misty nor I are heirs. It's all pie in the sky for us."
"Ah, got it."
"To get one personally... straight from the house head...! Even with the princess right there!"
Yeah, he could see why Misty was so worked up.
As Ban Yu-won shrugged and handed back the medal, searching for words to console her, he noticed her staring at him with an odd expression.
"What?"
"Ban Yu-won, you and the princess... you're not..."
"With Aire?"
"N-no no no, not like engaged or anything, right?"
"What?! I don't have a fiancée either..."
Misty shuddered at the mere thought, while Reshu freaked out but still snuck in her pitch.
Ban Yu-won replied incredulously.
"Just opening one account, and your imagination's already run wild? She just invited me to visit Melodia, so relax. The princess is still your princess."
"R-really...?"
Misty hesitated even more than before, dragging it out before glancing around and whispering.
"That Light guy... what's he like? This whole thing with the princess moving was because of him, right?"
"Misty's wondering if that Light is the green light for Lady Aire!"
"N-no, seriously not!"
Come to think of it, did Misty and Reshu still not know Asha was really a girl?
No, judging by their attitudes, they'd probably stay on guard even if they did.
Ban Yu-won shuddered at the terror of the yuri front lines he'd tasted in ages, desperately picking a safe response.
Just then, Aire entered the lecture hall and sat beside him.
She glanced their way, and Misty and Reshu both froze solid.
"Ah, Aire..."
"Asha likes Yu-won."
"Aire?!"
She'd heard it all, of course.
Aire, answering for Ban Yu-won, added curtly.
"Asha and I are just friends."
"Good, then I can relax a bi..."
Misty sighed in genuine relief, hand on her chest—until her eyes landed on the pretty ice crystal hairpin adorning Aire's bangs.
"Aire, where'd you get that hairpin?"
"Secret."
"..."
Despite Aire calling it a secret, Ban Yu-won struggled to dodge the glares now fixed on him from Misty and Reshu.
But resistance was futile, as Yumina—the lecturer—soon entered.
She'd locked onto Aire the moment she stepped in.
"My goodness, Aire! That hairpin is absolutely adorable!"
"Yes, I love it."
"Whoever gave it to you must be thrilled."
"Yes, very."
Aire, who deeply respected Yumina and usually spoke politely unlike with students, responded courteously. But for some reason, Ban Yu-won felt a localized blizzard brewing in the room.
—See, I told you to prepare one for her too.
'Where did I go wrong in picking options...?'
Magical Combat Studies was one of the most relaxing and fun lectures at the Academy, but today, he desperately prayed for it to end quickly...