Chapter 269
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 269
Chapter Title: Lesson 53. Equivalent Exchange - 1
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Thankfully, the Academy was extremely lenient toward its superhumans.
And as long as the reports weren't outright lies, special activities dispatched to higher dimensions came with quite generous points.
[Then doesn't that mean kids from higher dimensions can just pretend to do special activities and boldly head home during the semester to goof off?]
"Do you... see the Chancellor... as some... ice-hearted pushover...?"
Ban Yu-won concentrated on the hazy cluster of concepts rising before his eyes, replying to Lilith word by word with great effort.
At the back of the tower—a space that had become routine—he was challenging himself to create goblins.
Solo explorations could pop up anytime, so whenever he had spare time, he'd slip in here to train his divine authority. It had become a habit. No one could disturb this space, and the sofa was cozy enough, making it perfect for sorting out his thoughts alone.
—Well, strictly speaking, he could no longer truly be alone.
"Hoo..."
The concepts, clustered into goblin form and moving at his command for a moment, finally crumbled and dispersed.
Ban Yu-won gave up trying to control them, let them go, took a breath, picked up the teacup from the table to wet his throat, and spoke.
"All special activities require thorough reports. I just use footage captured by Tike to wrap mine up easily, but most other students aren't so lucky. Lie to the Academy, and you're on the hook for any fallout. Even heirs of the Ten Great Families have to learn that the hard way."
[Sure, but still.]
"No matter how credible it is, wrapping things up with just videos makes it look like that monster favors you."
Cellon, who had been sitting demurely beside him sipping her tea, chimed in.
Ban Yu-won, now knowing a fair bit about her past, read the complex emotions in her words and gave a wry smile.
"Not sure if that's a good thing."
The Chancellor turned a blind eye as long as he didn't die, convinced whatever trials he faced would lead to growth.
No, it even seemed like she was nudging him toward hardship.
Either way, it had helped this time.
She'd casually approved the Rebellion Team and Fairy Devil Team joining forces for a special activity in the A-4 dimension.
It felt like she had high expectations, piled on the pressure accordingly, but granted every convenience she could.
Obviously, their relationship was no longer that of a normal student and chancellor.
Patron and protégé fit better.
He couldn't refuse it anyway, so he'd decided to make use of what he could.
'With plenty of special activities lined up across other dimensions for the rest of the semester... At least if things get truly life-threatening, since it counts as official business, she'll bail me out...'
It wasn't just the A-4 dimension, Shati's home.
He had to visit Mira's dimension too, and planned to dive deeper into requests from the Level Force mercenaries.
To monitor and counter the Prominence Family's movements, he needed to act more aggressively.
And the immediate threats weren't limited to Prominence and Crimson Spear.
Exodus worried him, along with Lucein Ortima, who'd been thoroughly rejected by Dokgo Yeon this time.
Even the Melodia Family, who seemed to grasp fragments of the universe's secrets, couldn't be blindly trusted as allies.
They'd only helped due to his ties with Aire; the family head had clearly shown wariness toward Ban Yu-won himself.
"Ha, so many enemies..."
A sigh escaped him naturally.
Even as he threw himself into his tasks, recalling this fact now and then made his chest tighten.
"What do you expect? You're trying to conquer the Tower—enemies are inevitable."
Cellon drained her cup, set it on the table, propped her chin, gazed at him, and smiled.
"No matter how they became your foes, they've all instinctively realized it. If they leave you be, you'll inevitably reach the Tower's peak someday. That's why they can't."
"I see..."
"Hee-hee, that's how it is. Your talent shines so brilliantly—you'll just have to deal with the moths drawn to the flame."
Cellon looked at him with pleased eyes that felt more like a guardian's than a friend's.
Well, even Yumina had relied on her enough to form a constellation contract, so such feelings toward Yumina's disciple Ban Yu-won seemed fitting.
When Yumina came up, she turned into a meddlesome matchmaker, but alone with him now, she exuded the dignity of a sage who had traded years for knowledge and wisdom.
"Wonder if I can handle it."
"Of course. I bet on you, after all."
"I see."
Oddly, despite no guarantees, his mind eased a bit.
It was a stability different from the unconditional acceptance of lovers like Lucelle or Mira, or the camaraderie of comrades walking beside him like Dokgo Yeon, Aasha, or Aire.
She was a senior, an understander who had walked a step ahead.
[...At this point, I think we need to investigate why this woman is shoving her disciple at Master so aggressively. Maybe it's all part of some grand scheme by the sage?]
Lilith ruined the nice atmosphere again.
"Hoo. Eve."
"Sssit."
[Eh, sis?!]
Ban Yu-won sighed and left Lilith in Eve's care.
He turned his gaze back to the Tower's harmony unfolding before him and reactivated his Origin Sword to chase it once more.
A small amount of demon, life, body, and a tiny bit of soul clustered to form a diminutive evil goblin.
'Adjust the flow of concepts. Use my divine authority to temporarily shape a shell, pour in the contents, and solidify. So far, so good. If the shell holds even after escaping my authority's influence, it's a success.'
Nearly three weeks since his first solo attempt, he'd made solid progress in shaping forms from raw concepts.
If he weren't used to imbuing inanimate objects with life and soul to rebirth them as his kin, progress would have been much slower.
This creation work—if perfect creation was 100, he'd reached 50-60.
Indeed, the goblins he made moved almost indistinguishably from real ones under his Origin Sword's influence.
'Night and day from three weeks ago, when even shaping a form was impossible.'
Training in the Orb's space had helped immensely.
Thanks to the Orb's authority backing up formations he couldn't sense, he'd slowly learned and now could shape them with his own power!
The rest hinged on whether the finished creation held without his authority...
"Oh."
Cellon let out a soft exclamation as the goblin collapsed spectacularly into concepts.
Ban Yu-won, half-expecting it, wasn't disappointed.
It was akin to granting permanence to concepts born of his authority.
Infinitely harder and less efficient than creating temporary ones.
Master it to the extent of his reach, and it would be complete.
"Think I can nail it before second semester ends."
"Then you can peek at the Tower's other secrets."
"Probably move to the next nursery then."
Both shaping the form and filling it to completion...
The higher the target’s level, the steeper the difficulty spiked.
He could manage goblins now, but attempting a mighty orc warrior or armored centipede would fry his brain.
"What, so it'll never end? Guess it'll feel like this for a while."
[You look a bit pleased—sure enough, this woman too...]
"Eve, rein in your sister."
"Sssit."
This week would be busy with Tower climbs, but next was an official special activity.
To the A-4 dimension—one of the demon realm's most dangerous spots.
At minimum, he'd like a perfect goblin by then. With such vague thoughts, Ban Yu-won extended his hand again to condense concepts.
Between the B-125 and B-127 dimensions once lay B-126, otherwise known as Prueston.
"Lay" because the dimension hadn't vanished—it was just that no one sought it anymore.
A brutal war had erupted over control of Prueston, escalating into a cataclysm that swallowed its entire humanity.
Everyone knew some Ten Great Families lurked behind it.
But the dimension's unique resources depleted mid-war, stripping its value, and dangerous dungeons triggered waves. Convinced further involvement meant losses, they pulled out early.
Innocent pawns remained, soon devoured by monsters.
Now a forsaken dimension where a single misstep meant asteroids—and you—getting gulped whole, it was firmly etched as off-limits for dimension travelers.
"Ha, these crazy bastards for real."
Quellan Ruchato was right there in that forsaken hell.
Despite shrinking fleets and slashed authority from repeated failures, he remained an Exodus executive.
A status letting him nap carefree even in this ultra-high-risk lawless zone spanning a whole dimension.
"You really wanna go at it with us? For real? Things are tight lately—why keep charging in blind?!"
But his authority apparently didn't faze the rabble encircling his fleet now.
Even stern scoldings over comms failed to slow the enemy closing in.
Just sharp retorts flew back.
—You scum trampled Crimson Spear's pride.
—Stole our holy sword too.
—We settle this debt by taking it back, minimum.
Crimson Spear—they'd finally tracked his location and swarmed en masse.
Quellan had of course called for backup, and Exodus, unwilling to lose a pride match to Crimson Spear, dispatched reinforcements pronto.
Somehow, this sparked a massive fleet battle between Exodus and Crimson Spear.
Quellan had no intention of backing down blindly either.
Just one thing he couldn't swallow.
"That damn holy sword isn't with me, you morons!"
Being grilled for a crime he didn't commit.
Demanding treasure he'd never touched!
What greater humiliation for a dimension pirate?!
—Guess we'll have to spill blood to knock some sense into you.
—Been hating how you looked down on us. Time to set the pecking order.
"Why the hell do I have to be your stepping stone?!"
For Quellan, who'd ridden a wave of success since joining Exodus, this was unacceptable.
Could things spiral this badly?
What the hell were those punks imitating him and slipping away from D-13?!
"Can't forgive you filthy...! With the grand undertaking ahead, now's not the time to dick-measure with these worms!"
Could he hold till reinforcements arrived?
No—clashing with Crimson Spear now and losing forces, could he complete the grand plan in Union intact?
The answer was grim.
Quellan cursed his past reckless self, lured by the holy sword and As Light's gem, and those damn pirates who'd aped him to hook Crimson Spear.
He began battle prep.
Exodus, backed by mecha deities and constellations to claim the Tower.
Crimson Spear, propped by Ten Great Families to shatter dimension order.
Their clash...
...Whichever won, it felt like those imitators would get what they wanted—and that irked him most.