Chapter 320
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 320
Chapter Title: Lesson 62. Changes - 5
S-grade dimensions had already weathered Prominence, yet Melodia, an S-9 grade world, harbored wonders that surpassed it.
Logically speaking, Prominence as an S-7 should outrank Melodia in dimensional hierarchy, so Ban Yu-won couldn't fathom how Melodia's magical power density could exceed Prominence's—but...
Misty, catching on to his thoughts, silently glanced at Aire, offering him a hint without a word.
"No way, for real?"
"At the very least, the timing matches."
If that were truly the case, it made perfect sense why not only the Melodia family but even those from dragon-unaffiliated houses like Misty and Reshu held Aire in such awe.
But perhaps their abbreviated exchange looked too intimate, as Aire shoved Misty away with a displeased scowl.
"Yu-won is my friend."
"Yeees, of course he is, Aire!"
"Then that's that."
"In that case, Aire, uh, what about me...?"
Aire ignored Misty's further words.
Misty, clearly angling for a "Am I your friend too?" kind of question, shot Ban Yu-won another resentful glare, but this time he couldn't back her up.
By now, the space fleet that had launched from the planet was closing in on them.
Ban Yu-won knew full well what the musical note emblems embedded along the massive hulls symbolized.
"They come to greet us?"
"It's for Aire."
Misty puffed up with pride for some reason.
Aire, meanwhile, kept a calm expression. Her unique detachment in situations where any human might feel superiority or pride only made her seem all the more extraordinary.
Reshu was trembling visibly, her nerves apparently frail, while Ban Yu-won...
[The killing intent is thick, Master.]
'Yeah, tell me about it.'
He gave a wry smile, sensing the Melodia family's aura, which felt anything but welcoming.
No, if Aire—who had the full backing of the Melodia family—were clinging desperately to some outsider like him, even he'd find it unwelcome if he were part of the family.
Still, the hostility seemed overly intense to chalk up to that alone... Perhaps it tied back to whatever Aire had shown when facing Xenon earlier. The intuition struck him sharply.
[How does that connect so quickly?]
'When someone acts wildly out of character, clues to the reason pop up fast. Russian playwright Anton Chekhov once said that if you describe a gun hanging over the fireplace in Act 1, you have to fire it by Act 3.'
The day Dokgo Yeon died.
Ban Yu-won hadn't forgotten how Aire had unleashed unusually vicious words and surging killing intent laced with magical power.
He didn't know exactly who it was aimed at... but now, he intended to read and memorize every concept he could with all his abilities.
Never again would his shortcomings cost him something precious.
[So, if things go south, you'll shoot the Melodia family head with that gun?]
'You got it perfectly.'
[I get Chekhov's gun now. But what about MacGuffin?]
'Great word, huh? I'll explain it properly later.'
[Meaning you won't.]
'You've already grasped the essence of a MacGuffin.'
As the ships drew near their shuttle, a transmission came through.
—Welcome, Lady Aire. Shall we take you to the family head?
"No, I'm resting with Yu-won. Prepare a large room in the estate."
—The family head wishes to meet with Student Ban Yu-won.
"Talk to him with me tomorrow."
—He insists on speaking alone. And right now.
Aire raised her voice toward the messenger on the other end of the comms, her face incredulous.
"Why? You gonna steal Yu-won away?"
—He promises to return you immediately. The family head has personally arranged the time and place for his meeting with Ban Yu-won.
Ban Yu-won could tell the messenger wasn't addressing Aire. He had no idea when the Melodias had started treating his ownership as a commodity, but the point was clear: Step in before she overreacts.
Before Aire could escalate further—looking ready to swerve the shuttle away from the fleet—he calmed her and responded to the transmission himself.
"Send me the coordinates. I'll head over."
—Understood, Student Ban Yu-won.
The messenger replied instantly, as if waiting for him to butt in, and transmitted the coordinates.
Aire's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the exchange, sweeping her gaze over the fleet now encircling their shuttle like an escort—or a blockade.
"Yu-won, wait."
"I'll be right back."
Ban Yu-won spoke, mentally setting aside the gun he'd fire at the family head just in case.
"I don't like their approach. It's rough and high-handed."
"It's one of the Ten Great Families. What'd you expect? Just wait here."
He soothed the fuming Aire—who was flashing her dragon eyes—with fitting words, then waved casually at the wide-eyed Misty and Reshu before manifesting his Genesis Sword.
Having devoured spatial control concepts and incorporated imperfect teleportation, the Genesis Sword had evolved more completely after battles with the constellation and Xenon, who dominated entire spaces.
Now it could handle vast distances stably, short of interdimensional jumps.
"Ah."
The next instant, teleporting to the provided coordinates, Ban Yu-won found himself in a corner of an office reminiscent of Union Academy's chancellor's room. A middle-aged man lounged on a sofa, sipping tea leisurely.
"You didn't even touch the barrier."
The man tilted his cup, took a sip, and eyed Ban Yu-won sharply.
Ban Yu-won shrugged, a touch proud of his refined technique.
"Yeah. My martial arts specialize in reading gaps, after all."
"Gaps, huh..."
The man sipped again.
"I took pride in weaving the most flawless barrier this side of the True Dragon's direct magic—save for dragons themselves... and you found a gap in it."
Thirsty, perhaps? Ignoring Ban Yu-won, he kept drinking, so Ban Yu-won sat opposite him unbidden.
Marveling at the plush cushioning unlike anything from Earth or Union—Rich folks sure know luxury—he tested the sofa, prompting a scoff from the man: Rasteil Pendragon Melodia, head of the Melodia family.
"Hard to tell who's the guest and who's the host."
"If you'd called me as a guest, you'd have told me to sit comfortably ages ago."
The family head had no retort.
From dragging Ban Yu-won away from Aire by force to leaving him standing while sipping tea, it was all rudely unguestlike—and the head knew it.
Of course, it was a calculated mix of dissatisfaction and testing him.
Ban Yu-won wasn't one to kowtow or cower before a Ten Great Family head.
If he were, he wouldn't have climbed Babel Tower.
"Still, let me start with thanks. Your aid last time helped us repel Prominence's invasion."
"You think a few words wrap it up?"
"I've got plenty more to owe Melodia for."
"You said as much with Aire watching. Fair enough."
Ban Yu-won couldn't help chuckling at the family head's furrowed brow.
"I'll help improve the Dragon Soldier Project. Aire and I settled on that for next year's research theme."
"Generous repayment... The next master of Babel Tower lending a hand in artifact creation."
Facing the slowly speaking head, Ban Yu-won thought, Yeah, figures.
It might sound boastful, but his abilities were too exalted for his age. Even the glimpses he'd shown hinted at common threads with Babel Tower's myriad miracles.
Besides, the family head had seemed to grasp his true nature from their first meeting—no surprise there.
"The hostility I sensed upon entering this dimension—was it because I'm tied to Babel Tower?"
"Spot on. You've heard the rumors, but to be clear: the Tower's architect is the True Dragons' enemy."
"The Babel Tower's builder sought to merge all dimensions into one with the Tower as the axis, so the True Dragons erected dimensional walls to stop it?"
"Ha."
The Melodia head looked genuinely stunned by Ban Yu-won's words.
"Where'd you get such precise info? Dimensional lockdown magic seals that knowledge everywhere... No, the traitor's grave, right?"
"Exactly."
In truth, he hadn't found explicit mention of True Dragons raising the walls in those ruins, but the head bought his bluff completely.
The moment Ban Yu-won's lineage was revealed as foes to the True Dragons.
Ban Yu-won sighed deeply, rubbing his temples.
"Our ancestors brawled, but no need for me and Aire to draw blades over it."
"Dragons grant wisdom for long lives. Reviewing history I've lived, such enmity repeats endlessly—foolishly so."
"Frankly," the head began, setting down his empty cup.
"I'm thinking killing you here would be simplest."
"That's why you separated me from Aire and summoned me alone."
"Yes, but..."
The head stayed put.
Precisely, he had to.
No sense he could fully suppress or kill Ban Yu-won before Aire arrived or he fled.
His honed martial arts kept him poised to counter flawlessly; his refined top-tier magical power ready at a whim.
"You're too strong to assassinate quietly."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Strength aside, his arrival method was absurd.
Asking for coordinates like some cocky kid mocking them? Fine, they'd humor him—only for him to teleport with peerless spatial mastery no one else could mimic.
Spatial teleportation defined the Ten Great Family Melodia.
Surpassing them marked Ban Yu-won as the universe's best in spatial movement and control.
And he'd just sit there politely while they tried to kill him?
He could bolt in a flash.
"This... make any sense? Last I saw you, you weren't this strong. Barely half a year ago."
"Busy time."
Ban Yu-won replied with a playful grimace, mimicking the head's earlier scowl—irritatingly so.
The head sighed, his hatred for this potential enemy quelled by reverence for the young dragon.
Ban Yu-won's Life had long surpassed 2,000.
"Calculations done? Then let's talk Aire. Straight—no detours."
"If that's what you want."
Tongue clicking, the head cut to the chase.
"Lady Aire is no dragonkin."
"Wait, hold on."
"She is a True Dragon."
It felt like taking a bullet.
Cursing Anton Chekhov inwardly, Ban Yu-won slowly closed his eyes.