Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Lesson 10. You Are My Master - 4
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"Master? ...Are you okay?"
Ban Yu-won stared at the girl calling him "Master" and briefly remembered the patriots who had fought for Korean independence, silently paying his respects.
In other words, he was escaping reality.
Of course, that didn't last long.
Lucelle was staring at him intently from an uncomfortably close distance.
"Master?"
"This can't be real..."
Subjugation.
Lucelle, subjugated to me.
Me, becoming the master of a slave!
"You seem fine now. ...Hee."
"No, why are you so happy about this..."
Ban Yu-won was in full-blown panic.
"I love it. Absolutely."
On the other hand, Lucelle's smile looked utterly refreshed after resolving all her issues with the Heart Furnace in a way no one could have anticipated. The problem was how close she was to him—too close to even move comfortably.
It was as if she was forcibly making him aware of the utterly undesirable relationship that had just formed between them...
"Lucelle, could you back up a bit?"
"Yes!"
With an immediate response like she was saluting, she backed away—just a tiny bit, microscopically.
This was the result of his persistent requests from moments ago.
No, maybe this was a blessing in disguise?
Even though she was supposedly subjugated, she wasn't fully obeying his words.
'Right, this is just an exaggerated expression using the term "subjugation" to describe a slice of our relationship. Proof is that the Heart Furnace depth is still at 1.'
From his experience handling and encountering language concepts so far, a depth of 1 was barely perceptible.
For that concept to hold independent meaning and produce significant results, it needed at least 10.
So he could relax until subjugation reached 10.
Probably.
Please.
'I can't tell my parents I gained a classmate—a girl who relies on me—as a slave, not even if I die...!'
Ban Yu-won clutched his throbbing head and decided to sort out the current situation first.
He absorbed all the scattered concepts—including those from the orc centurion Kuro who had collapsed dead earlier—and killed all but one of the Masked Goblins now charging at them after shaking off the pressure.
"Gruk, human scum! I'll kill you!"
"My head's a mess, so shut up, goblin."
"Kwek!"
He ripped off its mask and shoved it into the goblin's mouth, silencing it for good.
After absorbing all concepts except from that one, he checked the changes in his internalized concepts. It came out roughly like this.
"Whew."
The depths had changed yet again compared to after clearing up to Room 10.
He'd barely killed any monsters himself, so this was already a huge boon.
Especially the massive Monstrous Strength absorbed from the orc centurion—an unexpected gain.
Likewise, gaining Resistance from it pushed his Resistance depth to 10, and he was eager to see what effects that brought.
"Anything else notable? Ferocity stolen from the orcs, and... Judgment...? Why did this pop up?"
"Ferocity!"
Lucelle reacted strongly to one part of his mutterings.
As he turned in surprise, she grabbed his arm with a deadly serious expression.
"Ferocity is crucial for our kind."
"Just moments ago, you were rampaging because you couldn't control it."
"Now I have my master, so it's fine."
Lucelle took Ban Yu-won's sharp retort with flushed cheeks.
Honestly, being called "Master" by a beautiful peer (though he still didn't know her exact age) wasn't unpleasant per se—but that made it all the creepier.
It was like the feeling of a puberty-stricken teen who loved adult videos but could never admit it in front of friends.
"Please, just drop the 'Master' thing..."
"Then... Yu-won-nim...?"
"Call me like you used to, please."
"No, you're my master."
She nodded firmly as she said it.
If it wasn't his imagination, she even seemed to admire her own flawless logic.
Look at that ironclad attitude—not a needle's gap!
Ban Yu-won sighed and proposed a compromise.
"Fine, got it. In exchange, call me by name around others."
"Umm... Okay."
A dramatic compromise was struck.
As he sighed in relief, Ban Yu-won finally noticed Lucelle's condition and stiffened.
Her wounds made his own look like child's play.
With only two left, how much further could they climb? Still, he couldn't leave her like this.
"Here, want a bite of this first?"
"Yes, Master!"
He pulled out the elixir made from Eden's fruit to give her, but her face lit up and she closed the hard-earned distance again.
She grabbed his arm and brought her face close.
Thinking she might kiss him, Ban Yu-won tensed up—then she parted her lips slightly.
"...You want me to feed you?"
She just nodded slightly without answering.
Meeting her unwavering pink eyes, he pondered briefly, realized it was nothing new, and reluctantly scooped some jam onto a spoon to feed her.
But at the same time, he thought, 'Isn't this a bit off for a master-slave dynamic?'
Truly unpredictable.
"Nom...!"
Regardless of his turmoil, the change was dramatic.
Lucelle's eyes flew open wide. She stomped in place, expressing her ecstasy with her whole body as her wounds healed smoothly.
Her stamina and magic power, depleted from the fierce battle, began replenishing.
Moreover, like Ban Yu-won, her potential—and even her traits—had likely grown.
"Hoo... Haa..."
"Ah... Let's sit and talk. Come here."
"Huu, yes."
Lucelle wore an expression of utter comfort, like soaking in warm water.
Ban Yu-won confirmed the goblin he'd tossed aside wouldn't die anytime soon, then led her to sit in a suitable spot.
"So, what about it? Ferocity is important?"
"Yes. Our kind finds our true form by cultivating ferocity. But I..."
"The Heart Furnace made you hesitate to grow it until now."
"Exactly."
This felt like the first time hearing her backstory in full.
As his expression turned serious, Lucelle swallowed and began spilling everything.
"I was born a beastkin. The special part? My ancestor was remarkable, and my father was a constellation contractor."
"Hm?"
He recalled her complicated expression when she'd mentioned constellations before.
Naturally convinced, he nodded, and she continued.
"Father regretted his contract with the constellation. But it had no intention of letting go of our bloodline inheriting the great beast's lineage. Through him, it bestowed a curse-like blessing on me."
"That's the Heart Furnace?"
"Yes. It burns emotions for immense power but makes you overly swayed by them..."
From what he'd seen, it was unequivocally closer to a curse.
It even made her cautious about growing 'ferocity,' the core of beastkin.
"So I... hid my emotions and tried reacting passively to external stimuli."
"Ah... Yeah, that explains your passivity."
Despite her absurd potential, she'd only gained half the ferocity she should have by now.
If half made her this strong, her true potential must be insane—but he'd shelve that for now.
"That constellation, then..."
Ban Yu-won frowned and asked.
"It said it wouldn't remove the Heart Furnace unless I contracted with it?"
"Precisely, it promised to evolve the Heart Furnace into a penalty-free powerhouse ability if I did. But Father refused to let me contract with it and sought another way."
"The Tower?"
"No, I didn't expect Union Academy either. The Tower's selections are beyond human comprehension..."
Her father had hoped she'd find and contract with another constellation.
Believing one with constellation power could resolve the Heart Furnace.
But finding a powerful constellation and ensuring it was benevolent was no easy task, yielding no progress.
Meanwhile, sensing her father's intent, the constellation pressured him by creating another contractor in their world...
"Just as our house was in crisis, I was summoned to the Academy."
"Wait, so your family is okay now?"
"Yes. The protected weakling vanished, so they've likely restored the original balance."
She spoke firmly but couldn't hide her bitterness.
Ban Yu-won was a bit shocked she'd make such an expression.
More shocked that she was treated as the "weakling."
"Hold on."
Here, he caught something odd.
"Then what does my subjugation have to do with that?"
"Because you're my master."
Not an answer.
As his eyes narrowed, she hurriedly explained.
"It's instinct engraved in beastkin souls. We become wholly subservient to our acknowledged master, whose commands take absolute priority over anything. So Master can control the Heart Furnace."
"Hearing that, finding a master seems simpler than a constellation. Why didn't you until now? ...Right, it wasn't simple."
"Yes."
Serving a master instinctively felt resistant anyway, similar to contracting a constellation—so he'd ignore that.
There had to be a reason she hadn't sought a master despite knowing the method.
"Beastkin need an absolute condition to serve a master: their soul's rank must vastly exceed ours for total subjugation."
"Soul's rank... subjugation."
"Yes. But... not to brag, my soul rank is quite high. The Heart Furnace curse from birth made it even higher. By the time my ego formed enough to choose a master, no one I knew qualified..."
Thus, her father had dismissed that option from the start.
Yet with Ban Yu-won, she suddenly thought, 'I could serve this man as master.'
Likely the moment Eve first subdued her.
'Of course. No matter how great Eve is, she couldn't easily overpower someone like Lucelle.'
But Lucelle had become remarkably docile. In hindsight, that was the signal.
A sign that his 'commands' and 'restraints' were acceptable.
From then, she'd gradually let her guard down.
Ban Yu-won could subdue her if needed.
If he became her master, he could control the Heart Furnace!
'Soul's rank.'
Ban Yu-won focused on that from her explanation.
Surprisingly novel.
Only after her subjugation could he finally see Lucelle's soul depth: just over 200.
His own soul: 460.
...More than double?
'Come to think of it, when I awakened my authority, my soul was already at 300.'
She'd just said the Heart Furnace made her soul rank high from birth.
So perhaps his soul was exceptionally high from birth due to the Babylonia Code?
Thanks to that, he could become her master before disaster struck.
Realizing this anew, he slumped his shoulders. As if sensing his burden, Lucelle spoke at the perfect moment.
"I'm glad you decided in time, Master. ...Thank you so much."
"If 'deciding' feels heavy, am I weird?"
"Hee."
She tried to dodge with a cute laugh, but he was immune now.
He knew her friendliness wasn't just affection.
She wouldn't have considered him master if she disliked him, but it wasn't excessive.
'Yeah, we'd just met, and such a pretty, well-endowed girl hitting on me? Suspicious from the start.'
Reaching a rational conclusion, he felt at ease.
Unaware of his foolish thoughts, Lucelle sprang up energetically.
"Then let's go as far as we can together! Thanks to Master, I can handle the Heart Furnace freely now...!"
"Wait."
"Yes?"
She tilted her head quizzically.
Ban Yu-won was thrilled by her newfound positivity—worlds apart from before entering the Tower—but there was business first.
"Ferocity. You've seen my abilities, so you know roughly. I have some condensed from the orcs."
"Ah...!"
Her eyes widened in surprise.
She seemed to finally remember that's what started this talk.
"Really... you'll give it to me?"
"If you want it, gladly."
"I'd gladly take it, as much as you give!"
Ban Yu-won bestowed all 20 Ferocity he'd gathered.
She already had 250 innately.
Her Ferocity jumped 8% in an instant. Unable to contain her high, she bounced in place.
"Quick... let's fight! Nothing scares me now!"
"We're doomed."
"Why?!"
Not her fault per se, but their Tower climb wasn't something two could breeze through forever.
In the end, they couldn't hold out past Room 19 and both got lost.
Ban Yu-won resolved his first duty as master: teach Lucelle 'spells she must never memorize.'
"You got caught by intruders?!"
—But as soon as they exited the Tower, Yumina grabbed them, leaving no time for that.