Chapter 84
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Lesson 18. Midterms - 6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday lunchtime.
Ban Yu-won and Kettra had entered a private study room in the Union Academy library.
With exams approaching, Union Academy was burning with academic fervor just like a university in Korea. Kettra, leveraging her position as an executive in the student council, had boldly secured the private room!
"How about it, junior? Pretty thrilling, right? Don't you want to join the student council? Power really is the best."
"Yeah, sure."
Ban Yu-won drew his hand through the air, sketching out multiple magical languages to activate his spell, even as he marveled at her attitude.
Soundproofing, barrier, isolation.
It severed all physical and magical influences from the outside world completely.
"Hey, hey, that's not first-year level."
Kettra watched in astonishment as the private study room transformed into a fortress in a matter of moments under Ban Yu-won's hand.
Even so, her tone was remarkably friendly, considering they'd only exchanged greetings once before.
"Is it? I've never compared myself to others, so I wouldn't know."
"Well, compared to a barrier magic expert, it's not quite there... but I hear you handle attack magic too? And you build incantations this solidly and quickly. No wonder everyone's paying attention."
Kettra openly acknowledged and praised Ban Yu-won's abilities, without a trace of jealousy.
Being the student council vice president meant she was an elite even among the Special Class students.
Moreover, she attended Professor Xenon's lectures, so she was likely contracted with a constellation, receiving sponsorship, or at least approached by one.
With such solid confidence in her own abilities, there was no reason to envy others.
'That's the ideal image of a strong person...'
In contrast, Lucien Ortima was the worst.
Someone truly capable proves their worth through actions, not empty words.
But that guy only knew how to use his power to crush the weak—he was trash, incomparable.
"Speaking of which, I heard Lucien Ortima's coming back before the exams."
"Pretty late return. Must've been seriously injured... Oh right, you went into the same dungeon, didn't you? What was he really like?"
To reiterate, the academy student council stood in opposition to the Special Class.
It should be fine to be a little honest.
"Not a good guy."
"I heard the whole story—everything."
Kettra exaggeratedly shrugged her shoulders before suddenly leaning in close to Ban Yu-won's face.
"Anyone can see Professor Yumina favors you, just from that flower brooch. Still, it's smart to build connections with students too—especially when dealing with spoiled brats from the Ten Great Families like Ortima."
She punctuated it with a wink.
Ban Yu-won replied seriously.
"Wink at girls only from now on."
"Weird. It usually works on guys too."
"Let's get to the point."
As he cleared his throat, wondering if excessive confidence wasn't always a good thing, Ban Yu-won got down to business.
"About this incident."
Before entering the private room, he'd scanned the students in the general reading room and spotted those who'd consumed the potion.
Thanks to the potion, they were all focused on studying... but Ban Yu-won couldn't help tensing up at the ominous glow of constellation traces emanating from within them.
Each one looked like a bomb ready to go off at any moment.
"Oh, you figured something out?!"
"I don't know the culprit... but how's the potion antidote coming along?"
Anyone not an idiot could guess from his words that Ban Yu-won had made progress analyzing the potion.
Kettra's expression brightened as she explained.
"As you probably know, junior, professors rarely intervene in student matters. They do pay more attention to first-years... but the culprit knew that and limited sales to second-years and above."
"So right now, without professor help, it's tough for students alone to analyze the potion and fix the side effects?"
"Exactly."
From the moment they'd come to a mere freshman like him for help, he'd half-expected this.
Of course, Ban Yu-won didn't think every student in this academy—gathered from the most talented across dimensions—was incompetent.
But having the ability to solve it and actually stepping up were two different things.
After all, if they just sat back and watched, dozens of rivals would eliminate themselves.
As the chancellor had said, getting taken out by a rival exploiting your weakness was your own fault.
"Ah—I think I know what you're thinking, junior. Spot on. Our academy students are mostly individualists. Even past incidents like this were handled by the student council alone."
"This really drives home why we need a student council in an academy controlled by an absolute like the chancellor."
Free competition sounded great, but letting everyone run wild could collapse the place.
The student council was like the academy's last bastion of conscience, preventing that.
"Yeah... Normally, Mira handles this stuff. But she's busy with something else lately... so I recommended you instead."
"Busy with what?"
"Huh? You don't mean..."
As Ban Yu-won showed interest, Kettra poked him playfully with a mischievous grin.
It was genuinely annoying.
"You fell for Mira? Makes sense—she's stunning. But good luck; she's got high standards."
"No, nothing like that. More like you two..."
"Huh?"
Kettra burst out laughing, guessing his implication.
"No way. We're just close because we're rare races from other dimensions. I'm all about free love—no being tied down to one person."
"Does she think the same?"
"High standards, remember? I'm not even on her radar."
Ban Yu-won didn't press further.
Kettra seemed sincere, at least.
"Council execs, including Mira, are always swamped. But hey, it's all great experience. Most of us are racking up top scores in the tower too. You know they give bonus points for tower floors reached starting second year? We're mostly at the top."
Kettra hustled to promote, worried Ban Yu-won might hold a grudge against the council.
Maybe pulling him into the council mattered more to her than solving this incident.
"So... Junior Ban Yu-won. Did you find the antidote?"
"Yes. But I'd like to keep it under wraps."
"Hm?"
Kettra frowned slightly.
"Is that why you brought up Mira? Because she's in a similar field?"
"Honestly, yeah. This 'antidote recipe' uses my unique technique—I want to keep it secret as much as possible."
Of course, that was a lie.
Even Professor Campanella from the artifact crafting department—or the chancellor himself—would struggle to unravel the structure of Ban Yu-won's creation.
He just didn't want Mira, or the constellation behind her, knowing he was the one devising the solution.
He had zero interest in getting more entangled with those constellation bastards.
"So I want to handle this just between me, you, and the people who took the potion."
"Ugh... I'm grateful you're stepping up with no reward."
The brown-haired dark elf nodded thoughtfully, a faint bitter smile on her lips.
"From Mira's friend's perspective, it's awkward. No, I'm not blaming you. Just disappointed I couldn't earn your trust."
"Won't change once we get closer? Cut me some slack this time."
"Oh! I'll hold you to that."
Kettra slapped Ban Yu-won's back with a grin.
If he could fool her this easily, it was a cheap price.
Ban Yu-won grinned back.
"Alright, let's get serious. First, how do we identify everyone who took the potion and get the antidote to them..."
"Great, great. That's our specialty. Here's what we do—"
Thursday afternoon featured Professor Yumina's magic lecture.
As Ban Yu-won took a seat, Aire—somehow already there—slid into the one beside him.
No matter how well Aire got along with the Rebellion members, the two of them sitting together alone was rare enough to stir faint murmurs among the first-years in the class.
"Why the sudden closeness?"
"Friends. Building bonds."
"Bonding with me won't get you..."
"Ah, got it."
Ban Yu-won nodded naturally, recalling a high school classmate who'd cozied up to him just to get close to a girl he was friends with back then.
Her intentions were obvious and amusing, but to repeat: Aire had top-tier name recognition among first-years, on par with Lucien Ortima.
If he could befriend her, he could sell out As Light a hundred times over...!
"Ban Yu-won."
"Yeah?"
Ban Yu-won reviewed everything he knew about As Light, preparing to answer her questions.
"You're doing a study group."
"Study group."
"Just with Class 11 kids."
"Ah, saw the channel video?"
He instantly grasped what she wanted and nodded in satisfaction.
Nice—she'd put some thought into it.
9 out of 10.
Like some dating guru, Ban Yu-won mentally graded her as he replied.
"I can squeeze you in anytime. We'd need a new spot, though."
"Yeah...? Not bad, but..."
"Huh?"
"Research magic with me."
Ban Yu-won blinked.
With me, not As Light?
A bit embarrassed his guess missed, but Aire continued without minding.
"Our magic spars showed me my weaknesses. But I can help you too. So let's research together."
"Hmm...?"
—What the hell is this puny girl saying? Help me?
Maybe still salty from having her chant disrupted last time, Sellon—who uniquely despised Aire, calling her 'wench'—raised her voice in excitement.
But thankfully, her voice didn't reach Aire.
Ban Yu-won realized Aire was purely proposing this to improve her magical skills and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Submitting a joint paper can replace the midterm and final for this class."
"Let's do it."
Ban Yu-won nodded eagerly after quick mental math.
Sellon, naturally, freaked out.
—Hey! Just learn magic from me!
'From you? Basics were from Mina noona.'
—Wow, for real. The talismans and this antidote would've been tough without me.
'Grateful for the hints, sure...'
—Waaah!
She hadn't been this annoying when he first awakened her—what had gone wrong?
As Ban Yu-won pondered seriously, Aire said.
"Start after school today."
"Need to check my schedule. Got the group study and personal training... Want to join those too?"
"Sounds good. Bonding."
"...You're getting harder to read."
"Huh?"
As they wrapped up, Professor Yumina entered the lecture hall.
Aire immediately reported their joint research, naturally drawing more attention to them.
"Should we ask to join too, Misty?"
"I'd rather bite my tongue and die. Why's the princess hanging with him...!"
"What if she really switches to Class 11?!"
And maybe you two should try talking to us directly for once, Misty.
Your name's kinda bothering me.
Friday morning dawned.
Normally a day for tower runs or special activities, but exams had canceled the schedule, leaving self-study or assignments at discretion.
It was also the day Ban Yu-won and Kettra would move in earnest.
If they let it spill into next week when real exams started, it'd spiral out of control—they had to end it today.
"Everyone's identified, right?"
"Definitely. Got help from Graham. Guy's way more meticulous and sharp-eyed than he looks."
"Save that story for later... Let's start."
"Alright."
Ban Yu-won handed Kettra a flask filled with a transparent liquid blazing like fire.
"Let's wrap this up quick."
Snap—!
The black-skinned fairy grinned and snapped her fingers.
"Changeling."
Time to turn all those pitiful fools back into pretty kids.
They were currently in the student cafeteria, where every student ate.
