Why Did I Have to Enroll

When he opened his eyes in the dungeon, there was a stranger standing before him.

Light couldn't move properly as he was wary of her.

Though he desperately wanted to draw his holy sword... he also clearly wanted to overcome his tendency to rely on the holy sword whenever something happened, so for now he just gripped tightly onto the spear he had received from his friend.

"What's your purpose? Why did you follow us in here? Are you also in league with that Ortima?"

"...An apology."

She looked around curiously, but when she noticed Light's spear pointing at her, she let out a small sigh and replied.

"I have something to apologize to him for."

"Him?"

"Ban Yu-won."

Light, who had no way of knowing that someone had tried to interfere with Ban Yu-won's magic, wore a dumbfounded expression.

However, his conversation partner, Ayre, didn't help his understanding and turned away first.

"I'll be going then."

"W-wait, just wait a moment."

"?"

Ayre, who was about to leave naturally, tilted her head and looked back at Light's urgent call.

Light was the one who wanted to tilt his head in confusion.

Even Light, a holy sword contractor, couldn't guarantee his survival in this unknown dungeon, yet this woman was acting so confidently about moving around alone!

Despite his bewilderment, Light pointed to the earring on his ear and said.

"I can find where Ban is with this. Let's go together."

"...You believe me?"

"If you knew I wouldn't believe you, why did you just drop the conclusion without any explanation?!"

Light finally exploded, but Ayre just pressed her lips together and nodded, as if even opening her mouth would consume energy.

She clearly had no intention of explaining in detail what had happened between her and Ban Yu-won, even if it killed her!

'This is driving me crazy. How did Ban get involved with such a high-level elite...'

Light couldn't understand what she was thinking at all.

If there was one thing he realized, it was that he'd found it suspicious from the start - that guy Ban seemed to have quite a few women falling for him! ꞦÅＮöꞖĘŚ

Not to mention Luciel who had been eyeing him from the beginning, even Dokgo Yeon, who had initially been so stern, now seemed to have spring breezes blowing around her whenever she was with Ban Yu-won.

He had to be careful not to fall for it himself - he absolutely must not be fooled by that kind appearance...!

"Anyway, if you don't intend to be hostile... you can come with me."

"Then, lead the way."

Ayre spoke those two sentences and then closed her mouth again.

He felt like she was staring intently at the earring on his ear, but even that was only for a moment.

Light couldn't help but sigh at the noble lady's attitude, showing absolutely no interest in him and seemingly no intention of further conversation.

"Sigh, why have I gotten so used to being treated like this..."

In the world I was born in, I was actually loved by everyone.

I came here carrying everyone's expectations...

Light pouted his lips, feeling like he had become a side character, and took the lead.

If he could just sense the magic energy, he could intuitively grasp the direction and distance of other Rebellion members through the earring.

'I can't tell who's who, but it seems like two are together, and one is moving alone. Luciel probably stuck with Ban.'

He remembered seeing Luciel kick someone away and desperately grab onto Ban Yu-won as they were being sucked into the gate that appeared when the dungeon was created.

Leaving aside Dokgo Yeon, who wasn't someone Light needed to worry about, he had a rough idea of where to go to meet up with Ban Yu-won.

The only minor problem was the maze wall blocking their path.

"If we go around the maze, we'll probably get further away from where Ban is."

"I'll handle it."

Ayre stepped forward, her sky-blue hair fluttering, and quietly placed her hand on the wall before them.

A sky-blue glass bead, the Wizard Orb, similar to her hair color, whirled around her, amplifying her magic power.

"Don't tell me you're going to break down the maze walls like Ban... oh."

—Swoosh

Light's words trailed off as his mouth gaped open.

This was nothing like Ban Yu-won's refined ability.

It was simply ice magic composed of overwhelming magic power.

A section of the maze wall, which was made of stellar power and should have cleanly deflected ordinary magic, froze over and then shattered into pieces the next moment.

Though the fallen fragments tried to gather themselves back together with a will of their own to reconstruct the wall, the pervading cold in the area suppressed them.

"...It has regenerative power. Hurry."

"Ah."

Through the cleared passage, they could see a bronze-skinned monster lying flat on the ground, completely intimidated by the overwhelming display of magic power.

Ayre calmly walked past the monster and pressed forward, while Light followed behind her in disbelief.

'Though our kingdom had quite a few powerful mages... I don't think this level was very common.'

Could this woman be even stronger than Dokgo Yeon?

Though she didn't seem to be an enemy, she wasn't someone he could completely let his guard down around either.

Light was about to draw his holy sword from the air, but decided against it, concluding that for now, it would be better to accept her help to regroup with his companions, even if she had other intentions.

"Aren't you coming?"

"No, I am. Let's go."

Just as Light was pouting in response to Ayre turning back to urge him along...

"...I've figured it out now."

"W-what?"

Ayre, who had been staring at him intently, suddenly narrowed her eyes and spoke.

Light's heart sank.

"It's advanced sorcery."

A hint of interest could be seen appearing on her previously expressionless face.

What does she mean by advanced sorcery?

Could she have noticed?

"What sorcery?"

Light, unaware that his party members had long since figured out his true identity, tensely opened his mouth, but...

"Let's go."

She said nothing more and simply hurried forward.

Though she appeared to walk gracefully, her pace was surprisingly quick.

Watching Ayre's back as she reached the opposite wall and began freezing it, Light let out another sigh.

'I want to see Ban.'

If only to get rid of this strange woman, he needed to regroup with Ban Yu-won as quickly as possible.

It wasn't that he was depending on him or had any other feelings.

Not at all.

*

'No one is here.'

Dokgo Yeon let out a faint sigh as she checked her surroundings upon entering the dungeon.

It would be a lie to say she wasn't worried about the Rebellion members, but 'worry' wasn't really a word that suited her.

Rather than sitting still and worrying about someone, she preferred to take action herself and make it so that no one would need to worry at all.

'This works out well. They must think they can mess with us without being discovered inside the dungeon...'

She drew the ink-colored short sword from her waist and smiled coldly.

Though Ban Yu-won had said they shouldn't kill him out of concern for the Ortima family's revenge.

In a closed dungeon like this, if someone dies, who could possibly determine who did it?

Of course, the Ortima family, who so blatantly set this trap, might persecute her and Rebellion even without evidence.

But looking at it another way, weren't they the ones targeting their lives while going to such extremes, even though Rebellion hadn't done anything wrong?

Perhaps killing that young lord here would save them trouble later.

'Ban Yu-won thinks he's cold and rational, but he's simply hesitant and soft-hearted. He's as mushy as an overripe persimmon.'

Ortima crossed the line when they set this trap, even dragging in other academy students while targeting their lives.

But Ban Yu-won was still trying to respond within reasonable bounds.

Just as he did at the previous academy, he was trying to build a solid case and defeat them through just and clean methods.

This proved that he had never competed with others for their lives before, had never harmed others for his own goals.

Though similar to her in many ways, that man was fundamentally different from her in crucial aspects.

'But that's fine. For now, it's okay for him to stay as he is.'

Though Dokgo Yeon thought Ban Yu-won's sense of justice was foolish, she also found his inexperience and naivety endearing.

She even wanted to protect him from becoming like herself.

That was partly why she intended to kill Ortima.

Because she knew if she didn't kill him here, he would surely come back to harass them with even dirtier methods.

Then Ban Yu-won's response, his mindset, would have to change.

She didn't like the idea of Ban Yu-won changing because of someone other than herself.

'How silly. He's not even my subordinate.'

After softly sighing to dispel her thoughts, she spread out her spiritual sense to locate her target.

She detected many things in the process, including some unexpected elements.

There was clearly a foreign presence mixed in that was targeting Ban Yu-won rather than her.

Would it be dangerous?

Should she go protect him?

After thinking for a moment, she shook her head.

He wasn't so weak that she needed to step in and protect him at every turn.

'He has his loyal beast by his side too... I'll focus on my task.'

She moved.

Slicing left and right with her short sword, she cut through the maze walls and advanced through the gaps.

It was easier than the tower walls which couldn't be cut even with the utmost strength.

This proved with her own body that the tower's power far surpassed the authority of the constellations.

—Keuruk, keeeeh...!

"I'll take your fear."

From the dungeon creatures that could neither charge nor flee before her fierce presence, she extracted the source of energy she wielded and added it to her steps.

With each step she took, she destroyed all living things around her, absorbing their magic power and emotions to grow stronger.

Though she was emitting considerable force while charging straight through the labyrinth, rather than diminishing, her energy continued to swell - this was the true power of the divine skill she had mastered.

"Hmm? I didn't expect them to come from that direction."

Her display of power was strange and unprecedented, almost as if deliberately announcing her presence here.

Soon she felt a massive presence approaching her, having sensed this.

This was exactly as Dokgo Yeon had intended.

"Dokgo Yeon."

When they were close enough to see each other, her opponent spoke.

Facing the young noble backed by one of the top ten families in the previous dimension with her cross-marked black eyes, Dokgo Yeon likewise spoke his name.

"Ortima's whelp."

She used honorifics with everyone, a severe habit formed in childhood when she was surrounded only by terrifying adults.

But there were times when she didn't use honorifics.

That was when she intended to kill someone.

"Lucein, Lucein Rounpalomer Equinas Ortima. Remember well the name of the man who will be your husband."

"A worthless one who has never achieved anything on his own, putting on airs atop a precariously built foundation."

Husband? There are limits to not knowing one's place.

Dokgo Yeon laughed through her nose and continued slowly.

"When you finally lose your balance and fall, you'll break that big nose of yours."

"You certainly have no filter before your future husband. You need some lessons in manners."

"Does this prison built with borrowed family power look sturdy to you?"

Dokgo Yeon's fierce aura gradually drew inward.

Some might think she had tired herself out after continuously expending such massive energy while traversing the dungeon.

Lucein Ortima made the same judgment.

"Even in this state, your spirit remains high. That makes me like you even more."

He had requested this draining dungeon structure specifically to exhaust her power.

One of Exodus's patron constellations, the Lantern of the Wandering Night, had faithfully fulfilled his requirements.

Satisfied with the result, he planned to tell his family to provide some funding to Exodus.

Though they were poor lowlifes who only pillaged lower dimensions... though they foolishly dreamed of overthrowing the tower without knowing their place.

A ruler must know how to use even the lowest beings according to their purpose.

"Hah..."

Dokgo Yeon exhaled roughly, as if his delusions were none of her concern.

If Ban Yu-won were here, he would have instantly realized how foolish Ortima's judgment was.

Because only he could clearly read the dense killing intent concentrated throughout her body, and the death that was gradually deepening within it.

"You've made my plan easier."

Dokgo Yeon smiled as she spoke, having compressed her energy without waste, like loading a bullet into a gun.

"I was prepared to face hundreds, but to think you'd stand before me alone."

"You dare challenge me? Well, if you don't understand the meaning of controlling the constellation that rules this dungeon, you might bare your teeth like that."

Ortima clapped his hands lightly.

Space distorted.

The dungeon's energy began to press down on Dokgo Yeon.

"Now then, let's begin your etiquette lessons. First, how to speak respectfully to your husband."

Ortima raised his hand.

His ability to exercise power by interfering with the world's principles combined quite well with the constellation's power that controlled the dungeon's energy.

When he couldn't overwhelm her with his authority in their previous clash, the method Ortima devised to defeat her was to strengthen his authority by adding external power.

And though it seemed quite effective in practice...

"What...?!"

The moment it touched Dokgo Yeon's body to force her submission, everything dissipated before the black energy that erupted from within her.

Her magic power was so dense it made the presence she had shown at school seem like child's play.

Death.

"You wench, don't tell me you were hiding your power—?!"

"People can't be reformed."

Dokgo Yeon said with an arrogant smile.

Seugeuk, the moment her short sword glowed black and cut through the air.

Ortima's right arm, which he had extended toward her, rolled on the ground, severed from the shoulder.

"Keok, keuha...?!"

"Therefore, I have no intention of teaching you anything."

Of course, Dokgo Yeon had no intention of stopping there.

The death that bloomed in her grasp roared silently as it opened its maw.

"You insect."

With a playful smile, she declared.

"You shall die here."

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