Why Did I Have to Enroll

Why Did I Have to Enroll - Chapter 161

Lesson 33. The Star of Jade - 1

Luciel said the star’s name is Jeda.

In her tribe’s language, it means jade.

“I can see why it’s called jade.”

“I doubt there’s another star with such a strong personality.”

As they crossed the dimensional wall and approached the star, Ban Yu-won and Dokgo Yeon wore expressions that were half wry smiles, half admiration.

The entire star was covered in green.

“Luciel, is there no ocean on this star?”

“There are many rivers. But the trees grow so tall that you can’t see them well.”

Luciel, who had been nestled in Ban Yu-won’s arms ever since drinking hot chocolate, spoke in a timid voice.

As they broke through the atmosphere and descended, they saw trees towering high enough to pierce the sky, densely covering the land.

Seeing trees growing by the kilometer, they truly felt they had arrived in another world.

“Let’s see, I’m following the coordinates the professor gave me. Will we meet your father if we go this way?”

“Yes. The Beastmen mark their territory with decorations on the trees…”

Luciel took Ban Yu-won’s hand and pointed at the screen.

A part of the surface expanded, revealing the branches at the top of a tree that soared several kilometers, maybe even tens of kilometers high.

A bracelet-like object made of pink and black fur intertwined with sharp beast fangs was hanging there.

Ban Yu-won instinctively checked Luciel’s hair.

“It’s not my hair!”

Realizing what he was thinking, Luciel raised her voice unusually loud and covered her face.

“It’s my mother’s and father’s hair intertwined…”

“So that’s how they mark their territory. It must be a hassle to hang it that high. Can you see it from the ground?”

“They emit a unique scent mixed with magic power, so it’s easily detectable.”

“I see…”

Ban Yu-won imagined Luciel’s parents as he looked at the tightly intertwined pink and black fur, a testament to their bond as a couple.

Come to think of it, he had heard about Luciel’s father but never about her mother.

Her mother must have passed down the pink fur to Luciel, and she probably resembled her in appearance and physique…

Ban Yu-won closed his eyes and imagined a more mature Luciel.

“This won’t do.”

Just imagining it was rated 19+, so he stopped immediately.

Meeting them might be terrifying…!

“…Yu-won? You’re not imagining anything strange, are you?”

“What strange imagination?”

He couldn’t possibly admit who he was thinking of.

Ban Yu-won turned his head, avoiding Luciel’s gaze, and feigned ignorance.

“Oh?”

As they gradually approached the surface, flying close to the towering trees, the branches of the trees at their destination began to tremble and then moved aside to create a path.

“Oh, it looks like they’re opening a barrier for us.”

“A barrier? Ha!”

“Wow…”

As the view opened up and the ground several kilometers below was revealed, Ban Yu-won and Dokgo Yeon let out low exclamations of admiration.

They had been worried about how to land the spaceship with nothing but trees around, but who would have thought it would be resolved this way?

However, on the open ground where the tree barrier had opened, a Beastman stood in a peculiar pose.

Even from a distance, they could see the Beastman wrapping branches around their body.

“Wood Release?!”

“It’s the power to control trees.”

It was indeed Wood Release!

“Controlling trees is a unique ability innate to the Lazy Monkey tribe among the Beastmen… They can cast spells over a wide area of trees to block intruders and sound alarms, so without the Lazy Monkey tribe, tribal nations couldn’t exist on this star.”

“Then they’re a noble class.”

“Yes. They live exceptionally long but are so lazy that they don’t have many descendants. My father worries about that…”

“Reproduction is a species’ instinct, but if even that is too troublesome, um, wait a minute…?”

Lazy Monkey.

A lazy monkey…

A slothia!

“Did they gain the ability to control trees from living in them all the time…?”

“How did you know?!”

As Ban Yu-won pondered that the secret of unique abilities might not be as grand as they seemed, the spaceship lowered its altitude and entered the sea of trees.

The spaceship quickly closed the distance of several kilometers and landed softly on the ground.

When Ban Yu-won and his group disembarked, the spaceship shrank to the size of a palm and automatically entered Ban Yu-won’s inventory.

―Ah!

“It’s school property, so you can’t eat it, okay?”

―Sulking…

Ban Yu-won warned Lilith, who had been devouring any mechanical or metallic items that entered the inventory as if they were her own, and then looked up to see the Lazy Monkey who had cast the Wood Release spell approaching them.

…Very slowly.

Watching her approach, Luciel whispered to Ban Yu-won.

“She’s the only Lazy Monkey in our tribe, Slothia.”

“She lives up to her name, huh.”

The only thing that deviated from Ban Yu-won’s expectations was that she was stunningly beautiful, even from a distance.

Other than that, she truly embodied the name of a slothia.

Her golden hair, seemingly never cut since birth, dragged along the ground in a messy tangle, and her slender body was barely covered by hastily arranged branches and leaves, as if even dressing was too bothersome.

Her large, round brown eyes were half-closed in a sleepy gaze, and her heavily shadowed eyelids, like smoky makeup, made her potentially sharp features appear entirely harmless.

“Like the Birth of Venus…”

“Does she have a problem with her legs?”

“She’s just slow…!”

Whether she heard their whispers or realized she was too slow, she opened her mouth to speak as she walked toward them with effort.

“Welcooomeee…”

Her speech was slow too.

“Hello, Slothia. Can you call my father?”

“Lucieeeel…?”

When Luciel spoke to her, Slothia finally seemed to recognize her, her eyes widening.

She seemed surprised, but even widening her eyes was so slow it felt like a theatrical performance.

“Can I cut her down?”

“Hold on, Dokgo Yeon! It’s probably not intentional!”

“Lucieeel, whyyy…?”

“Maybe the principal sent us here because this is my home dimension. So don’t be too surprised.”

While Luciel replied with a wry smile, Slothia wore a somewhat gloomy expression.

“Sorryyyy…”

“Did you call my father?”

“Yeees, I think sooo…”

Just as Slothia was about to continue, a loud boom echoed, and a massive Beastman landed a short distance away from her.

“Have you come, Luciel?”

“Dad!”

Though she called him father in front of others.

As Ban Yu-won smiled at the thought, Luciel leaped forward and embraced the man.

“I’m sorry, my lack of strength has forced me to rely on my daughter.”

“Dad…!”

The man, whose massive frame seemed to require five of Luciel standing side by side to match, stood over 2.3 meters tall. His long pink hair and eyes were striking… What?!

So it was the father who had the pink hair!

“With the ongoing tribal wars, I can’t even take my hands off, and now these dimensional pirates covet the resources of this star. Even I can’t do anything about it. But to think they sent you, damn those Union bastards…”

“It’s okay, Dad. I brought my master with me. You don’t have to worry about the ‘Conqueror of the Rainforest’ anymore!”

“What?! You found a master?!”

“Yes♥”

The man’s voice echoed through the forest in surprise, causing it to shake.

Luciel, having separated from her father, trotted over and pulled Ban Yu-won’s arm.

“Wait, Luciel, hold on.”

“Come over here, Yu-won. I mean, Master…♥ This is my father.”

“Ohhh…”

“Ah.”

Ban Yu-won felt his stomach churn under the man’s intense gaze.

Was he really supposed to introduce himself to this fearsome man, who looked like he could snap his spine in half, as the master of his daughter?!

Jumping off a cliff seemed like a safer bet…!

“Huh. No wonder ‘he’ has been in a bad mood lately; was this the reason…?”

Amidst the overwhelming tension, unsure when his spine might snap, the man looked down at Ban Yu-won, observing him for a while before letting out a sigh of disbelief.

“Does this make sense? This kid’s level is higher than what I’ve built my entire life? This isn’t just high; it’s at the level of our ancestors.”

“Hehe, this is my master. I chose well, didn’t I?”

Luciel, who had been gloomy until they arrived here, now wore a genuinely proud expression as she introduced Ban Yu-won, hugging his arm and smiling.

Well, if Luciel was happy, having his spine snapped a couple of times was a small price to pay.

So Ban Yu-won decided to just smile.

“You… I was so worried when you were suddenly taken to the Union, but to think you’d find such an excellent man. I’m proud of you, Luciel.”

“Hehehe.”

“Yes, I am Luciel’s father, Canid. I lead the largest Beastman tribe on this star, the ‘Wolf Fang.’ Nice to meet you, my daughter’s master.”

Canid, the chieftain of the Wolf Fang tribe, extended his hand to Ban Yu-won.

“Ah, yes. I’m Ban Yu-won. Feel free to call me Yu-won.”

Ban Yu-won, flustered, extended his hand to shake.

He wondered if Canid would crush his hand instead of his spine, but nothing of the sort happened.

“There aren’t many Beastmen who can find a master they can serve for life. Especially for my daughter, it must have been even harder… I’m grateful that a young man of such outstanding caliber, and of her age, has taken her in. I look forward to working with you, Yu-won.”

“Likewise, I look forward to it.”

As Ban Yu-won exchanged greetings with him, he tilted his head in confusion.

The atmosphere was much more amicable than he had expected.

No, how could such a warm atmosphere form when his daughter brought home a master, not a husband, and a complete stranger at that…?!

Ban Yu-won was surprised by the unexpected turn of events, but the reason was clear.

Beastmen inherently valued the level of a soul greatly.

For Luciel, who was born with a strong soul, to find a master of such high caliber as Ban Yu-won was a dream come true for the Beastmen, and for her father, who knew how much she had suffered due to the Constellation, Ban Yu-won’s presence was all the more welcome.

“Hmm… I see.”

After shaking hands with Ban Yu-won, Canid looked at his daughter, nodding as if he understood something.

“So that’s why your Wildness has increased so much; it’s because your Heart Furnace was resolved.”

“Yes. Plus, my master helped me gain Wildness…”

“You’re saying something that shakes the foundation of our Beastman race.”

“But it’s true.”

Seizing the moment, Luciel eagerly praised Ban Yu-won’s abilities, like a bride-to-be trying to convince her parents of her boyfriend’s merits.

Dokgo Yeon, watching the scene from behind, snorted.

Slothia, the Lazy Monkey, took it a step further, restoring the barrier by moving the trees again and leaning against one of the branches to fall asleep.

“So, have you mated yet?”

“Oops!”

“Embarrassingly, not yet…”

Luciel shook her head with an aggrieved expression at Canid’s blunt question, while Ban Yu-won coughed awkwardly beside her.

“Well, given your status as students, it’s understandable, but don’t delay too long. I’ll inform your mother, so take some preliminary lessons while you’re here.”

“Yes!”

Ban Yu-won felt the aura behind him intensify and vowed never to turn around.

But Canid, noticing someone standing behind Ban Yu-won, leaned in and whispered.

“…Is your master popular?”

“Yes, very.”

He wished they would stop discussing such things in front of him.

But the parties involved seemed very serious.

“So who’s the first?”

“That’s me.”

“Well done!”

Canid laughed heartily, ruffling Luciel’s hair vigorously before raising his head.

“My daughter has brought her master after such a long time; I can’t send you to the battlefield right away. Today, we feast! Slothia, inform the tribe of this news!”

“Yaaawn…”

Slothia, who had been ignoring everyone and sleeping, slowly lifted her head at Canid’s call and, with a very slow motion, snapped her fingers.

At that moment, all the trees forming the forest began to shake wildly, as if stretching, signaling a grand tribal gathering.