The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]

The children were admittedly taken aback by Theo’s sudden offer.

For one, they had not expected a guild to ask to be commissioned.

After nearly two years of tagging along with his mother, Yno was painfully aware of how these things usually went. Guilds would never really volunteer unless the mission was in those places their mother called MCZs. In every other case, it usually took a lot of begging just to get someone to accept her request.

He had been young then, Ysa even younger. But he clearly remembered the long waits, the careful wording, and the quiet disappointment when another request was politely turned down.

And now someone was suddenly offering?

Who wouldn’t be stunned?

But the second problem hit them a heartbeat later.

Money.

Yno stiffened.

Ysa’s smile faltered.

They both looked at each other at the same time, excitement draining as reality crashed down on them in full force.

They were children.

They had only brought enough money for transportation and the Jade Vine itself. Even that had required dipping into their savings and prized birthday money.

Well, it wasn’t that they were specifically poor, but the two of them might have gone out without telling their mother properly.

But they did tell her! It was just that they told their mother about it while she was partially sleeping and probably thought they were kidding.

”...”

”...”

Well, they weren’t.

Yno swallowed.

Ysa twisted her fingers together, shoulders curling inward as guilt settled heavily on her face.

”I... um...” Yno started, then stopped.

Ysa tried next. ”We... we don’t really...” Her voice wobbled. ”We only brought enough for the vine.”

The words came out small. Fragile.

Their earlier hope threatened to crumble into regret. Maybe they had gotten ahead of themselves.

If only mom was here. She would know what to do.

Theo saw through their thoughts instantly.

Before either child could spiral further, he spoke again, calm and reassuring.

”We can agree on a contract first,” he said. ”Our guild will first prepare your request. Then you can give the compensation after verifying that we’ve done our part properly.”

Silence.

Yno’s head snapped up.

Ysa’s eyes widened so much they looked like they might actually fall out.

”...Really?” Ysa whispered.

Theo nodded without hesitation. ”Really.”

For a second, neither child moved.

Then Ysa grabbed her brother’s sleeve with both hands, shaking it urgently.

”Yno,” she hissed. ”Did you hear that?”

”I heard,” Yno breathed, staring at Theo like he had just witnessed a miracle. ”I heard.”

Hope rushed back all at once, bright and overwhelming. They nodded so fast it was a wonder they did not give themselves whiplash.

”Yes!” Ysa blurted out. ”We agree!”

”We promise we will pay,” Yno added quickly. ”We won’t run away! I-I will give you all my information and you can even go to our school!”

At that point, Yno could have even offered up his favorite toy as insurance if the cadet had asked for it!

Theo smiled.

From the side, Ada watched the exchange with a mix of curiosity and surprise. She had no idea what Theo had been told or what he was thinking, but she couldn’t deny how smoothly he had defused the situation.

But the reason behind this sudden proficiency was actually because Theo understood that feeling all too well.

Being so close to getting help and yet unable to reach it.

When his family had asked around before, there were guilds who would have accepted the job. But only if the compensation was higher. Much higher. But because they couldn’t meet those demands—despite them being reasonable considering what they were asking for—almost every door had closed in their faces.

It was impossible to forget such a feeling of helplessness.

Still, he wasn’t planning to do this for free.

In reality, just the fact that this whole thing existed was already the greatest charity in the history of the Empire. It would probably sound patronizing to everyone else, but it was true.

As such, to expect everything to be free would already be asking for too much when their leader had already tanked so much opportunity loss because he refused to price his goods based on current mind-boggling market standards.

DG, particularly Luca, had to be compensated properly. Because without him, even if Theo ended up becoming a pharmacist in the future, there would have been no way he’d be able to offer this kind of service to anyone, not even to himself!

But there were ways to handle things without crushing people who were already desperate. Payment plans. Adjustments. Fair terms that didn’t demand everything up front.

First things first.

He had to make sure that what he handed to these customers was something that truly deserved compensation.

Theo felt a spark of determination flare in his chest.

He was ready.

But who knew that preparing a tonic he knew by heart would suddenly be so difficult?

__

Theo Belgrave, budding pharmacist, eternal optimist, and newly-minted contractor, could not believe what the hell was happening.

He had ducked into a corner with as much dignity as one could muster while hiding behind stacked crates and politely ignoring the fact that several highly curious onlookers were absolutely trying to peek. This was supposed to be easy. Of all the things he had learned, this was one of the first tonics drilled into him long before he ever set foot in the academy.

It was quite literally something they needed to survive, so he knew it by heart.

BY HEART!

So under normal circumstances, he would have finished yesterday.

He had the best botanicals available. The kind that people would never see even if they turned over the habitable planets still available. Moreover, since he began training with DG and the elders, his spiritual ability had since improved by leaps and bounds so making tonics like this shouldn’t be a problem at all.

And yet.

Theo stared at the mess in front of him.

No, mess was being kind.

The leaves had not infused.

They had disintegrated.

Not gently broken down. Not evenly processed. They had simply given up on existence the moment his spiritual energy touched them.

”!!!”

Theo froze, hands hovering uselessly in the air.

He tried again. Slower this time. Much slower. He adjusted his breathing. Lowered his output and focused so much that his eyes probably looked like they were about to bug out.

The result was only marginally better.

Instead of turning to dust immediately, the ingredient lasted a whole two seconds longer before collapsing in on itself like it had been personally offended.

Theo felt light-headed.

What the hell was happening?!

He was doing it like he’d always done it before! The same exact technique he used just a week ago. And yet it felt as though he was pouring an entire river where a single drop would have sufficed.

Then, like a delayed curse activating at the worst possible moment, the elders’ voices echoed in his mind.

”However, this means you will need to practice more. While your spiritual level will remain the same for now, your output may change dramatically. Be mindful until you are used to it.”

Theo stared blankly at the ruined ingredients.

He had nodded back then. Politely. Confidently.

He didn’t think the change would be this dramatic?!

Theo clutched the edge of the table and inhaled slowly, then exhaled even slower.

He was not panicking.

He was not panicking.

He was absolutely panicking.

Each wasted set of ingredients felt like an attack on his soul. Maybe it was because he had spent too much time around Luca and the others, but all he could see were numbers in the red and perfectly good materials being obliterated under his own hands.

At this rate, he would bankrupt the guild before saving anyone.

Theo swallowed hard.

Was this how it felt to be too strong?

Ridiculous.

If he kept this up, he was going to need medicine himself.

Preferably something for heart palpitations.

And maybe dignity.