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

May the heavens help them in their time of dire need...

Because oh boy, that rascal did not just say that.

Ah, but he did. Just a beat ago. And all while looking right at him.

”...”

”...”

There was truly no better time to power down than at that very instance.

Killian slowly closed his eyes, genuinely entertaining the thought that perhaps if he could no longer see what was happening, reality might graciously decide to undo the last few seconds. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to snatch the ridiculous sleeping mask off Luca’s head and wear it himself. In fact, he was beginning to think carrying one around for emergencies might not be such a bad idea.

Unfortunately, the snatching part wasn’t really an option.

For all he knew, taking the mask off Luca would only result in another catastrophe, and besides, this entire interrogation had started because he’d been the first to insist on getting a proper explanation.

Really, he only had himself to blame.

Then again, perhaps he should’ve been more concerned by the fact that he wasn’t entirely angry. If anything, beneath all the embarrassment was the faintest trace of pride.

What exactly did that say about him and his moral standards?

Thankfully, before he had to respond, his younger brother’s wife finally reached his breaking point. Having bottled up his opinions for what was apparently an unbearable amount of time, the blonde exploded in righteous indignation.

”Yeah! You tell him!” Ollie declared, sounding genuinely supportive. ”Brother-in-law may frown a lot, but honestly speaking, he’s only old at heart!”

The supposedly perpetually frowny Nox snapped his head toward the blonde.

That gremlin was genuinely testing the limits of how deep a grave one man could dig for another. Killian looked every bit like an older brother resisting the overwhelming urge to smack an insufferable younger sibling upside the head.

Unfortunately, he was still technically on duty.

So instead of acting on the impulse, Killian merely narrowed his eyes at Ollie, who’d already hidden himself behind Kyle, and silently promised that divine retribution would be arriving at a later date.

Off to the side, Xavier—the self-proclaimed rational one—decided that if they allowed this conversation to continue, they were never getting back on topic.

So he eventually asked, ”But how did the two of you conclude that, out of every possible option, confronting them head-on was the best approach?”

Ordinarily, Xavier wouldn’t have needed to ask a question like that because most people followed reasoning he could more or less understand.

Luca and Jax, however, had repeatedly demonstrated that their thought processes obeyed an entirely different set of natural laws. Because of that, he genuinely wanted to know what sequence of mental gymnastics had led them to that conclusion so that maybe, just maybe, he’d have some chance of predicting what they would do next time.

As it turned out, there hadn’t been much gymnastics involved.

Just an alarming willingness to dive headfirst.

”So you’re saying it simply felt right?”

”Yes!” Jax answered without hesitation. ”That’s always step one for me. Because why would I do something that feels wrong?”

The room fell silent.

Several people visibly inhaled.

The Imperial Prince who was certainly one of Jax’s best friends knew more than most that he likely meant it literally. But to learn that his unusual instincts even worked to this extent was really a whole other thing. He couldn’t help but feel some sort of sympathy for everyone who would dare cross Jax’s path.

If only they could prosecute based on gut feeling then this whole thing would be over before things could even start.

Though at this point, no one even bothered voicing their thoughts aloud. For the sake of their own sanity, most of them had quietly accepted that whatever strange intuition Jax possessed might as well have been a second bloodline ability.

Ah, but what do you know, the redhead still wasn’t done.

”And now that I’ve got another dependent who’s definitely not capable of photosynthesis,” Jax continued, gesturing toward little Isabelle, ”I actually thought things through this time.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow.

”You’re saying you thought about it?”

”I did.” Jax nodded matter-of-factly.

”I mean, it’s a bloodline ability, right? Now that more of us’ve access to it, surely you’re aware about what’d happen if you use it for too long or intensely, right?” Jax said it casually, like it was a given.

”So for those two who had already used their abilities on nearly all the masters, just how much spiritual energy could they possibly still have? If we force them into overdrive, won’t they eventually shut down?”

The room fell quiet once more.

Several people stared at him in stunned silence while Luca, who still couldn’t see a thing beneath the fluffy sleeping mask, nodded enthusiastically as though every word had been perfectly reasonable when they didn’t in fact coordinate much before jumping into the fray just to ensure that incense wouldn’t get lit. Moreover, Jax’s explanation sounded rather credible and admirable to him.

”Besides,” Jax added with complete confidence, ”Izzie agreed with me and honestly did most of the important work.”

That was definitely putting it lightly because he still remembered his mind being flooded with an overwhelming number of visions, enough to make him faint had he not dealt with the sensation once before.

At first, he’d even worried it wouldn’t work. But the moment he grasped just how terrifying it had to be to unknowingly subjugate that many beings simultaneously, he knew it was practically guaranteed to succeed.

No wonder his daughter had been so confident and insisted on doing it that way.

But there was no need to worry the others about that so he simply tickled the little bee with proud affection.

”And as you can see, she did very well. Maybe even a little too well,” said the same redhead who just sent someone to the medical bay.

”But I swear, we wouldn’t dare do that again because it probably only worked since they never expected us to have any special abilities of our own beyond House Kyros’ fire affinity.”

Killian raised a brow at that because, admittedly, it also made a lot of sense.

”I’m guessing they didn’t make any other special preparations when they rushed us, especially since they probably didn’t think we’d already figured out their bloodline ability. But they likely wouldn’t be that careless a second time around.”

The redhead scratched his cheek, fully aware that such a possibility existed. Yet unbeknownst to everyone except the baby bee, whose connection to her parents’ consciousness ran far deeper than anyone realized, Jax would’ve gone through it all again without hesitation if it meant keeping the people he cared about safe.

That twisted feeling he got from being at the receiving end of that ability was not something he would even wish on an enemy. So how could he have such a thing clawing at the likes of Killian, who didn’t need any more restraints in his life?

__

Once the unnecessary commotion had finally settled, Marshal Julian, who had long since recovered from his equally unnecessary bout of fluster, cleared his throat before speaking.

”You’re right. And we’re going to have to come up with a believable explanation for this. The Luxastras will almost certainly want to know how their bloodline ability was countered. Even if they eventually choose to abandon the twins to avoid taking greater responsibility for what happened, they’ll still investigate once they learn of the incident. And we’re not about to let them uncover the truth just yet.”

Not only would it give the Aeruns the opportunity to prepare countermeasures, but more importantly, it would place Luca, Jax, and the little bee in even greater danger. The moment word spread that they possessed the means to threaten the core capability of a foreign power, they would undoubtedly find far more targets painted on their backs.

But at this point, those kids had already done far more than anyone could’ve reasonably expected of them. It wouldn’t be right to burden them with even greater responsibility when they should’ve been worrying about school and, at most, their personal training.

”So while we still have this under wraps, you youngsters should make the most of the little time you have left to rest.”

”!”

Only then did they remember that, sure enough, the licensure exam was still looming over their heads.

It might’ve sounded rather inconsiderate considering everything that had happened, but if word of what transpired in the arena lounge reached the ears of the other cunning factions before the young Mylor got his hands on his certification, the exam would almost certainly be suspended.

Worse, certain parties would no doubt seize the opportunity to force Ollie to retake the exam in the hopes of prying more information out of him.

And that would have to be over Ollie’s currently very healthy but soon-to-be-dead body because they all knew he wouldn’t survive another round of the same exam.