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

At D-29’s additional warning, Luca immediately prepared a stronger spiritual barrier.

Only to realize the attack wasn’t aimed at him, but directly at the very mecha he was scavenging!

”!”

In that moment, Luca finally understood.

Until the very end, these people were willing to deny1 their own people and resources if it meant preventing their opponents from benefiting from them!

Such intensity!

Admittedly, the sacrificial friendly fire hadn’t been particularly successful, if only because his spiritual barrier had managed to absorb the impact. But if they’d tried the same thing against someone with a less developed ability to put up barriers on the fly, they likely would’ve succeeded.

Considering that, Luca couldn’t possibly ask the other mechanics to scavenge the hostiles’ mechas like this.

But even more than the close call itself, what stayed with Luca as he returned to meet up with the rest of Battalion 10 was just how seriously the Caldris Hostiles seemed to be taking the exercise.

No.

Not the exercise.

The war.

While Luca had been treating CREX seriously as an exam, or perhaps something closer to an honorable duel, these people were fighting the way true enemies would.

Maybe he’d judged their actions too harshly earlier.

And if they were that committed...

Then maybe Luca should take things just as seriously!

So when the worried members of Battalion 10 immediately crowded around him upon his return, asking if he was alright and practically demanding that he get examined before taking a long break, Luca listened patiently.

Then, after reassuring everyone that he was perfectly fine, their Battalion Commander calmly announced that they were going to have to start really fighting.

”...”

”...”

Several cadets flinched because, hadn’t they almost died out there doing just that?

Considering they’d just witnessed, or in some unfortunate cases experienced firsthand, exactly how they measured up against the Caldris Hostiles, Luca’s determined declaration wasn’t exactly comforting.

But before anyone could start wondering whether their Battalion Commander intended to charge straight back into another confrontation, Luca tilted his head.

A sharp, dangerous gleam entered those golden eyes.

”I know we probably can’t confront them head-on like we did earlier,” Luca admitted softly.

Not yet, anyway.

Their opponents were far too experienced and coordinated, while Battalion 10 simply wasn’t ready to match that kind of teamwork and mindset, especially if the next group they encountered came in even greater numbers.

”But that doesn’t mean we can’t try something a little less conventional.”

Luca paused.

Then a tiny, suspiciously sweet smile slowly tugged at the corners of his lips.

In times like this, such moves wouldn’t be illegal, right?

__

Well, the newly revitalized Battalion 10 Commander would probably be delighted to hear that, unlike in the civilized cities of the Empire, quite a few less-than-stellar activities were already taking place as the exercise progressed!

Fortunately for everyone involved, none of them were currently at risk of being charged with illegal imprisonment, theft, or any number of information-related crimes, even if hundreds of cadets were already frustrated enough to start pulling their hair out!

In fact, by the time this exercise was over, there was a good chance that instead of remembering CM7-OOS fondly as the prestigious military outpost they’d once visited as cadets, quite a few of them would remember it as the site of one of the most embarrassing experiences of their Academy lives.

After all, the entire station had somehow descended into an endless cycle of robbery.

One battalion would finally obtain the resources and intelligence they needed, only to get robbed in broad daylight by another group before they could leave.

Then the newly robbed battalion would have no choice but to turn around and steal from whoever arrived next!

And so on.

And so forth.

Until, eventually, the last unsuspecting group could only thank whatever instincts had warned them of a possible ambush, allowing them to avoid what would’ve otherwise been an even worse disadvantage.

Thankfully, everyone did eventually manage to reach Caldris Minor-7, albeit with very different levels of preparation.

Many were still reeling from their experiences back at the Orbital Station, while others were already beginning to understand the truth behind CREX.

”Have they all gone crazy?! Look at that! Even four of those senior cadets can’t take down one of those hostiles!”

Beside the hidden Imperial Crown Prince, one Oliver Mylor had both hands clapped protectively over his head, seemingly guarding his hair antenna as he stared at the projection with rapt attention.

”If we’d gone down ourselves instead of waiting for another group to test the waters, we would’ve lost even more people and equipment!” the blonde continued without the slightest restraint. ”And look at those crates! Aren’t they way too small to justify all that possible damage?!”

From the way Ollie was talking, one might assume he’d already decided he never wanted to set foot down there himself.

But his reaction was still considerably better than that of Battalion 8’s more rattled cadets.

Because initially, quite a few of them had actually been rather pleased to see those visiting seniors struggling!

Then the obvious problem occurred to them.

If those people were already having this much trouble, then what about first-years like them?

”...”

Several faces visibly paled.

Suddenly, everyone could only hope that their truly silent Battalion Commander wasn’t about to decide they should bravely throw themselves at the same enemies.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, depending on one’s perspective, Xavier had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

”Our first priority is shelter,” he said calmly. ”We’ll begin our operations after the liquid metal rain passes. Otherwise, we won’t last the full duration.”

”...”

Shelter?

That was it?

Considering Battalion 8 had access to almost all the available information, save for whatever the first group had taken, some cadets had quietly wondered why they’d done nothing but wait since arriving, especially when there was a perfectly viable supply drop just some distance away.

And yet they continued waiting.

Even when another battalion swooped in and tried to take the supplies they’d been monitoring, they were still ordered to stand by and observe.

But soon enough, they understood why.

The cadets currently caught in that fight might still manage to secure their supplies, but whatever damage they suffered in the process wouldn’t simply disappear afterward.

What they’d assumed would be another mock battle like the ones they’d experienced at school was starting to look more like a match at the Astral Cup. The fighting was intense enough that several cadets had already been taken out, while those still standing had likely suffered injuries that would need to be treated using their already limited resources.

And this was only their first encounter.

One they’d only managed to escape by sacrificing several cadets in exchange for getting the supply crates away from the hostiles.

As for B8’s Commander, now that Xavier had seen the kind of opponents they were actually facing, several of his original plans needed to change.

Drastically.

As he walked toward the projected map to reconfirm their possible destinations, his expression remained as cold and composed as ever.

Internally, however, Xavier was thinking about something else entirely.

His little wife.

Because now that he knew what sort of people the Academy had thrown at them...

Xavier really wanted to know how Luca had reacted when he found out.

Had he been excited?