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

It may come as a surprise for most, but Ollie would actually much prefer the simplicity and straightforwardness of explosions.

Not only did they normally look great from the confines of his husband’s protective and safe lap, but they also offer very little room for arguments.

But instead of watching mushroom clouds, he’d been forced to stand vigil inside a darkening underground base, personally ensuring the lights flickered and doors conveniently malfunctioned while his imagination supplied increasingly horrific possibilities for what might be waiting around every corner.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Crown Prince had been using that very darkness to run amok.

Every time one of the Caldris Hostiles came out to investigate the suspicious lights or supposedly defective doors, the person somehow disappeared from the equation shortly afterward.

”...”

Yep.

Perfectly normal.

Their plan had been to infiltrate as quietly as possible, alert as few people as they could, and occasionally provide Xavier with brief stretches of freedom from all those prying eyes in case he needed to use abilities he wasn’t supposed to publicly reveal.

Not that the lack of light or electricity would actually stop the spectators from watching them. But those brief moments when the cameras switched over to backup power created just enough of a gap for certain things to conveniently slip by unnoticed.

Even better, the sly Imperial Prince had made sure to bring an ice-based weapon with him, giving him at least some plausible cover if he ever needed to use that particular ability.

Although Ollie had privately wondered whether his good brother’s husband was actually capable of pretending he needed a weapon to defeat someone.

Still, to give credit where it was due, the covert operation had worked remarkably well.

Even the other cadets accompanying them, who’d initially been sweating from sheer nerves, eventually started looking increasingly pleased as one stage after another went according to plan.

They’d slipped deeper into the base without triggering a full-scale confrontation, plundered additional supplies along the way, and somehow avoided wasting time fighting over one of the supply depots outside.

Everything had gone surprisingly smoothly.

Until they got their hands on that sorry excuse for a briefcase.

Click.

The moment the case reached Ollie’s hands, a piercing klaxon shattered the silence.

”?!”

Everyone froze.

Then their terminals lit up almost simultaneously.

[EXTRACTION INITIATED.]

[TIME REMAINING: 00:09:59]

”...”

Ollie’s soul nearly left his body.

Were they supposed to teleport or what?!

Hadn’t they spent all this time trying to be quiet?!

Around him, the other cadets immediately erupted into alarm as the implications began sinking in. They were still deep inside an enemy base after practically risking life and limb to get this far, and now they’d been outed just like that!

Yet amid the sudden panic, Xavier merely glanced at the countdown before giving his next orders.

”Prioritize mobilization over the remaining supply crates,” his cold voice cut cleanly through the noise. Then, without giving anyone time to hesitate, he issued his next orders. ”Move out now. Team Three, send us the safest route to the extraction point and continue monitoring for potential ambushes.”

That was all it took to send everyone moving.

The careful infiltration they’d spent so much time maintaining was immediately abandoned as they rushed back through the underground corridors.

Because forget being quiet!

They had less than ten minutes to reach the extraction point!

The fact that they were desperate enough to shove Ollie, a licensed mechanic and only a part-time companion mecha pilot, into one of the Academy-issued manual mechas while he clutched the objective should’ve been enough indication of their level of distress.

But then he looked up.

”...”

His eyes widened.

High above the desert, a blinding pillar of light was piercing straight through the clouds.

The harsh glow of something they hadn’t seen earlier reflected across Ollie’s increasingly horrified face.

What the hell was that?!

So the countdown wasn’t enough?!

Now they even had a fucking spotlight on them?!

Ollie’s hands tightened around the case.

So much for an extraction point. They were clearly headed straight for the slaughterhouse!

Worse, he was even driving himself there!

__

However, while the cadets were only beginning to discover the evil that was the exercise coordinators and their apparent penchant for unnecessary drama, they might’ve been surprised to learn that elsewhere on the same planet, there were other people who hadn’t been expecting any sort of mass alert either.

Deep inside a dimly lit subterranean hideout, a group of ragged men sat around in varying states of impatient boredom.

One languidly tapped the barrel of a heavy firearm against the hard ground, the steady clack-clack-clack echoing through the damp stone chamber. Another had his head resting against the wall, eyes closed as though he intended to sleep through the suffocating tension.

Meanwhile, a third man paced restlessly across the room.

”We were already comfortable back there!” he spat, his bloodshot eyes unfocused as he scratched at his trembling arms. ”If those fucking meddlers had gotten off their high horses and admitted they’re no different from the rest of us, we wouldn’t have been thrown into this dumbfuck nowhere!”

His limp made each turn awkward, but it did nothing to slow his agitated pacing.

Jibb clicked his tongue repeatedly before wiping the sweat gathering over his upper lip.

”Those idiots really think they’ll be accepted somewhere else? What do they think capturing us is going to get them? Some sort of pardon?!”

”Jibb, if you’ve got nothing useful to say, shut up,” the man leaning against the wall drawled without even bothering to open his eyes.

”...”

Jibb’s shoulders immediately hitched.

He turned, already preparing to spit out something considerably more venomous, when heavy, unhurried footsteps echoed from the dark corridor leading into the chamber.

”He’s right.”

A broad-shouldered man emerged from the passage.

”Stop complaining unless you want everyone to remember they haven’t taken your other eye yet after you exposed our last hideout.”

Jibb’s mouth snapped shut.

”If someone hadn’t gotten drunk and started telling people where he sticks his head every day, would we even be here now?”

”...”

Jibb pursed his lips.

His shoulders trembled, partly from mounting irritation and partly because he knew perfectly well when he shouldn’t push his luck.

Him, him, him.

That was all these bastards ever did.

Blame him.

In the first place, hadn’t taking on this fucking job been their decision alone?!

They were the ones who’d decided to do something completely unnecessary, and now, instead of happily looting and gambling to his heart’s content after a hard day’s work, he’d spent the last stretch of his miserable existence chasing after wailing escapees who apparently couldn’t understand how good they’d had it.

And somehow, things had only gotten worse.

Rather than simply quitting and moving on somewhere else, they’d been forced to relocate their entire operation right under the noses of the very people they’d originally been trying to avoid.

Now they had to walk on eggshells around two different groups!

Hell, make that three if you counted those delusional Ravagers!

Could they even call that freedom anymore?!

Free, his ass!

Even those broke blokes wandering around outside probably got more action than they did!

But them?

Stuck underground in this fucking place?!

Fuck!

Jibb screamed every grievance internally, his fists clenching until his knuckles turned white.

Unfortunately, the broad-shouldered man seemed to notice the increasingly ugly look on his face.

His eyes narrowed.

”If you’re that bored, go check on everyone else’s progress, inspect the finished goods, or at the very least prepare to receive the additional supplies. There are a million things that need to be done before you’ve got time to stand around complaining.”

”...”

”If operations get halted again, not even your brother-in-law will be able to stop them from snuffing you out.” His voice remained frighteningly calm. ”You understand that, right?”

Jibb’s jaw tightened.

Of course he fucking knew.

”...Tch. Fine, fine!”

He turned toward the dark entrance, gritting his teeth as he limped away.

”But even if we want to receive it now, don’t we still have to wai—”

WAAAAAANNNG! WAAAAAANNNG!

”?!”

Piercing red lights suddenly flashed to life throughout the underground hideout.

A heartbeat later, high-pitched alarm sirens violently shattered the silence of the cavern.

Every man in the room froze.

Then, along the wall, the normally unused marquee suddenly flickered to life, crawling text appearing across its display:

[EXTRACTION INITIATED.]

[TIME REMAINING: 00:09:59]

”?!”