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

Inside Battalion 10’s temporary base, currently unaware of the stirrings of certain forces, D-29 hummed with self-important pride as celebratory prompts and virtual poppers continued bursting left and right.

”Host, Host!” D-29 reported cheerfully. ”It seems everyone back at the Dungeon Space was so overjoyed by the discovery that several of them had to stop by the medical bay for a clean bill of health!”

”...?!”

The heir of House Kyros blinked his large golden eyes and nearly pushed himself upright inside his sleeping bag, his earlier excitement immediately giving way to concern.

”Wait... really? Why? Is everyone alright?”

”The Duchess says to relay that you shouldn’t worry at all!” D-29 chirped immediately. ”She said the people back there are absolute beasts in their own right and would sooner blast planets to dust than perish from hearing good news!”

The system paused briefly before continuing in a noticeably more solemn tone.

”She also said you should never believe any reports claiming your parents have been kidnapped or fallen gravely ill, as those would most likely be scams. She emphasized that you should be especially suspicious if such news happens to come directly from the Duke.”

”...”

Hearing his mother’s reassuringly aggressive words, Luca felt some of his worry finally ease. He did find that final reminder a little strange, but as a filial son, he naturally took his mother’s warnings to heart.

”Oh, good! I should definitely greet my parents right away once this field trip is over.” His mood brightened again. ”And if possible, maybe I can bring home some nice souvenirs for everyone!”

He wasn’t entirely sure how that would work or whether he’d even be allowed to excavate some of the salt for testing, but surely taking just a little bit after the exercise was over wouldn’t hurt?

Then, as though suddenly remembering something immensely important, Luca perked up, only to hurriedly settle back down out of fear that his excitement might wake his fellow cadets.

”Wait! Does my husband know about our discovery yet?”

It wasn’t as though Luca had deliberately chosen not to tell him. For one, their more immediate concern had been figuring out what they could safely tell everyone else. They’d eventually settled on mentioning some of the less scandalous resources they’d found in the area, like dolomite and high-quality clay, while Luca worked out how to inform Jax and Theo so the two could react accordingly without accidentally giving anything away.

Moreover, since he and his husband, who was currently commanding Battalion 8, were technically competitors in this exercise, they’d both been doing their best to avoid communicating directly. Instead, they simply depended on Sid’s judgment regarding what information could reasonably be passed between them.

”I have already informed my Master of the critical details,” Sid replied smoothly from Luca’s sea of consciousness.

In truth, that had been an urgent decision the guardian mecha had personally made the moment the deposit was confirmed.

Now that they knew such a precious natural resource existed beneath Caldris Minor-7, everyone involved needed to be considerably more careful about how they conducted combat operations. The last thing they needed was for some excessive attack to trigger major seismic activity and potentially damage the deposit they’d only just discovered.

Luca tilted his head slightly against his sleeping bag before smiling to himself, looking rather pleased despite the fact that absolutely no one around him could see his reaction.

”Well, I don’t think we have to worry about Xavier when it comes to restraint. He’s always the type to handle things with such finesse! He usually finds the most efficient way to deal with something while minimizing the amount of cleanup afterward.”

Now, Sid had definitely heard those thoughts and was certain every single word had registered correctly, yet he couldn’t help growing unusually quiet.

Finesse?

Restraint?

Minimal cleanup?!

As if to confirm that he was alone in this suffering, he then had to listen to the dungeon owner’s similarly bizarre take.

”At best, it’s actually me who needs to be more careful,” Luca continued thoughtfully. ”Especially since we taught the other Battalion 10 cadets to slam enemy mechas against each other or straight into the ground. That’s clearly not the best thing to keep doing now that we know what’s underneath us. If only I knew what approach my husband was taking...”

”...”

The long-suffering guardian mecha felt as though he were listening to a mountain of utter fabrications!

His Master hadn’t shown a single shred of restraint or subtlety since starting his hunt, and Sid wasn’t entirely certain he’d suddenly remember either of those things in the remaining days!

And really, if Luca were to ask those senior cadets currently suffering beneath Xavier’s ruthless rampage, many of whom were being utterly pulverized because of their own loose mouths, would he even realize that the monster those traumatized souls described was his very own sweet husband?!

Then again...

Sid supposed it wasn’t his place to shatter the Little Master’s sweet illusions.

Besides, those senior cadets fully deserved what was coming to them anyway.

Perhaps Sid really should’ve mentioned Xavier’s cold-blooded carnage right then and there, because just when he thought Luca had finally settled down for the night after their extremely fruitful scavenging expedition, another thought apparently occurred to the young noble.

Luca and Xavier genuinely tried their best not to remain separated for long periods of time, and although Luca had been ecstatic over his earlier discovery, a small part of him still regretted not being able to simply turn around and share the good news with the person who always seemed perfectly willing to listen.

But today, he couldn’t even tell Xavier about it himself!

Those thoughts had been relatively easy to ignore while Battalion 10 was busy running around, but now that everything had gone quiet and Luca had little else to distract him, they naturally began creeping back in.

Thankfully, he had Sid and D-29 right there to ask about Xavier’s well-being.

”Sid?” Luca asked softly from within his sea of consciousness, remaining carefully curled inside his sleeping bag. ”How is Xavier doing over there? Is there... any chance he asked about me?”

The guardian mecha paused as he carefully considered how to answer.

It wasn’t because he didn’t know.

Quite the opposite.

These two clearly weren’t meant to be separated for too long!

Otherwise, Sid, as their unfortunate middleman, was eventually going to lose whatever remained of his marbles trying to provide both sides with hourly updates about the other.

It had only been a few days, and they were already like this. What would happen if they were ever separated for weeks in the future?

Would a proud guardian mecha like him eventually be reduced to relaying sweet nothings back and forth?!

Still, Sid prepared to reassure the Little Master that Xavier had indeed asked about him.

Several times, in fact.

His Master had even demanded updates on whether Luca was drinking his nutrient solutions strictly on schedule and whether he’d been getting anything that could reasonably qualify as a passable amount of sleep.

However, before Sid could say any of that, the little dungeon owner innocently followed up with another question.

”Sid...” Luca murmured internally, his concern rapidly returning. ”We’ve only been eating these basic rations for the past few days.”

”...”

”My husband...” Luca hesitated as an increasingly horrible possibility occurred to him. ”By any chance, how is his muscle mass?”

A beat of terrible silence followed.

”Is he suffering?!”

”...”

”...”