The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1237: Testing the Waters

Luca listened intently to everything the Chief of Staff was saying, and at that moment, he could only be thankful that Marshal Julian had put a stop to any plans of testing the incense by actually lighting it.

Because even without knowing what the thing was supposedly being marketed as, Luca could swear there was something truly repulsive about it.

Something downright dangerous.

But if they were among the only ones who could actually feel that something was wrong with it, then shouldn’t they participate in the research somehow?

Unbeknownst to the worried golden-eyed cadet, his thoughts were apparently written so clearly across his face that practically everyone who knew him could already tell where his mind was going.

Naturally, his husband was the first to cut him off before he could even volunteer.

"Before we can conduct any further testing, we need to locate the source," Xavier said calmly. "We only have this one sample. If we accidentally damage or alter it because we’re working without enough information, then we’ll lose the advantage we’ve just gained."

Luca turned toward him.

"Oh."

"Considering we’ve been monitoring the proliferation of dangerous substances throughout the Empire and this hasn’t reached our ears until now, it’s unlikely that whoever’s distributing it has been openly selling it here," the Imperial Prince continued. "They may have deliberately withheld direct distribution within the Empire and instead used outsiders as vehicles to bring it across the border."

The Kyros heir blinked slowly as he processed that explanation.

Sure enough, he really still had a lot to learn about this sort of strategy.

His first instinct had just been to figure out what the incense actually did so they could determine how to deal with it. His husband, however, was already thinking several steps ahead, questioning how it might’ve been distributed, why they’d never encountered it before, and what that very absence could potentially mean.

Still, if tracing its source was the priority, then perhaps D-29 could help with that.

Luca had only just opened his mouth to suggest it when someone else spoke first.

"It’s likely."

Everyone’s attention shifted toward the exasperated Elior.

The Elven Prince had been unusually quiet throughout most of the discussion, but there was little surprise on his face as he considered what Xavier had just said.

"If Eren truly has anything to do with this, then there’s a good chance he was testing the waters," Elior continued. "For some reason, he likes doing that before committing himself to anything larger."

Beside him, Rahil’s expression immediately became one of a man who’d unfortunately heard and experienced enough to know exactly where this conversation was heading.

The Elven royal continued regardless.

"He also prefers involving as many unrelated people as possible. The more troublesome a situation becomes for whoever he’s targeting, the more resources they’ll be forced to divert toward dealing with everything else instead of remaining vigilant against him."

Rahil gave a slow but extremely decisive nod.

"He’s practically a plague all on his own," the Elven aide muttered, sounding thoroughly exhausted just thinking about it. "I wouldn’t even be surprised if he deliberately distributed something like this in the most unlikely places first. Somewhere nobody would think to look, just to quietly chip away at the Empire before he goes for his real objective."

The words themselves were worrying enough, but Rahil somehow managed to sound both deeply irritated and apologetic while saying them.

After all, regardless of what Eren had done, the bastard was still an Elf.

Worse, he was an Elven Prince.

And Rahil could already imagine the kind of trouble this would cause if even half of their suspicions turned out to be true.

However, that wasn’t actually the biggest reason his head was beginning to hurt.

No.

That honor belonged to the man sitting right beside him.

Because Rahil knew Elior.

And judging by the look currently settling across the Prince’s face, he was about to say something incredibly shitty again.

Sure enough, Elior opened his mouth.

"I think it’s time I return and see what Eren’s been doing."

"!"

Rahil closed his eyes.

There it was.

Next to them, Princess Kira shot to her feet so quickly that her chair nearly went flying backward.

"What?!"

Her blazing eyes immediately locked onto Elior.

But her Bunbun only met her stare with that same gentle, indulgent, slightly apologetic smile he always seemed to wear whenever he’d already made some horrible decision he knew she wasn’t going to like.

Somehow, that expression only made things worse.

Because Kira knew him well enough to recognize exactly what that look meant.

This wasn’t a suggestion.

He’d already decided.

The Orcish Princess stared at him in utter disbelief as the full implications finally sank in.

After everything they’d gone through so he could live?

After everything that’d happened with his family?

This lunatic seriously intended to walk straight back in there?!

Back into that absolute hell?!

How in the stars was she supposed to simply sit there and let her Bunbun do something like that?

__

Thankfully, after a considerable amount of coaxing, they managed to talk the Orcish Princess out of immediately marching straight toward the Lumira Galaxy and House Aetheryon so she could personally strangle Eren herself.

It certainly wasn’t easy.

Elior practically had to swear on behalf of every single follicle still attached to his head that he wasn’t suddenly going to run off and play hero when they hadn’t even confirmed anything concrete yet.

And even then, Kira continued staring at him as though she was seriously considering whether tying her Bunbun to a chair for the foreseeable future might be the safest option for everyone involved.

Then again, what probably helped the most was Killian pointing out that if she really did march straight toward House Aetheryon, she’d most likely be looking in the wrong place anyway.

"Based on what we’ve managed to trace so far, our first leads don’t actually point directly toward the Elves," the Chief of Staff explained. "They point toward several pirate groups that appear to have been tapped to distribute the incense burners."

"!"