The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1243: An Unwelcome Attraction

Well, to be fair, the word sounded a little too jovial when there really wasn’t anything good that could come out of something related to that thing.

For one, the way those particles had separated entirely on their own before forming clusters along the protective glass enclosure closest to where the practice essences were would’ve been nothing short of horrifying to anyone even remotely concerned about the survival of the general population.

Naturally, unlike when they’d excitedly watched fragments of Lumensteel being attracted toward a crystal seed, nobody was particularly thrilled about discovering this version of attraction.

If anything, there was really only one thing that came to mind.

A looming disaster.

That was what.

And as if to prove just how serious the situation had become, even Elder Pao Xi, who was normally the most composed out of all the Elders, ended up cursing under his breath when he saw what was happening.

Still, as horrifying as the discovery was, getting some confirmation that the incense burner really did have something to do with corruption would undoubtedly prove useful.

Because yes.

That was exactly what those clusters appeared to be behaving like.

Corruption.

A considerably downplayed and suspiciously difficult-to-detect version of it, perhaps, but corruption nonetheless. More importantly, despite how subdued it appeared, it seemed to possess the same disturbing greediness that was undoubtedly hard to ignore.

Naturally, that revelation only raised even more questions.

How had whoever created the incense managed to conceal the usual indicators of corruption so thoroughly that even the Empire’s standard security equipment hadn’t detected anything unusual?

In fact, they’d managed to conceal it well enough that even Luca and D-29—who possessed the unusual ability to detect corruption hidden inside someone like Prince Elior—couldn’t be entirely certain what they were dealing with despite immediately sensing that something was fundamentally wrong with what the Luxastra twins had pulled out.

And without the coating of something like Lumensteel, how had they slowed down the contamination enough that exposure didn’t immediately trigger the sort of disintegration they’d normally expect?

Clearly, there were still far too many things they didn’t understand, particularly when the unusual method of delivery itself seemed likely to hold at least some of the answers. But at the very least, they finally had a direction to pursue.

__

The discovery had effectively turned what was supposed to be a busy but relatively peaceful morning into a series of people pacing around at varying speeds.

Ollie, who’d honestly thought life was supposed to improve after he’d successfully gotten past one hell of a problem, was currently among the fastest.

"Are we jinxed?!"

The newly licensed mechanic practically whipped around before continuing his pacing in the opposite direction.

"Do we need to bathe in spiritual water ten times in a row or something?! Because this is getting ridiculous! We didn’t even get a sensible break! Not even a picnic!"

His hair antenna bounced indignantly along with every step.

"Isn’t this too much for wee little students like us?!"

Then again, dramatic ramblings aside, who wouldn’t be worried after stumbling onto something like this when the dangers it posed were only becoming more evident?

Even Isabelle had nearly summoned her entire hive after following her parents into the Elders’ temporary research area and seeing that accursed incense burner again.

The little baby Queen Bee had practically hissed at it.

Her aura flared so wildly that everyone immediately realized her instincts were screaming and judging by the way she was reacting, Isabelle seemed completely prepared to launch a full-scale assault against anything she considered dangerous to her family and family friends.

Unfortunately, said threat also happened to be their only research sample.

So before one tiny Queen Bee could declare war on the evidence, Jax had to quickly scoop her up and take responsibility for coaxing her down while everyone else focused on dividing the suddenly growing list of responsibilities.

The most pressing matter was naturally informing Marshal Julian and the other officials who were still dealing with several matters outside the dungeon space about what they’d just discovered.

Regrettably, as the seemingly designated bringer of bad news, that particular job had fallen into the hands of one Killian Nox, who was now bound to start making house calls to everyone who needed to be in the know.

And really, watching some of the Empire’s future pillars immediately take action and reorganize their plans would’ve been enough to make anyone feel considerably better about who’d eventually be running the place.

For the likes of Noah and Theo, who’d once been regular citizens with their own fair share of grievances against the nobility, the sight was particularly eye-opening. Not that they hadn’t already developed a different perspective after getting to know people they otherwise never would’ve had the chance to interact with, but still, seeing everything unfold firsthand was truly something else.

Maybe if more naysayers and anti-Imperialists could see what they’d been seeing since becoming part of DG, some of them would’ve reconsidered generalizing every noble as the same sort of useless bastard.

Because right now, nobody was standing around waiting for someone else to solve the problem.

Everyone was moving. Yes, that included the puffed-up mop, who was actively participating in the discussion about how they could relocate the entire research endeavor somewhere safer without risking widespread contamination.

Though unfortunately, seeing how efficiently the Empire’s next generation of leaders handled the impending crisis only made one other fact increasingly obvious.

When it came to corruption itself, the bottom line still rested heavily on one Luca Kyros.

With the stakes suddenly raised, there was plenty everyone else could do. They could uncover the source, trace the distribution network, investigate the people involved, and hopefully figure out exactly what the real perpetrators intended to accomplish.

But once it came down to dealing with the corruption?

That was where their options became considerably narrower.

In fact, the only reason everyone was still calm enough to think after hearing the Elders’ findings was because the dungeon owner still had sparkles in his eyes.

Anyone unfamiliar with the heir of House Kyros probably would’ve found that reaction extremely disturbing.

Those who knew him better, however, found it strangely reassuring.

Because Luca was curious.

curious.

He was clearly trying his hardest to behave, keeping himself practically glued to where he stood instead of hovering directly over the Elders’ shoulders and bombarding them with questions. But the brightness in those golden eyes was impossible to hide.

And if Luca Kyros could still look at the problem like something he wanted to understand rather than something completely beyond him, then maybe they weren’t as screwed as they could’ve been.

So overall, while their morning had certainly started rough, the situation could still be considered manageable.

More importantly, they’d seemingly caught onto the problem before it had the chance to truly implode.

With that in mind, the actual officials eventually managed to convince the cadets to leave the brunt of the preliminary work to them.

Because, just as one very aggrieved blonde had loudly pointed out earlier, this really was far beyond what a bunch of students should’ve been responsible for at this point in their lives.

Of course, certain cadets had considerably more reservations about staying out of it than others.

Luca, for one, had developed a very specific case of tunnel vision after hearing the word and was almost broken-hearted to hear his own mother telling them to take a momentary break.

It took several assurances that he’d be informed the moment they encountered anything unusual or reached a point where his abilities might actually be needed before the golden-eyed cadet finally agreed to let everyone else handle the preliminary investigation.

Though, if they were being completely truthful, those promises weren’t what ultimately settled one questionably invested little money-grubber.

No.

What truly managed to redirect Luca’s dubiously excited heart was a simple question.

Because now that they knew corruption was involved, there was absolutely no way those two could be sent out to investigate the pirates and incense distribution while working completely blind.

Luca immediately perked up.

Suddenly, he had something useful to prepare for.

It was probably the most effective way anyone could’ve found to get the clearly devoted heir who, for some inexplicable reason, actually enjoyed being busy to stop trying to insert himself into every part of the investigation.

If only the young dungeon owner knew just how busy he was about to become.

Better yet, if only he’d remember one rather important matter he’d almost completely forgotten!