The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1261: Worth the Saliva

That was what one newly conscious soldier would’ve liked to tell himself as soon as he regained enough of his higher bodily functions to actually think.

But just as Curtis muttered that to himself while trying to wake up properly by scratching at his face like he usually did, he was plenty surprised when his own hand smacked against his cheek with a hard, dull

"Ow! What the—"

He froze.

"...Hell?!"

Curtis stared blankly at his own right hand, squinting through the throbbing pain in his cheek. His jaw slowly dropped as he realized that there was a literal ceramic jar stuck over his hand, and he could not for the life of him understand just what the heck was happening!

Had he been drugged?!

Or had the phenomenal air quality finally gotten to him?!

Unfortunately, before Curtis could properly decide which explanation made more sense, he suddenly heard someone say,

"Umm... good morning, Lord Curtis!"

"!"

The Deputy Officer immediately looked up, only to be met with the unexpected face of Luca, who offered him a deeply sheepish grin along with his rather cheerful morning greeting.

Curtis almost fell right out of the bed in sheer shock!

But he would’ve been sent right back just as fast after suddenly being informed that none of what he’d assumed was just a dream actually .

He wasn’t being pranked.

They had truly gone through all of that, and Curtis was now the proud owner of not only one fist-sized High-Grade Spiritual Energy Crystal, but also an S-grade monster crystal core!

Only...

Said core apparently needed to be disciplined a little because it had an annoying penchant for running away.

"..."

"..."

As one could probably imagine, to the Deputy Officer who’d only just woken up with his hair sticking straight up from his head, all of it sounded completely alien and unbelievable!

That was, at least, until Eden finally elected to step forward and explain everything she’d learned while he had gloriously passed out and left her to fend for herself.

Curtis looked at his girlfriend and immediately felt quite a bit guilty so naturally, he hurried to apologize for apparently not being able to survive all the way to the end.

But after learning how they’d practically had him dragged around afterward, hence the unusual back pain for someone of his age and training regimen, he started to feel like maybe wasn’t the one who needed to apologize!

However, only some ungrateful lunatic would actually voice such concerns aloud.

Especially when he was suddenly hearing things about how they were currently inside Luca’s dungeon!

And apparently, just like the Marshal, who Curtis had now learned could randomly appear and disappear from the place, they could do that too.

Then, as if Eden had been holding her tongue for far too long and finally couldn’t take it anymore, the Tech Specialist started practically word-vomiting everything else she’d learned while he was unconscious, including the fact that they wouldn’t just keep running into the Imperial Prince and Princess, but the Emperor and Empress as well.

It was unusual for the witch of Military HQ to be this proactive, but if there was anything worth using up her entire saliva quota for the month, it really had to be this conversation.

"The "

Curtis had to make sure he’d heard that correctly and, well, apparently he had.

Sure enough, that whole thing about treason was definitely the work of the Imperials themselves.

Also...

Had Eden not had more things to say, the bedridden soldier probably would’ve started thinking about all those absurd times he’d had to make excuses for the Marshal and realized that maybe all those instances when their leaders disappeared had something to do with the dungeon.

"Uh-huh. Not to mention how you can’t be too surprised when you see them fishing in a body of spiritual water."

"..."

"..."

Eden continued rattling off all the people they might randomly encounter fishing, training, or even sleeping right on the ground before warning Curtis that the animals DG had briefly shown during the Annual Expo were actually present here in much bigger numbers.

And they were apparently far larger and grouchier than the ones they’d seen Jax present.

Well, that was truly one thing to note. Though after encountering corrupted beasts in that simulation, he figured he should be able to handle seeing domesticated animals.

Then, as if she’d somehow remembered the craziest thing last, Eden suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, and there’s even that place called a dungeon-linked space. That’s where you’d get to see the people of House Kyros working the fields, training, manufacturing mechas, and even preparing those things they’ve been selling. I mean, no wonder they’re undefeatable!"

"..."

Curtis already knew that House Kyros and DG must’ve found some way to keep themselves safe, but never in his wildest dreams did he think it would be something as inexplicable as a .

And one that apparently had time dilation, allowing the others to work or rest far longer than those outside!

Now, color the Deputy Officer weird, but the moment he heard that they could rest longer for the same amount of time inside the dungeon after managing to put up their own cabins, his ears practically perked right up.

It was probably pitiful to witness, but as someone who could always do with even a single extra second of rest, that honestly sounded like the greatest possible work benefit!

Well, not counting Eden’s repeated mentions of all the meals and the spiritual water they’d apparently been warned to be careful about using or drinking in the meantime.

But speaking of benefits...

Curtis suddenly remembered the literal jar still stuck over his hand.

"I’m pretty sure we can sit here for a month and still not be done discussing everything there is to know about this dungeon and everyone in it, so I just want to know if I’m meant to keep wearing this for the foreseeable future."

Finally, Luca, who’d since kept a rather frozen grin on his face while allowing Eden to explain things in a way that would hopefully make sense to the newly awakened soldier, spoke up.

"Don’t worry, Lord Curtis! I think we can remove it now! I don’t feel any more resistance like before, so it should be safe to pull out."

"Resistance...?" the confused soldier repeated, squinting suspiciously at the jar.

"Yeah... about that." Luca smiled a little guiltily.

"Normally, S-grade ones don’t react as much as SS-grade ones, but apparently, the ones we got as rewards tend to be a little excited... Soooo we’ve had to catch several escapists...

"But the Elders told us that the owners need to subdue them, or they won’t be as obedient when they’re eventually used for weapons or armor!"

Luca explained the whole thing like it was nothing, practically brimming with energy, while Curtis stared at him with the distinct expression of someone who was technically listening but had stopped understanding a single word several sentences ago.

Thankfully, Eden decided to translate.

"I’m telling you. You must’ve used up all your remaining luck earlier. But because the core noticed you’d fainted, it tried to escape," she explained, visibly struggling to keep the amusement from creeping onto her face.

"Ahem... So we had to chase after the thing while you were being dragged around with it, and someone eventually suggested we just stick this on you in the meantime so it’d stay next to you while you were passed out."

"..."

Curtis slowly looked down at the ceramic jar.

Then at his girlfriend.

Then at Luca.

Just what had he done to deserve any of this?