The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1321: A Night Like Any Other

To most, it was a night like any other. And yet, inside one of the converted cells that had supposedly been decommissioned long ago, a young girl’s small hands trembled violently as she shook her mother’s shoulder.

"Mommy? Mommy, wake up..."

The woman lying motionless on the cold stone floor responded with nothing more than a weak, agonized groan.

"Mommy...?"

Her skin felt like ice beneath the child’s fingers.

Panic surged through the little girl’s chest, each breath coming in ragged, terrified hitches as she pressed her hands against her mother again.

Desperate, the child looked around the dim, cramped holding cell for help.

But the other prisoners either remained curled together in tight huddles or stared back at her with hollow, sorrowful eyes.

Nobody moved.

They’d been kept captive for long enough to know what happened to those who eventually succumbed to the brutal side effects of whatever it was they were being forced to manufacture.

At first, they’d been made to produce those unusual burners, each one painstakingly carved out by hand. The symptoms didn’t appear right away, but whenever someone mishandled even a small amount of the materials, something would inevitably change by the following day.

Some became strangely energetic. Others started behaving recklessly, sometimes even attempting to escape because of the incredible power they claimed was suddenly coursing through them.

For a while, that apparent surge of power had been enough to tempt some of the other captives into wondering whether stealing a little for themselves might actually be worth the risk.

Until those same people started getting sick.

Sooner or later, they’d collapse in the most random places, and once they could no longer be woken even by the guards’ brutal lashings, they were simply taken away as though they’d never existed at all.

More recently, after being moved several times while their captors seemed to be dealing with some sort of internal crisis, the prisoners had been ordered to manufacture a different variation without the actual burner.

The symptoms didn’t surface nearly as quickly this time.

But with everyone being pushed to work faster despite their empty stomachs and trembling hands, mistakes were inevitable.

Even then, their captors remained adamant that there was nothing to worry about, probably so everyone would keep working without becoming too frightened to handle the materials properly.

But who could continue believing that when those same people had started wearing protective gear whenever they came near the production area?

And even if they somehow managed to ignore that, how could they deny the glaring truth when so many of their fellow captives, including their own friends and relatives, had already ended up dead, their bodies quietly taken away and probably disposed of because of it?

This time...

Had it been anything else, someone might’ve stepped forward. Even with so little to give, they would’ve attempted something.

But this?

Calling the guards would only hasten the final separation between mother and daughter.

The woman suddenly shuddered again, curling into a tighter ball as another wave of unbearable pain seemed to tear through her body.

"Mommy!"

Hearing that agonized groan, the child couldn’t take it anymore.

At the same time, unfamiliar, muffled voices were coming from somewhere beyond the holding cell. Thinking that someone new might’ve arrived, someone who might actually listen, the little girl scrambled to her feet and rushed straight toward the sturdy metal cell door.

Her tiny fists slammed against the bars.

"Please! Somebody help! Please!"

The desperate noise terrified the surrounding detainees.

Several people instinctively moved to grab the child and pull her away, but the moment they saw the tears streaming down her pale face, their hands stopped.

They’d all been in her place once.

They knew how this would most likely end, but they also knew that if the girl wasn’t even allowed to try, she might spend the rest of her life regretting it.

So, with aching hearts, they slowly backed away.

And let her beg.

Predictably...

A heavy boot slammed violently against the outside of the door.

The entire cell flinched.

Several detainees shrank farther into the shadows, but despite the jarring blow, the terrified child continued clutching the bars.

"Please..." she sobbed, her voice cracking. "My mommy needs help! Please!"

Two unfamiliar guards, likely men who had arrived with the latest supply transport, appeared farther down the corridor.

One of them scowled.

"Shut that brat up."

His expression darkening when no one else seemed to heed his command, the man strode toward the cell and raised one heavy hand, clearly intending to strike the screaming child through the bars.

The little girl cowered instantly.

Her hands flew over her head as she squeezed her eyes shut.

But the blow never came.

"You have a replacement for this one?"

"...?"

The second captor had caught the man’s arm.

His expression remained perfectly calm as he continued, "Or are you planning on sitting at the assembly station and manufacturing her quota yourself?"

The aggressive guard stiffened.

For a moment, he simply glared at the man restraining him before clicking his tongue in disgust.

"Tch!"

He spat directly onto the cell floor.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself just because they sent you here with the rest of us," he growled.

Then, with nowhere else to direct his irritation, he kicked the stone wall before storming away, muttering under his breath, "Let’s see how long you even last..."

Silence returned to the corridor.

The second captor remained where he was, staring into the dim cell with completely unreadable eyes.

Then he reached for the lock.

The detainees tensed.

The man opened the door just enough to step inside, caught the little girl by the collar, and shoved her back toward the darker corner of the cell.

"Please, sir!"

The child desperately grabbed at his sleeve, her tear-filled eyes pleading with him.

"My mom—"

"Go back there," the man cut her off, his voice flat and stern. "Or someone else will come."

The girl’s heart sank.

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

All she cared about was her mother lying on that freezing floor, desperately needing medicine that nobody seemed willing to give her.

Even this man wasn’t going to help them.

The guard shoved her away, turned his back, and walked out without another word.

The heavy door locked behind him.

The child stumbled to the ground.

Her bruised palm opened instinctively against the stone as she tried to push herself back up.

Then she froze.

"...?"

Her breath caught.

There, nestled tightly within the fold of her fingers where the guard had grabbed and shoved her...

It was something tiny, not quite like any medicine pill she’d ever seen, but definitely something that hadn’t been in her hand until that man—

The little girl’s eyes widened.

She slowly lifted her head and stared through the bars at the mysterious guard’s retreating back before curling her fingers protectively around the tiny sphere.

Her heart began pounding all over again.

Did that man...

Actually just help them?

The encounter understandably left her confused, but careful not to attract any more attention and knowing there might not be another chance, the child simply returned to her mother’s side and wrapped her arms around her as though trying to keep her warm.

Then, with no idea what else to do, she slipped the strange drop she’d received into her mother’s mouth, hoping that something capable of leaving such an incredibly sweet scent and inexplicable sensation against her palm might somehow be able to help.