The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1361: A Trillion Grievances

"Isn’t that too much?!"

"..."

The hesitant clarification came from Luca, whose voice reached Sid through their shared sea of consciousness.

And although the golden-eyed cadet sounded rather stunned, the guardian mecha remained as courteous as ever.

"Negative, Little Master. According to D-29—"

"..."

It was just that, for this one, Sid wasn’t the only one waiting for an answer.

Because right beside him, a certain white-and-gold mecha had apparently been listening in, hanging on to every word with an almost ridiculous degree of anticipation.

"T-too much? Did the Host actually say "

D-29 sounded scandalized.

"Sid! Did you relay everything as I said?!"

"...Yes."

The guardian mecha paused for a moment, seemingly reconsidering his answer.

"Just as I said it?!"

"...Well, relevant information has definitely been relayed."

"...!"

D-29 practically whirred in place.

What was that supposed to mean?!

"NOOO!"

The little system sounded as though someone had just informed it that its favorite sources of riveting research materials were getting cancelled overnight.

"It’s probably because you didn’t say it like I told you to say it! That’s why the Host is saying it’s too much!"

"..."

"Tell him again! I’m sure if the Host could just hear it properly, he’d even charge a trillion! A trillion, I tell you!"

Sid remained silent. At this point, he’d be perfectly fine with playing dead for an entire year.

Because what else was he supposed to say?

He’d already explained the situation to both his Master and Little Master through their bond, and as far as he was concerned, he’d conveyed everything they needed to know. There had been quite a lot of information to relay, and for all intents and purposes, he’d like to believe that he’d managed to do just that despite their current circumstances.

Unfortunately, D-29 apparently believed that the manner in which information was delivered was just as important as the information itself.

And judging by the way the little system was practically vibrating in its mecha form, it wasn’t about to let this matter go.

"Sid! You need to start saying everything out loud!"

"..."

"How else am I supposed to know whether you’re telling them the right things?!"

The guardian mecha turned his attention toward the indignant biomecha.

"You want me to vocalize everything I’m going to say?"

"Yes!"

Of course it did. How could D-29 not want to hear everything when it had been so used to having access to everything it wanted? As someone who had lost this much in mere moments, shouldn’t there be a little consideration for its feelings?

Besides, it wasn’t as though the issue wasn’t important when it was practically critical!

But rather than dignifying its pleas with an immediate response, this tyrant actually issued a warning!

"Don’t even think about pacing on those legs."

"...!"

"What if you get so used to doing that that you accidentally do it again once we’re forced to return? You don’t want everyone paying even more attention to us than they already would, do you? Unless you’d prefer to explain why they’re suddenly facing three sentient mechas without anyone piloting them?"

The white-and-gold machine immediately went still.

"O-of course not! I don’t want to be experimented on! But you promised!"

D-29’s voice rose again, although its physical body remained perfectly motionless.

"How could you, a respected guardian mecha, do me dirty like this?!"

"..."

"..."

Ah. Spoken as though that wasn’t the actual problem!

When the only reason he’d managed to maintain even a shred of his dignity was precisely because he hadn’t repeated D-29’s ridiculous script word for word!

If he’d actually done so, would he even want to live to see the next day?!

But as he should’ve anticipated from the very beginning, the little system was relentless.

"Sid..."

"..."

"Sid?"

The guardian mecha said nothing.

"Please?"

"..."

Strangely enough, D-29 hadn’t exactly moved from its position.

It had merely turned its white-and-gold body toward him.

And yet, somehow, Sid could practically feel the little system staring at him.

Earnestly.

Expectantly.

As though someone had begun leaning closer and closer to his face while silently begging him to reconsider.

"..."

Sid turned slightly away.

The white-and-gold mecha adjusted its position to face him again.

"..."

"Sid?"

"..."

"Just once?"

The guardian mecha’s internal mechanisms emitted a faint whir.

Really.

How had things come to this?

For several more moments, neither machine moved, although the sheer anticipation radiating from D-29 was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

In the end...

"..."

Sid relented.

The wary guardian figured that if D-29 couldn’t get its way through him, it would probably end up recruiting the baby system that had been patiently observing the entire exchange.

"I’m only going to do this once."

"...!"

"Only once," he repeated firmly.

"YES!"

D-29 practically burst with delight.

"I knew it! The Host will definitely understand this time!"

"..."

Sid could only wonder whether he was about to regret this decision for the rest of his operational life.

Still, a promise was a promise.

"Fine."

And so, having finally agreed to the little system’s rather insane demand, the resigned voice of reason did something he sincerely hoped he’d never have to do again.

He adjusted his voice register.

"..."

Then, after one final glance at the crazed being standing expectantly beside him—and half hoping D-64 would simply hibernate through the entire shit show—the respected guardian mecha began relaying D-29’s earlier complaints through their shared communication channel.

Only this time...

He did so exactly as instructed. Literally.

"Host! You have absolutely no idea what we’ve been through!"

"...?"

The sudden change in Sid’s voice was so dramatic that even D-29 seemed momentarily stunned.

Because where had the guardian mecha’s usual calm, courteous manner gone?!

In its place was a voice practically overflowing with the indignation of someone who’d suffered a hundred lifetimes’ worth of grievances and was finally being given the opportunity to complain!

"We rattled all the way here! RATTLED! Do you have any idea how much rattling we endured?! And those ships! Those enormous, ridiculously heavy ships! We had to support them and those mecha suits MANUALLY! Host, MANUALLY! At this point, Young Lord Jax deserves a new shield and an award for bearing all that weight!"

"..."

"And there was screaming! So much screaming! When, out of everyone there, shouldn’t WE have been the ones screaming?! But no! Everyone else was screaming while we were trying to steady those things that had suddenly lost their ability to stay in flight! And when we finally managed to get everything under control, what did we find?! USELESS PIRATES!"

D-29 practically glowed with approval.

Yes!

That was it!

That was exactly how the Host needed to hear it!

"Vegetable, contaminated pirates, Host! And now we’ve got those floppy things practically MARINATING inside their suits while all we can do is STARE AT THEM!"

"...!"

"Do you have any idea how distressing that is?! We can’t even take anything out! No pills, no containment cubes. Nothing! Then again, even if those could help, we couldn’t risk using any of our basic functions at the moment, so we had to let the Elders monitor them."

For one glorious moment, toward the end of that statement, his usual voice almost returned.

Unfortunately...

"Continue!" D-29 urged.

"..."

The guardian mecha resumed, though his eyes were now as dead as a biomechanical suit’s could possibly be.

"And if you’re wondering why a trusted, efficient, and exceptionally capable manager such as myself is having this much trouble, WELL, OF COURSE THAT’S BECAUSE..."

He raised his voice to an even higher register.

"WE’RE FUGITIVES!"

"..."

"...!"