The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Chapter 1371: Into the Unknown

Meanwhile, back in the truly dizzying labyrinth of tunnels, a certain group couldn’t help but think about how much easier things would’ve been if they were dealing with monsters instead.

Of course, such thoughts were only shared by the cadets, whose reasoning the pirate would’ve found extremely dubious had he known what they were thinking!

But the members of DG weren’t exactly crazy for thinking this way.

After all, if there really were monsters roaming around, they would’ve at least had a general idea of where to go and what to avoid. A lair sounded dangerous, sure, but at least it was Certainly better than their current predicament, where they had practically nothing to guide them.

They also wouldn’t have to be nearly as subtle with their preparations, since monsters were far more straightforward than faceless enemies capable of truly malicious schemes. Had anyone from Tesseris heard about their predicament, some would’ve probably said this was precisely why it was always better to pick the bear.

"Haaah... We-we’re not going in circles, are we?"

Luca turned toward his good brother, who’d asked the question between ragged breaths, a direct consequence of all the running they’d been doing after the blonde himself had insisted on using his own two feet.

"I don’t think so, brother. At least, not yet, since we haven’t encountered any of the threads or marks we’ve been leaving behind."

As he spoke, Luca checked the sturdy fishing line they’d decided to use to track their progress in case they needed to retrace their steps.

At first, the pirate had actually questioned whether they were certain about leaving such obvious traces for potential enemies to follow.

But to his surprise, those two towers had merely shrugged, claiming that would be all the better!

After all, the faster those enemies came to them, the sooner they could resolve whatever problems they might pose.

"..."

"..."

And so, with the cadets apparently welcoming anyone foolish enough to follow them, the group had continued exploring the place where they’d landed.

As for the golden-eyed cadet, he couldn’t help but admire just how proactive his good brother had become.

Perhaps the CREX really had done wonders for him, considering Ollie was now going as far as turning down Kyle’s offers to carry him!

What Luca didn’t know, however, was that the blonde, who wanted nothing more than to claw his way back into his husband’s arms, was actually suffering through the entire experience for a very different reason.

Because how could he possibly let that pirate discover his weakness?!

What if the man decided Ollie was the easiest one to abduct or abandon simply because of his well-known aversion to anything remotely tiring?!

No!

He absolutely couldn’t allow that!

And so, there he was, running around like a perfectly normal person, even though the entire experience was becoming increasingly less satisfying with every passing minute.

Especially when everywhere they looked, the scenery was practically the same!

For starters, there was the overwhelming darkness.

Then, whenever their light sources illuminated their surroundings, all they could see were tunnel walls, openings leading into other tunnels, and then even more damn tunnels! Every time they entered a new passage, they’d eventually emerge somewhere that looked almost identical to where they’d just been.

Or perhaps that wasn’t entirely true, and the blonde had simply become too stressed to distinguish one place from another?!

"..."

By then, the pirate had already made his point about just how dangerous the place could be, demonstrating that searching for the others wouldn’t be nearly as easy as the cadets might’ve initially hoped.

And perhaps because Ollie had been so preoccupied with figuring out how to navigate the labyrinth, he’d almost overlooked several rather peculiar details about their surroundings.

So imagine his surprise when, after they’d finally taken a short break to discuss how they were going to tackle their predicament, his true genius of a brother suddenly began pointing out the very things he’d failed to notice!

Observation 1: The Tunnel.

The clay-like material forming the cavern walls was remarkably sturdy and consistent throughout their journey.

Observation 2: Oxygen Levels.

According to their suits’ readings, the surrounding environment had maintained a fairly consistent oxygen supply, suggesting they might even be able to survive without their suits.

Observation 3: Temperature.

Despite how far they had traveled and how much they had moved since arriving, the temperature had remained relatively consistent.

This suggested that the environment either wasn’t exposed to particularly extreme conditions or that some form of ventilation system was actively maintaining air circulation and, by extension, regulating the temperature.

"..."

Then, when the pirate moved a little farther ahead, Luca quietly enclosed the four of them within a subtle barrier before sharing his fourth observation.

One that, for obvious reasons, they couldn’t exactly discuss in front of their current companion.

Observation 4: Spiritual Energy.

For a dungeon, wasn’t it rather strange that Luca could barely sense any spiritual energy in their surroundings?

Shouldn’t a place like this normally be teeming with it?!

"...!"

Right!

Now that the dungeon owner had brought it up, the others couldn’t help but realize just how peculiar that was.

But with the pirate still nearby, they couldn’t exactly discuss the implications openly.

As for Luca, he couldn’t help but wonder whether this strange phenomenon had something to do with the cracked dungeon core.

Just then, as they kept moving forward while deep in thought, the pirate suddenly stopped them, extending both arms as though determined not to let anyone take another step.

The cadets found his behavior rather strange, but before anyone could question him, the man grunted softly.

"Don’t push forward unless you want to fall to your death."

They weren’t quite sure what he was talking about, but when the man pointed straight ahead, the cadets instinctively squinted into the gloom.

With the darkness obscuring practically everything, they couldn’t see what had alarmed him until the pirate directed his light emitter toward the ground at his feet, finally revealing what he’d been warning them about.

A massive, gaping drop-off!

"What the...?" Ollie muttered, his jaw practically dropping along with whatever little courage he’d managed to muster. Monsters with useful by-products were one thing, but even with his booms or his electric ability, what was he supposed to do about a gaping hole like that?!

It looked more like a colossal sinkhole with no end in sight, and even when they directed their strongest lights straight down into the void, they still couldn’t see the bottom!

"..."

Surprisingly, while everyone was still staring into the darkness, Xavier casually stepped forward and used a spiritual tendril to carve a heavy, head-sized chunk out of the sturdy clay wall.

Then, without another word, he tossed the rock straight down the center of the shaft.

"...?"

The mop stared at his pseudo-brother-in-law, utterly bewildered by the gesture, but the Imperial Crown Prince merely raised a hand, signaling for everyone to remain silent.

He then tapped his ear gently, indicating that they should listen carefully.

A second passed.

Then five.

Then ten.

Nothing.

The blonde was just about to say something, especially after noticing that both his husband and the Crown Prince had grown distinctly more solemn, when Luca’s head suddenly perked up.

"" Luca whispered, quietly imitating the faint sound he’d just heard from somewhere far below.

"What? You heard that, brother?!" Ollie gasped.

"Y-yeah." Luca nodded softly.

It was only then that Luca realized the others hadn’t heard a single thing!

Even the pirate had turned toward him with a thoroughly surprised expression, though the man quickly concealed it behind his usual unreadable demeanor before speaking again.

"Then it’s a very, very long way down," he remarked. "But this is the first major deviation we’ve encountered."

The blonde couldn’t exactly argue with that.

After all, considering how similar all the tunnels had looked so far, discovering something different should’ve been a welcome change!

But...

Hey, why the hell did he suddenly have such a terrible feeling about this?!

Then, as though he’d somehow heard Ollie’s heart threatening to jump straight out of his chest, Kyle turned toward him and smoothly extended both arms, silently inviting the blonde into his embrace.

"...!"

"Hey, wait! Are you all actually serious right now?!" Ollie stammered, instinctively taking half a step backward.

He looked from one determined face to another, and the horrifying realization finally struck him.

They were!