The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] - Chapter 763

Capítulo 763: The Empire Reacts

The realization hit Luca in the face.

Come to think of it, why would anyone pick something that was ultimately too short?

And with how one would usually drink nutrient solution, there would not really be room for people to converse.

Taken this way, their school cafeteria suddenly seemed revolutionary in its own way.

Luca contemplated a lot on this and figured maybe it would be good to try, only for the focused cadet to snap out of it the moment he realized everyone had been staring at him.

Ollie leaned forward immediately, eyes wide. “Brother? Hello? What happened? You froze. You looked like someone told you water wasn’t free.”

The deep in thought guild master blinked. “Ah, sorry, brother, it’s nothing much. Well, actually, it may be a little something.”

The secretive group straightened.

Ollie squinted. “What kind of important?”

Luca looked around, hesitating. His fingers fidgeted. Then he exhaled and decided.

“I should tell all of you.”

The moment he said it, the atmosphere shifted. The group drew closer like an elite council preparing to decide the fate of the galaxy, which some might say was not an exaggeration at all. In fact, it might even be an understatement, because whenever this particular group hatched plans, they tended to disrupt the natural course of more than just the empire.

They gathered in a tight circle. Luca took a breath.

Then he spoke.

And what followed was a series of nods, gasps, and eerie snickering of masterminds clearly up to no good.

Then, with an excited squeal from Princess Kira, Luca became more confident about trying.

It was just that for things to work out, they would need to know how much space they would be working with.

And honestly, that should not have been an issue if not for the unsettling scene happening while the group was packing up.

For back at the capital, inside the conference room of the team in charge of the annual expo, a tense atmosphere could be felt.

The meeting table was long, polished, and perfectly clean, yet everyone seated around it looked as if they had collectively aged ten years. Several officials were gripping their tablets like life preservers. Others stared silently at one another as if answers would suddenly crawl out from someone’s eyeballs if they waited long enough. One anxious clerk kept adjusting her glasses even though they were already straight. Another man had stopped blinking entirely.

There were fewer than two weeks left before the kick-off of the expo, and the crucial booth location selection had just come to pass.

As per tradition, the selection was to happen randomly and with barely any announcements, so there would be a much lower chance of dishonest manipulation and power play.

Then again, others would be quick to point out that it was difficult to think of it as manipulation-free when the sanction for not being available during that time meant not being able to pick until everyone else had picked and paid.

The argument was simple. Guilds on a mission would never leave as an entire group, and surely there would always be someone who could be sent as a representative.

The organization and its officials had been adamant about this policy, so when a guild unfortunately could not select a spot because they did not respond to the summons, the officials just shrugged and called it a day.

Of course, there were a few who had sly smiles. While they did not initiate anything, such an incident would certainly benefit the houses and guilds they supported in their hearts.

So why the long faces now?

Ah, because they had all been forced to return and gather again after the news broke out just hours ago.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

They simply sat there, breathing the same nervous air, waiting for the person in charge to finally summarize the disaster they had just discovered.

Humble Assistant Adrian was sure they were fucked as he tentatively showed them a list of headlines that had already made their way into the hands of everyone with a terminal.

Heck, if those pampered pets had a terminal clipped to their collars, then even they would have been privy to the news that woke up the Empire.

The headlines had been officially released a while ago. And since then, Star Net employees had been busy managing traffic that could have melted weaker servers.

But just what were the headlines, and why would they shake in their boots when everyone else seemed to be in a celebratory mood?

Well, you see, it did not start out as something to be exalted. In fact, it started sensationally with:

“Where Are They? Zone Four Families Report: ‘Not a Single Relative Has Come Home'”

In truth, it was merely a collection of anonymous posts from relatives of soldiers who were expecting them to return. And while the posts were not particularly damning, since they were simply asking each other for updates, other people became invested and began looking and asking as well.

Then, as if the dam had been broken, more and more headlines and forum posts began popping up.

“Crisis in Zone Four: Where are the updates?”

It eventually escalated into posts with increasingly sharp wording, such as:

“Why the Secrecy? Officials Silent About the Status of Zone Four Soldiers”

And emotional posts like:

“If There Was No Crisis, Why Is There No One Coming Home?”

Obviously, such headlines would alarm anyone, since everyone knew how dangerous the frontlines were.

But such charged posts lasted no more than an hour.

Because a single photo from the Imperial Palace surfaced with the caption:

“Thank you for worrying about us.”

The photo itself looked like a class picture taken after the world’s longest field trip.

A large group of soldiers stood, knelt, and sat together in their mecha-piloting suits. Some had their helmets tucked under one arm. Others sat cross-legged on the floor because their legs had given up.

They looked tired, yet they were happily smiling and very much alive.

The photo hushed everyone momentarily, but when people came to, they realized that something didn’t look quite right.

For amongst the active imperial soldiers and officials like the Marshal were faces that shouldn’t have been there.

Wearing sleek mecha-piloting suits that differed greatly from the standard uniform were members of House Kyros. And alongside them were Duchess Amelia and Duke Leander.

That alone was surprising and, honestly, controversial, but beyond that were the other oddities, such as people who weren’t even dressed for combat but were clearly wearing staff clothing like suits and dresses.

Then came the focal point.

Right in the center stood a cluster of young cadets, some still baby-faced and a little too glittery. Beside them were two orcs who towered over everyone else, but were smiling brightly.

The photo was not formal at all. Several people were throwing peace signs. One person at the back was flexing. Someone else had balanced an empty ration pack on another’s head. Meanwhile, the cadets were striking a few poses while being squeezed by the older soldiers, who seemed a bit too excited and proud to be around them.

It was chaotic, genuine, and absolutely impossible to stage.

And the moment the public saw it, everything changed.

Thank you very much to the following people for the gifts and Golden Tickets! <3

– raeris17

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– cnowland1212

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