The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 952: The Cadet

It was practically the era of Stellar Engineering, and yet there were still things that remained from the days of ancient humans.

Like that particular kind of feeling that warned people something was about to go terribly and catastrophically wrong.

Now, most people would usually experience it once or twice in their lives.

However, there had always been a select few, like one blue-haired adjutant, who would go through it so often that it had practically become a personality trait.

And if he were being completely honest, the number of times Kyle had felt that ominous inkling this year alone could rival the total number of times he had experienced it since he first learned how to read.

But why?

Well, because the careful and normally rational aide had somehow ended up with an extremely talented magnet.

One that attracted eyes left, right, up, and down.

From being mistaken for the elusive fruit vendor to looking like the harbinger of death itself, one Oliver Mylor seemed to have it all.

And now, to add to that memorable moment when he had looked like he had kidnapped both the Imperial Crown Prince and the Duke’s son, it appeared he was also gunning for a brand new title.

A hidden mechanical legend.

"..."

"..."

Kyle should have known the moment that distinct shiver crawled through his spine.

The warning had been there.

But how was he supposed to know that his little star would panic so hard that he ended up showing his very best?

And now the same mop of blonde hair was sending him a distress signal that had Kyle sighing twice before even answering the call.

"Kyle! Kyle! What do I do?!" Ollie’s voice came through immediately, dramatic and breathless as he hid in a corner.

"I only wanted to finish faster so I could free my hands in case something happened!" he continued in a rush. "I wanted to be able to hold onto my pills because you-know-what made me nervous. And I actually finished fast. Like first! But the problem is, I forgot to make a mistake!"

To his credit, the faithful boyfriend simply blinked slowly.

His mop was essentially word-vomiting at this point, and Kyle—who had been busy monitoring the security arrangements for the foreign delegation and couldn’t exactly tune in to every moment of the polishing competition—could only ask one thing.

"...What?"

"I polished the joint rotor like usual! As in, usual-usual!" Ollie explained anxiously. "So when they calculated the combined CF and durability score for the A-rank part, it ended up at one hundred percent because it was standard!"

Kyle paused.

Now that was definitely impressive. And at any point before being desensitized, the likelihood of fainting after hearing that would have been really high. But after being around such an insane bunch, a CF of eighty percent and a durability of eighty-five percent had since been their guild’s new standard for A-grade components.

Bonkers, right?

Well, Kyle thought so, too. Don’t even mention the S-grade parts.

But after a few months, it was clear that the mechanics, including his little guy, could really keep at it.

And that would have been phenomenal for any other day but today. For it just so happened that all those old bones, together with the skeletons in their closets, plus about half the empire and a bunch of their actual enemies, were tuned in to the competition.

"..."

"..."

However, it would probably come as a surprise to many because the actual concern wasn’t the score itself.

Instead, in this particular case, the issue was who scored it.

"Oh," Kyle said slowly from the other end of the line. "Okay. First, let’s ask Luca or the Captain how to proceed. It shouldn’t be that bad because we expected people would eventually start looking into the mechas anyway, and they did think about how to deal with today’s competition."

And that was true.

After the parade, it would’ve been impossible to keep curious eyes away forever.

Ideally, most people would opt to hide such an edge, but it wouldn’t do them, or the Empire, much good in the long run in terms of security and innovation.

Underhanded organizations would definitely start looking into things, particularly the people involved in making such advancements. Entities like the Federation could go as far as a Tavian 2.0, and they really didn’t need that kind of shit right now.

So what better way to have people continuously monitor things by making information public on their own terms?

Good luck randomly nabbing a popular mechanic and trying to pass off products with the same technology as "original" without expecting backlash or signaling a just cause for war.

So really, it should be fine. The only real complication here was that the person who just achieved that score happened to be a cadet. A freshman at that.

And what do you know.

It was almost as if a certain someone possessed an uncanny sixth sense.

Because just as Ollie finished talking about being skinned alive and the possibility of going hungry in dark, moist rooms, Luca—who had somehow tracked him down behind the maintenance shed for the arcade machines—lightly knocked on the spiritual barrier Ollie had thrown up around himself.

"Brother? Are you okay?" Luca asked worriedly as the spiritual barrier opened just enough for him to slip through.

"!!!"

The mop was not okay.

In fact, Ollie felt so guilty about the entire oversight that he could barely look at his brother. He’d only been trying to finish faster because he was scared. Scared enough that he forgot to make even a tiny mistake.

Sure, the whole thing was terribly ironic.

Who would’ve ever imagined that Ollie Mylor would one day suffer from the problem of being too good?

And yet here they were.

But much to his surprise, his good brother didn’t look even remotely upset. Instead, Luca simply nodded as if everything made perfect sense.

"It’s okay!" Luca said reassuringly. "Do you remember Master Quinn’s concern earlier?"

"Huh?"

Ollie blinked in confusion, which was understandable because he hadn’t actually paid much attention to the competition. There had been a bajillion other things happening, and he hadn’t even been supposed to compete in the first place.

"Master Quinn asked if they could compete legitimately without having to self-sabotage."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Luca said, nodding again. His contemplative expression really getting to the concerned blonde. "He told me that even if he was against fossils, it was still important to respect his elders by doing his best in a competition. He said that if he ended up crushing them, then so be it!"

The licensed mechanic paused thoughtfully.

"I think Master Quinn really likes Master Allan," he added sincerely. "Because he said he wanted to kick his butt so he would finally wake up."

"???"

"Even now, they’re fighting outside," Luca continued calmly. "But Master Colton told me that was normal. He said that was probably the most communication they’ve had since they started fighting ages ago!"

Ollie listened carefully to every word his brother said.

Little by little, the crushing dread in his chest loosened. Especially after Luca mentioned that the mechanics of House Kyros had also started producing perfect results during their polishing runs, something that made the guild leader extremely proud.

Which meant... maybe he hadn’t just ruined everything.

Thankfully!

With that consolation in mind, the blonde carefully asked the question that had been haunting him since he hid behind the arcade maintenance shed.

"Brother... would it be safe to go out now?"

He really hoped it was.

Earlier, Ollie had imagined the worst possible scenarios. He had even briefly wondered if this terrible mistake might somehow ruin his future to the point that he, a person in a relationship, wouldn’t even be able to continue being in one because of all this!

A grave error, indeed.

But the golden-eyed saint of a brother only smiled brightly.

"Yes! Don’t worry! I already spoke to them, brother!"

Ollie’s eyes widened slightly.

"Huh? Really?!"

Sure enough! There was really no better brother than Luca in the universe. Not only did he stay calm in the face of so many problems, but he also didn’t even blame Ollie for his clear oversight!

"Yes, really!" Luca replied enthusiastically. "The only thing the people were apparently asking for was something simple!"

The blonde, in his joy, was about to hug his good brother, but stopped to listen to that. If they wanted him to work or pay for compensation, then he would, provided they didn’t take him away or experiment on him, he would be fine!

However, the unsuspecting little star failed to interpret the lack of tears and heavy breathing. Because then, he would have been able to determine the kind of compensation he would have had to deal with.

"They just want you to take the Licensure Exam!"

Luca beamed. He beamed so hard the blonde thought he had gone blind for a full second as he heard him continue with, "Isn’t that great, brother?!"

"!"

"!!!"

"!!!!!!"

Safe to say, Oliver Mylor was immediately knocked out of commission as somewhere beyond the maintenance shed, Star Net exploded in the most absurd fashion imaginable.