The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 701

Chapter 701: A Passion for Tentacles

The first to stand was the Marshal.

He had already been uneasy, but the sight of Luca’s mecha breaking formation to charge directly toward the monster was enough to make him grip the edge of the console.

"What is that kid doing?" someone whispered.

It looked reckless. No, it was reckless.

The white-and-gold mecha rushed straight toward one of the larger, more aggressive tentacles, moving too fast for anyone to call it a bluff. And this time, worse than before, it wasn’t even armed.

"Is he out of weapons?" Curtis asked, voice cracking halfway through.

"Does he look like he’s out?" another muttered.

Because Luca’s mecha wasn’t damaged. It wasn’t limping. It was just... empty-handed.

The entire bridge held its breath.

Meanwhile, in the private communication feed moments before, one very flabbergasted husband had been the first to know.

"Xavier," Luca had started sweetly—too sweetly.

That tone should’ve been a warning.

But by the time the Imperial Crown Prince realized where this was going, it was too late. The trap had already been set.

Okay, to be fair, this might’ve been his fault. Now that he thought about it, the prince was pretty sure he hadn’t been specific enough when he told his little wife not to keep dangerous plans from him—just to share them before trying them.

He really hadn’t told him about the acceptable lead time for plans like this.

"!"

Thankfully, the private channel had been muted earlier, courtesy of Duchess Amelia, who suspected that the cadets might discuss matters that no one—including the command staff—needed to hear. In hindsight, it was a mercy. Because if anyone had heard what came next, they might’ve grounded the entire group indefinitely.

For one, D-29 had immediately objected.

"H-Host, what about option number 368? A plan where we wait and see what the monster will do? Option 1024 also seemed appropriate, as it would do us well to continue harvesting. So, why did it have to be the Option negative 109?"

But fearing demotion from "manager of managers" to "decorative scrap," the little system reluctantly gave in.

And so began the next episode of everyone’s shared stress disorder.

Xavier actually volunteered to do it. He was confident that he and Sid could handle it, and it would spare him the psychological pain of watching Luca do something like that. D-29 obviously agreed, but the little money-grubber was adamant about testing something he felt was very important.

And so the husband, who was weak to his wife’s heartfelt requests, relented begrudgingly.

Luca’s mecha sprinted across the field, boosters flaring bright against the churning sea. One of the massive tentacles noticed and lashed toward him; the impact alone would’ve been strong enough to crush steel.

Every officer in the command center braced instinctively, as if they could somehow stop what was about to happen.

But instead of dodging, the cadet’s mecha suddenly whipped out something that made half the room blink in confusion.

"...Is that a tentacle?" Curtis croaked.

It was.

A severed one.

One that Luca himself had cut earlier—and apparently stored away for later use.

For some reason.

For some reason, he hoped they’d never have to learn about it.

On-screen, the small mecha raised the severed limb like a trophy and met the attacking tentacle head-on. The two collided with a wet crack that sent shockwaves through the air.

Everyone held their breath, expecting a blast of bioluminescent harpoons or another explosion.

But nothing happened.

The tentacle didn’t react.

It didn’t release venom. It didn’t lash out again. It just... stopped, recoiling slightly, as if confused.

Inside the command center, disbelief spread like static.

"???"

"...Did it just—did it recognize that?" someone asked.

"Why didn’t it attack?"

Somehow, Luca couldn’t tell where the corruption was coming from.

"?"

That was roughly the collective expression everyone made when Luca frowned and tilted his head, confused.

He tried to purify the tentacles. Nothing happened. Not even a flicker of reaction.

It wasn’t that there was no corruption. D-29 confirmed that the readings were right. But it was like trying to grab fog with his hands—it was there, yet not.

For once, Luca looked truly heartbroken.

To him, this was like finding out a long-awaited grand sale only applied to one item—the membership.

He felt personally wronged.

"I don’t know what’s wrong," Luca admitted in the shared channel, sounding betrayed. "I can’t find where to purify it."

Silence followed.

Then, as always, Ollie—the dependable shining star—spoke up brightly, as if bestowing divine wisdom upon the group.

"Well, brother, even if it’s not contaminated, we could still use it, right?"

"And if we cut enough of these, won’t we eventually find what’s causing the readings to show up like that?"

Everyone froze.

Oh.

And just like that, Luca’s eyes began to sparkle.

That was the moment the golden-eyed cadet discovered his passion for tentacles.

It was not a passion anyone expected—or wanted—but it was unstoppable.

And as he grew more invested, Luca began noticing patterns, small details, little truths about the monster that most people from the Empire would never have recognized.

Because honestly, how would they know anything about sea anemones?