The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 340

Chapter 340: Doors

"Hey, Kyle?"

"Hm?"

"...Do you think we could also be giants one day?"

Kyle didn’t look down, but the quietness in Ollie’s voice told him this wasn’t one of the usual mop-headed outbursts. The kind that ended with yelling, snacks, or spontaneous declarations of his brother’s greatness.

This one was different—gentler, like the question had been sitting with him.

"Mn. Yeah," Kyle replied after a beat, adjusting their altitude as they hovered just inside the passage the Duchess had carved open. "Sure. I mean, you’ll definitely get there, especially with how many naps you take in a day."

"That’s not—hey!" Ollie snorted, wanting to elbow the guy behind him, if not for the fact that it might endanger him too.

So he just pouted.

Kyle’s mouth twitched.

Because it worked.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to loosen the tightness in Ollie’s chest. The pilot understood what he meant by that question, and already thought that these people with him were already giants in their own right.

Yeah. Even this one. But Kyle knew better than to say that, with how it would likely scare this shorty with responsibilities, as if he hadn’t been in charge of those before realizing how crucial they were.

So it was best to answer like this.

Because as soon as the Duchess had told them to go and entrusted them with finding the core to end this, the weight of it all had settled over them like a second skin.

He could feel Ollie clinging harder to the console. Could feel Luca go quiet in the comms. Even Xavier, usually calm, had grown sharper. More focused. More dangerous.

Because they had been passed the torch.

Now it was their turn to run with it.

And they did, barely waiting for the signal and not even turning back.

They all lunged forward, maintaining vigilance as they predicted the roots to thicken as they went even deeper.

Only to find a totally different scenario.

The moment they crossed a certain junction, the world suddenly changed.

And had they been on foot, they would’ve noticed how the scent of rot and sap evaporated, replaced by cool, sterile air.

But more than things that only D-29 and Sid could notice were the initially gradual, then suddenly massive decrease of the corrupted roots that once coated the walls of that last room.

There were no more pustules.

No slithering tendrils, and instead they were greeted with smooth, pale walls that could’ve passed for a sterilized medical ward.

Their mechas’ footsteps echoed differently now.

And Luca, who somehow had a shadow when it came to such halls, couldn’t help but think about the irony.

But this time, one little system was with them, finding all this odd.

As it was programmed to look for patterns, D-29 couldn’t help but notice how this very much looked like an internal access corridor. One that was used in early system management constructs.

Although that should be logical, considering that this was another dungeon.

However, why would such a beast be guarding this corridor in particular?

But they didn’t have the time to dwell.

Kyle and Luca similarly moved, with Kyle finally able to use bolts against another machine. At the same time, Luca felt internally satisfied that his power tools were finally seeing the light of day, or well, any kind of light.