The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 1047

Chapter 1047: A Necessary Disappearance

That was definitely a good call.

Somehow, it turned the return trip to Planet Nova into something that felt less like a journey and more like a working lecture that finally ended up with everyone suddenly scrambling, rushing to prepare their affairs before the day they were supposed to consume the fruit of the Queen of the Night.

It was to the point that, from an outsider’s perspective, one might think the various leaders were preparing to leave permanently, given how seriously they were handling schedules, responsibilities, and pending deliverables like they were about to pass everything down to a successor.

Definitely suspicious.

Officially, they framed it as nothing more than a short break following the stress of the Annual Expo. A reasonable explanation on paper.

But for people like Deputy Officer Curtis, that reasoning didn’t sit right at all.

Because really—who wouldn’t panic after being explicitly told not to launch any attacks or search parties, even if reports came in that the leaders had gone missing again?

That alone sounded like the beginning of a disaster.

"But Marshal—" Curtis was going to say something to the effect of, ’Isn’t that treason?!’

However, he didn’t get the chance to finish because his superior cut in smoothly, "We’re having a meeting among ourselves, but that is strictly confidential."

Ah.

Ahhh.

Well... that explained it.

Somewhat.

Curtis swallowed his words and nodded stiffly, though a new concern immediately surfaced.

A covert meeting of this scale?

Wouldn’t that be dangerous in its own way?

Apparently, his expression gave him away.

Marshal Julian glanced at him and added, "I’m only telling you this because if our meeting takes longer than expected, people will come to you demanding authorization."

A pause.

"So make sure to stall them."

Curtis blinked.

Once.

Or maybe fifteen times in shock.

Because surely—

Surely he misheard.

He—as in poor Curtis Karswell—was supposed to stall them?

All of them?

Said Curtis stared at his superior, his soul quietly preparing to ascend.

By any chance, was he... being told to die?

__

Well, not exactly.

It wasn’t like Marshal Julian—or any of the other leaders—were planning to disappear for an unreasonable amount of time.

But after what had happened last time, and considering what the Elders had just hammered into them during that lecture, this level of caution was necessary.

Because really, unless they wanted to come back to news of the Empire collapsing while most of its leadership conveniently vanished...

Then yes.

This was necessary.

Of course, one very reasonable question came up.

Why not just stagger the consumption of the fruit?

It was a good point. A practical one, even. They had asked it themselves, hoping to leave at least a few people in place while the others went through what was very likely to be an awakening.

Unfortunately—

The fruit, more like the Elders, said no.

Much like the flower, it was time-sensitive. Not in the sense that it couldn’t be stored—Luca’s dungeon inventory could preserve it—but because the optimal moment to consume it was immediately after harvesting, right at peak ripeness.

According to the Elders, once the fruit changed color, it had a very short window before it over-ripened—about one to two days in the dungeon space.

Outside?

That translated to roughly eight to sixteen hours.

Which, in the grand scheme of things...

Was not a lot of time.

And since no one was willing to risk their first successful harvest—especially with a dungeon upgrade looming over their heads—they agreed to follow instructions.

Exactly as the Elders wanted.

The only compromise they managed to squeeze out of the situation was this: those whose fruits still needed a bit more time to ripen could briefly attend meetings or respond to calls, just enough to maintain the illusion that everything was functioning as usual.

It wasn’t perfect.

But it was the best they had.

Mostly because the Elders had reacted rather... strongly.

"You dare not take it at its peak with the kind of spiritual pathways you all have?!" they had screeched. "Aren’t you being too proud?!"

Ahem.

They genuinely looked like they were about to chase someone down with a broom if anyone suggested doing things in shifts again.

And frankly—

No one at their age wanted to be beaten like that.

Then again, such busy leaders wouldn’t be doing something like this if it hadn’t been all too important.

So what exactly did they learn from that lecture that had them acting like this?

Well—

Several things.

Beyond the discussion on abilities, they had also witnessed firsthand the cadets’ panic over their future children, along with the parents nearly collapsing at the sheer directness of their concerns. Now, that part definitely wasn’t in the Elders’ curriculum, but for the future of the Empire, it was oddly reassuring.

Encouraging, even.

"Bloodline abilities, or affinities, shouldn’t be rare," Elder Pao Xi stated firmly.

"They only seem that way right now. But in truth—or in a proper setting—they were never meant to be this exclusive."

Elder Feng stepped forward, elaborating with a calm that somehow made everything sound even more serious. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

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