The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 1110

Chapter 1110: A Win-Win Candidate!

"Perfect! Thank you."

Marquise Julienne nodded approvingly at Luca’s answer before turning back toward the projection.

But as she spoke, the golden-eyed cadet found his thoughts drifting to the competition he had been so excited about.

In his mind, he had imagined it as something akin to an interschool event—a chance to bond with his friends, engage in friendly competition with other participants, and perhaps even get up close and personal with corruption.

Looking back, he was beginning to suspect that he might have underestimated just how seriously everyone else was taking it.

But really, the money-grubbing guild leader had no intention of abolishing long-standing political climates!

If anything, he only really wanted a shot at the promised access to the MCZs!

Oh no!

"If the Astral Cup were to proceed as originally scheduled, then every flaw they’ve been desperately trying to conceal would become much harder to hide."

"But Mom, isn’t it just a competition between Academy guilds?" Ollie asked.

"Exactly."

The currently lecturing mother pointed toward her bouncy child.

"First... Imagine losing badly to cadets. To a group of first years at that."

The blonde immediately opened his mouth.

Then closed it.

Because unfortunately, that did sound rather terrible. The same way he would lose to his younger brother just because Owen had been blessed with too much height!

It was the case of being wronged but ultimately being unable to say anything because it was an embarrassing scenario!

"Certainly not someone’s proudest moment, no? But imagine an even worse scenario—one where losing badly to a handful of cadets is enough to make your own people question the stability, competence, and long-held position of your nation."

"!"

It was a question that one couldn’t have imagined posing years prior, and yet here they were talking about something that may have sounded preposterous and even downright disrespectful to said enemies.

"Huh? Isn’t that a bit too..."

"Far-fetched? Maybe even an exaggeration?"

Oddly enough, she merely raised a brow before nodding in agreement.

"And most would think so too. The same way a few friendly sparring matches shouldn’t determine the future of a nation."

"But unfortunately, people have already started drawing their conclusions, like assuming they already know the extent of what House Kyros is capable of..."

"And at first, they likely believed they could create major political rifts within the Empire. But with how openly the Imperial Family has demonstrated both its support and its awareness of everything that’s been happening, that particular approach has become rather pointless."

The graceful lady flicked a finger as if in warning.

"Sure, they could still stir up trouble, but not in the way they originally envisioned."

"However, the greatest consequence of the Imperial Family’s involvement is that everyone now expects the Empire’s military and other critical industries to receive a significant boost."

"Just look at the two mechas that were provided to the military."

The well informed Astrea tapped several factions on the board.

"So if your guild achieves another decisive victory, it won’t simply be viewed as a victory by a group of students."

Her finger traced a line toward the Empire.

"It’ll be viewed as a sample."

"A sample?" Kyle repeated.

"A sample of the kind of devastation the Empire could potentially unleash if it ever stopped holding back."

Theo almost choked as he couldn’t imagine being treated as a threat for something they really didn’t even plan on doing.

Then again, the words somehow made sense, so he could only listen to see it from the perspective of outsiders.

"Whether that’s true or not is almost irrelevant. What matters is perception."

"And from their perspective, the Astral Cup either needs to be delayed for as long as possible, or they need to find some way to avoid an embarrassing defeat that would expose their vulnerabilities."

"Now losing badly and losing face would be the least desirable outcome because they’d suddenly be downgraded to prey."

Her gaze drifted toward a certain golden-eyed cadet.

"Especially when someone here seems exceptionally talented at sniffing out weaknesses."

The worried but still cute unlicensed mechanic slowly nodded.

That was a hundred percent true.

His brother really did possess that particular talent.

In fact, it worked even on people who were absolutely convinced they had no weaknesses to begin with.

Brrr!

"Right."

"Still, they’re aware that closing the gap isn’t exactly easy," the Marquise continued. "Especially not in such a short period of time."

After all, technological advancement wasn’t something one simply willed into existence.

Not normally, unless they were fortunate enough to encounter someone like Luca.

Her delightful son was one such lucky individual, managing to cross paths with someone this life-changing.

But even she, who had long since been considered to be lucky, was no match for the existence that was her own child, so what chance did those black-hearted fellows have?

"Which means," Ollie said slowly, "they need time...?"

"Time and an extremely detailed manual."

The up-to-date Marquise smiled knowingly.

"Learn, steal, copy, deconstruct, reverse engineer. There are many ways to achieve it, but ultimately they all lead back to the same requirement."

"An established basis. The trade secret."

The already distressed mop frowned.

"But why would we even let them in on such important secrets?"

His expression immediately became protective.

"We won’t. And that’s the problem."

The Marquise gestured toward Luca.

"They can’t exactly walk up to him and demand a demonstration on how he builds mechas, right?"

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