The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 1294

Chapter 1294: Operational Cost

Well.

Theo’s embarrassingly valid explanation certainly gave everyone something to think about.

Off to the side, Luca was staring at his guildmate with barely concealed eagerness and pride for pointing out something he would’ve otherwise completely missed.

And just how spot-on that observation had been!

Unlike someone like Luca Kyros, who’d willingly shoved his hands into Nanite Ore and repeatedly attempted things most sane mechanics wouldn’t even consider, or Jackson "Vibes" Taylor, whose relationship with normal survival instincts remained questionable at best, Theo understood the hesitation of ordinary cadets considerably better.

He’d become far more trusting and admittedly more spontaneous after everything he’d experienced with DG, but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten what it felt like to look at something unfamiliar and immediately wonder whether attempting it was worth the risk.

And Theo could already see that uncertainty spreading through Battalion 10.

Some of their members were nervous about the sheer scale of CREX.

Others were clearly intimidated by the reputations of the people currently leading them.

If they heard the entire briefing first and discovered exactly how difficult certain responsibilities might become, there was a very real chance they’d retreat toward whatever sounded safest.

That was precisely what Theo wanted to avoid.

He couldn’t exactly explain the rest of his reasoning aloud, but he hoped everyone would take advantage of the opportunity in front of them.

Because if there was ever a good time to attempt something unfamiliar, make mistakes, and actually learn from them, wouldn’t it be now?

Especially when someone like Luca was there to give them as much room as possible to experiment without immediately letting everything fall apart?

Moreover, Theo also knew his own limitations.

As a Pharmacy cadet, he could contribute plenty within his specialization, but intricate battles weren’t exactly where he’d be most useful. So he sincerely hoped everyone else would take on their share of the responsibility rather than unconsciously leaving Luca and Jax to do most of the heavy lifting.

Those two probably wouldn’t even realize they were doing it!

But that didn’t make it fair.

And if Battalion 10 simply coasted through CREX because two unusually capable people handled every difficult problem for them, then what exactly would everyone else learn?

Thankfully, the others seemed to understand what Theo was getting at.

Though what finally eased the nervous atmosphere was Luca himself.

"Don’t worry too much about the tentative roles," he reassured them. "If you discover later that you’re actually better at something else, then we’ll figure out how to move things around."

Several cadets looked toward him.

"And if you find a better way to do something, tell us. We can see if everyone else can adapt it too."

Luca smiled.

"Also, if something doesn’t make sense, please ask. Someone here might know another way to do it."

"..."

For several Battalion 10 cadets, that sounded suspiciously like something straight out of a fantasy.

Even their instructors weren’t usually that generous when teaching them or giving them any sort of leeway. Or maybe that was just the special way of doing things in the Mecha Combat Division.

Still, they tried to keep their guard up, at least a little.

Because either their Battalion Commander was genuinely just a little too nice, or he was deliberately using that approach to get the most out of everyone.

__

But of course, for people who’d only just discovered the reality of their situation, who wouldn’t want to maximize what already looked like painfully meager resources?

"Four days..."

Luca muttered the number under his breath as he replayed part of the report explaining how contact with Caldris Minor-7 had supposedly been lost.

According to the additional information, the mining outpost had been attacked by what was believed to be a pirate group shortly before several confidential materials were scheduled for shipment.

Worse, the final information transfer containing the last known coordinates of those materials, along with the most recent points of contact with the hostiles, had never reached its intended destination.

That data was currently stuck at one of the allied control outposts closest to Caldris Minor-7.

Which meant their first objective was fairly obvious.

Reach the outpost.

Complete the information transfer.

Then hopefully use whatever they learned to avoid running around like headless chickens across a desert-like mining planet where the local version of rain was apparently a lovely soup of elements that weren’t particularly friendly toward most metals.

Understandably, Luca looked concerned.

And several people nearby immediately noticed when their commander muttered something that sounded suspiciously like four days.

Four days for what?!

Finn, who’d already worked hard enough during the pre-flight preparations to feel like he might die, knew it definitely wasn’t their estimated travel time. Their current course placed the allied outpost roughly a day and a half away.

So what exactly had Luca looking like that?

To everyone’s surprise, the golden-eyed cadet continued thinking aloud.

"Four days if we only use the manual mechas and keep hot-weapon usage to a minimum..."

"?"

"About two if we also deploy the drones and regularly use the Recon Rovers and tanks."

"..."

The invigilators watching the meeting live couldn’t help but twitch.

Because while most of the cadets clearly had no idea what Luca was talking about yet, they did.

They’d only been aboard for a few hours!

Sure, everyone involved in planning CREX already knew Luca Kyros was a genius. You’d have to be living under a rock not to know that by now.

But they hadn’t expected him to calculate something so close to the true operational cost of the equipment provided aboard the battleship this quickly!

Because yes, the Academy had been generous with the tools.

The energy supply?

Not nearly as much.

Then Luca finally noticed how many people were staring at him and belatedly remembered that, unfortunately, he was the commander everyone expected to explain these things.

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