The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 876

Chapter 876: Unseen Riches

Luca’s eyes flew open.

"Seaweed!"

The word burst out of him with so much enthusiasm that several people flinched on reflex.

What if he forgot about his findings upon waking up? That simply couldn’t be! So with intense determination, he bolted upright, golden eyes practically glowing, chest rising quickly as his mind raced ahead of his body.

"There was seaweed, and it wasn’t just one kind either, there were long ones, soft ones, and clustered ones, and I think they were growing right at the edge, and oh, I haven’t checked what’s inside yet, but I really think those oysters could have—"

He stopped.

Slowly, his eyes focused.

Every single person around him was staring.

Some were pale. Some were stiff. Some looked like they had just lived through several emotional lifetimes in the span of a few minutes.

"...Huh?" Luca blinked.

"Pearls!" he added brightly, as if that might somehow explain everything.

But how could such words appease everyone when the waiting group was already so close to losing it?

__

To say they had been worried would have been an understatement.

If Xavier, who had been with Luca last, looked like he had aged several years in concern, then what more for everyone else who had absolutely no idea what had happened?

Ollie Mylor, for instance, had been vibrating in visible distress the entire time. He had paced. He had hovered. He had crouched and stood up again. Even his usually lively hair antenna had gone completely flat the moment Xavier woke up and mentioned, very calmly and very unhelpfully, that they had been away from their bodies.

That sentence alone had nearly ended several people on the spot.

So in everyone’s shared panic, they had all made the same silent decision to keep their distance. What if crowding Luca made it harder for him to fully return? What if touching him disrupted something? What if breathing too close was suddenly illegal?

And then he woke up.

And immediately started yelling about seaweed.

"???"

Ollie snapped.

The blonde cannonballed forward without hesitation, skidding to Luca’s side and grabbing both of his shoulders.

"Brother!" Ollie blurted, eyes wild, before letting go of him to start a more thorough inspection.

He circled Luca at lightning speed, hands flying everywhere as he inspected him from head to waist. Fingers were grabbed and counted twice. Shoulders were squeezed. Arms were patted down as if pieces might suddenly fall off.

Luca was turned slightly to the side, then back again. Ollie leaned in close, squinting at his face with intense focus before pulling back to check his hands once more.

"Ten fingers," Ollie muttered, relief and disbelief tangled together.

He crouched instinctively, then froze.

"...Your boots are in the way," he said, visibly distressed.

Unfortunately, no amount of frantic hovering would allow him to confirm the state of Luca’s toes.

The newly awakened bearer of unexpected news had no idea why such a thing was happening, but he was glad to see his brother!

"...Yes?" Luca said, clearly confused but still elated. "Hello, brother!"

The worried blonde practically choked out.

Luca tilted his head, then suddenly lit up again. "Oh! Right. I almost forgot again! As I was saying, I’m pretty sure I found something really interesting, so we should probably go now. There’s seaweed and possibly pearls, and also I think there’s something metallic down there and—"

He stopped again.

Because nobody moved.

Namely, she was far too good at it.

While wearing plushies a certain way could be attributed to one particular prince, the frenzied clamoring and obsession with arcade trinkets could actually be traced back to the orc princess with alarming accuracy.

Worse, if she stayed out front for the entire day, then by tomorrow, those bite-sized pancakes would no longer be a food item.

They would be a legend.

And that syrup that she kept on gushing about? Suddenly a miraculous elixir.

But that was a problem for day three. To reach day three, everyone first had to survive day two.

Because if day one had been about spectacle and introduction, about showing the people a dazzling portion of what DG had to offer, then day two was when the Empire truly began to understand its value.

And a large part of that came from the people themselves.

Testimonials spread faster than any official announcement ever could.

Visitors went home and talked. They talked to family. To friends. To neighbors. To anyone unfortunate enough to ask how their day had gone.

Many stayed up through the night, recounting details with wide eyes and dramatic hand gestures, fueled by excitement and a very real sense of envy from those who had missed out.

But it wasn’t just stories that were being shared.

There were kind souls. Saintly ones. People who, after much internal debate, allowed others to take carefully rationed bites of their most precious food.

Others allowed onlookers to hold arcade prizes that had been won through blood, sweat, and questionable hand-eye coordination.

And that was usually the moment when minds truly exploded.

Because then, at last, they saw what couldn’t be captured through a livestream.

Spiritual energy.