Chapter 1000: Curiosity in the Crossfire

“Hey… is this—”

Instructor Falco leaned forward in his seat, shoulders hunched as he practically whispered to Instructor Moore beside him, his eyes never quite leaving the arena.

But he didn’t get to finish.

“Later,” Moore said flatly. “Right now, it would be in your best interests to shut up.”

It was a brutal answer for someone who was trying to ask nicely.

But Moore wasn’t kidding around.

Because at this point, it was painfully obvious that when not focused on the ongoing match, the other spectators and maybe half the spare cameras were likely trained on them.

Waiting.

Watching.

Trying to catch even the slightest change in the instructors’ expressions.

After all, the people of the Empire—no, the people of the universe wanted to know a few things like…

Was this normal?

What kind of classes did they even take to reach this point? How long did they take them?

Which instructors trained the students to end up like this?

Have the cadets always been like this in class?

And if so, people wanted to know what the teachers felt as they were instructing such students.

But in all those questions, what exactly did they mean by “this”?

Well, the general word would be monstrous.

But it wouldn’t feel quite right when it carried a negative connotation for something that was just so… stressfully magnificent.

Clearly, this was all confusing.

Because just as Instructor Falco sniffled quietly while pretending to have his shit together, another Federation cadet had just been blocked from rescuing a teammate by the normally docile Kyle Nox.

And while that alone would have been impressive, someone still needed to explain how the cadet had managed to counter an assault from an opponent who had clearly used thrusters to propel himself like a rocket.

At this point, the closest thing to normality would have been the Orcs.

They were clearly in charge of assaulting past enemy lines, grabbing unsuspecting cybernetic legs like they were nothing.

But at the very least, that part was expected.

That was something they had always been able to do with the level of strength they’ve always had.

If anything, the only odd thing that caught a certain infantry division instructor’s attention was the temperament of a certain Orcish Princess.

Because, since when had she developed that kind of self-control?

Their last exam had been a whirlwind he wanted to forget, and yet now…

For some reason, it was as if she was specifically avoiding rushing toward the flag.

Maybe she wasn’t feeling too well? Or was the pressure from having her father watch affecting her?

Now, Ada would have found that assumption about her master laughable, as it would have been more believable to think that the Princess was simply selecting the best angles to show to her Bunbun. But even that wouldn’t be quite right.

Thankfully, Instructor Moore also thought differently from the Infantry instructor.

As he stared at the students he thought he was rather familiar with, his gaze sharpened slightly.

There may have only been nine of them.

Princess Tharkira and cadet Marn on offense.

Cadet Montclair, Taylor, and Emory on defense.

Cadet Nox holding down the jail.

And finally, Cadet Kyros, Mylor, and Belgrave guarding the flag.

And yet, despite their smaller numbers, the lack of significant progress didn’t seem to be due to their inability to keep up with the opponent.

On the contrary, it felt like they could keep up with just the freshman combat division’s top student, Xavier Montclair, at the forefront. Even after annoying the Federation’s heir enough to make him use predictive calculations, Xavier still looked completely in control.

So if not for that, what exactly were these kids waiting for?

Instructor Moore—one of the few who had the ability to function amidst the unexpected battle before them—frowned slightly as he tried to piece it together, his thoughts running quickly as he shifted his gaze toward the far end of the arena.

Toward the flag defenders.

He looked.

Then looked again.

And this time, he definitely stared.

Oh.

How could he ever forget that face?

Eureka.

It seemed that their most bizarre student had found something he really, really liked.

__

Mouth slightly parted, focus zeroed in, and eyes reflecting everything he was staring at, Luca Soren Kyros—guild leader and current goalkeeper of DG—was in paradise.

He didn’t blink. He didn’t shift. He didn’t even realize how tightly his fingers had curled against the railing.

Because right now, everything in front of him was too good.

“D-29,” he called quietly in his mind, voice quick and breathless. “Please tag that one as Capturer A.”

“Marked, Host.”

“No, wait. That one rotated out. The new one stepping in is B. The one flanking is C. Please keep track of their transitions.”

His gaze shifted sharply.

“Capturer A… oh!”

Luca’s eyes lit up as he leaned forward, practically pressing against an invisible railing he had set for himself as a goalkeeper.

“D-29, did you see that?! His legs—his legs compressed before he moved!”

“Confirmed, Host. I will take note of it!”

“That’s not muscle!” Luca whispered, half-gasping. “That’s load-bearing augmentation! And it bounced back so fast! That means there are dampeners—no, wait—layered dampeners with actuator boosters!”

He didn’t even pause.

“Wait, wait, wait—Capturer B!”

His head tilted slightly, eyes following every tiny shift.

“His arms! Look at his arms! That rotation is way too smooth!” Luca said, almost bouncing in place. “I wonder what kind of joint they used for that degree of movement! That has to be upgraded joints with assisted torque—no drag, no delay, just—just—”

He made a small motion with his hand.

“—fascinating!”

D-29 responded, “Movement efficiency exceeds expected parameters.”

“Right?!” Luca whispered, delighted.

Then his gaze snapped to the side.

“Ah! That one!”

The one with the eggplant-colored hair.

Luca froze for half a second, then leaned in even more.

“That’s weird.”

“Why so, Host?”

“That’s really weird,” Luca repeated, eyes shining brighter. “I don’t feel movement of spiritual energy from him, and there seems to be no take off, and yet he just—he just appeared somewhere else!”

His voice dropped into an excited whisper.

“Unlike the others, that’s not acceleration…”

He swallowed.

“That’s displacement!”

He looked like he had just discovered something amazing. Maybe that was an odd reaction for someone who actually owned a dungeon and could pop out anywhere. But to Luca, witnessing another person doing it, knowing that it was due to technology, was just wondrous!

“D-29, is that a short-jump device? Or—oh! What if it’s micro-thrusters paired with targeting assistance?! But it’s too clean for that…”

He shook his head quickly in sheer curiosity.

Unlike his husband’s bloodline ability, Mister Eggplant-hair seemed to be using technology similar to the one used by the battleships!

Golden eyes fluttered in excitement.

Then, as if confirming, he gasped softly.

“How interesting! I think we need to look more! I wonder just how far he would be allowed to go? More importantly, I’m curious how they actually power everything! Hmm…”

Luca looked extremely thrilled, and from where he stood in the middle of the arena, one supposedly busy husband was certain that his little wife felt like he’d been allowed to roam a toy store unsupervised.

Oh, well.

Anything for him.

__

But unbeknownst to the curious mechanic, in his concentration and eagerness to take in as much information, he didn’t realize that the interest had been returned.

Only this time, it came with pure malice.

For Yohan—the unfortunate eggplant-haired cadet and the proud heir to the Voss family of the Federation—had already been eyeing the flag since earlier.

And since he had already obediently followed the commands of that inept team leader assigned to their group for far longer than he had ever followed the orders of his own parents, Yohan felt like he deserved a reward.

He didn’t like waiting. Never did, and ideally would never have to.

As someone from an elite Federation family, he’d never been forced to wait for anything until they arrived at the Empire where they were treated differently from what he thought they deserved.

Those with a working moral compass would have called the experience humbling, but for Yohan, it was nothing short of insulting.

So as one could probably expect, someone like him would have a lot of pent-up resentment.

Therefore, how could he possibly practice delayed gratification when faced with something particularly appetizing?

Like the final straw that pushed him over the edge: the guardians of the enemy flag.

Three of them.

Three munchkins who looked like they’d never seen the bad side of the world.

Clearly chosen not because they were the strongest, but because they couldn’t last in a direct fight and were better kept away from the main exchange.

To most, that might have seemed like a safe and only available choice.

But to Yohan, it looked like a gracious invitation.

Because he had always been the type to squeeze whatever he found adorable.

And right now, he had found something extremely adorable.

His gaze sharpened, and his tongue slid slowly across his lip as if savoring the thought before he even moved—like a predator that had just decided on its next meal.

__

But in the land of sunshine and rainbows, Luca remained completely unaware.

He was still engrossed in everything he had been seeing, his thoughts racing as he pieced together patterns, his eyes flicking from one movement to another while his mind filled in the gaps faster than he could keep up with.

The longer the fight went on, the more certain he became.

While each Federation cadet had his or her own implants and likely different skill sets that would benefit their organization, they still shared one thing in common.

Something—

“Oh…”

Luca tilted his head slightly, his expression softening into something thoughtful.

“D-29…”

“Yes, Host?”

“I think I’m starting to see it,” he said, his voice quiet but filled with excitement.

His fingers tapped lightly against his leg as his thoughts continued to fall into place.

“And if I’m right, then that means—”

“Brother, have you found a breakthrough?”

Luca blinked and turned slightly toward his sworn brother, pulled from his thoughts for a brief moment.

“Oh, um…”

He hesitated, trying to put everything together into something he could explain.

“Well… I think I need to see for myself, or maybe test it out, but I think I have—”

He didn’t get to finish.

Because something appeared in front of him.

Too fast.

Too sudden.

It felt like time stretched, like everything slowed just enough for him to process what he was seeing.

His gaze shifted forward.

And there—

Right there—

Was a face that was far too close to his own.

Eggplant-colored hair framed the wide, crazed grin as a pair of eyes locked onto his with unsettling intensity.

Then the man, as if gloriously delighted, spoke.

“Boo!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep