Chapter 892: Emergency Protocols

It was chaotic.

And definitely not the proudest moment of one Elven Prince who was, quite literally, running around to save himself.

“You do want to find out what’s wrong, right?” one of the elders asked, eyes gleaming in a way that suggested curiosity had long since crossed into something far more dangerous.

Another elder nodded enthusiastically. Too enthusiastically.

“Yes. Yes, of course he does,” a third chimed in, already rolling his sleeves up like this was the most natural next step in the world.

Elior stopped short, posture stiff, every instinct screaming at him to flee.

“I do,” he said quickly, voice polite, measured, and impressively respectful for someone who looked seconds away from bolting. “Obviously, I want to find out what’s wrong. That said, perhaps we should discuss this first. Together. Calmly.”

Three elders stared at him.

Three elders smiled.

They didn’t look particularly calm.

They looked like hunters who had just spotted something very interesting while the other one simply waved his hand exasperatedly.

Elior took a cautious step back.

The elders took a step forward.

Somewhere in the room, Rahil remained completely catatonic, eyes unfocused, soul still trying to process the fact that his prince was apparently missing entire sections of his spiritual pathways. He still hadn’t reacted when the Elven Prince nearly bumped into him during his retreat.

Off to the side, Theo, the young and hopefully helpful cadet, felt his own crisis blooming.

Fetch the elders from jail.

That was now a very real possibility.

And surely that counted as an emergency, right?

Right.

Shouldn’t emergencies be reported to the higher-ups?

Yes. That would be ideal. But with everyone overwhelmingly busy and with others even having to cover for him, there was no one he could reasonably escalate this to without causing even more problems.

So instead, Theo did the only thing he could think of.

He contacted D-29.

Now, under normal circumstances, this would have been the correct decision.

Unfortunately, who was D-29?

D-29 was the self-proclaimed busiest member of the entire operation.

From running constant background checks on customers attempting to subtly influence the wheel with spiritual energy, to managing inventory, to capturing dramatic incidents and token-worthy moments, and finally to overseeing his most important assignment at the photobooth, D-29 was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He was, quite literally, spread everywhere.

He had been so busy that he had barely made any appearances at all!

Unthinkable! Clearly everyone would have already missed him dearly!

But what could he do when the photos from day one had spread far and wide?

Far enough that people were now lining up specifically to demand even more elaborate poses from the graceful little system.

Sid had many things to say about this.

Most of them involved questioning how any of those poses could possibly be considered graceful.

But as he watched D-29 strike completely unimaginable stances while children clapped and cheered, Sid came to a quiet realization.

This was probably why the little master had given him invisibility and camouflage.

For days when he didn’t want to be associated with someone this unhinged.

Still, that was not the most pressing issue.

So Sid sighed internally and decided it would be best to report on behalf of the allegedly busy system.

__

Maybe Sid should have remembered that the apple truly didn’t fall far from the tree. Well, sort of.

Because the report he delivered to his masters was received with exactly the same level of seriousness D-29 reserved for photobombers, mistranslations, and customers who tried to pretend they didn’t know the wheel rules.

Luca, the flushed little apple that he was, reacted immediately.

Sid had barely finished relaying that D-29 mentioned that Theo was genuinely worried about the elders possibly going to jail when Luca froze.

Jail.

In the mind of a certain money-grubber, jail very quickly translated into bail.

And bail very quickly translated into Star Coins.

“!!!”

That was absolutely not part of the plan when they opened this booth.

More importantly, even if they could probably revive a customer if things went horribly wrong, what about their satisfaction rating? What about the possibility of a lawsuit? And what about the small, terrifying detail that the potential victim was the controversial Elven Prince?

Luca paled.

Then panicked.

Then spun toward Xavier with wide eyes and flailing hands. “Umm, I think this is really bad. S-so I’m going to have to check it! See it with my own eyes! I won’t take long! I promise!”

Peace of mind. Luca needed peace of mind, and to attain that, he needed to make sure no one would need bail money! Because even if his husband and in-laws could set the elders free, it wouldn’t be lawful to avoid rightful fines. What kind of leaders would they be if they let anyone off easily?

Xavier opened his mouth.

But Luca who was a really speedy chipmunk when he needed to be, was already halfway gone.

Still wearing his apron, Luca didn’t even bother to take it off as he bolted from the dungeon space straight toward the guild’s expo booth, looking like a small creature fleeing an incoming disaster.

Xavier followed without hesitation.

One look at his wife’s expression was enough to tell him that this was absolutely, unquestionably, the end of the world. Likely a deduction to his account.

His wife didn’t even show such a reaction when faced with colossal monsters but an expense would do this to him.

Especially unexpected expenses.

In hindsight, perhaps they shouldn’t have worried so much about the elders going to jail.

Honestly, that would have been preferable.

Because what greeted them next raised an entirely different concern. One that involved the Imperial Crown Prince potentially being tried for manslaughter. Or possibly starting a war.

The door burst open.

Luca rushed in, took one step forward, and then stopped so abruptly it was a miracle he didn’t fall backward.

The room was in chaos.

Chairs were overturned. Elders were moving far too quickly for their age. Two elves were running around with a level of desperation that could only come from learning that one of them was missing internal components, while the other had just discovered that his superior required immediate inspection and had, quite decisively, chosen to help the elders.

And there was a lot of skin.

Too much skin.

Everyone froze.

Every single person inside the room turned to stare at the door.

Luca stared back.

His brain whirred in a way that would have made D-29 proud.

Xavier reacted instantly.

He slapped a hand over his little wife’s eyes, glared at everyone inside with the kind of look that promised consequences before shutting the door for propriety.

The room went silent.

Xavier exhaled through his nose from outside the suddenly still room.

Then he felt movement.

Luca, completely catatonic just seconds ago, reached up and gently pulled Xavier’s hand away from his eyes without any explanation.

Before Xavier could ask what was wrong, his wife, his Luca, reopened the door.

And gawked.

And the elves back in their galaxy were correct in feeling a sudden chill despite such good weather that day.

Because one little wife decided it would be a good idea to specifically gawk at a Prince.

Correction—at another Prince.

“!!!”

Xavier reached for him again.

Luca ducked.

Then leaned forward.

Then gasped louder.

Xavier stared down at his wife in disbelief.

Just what was so great about that other man’s body?!

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