Chapter 1324: Care and Consideration

[EXTRACTION INITIATED.]

[TIME REMAINING: 00:09:59]

But just as the now-familiar announcement, or perhaps increasing threat, rang across the exercise terrain, there was one group having a completely different kind of moment.

See, Luca Kyros, the current Commander of Battalion 10, and his trusted, ever-so-loyal little system were really starting to enjoy this particular field trip.

Of course, it would’ve been considerably more fun if the dungeon owner had been grouped with his husband and all of their friends. But even like this, Luca was beginning to think the organizers had genuinely considered the students’ welfare when they picked such a nice place for them to visit.

Or maybe this was simply the trade-off for that rather rough start.

Either way, in the mind of one easily influenced returnee, the organizers had been remarkably generous to give the cadets this much free rein!

Even someone like Luca, who was familiar with these kinds of exercises but hadn’t truly participated in one until now, knew that property damage wouldn’t normally be allowed in most locations.

And yet here?

Here, they were practically encouraged to go for it!

They could even take whatever they found and put it to good use.

So if that wasn’t care and consideration, then what else could it possibly be?

"..."

"..."

Then again, unbeknownst to the unstoppable chipmunk, that particular sentiment wasn’t exactly shared by everyone.

Most sane beings would probably struggle to find any silver lining in their current situation.

After all, what could possibly be so wonderful about getting stranded on a desolate mining planet where the scenery consisted almost entirely of sand and even more sand?!

But Luca, who had spent a good portion of the exercise salvaging materials and exploring with Jax’s help, could only see Caldris Minor-7 through the glowing eyes of an absolute money-grubber.

Especially when the redhead kept pointing him toward allegedly interesting places.

At one point during their scavenging endeavor, Jax stopped and stared intently at an otherwise unremarkable section of subterranean rock for so long that even Theo was starting to look genuinely concerned.

There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about it. Aside from the metal shelves they’d already torn away from the wall, it looked practically identical to everything around it, which only made Jax’s sudden fixation even stranger.

Then, without warning, the redhead’s eyes lit up as though he’d finally made up his mind.

"Hey..." Jax leaned a little closer to the wall before pointing downward. "I think there’s something interesting down there."

That was all Luca needed to hear.

And had a certain dwarf been there to feel out the same area, she would’ve likely come to the exact same conclusion, probably with considerably more enthusiasm.

So, without a second’s hesitation, Luca placed an unreasonable amount of faith in Jax’s intuition and promptly began investigating.

The other cadets probably found it rather strange that this was what their Commander and Vice Commander had chosen to occupy themselves with while most of the other battalions were frantically trying to make the most of the exercise.

But Luca knew better than to ignore something that had managed to get even Jax this interested.

And maybe it had something to do with the redhead’s peculiar affinity with all things ground-related, because no matter how far they dug, Jax remained convinced there was something farther below.

"Still deeper."

"..."

So they kept going.

And going.

By the time even Luca’s increasingly enthusiastic excavation team began wondering exactly how much deeper Jax expected them to dig, their unusual and most definitely unsanctioned expedition had already started attracting all sorts of curious spectators.

Thankfully, just as several cadets and virtual observers started questioning whether they’d already gone deep enough and long enough for absolutely nothing...

THUD!

Everyone froze.

That wasn’t the usual dull scrape of tools against stone.

A strange, hollow resonance had echoed beneath their feet.

They’d hit something.

"...!"

__

CRACK!

The heavy drill their small digging group had switched to following that initial discovery bit deep into the stone, shuddering violently as the dense rock face finally began to split apart.

With a hollow, echoing crunch, a massive section of the wall collapsed inward, sending clouds of dust billowing into what appeared to be a cavernous subterranean abyss shrouded in complete darkness.

At first, the cadets trailing behind Luca and Jax, who had naturally taken the lead in their mechas during this increasingly questionable excavation, didn’t understand what they were supposed to be looking at.

What exactly was so special about another dark cavern?

As their mechas’ floodlights cut through the settling dust, all they could see were jagged rock formations stretching deeper into the gloom.

But unlike them, Luca had gone completely still inside his cockpit.

His golden eyes widened.

Because where everyone else saw boring rocks...

Luca saw, with the help of one blaring little system, something considerably more exciting.

Salt.

More specifically...

High-purity halite.

Right.

Halite.

A naturally occurring mineral more commonly known as rock salt.

ROCK. SALT.

Imagine that?!

Of all the places they could’ve found a deposit that, according to D-29’s extremely excited and nearly instantaneous scan, consisted of approximately 98.1% pure crystalline sodium chloride, who would’ve expected it to be here?!

Especially when the original mining operations on Caldris Minor-7 had clearly been searching for entirely different industrial materials!

The little money-grubber was so ecstatic he didn’t even know who to tell first.

He wasn’t sure whether he could simply announce what they’d found to the entire battalion, but that certainly didn’t stop several soft, squeaky noises from escaping through the private link.

The cadets around him started looking increasingly concerned.

But how could Luca not react like that when naturally occurring edible salt deposits of this quality were practically nonexistent throughout the Empire, especially after an entire age of overconsumption and widespread contamination had depleted most of them?

It wasn’t that crude salt couldn’t be found.

The problem was that most naturally occurring deposits were heavily contaminated with toxic compounds, making them useful primarily for industrial manufacturing. The Empire certainly had methods to process and purify mined salts, especially since those sources were still preferable to potentially contaminated seawater, but anything intended for consumption had to undergo extremely thorough purification to ensure it was safe.

And by the end of that process?

They were left with salt.

Perfectly safe salt, yes.

But also salt stripped of the naturally occurring trace minerals that could’ve given it a much richer and more distinctive flavor.

And at that point, what was even the benefit of ordinary citizens reaching for salt when most of them normally relied on nutrient solutions anyway?

Luca stared almost breathlessly at the shimmering pinkish-red formations spreading across the cavern walls.

His heart practically pounded with delight.

Meanwhile, after watching Luca remain completely silent for an increasingly worrying amount of time, Jax couldn’t help feeling a little sheepish, his mecha’s metallic hand awkwardly scratching at the back of its neck.

"Ah..." His apologetic voice came through the comms. "Sorry, Boss. Did I bring us somewhere weird? I could’ve sworn—?"

"Jax."

"...?"

Luca’s voice was hushed with genuine awe.

"You’ve truly made this field trip a hundred times better."

"Huh?"

Jax blinked.

He had absolutely no idea what he’d done.

That was quite alright, though.

Because somewhere back in the dungeon space, several high-ranking Imperial officials suddenly received a flurry of emergency alerts from an absolutely ecstatic D-29.

[Please secure Planet Caldris Minor-7 immediately.]

"...?"

Those who’d been watching the exercise feeds stared at the unexpected prompt.

Then another message flashed across their screens in enormous, blinding letters.

[EDIBLE SALT.]

BANG!

Every salt-loving figure in the room shot to their feet, chairs scraping violently against the floor.

"!!!"

__

The increasingly bizarre behavior of Battalion 10 was already leaving the instructors and administrators thoroughly confused.

Luca Kyros clearly seemed to know something.

But the golden-eyed cadet wasn’t saying a single word out loud about what they’d actually discovered.

Meanwhile, the personnel who were supposed to know Caldris Minor-7’s geological and operational specifications inside and out suddenly found themselves being aggressively questioned by everyone and their wigs about what else could possibly be hiding beneath the planet’s surface.

Admittedly, the questioning hadn’t started out particularly intense.

Unfortunately...

Things changed when Princess Kira, who had gone with several members of Battalion 9 to search for a new place to stay after completing their goals for the day, suddenly stopped in the middle of another underground tunnel.

"...?"

The Orcish Princess tilted her head.

Then her expression slowly changed.

That was enough to make several administrators break out in a cold sweat.

Now what?!

What kind of absurd thing had these kids discovered this time?!

Well...

If they’d asked Princess Kira directly, they probably would’ve gotten a very different answer.

Because the highly sensitive Orcish Princess wasn’t trying to figure out what might be hidden underground.

She was trying to figure out who.

Kira’s nostrils flared slightly as she sniffed the faint subterranean draft, her sharp eyes narrowing in the dim light.

"..."

Were they...

Extremely close to an enemy battalion?