Chapter 1360: A Matter of Conscience

A multi-destination field trip of this magnitude had definitely not been on Luca Kyros’ bingo card when all he’d originally imagined was a quaint little picnic with his husband and friends.

But more than the sudden change of plans, or his rather spectacular failure at managing his own expectations, was the unexpected need to resuscitate one particularly suspicious pirate.

That’s right.

Instead of scouting their surroundings to make sure they were safe, the small group ended up having to find a random spot with just enough space to lay down their current patient, as everyone was forced to switch gears and become first-aiders!

The only problem was that this particular man’s condition required a completely different kind of first aid.

"Oh no. Uh... I don’t think we can treat him like normal," Luca said with a wince, eyeing the medical wand his good brother had eagerly taken out for the occasion.

Then again, he hardly needed to explain himself when everyone could already see the grotesque changes taking place right before their eyes.

The blood was one thing. And while it definitely wasn’t for the faint of heart, it was actually the easiest of the many problems this man seemed to have.

But before they could even begin addressing the others, there was one particularly alarming issue they needed to deal with first.

Dark, unnatural pathways were rapidly spreading across the pirate’s skin, turning entire patches an alarming shade of black as the contamination coursed through his veins like wildfire!

"!"

Now, under normal circumstances, the CP-loving dungeon owner would’ve been practically giddy at the thought of earning more CP by healing someone.

But considering there were only five of them present, wouldn’t that make the source of such an extraordinary recovery a little too obvious?!

It didn’t even matter who the pirate ended up suspecting, because whoever he pointed his finger at would still be one of them!

If only they could use the Seal of Thorns...

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, as though he’d somehow sensed his dilemma, his husband spoke up right beside him.

"Let us deal with the aftermath," Xavier said calmly. "If you really want to heal him, then do it."

"What? Really?"

Luca immediately turned toward the Prince, only to find himself meeting those familiar, resolute eyes.

There wasn’t even the slightest hint of judgment in them, despite the fact that the person Luca wanted to save might very well turn out to be nothing but trouble!

"Yeah. Just do what you think is right."

And as if to encourage him further, even his brother spoke up.

"Brother, don’t worry! If he turns out to be really evil, then I have different sizes of booms—!"

He didn’t exactly get to finish, though, as a hand promptly covered his mouth, followed by a few rather sage words.

"Walls have ears, you know? At least make it easier for us to defend you."

"Ah! You—!"

It was a rather considerate attempt at lighthearted banter, especially when everyone knew they were only trying to lighten such a serious mood.

Hearing all that, Luca couldn’t help but straighten a little, feeling immensely grateful for the support of his husband and brother.

And no, it wasn’t just because of the CP he stood to earn!

After all, how could he possibly ignore his own conscience when it was practically screaming at him to help someone who was clearly dying right in front of him?!

So he did just that.

However, as someone who was now responsible for so many people, and who certainly didn’t want to make things unnecessarily difficult for his husband and friends, how could Luca possibly allow them to shoulder the potential consequences all by themselves?

That wouldn’t be very responsible of him, would it?

Definitely not!

Therefore, much to everyone’s surprise, particularly that of one patient who’d already resigned himself to dying this time around, the pirate ended up opening his eyes to the sight of an absolute punk.

One who even had the audacity to spread both hands out and smile at him as he said,

"Hello, Mister. That would be 100 Billion Star Coins."

__

Grogginess pulled heavily at his mind, dragging him out of a suffocating, pitch-black void.

What he last remembered was that terrifying moment when he thought he was going to die—when he seriously felt his core almost burst from that unexpected retrieval of every last bit of spiritual energy he had.

But apparently, not just yet.

So as always, he braced himself for the familiar, agonizing phantom pain that always awaited him whenever he woke up.

And yet, when he finally forced his eyes open, all he could do was gasp sharply, filling his lungs with cool air!

Well, that... and practically sputter in shock.

For right in front of him was someone he almost didn’t recognize, with golden eyes that shone far too brightly in the sheer darkness of the subterranean cavern!

And as he stared up at the odd sight, wondering if this really was the afterlife and he’d simply mistaken regaining consciousness for surviving, he thought he heard something utterly outrageous.

"Hello, Mister. That would be 100 Billion Star Coins."

He blinked, his mind reeling.

Huh...?

Though what followed felt like something straight out of an asylum, especially when he heard the utterly deranged words being delivered so casually.

"That’s with the discount."

What?

"Assuming you’d bring us to where you’ve taken our comrades."

"...?!"

"But if you won’t do that, then that’s fine too," the young man continued, his voice oddly calm. "We could simply settle the bill with this."

He shifted slightly, and instead of the empty hands he’d been holding out earlier, something appeared right in front of the pirate’s face that shouldn’t even be seeing the light of day!

At this, the pirate who was slumped on the floor was completely taken aback. His eyes widened in sharp panic as he rasped out, "...Give that back."

But then, to his utter surprise, the cadet in front of him actually countered without a flinch, "We can consider doing that... but only after you tell us why you have this?"

The pirate looked around at the small circle of cadets staring down at him, his mouth clamping shut. He had zero intention of spilling secrets they had no business knowing.

But unbeknownst to him, this matter had already grown far bigger than he could’ve possibly imagined, for there was no way in hell that one particular manager of managers would ever let something like this go.