Chương 156: Chapter : 156

Naomi's green eyes went completely wide. Her heart, which had been heavy with crushing guilt ever since she watched him fall down that dark shaft, suddenly leaped into her throat. She dropped her daggers, almost crying with sheer, unfiltered relief seeing him standing there completely alive.

"Ken?!" Naomi gasped, her voice cracking loudly.

"You're alive?! How did you survive that fall?!" Elma let out a massive, highly un-elegant sigh. She quickly covered her mouth, secretly thrilled that the "trash" she owed her life to wasn't dead, though she immediately forced a scowl back onto her face to hide it.

"Of course the idiot survived. Cockroaches are impossible to kill."

"Hey, everyone!" Ken cheered happily, waving his hand in the air. He completely ignored the deadly weapons pointed all around the room.

"I took a shortcut! I landed on some very soft, highly comfortable cardboard boxes! It was a great nap. But what are we yelling about? Is that the shiny rock?" Acting exactly like his usual, clumsy, completely clueless self, Ken happily shoved his way right into the middle of the incredibly tense circle. He pushed his way right between Prince Hephaestus and Princess Hestia, leaning forward to get a better look at the glowing stone she was clutching.

"Let me see!" Ken asked loudly. As he leaned forward, Ken "accidentally" tripped over his own scuffed shoe. He stumbled wildly, flailing his arms in a massive, exaggerated display of clumsiness.

"Whoops!" Ken yelled. His elbow bumped forcefully, directly into Princess Hestia's arm. The sudden, clumsy impact knocked Hestia completely off balance. She gasped in surprise, her pristine white gloves slipping against the smooth surface of the magical stone. The glowing Core of Luminus slipped right out of her grasp. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

The entire room gasped in sheer, unadulterated horror as the priceless, incredibly ancient magical artifact plummeted toward the hard metal floor of the vault. SMASH! The Core of Luminus hit the solid steel grids with a loud, terrifying crack. The glowing light flickered wildly for a second. The elite girls screamed. Hestia looked like she was going to faint. Iris covered her mouth in shock. Furious, explosive shouts erupted from all three Royal units at the exact same time.

They turned their blazing, murderous anger directly toward the messy, idiot slacker who had just completely destroyed their prize. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You absolute moron!" Zaima shrieked, raising her hands to obliterate him.

"Ken, what did you just do?!" Naomi yelled, slapping her own forehead in pure misery. But Ken didn't look scared. He didn't run away. He just stood up straight, holding his hands up in a peaceful, totally innocent gesture, and pointed a finger down at the floor with a bright, goofy smile.

"Whoa, chill out, everyone! Look down!" Ken announced happily. The Royals stopped screaming and slowly looked down at the floor. The Core of Luminus hadn't shattered into a million pieces of useless dust. It hadn't exploded. Instead, it had broken perfectly, flawlessly into three identically sized, evenly glowing pieces. The three chunks of the artifact lay on the metal floor, each one radiating the exact same beautiful, freezing white light.

Sayma pushed her glasses up her nose, quickly stepping forward to inspect the pieces. Her highly analytical mind worked rapidly.

"This is... incredible. The magical signature is identical in all three pieces. The energy output hasn't diminished at all."

"See? It's fine!" Ken declared lazily, shrugging his shoulders as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I actually read a very interesting historical plaque on the wall near the elevator while I was walking down here. It turns out, Luminus is a naturally soft, highly malleable metal! It is never truly 'complete' anyway! Dividing it is perfectly safe! It is just like a chocolate bar; you can break it into pieces to share with your friends!" Princess Iris stared at the three glowing pieces on the floor, her violet eyes widening as a brilliant, impossible realization hit her.

"He is right," Iris whispered, looking up at her brother and sister.

"The Emperor's cryptic mission file never explicitly stated that the artifact had to be presented to the Upper Council as a single, whole stone. It just commanded us to 'secure the Core'. As long as we present the Core material to the Council, we perfectly fulfill the exact wording of the requirement." The realization washed over the three furious Royals like a heavy bucket of freezing cold water. They stared at the three evenly glowing pieces, completely and utterly stunned.

The foolish, clumsy, annoying slacker who couldn't even tie his own necktie properly had just "accidentally" provided them with the most brilliant, incredibly logical diplomatic loophole imaginable. Instead of fighting a brutal, bloody war over a single prize, leaving two teams with a devastating penalty, all three units could carry a piece back to the palace. All three units could successfully clear the mission, erase the penalty, and secure the points simultaneously.

Prince Hephaestus let out a massive, booming laugh of pure disbelief. He shook his head, running a greasy hand through his messy hair.

"I cannot believe it. The sheer, impossible dumb luck of this boy is actually going to save my entire heating project." Princess Hestia huffed loudly. She stubbornly crossed her arms and looked away, though the tight, angry lines on her flawless face completely relaxed. She didn't want to admit that the messy peasant had saved her from losing, but she was certainly not going to walk away from free points.

"Fine," Hestia muttered haughtily.

"I suppose I can accept a piece of it. But only because I refuse to go home empty-handed." Princess Iris smiled, a wave of genuine, profound relief washing over her. She looked at Ken, who was currently yawning loudly and scratching the back of his neck. She didn't know how he did it, but he had just miraculously stopped a war.

Shaking their heads in pure disbelief at his sheer, impossible luck, Prince Hephaestus, Princess Hestia, and Princess Iris each bent down and carefully picked up one glowing piece of the Core of Luminus. The terrible tension in the underground vault completely evaporated. The bitter rivalry was placed on hold, and the three allied teams turned around and successfully walked out of the dark, ruined laboratory as absolute winners.

And trailing at the very back of the group, Ken Eliot happily shoved his hands deep into his pockets, thrilled that he had completely avoided doing any actual cardio for the rest of the day.