Chương 96: Chapter : 96

"Yeah, but it follows the exact same rules," Ken argued happily, leaning back in his chair.

"Look at the clues. It is a mysterious magical object called a 'Core'. It doesn't belong to the military, and nobody knows where it is. Therefore, there is only one logical place it could possibly be." Laxmi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? And where is that?" Ken shrugged as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"It is obviously hidden deep inside a monster dungeon." The entire strategy room went completely silent. The elite girls stopped talking. Princess Iris looked up from the paper. Sayma froze with her hand hovering over a textbook. They all just stared at Ken. For a few seconds, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the wall. The girls were genuinely surprised. They had spent the last hour debating politics, military storage, and noble vaults.

The idea of a raw, untamed monster dungeon hadn't even crossed their minds, mostly because dungeons were chaotic, natural danger zones that the Empire usually tried to block off. But hearing Ken say it out loud... it actually made a weird, uncomfortable amount of sense. Luna slowly lifted her head from the table. She blinked her tired eyes and looked across the table at Ken.

"A monster dungeon?" Luna asked, her voice slightly muffled by a yawn.

"That is actually a really specific guess. How do you know that, Ken? Did you read a book about magic cores?" Ken let out a loud, sudden laugh.

"Read a book? Me? Are you kidding? Reading makes me super sleepy. Why would I read a book when there are perfectly good screens to look at?" Sayma frowned, totally confused.

"Then where did you get this theory from?" Ken awkwardly scratched the back of his messy black hair, his goofy smile getting even wider. He looked completely unashamed of his answer.

"I saw it in a popular movie once!" Ken announced proudly, pointing his finger in the air.

"It was called 'The Hero of the Crystal Cave'. It's an absolute classic! You guys haven't seen it? So, there is this main guy, right? He wears a really cool red jacket. And his whole mission is to find the 'Core of the Earth'. He spends the entire movie looking in cities and castles, but guess what? It wasn't there! It was totally sitting at the bottom of a super dark, incredibly scary monster dungeon guarded by a giant rock spider!" Ken slammed his hand on the table excitedly.

"It is basic entertainment logic! If you have a glowing magical core, you don't put it in a boring closet. You put it in a damp, creepy cave filled with monsters so the hero has to fight his way to the prize! The Emperor is just totally copying the plot of that movie!" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The girls just stared at him. Their initial surprise instantly melted away, rapidly turning into pure, unadulterated disbelief.

They could not believe they had actually taken him seriously for a whole ten seconds.

Naomi was the first one to break the silence. She raised her hand and slapped it directly against her own forehead with a loud, ringing smack. She dragged her hand down her face, groaning in absolute misery.

"I cannot believe this," Naomi muttered, staring at the ceiling as if begging the universe for patience.

"I actually thought he was going to say something smart. I actually paused my brain to listen to him. He is basing our Royal Succession War strategy on a cheap action movie!" Laxmi burst out laughing. She leaned back in her chair and pointed at him.

"Ken, you are an absolute idiot! Real life does not work like a fictional movie! The Emperor is not a movie director! He is the ruler of a massive military nation!"

"Hey, don't disrespect the classics!" Ken argued defensively, crossing his arms and pouting.

"The movie had a very strong plot! And the main character never lost because he knew exactly how the world worked!" Ira looked at Ken with her flat, deadpan stare.

"Movies are designed to entertain bored commoners on a Friday night. They are not tactical field manuals. Your logic is completely and totally flawed."

"You guys just lack imagination," Ken complained, slouching back down in his chair.

"Fine. If you don't want to use my flawless movie logic, go ahead and keep guessing. But when you find a giant rock spider, don't say I didn't warn you." Sayma rubbed her eyes behind her glasses, feeling her headache return.

"Let's just drop it. We need to get back to real facts. If we check the city's trade records, we might find out if anyone recently bought an item matching the description of a—""Actually, speaking of rare magical items!" Ken interrupted loudly, suddenly sitting up straight again. He completely ignored Sayma's attempt to get the meeting back on track. He wanted to change the subject before they started yelling at him to do research. Ken dug his hand deep into the pocket of his messy pants.

He rooted around for a second, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

"Aha! Found it!" Ken cheered. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and held something up for the entire table to see. It was a ring. But it was not a nice ring. It looked incredibly cheap. The band was made of a dull, weirdly colored metal that looked like it would turn your finger green after wearing it for an hour. Sitting right in the center of the ring was a large, overly shiny blue stone. It didn't look like a real gem.

It looked exactly like a piece of bright blue, polished plastic that you would find at the bottom of a children's cereal box. Ken proudly slipped the cheap, shiny blue ring onto his right index finger. He held his hand out, wiggling his fingers so the terrible plastic stone caught the light from the window.

"What in the world is that?" Zinia asked, leaning away from the table and giving the ring a deeply suspicious look.

"It looks like a piece of garbage."

"Garbage?!" Ken gasped, looking deeply offended. He pulled his hand back and covered the ring with his other hand protectively.

"This is not garbage! This is a highly valuable, incredibly powerful magical artifact! I bought it this morning while we were walking through the market!" Naomi's eye started to twitch.

"You bought jewelry? When? Sayma and I were with you the entire time!"

"I bought it when you guys were yelling at that merchant for stepping on your boots!" Ken explained happily.

"There was this random guy standing in a dark alley next to the fruit stand. He was wearing a big coat and whispered to me. He said he had a secret item that would change my life." Laxmi slammed her hand on her own forehead this time.

"Oh no. Tell me you didn't."