Book 4: Chapter 56 |
Leon stepped out of the cell, and Rebecca and the others immediately crowded around him.
“So? Did you get anything out of him?”
Nacho asked urgently. “That old bastard’s mouth is hard as nails. We tried a lot of methods and still couldn’t pry it open.”
Leon nodded and briefly repeated the intelligence and leads Foel had spilled out.
Whether it was learning that the Empire’s royal family had deliberately prolonged the human–dragon war for the real purpose of seizing dragon scales and gaining nearly a thousand years of lifespan, or learning that the previous king had been controlling the country from the shadows all along—either revelation was enough to leave Nacho and the others so shocked they didn’t know what to say.
Leon, by contrast, looked much calmer.
As someone who had actually been betrayed and framed by the Empire, he had long since understood that these people had no bottom line, no shame, and were capable of anything.
Stealing heart-guard dragon scales? So what.
If they hadn’t used human lives directly to extend their own, Leon would almost consider them to have a shred of humanity left.
“Yes,” Nacho said. “We do. Why?”
“For the next few days, I’m going to teach them techniques for sensing the power of dragon scales. Besides Foel, there should still be some former royal members who didn’t manage to escape the Empire in time. If we find them and piece the clues together, I think it’ll help our investigation into Queen Elizabeth and Lord Ying.”
Because his body contained his wife’s heart-guard dragon scale, Leon could, to a certain extent, sense draconic power.
More accurately, dragon scales.
He planned to pass this skill on to trustworthy sensing mages in the Lionheart Society, so everyone could help.
As the saying went, many hands make light work.
And no matter what, Leon was the Lionheart Society’s leader. He couldn’t personally do everything. For tasks that demanded time and manpower, it was perfectly fine to hand them to reliable subordinates.
His wife said so.
Leon trusted his wife.
“No problem,” Nacho said. “I’ll gather the sensing mages first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Good. Thanks for the hard work.”
After obtaining key leads from Foel, they also left the imperial prison.
Leon returned to the temporary apartment. His luggage had already been delivered.
He opened his bag and took out the items one by one:
A group photo of his daughters.
Muen sat in the center in a duck-sit, hugging Noa’s arm on her left and pressing her little cheek against her big sister’s shoulder. Little Guang stood on the right with her arms folded, shooting her second sister a look that said, “Sister complex is terrifying.”
A goofy selfie of him and Rosvitha.
In the photo, he was holding up Rosvitha’s tail as if he were about to bite it, while Rosvitha, behind him, had one hand clamped firmly over his face. General Leon’s originally handsome features had been squashed into something like “a gloomy, twisted, crawling goblin.”
A solo photo of Rosvitha.
Heh heh heh… My wife is so pretty… heh heh heh.
A new skill: Ultra-Sense.
A power-up patch he’d scammed from Claudia. While he was away from home, Leon didn’t want to waste time—he needed to hurry and master this new move.
That was basically it.
Daily necessities and clothing could be bought in the Empire. No need to bring much.
Leon set the three photos on the bedside table so that every morning when he woke up, he could see his daughters—
And, while he was at it, take a look at his dragon wife.
Ah, honestly… he’d been looking at her every day and was totally sick of it now. He was only taking a look on the side, that’s all~
After tidying up, Leon got into bed and went to sleep, saving his energy for tomorrow.
…
The next morning, Nacho brought over more than a dozen mages.
“They all joined the Lionheart Society early on. They’re sensing mages—trustworthy, and very capable. You can feel safe teaching them the techniques for searching for dragon scales,” Nacho said.
Leon nodded, then looked at the mages seated in a half-circle before him.
“Good morning, everyone. We’re short on time and the mission is urgent, so no small talk. Let’s get straight to the point.”
“During training, if anyone feels it’s too difficult, you can privately tell me you want to withdraw. I won’t force anyone.”
“And if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask at any time.”
“All right. If there are no questions, we’ll begin.”
Their training location was the indoor arena of what used to be the Empire’s Dragon-Slaying Academy.
With the human–dragon war over, former Dragon-Slaying Army members had been reassigned into other units and systems, so the academy naturally became vacant.
In the training hall, Rebecca sat cross-legged off to one side, while Martin stood beside her.
Both watched seriously as the captain taught the group.
“Back then we were always the ones being taught here,” Rebecca sighed. “And now the captain’s teaching other people. Life really is unpredictable. I never would’ve thought this guy would become a teacher-type figure one day.”
“Actually… I think the captain’s pretty suited to being a teacher,” Martin said.
Rebecca lifted her head to look at him. “Isn’t that just because he’s your idol? That’s what an idol filter does.”
“What does it do?” Martin asked.
Rebecca blinked her pretty eyes, thought for a moment, and replied,
“It means no matter what your idol does, in a fanboy’s eyes it’s always right, always fine. No matter what the outside world says, you only believe the judgment in your own heart.”
“In other words… An idol is like a beam of light. Always shining, no matter when or where.”
Hearing her explanation, the pure-hearted boy Martin fell into deep thought.
Noticing the sudden silence, Rebecca looked up again. “What? What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about what you just said.”
Martin lowered his head with a serious expression, meeting the twin-tailed girl’s beautiful green eyes.
“By what you said… that means you’re my idol too, Rebecca.”
“Huh?”
“No matter what you do, I think you’re right. I don’t care how others judge you—because I think you’re great and outstanding. And you’re like a beam of light—”
“Okay, stop, stop, stop!”
Rebecca hurriedly cut him off. “That’s not how you confess! How can you use my own words and flip them back on me to confess?”
Martin froze. “Was that a confession?”
“Wasn’t it?”
“Was it…?”
“It was.”
“Fine,” Martin said. “Then pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“Tch. You coward!”
…
After a full day of practice, many of the sensing mages made major progress.
With a bit more precise guidance, within a few days they’d be ready to officially search the Empire for other heart-guard dragon scale transplant recipients.
“Then that’s it for today’s lesson. Thank you for your cooperation. Good work, everyone,” Leon said, dipping his head slightly.
The mages all responded politely.
After dismissal, Leon, Rebecca, and Martin left the training hall together.
When they reached the academy field outside, Leon stopped short.
He stared at a bunch of uncles and aunties doing evening exercise on the track and couldn’t help wondering whether he’d somehow time-traveled into an elderly plaza.
“Where the hell did this drop me? Is this still the Dragon-Slaying Academy?” Leon couldn’t help complaining.
“Yes,” Rebecca said. “The human–dragon war ended, the Dragon-Slaying Army got reorganized, and the academy naturally became empty. Now it’s where grandpas and grandmas do morning and evening workouts.”
“That really is… making full use of resources.”
“There’s an even fuller use,” Rebecca said, pointing toward the teaching buildings in the distance.
Leon followed her finger.
A line of people surged through the entrance of the building—and at the very front was someone wearing a yellow sun hat… a tour guide?
“W-What are they doing…?”
“Parts of the teaching buildings were turned into tourist attractions,” Martin said.
“What’s there to tour in a teaching building? They’re everywhere.”
Rebecca shook her head. “No, no. People aren’t coming for the building.”
“Then for what?”
Rebecca cleared her throat, then put on an affected, theatrical contralto and announced,
“Here lies the influence of the Empire, the savior of the people—
the birthplace of Leon Karsmode!”
It hit General Leon with a full-body cringe.
And of course, it got worse.
“The Dragon-Slaying Academy is just small-time,” Rebecca continued.
“There’s something heavier?”
“Mm-hm. Your old man’s farm was renamed ‘The Karsmode Former Residence.’ During peak tourist season, it’s a sea of people!”
“That’s way too much, come on!”
“Celebrity effect, celebrity effect,” Rebecca said with a grin. “At least you helped boost the Empire’s economy after reconstruction. That’s still pretty impressive, Captain.”
Leon covered his face in silence.
Seriously… making full use of resources!
“Captain, what are we doing next?” Rebecca asked.
Leon steadied himself, thought for a moment, then said,
“Speaking of the place I was born…”
“Yeah… I want to go back and see the orphanage.”
…
Footnotes:
- yàzi zuò (duck-sit)
- A sitting posture where the knees bend forward and the legs fold to the sides, resembling how a duck sits.
- jiě kòng (sister complex)
- A slang term describing someone who is extremely attached to their older sister and may become possessive or jealous.
- kēng (kēng rén)
- Internet slang meaning to “scam,” “con,” or “take advantage of someone”—often humorously, implying you got benefits out of them.
- wù jìn qí yòng
- “Make full use of everything.” An idiom meaning to use resources to their maximum value; often said half-seriously, half-ironically.
- ǒuxiàng lǜjìng (idol filter)
- A fandom/internet term meaning a biased lens that makes you see everything your idol does as good or correct.
- gān nǎr le (Where did this take me?)
- Colloquial internet-style phrasing expressing disbelief: “Where did this even drop me?” / “What place did I get sent to?”