During the waiting period, with the Empire's military strength, naturally there was no fear of other countries taking advantage of the situation.
After everything was properly handed over, Leon was finally about to go home with Rossweise.
"You're not staying a few more days, Captain? No matter what, this is still the empire you helped us establish."
At the gates of the Imperial City, Rebecca, Martin, and some members of the Lionheart Society came to see off Leon and his wife.
"What empire? My old man told me from childhood to stay away from politics. Being a savior was just something I did in passing."
Upon hearing this, Rebecca rolled her eyes almost to the sky.
Why did it feel like after all these years with his wife, the captain hadn't changed much, except that his habit of showing off had gotten worse?
"But the Silver Dragon Sanctuary is so far from here. What if something urgent happens? We wouldn't be able to notify you in time."
Although the fall of Kant didn't significantly weaken the Empire's overall strength, so there wasn't much fear of looters. After all, a new system and new society were being established. Aside from internal worries, there were still potential external threats.
As Rebecca said, the Empire was just too far from the Silver Dragon Sanctuary. Even Rossweise, flying at full speed, would take five to six hours.
If something really urgent happened and someone was sent to find Leon, by the time he arrived, everyone's ashes would have cooled.
"After I go back, I'll send a trained message-dragon over. If there's an emergency, just use it to send us a message."
Rossweise said, "The message-dragon is very fast. It can fly from here to my sanctuary in one night."
Rebecca blinked her pretty eyes, filled with confusion, "Message-dragon... what is that?"
"Oh, it's similar to your human carrier pigeons. It's a sub-species of dragons. Through long-term evolution and training, they've taken on the responsibility of communication between dragons."
Rebecca nodded, "Oh, okay, thank you, sister-in-law."
"It's nothing."
"Then we'll be heading off."
"Safe journey, Captain."
"Safe journey."
"Hope next time we meet, you won't need the wheelchair anymore, Leon."
"Take care. See you next time."
"..."
Everyone said goodbye to Leon one by one.
Leon waved, then left the Empire with Rossweise.
The silver dragon rose up outside the city gate, soaring into the clouds.
Rebecca raised her hand to shield her brow, gazing at the couple disappearing into the sky, and sighed,
"Men with families really are different, huh? Leaving the throne behind just to hurry home to hold their kids."
"When you have a family too, you'll understand the captain," Martin said in a seasoned tone.
Rebecca glanced at him, "You say that like you have experience. If I remember correctly, you've never even had a single relationship, right?"
Martin froze, exposed by Rebecca's jab at his dark past, and looked a bit embarrassed, "N-no relationship, so what? Have you?"
"No."
Rebecca paused, then showed a cunning little fox-like smile, "Wanna try with me?"
"Who wants to try with you?"
"Oh~ Little Martin is scared~"
"I'm not scared...", Martin tried to argue.
But the twin-tailed girl had already seen through everything. She turned back, raised her arm, and patted Martin's chest.
"If you're not scared, then I'll give you a chance to pursue me."
"Oh... huh? Wait, who said anything about pursuing you!"
The boy and girl chatted and laughed as they walked back toward the city.
Nacho followed behind them, hands on his hips, sighing helplessly, "Hard to believe I started a revolution with a bunch of kids. Sigh."
Walker came forward and patted Nacho on the shoulder.
"All right, senior, we still have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, let's go."
The morning sun rose over the horizon, shining on this newborn nation, and illuminating the bright path ahead for the Lionheart Society.
———
"I think once we get home, the daughters will hug me first."
"No, definitely me."
Nacho would never guess, not only were his coworkers a bunch of kids, even the married-with-three-kids leader boss and boss's wife were just slightly older 'kids.'
What kind of adults argue about stuff like this every day.
Only this pair of foolish spouses could be so into it and never get tired.
"This time, I'll definitely win, Rossweise. And I'll win three times."
"Oh? You're so sure all three daughters will hug you first?"
"No, I mean—"
Rossweise tilted her head to listen. She wanted to see what kind of trick the dog-man was about to pull.
"As long as any one of Noah, Luna, or Light hugs me first and not you, that's one win for me."
"Mm, and then?"
"You zero wins, me one win, that's two wins."
Queen: ?
"You zero, me two, that's three wins."
"..."
"Three out of three, mother dragon. How would you rate that?"
"I'm thinking, maybe I should just let Kant out of prison. The leader of the strongest nation's revolution really shouldn't be someone as dumb as you."
Rossweise seriously suspected Leon had a second personality.
Whenever it was a critical moment, hero's entrance, turning the tide, protecting the homeland, that serious, decisive, no-nonsense, non-holy-fool persona would emerge;
But most of the time, his ridiculous first personality took over.
Call it contrast? Not really, because he'd always been like this since she met him.
Call it consistency? Not quite either, he'd definitely gotten more shameless than before.
Upon analysis, Rossweise concluded:
The dog-man had gotten too close to her.
He didn't treat her like an outsider anymore.
Apparently, five years of marriage made someone forget they were a prisoner, so once they got home, never mind who the daughters hugged first, she'd have to teach him a lesson first, and show him who's the real master of the house.
With this thought, Rossweise flapped her dragon wings and accelerated toward the sanctuary.
———
At midday, the couple returned to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.
Strangely, there were no maids to greet them.
In fact, the entire front courtyard of the sanctuary was empty. If Leon hadn't seen guards patrolling when they entered the border, he would've thought some foolhardy dragon had come to rob the place.
The couple stepped into the front yard, looked around,.no one.
No maids, no daughters.
"Where did they all go?", Rossweise asked softly.
Leon blinked. A thought struck him, and he suddenly realized—
"Oh! I know!"
Rossweise jumped at his shout, "Know what? How to stand up from the wheelchair?"
"No no no, I mean I know where Noah and the maids went."
Leon looked at Rossweise, who also lowered her gaze to meet his.
The couple locked eyes for one second. Then, at the same time, they said in unison—
"Stealing offerings!"
4 Stone: Soloed the strongest dragon slayer, battle record verifiable
Leon and Rossweise headed to the sanctuary's backyard.
Sure enough, as they expected, the Silver Dragon Sanctuary's signature performance was underway—
"The Prince Has Returned, Yay!"
Every time Leon and Rossweise left home for more than three days, this traditional play would be performed upon their return.
This time's cast was stronger than ever: eldest daughter, second daughter, and for the first time, the youngest daughter.
The background cast was no less enthusiastic, dozens of maids from across the sanctuary were all present.
And so, in a lively atmosphere, the "ritual" began.
Veteran actress Luna took the lead, holding a plate of grilled steak, sitting on the grass and starting to cry.
But honestly, the little Luna wasn't very convincing, she was doing the thunder-without-rain kind of crying.
"Mommy, Daddy! How could you leave Luna behind like this! Wahh~"
"Luna missed you sooo much~"
"When are you coming back to visit Luna again~"
"Wahh wahh wahh~ The steak is sooo good, wahh wahh~ Sis, who invented grilled steak anyway, wahh wahh~"
Luna had developed the rare skill of crying while eating through repeated performances.
Noah crossed her arms and silently watched Luna.
Light stood obediently next to her.
Of course, obedient was just a surface act, the pink-haired girl was totally dumbfounded.
In the morning, Big Sis told her there was something very important today, and they had to gather in the backyard.
So Light came.
She thought the important matter would be magic training or something.
But who would've guessed it'd be watching Second Sis cry and eat steak while calling for Mom and Dad.
Light didn't understand, but Light was shaken.
"Big Sis, I'm three years old this year, but this is my first time experiencing something like this, so… this shouldn't be a Silver Dragon tribe tradition, right?"
Noah nodded, her little face serious as she explained, "To be honest, this should be considered a... random event."
Mom and Dad randomly disappear for three to ten days. So naturally, "Luna crying for Dad" was also a random event.
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