Anyway, that's what his wife said.
Leon believes his wife.
"No problem, I'll summon the perception sorcerers first thing tomorrow morning."
"Good, thanks for the hard work."
After getting the key lead from Voel, the group also left the Imperial Prison.
Leon returned to his temporary apartment, and his luggage had already been delivered.
Leon opened his bag and took the things out one by one:
A photo of his daughters.
Luna sat right in the middle, hugging Noah's arm on the left, pressing her little face against her big sister's shoulder. Little Light stood on the right, arms crossed, with a "second-sister obsession is terrifying" expression as she peeked at her second sister.
A goofy selfie of him and Rossweise.
In the photo, he was lifting Rossweise's tail as if to bite it, but Rossweise was behind him, gripping his face with both hands. General Leon's originally handsome, sharp features had been squished into a "dark, twisted, crawling goblin."
A solo picture of Rossweise.
'Ehehe... wife is so pretty... ehehe.'
He also has a scroll of Super Sense.
It was a reinforcement patch swindled from Claudia. During the days away from home, Leon didn't want to waste time, he had to hurry and learn this new move.
Nothing else much.
Daily necessities and clothing could all be bought in the Empire, no need to bring them along.
Leon placed the three photos by his bedside, so every day when he woke up he could see his daughters, and along the way, take a glance at the mother dragon.
Tch, seriously, after seeing her every day he was sick of it, now it was just a casual glance.
After tidying up, Leon went to bed to rest and recharge for tomorrow.
———
The next morning, Nacho summoned over a dozen sorcerers.
"They all joined the Lionheart Society in the early days as perception sorcerers, trustworthy and very capable. You can safely teach them the technique for searching dragon scales," Nacho said.
Leon nodded, then looked at the sorcerers seated in a half-circle before him.
"Good morning, everyone. Time is tight and the task heavy, so let's skip the chatter and get straight to the point."
"During practice, if anyone feels it's too difficult, you can come tell me privately and quit. I won't force anyone."
"If there's something you don't understand, you can ask anytime."
"Alright, if there are no questions, let's begin."
Their training ground was the old indoor arena of the Imperial Dragon-Slaying Academy.
After the human-dragon war ended, the members of the former Dragon-Slaying Army were reassigned to other units and organizations, so naturally the Academy became vacant.
Inside the arena, Rebecca sat cross-legged on one side, with Martin standing beside her.
The two watched seriously as the captain taught the others.
"Before, we were the ones being taught here, and now the captain's the one teaching others."
Rebecca sighed, "Truly, the world is unpredictable. I never imagined this guy would one day become a teacher-like figure."
"Actually... I think the captain suits being a teacher," Martin said.
Rebecca tilted her small head at him, "Isn't that just because he's your idol? Idol filter, that's what it is."
"What kind?", Martin asked.
Rebecca blinked her pretty eyes, thought for a moment, and replied, "No matter what the idol does, in a fanboy's eyes it's always right, always fine. No matter what others say, you firmly believe in your own judgment of them. In other words, an idol is like a ray of light. Shining bright, always and everywhere."
Listening to her explanation, pure-hearted Martin couldn't help but fall into thought.
Sensing the sudden silence, Rebecca looked up again, "What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about what you just said."
Martin lowered his head seriously toward the twin-tailed girl, meeting her beautiful cyan eyes.
"By what you just said... that means you're also my idol, Rebecca."
"Ah?"
"No matter what you do, I'll think you're right; I don't care how others judge you, I just think you're great and outstanding; and you're also like a ray of light—"
"Ah Stop! Stop! Stop!"
Rebecca quickly cut him off, "Confessing isn't done like that! How can you take my own words and use them to confess to me?"
Martin froze, "That was a confession?"
"Wasn't it?"
"Was it...?"
"It was."
"Alright then, just pretend I didn't say it."
"Tch, Coward!"
———
After a whole day of practice, many perception sorcerers had already improved a lot.
With some precise guidance, in just a few days they'd be ready to officially search the Empire for other transplanted dragon-heart scales.
"That's all for today's lesson. Thanks for everyone's cooperation, good work," Leon nodded slightly in thanks.
The sorcerers politely responded in kind.
After dismissing them, Leon left the training arena together with Rebecca and Martin.
On the academy playground outside, Leon suddenly froze in his steps.
He looked at the crowd of old uncles and aunties doing evening exercises, and couldn't help but doubt whether he had accidentally traveled to some elderly square.
"What the heck is this? Is this still the Dragon-Slaying Academy?", Leon couldn't help but complain.
"Yep," Rebecca said, "The war with the dragons is over, the Dragon-Slaying Army has been reorganized, so naturally the Academy was vacated. Now it's become the grandpas' and grandmas' morning and evening exercise place."
"Seriously... making full use of everything."
"There's even fuller use."
As she said that, Rebecca pointed toward the teaching building in the distance.
Leon followed her finger.
A whole group of people was streaming into the building, led by someone in a yellow sunhat, 'A tour guide?'
"Wha-what's that about..."
"Some teaching buildings were converted into tourist spots," Martin explained.
"What's so special about a teaching building? Those exist everywhere."
Rebecca shook her head, "No no, people aren't here for the building."
"Then what?"
Rebecca cleared her throat, then used a dramatic alto voice:
"The influence of the Empire, the people's savior, the birthplace of Leon Casmodeous!"
General Leon froze in embarrassment.
Of course, there was something even more embarrassing.
"Actually the Dragon-Slaying Academy is just a minor thing."
"There's more?"
"Yep yep. Dad's old farm has now been renamed 'Casmodeous Former Residence.' During tourist season, it's packed with people!"
"Way too over the top!!"
"Celebrity effect, celebrity effect. At the very least, you've helped stimulate the economy of the rebuilt Empire. That's impressive, captain," Rebecca laughed.
Leon covered his face silently, 'Truly... making full use of everything!'
"Captain, what are we doing next?", Rebecca asked.
Leon adjusted his mindset, thought a bit,
"Speaking of birthplace... hmm... I want to visit the orphanage."
———
His master's farm had been turned into General Leon's former residence, the Dragon-Slaying Academy where he learned skills had become a tourist attraction.
So in this vast Empire, the only place that could hold some nostalgia for Leon was probably the Casmodeous Orphanage.
When Leon brought Rebecca and Martin to the orphanage, it happened to be dinner time.
The children had set up long wooden tables in the yard, then carried over benches, sitting around the tables, deliberately leaving open spaces at both sides.
Those were for the teachers.
The young nuns carried trays over, placing the simple yet warm dishes one by one onto the table.
Leon and the other two stood at the orphanage gate, quietly watching this busy scene.
"Oh, perfect timing for dinner. We can freeload a meal," Rebecca patted her small belly.
"Is food the only thing in your head?", Martin couldn't help but complain.
Rebecca thought a moment, then replied seriously, "Also sleep, also playing, also..."
She deliberately dragged out the ending, selling suspense to the dopey otaku beside her.
Sure enough, Martin took the bait and asked curiously, "Also what?"
"Also you."
"...", Inexperienced-in-love Martin was toyed with in the palm of the equally love-inexperienced old teammate.
The pure-hearted boy's face flushed red, and he quickly averted his eyes, "I get it, you must be thinking about how to coordinate with me in battle."
"The war's over, Martin, we don't have to fight anymore."
"T-then it must be... about our routine patrols, since we're partners."
"Nope, just simply thinking about you."
"Don't say weird things like that, Rebecca."
"Gonna say it, gonna say it, little Martin's blushing, blushing~"
Leon glanced at his two old teammates.
As a man married for five years, just by that glance Leon already saw the truth.
He concluded, "These two... are really, really good friends!"
So, the fact that the Silver Dragon Queen could fall for such a blockhead straight man wasn't easy.
Though, if Rossweise were here, she'd probably reach the same conclusion as Leon...
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