That night at the orphanage, Teacher Caroline recalled many things from Leon's childhood.
Rebecca listened with great interest.
Because if you weighed a person's "black history," then the vast majority of it happens before the age of five.
The embarrassing material Rebecca had on Leon was all only from his school years.
Stuff like "can't swim," or "the silver-haired senior," were trivial and unimportant.
But this time, after hearing so many stories from Teacher Caroline, Rebecca had stockpiled plenty more of the captain's black history.
Next time she saw her sister-in-law, she was going to tell her all of it.
As night fell, Leon and the others said goodbye to Teacher Caroline and little nun Sharon, then left the orphanage.
On the way back, the streets were nearly empty. The three walked down the middle of the road, streetlights on both sides stretching their shadows long, long.
"Wow, didn't think you were that embarrassing as a kid, Captain," Rebecca said smugly.
She was deliberately provoking Leon.
Who told him to laugh so hard earlier when that kid called her "auntie"?
This was called karma.
But faced with Rebecca's teasing, Leon seemed completely calm.
Actually, not only now. When Teacher Caroline had been recounting his childhood humiliations earlier, Leon's face hadn't shown much reaction either.
Rebecca was a little surprised.
She thought the captain had just been stunned at the time, not knowing what to say, so he stayed silent.
But now... why was he still completely unbothered?
"So weird, Captain, why are you still so calm?", Rebecca asked.
Leon, hands in his pockets, walked casually.
"Ah, what's wrong?"
"What do you mean what's wrong? I'm going to gather all your biggest black history, including the time you wore your underwear inside out, and tell Sister-in-law!"
Leon scratched his nose, "So?"
Rebecca blinked wide-eyed in confusion, "So you're not afraid Sister-in-law will use all that to torment you?"
At her words, Leon suddenly stopped walking.
Rebecca and Martin stopped too.
The twin-tailed girl stared expectantly at Leon, thinking he was about to break down in shame. But instead, he said even more calmly, "I'm used to it."
Rebecca: ?
"U-used to it? You can even get used to something like that?"
General Leon slowly inhaled, then exhaled, lifting his head to gaze at the deep night sky, sighing, "I've been married six years. Forget wearing underwear inside out. Even if I don't wear any, Roswaisa wouldn't think it strange."
"I always thought your married life was sweet and warm, Captain. But the way you just said it... it kind of sounds shameless, doesn't it?"
Rebecca was very good at judging by appearances.
With such a graceful and beautiful sister-in-law, paired with the captain's usual serious demeanor, Rebecca had imagined their married life as harmonious, affectionate, loving.
But reality didn't seem like that at all.
So, just what kind of life had the captain been living with Sister-in-law these six years? She was really curious.
"Captain, when will you let me stay at your place with Sister-in-law for a few days? I can pretend to be your adopted daughter, so the little dragon girls won't suspect anything!"
Leon chuckled, shaking his head, "You sure have plenty of bad ideas. Adopted daughter? I'm twenty-six, you're twenty-five, and I'm supposed to adopt you?"
"What's the problem?"
"Of course there's a problem!"
This time it was Martin who spoke, raising one finger and explaining seriously, "In the Empire, if a man adopts a woman, there has to be at least a forty-year age gap. Which means unless the captain immediately turns sixty-six, he can't adopt you."
After a pause, Martin added rigorously, "And just to remind you, even Mr. Tiger is only in his fifties."
"Why thank you so much, little Martin."
Rebecca leapt up and hooked her arm around Martin's neck. But because of their height difference, the pose made her look like an oversized teal teddy bear clinging to him.
And Martin didn't resist either, just went along, playing around with Rebecca.
Leon, watching from the side, couldn't help but smile.
After everything they'd been through, to still have two old teammates by his side, it was rare and precious.
He sighed in his heart, then joined in.
Leon hefted them both onto his shoulders, one on each side.
"Captain, what are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious, Rebecca? The captain must be fed up with your bullying in the squad."
"This level counts as bullying? My, little Martin really is delicate and frail~"
"Or maybe you're just too violent?"
"Mind your own business! Quack!"
Dangling from Leon's shoulders, even if they couldn't "fight with fists," they had to "fight with words."
"Alright, charging now," Leon said, lowering his stance.
"C-charging? Charging what, Captain?"
The words barely left his mouth before Rebecca and Martin suddenly felt a strong jolt.
Leon's sturdy shoulders pressed into their stomachs as he sprinted at full tilt toward the Lionheart Society's apartments.
Rebecca's twin tails bobbed wildly, occasionally smacking Martin in the face.
"Seriously... who the heck invented this captain!", Rebecca groaned skyward.
Martin couldn't help but complain, "I think we've only developed maybe five percent of the captain's potential... He always comes up with things we'd never imagine..."
"Just thinking he's going to be in the Empire a while makes me suffer."
Rebecca lifted her little head with effort, gazing at the night sky.
"Sister-in-law~ when are you going to take your husband back already?"
———
The "technical training" for the perception sorcerers progressed smoothly.
In less than half a month, they had completely mastered the technique for sensing dragon-scale power.
Leon deployed them, sending them in a carpet search for the Imperial remnants who had transplanted Heart-Protecting Dragon scales.
He believed Voel was only the tip of the iceberg in the immortality plan, now just a discarded pawn.
But the others, surely they held more information about the former king.
Once they were found, they could follow the trail up to that "Lord Shadow" behind it all.
And during the searches, Leon didn't stay idle.
He officially began practicing "Super Sense."
"Whoa, Captain, you're developing a new skill again, huh."
Back in the Dragon-Slaying Army, the captain often secluded himself for a few days, studied some new move, and then unveiled it as a huge surprise.
But he also had failures. No surprises, just something massively disappointing.
Who knew what this time would bring.
"This one isn't something I developed myself."
Leon said, "It's..."
'It was given to me by my master's big sister.'
Should he say that?
It'd be too much to explain.
Better to wait until the old man came back and let him explain it himself.
"It's a gift from a senior."
Rebecca nodded, "Ohh, I see. So what's the effect of this move?"
Leon explained the ability of "Super Sense" to Rebecca.
After hearing, the girl blinked and said, "So it's muscle memory pro max version!"
Leon chuckled, "At first I thought it was just massively enhanced muscle memory too, but actually, it's not. Muscle memory can only trigger in specific situations, and it can't make rational reactions based on the moment. It only triggers in fixed patterns."
"For example, if the opponent swings a punch at me while following up with a knee strike, and my eyes first notice the fist but not the knee—"
"Then if I rely on muscle memory to dodge, I might avoid the punch, but there's no way I'd dodge the knee strike."
"But Super Sense compensates for that flaw. It lets my body automatically make the most appropriate response in that instant."
Hearing his explanation, Rebecca nodded thoughtfully.
After a brief silence, the crazy little loli waved her hand.
"Sounds too hard. I'm not learning it."
"It's not for gunners to learn anyway. I just want you to help me train."
"No problem, how do I help?"
"You brought the rubber bullets I asked for, right?"
Rebecca nodded, then pulled several boxes of rubber bullets and a pistol from her backpack.
"Plenty of bullets. Whatever you want to do, it'll be enough."
"The pistol's also modified just like you asked. Kept the bullet speed but reduced the power."
Rebecca loaded the rubber bullets into the magazine, then slid it into the gun.
"So, Captain... don't tell me you want me to shoot at you for Super Sense training?"
"Eh~ you guessed it~"
At those words, Rebecca's little face suddenly dimmed, her voice gloomy, "So it really is like that..."
Hearing her tone, Leon was taken aback.
He thought Rebecca was worried about hurting a teammate, unable to bring herself to fire at him.
So he comforted her, "It's fine, Rebecca, it's just practice. Rubber bullets won't kill anyone, and didn't you already lower the power? Don't worry and just—"
"Ah? Oh, no no no, Captain, that's not what I meant."
"Then what?"
Rebecca's soft little face lit up again with that long-lost crazy smile.
Click—
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