Some days had passed since Leon had sent out the Lionheart sorcerers to search for the remaining dragon-scale hosts.
During this period, they dug out quite a few remnants of the former Imperial royal family.
Without exception, these guys had also transplanted the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales, gaining nearly a thousand years of lifespan.
For different people, Leon had different interrogation methods.
He had studied under Rossweise for so many years, getting this bunch of remnants to open their mouths wasn't difficult.
Clues about the former king and Lord Shadow were like pieces of a puzzle, bit by bit collected by Leon.
By this point, a clear thread had already surfaced.
At the same time, it brought with it quite a weighty truth.
"The former king is Lord Shadow?", Inside the Lionheart Society's conference hall, Nacho looked at the compiled intelligence and the final conclusion drawn, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Although I faintly had some premonition before, that Lord Shadow was very likely the former king, now that it's confirmed, it's still a little shocking."
As the initiator of the Longevity Project, the former king had undoubtedly also transplanted the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales.
But after that, no one knew where he went. They only knew that this country was still being manipulated by him from the shadows.
And that letter addressed to "Lord Shadow" found in Queen Elizabeth's chambers was Leon's first time hearing about such a figure.
Shadow had appeared as if from thin air, never heard of before.
So, to connect the former king, who suddenly disappeared yet secretly manipulated the country, with Lord Shadow, whom Elizabeth hurried to lean on after the Empire's collapse, wasn't hard.
"Since Shadow's identity is confirmed, then chasing him down should be a lot easier now, right?", Nacho asked.
Leon frowned slightly, touched his chin with one hand, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Not necessarily. We might be able to follow the vine of the former king to reach Lord Shadow, but as far as I know, Shadow still has the Dragon King aiding him."
Nacho raised his eyebrows, puzzled, "The Empire's fallen, the human-dragon war is over, why would a Dragon King still cooperate with Shadow?"
"This Dragon King is very special."
Leon said, "The Warhammer Dragon King, Adam, within dragonkind he's equivalent to a mercenary. As long as you pay him enough, he'll do anything."
"I think, since Shadow could secretly manipulate this country and the human-dragon war for so many years, then even with the Empire gone, he must still have plenty of cards left in hand."
"With those cards, cooperating with a mercenary like Adam isn't hard."
After listening to Leon's explanation, Nacho mused, "I see... didn't expect dragonkind to even have such a Dragon King."
"Sounds completely bottomless."
Rebecca curled her lips and murmured, "Warhammer Dragon King... the name sounds impressive, wonder if it's just an empty title."
As she spoke, Rebecca slurped up a mouthful of meat sauce noodles from her bowl.
Martin handed her a napkin from the side.
"Any Dragon King shouldn't be underestimated. Since this Adam can act as a mercenary among dragonkind, his strength must surpass most Dragon Kings."
Rebecca took the napkin, wiped the corner of her mouth, then let out a burp and turned to Leon, "Captain, has sis-in-law ever told you about this Warhammer Dragon King?"
Leon nodded, "Martin's right. This Warhammer Dragon King is very strong."
Not only had Rossweise said Adam possessed power surpassing most Dragon Kings, even old Con back then had suffered losses at his hands.
A Dragon King who possessed absolute strength and no bottom line. If one encountered such a guy in battle, one could well imagine how troublesome it would be.
"But no matter how strong he is, we must thoroughly eliminate these people."
Nacho said, "Otherwise, the hard-earned peaceful life we've gained will sooner or later be broken."
Leon agreed with a nod, then added, "While interrogating one of the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale transplant holders, he let slip a key clue."
"That clue indicated that Shadow's last known location was at the southern border during the human-dragon war back then. Perhaps we could try our luck there."
The four looked at each other.
After exchanging glances, Rebecca stood up, hands on her hips.
"Then let's hurry and set off, Captain. Once we take down Shadow and Adam, you can go home to hug your wife and kids."
"And then you'll tell your sis-in-law about my black history, right?"
"I'm not that kind of person!", Rebecca giggled, "I'll just give her a little notebook full of your black history as a gift."
'Weird. Why do all you girls like to record things in little notebooks?'
Rossweise also liked to write a diary.
Leon's mind drifted off for a moment.
But he quickly returned to himself.
He blinked, and couldn't help muttering inwardly, "Lately, I keep thinking of her..."
———
[Silver Dragon Sanctuary]
Full Luna high in the sky. The queen sat at her desk, the soft lamplight outlining her side profile, bright and beautiful.
Her long jade-like fingers gently held the pen, writing the last line of the letter, [Your wife, Rossweise Melkvei.]
Then, she rose, wearing a slip nightdress, stepping in her favorite dragon-wing slippers, carrying the letter out onto the balcony.
The messenger dragon was already waiting there.
Rossweise slipped the letter into the bamboo tube on the dragon's back, then stroked its head.
"Go now, find him."
The intelligent messenger dragon nodded, flapped its wings, and soared into the tranquil night sky.
The silver-haired beauty lifted her gaze, watching the shadow of the dragon fly away, her eyes full of longing and hope.
The cool night breeze brushed through her long hair, like tassels made of starlight.
She rested one hand on the railing, her gaze stretching far into the distance.
That was the direction of human territory.
The contents of the letter she had just written, she remembered very clearly.
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Dear Casmodeous,
I received your letter from last week. I'm glad you caught another remnant of the Empire, getting one step closer to the final truth.
During the days waiting for the messenger dragon, I didn't run into any trouble.
Last week, Senior Claudia came over as a guest, and she brought your darling donkey.
A few months ago when we parted, you specially reminded me, if the donkey came, I must write and tell you.
Well, it came.
Oh, to be exact, it had come.
Senior originally wanted you and the donkey to reunite briefly, but since you weren't home, she simply took it back.
Luna and Little Light also came home once. I told them Daddy went out on a secret mission with the other Dragon Kings.
Luna said you should bring her back a grilled steak from another tribe.
As for Noah, just like you guessed, since this term's final she'll be taking the promotion exam, so even on vacation she's still at school training hard.
The school says their promotion exam will be held in the southern Nightmare Moon Forest.
Although dangerous beasts often appear there, it's still better than last time's Far North exam, right?
At the end of this letter, I have some good news to tell you.
Two weeks ago, I started having morning sickness.
In other words, we've successfully conceived a baby.
In a few months, he or she will be born. I hope by then you've finished dealing with everything. You definitely will, won't you?
Also, I wanted to ask. Have you been thinking of me a lot lately?
My dragon-mark these days has been flashing like a lightbulb, especially at night.
Oh, I guess when you read this you'll say, 'I'm not thinking of you at all, dragoness. And my dragon-mark is flashing too, it's you who's thinking of me.'
Well, congratulations, you guessed right.
I miss you too, Leon.
So, once everything's done, hurry home, okay?
Oh, right, according to your request in your last letter, I left my lip print on this envelope. So embarrassing, how did you even come up with this idea?
But although it's a little embarrassing, I didn't just leave a lip print. I also sprayed my favorite perfume on it. I think you'll like it.
So then... good fortune in battle, my little lion.
—Your wife, Rossweise Melkvei.
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Leon didn't receive his wife's letter until more than half a month later.
Because they had discovered Shadow's trail, he and Nacho and the others had immediately set off in pursuit.
When the messenger dragon arrived in the Empire and found the recipient absent, it was dazed for a while.
Fortunately, our messenger dragons are professionally trained, no such thing as a returned letter. Every letter sent must be delivered to its recipient.
Thus, after half a month of twists and turns, the messenger dragon finally found this runaway guy.
"Captain, I think it's about to keel over."
Rebecca squatted by the messenger dragon, whose eyes were spinning like mosquito coils, and poked its head lightly with a twig.
Seeing no reaction, Rebecca carried it over to the fire to warm it up, then pulled two cans of beef from her backpack and placed them by its mouth.
"Aww, poor little thing. After working as a messenger in the Empire for so long, now it's flown so far just to find the Captain, really not easy. Eat up, eat up, get better soon."
Martin glanced at the beef cans by the dragon's mouth, then at the nearby backpack, and said, "Rebecca, those are the Captain's rations, aren't they?"
Rebecca didn't bother to hide it, openly admitted, "Mhm!"
"Well, I guess that counts as payback for the medical bill last time."
They still remembered. When the Captain first practiced Super Sense, Rebecca had sent him to the hospital with a concussion, paid for with her money.
Now using the Captain's rations to feed the messenger dragon, perfectly fair and reasonable.
Meanwhile, Leon was focused entirely on the letter from his wife, not joining Rebecca and Martin's chatter.
By the firelight, he could vaguely see a red mark on the envelope.
'Lipstick.'
Leon froze a little, then smiled knowingly.
He had almost forgotten. Last time when writing to Rossweise, he had jokingly asked if she could leave her lipstick mark on the envelope.
'Never thought that dragoness would actually do it.'
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