After the welcome from his adoptive family, Leon entered his old room. He had explained that he needed to leave immediately to investigate the possible invasion that might take place. Dressed in black, he pulled a hood over his head.
"Are you sure you're leaving already? Wouldn't you like to stay a little longer? Your mother missed you very much."
"Don't worry. If everything goes well, I'll be back as soon as possible."
Richard was standing behind the half-open door. As he watched his adoptive son leave the room, he cast a nostalgic glance toward its interior. Countless memories of a still teenage Leon sitting in that very room, quietly reading a book, flooded his mind.
"We really miss you around here, so come back safely."
"...Everything will be fine. Besides, I don't think they'll be able to defeat me... Father."
Richard looked as though he were about to cry. He brought his hands to his eyes and began sobbing dramatically.
"It's so good to hear you call me Father again after so long! Please, son, stay just a little longer."
He grabbed Leon by the shoulders and began gently shaking him. Isolde, who was nearby, immediately grabbed her husband's ear and pulled him away. Her face remained serious as she scolded him.
"He received a mission from the king. Of course he has to carry it out as best he can. Stop insisting."
"Ow, ow, ow... My beautiful wife, calm down."
"Be careful out there, Leon. Try to avoid any serious injuries, son."
"Yes, Mother."
Hearing that word, Isolde felt as though an arrow had pierced her heart. She had missed her beloved son very much as well, but she had to restrain herself. She knew Leon was the type who preferred to complete his missions as quickly as possible before returning home. Letting go of her husband's ear, she stepped closer to straighten the clothes Richard had wrinkled while shaking him.
'Even so... one more moment won't hurt.'
"Before you go, let me touch your cheek one more time, dear."
Leon stopped moving and hesitated for a brief moment. Interpreting that silence as permission, Isolde gently held his cheeks once more. It was ridiculous. He was a grown man, yet that cursed body seemed to accept that display of affection as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
'I'd rather they called Leon something else.'
Elara watched the interaction between the three of them with a sincere smile on her face, something that made Rebecca roll her eyes. She knew exactly what Elara was thinking. However, before she could say anything, she noticed a brief expression of sadness appear on the girl's face beside her.
'Could that expression be because Leon is getting married?'
When Isolde finally let go of Leon, he walked over to the two of them to say goodbye.
"I'll be back later. So stay safe while I finish this mission."
"I'm at your house, surrounded by numerous knights and mages. I'll be fine, Leon."
Leon nodded to Rebecca before turning his attention to Elara. His curiosity was immense. He wanted to understand why this Elara was so different from the one who existed in the story he had read. However, before he could ask anything, she spoke first.
"Could you come back in twenty minutes?"
All four of them were caught off guard by the unexpected request. Elara simply kept her hands behind her back while smiling calmly. Leon had no idea why she had made that request, but his body reacted before he could even think. A gentle smile naturally appeared on his face.
"Of course. I promise. And you should know that I've never broken a promise."
"Never? But there was one time when you promised to send us more letters during the war, and you ended up sending only one every three months."
'Damn, I spoke as if I were Enrico.'
Elara pouted slightly in dissatisfaction, while Rebecca had the feeling she might throw up after hearing those words. On top of that, she was irritated by how easily Leon had made that promise. If he was going to say something like that, he could have said it sooner.
Noticing that Leon had become completely speechless, Elara gave him a light punch on the chest. Her cheeks were flushed.
"I'm joking. I know you always keep your promises whenever you can, so I'm not worried."
Behind Leon, Richard and Isolde smiled happily as they watched the interaction between the two of them. Rebecca decided not to interrupt this time. Just this once, she would let it slide, because the expression Elara had shown a few moments earlier still lingered in her mind.
'What a strange feeling...'
[Are you feeling it too?]
As soon as he left the house, Leon became serious. The next instant, he moved fast enough to reach an alley in the city a few meters away in just one second. His mind began analyzing everything that had happened moments earlier.
'Coming back in twenty minutes would be impossible, considering everything I have to do. Even so... her words made me want to finish everything as quickly as possible.'
[Strangely enough... I completely agree with you.]
Activating magic throughout his body, Leon began moving through the city at a speed impossible for civilians—or even Rank Five mages—to perceive. His memory was excellent, so he easily found every location he had seen in the recording where those five suspicious people had placed the stones.
'They're teleportation magic stones... but that's not the only detail bothering me.'
[That's...]
Leon gathered all the stones in an open area away from the city. Dusting off his hands, he noticed that each one had a symbol engraved on it. It wasn't the symbol Solene had ordered her knights to wear. It was an emblem he knew very well. The same one his eldest brother had used in the original story to announce his arrival.
'That means this attack had already been planned by him. After all, those five people, whom I received information about through what the councilor gave me, aren't enemies of the kingdom.'
To confirm his suspicion, Leon once again crossed the city at an even greater speed, this time observing everything more carefully. As he expected, he found other stones that hadn't appeared in the recording.
[It seems they were being placed little by little.]
'Yes. But when he had to flee with the family to the enemy kingdom, he probably accelerated his plans and handed these stones over to the enemy to earn their trust.'
That meant the invasion would have turned into a true massacre if they hadn't discovered everything in time. Leon stood up, left the remaining stones on the ground, and turned his serious gaze toward the city.
'I need to capture the spies and the spotters who are on their side.'
There was most likely a Rank Ten among those people. His eldest brother was not the type to devise a plan on that scale without keeping a powerful trump card in reserve. Because of that, Leon would have to act quickly, capturing the weaker ones before they realized what was happening. After that, he would deal with the strongest one.
'There are fourteen minutes left before the time I promised Elara... So I'll only leave the first two people I capture alive.'