Pausing for a moment, Leon seemed to suddenly think of something. He touched the pocket of his shirt, then took out a photo and handed it to Tiger.
Tiger took it. The photo showed a baby with pink hair and a pink tail, eyes closed, tiny fists clenched. It was very cute.
"This is…"
"Aurora. I mentioned her to you when I returned to the Empire earlier. She's my and Rossweise's third daughter. Her nickname is Little Light."
Although Master was also a dragon slayer, judging by how he carefully preserved the family photo that Rossweise had given him, he didn't seem to mind that Leon's daughter was a human-dragon hybrid.
So before coming here this time, Leon had specially taken a picture of Little Light, thinking of showing it to the old man.
Tiger looked at the little granddaughter in the photo, and a gratified smile appeared on his weathered face.
Rebecca also curiously leaned in.
When she saw the little pink dragon in the photo, the loli girl's eyes immediately sparkled like stars, "So cute~"
Leon waved his hand and modestly praised himself, "Of course, just look at whose genes she inherited."
"Indeed, if it weren't for your wife, that stunning beauty, your little daughter probably wouldn't be this cute."
"Hiss—asking for a beating!"
Rebecca giggled and dodged behind Tiger.
After admiring his granddaughter for a while, Tiger carefully put the photo away.
"Well, if there's nothing else, Rossweise and I will head back now, Master."
"Eh, wait, there actually is something."
As he spoke, Tiger took an old ancient book out of his pocket, "When you returned to the Empire earlier, you said you couldn't gather magic power. That made me think of this book. It contains things that might be useful to you."
Leon took the ancient book from his master's hand. The title read, "The Nine Hells Gate."
"This title sounds a bit… gloomy," Leon commented, "Does it have a way to restore magic?"
Tiger shook his head, "It's not related to magic. It records a very powerful martial art. I figured, since you can't use magic for the time being, you need a way to defend yourself. The dragon-slaying army's training alone probably isn't enough, so I took a risk and had someone find this book for you. Go back and train well. You look like you've got no energy."
"..."
'Master, my lack of energy isn't my fault! Your disciple is no longer the pure boy he once was!'
"Alright, I'll train seriously. Thank you, Master."
Only then did Tiger nod, "Good. Head back now, and be careful on the way."
"Mm, you take care too, Master."
Leon put away the ancient book, turned around, and called Rossweise to leave together.
Rossweise slowly stood up and followed Leon toward the cave entrance.
Before leaving, she turned her head halfway and looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca tensed up again.
The silver pupils calmly observed her, and finally, those elegant lips parted slightly, "Human girl, quite cute."
As soon as the words fell, she withdrew her gaze, spread her dragon wings, shook off the waterfall's curtain of water, and left with Leon.
After the couple left, Tiger walked to the dazed Rebecca and knocked on her head.
"They're gone. What are you still looking at?"
Rebecca snapped out of it. She shook her head and muttered wistfully, "Old Man, you guys just made a bunch of bold guesses. Now I suddenly have an even bolder guess."
Tiger raised his white eyebrows, "What?"
The loli girl looked up, her tone serious and sincere, "I think… the captain and his wife… might have more kids."
"...Your thought process is decent, but don't start thinking too much just yet."
His disciple went to the dragon clan to gather intelligence, not to increase their population.
If he failed to collect intelligence and instead ended up raising a football team, what then?
"What's wrong with that. Their three daughters are already so cute. What's wrong with having more. Anyway, the Dragon Queen can live for over a thousand years. Even if she has one every ten years, she could have a hundred!"
"And have you considered that your captain will be gone in a few decades? How will they keep having kids then? A resurrection?"
"Oh, speaking of that, doesn't that mean the captain's wife will end up widowed? Ugh, just thinking about such a beautiful woman being widowed makes my heart ache. Leon Casmodeous, you heartless man! Eh, eh, Old Man, what are you doing!"
Tiger bent down, hoisted Rebecca onto his shoulder, then picked up his katana and strapped it to his waist, "This isn't something we need to worry about. The couple will figure it out themselves. Let's go—back to the Empire. Time to hassle that damn Emperor again."
———
Leon sat on the broad back of a dragon, flipping through the "Nine Hells Gate" book his master had just given him.
Although the title sounded intimidating, the contents were genuinely solid.
As his master had said, this was a book about martial arts training.
Judging from the table of contents, most of the earlier chapters focused on teaching readers how to effectively strengthen their physique to reach beyond human limits.
The later chapters were the core of "Nine Hells Gate."
Leon skimmed through them without reading in detail. He planned to practice slowly once he got back.
Coincidentally, Rossweise asked, "What's your plan next?"
"Mm… Master and I plan to investigate by connecting the fake death of the previous king, the human-dragon war, and the Empire's pursuit of me."
"Oh, sounds like your mission just got even heavier."
Leon smiled, "Not necessarily."
"How so?"
"When solving math problems in school, the scariest ones weren't the long ones, but the short ones. Because with fewer given conditions, it was harder to derive the correct answer."
Leon continued, "On the other hand, the longer the problem, the more information it provides, making it easier to reach the final answer. So by connecting more clues, we might actually find the truth faster."
The queen didn't respond immediately. After a brief silence, she chuckled softly, openly praising Leon, "You're getting smarter, Leon."
"People grow."
"No, I think it has nothing to do with growth."
Leon raised a brow, "Then what does it have to do with?"
"Near vermilion, one turns red; near ink, one turns black. Since you've lived with me for so long, it's only natural that you've become smarter."
Leon wordlessly curled his lips. When it came to bragging in subtle ways, the couple were evenly matched.
"By the way, that martial arts book—are you going to practice it?", Rossweise asked.
"Of course."
"Oh…", The queen seemed to hesitate as if she were scheming something.
Leon also sensed that this mother dragon was plotting something.
Though he didn't know her plan, she wouldn't bring up "Nine Hells Gate" for no reason.
Thinking it over, Leon stuffed the book deeper into his pocket.
The couple chatted idly as they traveled. Several hours later, they returned to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.
Departing in the morning, arriving at night. You could always trust the speed of the Silver Dragon Clan.
Upon entering the front courtyard of the sanctuary, the maid Milan stepped forward. After bowing, she softly said, "Your Majesty, Her Highness Isa has arrived."
Rossweise paused in her steps, "My sister? When did she arrive?"
"Not long ago. She's in the backyard playing with Princess Luna right now."
"Alright, I got it. Prepare the dinner banquet and a guest room."
Milan nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty."
After receiving the order, Milan withdrew to make preparations.
Rossweise pursed her lips, puzzled, "My sister always shows up at the most unexpected times."
"Got it. Silver Dragons excel in speed, while Red Dragons excel in surprise attacks," Leon joked from the side.
The queen rolled her eyes at him, "When we see my sister later, just say we went to patrol the border."
"Mm, patrolling the border. Truly a great excuse for slacking off, Your Majesty."
Rossweise playfully punched his chest, "Less nonsense, you unserious fool."
The couple headed to the backyard.
Sure enough, Isa was there, sitting on a bench under the old locust tree, holding Luna in her arms and affectionately rubbing her little face.
"Little Luna~ Do you want to go to the Red Dragon Sanctuary with your aunt?"
"I do~"
"Really? Then give Auntie a kiss, and I'll take you tomorrow."
"Auntie, smooch~", Luna cupped the red-haired beauty's face and planted a big kiss.
"Hmm… Auntie suddenly changed her mind. One kiss isn't enough, I need two."
The little dragon girl was well-versed in social etiquette—she gave her aunt several more kisses in a row.
The delighted aunt's heart was bursting with joy.
'Damn it, I must make sure little Rose and my brother-in-law have more kids in the future.'
'That way, I can use the excuse of "You have too many kids, let me take care of a couple for you" to rightfully take these adorable little dragon girls back to the Red Dragon Sanctuary.'
"Sis, you're here."
Just as she was happily smothering the dragon girl in kisses, she heard her younger sister's voice from the side.
Isa lifted her head and looked over, "Oh? Where did you two lovebirds sneak off to? Didn't even bring the child along."
Rossweise's face turned red, "What do you mean sneak off? Leon and I went to patrol the border."
"Heh, patrolling the border. A fantastic excuse for skipping work and sneaking off on a date."
"Pfft—", Leon was about to laugh but was immediately elbowed by Rossweise.
"Little Rose, next time you lie, don't blush."
Rossweise's heart tensed, worried that her sister might have noticed something.
If Isa were to find out that she had just taken her human husband to meet a human mentor and a human loli girl to discuss human conspiracies, this household would definitely become lively.
At least for now, Rossweise had no idea how to clean up the mess if the truth came out, so she had been keeping it from Isa.
Fortunately, Isa didn't press further, simply assuming her sister was making excuses to sneak off with her husband.
She lowered her head and continued teasing the little Luna in her arms.
Only then did Rossweise breathe a sigh of relief.
"Oh right, Little Rose, you mentioned in your last letter that your youngest daughter's name was decided to be Aurora, right?"
"Mm, full name Aurora, nickname Little Light."
Isa nodded, "Good name."
With that, she picked up Luna and stood up expectantly, "Take me to see the little baby. I haven't seen her in three months. She must be able to call me Auntie by now, right?"
Hearing this, the couple exchanged glances. Their expressions suddenly turned a little strange.
Isa paused, "What's with that look? What happened to Little Light?"
The couple pursed their lips but said nothing. They simply led Isa to the bedroom.
When she saw Little Light, Isa's auntly love overflowed once again, hugging the little pink dragon and snuggling up to her.
Luna: 'So love really does disappear, huh, Auntie?'
Little Light still carried the sweet scent of baby milk. Her chubby little face was soft and smooth. Snuggling up to her was pure bliss.
"The baby looks just fine. Why did you two make that face earlier?"
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