Chapter 182: Tiger Seeking Justice for His Disciple

However, Rebecca obviously didn't know yet that her captain had already married into another family. She interpreted Leon's words— 'The situation is different now', in a completely different way.

"Mm, in the three years you were missing and presumed dead, the internal situation of the empire has indeed changed quite a bit," Rebecca threw her pistol onto the nearby sofa, then returned to the doorway and picked up the large bag of snacks and fruits she had just bought.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Rebecca glanced out the door, making sure that no suspicious individuals were watching before retracting her small head and closing the door.

"That cautious?", Leon asked.

"Of course, after all, if the patrol team finds out I'm harboring an imperial traitor in my home, I'd be sent straight to the guillotine."

Hearing this, Leon froze, "Im-Imperial traitor? Who? You mean me?"

"Yeah, is there anyone else in this house, Captain?"

'Crap!'

Got married while away, and now back home only to find himself labeled a traitor?

There was no time to regret his master becoming a wanted man. The next act to take the stage was none other than the Empire's Rebel, Leon Casmodeous.

Rebecca placed the shopping bag on the coffee table, then stood in front of Leon again, crossing her arms and looking up at him.

Leon swallowed, forcing himself to calm down, "How did I become a traitor?"

Rebecca didn't beat around the bush and explained directly, "Three years ago, when we suffered a crushing defeat at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, the casualties were severe. The king was furious, and public opinion in the empire put the Dragon Slayer Army under immense scrutiny. The three of us who remained in our squad, along with several other main attack squads, were temporarily suspended and had three months of military pay deducted."

"A few days later, the imperial family announced the reason for our failure, that during the attack on the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, we were sabotaged by an insider, leading to all the Dragon Slayer squads being exposed one by one and wiped out."

"This insider... or rather, traitor, was naturally you."

"After all, every failure in war needs a scapegoat, doesn't it? And you, Captain, were the perfect choice because... 'dead men' don't speak," Rebecca sat down on the sofa, her delicate face turning grim, "When this news was made public, I tried to find the military officials to explain that you were no traitor. And then—"

The girl let out a self-mocking laugh, shaking her arms, "I was immediately removed from the Dragon Slayer Army and reassigned to the patrol team. Now, I just stroll the streets twice a day, and my job is done, never again encountering any dangerous beings or Dragon Kings."

Leon fell silent after hearing Rebecca's explanation.

The way failures were handled in war was indeed despicable, perfectly aligning with his impressions of those in power.

Leon was well aware of the dark side of political struggles, which was precisely why he never got involved and never inquired about higher-ups.

What he protected wasn't the fat-bellied royals and ministers but the common people of the empire.

After a moment of silence, Leon sighed deeply and said in a low voice, "Thank you for believing in me, Rebecca."

Rebecca's face grew serious as well. She hesitated for a moment before adding, "Actually... when we attacked the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, there really was an insider among us, wasn't there?"

Leon's brows furrowed, "How do you know...?"

"When we had just entered the front courtyard of the sanctuary and were about to continue advancing, my vision suddenly went black, I couldn't see anything, and my hearing was completely cut off. Fortunately, this condition only lasted a few seconds, but when I opened my eyes again, you had already... been ambushed."

Rebecca continued, "The positions of our troops were fully exposed, and without your command, the Silver Dragons launched a full-scale counterattack. The troops were completely overwhelmed. Victor ordered a full retreat, but you were already on the brink of death and unable to move. If we took you with us, our entire Dragon Slayer squad could have been wiped out."

"I insisted on bringing you, but Victor said we had to leave you behind, or else we would all die there."

Victor was the deputy commander who took over Leon's position and the vice-captain of his Dragon Slayer squad.

So back then, when he was in a daze and overheard the team arguing, they were actually debating whether to take him or leave him behind.

But in the end, the result was clear, Rebecca, a mere gunner, couldn't override the deputy commander's decision.

However, that didn't necessarily mean Victor was the traitor who ambushed Leon.

Under such circumstances, leaving behind an incapacitated Leon was indeed the best choice.

Even if they had taken him, they wouldn't have been able to outrun the speed-focused Silver Dragons.

"Later, I thought about it carefully. The illusion that blinded me at the time shouldn't have been cast by the Silver Dragons, because there were no Silver Dragon soldiers around us at that moment, only... the four of us."

Rebecca let out a relieved sigh and then added, "But I never mentioned this theory to anyone, because otherwise... even the patrol team wouldn't have kept me around. I might have been—"

She tilted her little head, rolled her eyes, and stuck out her tongue, making a ghost face to imitate being eliminated.

Leon shook his head with a wry smile.

This crazy girl was actually quite sharp, she knew how to survive in the empire's treacherous waters.

"You're right, Rebecca. It was indeed someone from our squad who ambushed me. He used a very special weapon to pierce through the chest plate of the Black Gold War Chariot and stab right into my heart," Leon said.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, "Was it Victor or... Martin?"

Martin was the youngest son of a minister and also one of Leon's admirers.

Leon shook his head, "I'm not sure. One of my goals in returning to the empire this time is to find out who set me up back then."

Rebecca clapped her hands, "A fifty-fifty choice! My suggestion is to take them both out, better to kill the wrong person than to let the real culprit go. Captain, do you need weapons? I've got plenty of guns here, take your pick!"

Leon chuckled. He knew Rebecca was joking, after all, he wouldn't expect a chatterbox lunatic like her to stay serious for long.

Still, he played along, "The way you're talking makes it sound like you're the traitor, trying to get rid of both suspects so you can win."

"That's right, Captain. That's exactly what I'm thinking. You're so smart! Should I give you a champion's trophy, your favorite?", Rebecca said with a straight face.

Leon waved a hand dismissively and changed the topic, "You got reassigned to the patrol team after the war, but what happened to Victor and Martin?"

"Little Martin hid under his minister dad's protection, though he still gets bullied by his stepmother at home. As for Victor, he took a heavy fall for being the deputy commander, got kicked out of the Dragon Slayer Army entirely. Now he works as a singer at a tavern."

Rebecca added, "The last time I saw him was a few months ago."

"They're all having a rough time," Leon commented.

"Not as rough as you, Captain. You must've suffered a lot in the enemy's headquarters these past three years, right?", Rebecca said sympathetically.

Leon scratched his head, "Ah... well, I wouldn't say that..."

"Never mind, Captain, I get it. It's a past you don't want to recall. What matters is that you made it back."

Leon pursed his lips, looked away, and muttered, "...Yeah."

"Oh, right, Captain, how did you escape from Silver Dragon's lair?"

Leon silently covered his face, 'Can you believe it? The enemy boss personally sent me back.'

Avoiding the topic about his wife—ah, no—about the boss, Leon took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, "By the way, Rebecca, do you know what's going on with this?"

He unfolded the paper; it was a red-level wanted notice.

Rebecca glanced at it without much surprise, "Mm, I know. I was just about to tell you, Old Tiger has been wanted by the Empire for about a year now."

Leon's mind stirred, "A year ago..."

Rebecca nodded, "Back then, the newspapers were in an uproar, calling Old Tiger a murderous demon, a lunatic, and such."

"What kind of people... did my master kill?"

"Wait a moment, I'll grab the newspapers," Rebecca got up, rummaged through some boxes, and found a few newspapers before sitting back down on the sofa.

"The owner of the Moulin Rouge, a casino boss, and a pharmacy owner," she said as she laid out the newspapers, introducing them one by one.

"The Moulin Rouge, a playground for high-ranking officials, filled with countless beautiful women. Different prices, different services, you know how it goes. But most of the girls inside were trafficked. Those with good looks served the nobility; those who were average were worked to death within two years and then killed for their organs."

"The casino, it appeared to be the Empire's largest gambling house, but behind the scenes, it was laundering money, running a black market, and engaging in loan sharking. They washed blood money, none of them had clean hands."

"The pharmacy, it sold herbs on the surface, but in reality, it was a massive drug den that destroyed countless families."

Leon ruffled his hair, summing up his master's actions quite aptly:

"This... gambling, drugs, and prostitution."

Rebecca nodded, "Besides that, these three men shared one thing in common: they were all connected to the Imperial Royal Family."

Leon nodded as well, "People without connections wouldn't dare to operate in such gray areas."

Rebecca hesitated for a moment, as if something had just come to mind, "Oh, right. A year ago, Old Tiger also killed two royal guards and hung their bodies on the Imperial Palace wall."

Upon hearing this, Leon furrowed his brows, "That doesn't sound like my master's style..."

"Mm, I thought so too," Leon pondered carefully.

If his master had been wanted for a year, that meant it started right after he met Rossweise.

So, after setting the one-year agreement with Rossweise, his master did return to the Empire.

And the reason for returning was likely to clear Leon's name of the traitor label and restore his honor.

But in the end, the Empire refused?

So, for the past year, his master had been using this "delivering justice" method to pressure the Empire?

The theory made sense, but he'd have to meet his master to be sure.

Now the question was, where should Leon go to find that old man?

Should he wait at the farm?

That would be a waste of time, and it could attract unnecessary trouble.

Leon had no clear direction as he thought.

Noticing her captain's confusion, the petite girl blinked her pretty eyes and spoke, "Old Tiger might take action again soon."

Leon's eyes lit up, "What do you mean?"

"The casino boss was killed by Old Tiger two months ago. A week before his death, he openly provoked Old Tiger in the newspapers, calling him a mad and stupid fugitive, saying that if he turned himself in now, he might be able to clear the 'stupid' part."

Rebecca continued, "And then... he was killed. The security forces had set a trap around the casino boss's house, waiting for Old Tiger to take the bait. But they underestimated him, not only did they fail to protect the casino boss, but Old Tiger also escaped."

Leon grasped Rebecca's implication, "You're saying someone else has provoked my master recently?"

"Mm, a priest from a church," Rebecca explained, "This priest claimed that Old Tiger was a puppet of Satan, an irredeemable demon who wouldn't even go to hell when he died, instead becoming a wandering ghost for eternity."

Leon wasn't particularly interested in the priest's pre-battle trash talk. What caught his attention was, "Which vice is this priest involved in, gambling, drugs, or prostitution?"

"Well... it's hard to say. But I can hint at it subtly, Captain."

"Eh?"

"What's another craft similar to 'metallurgy'?"

Leon was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

No wonder Rebecca found it hard to say, this priest was seriously twisted.

Damn it.

"But this time, the provocation is even more blatant than the casino boss's. It's obviously a trap, and it'll be even more heavily guarded than before, just waiting for Old Tiger to walk into it," Rebecca said, "So, I'm not sure if he'll actually go."

"He definitely will," Leon said firmly.

"Why?"

"My master told me before, an obvious trap isn't a trap. It's a 'contest.' With his temperament, he'll do whatever it takes to pressure the Empire."

His master had told him many seemingly nonsensical theories before. At the time, they just sounded like bragging.

But after realizing his master was actually a hidden expert, those so-called nonsense theories suddenly felt like life philosophies.

Leon stood up, "Thank you, Rebecca, for telling me all this and for trusting me. Now, take care of yourself. Once I settle things, I'll come back to catch up."

Having gathered enough information from Rebecca, Leon was ready for the next step.

He took out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, thanked her, and headed for the door.

"Eh, Captain, where are you going?", Rebecca got up and chased after him.

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