Chapter 186: Entering Bar

Rebecca kept a straight face and said seriously, "Take me with you. I promise I won't leave you behind again."

Tiger glanced at the girl. Seeing how serious she was, he leaned in close to her ear and lowered his voice, "Your captain is a married man with kids. Don't pull this cliché line and act out a dramatic scene, okay?"

Rebecca frowned and clicked her tongue before giving her old man an elbow to the ribs, "This is the bond between friends!"

Tiger clutched his chest and awkwardly backed off, "Alright, alright, bond, bond. When the time comes, you guys can shout about your friendship and bonds while you go up and hack that damn emperor to death. I'll be cheering for you from below."

"Hmph, childish old man," Rebecca delivered a soul-crushing remark.

After their little scuffle, Leon suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right, there's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"I… can't use magic right now."

Tiger and Rebecca froze, "What do you mean you can't use magic? Did your magic circuits burn out?"

Leon shook his head and clutched his chest, "I don't know the exact reason, but I can't gather mana right now. I can still refine a little over time and store it in… ahem, a certain magic array on my body, but the process is very slow. I used up all my stored mana last night when helping Master break through."

Rebecca's thoughts stirred. Out of everything the captain said, she only caught onto one keyword, "A certain magic array… Captain, why do you look a little embarrassed when you talk about this?"

"Huh? What? No way, I mean, it's just a magic array. What's there to be embarrassed about?"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes slightly and slowly raised her hand, pointing at Leon's chest.

"Then how do you explain the purple glow on your chest right now?"

Leon: Σ( °△°|||) 'Nani?'

'Big! Mother! Dragon! What are you doing?'

"Don't move! Let me see!"

"No, Master! Seriously, no! You absolutely must not look there!"

"Rebecca, hold him down! I'll pull his clothes open!"

"Got it, Old man!"

The two worked together to pin the dragon-slaying hero against the wall and stripped off his shirt.

The dragon mark on his chest flickered twice before dimming.

Staring at the silver pattern on the captain's chest, Rebecca raised an eyebrow and whistled.

"Captain, this magic array… is kinda spicy."

"Spicy my ass! Kid, what the hell is this thing?"

Leon averted his gaze and stammered, "Uh… a tattoo. It's just a tattoo. Really."

"Your family's tattoos glow purple, huh? That's obviously not a normal tattoo," The master saw through his lie in an instant.

"Hey! You're wrong, Master. This tattoo may look spicy and suspicious, but actually, it's proof of a Pure Love War God," Leon declared with conviction.

"Explain."

"Uh… well… that I can't explain."

"Why not?", the master pressed.

"Isn't it obvious, Old Man? It's clearly a couple's tattoo between the captain and his dragon wife."

Rebecca had a knowing look on her face, her tone dripping with implications, "But the dragon race has a lot of magical tricks. Who knows if this tattoo has other effects?"

'Damn, this kid really understands too much.'

Leon hurriedly put his clothes back on and changed the topic, "Whatever effects it has is between me and Rossweise. You guys only need to know that this tattoo is where I store my mana now."

Rebecca pouted, "Hmph, fine, don't tell me. I'll go look it up myself later."

'Curiosity kills the loli. Look it up if you want, but you'll regret it afterward.'

The three of them returned to the campfire and continued their discussion.

"Since this brat can't use magic right now, we have to be extra cautious with every step we take next," Tiger said.

"Yeah, but fortunately, the empire only sent some dangerous beasts after us. We still have enough strength to deal with them."

Tiger nodded, "You mentioned the first step is digging out the traitor who framed you back then. How do you plan to do that?"

"Let's find Victor first. Rebecca said he started working as a resident singer in a bar after leaving the Dragon Slayer Corps. Compared to Martin, who lives in a minister's mansion, Victor is much easier to approach."

"Alright. We'll begin the operation tomorrow night."

"Yeah. Oh, and I'll take the night watch. You and Rebecca should get some rest."

Tiger shook his head, "You take the first half. I'll take the second half."

Knowing his master's stubbornness, Leon didn't argue, "Alright, Master."

"Wait a sec!", Rebecca suddenly raised her hand.

"What is it?"

Rebecca crossed her arms and pinched her chin, putting on a deep, thoughtful expression, "Since the three of us are going to face life and death together, we need a team name."

Leon and Tiger exchanged glances and shrugged in sync.

"What do you want to call it?"

"Old Man, Idiot Straight Guy, and Beautiful Girl Squad. How's that?"

Leon twitched his lips, "Wow, straightforward and brutal. If it were any longer, it could be an academic thesis."

"Tch, fine, then… let's go with the 'Old, Weak, and Crippled Squad.'"

"Old, weak, and crippled?"

Rebecca nodded and explained logically, "Dad is old, so he's the 'old.' I'm a frail, delicate girl with no strength to even truss a chicken, so I'm the 'weak.' And Captain can't gather mana and doesn't know why, so he's the 'crippled.'"

Leon couldn't help but applaud the gunner's reasoning skills, "Makes perfect sense. Very convincing. Now go to sleep, delicate girl."

Rebecca happily snuggled up by the fire, and Tiger covered her with the only blanket.

They weren't expecting Leon to return so early, much less bring a teammate, so their supplies weren't fully prepared.

Still, given that they were fugitives, having even this much of a safe haven was already a luxury. Leon and Rebecca both admired Tiger for it.

Once his master lay down, Leon stepped outside.

He sat on the dusty steps and looked up at the night sky.

A full moon.

Imperial bards often used the waxing and waning of the moon to symbolize human joys and sorrows.

But even though tonight's moon was full, Leon wasn't watching it with a certain someone.

He wondered if the Silver Dragon Clan, thousands of miles away, was seeing the same full moon…

Lost in thought, he absentmindedly touched his chest.

'When one side of the dragon-marked bond begins to long for the other, the mark will glow.'

'So… was she thinking of me too?'

Leon lowered his gaze and sighed.

After adjusting his mood, he focused on standing guard.

———

The next morning, Leon slowly opened his eyes.

"You're awake, Captain," A loli's face appeared in his vision.

"Mm… what's up…?", Leon rubbed his eyes.

"Nothing much. Do you feel like your throat is a little dry?"

Leon sat up in confusion, "What kind of question is that? Hiss… now that you mention it, yeah, a little."

Then he suddenly snapped awake, "Wait, you and Master didn't do anything weird to me last night, did you?"

Rebecca shook her head.

Just then, Master walked over and stood beside Leon, "You were mumbling names in your sleep last night. A lot of them. Over and over."

Leon froze, "…Which names?"

Rebecca answered accurately, "Aurora, 104 times. Noah, 110 times. Luna, 112 times."

Leon secretly sighed in relief.

'Thank goodness. All daughters' names.'

A father missing his daughters in his sleep was totally normal, right? Completely reasonable!

But then Master dropped a bombshell that turned Leon to stone.

"Rossweise, 518 times."

Leon: ?

"Captain, you're truly a Pure Love War God. Master said you were foaming at the mouth from saying your wife's name so much, 518 times! Love is powerful!"

"Hammer of love, my ass… It was just sleep-talking. Doesn't mean anything," Leon weakly defended himself.

Rebecca looked at Tiger, "Old Man, has your disciple's mouth always been this stubborn?"

"Hmph, as a kid, he got kicked by a donkey and didn't even say 'ouch.' Harder than the pancakes his mistress makes."

"Sigh, I really wonder how that Dragon Queen managed to live with your stubborn ass for three years."

'Say, is there a possibility that the dragon lady is even more stubborn than me…?'

Leon laughed awkwardly and skipped over the topic.

Since they were only going to find Victor at night, the three of them had plenty of time to prepare.

Tiger was in charge of gathering information about the city.

Rebecca was figuring out a way to get enough bullets.

Leon was planning the specifics of their actions. With rare peace and quiet, he could draft quite a few strategies to catch the traitor.

Three years had passed, and the truth was finally about to be revealed.

———

In the evening, Leon and his team arrived at the bar where Victor was performing.

The bar wasn't exactly high-class. Its patrons were a mix of all kinds of people, mostly from the lower rungs of the empire's society.

They weren't just here to drink, there were deals being made, bounties being discussed, underground fights, and even drug use. Pretty much anything you could think of.

Of course, compared to those gambling and drug lords with ties to the imperial family that Tiger had eliminated before, this place was relatively restrained. At least, crimes weren't blatantly displayed.

Leon and Rebecca entered the bar while Tiger stayed outside to keep watch.

Wanted posters with his master's face were plastered all over the empire's streets. The bounty was tempting enough that there might be one or two desperate men in this bar willing to take the risk for the reward.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, it was better for his master to stay out of sight.

The moment Leon stepped inside, the loud and chaotic noise of the bar overwhelmed his ears.

The hallway leading to the dance floor was packed with people.

A seductive woman in revealing clothing, with a cheap cigarette between her fingers, leaned in and blew a puff of smoke toward Leon's face as he walked by.

'Publicly soliciting prostitutes? Even this kind of business is being done right at the entrance.'

Leon ignored her and continued walking inside.

"Hey, handsome, why are you in such a rush? Come chat with me~ I have some really fun things—"

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