Shut up, malevolent dragon! I don’t want to have any more children with you V1C189

Chapter 189: The Player in Control

That evening, Leon dressed up and entered the banquet hotel with Victor.

As usual, the master stood outside to keep watch. At the slightest sign of trouble, he would signal directly, and then everyone, young and old, would swiftly disperse.

Leon’s security measures for the two potential moles were very straightforward and clear, employing the classic “keeping an eye on each other” tactic.

He kept his eyes on Victor, while Rebecca kept hers on Martin.

This way, no matter who the mole was or what schemes they were planning, Leon and his team would be the first to know.

Martin had previously been positioned as a support mage in the squad, with weak melee abilities, so Rebecca could easily keep him in check.

As for Victor, being the perennial second best, being watched by the perennial champion wouldn’t cause much of a stir.

“Hmm? Where did Rebecca go?” Victor noticed that the girl wasn’t following Leon and asked.

Leon had his hands in the pockets of his suit—Rebecca had bought the suit with her own money, and she mentally noted it down for future reference; the master’s retirement fund was already in arrears—and replied casually,

“She said she had a way to get close to Martin, but couldn’t bring me along because it would attract attention.”

Victor frowned slightly, “If she has a way to find Martin, then she should just come here herself. Do we really need to risk being discovered?”

Leon’s tone remained calm in response to Victor’s doubts,

“Victor, I won’t let any of you out of my sight.”

“…Alright, I was thinking too simplistically.”

Leon didn’t pursue the topic further, standing with Victor in a corner of the hall, silently watching the increasingly lively banquet.

“It’s been three years since I last saw Martin, I wonder how much that kid has changed,” Leon said quietly.

As the words fell, he discreetly glanced at Victor.

The weathered bar singer subtly shifted her eyes, and Leon keenly caught that detail.

“The last time I saw him was also a long time ago,” Victor replied.

“It seems like you guys haven’t been in touch much,” Leon remarked.

Victor smiled bitterly and shook his head, “Without you, the team fell apart, everyone went their separate ways, we’re not a cohesive group anymore.”

Leon didn’t comment much on Victor’s opinion of the team members.

At eight o’clock in the evening, the banquet began.

The birthday girl slowly descended from the second floor.

Martin’s stepmother was married into the family after his father’s first wife passed away, she was in her thirties this year, still charming, considered a young beauty.

She wore a black evening gown tonight, with her hair pinned up at the back of her head, immediately attracting the attention of the guests.

This classic outfit, with a long gown and hair up, showed the woman’s respect for the occasion.

But for Leon, it didn’t compare to… a certain Silver Dragon.

If Rosvitha was a flower, then this woman didn’t even qualify to be a leaf. From aura to temperament, she was far behind.

Unfortunately, I can’t bring out my big dragoness to show you guys and let you know what a true beauty is.

Next time, for sure, next time.

“That’s quite a luxurious outfit, Martin’s family must be really wealthy,” Victor remarked softly.

“Is that so…”

“Yeah, the dress was custom-made by a renowned shop throughout the empire; as for the necklace and the ring, needless to say, judging from their size alone, their value is considerable,” Victor chattered on.

He always had a knack for these delicate trinkets, just like his guitar pick, Leon thought.

“Especially… that hairpin,” Victor said.

“A hairpin?”

“Yeah.”

Leon shrugged, “How expensive can a hairpin be?”

Victor shook his head, “That’s no ordinary hairpin. It’s made from the ivory of an S-rank dangerous species, the Arctic Mammoth.”

“Arctic Mammoth… Sounds like a very rare and dangerous species,” Leon remarked.

“Yes, a long time ago, people discovered that the ivory of Arctic Mammoths had excellent malleability, making it the best raw material for luxury goods. Rarity adds to its value, you know,” Victor explained, “But since it’s from an S-rank dangerous species, it takes a lot of effort and resources to kill one, so accessories made from its ivory sell for much higher prices than regular luxury items.”

“Oh, I see.” Leon showed little interest in the matter.

Victor glanced at him and continued, “Later, blacksmiths found out that not only does mammoth ivory have good malleability, but it also has a good affinity for magic. After enchantment, it can be used as a weapon, possessing very strong penetration and killing power.”

With that said, Victor looked at Leon again.

This time, Leon’s expression became more serious. “After enchantment, it can be used as a weapon…”

“Yes,” Victor said, “I heard that the hairpin was actually a gift from Martin to his stepmother.”

Leon slowly turned his head to look at Victor. “But from what I’ve heard, Martin’s relationship with his stepmother is quite ordinary. Would he really give such a valuable gift to her?”

Victor paused for a moment, his expression still calm. “Maybe he did it to please his stepmother.”

“I see, okay then.”

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the hotel above the lobby, Martin stood side by side with Rebecca.

“Victor has changed a lot,” Martin said.

“Not everyone is like you, born as the young master of a minister, living a carefree life of luxury,” Rebecca patted his shoulder.

Martin gave a bitter smile. “If I could, I would really like to switch with you, Rebecca.”

“Switch? No no no, I’m afraid I’d lose my temper and shoot your snide stepmother on sight,” Rebecca paused and asked, “Why did you return to your old self after the captain left?”

Martin shrugged, lowering his head. “People, you know, always need a guiding light. When the captain had an accident, I didn’t even know who to look up to anymore.”

“Little Martin, you have to learn to grow up,” Rebecca said.

“Why does it sound weird coming from you, Rebecca… Aren’t you just a year older than me?”

“Being a year older still counts as older, alright!”

Martin chuckled, not wanting to argue with her.

The banquet continued.

By late in the evening, the birthday girl and her guests were all a little tipsy.

Martin’s father had been busy entertaining at the table all evening. Being a member of the royal family, every banquet was an opportunity to expand resources and connections, even if it was his beloved wife’s birthday.

No one paid attention to Martin, who was managing the arrangements for this typical banquet.

Rebecca looked towards a corner of the first-floor hall.

She saw Leon adjusting his flashy silver tie.

It was the signal for “prepare for retreat,” and Rebecca understood it instantly.

What she didn’t understand was why the captain chose such a flashy color like silver.

He liked silver, Rebecca knew that, but he had never pursued such flamboyant attire before.

But as soon as she thought about where the captain had spent three years, in the lair of which dragon species, Rebecca understood the mystery behind it.

“Heh, a married, reserved man,” Rebecca gave the most fitting assessment.

“What?”

“Nothing. Let’s go now, the captain gave the signal.”

“OK.”

Rebecca led Martin out through the back door of the hotel; Leon and Victor followed closely behind.

In the hotel alley, Teg had already prepared a carriage waiting there.

The two groups boarded the carriage one after the other. Leon tapped on the partition in the carriage, and Teg, up front, immediately understood. With a whip of the reins, the horses galloped into the night.

In the swaying carriage, Victor and Martin sat facing each other.

There was a bit of awkwardness in their meeting.

After all, this time Leon had gathered them together to root out the mole from between them. Both of them were aware of each other’s identities, but in the current situation, “playing the good guy” was the best option. A true wolf wouldn’t strike until the final moment.

As the carriage raced on, about two hours later, they arrived at the empire’s slums.

They disembarked from the carriage.

Teg leaned against the carriage, lighting a cheap cigarette. “Go on, kid, no one will disturb you cleaning house tonight.”

“Thanks, Master.”

Teg took a deep drag of the cigarette, exhaling smoke leisurely.

Leon turned around, leading Rebecca and the other two into the dilapidated house.

Everyone was a bit tense.

Whoever the mole was, judging by Leon’s meticulous preparation, tonight was going to be the end of it all.

In the middle of the room was an old dining table.

The four of them stood around the table, each in their respective corners.

Leon faced Rebecca;

Victor faced Martin.

Who the wolf was and who the good guy was, was about to become clear.

The four of them exchanged glances, none wanting to speak first.

Finally, it was Leon who broke the silence.

“It seems you all know what’s going to happen tonight. Alright, I’ll spare you the small talk and get straight to it.”

Leon reached for a handgun from his waist, disengaged the safety, cocked the hammer, and gripped it tightly in his hand.

Rebecca glanced at the gun in Leon’s hand, a hint of surprise flickering across her small face, but it quickly disappeared, and she showed no sign of any anomaly.

“In fact, I already know who the mole was that framed me.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the three of them just breathed a heavy sigh of relief, showing no signs of panic. They were all familiar with Leon’s style—he never engaged in battles without certainty. If he said he knew who the mole was, then he definitely knew.

(But Rebecca felt the captain was just making a big scene to show off. If she had to say, since he already knew who the mole was, why not just shoot him?)

Leon lowered his head, toying with the handgun in his hand, and said calmly, “It’s a pity that after three years, the team reunites, only for it to be in this manner.”

“I never imagined that the one who betrayed me would be you.”

Leon slowly raised the handgun, pointing its cold muzzle at the person beside him.

Martin.

Rebecca widened her eyes, the black handgun reflecting in her green pupils. She swallowed hard. “Captain… Are you sure it’s Martin?”

Before Leon could speak, Victor beside him said, “Martin, you’re surprisingly calm. Don’t you want to explain anything?”

Martin was now sweating profusely. His current “calmness” was purely due to panic; he didn’t know what to say or do. When Leon pointed the gun at him, it was as if something had pierced through the area of his brain responsible for “thinking.”

In that moment, all his senses seemed to shut down, and he could only feel the pounding of his heart in his chest.

Thump-thump—Thump-thump—

For a long moment, Martin struggled to open his mouth, “Captain, I—”

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, the bullet hitting Martin’s chest with deadly accuracy.

The thin boy fell to the ground, his face filled with astonishment and fear.

“Martin!”

Rebecca exclaimed in shock, rushing forward to kneel beside him.

“Martin! Martin!!”

Clack—

After the gunshot, Leon immediately tossed the cold weapon onto the table. He leaned against the edge of the table, panting heavily.

Victor glanced at the handgun on the table, then walked over to Leon’s side, gently placing his right hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t need to blame yourself, Captain… To be honest, I’m also surprised that Martin was the mole… But he made the wrong choice after all. Don’t burden yourself too much.”

Leon’s lips turned pale. He struggled to support his almost collapsing back, lifting his head to look at Rebecca.

“Dispose of him. There’s a swamp nearby, it only takes ten minutes round trip. Throw him there, no one will ever find out.”

After a brief moment of sorrow, Rebecca accepted the reality, lifting Martin’s body and walking away.

Victor was about to look up at them, but Leon suddenly draped his arm over his shoulder.

Victor quickly withdrew his gaze, supporting Leon against the table.

The room fell into extreme silence, only the heavy breaths of Leon and the sound of the body scraping against the ground could be heard.

“Are you feeling better, Leon?”

Leon didn’t respond, closing his eyes, covering his chest, silently adjusting his breathing.

Victor saw Leon in this state and immediately lowered his eyes, looking at the handgun on the table. This was his last chance.

The former vice-captain of the Dragon Slayer Army slowly reached out his hand, gripping the small and fierce handgun, and then—

He pressed the muzzle against Leon’s temple.

Leon felt the hardness and coldness of the gun barrel against his skin and slowly opened his eyes. “So, it’s you…”

“Ten minutes round trip. Enough for me to kill you and leave this place, Casmode,” Victor said coldly.

“Tomorrow’s headline in the newspaper will be, ‘Former Vice-Captain of the Dragon Slayer Army Executes Imperial Traitor Leon Casmode.’ But unfortunately, a certain minister’s son was not rescued from his hands. How does that story sound to you?”

Leon chuckled coldly. “You used to have no sense of humor.”

“People change, Casmode. Shouldn’t have come back, should you? Was it killing Constantine that made you think you had the power to challenge the empire?”

“So, the empire and the dragonkind… are really in collusion.”

Victor cocked the hammer of the handgun, placing his index finger on the trigger.

“Leon, for so many years, you’ve always been the one winning against me. But in today’s showdown, you’ve failed miserably. You’ve lost, Leon. And the one who defeated you is none other than your incompetent subordinate. Do you regret it?”

“Regret? I swear, Victor, after you pull that trigger, you’ll be the one regretting it.”

“Heh, the former dragon slayer hero, still talking tough even at the end. Well then… I’m curious to see how you’ll make me regret it!”

The intent to kill in Victor’s eyes was already uncontrollable.

He viciously pulled the trigger, ready to listen to that wonderful, blood-splattering sound.

Click—

The crisp sound of the mechanical trigger echoed in the room.

But there was no sign of a spark.

Victor’s heart skipped a beat, then he frantically pulled the trigger several times in succession.

But the handgun showed no response.

Before he could understand what was happening, Leon’s iron fist was already smashing toward his face.

Instantly, Victor felt his world spinning as he fell backward.

A metallic taste flooded his nose as blood poured out.

Lying on the ground, Victor stared at the indifferent man before him.

“How… how could you…”

“I told you, I knew who the mole was a long time ago. You should have confessed when I said that. Maybe I could have spared your life.”

It was a lie. Leon would never spare him.

He said that just to make the mole regret a little more before death.

Leon slowly walked toward Victor, stepping on his shin.

The intense pain rendered Victor immobile. He glared at Leon, asking bitterly, “When did you start suspecting me?!”

“When? If you really want to know, it was probably three years ago.”

Leon said slowly, “After all, the only person who knew the positions of all the assault teams, besides me, was you.”

During the Battle of the Silver Dragons, after Leon was framed, the positions of all the assault teams were exposed. Besides the army’s supreme commander, Leon, the only one who knew the positions of each team was his deputy, Victor.

“Of course, just based on this, it’s impossible to confirm that you were the one who framed me back then.”

Leon squatted down slowly, looking at Victor’s weathered face.

“Thus, three years later, I returned to the empire and began my layout.”

“You might think that I had just returned to the empire and was unfamiliar with everything, so subconsciously you treated me like a pawn on a chessboard.”

“Two days ago, when we first met, you deliberately guided me to think and choose according to your ideas.”

“You intentionally mentioned Martin giving his stepmother a gift, and when the banquet began, you deliberately steered the conversation to the brooch of his stepmother.”

“You said it was mammoth ivory, enchanted to be used as a weapon with great penetrating power. Hmm…sounds a lot like the weapon that betrayed me years ago, doesn’t it?”

“If Rebecca hadn’t told me from the beginning that Martin had a poor relationship with his stepmother, I might not have contacted Martin before leaving your bar and going to the banquet. Your attempt to frame me might have succeeded.”

“But unfortunately, I am not a pawn on the chessboard, Victor. I am the one who plays the game.”

Victor’s heart raced, his breath heavy. The drastic change had left him somewhat incoherent.

“No…no way…it’s not possible…!”

Leon gave a faint smile and continued, “Nothing is impossible. Oh, by the way, your guitar pick is also an important clue exposing your identity as a mole.”

“You’re right, ivory is very malleable. It can be made into a brooch or a pick worn on the chest.”

“I don’t know if you underestimated my knowledge or what, but, anyway, how could someone so poor that they can only afford a tattered guitar, have the money to buy a pick made of ivory?”

“The best way to destroy evidence, besides burning it, is to turn it into something entirely new,” Leon paused, then added, “But considering what you just said about ‘subordinates’ being defeated, I can also speculate that you wanted to keep what killed me as your own achievement, am I right?”

Victor’s pupils dilated, shouting, “Leon! Don’t think that by winning against me, you’ve won against the entire empire! The empire will avenge me!!!”

Leon shook his head, “Victor, being the perennial second is not your mistake. Becoming the empire’s lackey and opposing me is your biggest mistake.”

“If you hadn’t been so eager this time, maybe I wouldn’t have uncovered your identity so quickly. And the reason you were so impatient is because… the empire pressured you, am I right?”

The fact that the empire sent Constantine to kill Leon showed how desperate they were to get rid of him.

And Leon, in turn, exploited their impatience, making Victor mistakenly believe he was following his lead. In reality, every step Leon took was to lure out bigger prey.

In the past, General Leon never played mind games; he just charged in headfirst, knowing few could withstand his blue lance. So why was he so adept at manipulating people now?

Come on, do you think General Leon spent the last two years as a captive for nothing? He learned a lot from that mother dragon.

Victor fell silent for a moment, then let out a nervous laugh, “Y-yes…yes… you’re right, Leon. But what about Martin? To lure me out, you used Martin as bait. When his father finds out his son is dead, and coincidentally you’ve returned to the empire, what do you think he’ll think?”

Leon sneered contemptuously, “Victor, is this the best method you can think of to make me fail?”

“What…”

“As a former comrade who once faced life and death together, you should know Rebecca’s habit of assembling guns, right?” Leon picked up the pistol from earlier and toyed with it in front of Victor.

“Dismantle the gun, then assemble it again, dismantle, then assemble. She can quietly play with it all night long. And to add to the fun, she usually loads it with a blank round. And this blank round… is for practice.”

“A blank round…”

“Yes, a blank round that won’t kill.”

Leon slowly rose from his seat, at this moment, Rebecca supported the “resurrected” Martin as they walked in from the door.

Martin held his chest, looking serious, “Captain… even though it’s a blank round, it still hurts… I feel like I’ve broken at least two ribs.”

“Be a man and endure it. Look at Victor here, I knocked his nose crooked and he didn’t even cry out in pain,” Leon boasted.

Rebecca helped Martin to the table, then walked behind Leon with a cold face, pulling out another pistol from her waist and handing it to Leon.

Leon loaded the gun, aiming the barrel at Victor’s forehead.

“Do you have more information about the empire you want to tell me?”

Death was imminent, the smell of gunpowder filling the air, and Victor’s last string of tension snapped.

“Don’t kill me, Leon… please don’t kill me! I was wrong, I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have served the empire… please forgive me, please, Leon!”

It seemed there was no way to extract more information from him.

“Victor, you don’t know you were wrong, you just know you’re about to die.”

Bang! —

A gunshot echoed, silence enveloping everything.