Shut up, malevolent dragon! I don’t want to have any more children with you V2C25

Chapter 25: Eternal Life

At the border between the territories of the Human and Dragon races, within a mountainous cave by a stream.

Leon stood at the edge of a cliff, gazing solemnly at the hidden cave behind the waterfall. It was the agreed meeting place with his master.

Just earlier, Rosvitha asked him if he was nervous, what if the master couldn’t make it to the appointment. Leon believed in his master’s abilities; he wouldn’t be easily captured by the Empire.

After all, when his master pressured the Empire by killing the casino owner and the “Metallurgy” priest, the Empire couldn’t catch him for a whole year.

However, despite his belief, Leon couldn’t help but feel some worry and tension, just as Rosvitha had said.

The roaring sound of the waterfall surrounded him, and a cool breeze rose from below the mountain stream. Leon closed his eyes, took a deep breath to steady himself, then turned to Rosvitha beside him. “Let’s go down.”

The queen nodded, spreading her dragon wings behind her, and slowly they flew into the mountain gorge.

Arriving at the waterfall, Rosvitha waved her wings, parting the water, and together with Leon, they entered the cave behind the waterfall.

Inside the cave, it was as simple as they had seen before, with basic tables and chairs and no unnecessary furnishings.

Leon glanced around the entrance of the cave, then turned his gaze towards the deeper recesses. The light there was dim, shrouded in shadow, making it hard to see clearly.

In a tentative voice, Leon called out, “Master, are you there?”

His words echoed through the cave, but other than that, there was no response.

Seeing this, Leon’s heart tightened.

“Master, could something have really gone wrong with them?”

Unconsciously, he clenched his fists, and his heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably. Various negative thoughts flashed through his mind.

If something had really happened to his master, how would he explain it to his master’s wife…

And Rebecca, that crazy girl who had helped him regardless of everything, willingly getting involved in this conspiracy between humans and dragons, if she hadn’t been spared either, Leon would blame himself for a lifetime.

Moreover, if both his master and Rebecca hadn’t escaped the Empire’s pursuit, Martin, that kid, would probably also be implicated. Even though he had the protection of his noble father, the Empire would certainly use any means necessary to eliminate anyone who might know their dirty secrets.

Leon swallowed hard, his brain spinning rapidly, considering various responses to different situations. But the fear growing in his heart made it impossible for him to think calmly. What should he do, what should he do—

“Sweating bullets, Captain?”

A familiar female voice came from the shadows.

Leon’s brain momentarily froze, then quickly rebooted—this was to clear the mental clutter generated by his rapid thinking just now, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to deal properly with what was to come. He looked up into the cave.

Two figures emerged from the shadows. One tall, one short.

The tall one held a katana, his face showing signs of age, yet his aura rivaled that of a young man.

As for the short one, with familiar twin ponytails and voluptuous legs beneath short shorts, she had pistols strapped to each thigh. Her hands were folded behind her head, seemingly chewing bubblegum, and her green eyes looked at Leon with a playful sense of triumph.

Seeing the two of them standing there so peacefully, Leon breathed a sigh of relief, then rolled his eyes wordlessly at Rebecca.

“Wasn’t that fun? Wasn’t it?”

Rebecca popped the bubblegum in her mouth and grinned, “Hehe, it was fun. I’ve never seen you look so lost before, Captain.”

Leon decided to give up communicating with this crazy girl and turned to the old man beside him. “Master, she’s messing around, and you’re joining in?”

“I find it quite entertaining too.”

The middle-aged man loved participating in the childish antics of the young. “Honestly, besides the donkeys at home, I’ve never seen you care about anyone so much.”

“…”

Rebecca wanted to tease the Captain some more, but her attention was drawn away by the stunning woman behind him.

The beauty had a head of silver hair as radiant as a galaxy. Her face was like a finely crafted sculpture, with elegant and cold features. Her tall nose and thin lips exuded a natural aristocratic aura.

Her eyes were like unfathomable lakes, calm yet shimmering with a cold light, radiating a lofty and distant beauty, as if she were destined to be isolated from the world, untouched by dust.

Her calm demeanor seemed unshaken by any worldly splendor, with a touch of unparalleled arrogance in her composure.

Dressed simply yet elegantly, her white gown perfectly complemented her tall figure and extraordinary presence. There was an inexplicable charm about her, making her shine like the brightest star in the night sky even in this humble cave, unique and dazzling.

Finally, Rebecca made a very standard and practical summary of this beautiful woman:

“Captain’s level up.”

Silver-haired elder sister, high heels, long dress—Rebecca now seriously suspected if the Captain had learned some forbidden magic of ‘creating life’ and then crafted himself such a perfect wife according to his own preferences.

Wait a minute. Wife?

Rebecca discreetly turned her head, leaning towards Teg, and whispered, “That’s the Captain’s wife, right? The Silver Dragon… Queen?”

Teg nodded imperceptibly.

This was his second time seeing Rosvitha, the aura and dignity of the Silver Dragon Queen still as impressive as ever.

However, Rosvitha had no intention of joining their conversation. She simply turned around and silently took a seat on a nearby wooden chair.

Her posture was standard and elegant, with her back straight and her arms lightly resting on the edge of the table next to her, before slowly closing her eyes.

All kings in the world seemed to share a strange characteristic—when they quieted down, those around them involuntarily became quiet as well, or ceased meaningless chatter, focusing their attention on them.

Rosvitha was no exception.

Simply sitting quietly there, without saying a word or giving any expression, was enough to make her the center of attention in the cave.

“Captain, is your… wife not happy?” Rebecca paused for a moment, changing her wording.

Leon glanced at the mother dragon who was resting with her eyes closed, but didn’t say anything.

He withdrew his gaze and walked over to his master and Rebecca. “It’s okay, she’s not very fond of talking to strangers. We can talk.”

After a brief jest, it was time to get down to business.

“Let me first talk about the situation on my side,” Leon said.

“Based on the information I currently have, it seems that there is more than one Dragon King cooperating with the Empire. Besides Constantine, there are other Dragon Kings secretly working with the Empire, brewing some plan. And among those who know the identities of these Dragon Kings, there should be one trusted confidant under Constantine. I plan to investigate this confidant after the Red Flame Dragon Clan settles down a bit, in order to gather more intelligence.”

Upon hearing this, Teg couldn’t help but furrow his brow. “There are other Dragon Kings involved… The Empire’s appetite is indeed quite voracious.”

Leon shrugged. “The number of Dragon Kings isn’t the issue; no matter how many there are, they just need to be eliminated. What’s most important is what the Empire and these Dragon Kings collaborating with them are planning.”

“The number of Dragon Kings isn’t the issue” and “They just need to be eliminated” — Have you heard such words before?

When Rebecca heard this, she felt her vision darken for a moment, but luckily, she managed to grab her old man’s arm in time. Besides her captain, Leon Casmode, there probably wasn’t a second person in the world who could naturally exude such a dominating presence.

“What about you, Master? Have you gathered any information on your side?” Leon asked.

“Ah, we’ve also obtained some new clues here and made some analyses,” Teg explained slowly.

“After you left, the Empire relentlessly pursued both me and Rebecca, but this high-intensity pursuit only lasted for about a month.”

“A month later, the Empire diverted more manpower and resources into the Dragon Slayer Army, and there were more battles targeting the dragon race.”

“According to the information Martin gathered from the royal family, the Dragon Slayer Army did not launch any further attacks on the Silver Dragon Clan where you are. It seems they fear your strength, especially considering the incident with Constantine, which has sent shockwaves through the Empire’s royal circles.”

“However, even so, Leon, you and the Silver Dragon Queen cannot afford to let your guard down. The fact that they were willing to send Constantine to invade the Silver Dragon Clan shows how determined they are to eliminate you.”

“Perhaps the Dragon Slayer Army’s current actions against other dragon clans are just a feint, and their true target is you. Do you understand?”

Leon nodded. “I understand, Master.”

“Well then, next, I will discuss some speculations based on the clues that Rebecca and I have gathered over the past three months. It’s not directly related to the dragon race, but it likely involves some behind-the-scenes actions of the Empire’s royal family.”

Teg continued, “Do you remember when the previous king passed away?”

Leon was taken aback by the sudden question from his master, but he recalled and replied, “It was over thirty years ago, I think. It’s mentioned in the textbooks and some biographies.”

“Yes, over thirty years ago. Recently, Rebecca and I went through all the newspapers, documents, and records surrounding the time of the previous king’s death, and we found something very strange.”

“What strange thing?” Leon furrowed his brow.

“Among all the records of the king’s death, there are no photographs of his body.”

Teg’s tone became solemn, and his speech slightly hastened. “When a king dies, the nation should pay respects to this great leader. However, during the funeral at that time, the king’s coffin was tightly sealed. Not even ordinary citizens, let alone some trusted confidants, could catch a glimpse of the king.”

“In addition to that,” Teg continued, “Rebecca and I collected newspapers from other years and were surprised to find that not only the previous king but also many other members of the royal family and ministers, when they passed away, were only documented in text, with no photographs of their bodies at their funeral scenes.”

“If this was to protect the privacy of the royal family and not reveal it to the public, then how do we explain that in previous generations, photographs of their bodies were available in the news at the time of their deaths?”

Teg took a deep breath, meeting his disciple’s eyes before voicing his daring speculation, “So I suspect… that those who truly hold power in the Empire’s royal family now are the ones who should have died decades ago.”

Leon felt a bit dazed. He struggled to digest his master’s speculation, running his hand through his hair before speaking up, “Master, isn’t it a bit too far-fetched to base such a theory solely on the absence of body photographs?”

The old man was quite crazy, Leon knew that; however, this speculation seemed a bit too wild, something that couldn’t be asserted so easily.

“Of course, there’s more,” Teg said. “The reason I decided to look through newspapers and records from past years is because during my time in the Empire, I suddenly realized something. The current king’s governing policies are basically the same as the previous king’s, with no significant reforms.”

Leon’s mind stirred slightly, and he glanced at Rosvitha, who was sitting quietly beside him. He had learned quite a bit about the way of kingship from Rosvitha recently.

And through what Master just said, he quickly understood what Master was trying to convey. So he added,

“Not changing policies or other governance methods is very abnormal for those in power. Every new ruler, in order to solidify their position, will try to erase everything left by the previous ruler, because from the moment they ascend to the throne, this country belongs to them. They won’t allow any other ruler to interfere with this country.”

“In other words, when a new official takes office, they usually take drastic measures. The first measure is to get rid of any enemies encountered along the way; the second is to eliminate any evidence from their past; and the third is to erase any traces left by the previous ruler.”

Leon’s words brightened Teg’s eyes, and he opened his mouth slightly in surprise.

Ghost, my dear disciple, didn’t I forbid you from understanding these power struggles and such before?

How come now you’re speaking so insightfully about these matters?

And after listening to Leon’s deductions, Rosvitha, who was sitting quietly beside them, also revealed a barely noticeable smile.

Didn’t expect this fool to learn so quickly.

“Well, your thoughts are the same as mine.”

“Since the current king was crowned, nothing in the Empire has changed: the economic system, social structure, culture, education, welfare policies, and so on. This is absolutely abnormal. So I thought about the previous king and wanted to investigate him. That’s when I found out about the matter regarding the bodies at the funeral,” Teg said.

Leon pondered for a moment and then said softly, “If, as you said, Master, the previous king and other ministers faked their deaths and are still secretly controlling the Empire behind the scenes, then they must be… over a hundred years old, at least? It’s rare for ordinary humans to live over a hundred years.”

Not to mention whether ordinary humans can live over a hundred years, even if they could, their physical and cognitive abilities wouldn’t be able to manage a country.

“Immortality, my child,” Teg sighed heavily. “Immortality. That’s what those in power have been pursuing for centuries.”