Actually, this truth was easy to understand, only before this, Leon and Rossweise, being too caught up as parties involved, hadn't figured out the essence of the matter.
It was Claudia who gave them the courage to take this fourth-child step, and maid Milan who helped sweep away the worries and anxieties in their hearts.
Now the couple both believed: short separations were for better reunions, and their running around now was all for the sake of their family's future.
If they only indulged in the comfort and happiness before their eyes, then sooner or later, when crisis arrived, it would destroy everything they cherished, doubled.
"Noah will be having her promotion assessment at the end of term, so this whole semester she'll basically be living at school, not coming home. As for Luna and Little Light, I'll handle them well."
"Mm, then I'll trouble you. If I finish quickly on my side, I'll come back right away."
Rossweise smiled, reaching to fix his collar, "Safety comes first. Whatever you do, you must come home safe, understand?"
"Alright, I'll definitely come back to you without a single piece missing."
The queen gave his chest a playful punch, "Idiot."
As the couple talked about their children, before long they heard the sound of hooves approaching from afar.
Following the sound, they saw a convoy of carriages slowly coming near.
When the convoy stopped, it was Rebecca and Martin who had arrived, along with some Lionheart members.
"Captain! Sis~", The twin-tailed girl waved as she jogged over.
"After getting your letter, I brought people here right away. Captain, have you already gotten a lead on Lord Shadow?"
"Mm, we have a rough direction, but need to return to the Empire to really move on it. Can't explain it clearly in a letter."
"Got it."
Rebecca nodded, then looked past the captain to the silver-haired beauty behind him.
"Sis, you're coming too?"
"No, I can't leave the tribe too long, so this time only your captain will go back with you."
"Eh~ really... I wanted to cuddle with Sis too, boohoo~"
Rossweise smiled helplessly yet fondly, then slowly stepped forward, opened her arms, and pulled Rebecca into her embrace.
Because of the obvious height difference, Rebecca got a direct "face wash" experience.
"Ah~ I feel alive again~ So this is what the Captain eats every day, no wonder he's not willing to go back to the Empire."
Leon grabbed Rebecca by the collar, lifting her like a chick out of his wife's arms.
"Once everything's over, you'll have all the time you want to cuddle with your Sis."
Rebecca pouted angrily, "Hmph, stingy! You're so stingy! All married men are stingy!"
"It's getting late, Captain, we have to reach the next post station before dark," Martin reminded.
"Mm, okay."
Leon pushed away Rebecca's head and turned to keep reminding his wife,
"If here—", He pointed at Rossweise's belly, meaning if pregnancy reactions showed up, "you absolutely, absolutely must tell me."
"Got it got it, just go do what you need to do, I'll take good care of myself."
Leon nodded, "Remember to write to me, even if you're in a bad mood, you must write."
"Alright~ alright~"
"If the girls miss me, write too."
"Mm-mm~"
"If Senior Claudia sends the donkey over, you must tell me right away."
The queen covered her mouth, laughing lightly, "No problem."
Leon walked backwards as he said everything he could think of.
Rossweise patiently listened.
A breeze blew across the desolate land, lifting the queen's skirts as she watched her husband depart, silently praying for his safe return.
When the convoy had gone far, Rossweise suddenly remembered something.
She tapped her own head, "Ah... forgot to have him name the baby."
———
With no war, no need to fear ambushes along the road, no need for detours, they galloped straight across the continent. In less than ten days, Leon and his group returned to the Empire.
It was already evening when they stopped. Leon refused the welcome banquet prepared for him, only sharing a simple meal with Rebecca and the others.
He didn't like that kind of atmosphere. Eating and chatting with old teammates felt much more comfortable.
"When I entered the upper city just now, I saw almost all the streets already repaired. Your efficiency is really high, Nacho," Leon held a can of beef, sincerely praising.
"After all, the upper city is the Empire's main economic hub. That kick of yours back then didn't just kill the Primordial Nightmare, it almost kicked the whole Empire's financial chain apart. If we hadn't handled things quickly afterward, you probably wouldn't even be eating canned beef now. Just cold noodles in water."
Leon squinted with a bitter smile, "Still so sharp-tongued."
Nacho snorted a laugh, then held out his hand, "Welcome back. With your help, we can definitely root out the Empire's remnants faster."
Leon set down the beef can, clapping palms with him, "You all have worked hard too. Any progress interrogating those corrupt ministers who worked with Kant?"
Nacho thought a bit, then replied, "There's been some progress. But not the kind we expected."
Leon froze, instantly interested, "What do you mean?"
"You'll know when you see it yourself tomorrow."
At that, Leon sprang up, "Why wait until tomorrow? Let's go now."
Nacho was stunned, "But you and Rebecca, Martin have been traveling for over a week without proper rest. A few more hours won't change anything."
This time it was Rebecca who answered instead.
The wild girl got up slowly, with a tone of "Sis understands everything", "Nacho, you still don't get the Captain. Never let him catch wind of something. Otherwise, he'll definitely solve it as fast as possible."
Nacho raised a brow, "Why's that? Never heard the Dragon-Slaying Army's boss was this forceful."
In the Dragon-Slaying days, all Nacho heard were rumors like this legendary slayer killed such-and-such dragon king yesterday, another today, planning to kill another tomorrow.
"Well~ back then it was to end the war quickly. As for now..."
Rebecca leaned against her captain, one hand on her hip, the other nudging Leon's chest with her elbow, grinning mischievously.
"Of course it's to hurry home to his wife."
One married man, "Insolent! How dare you tell the truth like that?"
———
[Deep into the Night, Imperial Prison]
Leon, Nacho, Rebecca, and Martin headed to the special detention area.
"In Kant's dark reign, this was where they locked up the Empire's big-name figures."
As they passed the corridors, Nacho explained.
"Big names? They even had special treatment?"
Nacho nodded, "Actually, most of the famous people imprisoned here were just surface-level advanced scapegoats."
Leon understood scapegoats.
Back in the Silver Dragon battle, when he was ambushed by a traitor and the Empire thought him dead, they publicly declared he was the war criminal who caused the defeat.
That was the first and only time General Leon took the blame for the Empire, became a scapegoat.
But...
"Advanced... scapegoats? Even scapegoats come in good and bad grades?"
"Of course."
Nacho continued explaining.
"You know, under Kant, the Empire had plenty of shady dealings. Once filth from those gutters was exposed, the usual solution was to find an unlucky soul as a scapegoat."
"But when things got too big, and ordinary scapegoats couldn't calm the people's anger, they'd pick a big name, someone recognizable, to take the fall and draw fire."
"Most people actually don't care about the truth. They just want to see the punished person's identity, how high, how powerful."
"And you can't really blame the masses. Back then, all info was tightly controlled by the Empire. They had no way to think independently through that thick wall of control. Couldn't be helped."
"Back to the point."
Nacho patted the wall of the special detention area, "This place was built as a luxury apartment for those advanced scapegoats. Looks plain on the outside, but trust me, they weren't treated badly."
After hearing, Leon nodded thoughtfully.
"You sure know a lot about the Empire's inside. But I remember you were also from the Dragon-Slaying Army, didn't really work with prisons, right?"
Nacho gave a bitter smile and shrugged, "My father used to be one of the Empire's scapegoats."
"Ah... sorry."
Leon recalled. Nacho had once told him his father was thrown out to take the blame for an embezzlement case, promised release if he did his duty well.
But in the end, his father still knew too much of the Empire's secrets, and was murdered in prison.
That glimpse into the Empire's darkness and filth was what pushed Nacho to defect to Leon.
At least under General Leon, even if the boss was always away, heads didn't roll for nothing.
"After Kant's fall, we locked up the corrupt ministers we caught in here for easy interrogation."
Rebecca said, "But now they don't have the perks they used to. Just a room, and a pile of weeds. That's it."
At this, Leon stopped walking, then said seriously, "Good. That's exactly how prisoners should be treated."
Eh~
Someone might ask: 'General Leon, General Leon, how do you know so well how prisoners should be treated?'
The only one who could answer that was his faraway wife.
"Leon? Leon!"
From inside a cell, a prisoner seemed to hear their voices, rushing to the door, shouting out through the narrow food slot, "Leon Casmodeous! I'm innocent! Make them let me out! I never colluded with that dog Kant!"
That cry of injustice stirred the rest of the cells.
"Ca-Casmodeous! Please, tell these ignorant youths I was framed too!"
"Me too, me too! I swear I never did human trafficking... those kids... those kids volunteered!"
"And... and I'm innocent as well, those women seduced me first, I was forced!"
"..."
The more they listened, the more absurd it got.
Leon frowned, "Are these people brain-damaged?"
"After weeks of interrogation, their minds really do get dull and confused."
Nacho said, "That's exactly what we want. Otherwise, each one of them has a mouth like stone."
"No chance of mistakes, right?"
"Don't worry. Absolutely none."
Nacho pointed at the cells one by one.
"Embezzlement, trafficking, grape, drug-dealing, you name it, you'll find it here."
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