More than twenty years ago, Leon had been just a boy in the Cosmodeous Orphanage, pulling harmless pranks with the other children. Even then, his natural strength and stature had made him stand out. Ironically, he'd often been cast as "the dragon's father" in their games—a role that now seemed a strange and distant echo of a future where he would become a dragon slayer and eventually marry a dragon queen.
Leon had always possessed a keen intellect. After his games, he would often retreat to the orphanage's small library to read. The library subscribed to the Empire's daily newspaper, and while Leon didn't remember every headline, the major events stuck with him—especially the deaths of important figures.
One such name was Noel Last, a high-ranking official whose death had been reported over twenty years ago. The Empire had held a grand state funeral for him, an event significant enough to leave an impression on a young Leon. And yet, here that same man was, alive and imprisoned.
"We attempted to use memory-probing magic to uncover the truth," Nacho explained, his voice low. "But every time, a strange, unknown power interfered. It's not a conscious barrier; it's more like a... passive absorption. Any magical energy directed at his mind simply vanishes, and our spells fail."
"A mystical force? Something like a psychic damper?" Leon asked, recalling rare instances where such protections had been used to guard sensitive minds.
Nacho shook his head, his expression grim. "No, it's different. Our most skilled sorcerers say it's unlike any defensive enchantment they've encountered. It doesn't repel the magic; it consumes it. And that's not all. We've discovered that Noel's internal magical circuits are almost completely deteriorated. He was once a practitioner, but now he holds barely a flicker of magical energy."
In Samuel's universal magical system, one needed cultivated internal circuits to channel and wield magic. These circuits could decay from extreme overuse or critical injury, but Noel had been a bureaucrat, not a front-line fighter. There was no reason for his core magical infrastructure to be in such a ruined state.
Piecing the clues together, Leon's brow furrowed in concentration. "A power that neutralizes probing magic... magical energy being absorbed... and his foundational circuits are destroyed..."
Noel Last, a man who should have been dead for two decades, was not only alive but was being sustained by something unnatural.
Leon took a steadying breath, a theory beginning to form, though its shape was still indistinct. "Let me speak with him directly. There might be something a personal interaction can reveal that magic cannot."
Nacho nodded and produced a key, unlocking the heavy cell door. "As you wish."
Leon stepped into the dim cell alone, glancing back at his friends. "Wait here. I'll handle this."
As he moved deeper into the confinement space, Leon showed no concern about the elderly man suddenly attacking him. If it came to that, he wouldn't hesitate to add "defending oneself against a geriatric former official" to his long list of unconventional accomplishments.
Hearing the footsteps, Noel slowly lifted his head. His eyes were puffy and tired, but they narrowed as they focused on Leon's face. After a long moment of scrutiny, a bitter, twisted smile stretched across his lips.
"Cosmodeous... so it's you."
"You 'died' when I was only four or five years old," Leon stated calmly, crouching down to meet Noel's gaze directly. His voice was even, but it carried an icy undertone. "Not the sort of thing a child would typically remember... unless, of course, you never actually died and have been lurking in the shadows, watching history unfold."
Leon's gaze was deceptively calm, but his dark eyes held a intensity that seemed to pierce through layers of deception. Though Noel had endured countless hours of interrogation, something about the man before him now sent a primal jolt of fear through his weary heart.
"So what if I was?" Noel retorted, trying to cling to a shred of his former dignity.
Noel scoffed, the sound raspy and weak. "I won't tell you anything, Cosmodeous. I was a minister of the royal court, far above your station. Had you been born in my time, you would have been mucking out stables and brushing down horses."
His tone was laced with a brittle, forced pride, a facade that Leon saw through instantly.
"Being a stable hand doesn't sound so bad," Leon replied, his tone deliberately casual. "Steady work, honest pay... though I think I'd prefer feeding mules to tending to birds."
Noel's sneer twisted into genuine anger. "You impudent brat! Go on, kill me if you want! I'll take my secrets to the grave!"
Leon let the old man's fury simmer for a moment before pressing further. "It must be a bitter pill to swallow. All those years of power and prestige, only to end up hiding like a common vermin. What is the value of a long life when the glory was so fleeting?"
Noel's pride finally shattered. His face contorted with rage. "Nonsense! I... I have years left in me! I will outlive you, you upstart!"
Leon's eyes narrowed, the final piece of the puzzle clicking into place. "Years left? Plenty of life... like a Dragon King?"