That evening at the orphanage, Teacher Carolyn shared many stories from Leon's childhood, much to Rebecca's delight.
If a person's most embarrassing moments were ranked, most of them would undoubtedly come from before the age of five.
Rebecca already held onto a few of Leon's less flattering school memories, like his inability to swim or his awkward encounters with a certain silver-haired upperclassman. But tonight, she gained an entire arsenal of his childhood embarrassments, courtesy of Teacher Carolyn.
She could not wait to tell his wife.
— A Walk Down Memory Lane —
The group left the orphanage after night had fallen. The streets were empty and quiet, with streetlights casting long shadows on the road ahead.
"I can't believe you were such a mess as a kid, Captain," Rebecca teased, grinning from ear to ear.
This was her payback. Leon had laughed a little too hard earlier when an orphanage child had called her "auntie." Now it was her turn to enjoy his discomfort.
Unfortunately, Leon did not seem fazed in the slightest.
Throughout Teacher Carolyn's stories, his expression had remained calm and composed—much to Rebecca's disappointment. She had initially thought he was too stunned to react, but now it seemed he genuinely did not care.
"Why are you so calm about this, Captain?" Rebecca asked, confused.
Leon walked with his hands in his pockets, his steps relaxed. "Hmm? What about it?"
"What do you mean, 'what about it'?" she exclaimed. "I'm going to tell your wife all your biggest childhood embarrassments! Like how you wore your underwear inside out!"
Leon simply scratched his nose. "So?"
Rebecca blinked, puzzled. "So... aren't you afraid your wife will use those embarrassing moments against you?"
At that, Leon suddenly stopped walking. Rebecca and Martin halted as well, looking at him in surprise. For a moment, Rebecca thought he might finally react—maybe even blush and try to explain himself.
Instead, Leon said, utterly unbothered, "I don't have to worry about that."
Rebecca stared. "Why not?"
Leon let out a deep sigh and raised his gaze to the starry sky. "I've been married for six years. At this point, even if I wore no underwear at all, Rossweise wouldn't find it strange."
"...Why does your married life sound less romantic and more shameless the more you talk about it?" Rebecca muttered. Her mental image of the Captain's idyllic and elegant home life was slowly crumbling.
"Captain," Rebecca said with sudden curiosity, "when are you going to let me visit your house? I could pretend to be your adopted daughter so your dragon daughters don't get suspicious!"
Leon chuckled and shook his head. "You have plenty of ideas, don't you? Adoption, huh? I'm twenty-six, and you're twenty-five—how would that even work?"
"Why not?" Rebecca asked, genuinely confused.
Martin, ever the stickler for rules, raised a finger. "According to Imperial law, a male guardian must be at least forty years older than a female adoptee. Unless the Captain magically ages to sixty-six overnight, he cannot adopt you."
"Thanks for the trivia, Martin!" Rebecca huffed. She jumped up and put him in a playful headlock. Her smaller frame made the gesture look like a teal-haired teddy bear trying to wrestle its owner.
Martin did not resist, just laughed as the two of them bickered.
Watching his old teammates, Leon could not help but smile. After everything they had been through, having them by his side felt like a rare blessing.
— A Spontaneous Carry —
Without any warning, Leon grabbed both Rebecca and Martin, hoisting them onto his shoulders—one on each side.
"Captain, what are you doing?!" Rebecca shouted.
"Isn't it obvious?" Martin replied smugly. "The Captain is probably putting an end to your team bullying."
"Bullying?! I barely touched you, and you're calling it bullying?" Rebecca protested, kicking her legs in the air.
Leon ignored their complaints, a grin on his face as he adjusted his grip. "Ready to charge?"
"Charge? Wait—charge where?!" Rebecca yelped.
Before they could get an answer, Leon took off in a sprint. He dashed down the dark road toward the Lionheart Society's headquarters. Rebecca's twin tails flapped wildly in the wind, occasionally smacking Martin in the face.
"Who even designed this lunatic of a Captain?!" Rebecca cried dramatically.
Martin, enduring the repeated swats from her hair, added, "I feel like we have barely scratched the surface of what the Captain can do. Every day, he surprises us with something new."
Rebecca sighed, gazing wistfully at the night sky as she was carried along. "Sister-in-law, please come take your husband back home!"
— Training the Sensory Mages —
In the following weeks, the training for the sensory mages progressed smoothly. In less than a month, they had mastered the techniques needed to detect the unique energy signature of a Heartguard Dragon Scale. Leon immediately dispatched them to conduct a thorough search for any remnants of the old Empire who had undergone the forbidden scale implantation procedure.
He knew this was likely just the tip of the iceberg. The individuals they uncovered would probably be minor pawns in the Empire's long-abandoned quest for immortality. But among them, there had to be someone who held more critical information—a possible lead that could connect them to the elusive Shadow.
— Developing a New Skill: Supersensory/Hyper-Sense —
Meanwhile, Leon was far from idle. He began his own intensive training to develop a new ability, which he called Hyper-Sense.
"Another new skill, Captain?" Rebecca asked when she found him in the training yard. "You are at it again, huh?"
Back in the Dragon Slayer army, Leon had a reputation for locking himself away to train, only to emerge with either an astonishing new technique or, occasionally, a spectacular failure.
"This one is not entirely my invention," Leon admitted. "It is... a gift from my mistress's older sister." He was referring to the ancient knowledge shared by Claudia.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "What does it do?"
Leon explained the mechanics of Hyper-Sense. It was a heightened version of muscle memory that allowed his body to react instinctively with the most optimal move in any situation. Unlike standard muscle memory, which relied on repetitive training for a specific action, Hyper-Sense could adapt dynamically to the current scenario.
"For example," Leon said, "if an opponent throws a punch and follows up with a knee strike, normal muscle memory might let me dodge the punch but fail to anticipate the knee. Hyper-Sense, however, would adjust my body's response to avoid both attacks seamlessly."
Rebecca blinked, processing the complex explanation. "So... it is like muscle memory, but on steroids?"
"Exactly," Leon said with a grin.
Rebecca thought for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively. "It sounds fancy, but it is not for me."
"It is not designed for gunners anyway," Leon replied. "But I need you to help me train."
"How?"
"Did you bring the rubber bullets I asked for?"
Rebecca pulled several boxes of rubber bullets and a modified handgun from her bag. "The bullets are all set. They are fast enough to simulate real ones, but they will not kill you. What do you need me to do?"
Leon's grin widened. "I need you to shoot me."
Rebecca froze, her face a mix of disbelief and budding mischief. "You are kidding, right?"
"Not at all. Go ahead."
Her initial hesitation quickly gave way to a familiar gleam of chaos. She loaded the gun, chambered a round, and said with a wicked smile, "I have been waiting for this day for a long time."
Leon sighed, shaking his head in mock regret. "I should have known better than to trust you with this."
Despite his words, Leon stepped into position, facing Rebecca across the training arena. They locked eyes, the tension between them resembling a duel about to unfold.
"Ready, Captain?" Rebecca teased, raising the gun. "These bullets may be rubber, but they will still sting."
Leon raised his hand in a ready stance, his focus absolute. "Fire away! I can... react to bullets!"