"Muse..."
"Muen... Aurora..."
"Noah..."
"Rossweise... Rossweise... Rossweise—cough, cough—"
A fit of dry, rasping coughs jolted Leon awake from his restless dream.
Sitting up on his bedroll, he rubbed his sore chest and immediately felt a profound thirst. He reached for the water jug beside him, uncorked it, and raised it to his lips for a long, grateful drink.
But midway through, he froze, noticing a pair of unblinking eyes staring at him from the foot of his bedroll.
"Muse: 287 times. Muen and Aurora: 293 each. Noah: 301 times," Rebecca reported with a perfectly straight face, holding a small, weathered notebook in her hands.
"And Rossweise is the clear winner with 519 mentions," she continued, her tone clinical, "far outpacing second place." She looked up, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. "That's even one more than when you first came back to the Empire a few years ago!"
Leon set the water jug down, wiping a stray droplet from his shoulder with a sigh. "You actually kept track of something from that long ago?"
"Of course," Rebecca said, snapping the notebook shut. "Captain, you rarely say anything even remotely interesting in your sleep, so when you do, I have to document it properly."
Leon could only chuckle and shake his head in resignation. Standing up, he brushed the fine, red dust of the valley from his clothes. The dry, scorching air clung to him, and the constant, subconscious repetition of his family's names seemed to be his mind's way of fulfilling Rossweise's playful-yet-serious demand to always have her in his heart and dreams. Unfortunately, it had wreaked havoc on his throat—it felt raw, as if his lungs had just endured a day on a smoky battlefield.
Luckily, the Lionheart Guild had secured a campsite near a rare water source. It had been two weeks since Leon arrived at the Flaming Valley's border, and the guild members were now intimately familiar with the area's harsh, rugged terrain.
Their days were spent methodically combing the region for clues about the Black Dragon Scales and their elusive master, "Shadow." Their nights were for rest and maintaining a vigilant watch.
This small oasis was a precious jewel in the arid, yellow-brown, desert-like region, a resource so vital it was fiercely contested by the local wildlife and dangerous beasts alike.
Occasionally, unfamiliar, aggressive beasts would intrude upon the camp's perimeter. These encounters were troublesome at first, but everything changed when the guild discovered a Black Dragon Scale embedded within the flesh of one particularly fierce attacker.
Following that critical lead, they had tracked the beast's trail back to its source and had made their most significant progress yet.
They had eventually located a large gathering site for dangerous beasts, and the guild's sensing mages had confirmed a chilling fact: every single creature in that herd had been implanted with a Black Dragon Scale.
Leon planned to investigate the site thoroughly today.
As the sun rose higher, casting its blistering heat over the already scorching valley, Leon and his core team climbed to a rocky vantage point overlooking a sun-baked basin. Below them, the herd of scale-implanted beasts moved with a strange, placid grace.
"Every beast we've encountered with a Black Dragon Scale so far has been more aggressive and significantly stronger than normal," Nacho said, joining Leon at the cliff's edge and observing the creatures below. "But this herd... they seem different. Much calmer. I wonder why."
Leon thought for a moment before turning to Martin. "Martin, do we have any records on these specific beasts?"
The Southern Continent was sparsely populated and poorly charted; Leon had never campaigned here during his years as a Dragon Slayer.
Martin, clutching a thick, leather-bound book, flipped through its pages rapidly. "Yes, I found some detailed information on this particular group last night," he said, his finger stopping on a detailed sketch. "We're looking at a species called the 'Blazing Flame Antler Deer.' They're native exclusively to the Flaming Valley, a species that emerged approximately 1,300 years ago."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "We have something called the 'Great Antler Deer' in the northern forests. Are these related?"
Martin skimmed the text before answering. "According to these records, a long time ago, a population of Great Antler Deer migrated southward, eventually settling in this valley. Because the valley was formed from the remains of the 'Flame Demon,' which saturated the land with powerful fire-elemental energy, these deer adapted over generations, evolving into the sub-species we see now. This evolutionary phenomenon is widely accepted among dangerous beast researchers."
Leon nodded thoughtfully. He'd seen similar cases of rapid evolution driven by potent environmental factors before. He recalled an incident with a pair of Six-Winged Dragonhawks that had stolen a dragon fruit intended for Rossweise during her pregnancy with Muse. After a chaotic chase, Leon not only retrieved the fruit but, in a moment of pity, left some for the dragonhawks. To his surprise, the pair eventually evolved into a rare, dragon-empowered subspecies.
After Martin's explanation, Leon remarked, "It seems the Flame Demon must have been an incredibly powerful entity in its time, strong enough for its residual energy to drive such a specific evolution." He paused, his expression turning contemplative. "Still, the speed and extent of this adaptation... it resembles something I've only ever seen in dragons influenced by primordial energies."
It was clear the Flame Demon had possessed a terrifying concentration of power in life.
But of course, as Leon quipped internally: There's nothing a Dragon's Roar can't solve. And if there is? Just use a bigger one.
"Let's focus on understanding these fiery antlered deer for now," Leon said, pushing the thought aside.
Rebecca crouched down, resting her elbows on her knees as she peered intently at the herd below. "Martin, does your book say anything about their natural temperament?"
"It does," Martin replied, tapping the page. "Unlike most dangerous beasts in the Flaming Valley, which are notoriously aggressive, the Blazing Flame Antler Deer have retained much of their original, docile nature. They are herbivores and prefer to flee rather than fight."
"But they all have Black Dragon Scales implanted," Rebecca pointed out, her brow furrowed. "Based on everything we've seen, creatures implanted with the scales become violently aggressive. How does that make sense?"
"Could it be that these deer possess some unique trait, a natural resistance that allows them to maintain their original temperament despite the corruption?" Nacho speculated aloud.
The group exchanged uncertain looks, none of them having a clear answer.
After a long silence, Leon finally spoke, his voice low and steady. "The Black Dragon Scales are highly corrosive, their chaotic energy capable of twisting even a Dragon King's mind. These deer aren't inherently powerful enough to resist that level of corruption. So no, I don't think resistance is the answer."
Nacho frowned thoughtfully. "Then what's your theory, Captain?"
Leon's lips curled into a small, humorless smile. "Do you remember the corpses of those beasts we found in the Moonlit Forest months ago? Their chests were all torn open, blasted from the inside. At first, we assumed it was battle damage. But after investigating further, we realized the truth: those creatures had been early subjects, implanted with Black Dragon Scales. Their bodies were simply unable to handle the scale's power and eventually exploded."
"The implantation technique back then was crude, unstable," Leon continued, his gaze fixed on the peaceful herd. "But recently, we've encountered beasts that are not only stronger but haven't been destroyed by the scales. That means Shadow's experiments have made significant, terrifying progress."
Rebecca nodded slowly. "But that still doesn't explain why these deer are so calm."
"Exactly," Leon said, gesturing toward the basin with a sweep of his hand. "That's the key. These deer may represent Shadow's ultimate goal, or at least a major breakthrough: creatures that can fully harness the Black Dragon Scales' power without having their minds shattered by the chaos. A stable, controllable army."
The group fell into a heavy silence as they absorbed the chilling implication of Leon's deductions.
Rebecca was the one to break the quiet, her voice barely a whisper. "Captain, does this mean... we're getting closer to Shadow?"
Leon didn't answer immediately. His gaze was heavy, laden with a foreboding he couldn't shake as he stared into the heart of the smoldering Flaming Valley.
"Theoretically, yes," he finally said, his voice grim. "We're close. But..."
He trailed off, his profound unease palpable in the hot, still air.
Leon rarely doubted his chances of success before a mission even began. This time, he could only hope, with every fiber of his being, that his instincts were wrong.