Vol. 4 Ch. 58

That evening at the orphanage, Miss Caroline reminisced about many moments from Leon’s childhood, much to Rebecca’s delight.

If someone’s embarrassing moments could be divided by significance, most of them undoubtedly happened before the age of five.

Rebecca had always held onto a few of Leon’s less-than-flattering memories from his school days—things like his inability to swim or his awkward run-ins with a certain silver-haired upperclassman. But tonight, she gained an arsenal of childhood embarrassments, courtesy of Miss Caroline.

And she couldn’t wait to tell Leon’s wife.

---

### A Walk Down Memory Lane

As the group left the orphanage, night had fallen, and the streets were empty. The road was quiet, with streetlights casting long shadows that stretched ahead of them.

“I can’t believe you were such a mess as a kid, Captain,” Rebecca teased, grinning ear to ear.

It was payback. Leon had laughed a little too hard earlier when the orphanage kid had called her "auntie." Now it was her turn to enjoy his discomfort.

Unfortunately, Leon didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

Throughout Miss Caroline’s storytelling, his expression had remained calm and composed—much to Rebecca’s disappointment. At the time, she thought he was simply too stunned to respond, but now… it seemed like he genuinely didn’t 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’? I’m going to tell your wife all your biggest childhood embarrassments—like how you wore your underwear inside out!”

Leon scratched his nose. “So?”

Rebecca blinked, puzzled. “So… aren’t you afraid your wife will use your 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, raising his gaze to the starry sky. “I’ve been married for six years. At this point, even if I wore no underwear at all, Rosvisser 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 home life crumbling.

She had always imagined Leon and Rosvisser’s marriage as elegant and harmonious—two serious, respectable people living a picture-perfect life. But the reality seemed far less refined.

“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, shaking his head. “You’ve got plenty of ideas, don’t you? Adoption, huh? I’m thirty-six, you’re twenty-five—how would that even work?”

“Why not?” Rebecca asked, genuinely confused.

Martin, ever the stickler for rules, raised a finger and said, “In the Empire, a male guardian must be at least forty years older than the female adoptee. Unless the Captain magically ages to sixty-six overnight, he can’t adopt you.”

“Thanks for the trivia, Martin!” Rebecca huffed, jumping up to put him in a playful headlock. Her smaller frame made the gesture resemble a teal-haired teddy bear trying to wrestle its owner.

Martin didn’t resist, laughing as they bickered.

Watching the two, Leon couldn’t help but smile. After everything they had been through, having his old teammates by his side felt like a rare blessing.

---

### A Spontaneous Carry

Without 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’s probably putting an end to your team bullying.”

“Bullying?! I barely touched you, and you’re calling it bullying?” Rebecca protested, kicking her legs.

Leon ignored their complaints, grinning 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, dashing down the 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’ve 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. “Rosvisser~ Please come take your husband back home!”

---

### Training the Sensory Mages

In the following weeks, the sensory mages’ training progressed smoothly. Within less than a month, they had mastered the techniques needed to detect dragon-scale energy. Leon dispatched them on a thorough search for remnants of the Empire who had undergone Heart-Scale implantation.

He knew this was just the tip of the iceberg. The individuals they uncovered would likely be pawns in the Empire’s long-abandoned plans for immortality. But among them, there had to be someone who held more critical information—perhaps even a connection to the elusive Shadow Lord.

---

### Developing a New Skill: Hyper-Sense

Meanwhile, Leon was far from idle. He began his own intensive training to develop a new ability: **Hyper-Sense.**

“Another new skill, Captain?” Rebecca asked. “You’re at it again, huh?”

Back in the dragon-slaying army, Leon had a reputation for locking himself away to train, only to emerge with astonishing new techniques—or, occasionally, a spectacular failure.

“This one’s not entirely my invention,” Leon admitted. “It’s… a gift from my mentor’s older sister.”

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “What does it do?”

Leon explained the mechanics of Hyper-Sense: a heightened version of muscle memory that allowed his body to react instinctively to the most optimal move in any given situation. Unlike standard muscle memory, which relied on repetitive training, Hyper-Sense adapted dynamically to the current scenario.

“For example,” Leon said, “if someone throws a punch while following up with a knee strike, normal muscle memory might dodge the punch but fail to anticipate the knee. Hyper-Sense, however, would adjust and avoid both.”

Rebecca blinked, processing the explanation. “So… it’s like muscle memory, but on steroids?”

“Exactly,” Leon said with a grin.

Rebecca thought for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively. “Sounds fancy, but it’s not for me.”

“It’s not designed for gunners anyway,” Leon replied. “I need you to help me train, though.”

“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’re fast enough to simulate real ones but won’t 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 mischief. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not at all. Go ahead.”

Her initial hesitation gave way to a familiar gleam of chaos. She loaded the gun, chambered a round, and said with a wicked smile, “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

Leon sighed, shaking his head. “I should’ve known better than to trust you.”

Despite his protests, 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. “These bullets may be rubber, but they still sting.”

Leon raised his hand dramatically. “Fire away! I can… react to bullets!”