Vol. 4 Ch. 61

Leon received a letter from his wife half a month after it had been sent. He had been tirelessly tracking Shadow Lord’s whereabouts with Nacho and the others, leaving no time to check for correspondence.

The message dragon delivering the letter had arrived at the Empire, only to find the recipient absent. For a moment, it seemed dazed. But trained as all message dragons were, it would never return without completing its mission. Letters, once dispatched, had to reach their recipients! After two weeks of relentless effort, the message dragon finally tracked down the elusive Leon.

---

“Captain, I think it’s about to pass out,” Rebecca said, crouching next to the exhausted dragon lying in spirals. She gently poked its head with a twig.

Seeing no response, Rebecca picked up the little creature and brought it closer to the fire to warm up. She rummaged through her pack and pulled out two cans of beef, placing them by the dragon’s mouth.

“Poor little guy. Flying this far must’ve been so hard. Eat up and feel better soon.”

Martin glanced at the beef cans by the dragon’s snout, then at Rebecca’s bag. “Rebecca, isn’t that the Captain’s ration?”

Rebecca admitted cheerfully, “Yep!”

“Well, I guess this makes us even for the hospital bill,” Martin quipped.

It was hard to forget the time when Leon, practicing his Hyper-Sense technique, ended up with a concussion after Rebecca accidentally hit him. The hospital fees had come out of her pocket. Using Leon’s rations to feed the message dragon? Fair payback.

Meanwhile, Leon, oblivious to their chatter, focused entirely on the letter from his wife. The faint red mark on the envelope caught his attention—it was a lipstick imprint.

Leon paused, then chuckled. He’d nearly forgotten; the last time he and Rosvisser exchanged letters, he’d jokingly asked her to leave a lipstick print. And she had.

Across the fire, Rebecca craned her neck, trying to peek. “Hey, Martin, am I seeing this right? That letter hasn’t even been opened yet, right?”

“Yep.”

“Then why does he look so happy? Like he’s just found out he’s going to be a dad again?”

“...That’s probably just how married men are.”

Nacho, busy mapping out tomorrow’s search route, glanced at the pair before eyeing Leon. He said nothing and continued working.

---

Leon finally opened the envelope and began reading. Rosvisser’s handwriting was as elegant as she was. The flickering firelight illuminated her delicate pen strokes, making it feel as if she were speaking directly to him.

The letter contained no flowery language, no drawn-out monologues—just simple, heartfelt words expressing a wife’s love and longing for her husband.

But as Leon read the part about “morning sickness,” his eyes widened in shock.

Moments ago, his face had been alight with joy. Now, it froze.

Rebecca immediately noticed the change. From her experience, Leon’s expression only meant one of two things: either something amazing had happened, or something catastrophic.

“Hmm, could it be his wife finally got tired of waiting and decided to divorce him?” Rebecca speculated mischievously as she sidled closer.

Rebecca’s curiosity got the better of her. She maneuvered around the fire and snuck a peek at the letter, giggling as she moved. “I have to see this!”

Leon, however, was still processing the words *“morning sickness”*.

For a man married six years, not much could shake him anymore. Life’s ups and downs had tempered him into someone steady and composed. But the news of his wife being pregnant? That was an exception.

If they weren’t in the wilderness with Rebecca and the others nearby, Leon would’ve been rolling on the ground in sheer excitement.

“Three kids.”

“Another baby.”

“Bullseye in one shot!”

“Wait a second,” Rebecca exclaimed, her face lighting up in realization. “Captain! Your wife’s pregnant again?!”

Leon jumped. “What—when did you get here?!”

No wonder he’d been grinning like that.

Leon hesitated but didn’t bother hiding the letter. There wasn’t anything incriminating in it, and if Rebecca saw, it would just give him another chance to show off his happy marriage.

Rebecca smirked. “Captain, isn’t your youngest daughter only three or four? Why rush for a third kid already?” She paused, then added knowingly, “Ohhh, I get it now. You and your wife are really going for twelve kids, huh?”

“Twelve?! Do you think I’m some kind of baby-making machine?” Leon groaned.

Rebecca blinked innocently. “Aren’t you? Think about it: your wife is a dragon and will live for centuries. You, with her scales implanted, can live just as long. You’ve only been married six years and already have three kids—and now another on the way.”

“At this rate, in fifty years, your kids could form their own army!”

Leon’s eye twitched as her words sparked a vivid mental image: a house filled with tiny versions of himself and Rosvisser, some with little tails, some with cat ears, some with cold expressions, and others running amok in groups.

The thought made him shudder.

He shook his head to dispel the terrifying vision, carefully folded the letter, and tucked it into his inner jacket pocket, close to his heart.

---

“Wait, the Captain’s having another baby?” Martin asked, overhearing the commotion.

Leon nodded. “Yes. My wife… she’s pregnant again.”

“That’s fantastic! Congratulations, Captain,” Martin said warmly. “Have you thought of a name yet?”

Leon scratched his head, smiling sheepishly. “Not yet.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “See? This is where you’re slacking, Captain. You should make a list of names with your wife—just go down the list as you keep having kids. So much easier.”

Leon gave her a deadpan look. “Actually, my third child didn’t get a name until long after he was born. So the fourth one can wait too. It’s not like they’ll complain.”

Rebecca gasped in mock horror. “Captain, you’re a genius—of neglect!”

Leon waved her off, in too good a mood to bicker. He turned to Nacho instead. “How far are we from the Shadow Lord’s last known location?”

Nacho, still focused on the map, smirked. “What’s this? Eager to finish up and get back home to your wife?”

Leon didn’t even bother denying it. “Absolutely.”

Nacho laughed. “Well, at our current pace, we’ve got about a month to go. Once we’re done, you’ll make it home just in time for the critical weeks.”

Leon did a quick calculation in his head, nodding in satisfaction. “Perfect.”

Nacho stood up. “We’ve got five hours until dawn. I’ll let the others know we’ll pick up the pace tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

---

Rebecca and Martin, meanwhile, were already brainstorming names for Leon’s new baby. Leon, gazing out at the distant horizon, thought of his wife. Somewhere, under the same stars, the silver dragon markings on their bodies resonated, binding their hearts despite the distance.