147 Stop Being All Cuddly!
Honestly, Leon has always been quite interested in the Red Flame Dragon King, Constantine.
He remembers back when he had just awakened not long ago, he shared the book “Little Stories to Enlighten Young Dragons” with Moon, which highlighted Constantine as a past hero of the Dragon Race, who accomplished a lot in expanding their territory.
Later on, when Isar visited Roswiser at the Silver Dragon Temple, she mentioned Constantine too, saying he’s been overly active lately, which is a sure sign he’s up to no good.
In the days following, Leon encountered members of the Red Flame Dragon Race, including Ral, who was the father of the guy Noia took on three at once.
During a vacation in Flowing Cloud Valley, he chatted with a newlywed couple, and they discussed Constantine, noting that he had shifted from “active” to provoking internal conflicts within the Dragon Race.
Within the Dragon Race, Constantine seems to be a dragon king who really loves the spotlight.
But ever since Leon graduated from Dragon Slayer Academy at fifteen and got stabbed in the back by a traitor while attacking the Silver Dragon Temple at twenty, he hadn’t heard a peep about Constantine in those five years of his wandering and battling.
By all appearances, Constantine is quite the seasoned dragon king who hasn’t been active in the Dragon Race or on the battlefield with humans for a good stretch.
If he had been, Leon would’ve surely heard of him.
So why, in the last few months, has he been acting like he’s on steroids, going around looking for fights and expanding his turf?
As a former top Dragon Slayer, Leon has this deep-seated “curiosity” and “impulse” towards dragon kings.
He craves to duel different dragon kings, dancing on the edge of life and d*ath in pursuit of victory.
The number of dragon kings that have fallen to his blade is countless.
Too bad, the heroic days are gone; now he’s just a stay-at-home dad.
So, he can only hear about Constantine through Roswiser and Isar.
“What’s up with Constantine?” Roswiser asked.
“He’s been eagerly expanding his territory lately. Just the other day, he seems to have swallowed at least four small dragon tribes whole,” Isar replied. “The other day, the leader of the Wind Dragon Race wrote to say that Constantine’s next target might just be her territory.”
Roswiser furrowed her brows slightly, “The Wind Dragon Race… They have some serious roots. They aren’t like those small tribes. Constantine must be hungry for power, huh?”
Isar shrugged, took a sip of her coffee, and said, “Constantine seems really confident in his strength. He’s stirred up trouble along the borders of the Wind Dragons a few times, likely testing them out.”
“The Wind Dragon King is cautious and knows her territory is on the defensive with my Red Dragon Holy Temple. So, she invited me to Sky City to discuss how to deal with Constantine.”
Roswiser’s mind began to race. After pondering a bit, she replied, “If it comes down to war between Constantine and the Wind Dragon Race, it’ll be on a much bigger scale than the last four tribes, and bloodier too. If you get dragged into this, it won’t be easy to escape.”
Isar finished her coffee, let out a sigh as she looked at the remnants in the cup, “There’s nothing we can do. We have to help. If the Wind Dragon Race falls, the next target could be my Red Dragon Race.”
“Sister, how about I send over some Silver Dragon soldiers to help?”
Isar chuckled and shook her head, “Not yet. That might alarm them. Don’t worry too much, Little Luo; Constantine has failed to conquer before. He might think twice before attacking the Wind Dragons with my Red Dragons backing them.”
To Leon, wars within the Dragon Race aren’t anything unusual.
It’s not just dragons; even humans, dangerous species, and slimes have their share of internal conflicts.
Resources are limited, but the desires of intelligent beings are infinite.
With boundless desires, limited resources become all the more precious.
Between these two forces lies a fragile string.
When desire outweighs resources, that string snaps.
And war, as expected, follows suit.
Leon hardly thought about the meaning of war when he was young.
His master once said the world is a massive and intricate machine, and you and I are just screws in it—oh, kid, you might even be two screws, considering how skilled you are at slaying dragons.
But even then, all you need to do is what a screw ought to do.
As for how this machine operates, how electricity powers it, and how gears mesh, that’s not for you to ponder.
And even if you do come up with something, what can you change?
Nothing.
So just do your job as a screw and keep slaying those dragons; it’s for your own good.
In his memory, it was the first time his master spoke to Leon in such a riddle-like manner, leaving him confused.
And just when Leon tried to calm down and think about his master’s words, orders came pouring in:
“Leon, take out that dragon king!”
“Leon, eliminate that dragon king!”
Blah blah blah.
During those days of hunting down various dragon kings, Leon began to get the shallow meaning of what his master said:
He’s just a brick in the Empire’s wall, moved wherever needed.
Hiss—
How did he spiral down this rabbit hole while having those thoughts?
Leon clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He didn’t want to think about it, but once he did, he was filled with rage.
He slaved away for the Empire, slaying more dragons than you could count on a donkey’s back, and yet he got stabbed by a traitor?
Is my screw efficiency too high, causing your precious machine to overload?
Whatever.
Laughable.
Leon closed his eyes and exhaled.
Roswiser caught a hint of a change in Leon’s mood.
The change didn’t seem related to his previous embarrassment.
“What’s wrong?” Roswiser asked.
Leon rubbed his nose, “Nothing.”
He didn’t elaborate further and instead gazed out the window.
Roswiser decided not to press the matter.
“Phew! Well, I just came to Sky City to discuss strategies with the Wind Dragon King, and I ran into you guys.”
Perhaps sensing the previous topic was heavy, Isar cleverly pivoted it, “By the way, if I hadn’t bumped into you two, would you really tell me about your second baby?”
She smiled, looking at the pair across from her.
“Hey, Sister, didn’t Leon say earlier that he would definitely tell you?”
“Uh? Ah… yeah.”
“Hmph, a couple that sings in harmony! Your relationship seems better than I thought!”
Yeah, yeah, our relationship is fabulous.
Fabulous enough that we’ve been married for over two years, and we only just started living together yesterday.
But if someone as smart as Isar thinks we’re a great couple, it just means Leon and Roswiser are really putting on a good show.
What was that quote again?
No feelings, just techniques.
Yep, just techniques (for sure).
The two sisters chatted about other topics, and in the afternoon, they casually strolled around Sky City.
As an older sister, Isar naturally cared about her younger sister’s wellbeing.
She bought her some supplements that weren’t on the list.
When they passed by a prenatal yoga class, she even enrolled Roswiser to join.
“…Sister, can we skip the yoga?”
“No way! I heard doing yoga during pregnancy is good for the baby!”
Isar handed Roswiser the registration form.
It said pregnant women could start yoga after three months.
So there’s only a month left… Roswiser had her struggles.
Seeing the expression on the Mother Dragon’s face, Leon knew she was quite resistant to this.
Well, if she didn’t want to, Leon definitely had something to say.
Slap!
Leon placed his hand on Roswiser’s shoulder, “Sister only wants what’s good for you and the baby. You should make sure to attend the classes!”
Roswiser clutched the form, shooting Leon a glare.
Oh, so you want to get revenge for that earlier embarrassing moment, huh?
Hmph, Dog Man.
Roswiser glanced at the registration form again and then chuckled, “Fine, I’ll attend. But it says here, pregnant women must have their husbands accompany them. Hubby, you’ll definitely come with me, right?”
That call of “hubby” was so sweet; why not just drop everything else and only call him “hubby”?
Leon scoffed, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll accompany you.”
“If you don’t want to go, I can go myself; it’s no big deal,” Roswiser feigned a pitiful tone.
“…You’re pushing it.”
“Hub~by~”
“You two have got to cool it.” Isar felt if she didn’t intervene, these two would get all mushy right there on the street.
Come on, I’m here to tease you guys, why am I the one getting smothered in dog food?
But the clinginess Isar felt was just a tactic for Leon and Roswiser to gross each other out.
So please don’t misunderstand; it’s just a tactic.
After chatting a bit more, the sisters bade farewell.
Roswiser neatly stored the yoga registration form, “Let’s head home. It’ll be just in time to make dinner for the daughters.”
Leon weighed the dragon fruit in his hand; today was quite a fruitful day.
He scored some spoils and got a taste of sisterly teasing; it felt fulfilling.
He nodded, “Alright, let’s go home.”
