"I can't take it anymore."
Losweiser panicked and instinctively drew back her feet. "W-What are you doing?! Don't tell me you have some disgusting XP?"
Leon had suddenly become so proactive that Losweiser found herself thoroughly unaccustomed to it.
Could this human bastard still be unsatisfied with what had just happened and plan to continue with her feet...
N-No way!
What a pervert, you bastard!
"Extra course for dinner tonight."
"Huh?"
"Raw dragon claws."
"Eh? What are you doi—"
Crack—
"Fucking hell!"
The Silver Dragon Queen endured the searing pain in her ankle and gritted out,
"Leon Kasmod, I'm going to fucking kill you!"
The next morning, Mu En stared at the troublesome couple with her bright, watery eyes.
"Mother, why are you limping when you walk?"
Losweiser: ...
"Dad, why is your face all bruised?"
Leon: ...
Mu En blinked, then suddenly understood.
"Oh~ You must have played some fun game behind Mu En's back!"
Content revised. Author's note, September 27.
Losweiser basically had no free time during the day.
Just as Head Maid Anna had said, Losweiser personally had to review every matter, large and small, concerning the Silver Dragon Clan.
It was not until seven or eight in the evening that Losweiser could finally finish her day of running around and sit down to rest for a while.
Therefore, the task of looking after Mu En during the day naturally fell to Leon.
Besides playing games with Mu En, Leon had not neglected her academic education either.
Leon's thoughts were simple:
Good girl, we may be living under someone else's roof right now, spending every day watching that Dragon Queen's expression, but one day, Dad will take you and escape this place. It doesn't matter that you're a human-dragon hybrid, but you must become a well-educated little dragon girl.
That was actually what Leon's master had told him back then.
It was just that his master's original words had been a little too absurd.
"Leon, it doesn't matter that you're an orphan, but you must become a cultured orphan."
After hearing that, Leon had nearly knocked his master's dentures flying.
Thinking of his master, Leon could not help feeling bitter again.
He had already been with the Silver Dragon Clan for two years. The Empire had probably long since listed him as a fallen martyr.
His master had said Leon was the most promising child he had ever seen. When Leon was still very young, he had declared that Leon would become a great Dragon Slayer and shine brightly on every battlefield.
And Leon had indeed lived up to his master's expectations.
He had become a renowned Dragon Slayer, a hero passed from mouth to mouth among the people.
He had even shone brightly not only on the battlefield, but also in the Silver Dragon Queen's bed.
Leon endured the humiliation, treating it in his heart as a mission deep behind enemy lines, one that required him to bear disgrace and carry a heavy burden.
He believed that one day, he would take his good daughter and escape this place!
But before the official escape, besides getting himself back into good shape, he still had to continue winning Mu En over.
The little dragon girl was the key to his escape.
After all, in the entire Silver Dragon Clan, she was the only one who had a good relationship with Leon. The other dragons would definitely side with Losweiser without thinking.
"Dad~ I want to keep listening to yesterday's story~"
In the room, Mu En sat on Leon's lap, holding up Little Dragon Enlightenment Stories.
Leon's heart stirred, and he hesitated.
Human-dragon hybrid, human-dragon hybrid... Since you're mixed-blood, you can't keep learning only Dragon Race knowledge, can you?
At least learn something about the Human Race. Consider it doing Dad a favor.
Leon took the storybook from Mu En's hands and set it aside.
"Little Mu'en, do you want to hear stories about other races?"
Mu En's eyes lit up at once. She nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes~ Dad, hurry up and tell me!"
"Then how about Dad tells you a story about the Human Race?"
Mu En blinked, then shook her head.
Leon paused. "Why?"
"Mother said the Human Race is a bunch of shameless idiots. They take advantage of others not paying attention to do some really indecent things. Especially that... Dragon Slayer Army they formed. It sounds really scary."
Leon considered Mu En's words.
The name Dragon Slayer Army really was rather intimidating to dragons...
Putting himself in their shoes, if Leon heard that a powerful foreign race had formed a "Human Slayer Army," his first reaction would probably be that it sounded frightening too.
But what did "shameless idiots" and "really indecent things" mean?
Was that Dragon Queen taking indirect shots at him?
Leon looked at Mu En's little face. She was very serious, seemingly completely convinced by what Losweiser had told her.
It seemed that Dragon Queen had gotten there first. Winning the little dragon girl over would be a long and arduous task.
"Actually... it can't be put that way. Every race has two sides. You may think most humans are shameless idiots, but there may also be people who are kind and trying hard to live."
"Two sides..." Mu En chewed over the unfamiliar phrase.
Her little head was not yet capable of processing such advanced vocabulary.
"It means Mu En can't look at something from only one angle. You need to consider it from different perspectives. Maybe you'll discover something entirely new," Leon said.
Mu En seemed thoughtful, her little tail bobbing up and down. "But, but Mu En has never seen humans before. I have no idea what their other side is like."
Sweetie, the one holding you right now is a one-hundred-percent pure-blooded human.
Leon sighed helplessly inside, but he still patiently explained,
"That's why Dad is going to tell you some stories about humans now. They might give you a whole new understanding of this race."
Mu En tilted her head.
She did not quite understand why Dad was so determined to tell her about humans, but as long as she could chat with him more, she was willing to listen no matter what he talked about.
"Okay, Dad, go ahead. Mu En will listen nicely."
Leon secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Sure enough, a biological daughter was a biological daughter. So obedient~
Next, Leon told Mu En many classic stories and legends from the human world.
Mu En listened with great interest as well.
Of course, Leon did not forget to emphasize "two sides."
Most of Mu En's impression of the Human Race still came from what Losweiser had told her.
So Leon could not immediately say, "Your mom is full of stereotypes. Listen to your dad, and you'll be fine."
He had to take it step by step and slowly change Mu En's impression of the Human Race.
That would make it easier for him to escape in the future.
Before lunch, Leon roughly explained the meaning of "the two sides of things" to Mu En and gave several examples.
He hoped she would gain at least a little insight from it.
Mu En sat on Leon's lap, lowering her head as she fiddled with the tip of her tail and quietly pondered.
Leon was in no hurry. He gently stroked Mu En's hair and waited patiently.
After a long while, Mu En suddenly looked up. "Dad."
"Hmm?"
"You said everything has two sides."
"That's right."
"Then what about the Dragon Race?"
Leon froze. "The Dragon Race..."
"Yes, yes. Mother said that in the Dragon Race, the strong are revered. From the moment a dragon is born, it constantly strives to become stronger. Sometimes, in order to become stronger, it has to pay a great price, even the price of its life."
Leon's pupils shifted slightly. He thought to himself that Losweiser had actually dressed up the Dragon Race's naturally brutal and bloodthirsty nature as reverence for strength...
Mu En continued, "Then Dad, do you think there are many dragons who actually don't like becoming stronger? Maybe they just want to live peacefully and quietly?"
"Probably not... After all—"
After all, brutality was the Dragon Race's—
"Why not, Dad? You just said that everything has two sides. Then there must also be dragons in the Dragon Race who yearn for a peaceful life," Mu En said seriously.
The little dragon girl's words seemed to wake Leon up.
He sat blankly in the chair, recalling what he had just said.
He had said Losweiser held stereotypes about the Human Race and believed all humans were idiots. That was why he had explained to Mu En that not all humans were like that, that everything had two sides and should be viewed from different angles.
But when Mu En brought up the Dragon Race, Leon had acted with a double standard. He had also dismissed them all in one stroke, believing every dragon worshipped violence and bloodshed.
Leon pursed his lips and thought to himself.
Little Mu'en might not be entirely right, but her words were well worth reflecting on.
"Dad?"
"Ah? Oh... What Mu En said makes a lot of sense."
"Right, right? Actually, Dad is exactly the kind of especially gentle dragon Mu En was talking about~"
As she spoke, the little dragon girl wrapped her arms around Mu En's neck and pressed her little face against him.
She truly loved being close to Leon. Perhaps it was because Leon possessed a gentleness unlike that of the other dragons.
Even Head Maid Anna usually acted impartially, more like a machine.
If anyone else called Leon a dragon, he would have already turned hostile.
But if his daughter said so, then so be it.
Leon smiled and supported Mu En's little head. "Mu En is also very cu—"
Halfway through the sentence, Leon suddenly remembered that Losweiser had said "cute" was a derogatory word among dragons.
Before you continue