Chapter 183

The 'virtue' in 'Casmod' is the same as the 'virtue' in 'male virtue', no problem!

However, Rebecca was clearly unaware that her captain had already married into another family, and she interpreted Leon's words "things are different now" in a different way.

"Yes, during the three years you were out of your life, the situation within the empire was indeed quite different from before."

Rebecca tossed the pistol onto the sofa next to her, then went back to the door and picked up the large bag of snacks and fruits she had just bought.

Taking the opportunity, Rebecca peeked out the door and, after confirming that she wasn't being watched by anyone suspicious, she pulled her head back and closed the door.

"So cautious?" Leon asked.

"Of course, after all, if the patrol team finds out that I'm hiding an imperial traitor in my house, I'll be on the guillotine."

Upon hearing this, Leon was stunned.

"The Emperor, the traitor to the Empire? Who? You mean me?"

"Yes, is there anyone else in this room, Captain?"

Broken.

Get married outside the home, only to find yourself a traitor when you return?!

There's no time to feel sorry for my master becoming a wanted criminal. Next up is the empire's traitor— Leon Casmod!

Rebecca placed the shopping bag on the coffee table, then stood back in front of Leon, arms crossed, looking up at him.

Leon swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down. "How did I become a traitor?"

Rebecca didn't beat around the bush and explained directly.

"Three years ago, we suffered a crushing defeat at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, with heavy casualties. The King was furious, and public opinion in the empire put the Dragon Slayer Army in the spotlight. The remaining three members of our squad, along with several other main attack squads, were temporarily suspended and had three months' pay deducted."

"A few days later, the Empire's Royal Family gave the reason for the failure of this operation: during the attack on the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, they were interfered with by an internal traitor, which caused the positions of all the Dragon Slayer Squad to be exposed and defeated one by one by the enemy."

"The mole... or rather, the traitor, is naturally you."

"There always has to be someone to take the blame for a failed war, right? And you, Captain, are the best candidate to take the blame, because... 'dead men' don't speak."

Rebecca sat down on the sofa, her pretty face darkening.

"After this news was released, I tried to go to the military leadership to explain that you weren't a traitor. And then—"

The girl chuckled self-deprecatingly and swung her arms. "I was relieved of my duties in the Dragon Slayer Army and then assigned to a patrol team. My job was to walk around the streets twice a day, and that was it. I would never encounter any dangerous creatures or dragon kings again."

After listening to Rebecca's account, Leon fell silent.

His handling of the aftermath of the war was indeed quite dirty, which fits his stereotype of the powerful and wealthy.

Leon knew the dark side of power struggles, so he never got involved with them and never inquired about things "above".

He protected the empire, not the bloated royal family and ministers, but the common people of the empire.

After a moment of silence, Leon sighed and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for believing in me, Rebecca."

Rebecca's face also turned serious. She hesitated for a moment, then added, "Actually... during the attack on the Silver Dragon Sanctuary, there was indeed a traitor among us, right?"

Leon frowned. "How did you know...?"

"We had just entered the Holy Temple's front courtyard and were about to continue the attack when suddenly everything went black. I couldn't see anything, and my hearing was also blocked. Fortunately, this only lasted for a few seconds. However, when I opened my eyes, Captain, you had already been... ambushed."

Rebecca said, "The entire position of the troops has been exposed. Without your command, the Silver Dragon Clan launched a full-scale counterattack, and the troops were completely unable to resist. Victor ordered a full retreat, but you were already on your deathbed and unable to move. Taking you with us might have resulted in the annihilation of our Dragon Slayer Squad."

"I insisted on taking you with me, but Victor said that we had to leave you behind, otherwise we would all die here."

Victor was the deputy commander of the army who took over Leon's command at the time, and also the deputy captain of his Dragon Slayer Squad.

It turned out that he was in a daze when he heard his teammates arguing about whether or not to take him with them...

However, the final result was obvious: how could Rebecca, a gunnery division, possibly stand up to the deputy commander?

But this does not mean that Victor was necessarily the mole who attacked Leon.

In that situation, abandoning the immobile Leon was indeed the best option.

Even with Leon by their side, they couldn't escape the Silver Dragon Clan, known for their speed.

"After thinking about it carefully, I realized that the illusion that caused me to fall into darkness was probably not cast by the Silver Dragon Clan, because there were no Silver Dragon soldiers around us at that time, only... the four of us."

Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "But I didn't tell anyone about this idea, otherwise... even the patrol team might not have tolerated me, and I might even have been—"

She tilted her head, rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue, and made a face as if she'd been killed.

Leon shook his head and smiled bitterly.

The crazy girl was still quite clever; she knew how to protect herself in the treacherous cesspool of this empire.

"You're right, Rebecca. It was indeed someone from the team who ambushed me. He used a very special weapon to pierce the breastplate of the Black-Gold War Chariot, and also pierced my heart," Leon said.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Is it Victor or... Martin?"

Martin is the youngest son of that minister, and also a big fan of Leon.

Leon shook his head. "I'm not sure. One of the purposes of returning to the Empire this time is to find the traitor who framed me back then."

Rebecca clapped her hands. "It's a tough choice between two options, so my suggestion is to take them both out. Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free! Captain, do you need a weapon? I don't have much else, but I have plenty of guns. Take your pick!"

Leon chuckled. He knew Rebecca was teasing him; after all, he didn't expect a neurotic chatterbox to stay serious forever.

However, Leon was willing to play along, saying, "You're making it sound like you're the mole, eager to get rid of all the good guys so you can win."

"Yes, Captain, that's what I was thinking. You're so smart. Shall we give you your favorite championship trophy?" Rebecca asked earnestly.

Leon waved his hand and changed the subject, "You were assigned to a patrol after the war, what about Victor and Martin?"

"Little Martin naturally went back to the protection of his minister father, but it seems he often suffers from his stepmother's temper at home. As for Victor, as the deputy commander, he also took a lot of blame and was directly expelled from the Dragon Slayer Army. Now he seems to be working as a singer in a tavern."

Rebecca said, "The last time I saw him was several months ago."

"They've all had pretty miserable lives," Leon commented.

"I'm not as miserable as you, Captain. Those three years you spent in the enemy's headquarters must have been incredibly tough, right?" Rebecca said with pity.

Leon scratched his forehead. "Ah... well, you can't say that..."

"Hey, stop talking, Captain. I understand. It's a past you don't want to revisit. It's good that you've escaped back now."

Leon pursed his lips, looked away, and mumbled a reply, "Mmm..."

"Oh, by the way, Captain, how did you escape from that Silver Dragon's den of demons?"

Leon covered his face. "The enemy Queen personally escorted me back, you believe it?"

Avoiding the topic of his wife—no, I mean— his Queen, Leon pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

"Also, Rebecca, do you know what happened?"

He unfolded the crumpled paper; it was a red-level wanted poster.

Rebecca glanced at it, not particularly surprised. "Yes, I know. I was just about to tell you. Tiger Dad was put on the Empire's wanted list about a year ago."

Leon's mind stirred slightly, "A year ago..." (8)

Rebecca nodded. "Back then, the newspapers were full of rumors, saying that Tiger Dad was some kind of serial killer, a madman, and stuff like that."

"Who... who did my master kill?"

"Wait a minute, I'll go get the newspaper." Shan

V Yiqi 8 Lin (7) Lu Yi Rebecca got up, rummaged through drawers and cabinets to find a few newspapers, and then sat back down on the sofa.

"The owner of the Red Mill, the casino owner, and the pharmacy manager."

Rebecca unfolded the newspaper and introduced them one by one.

"The Red Mill is a playground for the wealthy and powerful, filled with beautiful women. Different prices offer different services, as those in the know understand. But most of the girls there are trafficked. The pretty ones serve the powerful; the average-looking ones work for two years and then are killed to sell their organs."

"The casino, on the surface, is the largest casino in the empire, but behind the scenes, it is involved in all sorts of shady dealings such as money laundering, black market, and loan sharking. Most of the money they launder is money from murder, and their hands are stained with blood."

"The pharmacy, which sells all kinds of herbs, is actually a huge drug den that has ruined countless families."

Leon scratched his head, offering a fitting summary of his master's actions.

"This... gambling, drugs, and prostitution!"

Rebecca: "Well, besides that, these three people have something in common: they all come from the Empire's Royal Family."

Leon nodded. "People without connections really wouldn't dare to get involved in this kind of gray-area industry."

Rebecca paused, as if suddenly remembering something, "Oh right, a year ago, Tiger Dad also killed two royal guards and dumped their bodies on the Imperial Palace walls."

Upon hearing this, Leon lowered his eyebrows. "That doesn't sound like my master's style..."

"Yes, I think so too."

Leon pondered it carefully.

If Master was wanted a year ago, wasn't that after he met with Losweiser?

Therefore, after making the one-year agreement with Losweiser, the master did indeed return to the Empire.

The master's purpose in returning to the Empire was likely to help Leon shed the label of traitor and restore his reputation.

But in the end, the empire did not agree?

So that's why Master has been using this "acting on behalf of Heaven" method to put pressure on the Empire all year?

This speculation is reasonable, but we'll have to wait until we meet the master to find out for sure.

So here's the question: where should Leon go to find that little old man now?

Should we go back to the farm and stake it out?

That would be a waste of time and could also cause unnecessary trouble.

Leon pondered, but had no clue.

Seemingly noticing the captain's confusion, the little girl blinked her beautiful eyes and spoke.

"Tiger Dad may take further action in the near future."

Leon's eyes lit up. "How so?"

"The casino owner was killed by my father two months ago. A week before he was killed, he publicly challenged my father in the newspaper, calling him a crazy and stupid wanted criminal. But if he turns himself in now, he might be able to clear his name of being stupid."

Rebecca said, "Then... he was taken down by Dad. The sheriff's team had laid a trap near the casino owner's house, just waiting for Dad to take the bait, but they underestimated him. Not only did they lose the casino owner's life, but Dad also got away."

Leon understood what Rebecca meant. "You mean, someone has been provoking my master again recently?"

"Yes, he is a priest at a church."

Rebecca said, "This priest said that Tiger Dad was Satan's puppet, an incurable demon, and that after he died he wouldn't even be able to go to hell, but would become a wandering ghost and roam the world forever."

Leon wasn't particularly interested in the priest's pre-match trash talk; he was more concerned with, "What has this priest been involved in—gambling, prostitution, or drugs?"

"I... it's hard to say, but I can tell you indirectly, Captain."

"Huh?"

What is a process similar to 'metallurgy' called?

Leon was taken aback, thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized.

No wonder Rebecca found it hard to talk about it; the priest was indeed a pervert.

Damn it.

"But this provocation is even more obvious than the casino owner's. It's clearly a trap, and the defenses are definitely tighter than last time, just waiting for Tiger Dad to walk right into it," Rebecca said. "So I'm not sure if Tiger Dad will actually go."

"He will definitely go," Leon said with certainty.

"Why?"

"My master once told me that an obvious trap is not a trap, but a 'contest'. With his personality, he would do anything to put pressure on the empire."

His master had told him a lot of nonsense before, and at the time he just thought his master was bragging.

But after realizing that their master was actually a hidden master, these boastful and absurd arguments seemed to become life mottos.

Leon stood up. "Thank you, Rebecca, for telling me so much and still believing in me. Now, take care of yourself. I'll come find you to catch up after I've dealt with everything."

Having learned enough information from Rebecca, Leon could now begin the next step of his plan.

He took out his sunglasses from his pocket, thanked them, and walked towards the door.

"Hey Captain, where are you going?" Rebecca got up and chased after him.