Chapter 462
"Okay, stop talking nonsense."
Nacho, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't help but interrupt Leon and Rebecca's nonsense.
He crossed his arms over his chest, turned slightly to the side, and looked past Leon toward the vast Dragon Race behind him.
Judging from their positions and the color of their tails, at least a dozen different tribes must have come here.
Nacho withdrew his gaze and looked at the 'Grand History of Human-Dragon Diplomacy' in front of him.
"So now all those dragons really listen to you?"
Leon shook his head. "It's not about listening to me. It's about me becoming the representative of the Dragon Race in negotiations with humans through the Dragon King Secret Meeting. Most of the Dragon Race's attitudes toward this war will be conveyed to humans through me."
"Oh, I understand." The crazy girl seemed to understand.
"Okay, that's good."
You are exceptional!
"It's rare to see someone being insulted!"
"Martin, tell this woman to be quiet."
"OK."
Martin skillfully hoisted Rebecca onto his shoulder and then stood aside.
This scene was witnessed by the Dragon Race behind Leon.
The Golden Sand Dragon King Morgan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Hiss... It seems the Silver Dragon Prince has given those humans a real show of force."
"What do you mean by that?" another dragon king asked.
"Didn't you see? That human girl was forcibly taken aside. This must be because the Silver Dragon Prince is putting pressure on the humans, forcing them to negotiate one-on-one."
The Dragon King suddenly realized, "So that's how it is!"
Snap—Snap—
Morgan clapped his hands. "As expected of the negotiator recommended by old man Odin, brilliant, truly brilliant!"
"If it were me, I probably wouldn't be able to negotiate with the Silver Dragon Prince's imposing and authoritative style. I believe he can definitely secure enough benefits for our Dragon Race!"
"That's right, and he insisted on going up to negotiate by himself without any guards. He's so young and has such courage. He's bound to have a bright future!"
"..."
Listening to the group of dragon kings praising that dog of a man, Losweiser couldn't help but silently cover her face.
Mina-san, that wasn't a show of force, nor was it some kind of intimidating negotiation style.
The reason that girl with pigtails was taken away must be because she was complaining so much that Leon almost couldn't hold back anymore!
Sighing inwardly, the Queen thought, "This must be the chosen one. No matter what they do, others will automatically see it through a lens of 'Wow, so that's how it is! That's amazing!'"
"Little Los." Ischa's voice came softly from the side.
"What's wrong, sis?"
Ischa slowly turned her head, gave her a mysterious look, and her expression seemed to say, 'Watch my performance.'
"Huh?"
Losweiser looked completely bewildered, wondering what Ischa was up to.
The next moment, Ischa shook her hand, raised her arm, and shouted,
"Leon Casmod! The future light of the Dragon Race!"
Queen: (ΩДΩ)
"The light of the future... Yes, the light of the future! Leon!"
"Leon!"
"Casmod is the future light of the Dragon Race!"
"..."
One call and a hundred responses.
Dragon Race are a race whose emotions are easily stirred.
Besides chanting Leon's name, some dragons, on a whim, even spewed out two bursts of dragonfire to celebrate.
Surrounded by cheers, Losweiser drooped her tail and shoulders, helpless and utterly resigned.
If you knew that this 'Light of the Future' was the same 'man in black armor' from before, you wouldn't be shouting so enthusiastically now.
Dragon flames illuminated the dark blue sky, and Nacho immediately became alert.
"What's going on? Have they turned against each other?"
However, before Leon could answer, shouts like "Leon, my Superman!" could be heard on the wind.
General Leon opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't explain, he just shrugged and said, "You understand now?"
Nacho gasped. "Are you the Silver Dragon Prince or the Prince of the entire Dragon Race?"
"Hey! Don't joke about ethics. My only wife is Losweiser Melkwy."
"Who asked you!"
The cheers gradually faded.
Putting aside their playful banter, Leon and Nacho should get down to business.
"So what is the Dragon Race's attitude towards this war?"
"If possible, cease hostilities immediately."
"What are the conditions?"
"They said that after the ceasefire, they hoped to return the territories of the tribes that had lost their homes due to the conspiracies of the Empire and the traitor Dragon King. Similarly, the Dragon Race would also return some of their resources."
Leon said, "I checked the materials they prepared, and the exchange of land and resources is reasonable. We can accept these terms; we won't lose out."
Nacho nodded. "No problem."
"Wow, that was so easy. Shouldn't you go back and ask your boss?"
"... So, Mr. Leon, are you satisfied with the condition you just proposed?"
"Satisfy."
"OK."
Nacho breathed a sigh of relief. "So, the negotiations are over?"
"Wait, it can't end yet."
"How?"
Leon looked at Nacho with a serious expression.
Nacho sensed that something more important was coming up, so he became serious again and asked in a low voice,
"Is there anything I can do to get things done on the Empire's side?"
"Oh, no. I just thought we'd better stay in this position for another five minutes."
"... Why?"
"Because it would make us look cool while we're negotiating."
"..."
Nacho rolled his eyes, speechless.
Were all the people in the once strongest Dragon Slayer Squad of the empire like this?
A crazy twin-tailed girl, a naturally ditzy support mage, and a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) captain.
Nacho could only sigh inwardly, thankful that he hadn't been assigned to the front-line troops of the Dragon Slayer Army, otherwise he would definitely have become one of these lunatics!
"Speaking of which, how did you ultimately deal with Cantor?" Leon asked.
"As you said, after our interrogation, we handed Cantor over to the masses for trial. The result of the trial was first a public humiliation, followed by beheading."
"Yes, such a foolish and incompetent ruler certainly has no reason to live."
Leon would never have any pity for someone like King Cantor.
"Did you get any valuable information out of him?"
Nacho frowned slightly and shook his head. "No. Even memory-peeping magic doesn't work. It seems like there's some kind of barrier in his mind that no magic can penetrate."
"A barrier? Is it a safety measure implemented by the Royal Sorcerer Group?"
"That's unclear. Also... we still haven't found any trace of Elizabeth."
After the decisive battle of the Empire, King Cantor was captured on the spot, but Queen Elizabeth disappeared without a trace.
"At the time, we thought the Queen had just taken advantage of the chaos to hide. But after such a long and thorough search, we still couldn't find her."
After a pause, Nacho changed the subject, "But we found an interesting letter in the Queen's study. We originally intended to give it to you through the Messenger Dragon, but since you're here today, we'll hand it to you in person."
As he spoke, Nacho took an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Leon.
Leon opened the envelope; inside were several thousand words long.
It reads like a lyrical essay, lacking focus and even being incomprehensible.
Of course, Leon's focus wasn't on the content, but rather on the very first few words of the letter—
"To Lord Shadow."
32. You enjoyed the fight too?
"What is this? A love letter?"
Leon flipped the envelope over and over, finding that apart from some obscure verses and convoluted rhetoric, there was nothing particularly special inside.
"At first, we also thought it was a love letter from the Queen to this 'Lord Shadow,' and that Cantor had been cuckolded by his own Queen without even realizing it."
Nacho said, "But strangely, we searched the entire empire, interrogated all the ministers who were complicit, and even used memory-peeping magic on them, but we found no information or intelligence about 'Shadow'. It's as if this guy appeared out of thin air."
Leon put the mysterious letter away, "But the Queen would never write such a letter to a guy who just appeared out of nowhere."
"That's right. So I think Queen Elizabeth's disappearance might be related to this guy called 'Shadow.' The investigation will focus on this person."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work. I'll also gather some information about Shadow from the Dragon Race."
This was the first time Leon had heard the name 'Shadow'.
No, it's not a name. Who would call someone by the single character 'Shadow'?
So Leon guessed that this must be some kind of code name.
Moreover, given his close ties with Queen Elizabeth, it is highly likely that he was involved in the dealings between the Empire and the Dragon Race.
Just as Leon had predicted, even if Cantor was dealt with and the Empire's conspiracy was exposed, the crisis would not be completely over.
If you want to secure a place in this chaotic world, you can't afford to relax.
Leon then chatted with Nacho about the film.
However, we had too little information at the moment, and we couldn't get anything out of the conversation, so the topic quickly returned to the abstract negotiation.
Nacho calculated the time, "You can probably go back in about two more minutes."
Leon chuckled and nodded. "Mm."
After seeing that the captain had finished discussing important matters, Rebecca came over again and asked, "By the way, Captain, how are Dad and Aunt Charlotte?"
"Oh, Master and Mistress are both well and recovering well."
A few days ago, after attending the Dragon King Secret Meeting in Sky City, Leon took the opportunity to accompany Claudia to the Sea Dragon race to visit his master and mistress.
Both of them look very well.
Especially the master, ever since he received the Heart-protecting Dragon Scale from his master's wife, his back no longer aches, his waist no longer hurts, and his legs no longer cramp.
But just like Leon, because the Heart-protecting Dragon Scale need Magic Power nourishment to continuously repair his master's body, his master is now unable to use magic.