Leon signed up for the competition held by the newly opened shop.

The first prize was indeed the Jade Dew Dragon Fruit that the shop owner had just advertised.

Surprisingly, there weren’t many participants.

After all, while dragon fruits were rare, they were mainly a nutritional supplement for pregnant dragons. For regular dragons, eating one was no different from snacking on an ordinary piece of fruit.

As for the competition rules, they weren’t too complicated. After all, it was merely a promotional event for the shop’s opening—just a way to generate excitement and buzz.

The competition consisted of three rounds, each featuring a fun and quirky game. The first two rounds were elimination-based, and by the final round, only two contestants would remain to compete for the ultimate prize.

After hearing the rules, Leon’s eyes lit up with interest.

"These rules feel oddly familiar. Why does your Dragon Clan have such an obsession with ‘three-round fun competitions’?” Leon asked.

He was referring to the sports meet at Saint Hiss Academy, where the final event was also a three-round fun competition.

Back then, he and Roswitha had teamed up like special forces soldiers, madly charging through challenges with only one goal in mind: becoming champions.

Of course, they had achieved that goal in the end.

Roswitha crossed her arms and shrugged casually. "Well, isn’t this just perfect? You, as an Academy Games champion, better not embarrass yourself in a small competition like this."

Leon scoffed and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Hah. Just wait, and I’ll show you what they mean by the highest mountains and the longest rivers."

"And the most stubborn captive warrior," Roswitha added with impeccable timing.

"Shut up!"

As they exchanged playful banter, the shop owner announced the official start of the competition, inviting the contestants to take their positions.

Leon took his place.

From behind him, Roswitha cheered him on with a smirk, "Good luck, reigning champ. The whole world is waiting for you to secure a double crown!"

Leon didn’t turn around. He simply raised an arm and flashed an "OK" gesture before stepping onto the field along with the other participants.

He stood far left in the lineup, quietly studying the other competitors around him.

Most were male dragons, cheered on by their wives who stood just outside the competition area.

"Go, honey! You can do it!"

"Darling, you’re the best~~ Win, and I’ll make you a feast at home~~"

"Take them down, love!"

"......"

The wives had their own special VIP viewing section right at the forefront of the field.

Drawn by the thunderous cheers, Leon glanced over to see these dragon wives more animated and excited than even the competitors themselves. Their cheers grew louder and louder, as if sheer volume alone could secure victory.

Roswitha, however, stood behind them, arms crossed and calm as ever.

Her tall and commanding figure made her impossible for Leon to miss among the crowd.

A queen’s support couldn’t possibly be as noisy or flamboyant as those of mere mortals.

She didn’t need to shout or wave frantically. With just a single exchanged glance, Leon immediately understood her intentions.

The two locked eyes, and in the midst of the lively competition, it was as if they were detached from the chaotic surroundings.

But neither of them minded—they lived as if the world around them ceased to exist whenever they looked at each other, their eyes only holding room for one another.

In this unspoken moment, Roswitha’s lips curved into a gentle and elegant smile. Then, she silently mouthed three words to Leon:

"Do~ your~ best~."

Leon nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

"Oh, apologies, everyone, it seems we still have one last contestant. Please hurry on up; the competition is just about to begin," announced the shop owner.

The last contestant?

Leon turned his gaze toward the entrance to the competition field.

The moment he saw the so-called last contestant, his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

It was a tall and slender figure, dressed in a long black trench coat and wearing a matching black hat. A pair of sunglasses perched on her nose concealed most of her face, revealing only a delicate nose and alluring red lips.

Even with her conservative outfit and obscured features, the final contestant projected an undeniable aura of a "cold and mysterious beauty."

"What are you staring at, you rascal! I’ll gouge your eyes out if you keep that up!" A disgruntled dragon wife in the audience snapped.

With her threat, one of the male contestants immediately ducked his head guiltily.

Leon stuffed both hands into his pants pockets, quietly observing the enigmatic woman in the trench coat.

Standing amid a group of male dragons, her presence as a lone female dragon was strikingly unique.

What’s this, he mused. Was her husband a professional freeloader? Even for a game like this, he had to send his wife up to compete?

Then there was Leon, a literal captive participant stepping up on his own. Clearly, the difference was night and day~

What intrigued Leon the most, however, was the absence of a tail behind this trench-coated lady—just like him.

In the Dragon Clan, tails were telltale markers of one’s species and age. Dragons who hid their tails were often members of small, long-extinct tribes.

Yet, from her demeanor alone, this trench-coated woman felt more like an elegant and mysterious noblewoman than a displaced tribesperson.

Leon eventually withdrew his gaze, deciding not to overthink it.

The competition began promptly.

The first round was a game of "Skip Seven."

The contestants would form a circle and take turns counting sequentially. When it came to a number containing the digit ‘7’ or a multiple of ‘7,’ they had to say "Skip" instead, and then the next person would continue counting.

The round had no set time limit or number of cycles. Once five contestants were eliminated, the game would end, and the remaining players would advance to the second round.

After hearing the rules, Leon and the other participants formed a circle.

The mysterious trench-coated lady was directly across from Leon.

Yet her face remained obscured.

"Alright, everyone, please get ready. We’ll start with the man standing farthest to the left, and then go clockwise," the shop owner declared.

The leftmost position belonged to Leon.

Leon glanced to his left and right, feigning nonchalance. Then, suddenly, he blurted out:

"Six!"

"Seven! ... Huh? Wait, no…" The dragon to his right froze momentarily, clearly caught off guard by Leon's unexpected tactic. "Hey, you can’t just start at six! That’s cheating."

Leon shrugged. "The rules didn’t say I had to start from one."

"......" The other dragon was left speechless.

What Leon said was true—there was no explicit rule requiring the count to begin from one.

So Leon opened with "six," causing his opponent to reflexively blurt out "seven."

Although embarrassed by the slip-up, the other contestant accepted defeat graciously and quietly stepped out of the game.

"Should I start again?" Leon asked the shop owner.

"Yes, please go ahead," the shop owner replied.

Leon turned his gaze to the short-statured dragon standing to his right, who was staring back nervously.

This short dragon couldn’t let his guard down. The little tricks these tailless players employed required careful vigilance. He resolved to think carefully before responding this time.

They exchanged a brief look, and then Leon smiled faintly. The short dragon suddenly panicked internally.

Is he about to say something?

Leon opened his mouth slightly—sending the short dragon’s pupils into a flurry, scrutinizing his lips for clues about the next number.

"Ah-choo! —"

The short dragon froze in place.

Was… was that… just a sneeze? Are you kidding me—

"Forty-four," Leon suddenly called out.

"Huh... Forty-four… If it’s forty-four… Skip! I’ll skip!" the short dragon stammered.

"You were supposed to say forty-five, not skip," Leon remarked indifferently.

"Hey, you little—!"

Leon’s sly tactics elicited a roar of laughter from the other contestants.

Meanwhile, in the audience, the dragon wives appeared less amused.

"Ugh, this doesn’t seem fair at all. Isn’t that considered cheating?" one of the wives grumbled. She was presumably the wife of the eliminated contestant.

"No, it’s fair, as long as the shop owner doesn’t call him out."

"Damn, what a sneaky strategy, manipulating the rules like that."

Blinded by their frustration, the dragon wives overlooked the possibility that one of them could be married to this so-called "sneaky guy."

"Watch your words, ladies," came a cool and detached voice behind them.

The two wives turned to see a silver-haired beauty.

"My husband is simply exercising the rules to his advantage. How does that count as cheating?"

Feeling annoyed but unable to argue against her point, they murmured awkward apologies and shut their mouths.

Also… something about this silver-haired beauty’s commanding aura didn’t sit in the realm of ordinary people’s wives. She was not someone to mess with.

Meanwhile, on the field, Leon had just ousted another contestant.

"Just need to eliminate two more, and I’ll advance to the next round," Leon thought as he strategized for his next play.

"Let’s start the next round with this trench-coated lady," the shop owner interjected in an effort to rein Leon in. If this kid kept up his antics, the entire promotional event would be over in ten minutes—completely negating its purpose.

Leon raised his hands in mock surrender, signaling no objections.

Overpowered favorites in competition always get banned eventually, after all.

The trench-coated lady took her turn to begin. She parted her lips and said in a slightly husky voice:

"Twenty-six."

"Oh, twenty—Skip! Skip!" The next player narrowly avoided a pitfall.

"Twenty-eight," said the following contestant.

The trench-coated lady tilted her head slightly. "That’s incorrect. Twenty-eight is a multiple of seven, so you should’ve skipped too."

"Aw, geez! Seriously?!"

At this point, only one more needed to be eliminated for the rest to advance to the next round.

The trench-coated lady prepared to call out her next number, but suddenly, one of the contestants raised his hand. "I-I'm done! I quit!"

What had seemed to be a fair fight turned out to be a catastrophic mismatch against these two sharks in a goldfish pond.

Who could possibly keep playing at this point?

For a single Jade Dew Dragon Fruit? Not worth it. So not worth it!

The shop owner scratched his head. Though he hated to see the competition cut short, he couldn’t exactly drag someone back onto the field against their will.

"Alright then, let’s move on to the next round!"

Leon cast another glance at the trench-coated lady across from him. Strangely enough, there was something familiar about her...

Was it just his imagination?