Rebecca found out the location of the hotel where Martin's stepmother's birthday party would be held through the bounty hunter black market in Empire.

It cost Rebecca half a month's salary, and she requested that the money be deducted from Leon's account once everything was over—.

Leon replies, 'Fine, if you can withdraw money from a dead man's account."

Rebecca smirked slyly and said, "If you're broke, I'll just take it from Dad's pension—after all, I don't do losing business!"

Dad touched his wallet—emptier than a beggar’s pocket—wondering if he should sell the family donkey to scrape together some cash for Rebecca......

"I’ve had to repeat the same thing three times in two days. Feels like I’m a broken record," Leon quipped.

Two days later, in the afternoon, six hours before the party officially began.

Leon and Rebecca had blended into the hotel staff, helping them set up the party venue.

Meanwhile, Tiger remained stationed outside Victor's bar, continuing to keep an eye on him.

Inside the hotel hall, uniformed staff bustled about, making sure there were no mistakes.

After all, this was the royal minister's wife's birthday. Even the smallest amount of negligence could cost them their jobs.

What's more, they'd heard that the minister's wife was extremely demanding—obvious from the grim expression of the young man tasked with organizing the event.

The young man’s name was Martin, the youngest son of the minister.

Technically, the responsibility for planning the event shouldn’t have fallen to him, but his stepmother, who had always been at odds with him, assigned him the task just to make Martin’s life difficult.

Martin was soft-spoken and too timid to confront his stepmother, so he gritted his teeth and did his best to complete the task.

Even though he knew full well that no matter how perfectly he executed it, his stepmother would still find fault with him.

But what could he do about it?

The incident three years ago caused Martin to not only leave the Dragon Slayer Army but also made him increasingly withdrawn and timid.

In these three years, every time Martin suffered cold stares or ostracism from his stepmother or others, he couldn't help but think—if the captain hadn't sacrificed himself three years ago, if the squad hadn't disbanded, would he have been braver? Would he have been able to stand up against the unfair treatment he faces now?

But alas, reality holds no room for "ifs."

The Silver Dragon battle ended in a crushing defeat, and they claimed the captain was a traitor—responsible for the deaths of countless comrades.

Martin could never believe the captain was a traitor. He had wanted to leverage his father’s royal connections to clear the captain’s name but was met with rejection from his father.

He had hoped to use his own abilities to exonerate the captain and prove his innocence.

But then Rebecca reached out to him and told him to stop trying to clear the captain’s name.

By then, Rebecca was already wearing a patrol squad uniform.

From that point on, there was nothing in the Dragon Slayer Army worth Martin staying for.

He decided to leave, return home, and become the pampered young master—occasionally reminiscing about the days he spent with the captain and Rebecca, and the version of himself who had begun to grow braver.

Lost in his thoughts, Martin shook his head and resumed directing the staff to prepare the banquet hall.

Suddenly, Martin felt something hard and cold press against his waist.

He wanted to look down, but the girl beside him dressed in a staff uniform warned him,

"Keep it natural, little Martin. Don’t get nervous. If you get nervous, I’ll get nervous. And if I get nervous, this gun in my hand just might go off~"

Martin immediately recognized the voice, "Li—Rebecca?! What are you doing here...?"

"Your stepmother's birthday—we decided to crash the party," Rebecca replied.

"We? Who else is here? Victor?"

"No, the rock star's tied up with other things," she said. "I meant someone else."

"Someone else... is—?"

Before Martin could finish his question, an arm draped over his shoulder—like an old school buddy greeting him intimately.

Martin dared not turn his head to see who the arm belonged to because Rebecca’s gun was still pressed against his waist.

All he could do was sneak a glance at the hand resting on his shoulder.

It was large and rugged, and its back was covered in scars.

"Long time no see, Martin."

At the sound of the voice, Martin felt an electric jolt shoot down his spine, paralyzing him.

His eyes widened in disbelief—three years had passed, and yet he could still recognize this voice.

Martin would never forget the owner of this voice.

It was he who had taught Martin how to be brave, to understand the true meaning of courage, and how to face his authentic self.

If it weren’t for him, Martin wouldn’t have decided to join the Dragon Slayer Academy.

Though, after his ‘death,’ Martin’s courage had eroded bit by bit.

But now, hearing his voice once again, Martin could sense the flame of courage within himself—not yet extinguished—struggling to reignite.

"Ca-Captain... Captain!—"

"Shh~ There’s no captain here. Just two hotel staffers catching up with an old friend," Leon said softly.

Martin forced himself to suppress the shock and flood of questions within him, spending nearly ten seconds trying to calm down.

His fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the railing, swallowing hard several times.

Seeing Martin gradually regain his composure, Leon plainly explained his purpose for returning to Empire.

"I’ve had to repeat the same thing three times these past two days. Feels like I’m reciting a menu," Leon quipped at the end, lightening the tense mood.

Martin worked to process everything Leon had just said. After a while, he responded,

"So, Captain, what should I do to help you investigate the traitor? Just tell me."

"Hmm? I thought your first reaction would be to clear your own name," Leon remarked.

After all, that's exactly what Victor had done.

Martin offered a slightly strained smile and sighed,"Captain, you're not the kind of person who acts rashly or unjustly. I trust you’ll make the right judgment in the end. So there’s no need for me to defend myself right now—just ask what you need, and I’ll answer."

Just like in the battles fought years ago, Martin still unconditionally trusted Leon and followed his orders.

This young man had idolized Leon—his admiration was what drove him to join the Dragon Slayer Army in the first place. Upon graduating from Dragon Slayer Academy with excellent results, he was assigned directly to Leon's squad.

A classic case of a superfan achieving his dream.

Leon patted Martin’s shoulder, "Alright, then. First things first—I just want to confirm that today is, in fact, your stepmother’s birthday, correct?"

Martin nodded, "That’s right."

Well, that ruled out this being a deliberate trap or setup—it seemed to be pure coincidence.

However, even so, Leon wasn’t about to let his guard down.

He had already devised a plan for tonight that would ensure he, his mentor, and Rebecca could escape safely, even if they failed to identify the traitor.

"Next question: what’s your relationship with your stepmother like?"

"Uh..." Martin hesitated.

"Oh, if it’s something personal, you’re not obligated to answer," Leon said.

Martin scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "It’s not really a matter of privacy. The truth is... my stepmother and I don’t have a very good relationship."

"Has she ever given you any presents?" Leon asked.

"Presents? Come on, Captain. If she doesn’t kick me out of the house, I already count myself lucky."

Huh, well, that pretty much confirmed their relationship wasn't great.

Leon’s thoughts stirred slightly, "Okay, so have you ever given her any gifts? Like... clothes, handbags... or perhaps jewelry?"

"Nope," Martin answered firmly and without hesitation.

Leon paused to consider, nodding thoughtfully after a moment. "Alright, then. I don’t have any more questions for now. There’s just one more thing I need your cooperation on."

"Just tell me, Captain."

"For tonight’s banquet, Rebecca will stick by your side. Old teammates catching up and mingling at the party shouldn’t raise any red flags, right?"

"Captain, are you suggesting Rebecca is here to monitor me..." Martin demonstrated his sharp intuition.

"No, not monitoring, little Martin," Rebecca said, adding pressure with her gun against Martin’s back. "This is way more thrilling than mere surveillance."

Martin felt a spike of tension but nodded slightly, with beads of sweat trickling down his forehead and nose.

Leon understood.

This had nothing to do with whether or not Martin was the traitor—being prodded by a lunatic with a gun would leave anyone drenched in sweat.

With everything arranged, assuming no surprises arose tonight... it would all come to an end.