"Six more months? What... does that mean? What's going to happen in six months?" Leon asked, his voice laced with anxiety.

A gnawing feeling crept over him.

This ominous feeling wasn't just due to Aurora's mention of "six more months," but also because since waking up, he hadn't seen Roswitha or Nor Muen.

The dilapidated Silver Dragon Sanctuary behind him, its battered appearance suggesting it had endured a brutal conflict.

"In six months, I must complete my research—no, I have to complete it."

Aurora's voice dropped. "The moment you vanished... six months after that, everything changed."

Leon sat bolt upright, muscles taut. "Does this involve Mother and my sisters? Where are they? Are they—"

The unspoken question—still alive?—lodged in his throat, unable to pass his lips.

Compared to the twenty years he had spent drifting outside the flow of time, he cared more about his wife and daughters.

Twenty years was more than enough time for change—or for anything unexpected to happen.

Aurora's lips curved slightly. "They live." The two words sent Leon sagging with relief.

The tension drained from his shoulders like water.

"Where?' The word cracked like a whip.

"Well... it might be hard for you to understand if I just explain the situation, so—"

Aurora rose, her boots crushing embers as she strode to the clearing.

Leon's brows knitted as he tracked her movements.

But in the next moment, her actions left the old father completely dumbfounded.

Her shoulder blades shuddered—then split apart as silver-scaled wings erupted from her back.

The wings folded around her body, enveloping her.

Moments later, the wings opened again, and a silver dragon emerged before Leon's eyes.

The old father was utterly stunned, so much so that the skewer he was holding fell to the ground unnoticed.

He stared at the silver dragon before him. Even though Aurora's dragon form was much smaller than Roswitha's, Leon was still at a loss for words, completely floored.

It was like you'd left your daughter at home while you went out to work.

Two years later, you returned, expecting to play games like hide-and-seek or something with your adorable child, imagining the father-daughter duo enjoying delightful and innocent fun together.

Then your sweet little girl draws a rune-covered crossbow, grinning, 'Time for tactical training, old man!"

Uh... what?

Absolute insanity!

Thump. Thump.

The silver dragon took graceful steps toward her shell-shocked father and gently bumped him with her head.

"Why do you remain in this form?'

Leon's jaw worked soundlessly before he croaked, 'I... can't."

"Mm-hmm. Come on, transform, and let's go find my eldest sister."

Is transformation really something you can just do on a whim?

Did she think he was some kind of magical girl?

Leon awkwardly scratched his temple, thinking to himself how Roswitha had kept her promise of not revealing his identity—she hadn't exposed him even to their daughter for twenty years.

Since that was the case, he couldn't mess up now. He had to keep it hidden.

"Your dad just came out of the spatial rift, you know... My body's not in great shape. Can't transform yet."

"Oh~~ Not feeling well, huh~~" Aurora deliberately elongated her tone, as if insinuating something. "Alright, fine. I'll just have to carry you then."

"Uh-huh, looks like that's the only option."

In the past, there were stories of crows feeding their parents. Today, there’s Aurora carrying her father. A perfect tableau of familial love.

Aurora lowered her body, allowing Leon to climb onto her back.

"Are you seated securely?"

"Yes."

"Then here we—go!"

The great silver dragon flapped her wings, extinguishing the nearby campfire, and her metallic form shot into the sky. A sonic boom echoed as she vanished into the night.

"You mentioned we were going to find Noa? She's not with Mom and Muen?"

"No, she's far away... waiting for you."

"Waiting... for me?"

"Yes."

Leon opened his mouth to ask more questions.

But seeing how his daughter seemed to be a woman of few words, he figured she didn't want to elaborate just yet.

Leon picked up on the atmosphere and refrained from asking further.

He sat cross-legged on Aurora's back, the sensation reminiscent of riding on Roswitha's back in the past.

The signature high velocity of the Silver Dragon Clan, the rushing wind streaking past his ears—it all felt so familiar.

To be honest, Leon hadn't expected to survive after entering the spatial rift.

And yet, here he was, alive, albeit faced with a slew of baffling questions.

Still, it was better than being separated from his family by life and death, wasn't it?

And yet—

Leon heaved a heavy sigh and peered down at the land below.

He couldn't shake the feeling... that he didn't belong to this world twenty years after his time.

Was it the jarring sense of alienation that gave rise to such thoughts?

Or was it something else...

Leon couldn't figure it out.

Right now, he was only fixated on reuniting with his wife and daughters as soon as possible.

"Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen what your dragon form looks like," Aurora's voice interrupted Leon's thoughts.

Leon cleared his throat and replied, "Uh, well... Once Dad recovers, I'll show you my transformation."

"Great! But... your health always seemed frail, didn’t it?"

Aurora said, "I still remember when you caught a cold when I was little. I made you some Black Dragon Bolus, and after you took it, you were hopping around the next day. So... should I prepare another one for you? That way, you'd recover faster."

"No, no, no, no need for that. Overusing that stuff can have adverse effects—not suitable for frequent use."

Mainly, it taxed the kidneys.

"Is that so? Alright, then."

Leon probably hadn't realized that he was spouting nonsense about the effects of Black Dragon Bolus in front of a Dragon Clan scholar who had spent the last twenty years engrossed in magical studies.

The reason he'd acted so flippantly was that, somewhere deep in his subconscious, he still saw the silver dragon beneath him as the little girl who used to trail after him, asking endless questions.

Aurora indulged him, even going so far as not to expose his blatant lies.

Was it because the younger daughter wanted to spare the old father's pride? Or was there some other reason—

Hard to tell. Hard to tell.

...

After several hours of flight, the father and daughter reached the border between the Dragon Clan's territory and human lands.

Leon recognized this place.

At the same time, he guessed where Noa might be waiting for him.

A cave behind a mountain waterfall.

But before Leon could rejoice at the prospect of finally seeing his eldest daughter, he suddenly realized something else:

If Noa truly was there, wouldn't that mean they had already discovered that their father was a human?

After all, only he, Roswitha, his mentor, and Rebecca knew about that cave.

Earlier, Leon had specifically avoided asking Aurora about his mentor and Rebecca, fearing it might arouse suspicion.

But then again, if Aurora and the others had indeed discovered his identity, why had she asked him to ttransform earlier?

Pondering it over and over, Leon decided to stay silent for now.

As he'd thought before, twenty years was enough time for anything unexpected to occur.

Until he had a clearer grasp of the situation, silence was the wisest choice.