The number of merchant caravans entering and leaving the Empire has increased significantly, which greatly reduced the difficulty of Leon and his team's infiltration.

If there had only been a few scattered merchant groups, the security team might have searched each one thoroughly.

But now, with carriages lining up one after another, searching each one individually would mean letting much less caravans through in an entire day.

This, of course, would slow down the tax collection process for the officials. How could that be acceptable?

Turn a blind eye here and there—close enough.

However, the fresh recruits who hadn't yet been toughened up by society didn't seem to agree.

"Captain, isn't it wrong to slack off like this? Isn't this shirking our duties?" asked the newcomer who has just taken office in the Imperial Patrol.

The man addressed as Captain leaned back lazily in a wooden chair, holding a smoking pipe and exhaling clouds of smoke.

"Kid, how much is your monthly salary?"

"Twenty gold coins," the rookie replied earnestly.

"Exactly. Twenty gold coins should get you twenty gold coins' worth of effort. Taking twenty coins of pay to do the work of two hundred coins? That's called the subordinate rebelling against the superior."

The captain spoke in a slow, seasoned tone, like a man who had seen it all.

The rookie, still puzzled, asked further, "But what if something really happened?"

"Something really happened?" The captain chuckled. "Kid, over the past twenty years, the Empire has been peaceful and prosperous. Ever since that guy, Leon Casmod, disappeared, no one has dared stir up trouble in the Empire."

"Leon... Casmod?"

"Never heard of him? Well, no surprise there. It's all ancient history, after all. I'll tell you about it after the shift's over."

"Oh..."

The captain continued puffing leisurely on his pipe.

Twenty gold coins a month wasn't a small sum. But it still wasn't enough to justify checking under every single carriage.

"Man, back then, when I worked my way up to being the commander of the Dragon Slayer Army, I only made a hundred gold coins a month. And now these guards are making twenty coins just for standing around, not even risking their lives. If I’d known, I’d have taken a guard job too—saved myself twenty years of struggle."

"But Dad, if you were a guard, you wouldn’t have met Mom, would you?"

"Ah, that's wrong, honey. Who says I’d have to work as a guard in the Empire? I could have worked as one in Silver Dragon Castle and still met your mother, couldn’t I?"

"Umm... a Silver Dragon Queen marrying one of her clan's guards? That does sound a little far-fetched."

"And a Silver Dragon Queen marrying a human isn’t?"

"Shh~"

Noa interrupted the pair's playful banter, "We're about to reach the main gate—keep quiet."

Immediately, everyone held their breath, clinging tightly to the bottom of the carriage.

The merchant convoy stopped in front of the Empire's gates for routine inspection.

The so-called inspection is just a casual glance. As long as there are no suspicious or dangerous items, everything will be allowed to pass.

This lax attitude stemmed not only from the guards' traditional laziness but also from their reliance on the powerful Empire.

As the captain had just mentioned, aside from Leon, no one dared to cause trouble in the Empire.

As the most powerful nation among human territories, the privilege of paying tribute to it was seen as an honor. Who would dare to secretly plot and cause trouble?

The inspection concluded, and Leon and his daughters successfully sneaked into the Empire under the caravan.

After traversing a few streets and ensuring there were no Empire patrols nearby, they seized an opportunity to slip out from under the carriage and duck into a side alley.

Leon stood at the entrance of the alley, against the wall, sticking his head out to look left and right. He was not noticed by anyone and did not draw the attention of passers-by.

Turning back, he began discussing their next steps with his daughters.

The report provided by the informant did not specify the exact storage location of the dragon scales. It only mentioned a hidden fortress somewhere in the imperial city.

Noa responded, "To find the dragon scales, we still need to put in some more effort."

Leon nodded. He had already anticipated that finding the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale wouldn’t be an easy task.

The Empire won't collect such things for no reason.

The Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale is a crucial "safety device" for the dragon race. So, what could humans use it for? There are too many possibilities.

So once they obtained such a valuable artifact, the Empire would undoubtedly keep it hidden and secure.

It was already quite remarkable for Noya's mysterious informant to find out that the Empire was collecting heart-protecting dragon scales. If they could also know the exact storage location of the dragon scales, the Empire’s confidentiality departments would really have to be laid off.

The enemy wasn’t foolish. Sneaking past the guards was just the beginning—the real challenge lay ahead.

"I have two strategies,"

Leon said.

"First, we worked in pairs and start searching areas within and around the royal city until we find the dragon scale’s hiding spot."

"Second, we capture a relevant official to interrogate to obtain the intelligence we need."

"The first approach is relatively safe but time-consuming."

"The second gets us the location more quickly, but it’s a higher-risk move."

My idea is that we conduct group searches first. If there are no results in the short term, What do you think?"

The three sisters exchanged glances and nodded in tacit understanding, signaling their agreement with their father’s plan.

"Alright, let’s determine the specific grouping," Leon said. "Noa and Aurora will pair up, and Muen will come with me. Any objections?"

Muen’s bright eyes sparkled with excitement as she eagerly asked, "So, I’m going on a secret mission with Dad?"

"Yes. Happy?" Leon asked with a smile.

"Very! Super happy!" If not for hiding her tail to sneak into the Empire, Muen would undoubtedly have wagged it sky-high by now.

Noa gently poked her younger sister's cheek. "Alright, little shadow, make sure to behave when we’re separated. Don’t wander off, and don’t hold Dad's back."

"Tch, Sis, stop treating me like a child," Muen pouted.

Noa affectionately rubbed her little head, "You always act like a kid when you’re with this guy."

"Hmph~"

After finalizing the initial plan, Leon added, "In case of an emergency, avoid fighting if possible and it’s best not to use any magic. Remember, our mission here is to retrieve the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale."

At the mention of magic, Aurora suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, second sister, if it's time to use magic, try to use only one element and don't use two at the same time." Dual-element awakenings are extraordinarily rare—especially with lightning and fire. If anyone in the imperial city knew what happened to our parents back then, it would be easy for them to guess what's going on here.

Muen nodded. "Got it."

"Alright, let’s take action. Regardless of whether we find the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale’s location, let’s reconvene here in three days," Leon said.

"Understood."

Noa and Aurora departed first.

Leon and Muen took a side path through the alley.

The faces of Noa and the others have never appeared in the Empire. For the past twenty years, the three sisters have been deliberately avoiding contact with the Empire's Dragon-Slaying Army.

This meant that no one inside the Empire would recognize them, allowing them to walk the streets without disguises.

But General Leon? He was a top fugitive twenty years ago, a human traitor who had "fallen" from a dragon-slaying hero. His popularity and story-telling quality would be quite explosive if placed in textbooks.

Even after two decades, he still runs the risk of being recognized. So, to be on the safe side, it's better to take the small path as much as possible.

"Dad, shall we go to the imperial city now?" Muen followed Leon and asked.

"Let’s wait until nightfall. Unlike Noa’s team, we can’t just walk around freely. Nighttime will be our best cover."

"Oh, okay!"

One of the benefits of grouping is that Leon’s daughters don't all have to act carefully along with Leon.

Noa and Aurora, who had never been exposed in the Empire, could move much more freely.

But three of them traveling together would inevitably draw attention, so Leon decided on two-person teams for safety and mutual support.

The father and daughter wound through smaller paths and eventually arrived at the rooftop of an abandoned clock tower. From there, they could see the royal city in the distance.

"Now, we just need to wait for night to fall,"

Leon gazed at that magnificent and splendid building. Who knew what kind of terrifying beasts lay hidden beneath that glamorous facade?