With the cover of darkness, Leon led Noa through a secret passage in the outer wall of the royal city, slipping inside unnoticedly.

This location wouldn't trigger the warning of the perception enchantments, and it was far away from the main paths within the royal city, where patrol teams rarely ventured.

According to Nacho's intel, this secret passage was constructed five years ago. Only those holding positions at his level or higher knew its existence.

You have to admit that, the once-little clerk from back then had come a long way, trying his best to reach such heights. It seemed working for the Empire's royal family had turned out to be a rather lucrative job.

But Leon didn't have much time to marvel at his "former colleague"; he needed to move quickly to figure out the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale.

Using the intelligence provided by Nacho and Scott, Leon and Noa stealthily advanced deeper into the royal city along its wall.

Just as Nacho had described, there were only a few patrols in the vicinity of the secret passage. Leon and Noa easily found the location where the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale was stored.

It was an underground facility with only an entrance visible above ground, guarded by four heavily armed sentries.

Beyond that, there was a perception enchantment as secure as the one on the outer walls.

Any attempt to storm the facility would undoubtedly trigger the enchantment's defensive measures. If linger too long, it would even attract more enemies.

The only way to bypass the enchantment safely was to let the four sentries disable it themselves.

Leon and Noa pressed themselves against a nearby wall, observing the four guards.

"Nacho's intel mentioned something about codes and signals," Leon said.

"To get into that underground facility, we have to exchange the correct signal with those sentries."

"So, should we just walk up there boldly and recite the signal?"

"It's the only option. These sentries don't switch shifts; it's the same four guards stationed here throughout the night. There's no window of opportunity for us to sneak past them."

Noa blinked, then asked, "What if they recognize you?"

Though twenty years had passed and the Empire had seen a fair amount of personnel turnover, Leon's reputation had been quite prominent back then. Moreover, his appearance had hardly changed, so there was still a risk of being identified.

"Hmm... That's a valid concern. After all, my handsome face is hard to forget," Leon said, seriously pondering the problem.

Three black lines ran down Noa's forehead.

Her mother had admired his sense of responsibility, his bravery, his selflessness, and his strength, but did she also love his vanity?

Mom, you must had been starving.

"Fortunately, I have made some preparations before coming here," Leon said as he pulled a pair of sunglasses and a silver coin from his pocket—both items he'd acquired from Nacho.

The disguise was secondary. The real key was the silver coin, which symbolized royal identity and status.

When Leon had served in the Dragon Slayer Army years ago, the Empire's royal family had issued him a similar coin.

Admittedly, it looked good, but Leon had never cared much for such tokens.

Instead, he repurposed it after returning home, modifying it into a bell for livestock and hung it around the neck of his donkey.

The result was delightful. As his donkey worked the mill, the melodious sound of the bell ringing endlessly, which added a bit of charm to its monotonous "996" life.

Leon donned his sunglasses, toyed with the silver coin in his hand, and then struck an official pose, casually tilting his chin at the sentries.

"Let’s go, Miss Noa."

Ugh—

What was this mix of disdain and eagerness to cooperate?

Was mom like this when she dated him back in the day?

Come on, you’re twenty-three now, old man. Can’t you act more maturely for once?

Though Noa was inwardly roasting him, she still played along with remarkable composure.

"Of course, Lord Leon."

Father and daughter strolled towards the underground facility entrance calmly.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the four sentries immediately snapped to attention.

"Who's there? Why will you visit the royal family's western tribute storage at such an hour?" The lead sentry barked.

Leon said nothing, continuing to fiddle with the silver coin in his fingers.

The coin flipped smoothly between his fingers, gleaming under the faint light.

Noa stepped forward and replied softly, "The cultural treasures of the west are known across the world. Daytime visits are inconvenient due to the crowds, so we decided to come at night for a private viewing."

The sentries lowered their guard upon noticing the coin in Leon's hand—a sign of high-ranking royal affiliation. Swiftly, their attitudes changed. "I apologies, my lord. The code is arranged by the royal family; no matter who arrives, they must first pass the verification."

The code had been cleverly woven into a question-and-answer exchange. Though the place stored the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale, it had been disguised as a "western tribute" storage. Anyone being unaware of the code would certainly falls into the trap.

Leon internally breathed a sigh of relief, but maintained his silent facade, leaving the dialogue entirely to "Miss Noa."

"Of course, it's understandable; you're just doing your job. We'll be conducting an inspection now. Please disable the enchantment temporarily," Noa said.

"Understood."

A guard replied respectfully, promptly deactivating the underground facility's enchantment.

Noa turned halfway around. "My lord, we can proceed now."

"After you, milady."

Milady~ first~

Yuck!

The old man was a drama queen unexpectedly.

Well, since mom could be dramatical sometimes, that's okay then.

I guess you can’t expect two different people from the same bed.

Father and daughter stepped through the entrance and descended the stairway one after another.

Torches lit up sequentially as they walked deeper, passing layer after layer of stairs, until they finally reached the underground chamber which stored the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale.

The chamber was vast and empty, and its interior lined neatly with dozens of stone pedestals. Hovering above each pedestal were dragon scales radiating various colored lights.

As soon as Noa entered the chamber, she felt a heavy pressure overwhelming her.

Frowning slightly, she glanced around the room, which was filled with Heart-Guarding Dragon Scales.

She understood that the oppressive energy came from the scales themselves. While the Dragon King might have perished, the power residing in the scales remained.

But she was not that familiar with such relics—Heart-Guarding Dragon Scales only began to form when a Dragon Clan member reached a hundred years old.

And she was only twenty-two now.

"There aren’t many dragon scales here."

Leon commented casually. "A lot of pedestals are empty."

"Hmm, maybe they’ve already been used, or perhaps they’re saving the spots for newly gathered scales," Noa replied. "But the limited number also suggests that the Empire isn't collecting just any old dragon scale, doesn’t it?"

Leon nodded. "Indeed. Dragon Clan members reaching a hundred years isn't rare. If the Empire was indiscriminately collecting scales, there would be far more scales here. Unless they're targeting specific kinds of Heart-Guarding Dragon Scales, like..."

"The Dragon King's Heart-Guarding Dragon Scales," Noa finished.

"And Aurora's reversal magic requires Dragon King-level Heart-Guarding Dragon Scales to activate," Leon said.

Noa clicked her tongue in frustration. "But how can we figure out which scale matches Ravi's magic properties?"

If they took the wrong one, and the reversal magic wouldn’t work, then their risky journey to the Empire would be a total waste.

However, Leon just spoke calmly.

"Isn’t it obvious?"

Noa glanced at him sideways.

From his pocket, Leon produced a black cloth bag. "Can't we take all of them?"

Damn it.

This was giving a sense of "Monkey King raiding the Peach Garden for orchards".