When they returned to the cave, the master and apprentice were still chatting about recent events.

Hearing footsteps, Leon turned around.

He saw the tall and the short figures walking side by side, chatting away, their faces lit up with smiles like old friends reunited after years apart.

Leon froze.

Weren’t these two barely acquainted half an hour ago?

How did they become besties in just twenty minutes?

"Captain, old man, we’re back!"

Rebecca jogged over. "Are you guys done talking?"

"Almost," Leon replied.

He glanced at Rebecca, who looked inexplicably thrilled, then looked up at the dragoness behind her. "What did you tell her?"

Roswitha spread her hands innocently. "I didn’t tell her anything."

But she told me everything, hehe.

Leon curled his lips and muttered, "Weird," before turning back to resume his conversation with his master about the Empire.

He recounted the events of the next six months once more and asked about the Sea Dragon Clan and the Nine Hells Gate.

"The *Nine Hells Gate* was written by the Sea Dragon Clan? Huh? I have no idea. I just asked someone to randomly steal a martial arts manual from the Empire, and who’d have thought it turned out to be something serious."

As expected, the good old “I don’t know.”

Leon didn’t press further.

Although Leon had a vague sense that the old man was hiding something, he had already been so direct. If his master still refused to spill, there must be a reason behind it.

"Oh, by the way, Master, go and inspect these three people next time."

Saying this, Leon handed over a list.

Tiger glanced at it. "Gini, Gitai, Gimei… Just from their names, these three sound anything but ordinary."

"Yeah, in the future, they’re the ‘Dagger Special Forces.’ of the Empire. They’re extraordinarily strong, continuously hunting down the Dragon Kings over a decade. But I feel that… their powers seems strange, unlike regular human magic."

Leon continued, "If there’s an opportunity, try to uncover their origins."

Tiger nodded and carefully put away the list. "Alright, I’ll start investigating as soon as I return."

In the future, Leon had only briefly crossed paths with the Dagger Special Forces, but it wasn’t even a real confrontation.

Even so, the power those three displayed had made Leon take notice.

Not to mention, it wasn’t just Leon who found their powers peculiar. Even future Noa and Aurora had remarked on how their abilities seemed untraceable.

Therefore, Leon felt it necessary to investigate them—ideally to nip this potential threat in the bud at its earliest stage.

After all, who knew what other overpowered tricks the Empire might come up with?

"Anything else that needs investigating?" Tiger asked.

Leon had brought back quite a lot of intelligence from the future—they would need to utilize them all, exploiting that critical information gap.

The plan was to catch that wretched Emperor completely off guard.

Leon pondered for a moment, then said, "In that case, look into someone named Nacho Salaman as well."

"Nacho Salaman?"

"Yes, he was once a petty administrative official in the Empire’s Dragon Slayer Army. After pushing me into the space rift, though, he climbed his way up to the royal court. The Dagger trio I mentioned earlier also have close ties with him. From him, we might uncover more clues."

"Understood. Anything else?"

"Hmm… nothing more about the Empire."

Tiger chuckled. "If there’s anything else, just say it."

"Master, do you know about Primordial Magic?" Leon asked.

"Primordial Magic…"

At the mention of Primordial Magic, Roswitha, who had been quietly waiting nearby, immediately turned her gaze toward them.

She was somewhat surprised. Before they came here, Leon hadn’t mentioned he would ask his master about Primordial Magic.

That said, her own progress in practicing Primordial Magic hadn’t been going smoothly. Just as she had initially anticipated, there were precious few records on Primordial Magic. She could only piece together bits from scattered fragments in ancient texts before synthesizing them into something coherent. It was a painstakingly complex and labor-intensive process.

"I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know much. What, do you want to practice Primordial Magic?"

Leon blinked. "Yep, I want to give it a try."

"You already finished practicing *Nine Hells Gate* that I gave you last time?"

"Didn’t I just say? In the future, even your granddaughter taught me nearly everything already. Besides, walking in the martial world, the more skills, the better. Who wouldn’t want an extra trick or two?"

His master reached out and tapped Leon’s forehead. "You greedy little brat. Alright, I’ll ask an old friend to see if he can find any books on Primordial Magic. I’ll give them to you next time we meet."

"Great, thanks, Master!"

Having discussed everything important, Leon switched the topic to ask about his mistress.

"Oh, your mistress… After you disappeared into the space rift, I saw her once."

Master sighed with emotion. "She gave me a beating—said not to come back until I found you. I should actually thank you. Luckily, you’re back now. Otherwise, your mistress probably would have divorced me."

Divorce might be an exaggeration, but Leon could tell his mistress had genuinely been worried about him.

"Then bring my mistress along next time. I haven’t seen her in ages," Leon suggested.

"Well… It’s hard to say. Her family is fairly… cautious. Since they know we’ve made enemies with the Empire, they don’t want her getting involved."

Leon immediately nodded, "Got it, I won’t insist. After everything is resolved, we can look for her again."

"Alright. If there’s nothing else, let’s call it a day."

"Got it, Master."

"Be careful on your way back. Keep up with your training and no slacking off," Master reminded him.

"Understood, Master. You, Rebecca, and Martin take care of yourselves too."

"We will."

Rebecca jogged over from the side. "Captain, I wish you and my sister-in-law a harmonious and happy life!"

Leon froze for a second. "What—what are you suddenly blurting out…? And what’s with this 'sister-in-law' thing? Roswitha, you just let her call you that?"

The queen sat gracefully in a wooden chair nearby, her long legs crossed, and she said leisurely,

"Why not?"

Oh, fantastic. In the short time they’d known each other, the two of them were already tight?

Leon chuckled and playfully poked Rebecca’s forehead. "Crazy girl, stop calling her that. I’m not even familiar with her."

Rebecca: ?

Fine, fine—sure, neither of you is close at all.

"See you next time!"

Leon waved goodbye to the old master and the young apprentice, then headed toward the cave entrance with Roswitha.

The queen unfolded her dragon wings, then turned halfway around to wink mischievously at Rebecca.

Rebecca raised her hand and made an “OK” gesture back.

Watching their interaction, Tiger couldn’t help but ask,

"What kind of secret signals are you two exchanging now?"

Rebecca grinned broadly and replied mysteriously, "Old man, your apprentice’s married life… is about to get a lot more colorful."