The outer district of the Empire, slums.

A ragged, limping beggar supported himself with a crutch, holding a chipped porcelain bowl in his other hand, and begged from every passerby on the bustling street.

"Hey, no, no! Move aside, move aside."

"Filthy beggar, get lost."

"Child, you must study hard and grow up to leave this wretched place, or else you'll end up like that person, roaming the streets begging, understand?"

"..."

But even those living in the slums could barely feed themselves, let alone spare money for a beggar.

The beggar continued walking along the street, step by step, until the midnight bell began to toll.

Wearing tattered straw sandals, he followed the sound of the bell to its source—

That decrepit clock tower.

Standing before the clock tower's entrance, the beggar knocked on its rotting wooden door.

He knocked five times in total.

The first three knocks came in quick succession, while the last two were noticeably slower.

Before long, footsteps could be heard from within.

Creak—

The wooden door opened slightly, and a small head peeked out from behind it.

It was a girl with twin cyan pigtails, her lively eyes scanning the surroundings cautiously.

“No one followed you, right?” Rebecca asked.

“No.”

“Alright, well done.”

Rebecca opened the door wider and allowed the beggar to step inside.

She then leaned out again, carefully scanned the area one last time, and, reassured no one was nearby, finally shut the door.

The clock tower’s exterior was dilapidated, no different from the other run-down buildings in the slums.

But its interior held a completely different story.

Past the entrance hallway, a hidden door embedded in the wall led to a spacious hall.

This hall was fully equipped, containing simple bedding, a communal dining table, a kitchen, an intelligence analysis station—everything one could need.

And on the far wall of the hall hung a circular emblem.

The emblem depicted a lifelike lion.

The beggar who was let in by Rebecca shed his disguise and washed his face clean.

Rebecca handed him a towel. “Any news about the Captain and the others, Nacho?”

Nacho Salaman took the towel and wiped his face. “Nothing. Didn’t you say a few days ago that you were planning to declare war on the Empire? Why haven’t they shown up yet?”

“The Captain said he was going to recruit an ally, perhaps it hasn’t gone as planned,” Rebecca replied. “But I think it’ll be soon. Captain has always been someone who keeps his word, and given the importance of this matter, he definitely won’t let us down.”

Nacho placed the towel aside, leaned against the modest washstand, and looked down at the petite girl with twin pigtails.

“I trust your Captain, too. He’s never been one to disappoint. Especially for someone like me, who used to stand on the opposite side of him—I can vouch for that truth.”

Every time he thought back to how he had once obeyed the Empire’s orders, leading a group of Dragon Kings to oppose Leon, Nacho couldn’t help but sigh inwardly:

They sent me to fight Leon—are you kidding me?

Back then, the team of Dragon Kings assigned to him, including their leader Star, consisted of no fewer than five.

Yet within half a year, Leon had single-handedly dismantled his entire squad.

How was I supposed to fight him after that?!

And so, he escaped.

After fleeing and experiencing a series of twists and turns, Nacho eventually joined this organization, which was led by Leon, built to resist the decaying rule of the Empire.

Just a few days ago, Rebecca mentioned that Leon was about to return to the Empire to officially lead them in their declaration of war against the current rulers.

But as time passed, there was still no sign of Leon.

Nacho had complete faith in the man; after all, he had personally witnessed the capabilities and charisma of General Leon firsthand.

Yet—

He raised his gaze, looking over other members of the organization gathered in the hall.

"This battle of ours... it’s dragging on too long."

Nacho narrowed his eyes slightly. “The people who joined the Lionheart Association are, of course, devoted to opposing the Empire, and many are your Captain's die-hard admirers. But, Rebecca, you need to understand something—within this group… there are some who are driven by nothing but their urgent desire for revenge.”

Rebecca also turned her eyes toward the other members of the Lionheart Association, her small face growing increasingly stern.

She remained silent, waiting for Nacho to continue.

“Everyone’s holding their breath, just waiting for Leon to return and sound the clarion call for the counterattack.”

“But as days go by and there’s still no word from Leon...”

“I can wait. You can wait. Martin, Walker—they can all wait. But those who are impatient? They might not have the patience to continue waiting.”

“Do you know what emotion spreads more easily among a crowd than fear?”

Rebecca shook her head.

“Restlessness.”

Nacho explained, “It spreads like a plague from person to person until, gradually, it influences the entire Lionheart Association.”

“Moreover, like all negative emotions, restlessness affects a person’s ability to make sound judgments.”

Rebecca furrowed her brows slightly. “Judgment?”

“I’ve suffered from that flaw before, so I know the feeling. When a person’s judgment is clouded by restlessness, the first thing he does is begin doubting everything around him.”

Rebecca opened her mouth, intending to ask further questions, when a loud bang interrupted them.

A member at one of the tables in the hall had slammed his hand on it, drawing everyone’s attention.

“When are we finally gonna topple that scumbag Emperor? We're constantly told that the timing isn’t right, the timing isn’t right—if we wait any longer, we’ll all be arrested by the Empire before it ever is!”

“Didn’t Miss Rebecca say a few days ago that Captain Leon would return soon? I think it should be very soon.”

“Leon, Leon... You young people all joined the Lionheart Association because of Leon Casmode. But let me ask you, since joining, have you even seen him in person?”

“Uh... no, no, we haven’t.”

“I’m not questioning the purpose of the Lionheart Association's existence. What I object to is Tyger’s approach. If there is no such person as Leon Casmode, why rally us all here under his name? Are we supposed to sacrifice ourselves for a man who’s never existed?”

“Don’t just spout baseless nonsense, man! I used to work alongside Captain Leon in the Dragon Slayer Army, and I’ve met Tyger a few times—they are not the kind of people who would deceive anyone.”

“And you're so sure of this after just a few encounters?”

“...”

The argument intensified.

Rebecca watched the commotion unfold and prepared to step forward to intervene, but Nacho stopped her.

“If you walk into this now, that loose cannon will only shift the focus of everyone’s dissatisfaction onto you. No matter what you say, he’ll find reasons to target you and incite the others against you.”

“Then what do we do? Just let them argue?” Rebecca asked anxiously.

“There’s no real solution. We’ll just have to wait until their emotions simmer down before you try explaining the situation again,” Nacho said. “Though…”

“Though what?”

“I might've underestimated how messy this is going to get.”

Rebecca looked confused, but before she could ask further, the troublemaker shifted the target of his tirade directly onto her.

“Rebecca, you said we are soon declaring war on the Empire, but so many days have passed, and where’s Leon? We’re still hiding in this slum, wasting our days in futile waiting!”

“I—”

“With Tyger gone, you’re just a girl—you can’t possibly manage this group on your own.”

“Not long ago, you said you and Tyger were passing off intelligence to Leon, yet you came back alone. You claimed Tyger was gravely injured and recovering somewhere, and you mentioned you brought help back with you.”

“But so far, I haven’t seen any so-called help. Neither have I seen Leon, and Tyger is nowhere to be found.”

“You’re just a little brat playing us for fools, aren’t you? Tyger and Leon have already deserted us, and they’ve left us here to die. Am I right?!”

“Shut up, you idiot!”

The confrontational man was entirely overcome by emotions, his words escalating beyond reason.

Rebecca finally snapped and shouted at him.

The man froze for a moment but quickly regained his composure, continuing to verbally assault Rebecca.

“Don’t just tell me to shut up! All of us are waiting for your precious Captain Leon. Where is he? You keep saying he’ll come, but where is he?!”

The spread of one individual’s grievance can incite collective unrest in mere moments.

Now, every member of the Lionheart Association had their eyes fixed on Rebecca, and all the pressure bore down on her small shoulders.

Among them, some, like the impetuous man, were starting to waver in their faith in the Lionheart Association and were desperate to see the legendary Leon Casmode.

And even the more rational members, who joined the organization out of admiration for Leon, were longing to finally meet him in the flesh.

In other words, everyone was waiting for Leon.

Looking at Rebecca, who was standing silently under the weight of everyone’s gaze, the man drew a mocking sneer and said,

“Out of things to say, Miss Clement? Tyger’s gone, your so-called ‘ally’ doesn’t even exist, and Leon Casmode... he’s just a lie, isn’t he?”

“No, it’s not true… It’s not true… The Captain, he’ll definitely—”

“Appear at the crucial moment.”

The voice came from the entrance to the hall.

Everyone turned to the source of the sound and saw that it was Walker.

Behind him stood a man and a woman.

“Walker? Weren’t you supposed to be out patrolling? And who are these two—”

Rebecca’s eyes skipped past Walker and fixed on the figure behind him.

For a moment, the stormy teal of her eyes gave way to a flash of hope and delight.

“Captain… Captain!!”

Someone in the crowd also recognized him.

“Leon... Casmode...”

“Leon? It’s Leon! It’s him!”

“Leon Casmode! The Empire’s mightiest Dragon Slayer!”

“…”

Cheers erupted like waves, echoing through the hall of Lionheart Association.

Leon slowly made his way toward Rebecca.

Seeing the little girl with eyes full of grievance, Leon reached out and patted her head gently.

"Sorry, I'm late."