Chapter 7: Begging for mercy, Leon

After exchanging harsh words, both of them stopped provoking each other. Rosvitha walked to the side, picked up her long skirt, and casually put it on. Leon also straightened his clothing.

With everything in order, Rosvitha turned around, stood beside Leon, and then unceremoniously wrapped her tail around his waist, lifting him entirely. Before Leon could say anything, Rosvitha spread her dragon wings, leaped down from the top of the giant tree, and gracefully landed on the ground.

After landing, she casually tossed Leon aside and walked towards the other end of the forest. “Let’s go.”

Leon got up and glanced at the deep forest ahead. From the outskirts of the empire to the Silver Dragon Temple, even the Silver Dragon Queen, known for her speed, would need at least three hours to fly.

With such a long distance, she wouldn’t be thinking of walking back with Leon on foot, would she?

After taking a few steps and noticing Leon was slow to follow, Rosvitha stopped and turned around, “Hurry up, our daughter is waiting for us at home.” She said it casually.

As if the empire and the Silver Dragon Temple were just next-door neighbors. If they were indeed walking back to the Silver Dragon Temple, by the time they saw Muen, the young dragon, again, she might have already transformed into a fully grown female dragon.

Leon didn’t say anything. He just silently followed, dragging his weary body. Since the queen wanted to indulge in the romance of walking, Leon decided to accompany her. He followed at a certain distance behind Rosvitha.

Leon had clearly overestimated his current state. Having just awakened from a two-year coma and then being vigorously drained by this mother dragon, he should have been enjoying a wise man’s time, and a post-activity cigarette found himself wandering through this cursed forest with Rosvitha.

Not even half an hour had passed, and Leon was sweating profusely, panting heavily. He walked to a tree, supporting himself with one hand against the trunk, hoping to catch his breath.

Rosvitha stopped and turned to look at Leon. “Can’t go any further?”

Leon lifted his head, glanced at her, and stubbornly said, “I can still walk.”

Rosvitha smiled faintly, “If you can’t walk, you can tell me. I’m not some heartless person.” Leon was slightly shocked by her words.

The tone in Rosvitha’s words contained a hint of gloating and sarcasm. Leon’s mind stirred slightly, and he immediately understood why Rosvitha suggested walking back. It turned out she wanted Leon to beg for mercy.

In the current situation, all the chips were in Rosvitha’s hands. The distance to the temple was still quite far, and it was clear that walking back on foot was not a feasible option. However, Rosvitha could transform into a dragon and fly back at any time. While Leon had the empire behind him, he had no way to escape Rosvitha’s watchful eyes. Even if he managed to run a few meters, she would catch him. So, after humiliating Leon’s dignity, Rosvitha seemed to have another plan to torment his body slowly.

Thinking of this, Leon couldn’t help but grip the dry tree trunk. He gritted his teeth and replied, “I said I’m not tired. Let’s keep walking.”

“Hmph, only your mouth is tough from head to toe.”

Leon walked up, brushed past Rosvitha, looked ahead, and said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, besides my mouth, my bones are pretty tough, too. Want to see me beg you? Not possible.”

He took a step and continued walking forward. Rosvitha snorted coldly and followed.

Anyway, with her energetic dragon form against an extremely weakened human, there was no suspense in the outcome. She wanted to see just how tough this great dragon slayer’s mouth really was. The two walked for another ten minutes or so when suddenly they heard a commotion not far away.

Looking towards the source of the sound, they saw a flickering firelight as if someone was camping. The firelight was the bonfire they had lit to ward off some of the wild animals in the forest.

Leon’s pitch-black pupils reflected the bonfire, a semblance of hope. He opened his mouth, wanting to shout for help, as this might be his only chance to communicate his situation to the outside world. But as the words reached his lips, Leon swallowed them back. He glanced sideways at Rosvitha. If he were to call for help from that group of people now, Rosvitha would undoubtedly kill them without hesitation. That would be no different from Leon causing harm to them.

Realizing this, though deeply regretful, Leon still turned around and left. However, before taking a few steps, a warm voice was heard from the campfire. As the voice fell silent, rustling sounds emerged, as if the group of people were coming through the bushes.

Rosvitha immediately became alert, gathering magical energy in her hands. Seeing this, Leon hurriedly approached and restrained Rosvitha’s wrist.

The scalding magical energy burned Leon’s hand, but he paid no attention. Leon stood in front of Rosvitha, shielding her tail. The people from the campfire approached, keeping a bit of distance.

“Are you two lost?” A young man asked.

“Oh no, we’re just… um… strolling.”

“This forest is not a good place for a casual stroll, sir. There are many dangerous creatures and beasts. How about spending the night at our camp? Tomorrow, we can escort you down the mountain.”

After a pause, the young man, perhaps fearing that Leon might think he’s a bad person, voluntarily disclosed his identity, “Oh, by the way, I’m Walker, the captain of the Imperial Dragon Slayer Corps, 47th Squad.”

The moonlight was elusive, and the trees in the mountains were dense. Plus, they were at a certain distance so that they couldn’t see each other’s faces clearly.

Otherwise, as a member of the Dragon Slayer Corps, Walker would not fail to recognize Leon.

A golden opportunity lay before them. If Leon were to shout now, “Help me quickly,” this well-trained Dragon Slayer squad would immediately realize the problem. However, the cost would be that they might all be annihilated by Rosvitha.

Even if someone were fortunate enough to escape and report Leon’s situation back to the capital, the cost of casualties would be too high.

Leon would absolutely not do such a thing. Leon pursed his lips and suddenly embraced Rosvitha’s waist. This action startled the queen, and even the magical energy in her hands dissipated unconsciously.

“Thank you for the kind offer, Dragon Slayers. My wife and I have undergone some training, and we can take care of ourselves. We’re just here to wander around. We’ll be heading down the mountain shortly.”

Hearing Leon’s words, Captain Walker no longer insisted, “Alright. Oh, by the way, take this as a gift.”

Walker walked up and handed them a signal flare, saying, “If you really encounter danger, fire this signal flare into the sky, and we’ll come immediately.”

Leon took it, nodding in gratitude, “Thank you.”

“Not at all—Hmm? Sir, you look somewhat familiar. Have I seen you somewhere?” As they got closer, Walker also got a clearer look at Leon’s face.

Leon hesitated for a moment, then smiled and rejected, “Oh, young man, I just have a common face. When my wife pursued me back in the day, she was drawn to this face of mine.”

Rosvitha: …

Walker smiled, “Alright, I won’t disturb you two any longer.”

With that, Walker and his team departed. Once they were far away, Leon also breathed a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

Rosvitha immediately pushed Leon away with her tail and teased, “I didn’t expect you to spin such elaborate lies. ‘She pursued me,’ really! It’s absurd.”

Leon glared at her but didn’t say anything, tacitly admitting.

“You’re quite clever, Leon. No calls for help, no impulsiveness. Besides being stubborn, I haven’t found any other flaws in you yet.”

“I didn’t want to be your husband either.”

Leon pocketed the signal flare, then glanced down at his hand, which had been scorched by Rosvitha’s magic moments ago. It stung a bit, but it wasn’t a big issue.

Rosvitha raised her eyebrows, noticing Leon’s movements and his injured hand. Leon continued walking forward, ignoring Rosvitha.

Rosvitha smiled indifferently and followed along. They continued walking and didn’t encounter any other dragon-slaying teams. However, Leon’s body couldn’t hold up in the end. His vision darkened, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Rosvitha turned around, walked to his side, half crouched down, gently lifted his chin, and looked at his tired and pale face, smiling as she asked,

“You finally can’t walk anymore, Leon. Beg me, beg me, and I’ll take you back to rest.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

“Heh, don’t you want to lie on a soft big bed, eat the supper prepared by the maids for you, and take a comfortable hot bath before sleep? Just ask me once, and three hours later, we’ll be home.”

Leon slowly closed his eyes, using the last bit of strength to say, “If you have the guts, just leave me here to feed the wolves.”

Having said that, he completely fell unconscious.

The next moment, a storm erupted around Leon, leaves swirling and the earth trembling. A silver dragon picked up Leon, tossing him onto its back. Then, flapping its dragon wings, it soared into the deep night sky.