Chapter 76: Dad, you should exercise

The next morning, the family of four stood in the front yard waiting for the Leviathan school bus. Leon had heavy dark circles under his eyes, his feet felt light, and he could barely stand steady.

Noia and Muen looked at him curiously.

“Why do you look like you haven’t slept again?” Noia asked.

“Ah… stayed up too late doing homework,” Leon replied dazedly.

“Homework? Do adults have homework too?” Noia raised an eyebrow.

“Children have children’s homework, and of course adults have their own homework,” Rosvitha whispered, trying to defuse the situation.

Noia nodded, not pressing further.

Muen blinked her pretty eyes, glanced at her mom, then at her dad, and said excitedly, “Muen found a super amazing pattern!”

The three of them looked at their youngest daughter.

“Yeah, when Mom is feeling good, Dad becomes very weak; and then when Dad is feeling good, Mom becomes very weak! Right? It must be like this!”

Although it sounded strange, it seemed… indeed true.

The relationship between Rosvitha and Leon was like a seesaw, someone always ended up feeling drained while the other gained energy. As for who was the “teacher” and who was the “student”, it depended on who took the initiative first.

Leon patted Muen’s little head, “Good daughter, you’re so smart. If anyone dares to say you only know how to be cute, Dad will be the first to fight him.”

The family of four chatted leisurely as the silhouette of Leviathan gradually appeared, then slowly hovered above the temple.

Noia ran over and waved to them before the pillar of light transported her into Leviathan. The giant dragon slowly departed, disappearing into the horizon. Leon lifted Muen up. “What do you want to play today?”

Muen thought for a moment and replied, “Let’s go to the training ground to exercise~”

“Exercise? How come you suddenly have this hobby?” Leon asked.

Muen shook her little head and quickly explained, “It’s not a hobby, it’s because Muen sees Dad always looking weak, so it must be because of a lack of exercise. Muen wants to encourage Dad to exercise more, which is also good for Mom.”

Upon hearing this, the couple blushed.

Rosvitha quickly interjected, “Dad exercising is for his own good, not for Mom’s.”

“No, no, if Dad becomes stronger, he can protect Mom better~”

Oh. So it was a misunderstanding, haha~

“And Muen herself wants to practice more and become stronger!”

The desire to become stronger was ingrained in the dragon race. Even for gentle and obedient little dragon girls like Muen, they couldn’t help but want to become “stronger.”

She wasn’t aiming to defeat anyone or win against anyone; in her own words:

She wanted to catch up to her big sister.

Leon naturally didn’t refuse. “Alright, Dad will take you.”

He carried Muen to the backyard of the temple.

Rosvitha thought for a moment, then went upstairs.

The father and daughter arrived at the track of the training ground and began warming up. Leon explained to Muen a few simple warm-up exercises and their effects.

“First, stretching is important during warm-up. It helps gradually relax the body, increase flexibility, and reduce the risk of injury during exercise,” Leon explained. He stepped out, shoulder-width apart, raised one arm, with the other hand on his waist, and demonstrated a standard stretching movement.

Muen watched attentively and followed suit.

“Next is walking warm-up, which helps the body wake up quickly and gradually adapt to increasing difficulty and pace.”

The father and daughter briskly walked back and forth at the starting point. Leon took big strides but slowly, while Muen, with her short legs, could only quickly move her little legs.

After a few more warm-up exercises, they finally prepared to start running.

“Take me too.”

Rosvitha’s voice came from behind.

They turned to look.

Rosvitha had changed out of her usual long skirt. She was now wearing sportswear, her long silver hair tied up in a high ponytail, giving her a tall and capable appearance.

“Mom, aren’t you working today?” Muen asked.

“Well, I’m not too busy these days. Why don’t you want Mom to join you?” Rosvitha replied.

“No, no! It’s great if Mom can join us~”

Rosvitha bent down and rubbed Muen’s head. “Then Muen, you better give it your all. Mom won’t go easy on you.”

“Okay! Muen won’t go easy on Mom either!” The little dragon girl was full of enthusiasm and high spirits.

Leon teased, flexing his ankles. “Can your little body that hardly moves a bit every day handle it? Don’t sprain your foot later.”

“Ah, I indeed don’t often exercise,” Rosvitha stretched lazily, then did a few leg stretches. “The last time I broke a sweat was when I almost defeated you in the training ground.”

“Correction, it was a narrow victory, not almost defeated,” Leon tried to salvage his pride from the last defeat.

“Call it whatever you want, but I won.”

“You cunning dragon—”

“If you’re not convinced, let’s have another match.”

“Alright! Mom and Dad will have another match!” Muen cheered excitedly, seeming completely unconcerned about stirring up trouble.

Leon quickly squatted down and covered his daughter’s mouth. “Kids shouldn’t always think about fighting, it’s rude.”

Muen tilted her head innocently and asked, “Dad, can’t you beat Mom?”

Leon’s face turned red. “W-what can’t beat? Dad just doesn’t want to hurt Mom.”

The little dragon girl looked puzzled. “Really, Dad?”

Leon felt a bit guilty but stuck to his guns. “Yes, really… of course it’s true.”

“Oh, I thought Dad really couldn’t beat Mom~”

No way.

How did such a young child learn to be so ruthless?

This can’t be your mother’s influence, darling!

Rosvitha arrived at the starting line. “Alright, whether you can beat each other or not, let’s save that for later. For now, let’s see who can run longer.”

It wasn’t about speed; it was about endurance.

Leon had a feeling he knew what Rosvitha’s next words would be.

“Keep going a little longer, Leon~” She lowered her voice and mouthed to Leon, “Classmate~”

Ha, as expected.

Leon also stood at the starting line.

Muen stood between the couple.

Leon bent down, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it into the air. As the stone fell, Leon flicked his fingertip, causing a bolt of lightning to shatter the stone.

The family of three started running simultaneously.

Once they started running, the couple instinctively slowed down to accommodate Muen.

They ran in a line, with Muen in front, Rosvitha behind her, and Leon at the back.

“Don’t you tuck your tail in when you run?” Leon asked.

“The tail helps with balance. When we dragons—I mean, when I sprint, I don’t have to worry as much,” Rosvitha replied from the front. “So, should you consider showing your tail too?”

“No, thanks.”

“Hmph.”

The track in the training ground was approximately 400 meters long.

Muen had only just started practicing, so she stopped to rest after running two laps. This meant that Leon and Rosvitha had entered the real competition phase.

This odd couple always wanted to compete in everything. This included, but was not limited to, who their daughter liked more, who the older sister played with more, and who had the upper hand in deep conversations.

Even now, they had to compete while accompanying their child for a run.

Well, they had spirit!

The Silver Dragon race was known for their incredible speed. Compared to Rosvitha, Leon didn’t actually have much of an advantage in running. Plus, he had completed seven assignments last night. Dealing with both academic and physical exercises, who could bear it?

But when he stood at the starting line with Rosvitha, he had no retreat.

One of the tenets of the Dragon Slayer creed:

Born to battle, fight to the death!

Twenty minutes later.

Rosvitha kicked Leon’s shoulder. “Do you yield?”

Leon lay on the track, panting heavily with his eyes closed, forming a ‘no’ with his lips. “N-no yield.”

“No yield? Alright then, get up and keep running.”

“Choose another day, give me two days of practice time.”

Rosvitha shrugged. “I’ll give you two years if you want, or two and a half if needed.”

She squatted down and poked Leon’s face with her tail. “So, dear Mr. Leon, can you perform now? I love a clean body~”

Leon was speechless.

“You hold grudges so well, you’ll definitely pay for it!”

“Thanks, that’s how I roll.”

Rosvitha stood up, took off her sports jacket to reveal a very hot and sexy sports vest underneath. She tied the jacket around her waist and turned to Muen. “Let’s go, Muen. Mom will continue to accompany you for other exercises. Dad is too weak~”

Mother and daughter were in perfect harmony, huh?

Alright, just you wait!

The wheel of fortune turns, and I won’t be underestimated, Dad!

During dinner.

“Dad is weak…”

“Open your mouth, ahh~”

“Ahh~”

At the dining table, Leon seemed drained, his cheek resting on the table. Muen scooped up a spoonful of fried rice and carefully fed it to Leon.

Rosvitha sat on the side, her legs crossed, leisurely sipping post-dinner tea. “You’re getting old, don’t push yourself too hard.”

“It must be because of the homework last night. If I hadn’t stayed up so late, I would have definitely won against you today,” Leon said.

“Is that so? Then do you want to continue doing homework tonight?” Rosvitha asked.

Upon hearing this, Leon sat up straight, then hugged Muen close. “I made a promise to Muen. We’re going to tell stories tonight.”

Muen, holding the spoon, blinked blankly. “Dad, did we have this agreement?”

“We didn’t just now, but we do now.”

“Oh, okay!”

Rosvitha chuckled, set down her tea cup, and stood up. “The maids will come to clean up the table later. Don’t stay up too late telling stories. Rest early.”

“We know, Mom~”

Rosvitha waved and left the dining room, returning to her own room.

After spending the whole day with those two, Rosvitha had broken quite a sweat. She took off her sports vest and pants, leaving only two pieces of close-fitting clothing, and walked into the bathroom barefoot.

Warm water flowed over her tender skin, washing away the fatigue accumulated throughout the day.

After a simple shower, Rosvitha wrapped herself in a towel and walked out of the bathroom. Then, she sat in front of the dressing table, starting to dry her wet hair.

Her gaze inadvertently fell on the parting gift Isabella had given her as she left the Red Dragon Temple yesterday. She hadn’t even had dinner after returning yesterday; she had gone to “do homework” with Leon.

Naturally, she hadn’t had a chance to open the gift. Rosvitha let her hair loose and reached for the gift box, then opened it.

Inside was a—

“A swimsuit?”

The swimsuit was primarily silver-white in color, with plenty of fabric, quite conservative—

Conservative to the point where it didn’t seem like something her older sister would give.

In theory, that scheming Red Dragon should’ve given her something more provocative, right? Like some lingerie?

Rosvitha couldn’t understand.

But she still carefully placed the swimsuit in her wardrobe.

“Oh, it seems like Noia and Muen have never been to the beach. I should take them there sometime.”

Muttering to herself, Rosvitha closed the wardrobe.

As she turned around, she caught a glimpse of a figure on the balcony.

“Shirley?”

“It’s me, sorry, Your Majesty, I didn’t know you had just finished… bathing, so I’ve been waiting here.”

Rosvitha adjusted the towel higher on her chest, covering the dragon markings, then went to the balcony.

“No problem.”

Rosvitha said, “Did you find any trace of Teg Lawrence?”

Previously, when Shirley came back to report, she said that Leon’s master, Teg Lawrence, seemed to have vanished into thin air, and no matter how they searched, they couldn’t find him.

This time, Rosvitha wondered if there would be any good news.

“We can now confirm that Teg Lawrence and his wife are no longer in the Empire. They moved away about a year ago,” Shirley said. “All their belongings were donated to an orphanage in the Empire, and as for the cows and sheep on the farm, they were also given to the neighbors. Except… um…”

Rosvitha raised an eyebrow. “Except what?”

“Except for a donkey. The neighbors said that when Teg and his wife moved, they specifically took that donkey with them.”

Was this donkey the mascot of Leon’s family? They seemed to be very fond of it from childhood to old age. Rosvitha felt a bit speechless, even amused.

But she couldn’t afford to appear too frivolous in front of her subordinates. She cleared her throat awkwardly. “Ahem—Alright, I understand. Continue searching for Teg’s whereabouts outside the Empire, and report to me immediately if there’s any news.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. I take my leave.”

With those words, her figure flashed, disappearing before Rosvitha.

Rosvitha walked to the balcony, leaning against the railing and gazing into the distance at the mountains and forests shrouded in the darkness of night, her thoughts stirring.

“Leon’s master… Why did he leave the empire?”