Chapter 78: I Am a Security Guard

The merchant caravans entering and leaving the Empire were much more numerous than before, which greatly reduced the difficulty of Leon and his group’s infiltration.
If there were only a few scattered merchant groups, those guards might really search each one carefully.
But now with carriages lined up one after another, if they were to search each one thoroughly, they wouldn’t be able to let many merchant groups through in a day.
This would greatly affect the speed at which the officials could collect taxes and make money – how could that work?
Better to turn a blind eye to some things.
But the rookie security guard who hadn’t yet experienced society’s harshness didn’t seem to think so.
“Captain, is it really okay for us to work so carelessly like this? Isn’t this just going through the motions?” asked the newly appointed Empire patrol team rookie.
The man called Captain lounged lazily in his wooden chair, holding a pipe, puffing smoke, “Kid, how much is your monthly military salary?”
“Twenty gold coins.” The rookie answered straightforwardly.
“Exactly, twenty gold coins deserves twenty gold coins’ worth of work. You’re getting paid twenty gold coins but trying to do two hundred gold coins’ worth of work – that’s called overstepping your bounds.”
The Captain spoke in an experienced tone, drawling his words.
But the rookie still didn’t understand, “What if something really happens?”
“Really happens? Kid, the Empire has been peaceful these twenty years. Ever since that guy called Leon Casmode disappeared, no one has dared to cause trouble in the Empire.”
“Leon… Casmode?”
“Haven’t heard of him? Well, I suppose not, it’s all ancient history now. I’ll tell you about it slowly after we change shifts.”
“Oh…”
The Captain continued to smoke his pipe leisurely.
Twenty gold coins salary wasn’t little.
But it also wasn’t enough to make them search under every carriage.
“Damn, when I worked my way up to the head of the Dragon Slayer Army I only got a hundred gold coins a month, now these security guards get twenty gold coins a month without risking their lives. If I’d known earlier I would have been a security guard too, could have saved twenty years of detours.”
“But Dad, if you were a security guard you wouldn’t have met Mom, right?”
“Eh, that’s not necessarily true, precious. I didn’t say I had to be a security guard in the Empire, couldn’t I have been a security guard at the Silver Dragon Temple and still met your mother?”
“Emmm… a Silver Dragon Queen marrying a temple security guard sounds a bit sci-fi.”
“Is it any less sci-fi that the Silver Dragon Queen married a human?”
“Shh!”
Noia interrupted the father-daughter chat. “We’re approaching the gate, stay quiet.”
Everyone held their breath, pressing themselves tightly against the bottom of the carriage.
The merchant caravan stopped at the empire’s gate for routine inspection.
The so-called inspection was merely a cursory glance – as long as there were no suspicious or dangerous items, everything would be allowed through.
Such laxity wasn’t just due to the security team’s traditional laziness, but also because of their faith in the mighty empire.
As the captain just said, besides Leon, no one would dare cause trouble in the empire.
As the most powerful nation in human territory, others were grateful just for the opportunity to pay tribute. Who would dare to secretly plot trouble?
After the inspection, Leon and his daughters successfully snuck into the empire with the merchant caravan.
After walking several streets and confirming there were no imperial patrols nearby, they seized the opportunity to crawl out from under the carriage and hide in a nearby alley.
Leon stood at the entrance of the alley, pressing against the wall and peering out to check both directions. No one was watching them, and they hadn’t drawn attention from passersby.
He turned back to discuss strategy with his daughters.
“The informant’s report didn’t specify the exact location of the dragon scales, only that they’re in some secret fortress within the imperial city,” Noia said. “We’ll need to put in more effort to find them.”
Leon nodded.
He had anticipated from the start that finding the heart dragon scales wouldn’t be so easy.
The empire wouldn’t collect such things without reason.
Heart dragon scales are vital “safety devices” for dragons, so there were many possible uses humans might have for them.
For something so precious, the empire would certainly keep it hidden away securely.
It was already impressive that Noia’s mysterious informant could learn that “the empire is collecting heart dragon scales.” If they had also discovered the specific storage location, the empire’s security departments would need to start looking for new jobs.
The enemy wasn’t stupid. Getting past security was just the beginning of the real challenge.
“I have two strategies,” Leon said.
“First, we split into pairs to search the imperial city and its surroundings until we find where the scales are kept.”
“Second, we capture and interrogate a relevant official to get the information we need.”
“The first method is relatively safer but time-consuming;”
“The second method will get us the location faster, but the risks increase accordingly.”
“My thought is that we start with the paired search, and if we don’t get results quickly, we take the risk of capturing someone. What do you think?”
The three sisters exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement with their father’s plan.
“Good, let’s confirm the specific pairs now.”
Leon said, “Noia with Little Light, and I’ll go with Muen. Any problems?”
Muen’s beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement as she said, “I get to go on a secret mission with Dad?”
“Yes, are you happy?” Leon asked with a smile.
“Happy! Super happy!” If they weren’t trying to infiltrate the empire, the daughters would have their tails out, and Muen’s would surely be wagging to the sky with joy.
Noia gently poked her sister’s cheek. “Alright little shadow, after we split up, be good and listen well. Don’t run off or slow things down.”
“Tch, sister, you still treat me like a child,” Muen pouted.
Noia fondly rubbed her little head, “In front of him, you always seem like you never grow up.”
“Hmph~”
After establishing the initial action plan, Leon added some cautions:
“If you encounter an emergency, avoid combat if possible, and try not to use magic. Remember our purpose for infiltrating the empire is the heart dragon scales.”
At the mention of magic, Aurora suddenly thought of something:
“Oh right, Second Sister, even if you must use magic, try to stick to one element and don’t use two at once. Dual awakening is extremely rare, especially with lightning and fire elements. If anyone in the imperial city is familiar with what happened with Mom and Dad back then, they could easily guess our situation.”
Muen nodded, “Mm-hmm, understood.”
“Well then, let’s begin. Whether or not we find the heart dragon scales’ location, we’ll meet back here in three days,” Leon said.
“Okay.”
Noia and Aurora left first.
Leon took Muen through the back alleys.
Noia and the others’ faces had never appeared in the empire, and for twenty years the three sisters had deliberately avoided contact with the empire’s dragon-slaying army.
So no one in the empire should recognize them, allowing them to walk the streets without disguise.
But General Leon was a top-level wanted criminal from twenty years ago, and a human traitor who “fell” from being a dragon-slaying hero. His notoriety and story would be explosive even in textbooks.
Even after twenty years, there was still a risk of being recognized, so to be safe, they should stick to back roads when possible.
“Dad, are we going to the imperial city now?” Muen asked, walking beside Leon.
“Let’s wait until dark. Unlike Noia’s group who can walk freely on the streets, night will be our best cover.”
“Oh, okay!”
One advantage of splitting up was that not all daughters had to follow Leon’s cautious movement.
Noia and Aurora, who had never shown their faces in the empire, could move much more freely.
Having all three people together would inevitably draw attention, which is why Leon decided to split into pairs, allowing them to watch out for each other.
The father-daughter pair wound through the back streets, arriving at the top of an abandoned clock tower. From here, they could see the distant imperial city.
“Now we just need to wait for nightfall.”
Leon gazed at that magnificent and splendid building, wondering what terrifying beasts might be hiding beneath its bright and beautiful exterior.