Chapter 85: Come, Call Me Godmother

Twenty years have passed. As a pure-blooded human who never crossed the spatial rift, Rebecca naturally aged and grew in this world where ‘Leon Casmode didn’t exist.’
Gone was her former neurotic, erratic demeanor. Just her “long time no see” revealed considerable composure and restraint.
Though she hadn’t grown taller, her fashion sense had improved dramatically – fitted pants paired with a black coat that flattered her figure.
Her signature twin tails from years ago had become a single ponytail, likely for easier maintenance.
Leon never expected to reunite with Rebecca under these circumstances.
He opened his mouth, suppressing his surprise and excitement, “I thought after Master left, you weren’t in the Empire anymore.”
Rebecca holstered her gun and walked over, “Old man left because he was getting too old to continue operating in the Empire, but I’m still full of energy, so naturally there was no need to leave. Moreover…”
Rebecca tilted her head slightly, her gaze moving past Leon to look at the three girls behind him.
Following her gaze, Leon remembered that Rebecca had never met his daughters in person, only seeing Noia and Muen in photos when they were young.
So Leon began introducing them, “Oh, they are my—”
“Daughters,” Rebecca said flatly. “I know.”
“Eh? You’ve… met before?”
Before Rebecca could answer, Noia walked over and naturally stood beside Rebecca, smiling as she greeted her, “Aunt Rebecca.”
A trace of displeasure and resignation flashed through her cyan pupils as Rebecca sighed, “How many times have I told you not to call me aunty? Makes me sound so old.”
“But you’re the same generation as Dad, so we can only call you aunty,” Aurora explained lazily from behind, hands in her pockets.
“Mm-hmm, big sis and Little Light are right!” Muen agreed.
Rebecca crossed her arms, looking up at the 1.7-meter tall Noia with her height of barely 1.6 meters, and coldly quipped,
“After not seeing you for several years, did you three only focus on growing taller? What’s with all this nonsense in your heads?”
Her sarcasm skills had declined somewhat.
However, listening to the conversation between his old teammate and daughters, Leon seemed to realize something.
“Noia, that very reliable informant you mentioned… was it Rebecca?”
Noia nodded, “Twenty years ago when you disappeared into the spatial rift, news spread quickly throughout the Empire. After Grandfather Teg and Aunt Rebecca found out, they risked being discovered to contact Mom, and that’s when we first met.”
“Still in that mountain cave. Old man and I decided to stay in the Empire, to see if we could find a way to reopen the spatial rift. If we couldn’t find one, then we’d have to avenge you in our own way,” Rebecca said.
She continued, “For twenty years, the wanted notices for me and the old man never stopped. Though we were caught twice, thankfully Martin worked things from within the royal family to help us escape and fake it as accidents.”
“Martin… how is he doing now?” Leon asked.
In Leon’s memory, during those years he was captured by the Silver Dragons, Martin had reverted to being that timid boy from the beginning.
He had really hoped Martin could learn to be strong and brave even without him around.
After all, being born into a royal minister’s family, weakness would only encourage enemies to bully you more intensely.
“Martin changed quite a bit after dealing with Victor’s matter twenty years ago.”
Rebecca said, “Perhaps it was because he knew his most admired captain was still alive, or perhaps for some other reason, but in any case, your little fanboy has been doing quite well after taking over his old man’s position.”
“He… took over his father’s position?”
“Yes. But don’t worry, Martin wasn’t corrupted by power. And thanks to his help, I’ve been able to learn the latest intelligence from within the royal family immediately and pass it to Noia.”
Rebecca said, “So, did you successfully get the heart dragon scales?”
Leon shook the black bag in his hand, which was completely full.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised, “You didn’t take all the dragon scales, did you?”
“Thieves don’t leave empty-handed,” Leon shrugged.
“That’s a serious crime, starting at ten death sentences by hanging,” Rebecca said.
“Is there any difference between ten hangings and one?” Leon shrugged. “You die from the first one anyway, the other nine would just be mincing meat.”
“I hate minced meat,” Rebecca said.
After their playful banter, the two old teammates looked at each other.
Shortly after, they simultaneously opened their arms and embraced each other.
Rebecca pressed against her captain’s chest, solid and warm, as she held back her tears and mumbled, “Twenty years ago when I tried to hug you, you stepped half a step back.”
“The situation’s different now,” Leon said.
Muen blinked, consistently performing as expected, “How is the situation different?”
Leon: ……
Do you really want to know, sweetie?
Because back then I was basically still in the honeymoon phase with your mother, so if I went out and hugged another pretty girl, what would happen to my male virtues?
But now your mother and I are an old married couple, we both know how much we love each other, so she won’t mind if I hug an old teammate~
“Second sis, don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked. Men are all like this after being married for a long time,” Aurora held back her laughter.
Rebecca pushed Leon away and looked at the troublemaker, asking flatly, “Little pink hair, have you thought about accepting me as your godmother?”
“You just said we couldn’t call you aunty! How come you’re bringing up the godmother thing now!”
“Aunty is aunty, godmother is godmother. So, how about calling me godmother?”
Aurora stamped her foot and turned to her sister for help, “Big sis! Look at her, bullying me again!”
Noia waved her hand, indicating she wanted no part in this.
She had no way of handling Rebecca’s sharp tongue either.
Leon blinked, understanding now.
This was truly a case of the wicked being tormented by the wicked!
When two sarcastic people meet, it becomes a battle of wit and sharp tongues.
Clearly, Rebecca had verbally defeated Little Light!
“Are you planning to leave the city before dawn?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes, time is tight and we have much to do. We need to continue perfecting the reversal magic when we get back.”
Leon paused, then added an explanation, “Oh, reversal magic is—”
“I know, Noia already briefly explained this when we exchanged intelligence.”
Rebecca said, “Although I don’t quite understand the theory behind reversal magic, anyway… Captain, you’re going to save the world again, right?”
“Ah, I don’t want to either, but with my abilities being what they are, I have no choice.”
Perfect match.
The King of Boasting is back, same formula, same taste.
Not seeing the captain boast for twenty full years made Rebecca feel like something was missing in her life.
Now her life felt complete.
“But before saving the world, you need to leave the Empire first, right?” Rebecca said.
“Yes, but several hours ago, to get information about the heart dragon scales’ location, we kidnapped Nacho. This has already alerted the Empire, so trying to leave… will be very risky.”
Leon said, “I was planning to sneak to the city gates while it’s still dark, then have Noia and the others transform into dragon form to break through. Silver Dragons have a natural speed advantage, so shaking off pursuers shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Rebecca pondered briefly, analyzing:
“But over these twenty years, the Empire has bred many flying-type dangerous species. Although most dangerous species aren’t as well-rounded as dragons, in terms of pure speed… they might be able to match Silver Dragons. If the Empire deploys such dangerous species to chase you, escape would still be difficult.”
“Is that so…”
Leon was momentarily stumped.
Easy to get in, hard to get out.
If they tried to find a place in the Empire to temporarily lay low, Leon couldn’t be sure how long “temporary” would be.
Now there were less than three months left of the six-month timeframe Aurora had initially mentioned.
They were pressed for time and couldn’t waste it playing cat and mouse with the Empire.
They had to leave the city as soon as possible.
“How about this – I’ll have Martin arrange to send you out of the city using the royal family’s cargo carriages.”
Rebecca said, “Although the city is under martial law, it’s not completely hopeless. We can take a gamble – if we’re discovered, we can still break through by force then.”
Leon considered Rebecca’s suggestion. At this point, it seemed like their only option.
“How long will it take Martin to make the arrangements?”
Rebecca raised her elegant eyebrow, “How about right now?”