Vol. 1 Ch. 181

Avoiding the topic about his wife—oops, I mean—the boss, Leon took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

“Also, Rebecca, do you know what’s going on with this?” He unfolded the paper, revealing a red-level wanted poster.

Rebecca glanced at it, not particularly surprised. “Hmm, yeah, I know. I was just about to tell you. Old man Teg has been wanted by the Empire for about a year now.”

Leon’s mind stirred slightly. “A year ago…”

Rebecca nodded. “It caused quite a stir in the newspapers back then. They were saying that Old man Teg is some kind of mad murderer, a lunatic or something.”

“My master… has killed people?”

“Wait here, I’ll get the newspapers.”

Rebecca got up, rummaged through some boxes, and found several newspapers before sitting back down on the sofa.

“Master of the Red Mill, casino owner, and the drugstore proprietor.”

Rebecca spread out the newspapers and introduced them one by one.

“The Red Mill, a place for the nobles to entertain themselves, filled with beautiful women. Different prices for different services, if you know what I mean. But most of the girls there are abducted. The ones with good looks serve the nobles; the ones with average looks work for a couple of years before being killed and sold for organs.”

“The casino, on the surface, it’s the largest in the Empire, but behind the scenes, it’s involved in money laundering, black markets, loan sharking, you name it. Most of the money they launder is blood money.”

“The drugstore, it sells various herbs, but in reality, it’s a massive drug den, destroying countless families.”

Leon ran his hand through his hair, summarizing his master’s actions aptly, “So… it’s all about yellow, gambling, and drugs!”

Rebecca: “Yeah, besides, these three people also have one thing in common, and that is their background in the Imperial family.”

Leon nodded, “People without background indeed wouldn’t dare to venture into such gray areas of industry.”

Rebecca paused, as if suddenly remembering something, “Oh, right, Old man Teg also killed two royal guards a year ago and dumped their bodies on the walls of the palace.”

At the mention, Leon couldn’t help but furrow his brow, “That doesn’t sound much like my master’s style…”

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

Leon pondered carefully.

If his master had been wanted for a year, wouldn’t that coincide with his meeting with Rosvitha?

So, after agreeing to the one-year pact with Rosvitha, his master did return to the Empire.

And his master’s purpose in returning to the Empire should have been to help Leon clear the traitor’s label and restore his honor.

But the Empire didn’t agree in the end?

So, his master resorted to these ‘vigilante’ means to pressure the Empire over the past year?

This speculation seemed reasonable, but it would take meeting his master to confirm.

So, where should Leon go now to find that old man?

Should he return to the farm and wait?

That seemed like a waste of time and could potentially attract unnecessary trouble.

Lost in thought, Leon had no clear direction.

Seeing the captain’s confusion, the cute girl blinked her pretty eyes and said, “Old man Teg might have some recent actions.”

Leon’s eyes lit up, “What do you mean?”

“The casino owner was killed by Old man Teg two months ago. A week before he was killed, he publicly taunted Old man Teg in the newspapers, calling him a crazy and foolish fugitive, but suggested that if he turned himself in now, he might be able to shake off the foolishness. And then… he was taken out by Old man Teg. At that time, the security forces had set up a dragnet near the casino owner’s house, waiting for Old man Teg to take the bait, but they underestimated him. Not only did the casino owner not survive, but Old man Teg also slipped away.”

Leon grasped Rebecca’s implication, “Are you saying someone recently taunted my master again?”

“Yeah, it’s a priest from a church,” Rebecca said. “This priest said that Old man Teg is Satan’s puppet, an irredeemable demon who, even in death, can’t go to hell and will become a wandering soul for life.”

Leon wasn’t particularly interested in the pre-fight trash talk from the priest; he was more concerned about, “What’s the priest’s involvement with yellow, gambling, and drugs?”

“I… can’t say for sure, but I can hint at it, Captain.”

“Huh?”

“What’s the name of a craft similar to ‘metallurgy’?”

Leon paused, thought for a moment, and then realized.

No wonder Rebecca was hesitant to say it; this priest was indeed twisted.

Damn it.

“But this time’s taunting is even more obvious than the one from the casino owner, it’s blatantly a trap, and it’s definitely more tightly guarded than last time. It’s like they’re just waiting for Old man Teg to walk into the trap,” Rebecca said. “So, I’m not sure if Old man Teg will actually go.”

“He will definitely go,” Leon said confidently.

“Why?” Rebecca inquired.

“My master has told me before that obvious traps aren’t called traps; they’re called ‘contests’. With his personality, he’s capable of anything to pressure the Empire,” Leon explained.

In the past, his master had said many absurd things, and he had dismissed them as boasting. But now, knowing that his master was actually a skilled expert hiding in plain sight, those absurd sayings seemed like life lessons.

Leon stood up, “Thank you, Rebecca, for sharing all this with me and for trusting me. Next, take care of yourself. Once I’ve sorted things out, I’ll come find you to catch up.”

Having gathered enough information from Rebecca, Leon was ready to move on to the next step. He took out his sunglasses from his pocket, thanked her, and headed towards the door.

“Hey, Captain, where are you going?” Rebecca got up and caught up with him.

“I’m going to the church to meet my master.”

“This time, the Empire will definitely send a lot of people. It’s very dangerous, Captain. Even if you meet Old man Teg, it’ll be hard to break through the encirclement with just the two of you.”

That sounded a bit off…

When Leon turned around, Rebecca had already slung two heavy firepower rifles on her back.

Sshh…

Do artillery specialists have a pocket dimension or something?

She just pulls out guns whenever she wants.

“Are you… really going with me?” Despite leaving the Dragon Slayer Army, his former teammate could at least live a peaceful life now. He didn’t want Rebecca to follow him into danger.

“Of course,” Rebecca said firmly, her cute face displaying a determined smile. “Three years ago, I left you and sneaked back to the Empire on my own, but three years later, I won’t leave you behind again, Captain.”

…

Late at night, on the rooftop across from the church, Leon and Rebecca kept watch.

The area around the church was tightly surrounded by law enforcement officers and patrol teams. With such a setup, not even a mosquito could hope to suck a drop of the ‘metallurgical’ priest’s blood.

“Damn, they’re not even trying to hide, huh?” Rebecca exclaimed in surprise.

“I told you, this isn’t a trap; it’s a contest. These guys probably think they’ve got my master’s measure, so they dare to do this,” Leon said. “But with so few people, they shouldn’t be able to hold my master, right?”

“You’re so confident in Old man Teg? Speaking of which, I always thought Old man Teg was just an ordinary old man, but over the past year, he’s really changed my perception of old folks,” Rebecca said.

Actually, Leon wasn’t very clear about his master’s strength either. But his master was able to earn high praise even from the stubborn mother dragon Rosvitha, so he couldn’t be too weak.

“Let’s wait and see,” Leon said. “They’ve been heavily guarding the place for about a week now. I wonder if we’ll catch Old man Teg tonight.”@@novelbin@@

The two continued to wait.

In the midnight hours, Rebecca was already dozing off with her weapon in her arms. But the next moment, a deafening explosion startled her awake.

“Bomb! There’s a bomb!” she exclaimed.

Leon quickly pressed her head down. “Shh~ They’re here!”

Rebecca crouched down and followed Leon’s gaze towards the church.

The huge cross on the rooftop of the church was instantly destroyed by a flash of lightning, raising thick smoke and dust around it. Within the smoke, a figure enveloped in arcs of electricity swiftly emerged. In his right hand, he held a long sword, its blade emitting a chilling light with traces of blood.

“Oh no! The priest has been attacked! Get him! Capture him!”

The patrol teams and law enforcement officers immediately sprang into action, surrounding the figure.

“Teg Lawrence, you damned fugitive, murderer, surrender now!” one of the officers shouted.

Teg, holding the sword, coldly surveyed the officer. “There are six children locked in the basement of that priest.”

“W-what?”

Teg sneered, “A bunch of idiots.”

He said no more, raised his sword horizontally, assessed the situation briefly, and then immediately charged towards one side of the encirclement, intending to break out forcefully.

The law enforcement officers who had witnessed Teg’s skills didn’t dare to confront him directly. “Quick… release those monsters!”

At the command, several large cages were slowly pushed out from the alley.

Inside were large, dangerous breeds.

But unlike normal dangerous breeds, the monsters in these cages were all wearing specially made collars.

“Domesticated dangerous breeds… these Imperial guys have really managed to tame monsters,” Rebecca exclaimed in astonishment. “Old man Teg is in trouble. Captain, should we go down—Captain? Hey, why did you go down directly!”

Outside the church, four A-grade dangerous breeds surrounded Teg.

They growled lowly, their crimson pupils filled with wild killing intent.

Teg gripped the sword with both hands, facing off against the monsters.

The next moment, one of the dangerous breeds lunged forward.

Teg seized the opportunity, pushing off the ground with his right foot, shooting out like a bullet. In the instant they crossed paths, the blade of his sword tore through the flesh of the dangerous breed, causing the creature to wail in agony.

But before Teg could finish his move, the other three dangerous breeds pounced simultaneously.

This time, Teg didn’t confront them head-on but chose to evade. Even he couldn’t handle the attacks of three dangerous breeds at once.

After creating some distance, Teg looked back and saw the street filled with a dense crowd of patrol teams and law enforcement officers. They held rifles and were slowly closing in on him.

“Heh, Teg Lawrence, no matter how skilled you are, you’ll meet your end here tonight!”

Roar!!

With monsters ahead and a blockade behind; no way out above, and no escape below.

Teg tightened his grip on the sword handle. “This is troublesome…”

But just as the situation became dire, a blue light suddenly surged from the other end of the street. Arcs of electricity dispersed the crowd like a raging flood, forcibly clearing a path.

Seeing the dazzling lightning, Teg was first startled, then he hoisted the sword over his shoulder, revealing a relieved smile, murmuring to himself, “Kid, stay safe out there.”