After thinking it over, Noah still couldn't find a fitting adjective from her current vocabulary.
So she simply had to use "role-play" as a substitute.
Leon and his wife were stunned when they heard that.
They were familiar with role-play. Usually it meant dressing up as a nurse, a bunny, a down-and-out hero, or a lost succubus and the like.
But why would mock combat also need role-play?
"Is it the teacher responsible for sparring with you who does the acting?"
"Mm, probably."
"What kind of role do they play?"
Noah scratched the side of her forehead, glanced at her dad across the dining table, then said, "A character mentioned in the textbook. The most common description of him is... a man in black armor."
Like a bolt from the blue, General Leon froze on the spot.
For the dragon race, besides Leon, there shouldn't be a second man in black armor who could be written into their textbooks.
And Leon could more or less guess how the textbook described him, Completely opposite of "the hero of the dragon race, Constantine".
There were so many things wrong with this that Leon didn't even know where to start complaining.
But thinking carefully, it was still reasonable.
Back in the days of the human-dragon war, the Empire's dragon-slaying academies and even some children's science books would depict dragons as an evil race, planting seeds of resistance in children's hearts.
What's more, St. Heath Academy was obviously a place meant to train warriors against the dragon race, so naturally they would do the same thing.
Even so, General Leon still couldn't hold it together.
The old father put his heart and soul into teaching his daughter skills, sending her to the best dragon school.
And in the end, her graduation project turned out to be beating up her father. Abstract, nine parts out of ten abstract.
Just as Leon was caught up in emotions, from the corner of his eye he saw the mother dragon beside him covering her cheek with one hand.
Looking closely, she was holding back laughter.
'Laugh laugh laugh, what's so funny, tonight I'll make you cos "the man in black armor," guaranteed to make you cry.'
"But that was back during the human-dragon war. Now that the war's over, the Academy wanted to reform the exam system starting with our year. Who knew Adam would show up out of nowhere."
Noah said, "The Academy was caught unprepared, so they had no choice but to... pull those black armors out of storage to use for the sparring exams."
"...Those? Don't tell me St. Heath Academy can even replicate black-gold–black armor now?"
"Ah no no no, it's just armor props. They don't have any of the abilities the textbook describes."
That piqued Leon's curiosity.
Though he could guess how the dragon race's textbooks slandered him, he still wanted to hear it directly.
"Sweet daughter, what exactly does your textbook say about the man in black armor?"
Noah looked back at her father, her shining blue eyes trembling slightly. After a pause, she finally said, "Emmm... He could use very powerful lightning magic, caused a lot of trouble for the dragon frontline warriors, several Dragon Kings fell to him, and he was the dragon race's number one nemesis."
"Oh... is that so..."
Leon rubbed his nose, then pretended to ask casually, "And do you think he's strong?"
"So speechless," Rossweise muttered under her breath.
Leon shot her a glare, ignored her, and kept staring hopefully at his eldest daughter.
Noah also felt a bit speechless, 'So this is how exhausting it is to act with a dumb straight-man dad...'
'Hard to imagine how Mom put up with it all these years.'
"I think... he's pretty, pretty strong, yeah."
She paused, then added seriously, "My goal is to defeat him."
Leon was slightly startled, "But the war's over now, you might never meet him again."
Noah met her dad's gaze and replied word by word, "Who knows. But if fate gives me the chance to challenge this powerful man, I will definitely defeat him."
'Your daughter's killing you with filial piety, old man.'
Leon pressed his lips together, deciding not to ask further.
If he did, they'd probably end up with a live performance of fatherly love and filial piety, in the most abstract way possible;
Besides, the mother dragon was about to burst out laughing.
So, after the three of them finished showing off their acting, they continued with dinner.
———
After dinner, the couple returned to their room.
Closing the door, Leon's face grew somewhat heavy, "What do you think about this retest business?"
The queen slipped on her dragon-wing slippers, went to the living room, shed the day's fatigue, lay back on the soft sofa, staring at the ceiling, "What else is there to think? Just laugh and watch."
"That's not what I mean."
Leon walked over and sat beside her.
Seeing the mutt-man so serious, Rossweise also sat up, "Mm, what do you want to say?"
"Adam suddenly appearing in the Nightmare Moon Forest, no one saw that coming. Noah and Helena nearly lost their lives. If our luck had been just a bit worse, we wouldn't have had the chance to sit down and eat dinner like that just now."
Leon said, "Maybe I'm overthinking, but I'm still worried that when the retest starts in a few days, something else might happen."
Rossweise considered Leon's words. After a while, she nodded, "Mm, I get what you mean. Overthinking... yeah, it is a bit. If the exam is held inside the Academy, there's no need to worry about surprise attacks."
"But I know you. Once a thought crosses your mind, you can't just obediently let it go."
"So, tell me. Since you're worried something might happen during the exam, what do you plan to do?"
Leon met his wife's gaze. Immediately, a mysterious smile appeared on his serious face.
The queen blinked, and instantly guessed his intention, "You don't mean you're planning to..."
Two people can't hide anything in one bed. Whatever Leon was thinking, Rossweise could see it at once:
He wanted to sneak into the exam grounds disguised as one of the many "black-gold war chariot" cosers.
Only this way could he guarantee Noah's safety on the spot.
"Mm... it's a little ridiculous, but even if the Academy finds out, the principal and the rest won't say anything. After all, we're the family directly involved in the Adam incident, we have every reason to do this."
As always, Rossweise helped Leon weigh the pros and cons.
"Alright, I support you."
Hearing that, Leon secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "I thought you wouldn't agree."
The queen raised her beautiful brows, rested her chin on one hand, smiling with fondness, "Why would you think that?"
"Because even I feel this idea is a bit ridiculous. But there's no other good way to protect Noah without her knowing."
Every daughter-con has a bit of PTSD.
Just like how all dads in the world instinctively dislike "yellow-haired boys" and "ghost flames."
After one accident, Leon would never let something similar happen again.
That's why he was so stubborn about "sneaking into the exam to protect Noah."
And as the wife who had lived with him for five years, Rossweise naturally understood him.
As she said, once a seed of thought took root in Leon's heart, it was nailed there. Unless he carried it out, he'd keep thinking about it.
And Rossweise was worried about Noah too.
If the daughter-con has PTSD, then of course a qualified mother would also care even more about her daughter's safety after such danger.
That's why people say these two are a perfect match. Their thought processes are basically identical.
"But there's one problem. Even if we can sneak into the exam, getting hold of one of the Academy's black armors doesn't seem easy," Rossweise said.
Leon blinked, then spread his hands like a little bear, signaling Rossweise to look at him.
Rossweise looked at him, not understanding what he meant.
"What do you mean? You have a way to get black armor?"
"...Eh, have you considered the possibility that the man standing in front of you right now is the black armor himself?"
The queen froze for a few seconds, then had a sudden realization, and it didn't look like she was faking it.
"Oh~ I actually forgot about that!"
Leon pulled his wife into his arms, letting her lean against his chest, and patted her head, speaking earnestly, "The saying about pregnancy making you silly for three years is true. Must be hard on you."
Rossweise giggled and playfully hit his arm. After struggling symbolically and finding she couldn't get free, she simply let the idiot keep holding her head against his chest.
Mm, it was quite comfortable.
Rossweise let herself relax against him, lying on his lap.
Leon lowered his head, gently brushing her cheek with his fingers, fingertips caressing that soft, fair face.
That moment was serene and beautiful.
After a while, Leon said, "There should still be a few days before the next exam. We have enough time to prepare."
"Mm. Then tomorrow we'll—"
Before she finished, a sharp bird call came from the backyard.
The couple exchanged a look, then got up from the sofa and quickly went to the balcony, looking toward the source of the sound.
In the backyard training grounds, Noah was already practicing against the training dummies, starting her rehab anew.
"So diligent, my sweet daughter," Leon sighed.
"She probably knows there'll be a retest, so she's preparing hard."
Rossweise folded her arms, a warm smile on her face. After a pause, she glanced at Leon and teased, "She really wants to defeat the man in black armor, you know."
Leon gave her a glare, pouting, "Childish."
"How is wanting to beat you childish?"
"I wasn't talking about Noah, I was talking about you."
"How am I childish?"
"You just are. You're over two hundred years old and still act like a kid."
"So now you despise me?"
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