Having finally reunited with his family after months of separation, General Leon had settled into a new routine:
–Taking care of Noah during the day,
–And taking care of his wife at night.
One task drained his energy, the other his strength, but it was fulfilling.
.
.
.
A few days later, Noah received a letter from Helena. The letter began by asking about Noah's health before moving on to inform her that the academy's promotion exams would be held again.
"Redoing the promotion exams?" Leon asked after Noah summarized the letter.
Noah nodded and put the letter aside. "Yes, because of Adam's interference, the number of dangerous creatures in the Demonic Moon Forest surged unexpectedly. The academy couldn't accurately measure the difficulty level, so they decided to hold the exams again."
Leon considered this for a moment before replying seriously. "That makes sense. Are they holding the new exam in the Demonic Moon Forest again?"
"No," Noah replied. "Helena mentioned in the letter that the sudden incident disrupted the academy's plans. Since they hadn't prepared an alternative site, they're reverting to the old exam format."
Rossweise raised an eyebrow. "What's the old exam format?"
"It's... simulated combat," Noah said after a brief pause.
"Simulated combat? Isn't that similar to your regular training? Wouldn't that make the exam much easier?"
"Not necessarily," Noah replied. "The simulated combat in promotion exams is different. Specifically, it involves..."
She hesitated, searching for the right words.
"Role-playing," she finally said, choosing the simplest term to describe it.
"Role-playing?" Leon and Rossweise exchanged puzzled looks.
"What kind of roles do they usually play?" Rossweise asked, intrigued.
"Oh, things like wounded knights, zombie kings, or desperate heroes and lost succubus," Noah explained with a small smile.
"But why would simulated combat need role-playing?" Leon asked, confused.
"It's mostly to help the instructors teach us how to handle various situations," Noah said with a shrug.
"Fair enough," Leon replied. "What kind of role are you expecting this time?"
Noah scratched her head, glanced across the dinner table at her father, and said, "The person we'll face is someone described in our textbooks as... 'a man in black armor.'"
For a moment, it felt like a thunderbolt had struck the room. Leon froze on the spot.
For the dragons, there was no one else in the world who could match the description of "a man in black armor" from their history books besides Leon himself.
Rossweise stifled a laugh, but Leon's expression darkened as he quickly pieced things together. The dragons had likely framed his historical role to match their narrative, just as human literature from wartime often painted dragons as evil creatures to instill animosity in children.
Understanding this didn't stop Leon from feeling a bit bitter. He had devoted himself to training his daughter and sending her to the best academy in the dragon kingdom, only for her graduation project to involve role-playing a battle against her father. It was absurd.
As Leon sat there reflecting on the irony, Rossweise's amused voice broke the silence.
"You seem upset. Tonight, why don't you 'role-play' the man in black armor for me? Let's see if I can make you cry," she teased.
Leon glared at her. "Very funny."
Noah chimed in, "Apparently, the academy pulled those black armor sets from their storage for the new exam. They're just props, nothing like the real thing from our textbooks."
This piqued Leon's curiosity. He leaned forward. "Speaking of textbooks, what exactly do they say about the man in black armor?"
Noah hesitated, her bright blue eyes darting as if she were carefully choosing her words. After a pause, she finally spoke.
"It says he wielded a powerful magic that caused significant trouble for the dragon warriors on the frontlines. Several Dragon Kings fell to his hands. He's described as the dragons' greatest enemy."
"I see..." Leon scratched his nose, trying to sound casual. "And what do you think about him? Was he strong?"
Rossweise muttered under her breath, "You're embarrassing yourself, Leon."
Leon ignored her, staring at his daughter expectantly.
Noah sighed. Was this what it was like to deal with a clueless father? She suddenly felt sympathy for her mother, wondering how she had endured this for so many years.
"I think... he was very strong," Noah replied, her tone careful but firm.
After a moment, she added with conviction, "And my goal is to defeat him."
Leon raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The war is over, Noah. You'll probably never encounter him."
Noah met his gaze steadily. "Who knows? Maybe one day, fate will grant me the chance to challenge this powerful man, and when that day comes, I'll win."
Leon sighed. You'll be the death of me, My dear sweetheart.
Deciding it was best to leave the conversation there, he let it drop. If they continued, things might devolve into something absurd. Besides, Rossweise was barely holding back her laughter.
.
.
.
After dinner, Noah returned to her room while Leon and Rossweise remained in the living room.
"What do you think about the rescheduled exams?" Rossweise asked, reclining on the sofa with her dragon-winged slippers on, gazing at the ceiling.
Leon sat beside her, his demeanor suddenly serious.
"Adam's sudden appearance in the Demonic Moon Forest caught everyone off guard. Noah and Helena barely escaped. If things had gone slightly worse, we might not have been having dinner with them tonight," he said solemnly.
Rossweise nodded thoughtfully. "It's true. We were lucky this time. What are you worried about?"
Leon met her gaze, a mysterious smile spreading across his face.
Rossweise blinked, quickly realizing what he was planning.
"You're not thinking of..."
Leon's smile widened. "Exactly."