Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Vol 9. Chapter 10: Higher Than a Guard, Obviously!

Finding Kaiser a job finally made Leon’s to-do list.

“Mm? You’re going out to job-hunt today already?”

At breakfast, seeing both men geared up, Rosvisser couldn’t help asking.

Leon nodded.

“We’ve lounged almost a week. Time to get out and taste life.”

Rosvisser arched a brow.

“From that confident face, you’ve got a lead?”

Leon thumped his chest, all swagger.

“But of course!”

Rosvisser blinked, paused, then asked, a bit wary:

“Don’t tell me it’s ‘security at Saint Heath Academy’ again?”

Leon waved both hands.

“Of course not! Security might be stable, but I’ll make sure it’s a rank higher than guard, guaranteed.”

The queen let out a quiet breath. “Good.”

...

“So captain of the guards is your ‘rank higher’?!”

On the Saint Heath Academy field, Rosvisser was a hair from exasperated.

“This is your bright idea?”

Leon patted her shoulder.

“Easy, love. Just answer this: isn’t ‘captain’ higher than ‘guard’?”

“...”

Rosvisser palmed her forehead, shook her head, then looked to Kaiser.

“Don’t tell me this was your pick, too?”

Kaiser looked back at her, serious as a judge, and nodded.

“Work that doesn’t require much talking suits me.”

Two blockheaded straight men with the simplest wiring. As the reliable woman who’d actually had to manage fine feelings, Rosvisser still couldn’t help trying to nudge the kid.

“But... weren’t you told to get out and really experience life? What life do you ‘experience’ as a guard?”

Leon (smiling):

“Correction: captain of the guards.”

Rosvisser: “Get lost.”

Leon: “Okay, okay.”

Kaiser scratched his hair, at a loss.

“But I know the Academy, and I know this work. If you throw me into something else, I might not adapt for a while.”

Hands on hips, Rosvisser sighed.

“Then how did you adapt the first time you came here as a guard?”

“Because my sister was with me then.”

Hopeless sister-complex.

Snark aside, Rosvisser understood him.

Powerful or not, he lacked a sense of safety—no one could wish that away. He didn’t cling to Safina out of weakness; it was that once he left her, he lost his bearings—no belonging.

Rosvisser also knew that if Kaiser really took another job that required no contact, it would only make his closed-off nature close further.

Spiral downward.

Forget ‘experiencing life’—you’d be lucky if he didn’t end up in a depressive hole.

Safina sent him out to experience life so he’d grow independent—and brighter.

After thinking it through, Rosvisser stepped to Leon’s side and asked, very seriously:

“Do you really want him doing that again? Personally, I don’t think it’ll help. Let’s not take a Voidfolk introvert and send back a depressed boy.”

Leon dropped the clowning and answered in kind.

“I know what you’re worried about. But I wasn’t finished: this captaincy isn’t at the Academy.”

Rosvisser’s brow ticked up.

“Not at the Academy? Meaning?”

“I wrote to Senior Claudia a few days ago to ask if she had any good postings.”

Leon explained:

“She said the Academy’s been working closely with Sky City—lots of cooperation—and the Academy will be training a cohort of guards specifically for Sky City.”

He pointed toward Kaiser.

“That cohort includes newly advanced upper-grade students, some Academy staff—and, yes, people like Kaiser. Everyone knows what Kaiser can do, so they waived the fussy selection steps. I brought him today for a light test and the paperwork.”

Rosvisser nodded, finally getting it.

“That’s much better than the Academy. At least he’ll meet more people up there, and daily life will be richer.”

“Exactly my thought.”

Rosvisser rubbed the bridge of her nose, then tapped Leon’s chest.

“Not bad. I thought you really meant to stick him back on the same job.”

Leon curled his lip and slid an arm around her shoulders.

“You think I’ve been at your side all these years for nothing? Tch.”

She shot him a smile and an eye-roll.

“Don’t get cocky.”

As they spoke, an Academy staffer approached.

Up close, it was Claudia’s assistant, Samantha.

Formal office wear, black-rim glasses on the bridge of her nose, long hair tied back in a ponytail; heels clicking, she came up to the three.

“Long time no see, Mr. Leon, Ms. Rosvisser, and Mr. Kaiser.”

“Hello, Miss Samantha—long time:

” Leon replied.

After brief courtesies, Samantha said:

“I’ll be handling Kaiser’s entry tests. Vice Principal Claudia has already briefed me—just simple items; we all know what Kaiser can do.”

“Thank you,” Leon said.

Samantha nodded and turned to Kaiser.

“Let’s begin. This way to the track.”

Kaiser followed her to the starting area. She held a score sheet and a stopwatch.

“First item: five-kilometer run.”

She bent into a sprinter’s crouch to demonstrate; Kaiser dipped forward, one knee and one arm set.

“Three—two—one—go!!”

Three seconds later—nothing. Kaiser hadn’t moved.

Samantha blinked.

“We’ve started, Kaiser. Why aren’t you running?”

Leon covered his face with both hands.

“People of the Void like to count down to zero.”

Samantha: “...”

“Alright, we’ll restart...”

“No need.”

Kaiser spoke low and blurred into motion.

Five kilometers was easy for dragons, let alone Kaiser. Even starting nearly ten seconds late, his final time left Samantha gaping.

She stared at the watch in disbelief.

“H-he actually broke the Academy’s all-time record... by almost thirty seconds...”

“Ahem.”

Leon cleared his throat, stepped to the returning Kaiser, and murmured:

“Ease up. The better you perform, the heavier they’ll load your docket later.”

Newbie Kaiser blinked.

“There’s such a thing...”

Leon bumped his shoulder.

“You’ll learn, kid.”

Samantha steadied herself.

“I was mentally prepared, but seeing it still shocks me... you cleared dragon standard without even trying.”

...

She shook it off, ticked the first box, and said:

“Next test—oh, right. Mr. Leon, Ms. Rosvisser—almost forgot. Vice Principal Claudia just asked that you both come to the principal’s office. It’s an important matter.”

Leon raised a brow. “Important? What kind?”

Hugging the form, Samantha pushed her frames up.

“It seems to be... about the Demon Sword Shard.”