Vol 7. Chapter 57: This Is a Noble Cyan, Okay?!

A few days later, Leon brought Muse to the Human Empire.

He had asked for her opinion beforehand, and the little one showed immediate and intense interest—she was genuinely excited to go study advanced marksmanship.

Maybe it was because she didn’t possess any elemental magic attributes, or maybe she just had a natural talent for it. But if Muse liked it and was willing to put in the effort, of course Leon would do everything he could to support her.

Just like with music—something else she loved deeply.

The six-winged dragonhawk flew past the border between dragon territory and the frontier of the Empire. After several more hours of flight, they finally reached human lands.

Rebecca was already waiting with a carriage at the forest exit outside the Empire.

When Leon and Muse stepped out of the forest, she ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ waved an arm.

"Oi~~ Over here~~!"

Leon, holding Muse’s hand, jogged over with her.

Rebecca glanced down at their feet and then looked behind them, realizing it was just the two of them. She asked,

"Where’s your wife and the pink-haired girl?"

“Rosvisser took them to visit the Sea Dragon Tribe. Once I get Muse settled, I’ll head back to check on Master and the others.”

Leon explained as he gave Muse a little pat on the head.

Muse immediately caught on, stepped forward, and bowed politely to Rebecca.

"Hello, Auntie Rebecca~"

That soft, sweet greeting nearly melted Rebecca on the spot.

She crouched down and gave Muse’s cheeks a gentle pinch.

"Long time no see, little rascal. Missed me?"

"Mhm. I missed you."

"Then give me a kiss."

Rebecca turned her cheek toward the girl.

Muse obediently gave her a light peck on the cheek.

Rebecca then took a deep breath of the little girl’s unique milky scent and slowly let it out, sighing with heartfelt envy.

"Raising a cute daughter really is the best."

"When are you and that horse-faced guy having a baby?"

"Haven’t gotten around to it. Too busy with Lionheart Order business every day."

She took Muse’s hand and said, "Come on, let’s get on the carriage. I’ll take you two to get something to eat first."

"Okay."

The three of them boarded the carriage, the driver snapped the reins, and off they went into the Empire.

Inside the carriage, Muse sat obediently between her dad and Auntie Rebecca.

But every now and then, she sneaked little glances.

More specifically—she kept sneaking peeks at Rebecca’s hair.

A top-tier gunner would of course notice someone staring that blatantly.

So the next time Muse glanced her way, Rebecca immediately grabbed the little girl’s head and pulled her face into the flat expanse of her chest.

"Why do I feel like someone keeps sneaking peeks at me, hmm hmm hmm? Is it because Auntie’s even prettier than before, and you just couldn’t help yourself?"

As she teased, she gently kneaded Muse’s plump baby cheeks with her fingers.

Even with her face smooshed into Rebecca’s chest, Muse calmly asked:

"Why is it that even though you both have green hair, your personalities are so different...?"

The little one had no logic to her words—she didn’t understand that hair color had nothing to do with personality.

Just like how her eldest and third sisters had the exact same hair color, but her third sister had all the scheming brains her eldest sister lacked.

And then there was her pink-haired sister—who didn’t exactly pull punches with her words either.

"What do you mean green hair? This is noble cyan, thank you very much!" Rebecca corrected her, offended.

"It’s obviously green..."

"Cyan!"

"Green."

"Cyan! Cyan! Cyan! Cyan!"

"Green."

This kid’s stubborn little mouth was exactly like her dad’s—clingy and relentless.

"Captain, teach your daughter properly. Start with basic color recognition."

Leon’s expression darkened, then shifted as realization struck.

"So... your hair is cyan? I always thought it was green..."

Rebecca: ...

Twelve years as comrades, and this idiot never realized I had cyan hair.

Casmod—you absolute dumbass.

...

Leon had already explained Muse’s purpose in coming to the Empire in a letter ahead of time.

So the very next morning, Rebecca took Muse to Lionheart Order’s private shooting range.

"This place used to be the hunting grounds for a bunch of old farts from the Old Empire. Once Lionheart took over, we repurposed it into a training field."

Rebecca pointed at several gunners practicing in the distance.

"We’ve trained quite a few excellent sharpshooters here over the years."

She paused for a second, then added with a smirk:

"Of course, none of them are quite on my level."

"Right~"

"When you said in your letter you wanted to help Muse improve her shooting, I prepped a special training zone just for her. Come on, this way."

Rebecca led them deeper into the facility.

After passing through the outdoor range, they entered a large indoor hall.

It was fully equipped—every type of ranged weapon imaginable: guns, crossbows, bows, and more.

In the corner sat a massive fire-element cannon—Rebecca’s favorite.

At the shooting platform, Rebecca said,

"Pick the weapon you like best and give it a try.

The target distance is adjustable—just use the lever on your right.

I’ll watch your fundamentals first."

Muse nodded. "Okay."

She stepped forward and selected a bow that matched her size, then began aiming and shooting.

While Muse was focused, Rebecca quietly approached Leon and lowered her voice.

"She really doesn’t have any magical attributes?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah. The Elemental Awakening Ceremony didn’t detect anything."

Rebecca let out a soft sigh.

"Without elemental attributes, she won’t be able to learn any general magic. Focusing on specialized weaponry really is the only viable route."

Leon also looked a bit downcast, even a little guilty.

"If I’d noticed sooner... maybe I could’ve changed something."

Rebecca rolled her eyes at him, then gave his arm a light elbow.

"Don’t blame yourself. No one could’ve predicted this. And besides..."

She looked toward Muse and smiled in genuine approval.

"This kid has serious talent. Just from her warm-up, I can already tell—she’s got the makings of a real sharpshooter."

"What’s that saying again?"

"Oh right~ When God closes one door, He opens a window."

Leon chuckled.

"I’m a staunch materialist, Rebecca. I don’t believe in gods."

"You don’t believe in gods because you’ve got Zeus and an unlimited trial pass. That’s got jack shit to do with materialism."

Rebecca shot him a look, then stepped forward and clapped her hands.

"Nice work, Muse. Now try this crossbow. Still single-shot. Load the bolt here—yep, like that. Give it a shot."

Leon watched the two of them from behind, lips curling unconsciously into a small smile.

Though, Rebecca’s earlier joke did leave a mark.

Leon crossed his arms, leaned against the window, and looked off into the distance.

"Before heading back... I’ll stop by the Golden Thunder Clan."