Chapter 140: Lost

"Richard, don’t be deceived by his words. The Order of the Crimson Veil may appear to be an open organization, but inside it are countless factions with their own selfish interests. They would never allow you to gain benefits as you please," Lilith interjected as she approached Richard.

"In my opinion, you’ll only be used by them," she added.

Richard simply listened calmly and with an open mind, having no personal stance on the matter.

"She’s right..." the Lord of the Crimson Veil didn’t deny Lilith’s words.

"There are many factions within the Order of the Crimson Veil. However, anyone can still strive to gain great benefits here. Even if you wander the entire world, the gains you obtain will hardly compare to what you can get from the Order of the Crimson Veil. We possess six Grand Weapons and dozens of Tier 7 Weapons. Not to mention the Codices and Arcane Arts. As for rare treasures—there are as many as raindrops," the Lord of the Crimson Veil explained calmly.

After that, he continued, "And believe me, within the Order of the Crimson Veil, there exists the fairest way to obtain authority. If you can overcome several trials left by our Grand Sovereigns, you can truly rise to power within the Order of the Crimson Veil."

The Lord of the Crimson Veil smiled faintly after saying that.

He then turned to leave but added once more, "You’ll need time to think. If you’re interested, you can reach out to us—there are plenty of people in this kingdom who can deliver your message."

"Crimson Veil Lord, have you given up on my Clone Artifact?" Lilith asked before he completely left.

"I can only retreat for now. Let the Grand Ancestor deal with it himself," he replied.

Whoosh!

He swiftly flew away, disappearing from everyone’s sight.

Richard’s initial plan was to teach him a lesson after exchanging the hostages. However, he couldn’t deny that the Order of the Crimson Veil’s invitation had somewhat piqued his interest.

He began questioning himself—what if he joined and managed to gain power within the Order of the Crimson Veil?

"Richard, let’s go!" Lilith suddenly called out, inviting Richard to leave.

Naturally, Richard followed her.

However, as he saw Aldous, he recalled how he had once offended him.

Who asked him to be here anyway? Richard’s stare instantly made Aldous uneasy.

"Queen, burn his legs to ash!" Richard ordered the Fire Spirit Queen.

"Boy, you’ll meet a miserable end!" Aldous shouted furiously in response, his heart filled with hatred toward Richard from the beginning.

But just as he spoke, flames ignited around his legs, burning them to ashes.

BANG!

His body collapsed to the floor, his lower half gone.

Richard gave him a cold, mocking look before turning away.

That was enough to vent the resentment in his heart.

Outside the Moon Town Lord’s mansion, Richard noticed Lilith standing still, deep in thought.

"Sister Lilith, what are you thinking about?" Richard asked.

"Nothing I’d tell you," she replied curtly.

Richard, "..."

"Anyway, return to the capital on your own. I still have matters to handle. And make sure Lisa doesn’t wander off alone again," she added before flying swiftly toward a distant direction.

Richard didn’t know how to react to her sudden departure.

"Boy, can I return now?" the Fire Spirit Queen asked suddenly.

"You don’t have to worry about your safety. As long as you’re within this kingdom, if you’re in danger, I can sense it and arrive instantly."

"Understood..." Richard replied briefly in a flat tone.

Apparently, that alone was enough to please the Fire Spirit Queen.

After that, Richard no longer saw her figure—it vanished as if she had never existed.

He finally began his journey back to the capital.

For now, he intended to visit the city granted to him—Snow Sky City.

But first, he needed to return to the capital to pick up Athena and perhaps bid farewell to the Empress, who had helped him greatly.

---

He traveled at a leisurely pace but still arrived at the capital before long, as the distance wasn’t that far—certainly closer than the Empress’s hometown.

News of him forcing the Lord of the Crimson Veil to retreat had naturally not spread yet. At most, only a handful of people knew.

There was no commotion about it, and Richard went straight to the banquet hall.

However, when he arrived, he couldn’t help but frown upon noticing that his horse, Athena, was nowhere to be seen.

He extended his sensing wave to search around, thinking she might be wandering nearby, but he couldn’t find her.

Even as he expanded his detection range further, Athena still didn’t appear.

"Where is she?" For the first time, Richard was genuinely puzzled.

He wasn’t sure what had happened.

Athena wasn’t bound to him, but even though she was a Primordial Beast with royal bloodline, as a horse, she was extremely gentle—especially after he had raised her since she was still an ordinary creature.

Something like a Slave Seal wasn’t necessary for such beasts.

In fact, even most wild-type Primordial Beasts didn’t always need a Slave Seal—they could be tamed. Only truly feral types required one.

That meant Athena couldn’t have just wandered off on her own.

If she had been left somewhere, she would’ve stayed there. After all, it had only been one night.

"Unless someone stole her?" Richard immediately grew suspicious.

He refused to believe Athena simply vanished.

What he found hard to believe was that someone actually dared to steal from him in this city.

While searching for Athena, he sensed the Empress residing in a castle at the city’s edge.

The Empress was currently speaking with a knight, seemingly receiving a report.

Without hesitation, Richard headed to the Empress’s residence.

Perhaps she knew something—or could help.

Before long, he arrived at the castle.

The Empress immediately sensed his presence and dismissed the knight.

"Richard!" the Empress greeted, looking at him with a hint of surprise.

Perhaps the report she had just received from the knight concerned the incident at Moon Town.

"Your Majesty, I came to ask if you’ve seen my horse," Richard said.

He had initially come to bid her farewell, but clearly, he couldn’t leave yet.

"Your horse?" The Empress looked slightly puzzled.

"Yes, the one I usually ride. It wasn’t at the banquet hall. I tried tracking it, but I still couldn’t find her," Richard replied.

"That means your horse went missing? Last night, when I left, it was still in the courtyard. Unless someone took her. Very well, wait a moment—I’ll ask the guards who were stationed at the hall last night. They were the last to leave, so they should’ve seen who took your horse," the Empress said.

Richard nodded, waiting as the Empress reached out with her Sixth Sense to contact the guards.

Even though there were conflicts between the Empress and the King, no knight would dare defy her authority.

After a moment, the Empress frowned slightly.

"They said the horse suddenly left on its own after someone passed by—and seemed to follow that person. They assumed that individual was skilled at taming beasts. Since they were busy last night, they didn’t pay much attention when the horse left," she said.

Richard wasn’t sure how to react to that.

"Richard, in this kingdom, there are essentially no Magus clans with such abilities. There are only two possibilities: either that person is an outsider, or someone who happened to acquire a beast-taming method," the Empress continued.

"Considering you couldn’t find your horse anywhere in the capital, it’s likely she was taken away—but she couldn’t have gone too far."

"Where do you think I can find that person?" Richard asked.

"It’s hard to say, but you might get information from the Golden Leaf Auction House. They’re connected to almost every merchant faction. Most rare goods eventually end up there to be auctioned. Given your horse’s level—and her royal bloodline—she’s definitely valuable enough to be listed by the Golden Leaf Auction House. Would you like me to introduce you to one of their managers, Sophia Whitewater?"

"I know her. I’ll meet her myself. Thank you, Your Majesty. After I get my horse back, I plan to visit Snow Sky City, so I wanted to bid farewell to you," Richard replied.

The Empress was slightly surprised that Richard knew Sophia, but she soon nodded, not prying further.

Considering he could even interact freely with someone like her, it wasn’t surprising that he knew others with great influence.

"Farewell, Your Majesty!" Richard said once more before leaving in his ark, heading toward the Golden Leaf Auction House instead of Sophia’s castle.

Earlier, he had already sensed her presence moving toward the auction house, so he decided to meet her there directly.

On ordinary days without an auction, the Golden Leaf Auction House naturally remained open.

They had many items for sale, though most of them didn’t qualify to be auctioned directly.

However, they maintained a shop to display these goods, allowing people to bid on them at set prices within a specified period.