Richard then turned his gaze toward Erick.

He didn't truly blame him, but that didn't change the fact that Erick had bought Athena's ability.

More importantly, his aunt was Charles's mother.

From Richard's observation, Erick's strength wasn't even worth mentioning—only slightly above the tournament participants because he had accumulated more Aether due to his older age.

"Young Master, I really don't know anything," Erick said again when Richard looked at him with a sharp gaze.

If one looked closely, his face did resemble Charles's—they both had blonde hair.

Even their style was similar, but this man clearly had a much weaker will, unlike Charles, who was cold and arrogant.

"You should be grateful I'm not slapping your face or cutting off your hands and feet," said Richard, making Erick's face turn pale blue.

He obviously hadn't expected a boy to say something like that to him.

Was he supposed to nod in agreement?

Even for a coward, that was too much.

"Richard, how about you hand him over to me?" Master Alex suddenly asked.

"What for?" Richard was surprised to hear that.

After all, what use could this man be to Master Alex?

"There are some things I need from the Goldwood Clan. I believe they'll give them to me if I hold their young master," Master Alex replied calmly.

"Ohhh…"

Something that interested Master Alex naturally caught Richard's interest as well.

Master Alex looked surprised at Richard's expression.

"Ehmmm…" He cleared his throat. "Kid, you're a sly one. Fine, I'll share the goods with you."

"That's fair," Richard replied, making Master Alex roll his eyes.

In truth, from beginning to end, it had been Master Alex who captured Sterling and Erick—but ultimately, he was helping Richard with the hope of earning a favor in the future.

"In that case, I'll take him first. Later, I'll come find you. Where will you go after this?" Master Alex asked.

"I'll be heading to Snow Sky City. It's the city granted to me by the king, so I should manage it for a while," Richard replied.

"Alright, once I get what I need, I'll go there." Master Alex nodded.

He grabbed Erick by the collar and flew into the sky.

Though he didn't travel through space itself, his speed was incredible.

In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished from Richard's sight.

Richard then turned to the butler.

"Butler, can you take the nobles back?" he asked.

They had come on his airship, but he had no plans to return to the capital.

"Don't worry, there's still enough space in the royal airships," the butler replied.

After that, he instructed the nobles to transfer over.

Naturally, they followed his orders.

In the end, they hadn't fought at all.

But they knew Richard had invited them only for show—to demonstrate his power.

Whether they fought or not didn't matter. What was clear was that they had now become his minor followers in a very short time.

If he truly became a Grand Sovereign in the future, their adventure would be immortalized as part of his life story.

However, Gray and Laura didn't leave.

"Richard, we plan to go adventuring. Can we come with you to Snow Sky City?" Gray asked.

"Are you sure you want to bring Laura?" Richard replied.

Of course, he had no problem bringing Gray. The man was a wanderer with no background—he could go wherever he pleased. But Laura was the daughter of a governor.

He wasn't sure if her father would come looking for her.

"Don't worry, I have the freedom to go wherever I want," Laura answered.

"In that case, I won't take responsibility if your father comes after you," Richard said.

"My father is just a governor. He wouldn't dare go against you," Laura replied with a faint, wry smile.

"Of course, your father wouldn't dare. I just don't want people saying I ran off with someone else's daughter—like your boyfriend did," Richard replied dryly.

"Ehmmm…" Gray cleared his throat awkwardly at that.

"Richard, Laura's also an ambitious Magus. Adventuring is part of her path. If she lived like other noble girls, training only at an academy, how could she ever break through her limits?" he said.

"I understand," Richard replied, "but my airship doesn't have space for you two to make love… If you want to, do it in the forest. I don't mind waiting."

Gray and Laura froze in place, and even Sister Lisa looked at him in disbelief—she clearly hadn't expected such words from a boy his age.

Richard shifted his gaze toward Athena and waved his hand, signaling her to shrink down and land on the airship.

For now, he couldn't store her in the Dragon Hall because Sterling was being held there.

Who knew what he might do to Athena if left together.

"Richard," Sister Lisa called out to him.

"Yes, Sister?" Richard replied.

"When do you plan to return to the village?" she asked.

"The village?" Richard was slightly taken aback by the question.

Since being born into this world, he had considered the sky his roof and the earth his floor.

While he did think of the orphanage in that village as his home, the feeling wasn't that strong anymore—especially after seeing so much of the outside world.

Now that he had gained the strength to keep traveling, that was all he wanted.

Of course, there were still interesting things back in the village, especially the river that had carried away his ancestor and the Fire Spirit Queen.

Unfortunately, his ancestor hadn't allowed him to investigate it.

"Sister, do you want to go home?" Richard asked.

Sister Lisa's feelings were clearly different. After all, she had spent much of her life in that village.

"If you don't plan to go back yet, I'll stay with you for now," Sister Lisa replied.

Her answer clearly meant she did want to return—but it seemed she wanted to stay with him more.

Maybe she felt uneasy not being by his side, even though in terms of strength, she couldn't really help him.

Richard was silent for a moment before nodding and smiling.

"Thank you, Sister."

In truth, he did feel more at ease having Sister Lisa with him.

It wasn't about safety—it was because she was the closest person to him.

She was, in a sense, his family.

And of course, it was always more comforting to have family by your side.

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