Richard quickly peeked into Bear's ring, only to frown when he realized the man wasn't rich at all.

He only had around twenty thousand Nature Spirits, a single Tier 3 weapon without even one Tier 4 weapon, and a bunch of items that couldn't be called important.

Most of them were tools meant for torture.

The only thing that caught Richard's attention was a completely crimson eyeball.

It didn't even look like an eye unless one noticed the faint, brighter red lines separating the pupil, lens, and sclera.

"So this is it," Richard muttered.

As he held the eye, he could sense that it seemed to possess a will of its own — one that hungered to absorb vast amounts of energy from Nature Spirits.

Moreover, it appeared that the eye could easily merge with his own just like installing an Aether Frame in his body.

Of course, once installed, it could still be removed again so that no one would notice he possessed an artifact in the form of an eye.

Even Bear himself hadn't dared to keep it permanently in his socket.

Curious, Richard placed the crimson eye over his left eye, and it immediately fused with it.

What he saw didn't change. He realized he needed to feed it with the energy of Nature Spirits to activate its power.

When they arrived above the capital, Richard ordered Athena to lower her altitude so they were close to the rooftops.

He took out ten Nature Spirits and let the crimson eye absorb their energy.

Instantly, he began to notice changes. The nearby rooftops started to turn faintly transparent — though not entirely see-through.

It only lasted a few seconds before the energy absorbed by the crimson eye was depleted.

'Looks like it needs at least fifty Nature Spirits to see through one wall, and even that won't last long,' Richard thought.

He then took out even more — not fifty, but five hundred — and held them in his palm.

Buzz!

His crimson eye absorbed all the energy in an instant, and finally, he could see what was once hidden from him.

The rooftops below seemed to vanish from his vision, revealing what lay beneath.

Of course, most of what he saw were ceilings.

However, there was one house without a ceiling, allowing him to see inside — where a Magus was practicing intensely.

It wasn't an interesting sight, so he turned his gaze elsewhere.

Unfortunately, before he could look into the next house, the energy within the crimson eye had already run out, leaving him speechless.

The artifact's value was undeniably high, but the cost of using it was unimaginable.

Richard would have felt heartbroken if not for the fact that he possessed tens of millions of Nature Spirits.

Even so, those millions could easily vanish if he used this eye's power without restraint.

'No wonder Bear had so few Nature Spirits,' he thought.

That man probably used this red eye far too often to spy on others.

"Let's head back to the inn first," Richard commanded Athena.

The winged horse swiftly flew toward the inn, and Richard instructed her to enter his room through the window — unwilling to leave her outside in case someone tried to steal her again.

Inside his room, Richard sat on the bed, still curious about the red eye's abilities.

He brought out more Nature Spirits this time — two thousand in total — so that he could use the crimson eye for longer.

When it activated, he looked downward through his floor, seeing into Gray and Laura's room.

Before arriving, he had seen them return from afar, so he wanted to check what they were doing after getting back.

And the result was exactly as he expected.

Both of them were still standing — but already without clothes.

Laura, with her long black hair, had to be admitted by Richard as having a tall, sensual body with flawless white skin — incredibly alluring.

His heart pounded as he looked at her body, feeling jealous of Gray, who could embrace and taste her freely. He couldn't help but regret the fact that he wasn't yet an adult — or that he hadn't slept with Lilith, who was even more captivating.

Within moments, the two began making love on the bed.

Richard could only regret that he couldn't hear Laura's moans — only see her expression filled with pleasure.

And it was hard for him to stop watching as things grew even more heated.

He was forced to use more Nature Spirits.

Fortunately, they didn't go on for too long — only about twenty minutes — ending with Gray thrusting into Laura's mouth, and she accepted him eagerly, as if thirsty.

Richard stopped watching after that, his face flushed red, feeling restless. His thoughts wandered bitterly — the life of a man blessed with talent, strength, and a handsome face truly seemed so enviable.

He had everything, yet he wasn't mature enough.

It frustrated him.

"Lilith..." He lay on his bed, thinking about the blonde-haired woman.

Even though he had met other beautiful women — Olivia, who was annoying but no less stunning than Lilith, and Grace, who would surely grow into a breathtaking beauty — Richard still found himself drawn most to Lilith.

Whether it was personal taste or the affection that grew from how much she'd helped him, one thing was certain: he truly liked her.

"Sigh..." Richard grew tired of his own restless emotions.

He forced himself to sleep first.

Unbeknownst to him, word had already spread throughout the capital — the story of his battle with Bear, how he easily defeated him, cut off his fingers, and took his ring.

The news shocked everyone who had been anticipating the duels between the kingdom's young geniuses.

They couldn't help but wonder how they compared to that boy.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

In the evening, Richard woke up from his nap to the sound of knocking at his door.

"Who is it?"

Richard frowned, not expecting anyone to knock.

He was certain it wasn't Sister Lisa — the sound of the knock was different.

Lilith was even more unlikely.

Once he confirmed it wasn't either of them, he grew somewhat cautious.

He used the crimson eye's power to see through the door — and was immediately stunned.

'Why is he here?' he thought in surprise.

The one knocking on his door was none other than Luca Holystar, the king's nephew.

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