The Crimson Supreme didn’t seem to react to these words at all, but Ryker’s senses were much sharper than the average person’s. He could see the slight narrowing of the Crimson Supreme’s eyes even from this distance away.

It was quite obvious that Ryker was taking a dig at the Crimson Supreme, even if only the two of them would understand it.

Ryker didn’t believe that his capture wouldn’t have fallen on the Crimson Supreme’s desk as a report. He also didn’t believe that the Crimson Supreme wouldn’t know that the Crimson Knights were mobilized to catch him.

That was strike two, and Ryker didn’t often allow people to have even a single one, not after he had finally broken into the 2nd Enlightenment Realm. He had spent too much of his life swallowing insults, his patience for such things could only be said to be at rock bottom.

That said, as much as he wanted to just charge up and lop this so-called Crimson Supreme’s head off, there were reasons other than Patience’s existence that he couldn’t do so, the chief of them being that he wasn’t able to fight off an entire country’s might on his own.

Phoenix had reached maturity, but was still mostly an infant in comparison to their true growth potential. The big guy was just in the 3rd Enlightenment Realm and had a long way to go before they could catch up to Ryker.

The Silver Mirror was still just an anchor on his ankle at this point, and he was still trying to tease apart its secrets.

As for his personal strength, he would have to be in the 9th Enlightenment Realm before he could think about soloing an army of thousands at this level. The thought itself was madness, and only a 9th Circle Talent like him would dare to even think it possible—and even that was only assuming the best talents here were just 4th Circle.

This was all to say that he needed to force the Crimson Supreme’s hand, and he didn’t have time to allow a man he, quite frankly, had little respect for, to test him slowly.

Ryker honestly didn’t believe that the Crimson Supreme would actually let him die. By now, he should know that Ryker was the very variable he needed to turn things around.

But at the same time, he should likewise be very wary of Ryker because his origins were too dubious. That much was fair.

The trouble was that Ryker didn’t want to rot in a holding cell and be pushed every which way by grunt number one and grunt number two before he finally satisfied this Crimson Supreme’s arbitrary list of tests.

Although he wasn’t as eager to return home as he had been in the past as this world seemed to have more growth potential than he thought, he couldn’t begin to take advantage of that potential if he was staring at three walls and a set of iron bars.

So he pressed his foot on the pedal and passed the ticking time bomb into the hands of the Crimson Supreme.

Right now, there was a young man who had stormed into his capital under the guise of getting revenge for him, and this very same young man was holding the hands of his daughter for all to see.

At the same time, only the higher ups knew that Ryker’s identity was questionable. To everyone else, the weight of the Junior Crimson Medallion cleared everything up. Even the old man with 8th Enlightenment Realm strength softened his stance a bit, no longer as eager to see Ryker’s head on a pike.

The only real problem with this atmosphere was that Ryker had a Crimson Knight hanging over his shoulder. But even that only seemed to add to the weight of the situation.

This wasn’t a young man blowing his own horn. He had an enemy over one shoulder, the second most prestigious Medallion of their federation on his lapel, and their princess in his hands.

It was difficult to look at this situation with anything but awe… at least that was the case for those that weren’t sticklers for rules or fancied themselves arbitrators of law and order.

Patience could practically hear her own heart beating. In fact, she was worried that others would be able to as well.

However, inwardly, she was shocked. She had never seen anyone make her father do anything, and there was no doubt in her heart that the Crimson Supreme had no intention of interfering until Ryker forced his hand.

And though the Crimson Supreme had yet to say anything, Patience could feel it…

He was hesitating.

Two things she had simply never seen before, and they were both forced by Ryker. Had he planned this the entire time?

“Make way,” the Crimson Supreme suddenly spoke in a voice that sounded almost like an avalanche. “Can you not see that my son-in-law has come to visit?”

The Crimson Knights hurried to follow orders. Although they were under the direct authority of the Crimson General, which of them would dare to disobey the Crimson Supreme?

Ryker’s lip curled.

…

The atmosphere was quite heavy, or maybe it should have been. In reality, the only person who couldn’t quite breathe was Patience herself.

What Ryker didn’t know was that Patience hadn’t stepped foot into this Palace in over a year. As for her father, she hadn’t seen him in over half a year at least, and the last time was at an official function she had no choice but to attend. Ever since the mistake she made caused her Legion to be relegated, it was like she had disappointed her father for the last time. She wasn’t even sure that he acknowledged her as his own child anymore.

She sat at the tea table with her head lowered, hoping that her long black hair would cover much of her expression. She was surprisingly not wearing armor anymore and had instead pulled a dress out of a closet she hadn’t seen in just as long.

It felt uncomfortable.

She felt that her shoulders were too bulky for a dress now, and her muscle definition didn’t suit the cuts of the seamstresses.

When she was wearing athletic clothing, her figure was quite excellent. But now it just felt… out of place.

At least that was how Patience felt.

She kept shifting in her seat, pulling her shawl around herself to hide her figure, but not too tightly that it would just expose her silhouette again. The song and dance in her own head was just enough to distract her from the tenseness of the situation, but it was like trying to quench your thirst with poison.

To her side, there was Ryker. He was just as carefree as he usually was, devouring the food in front of him, and yet somehow doing so with the elegance of a noble. She had never seen someone eat so fast and yet with so much etiquette at the same time. At least that was what she caught from the slight glances she was taking from time to time.

Her father was across from her. He was eating quite a lot of food as well, though he cared little for etiquette. He ate with his hands when he pleased, only pausing from time to time to wipe his lips. Even so, he had his own weird sort of cleanliness to him. At the very least, even with how “messy” he was eating, there wasn’t a drop of food outside of his mouth or his plate. Even his fingers were coated with an energy to protect them from stains.

Ryker smiled. “That dress doesn’t really suit you, Patience.”

He spoke casually, but the words made Patience lower her head further.

“I’ll take you to go buy something that will really make you shine. I don’t know what god awful seamstress made that for you, they’re a true sinner, wasting the gods’ gift.”

Patience blinked. Understanding Ryker’s words, her lips curled into a smile and she almost laughed, though she managed to refrain. Knowing that Ryker hadn’t meant to insult her and was just lightening up the mood, she felt better.

But did this man really have to flirt with her in front of her father? Where could she hide now?

The Crimson Supreme didn’t say anything, finishing off his plate with just as much gusto.

When he put his utensils down, though, and cleaned off his hands, the atmosphere seemed to grow even heavier than before.

He looked toward Ryker who was still teasing Patience with a few words. When he saw his daughter doing her best to hold back her laughter, he chose to speak first.

“Which of the powers sent you?” He said slowly.

Patience tensed up, her urge to laugh evaporating.

Ryker looked up.

“It can’t be the Shadow Clan, because they’ve already sent the Vie boy. I doubt the Sage Clan or the Emerald Kingdom would dare to send you because they can’t risk straining relations between the three powers. Without the perfect coordination between the three, they can’t restrain the Enlightened Empire.

“So did the Empire send you here to mess with the Shadow Clan’s consolidation of power?”

Ryker smiled. “Your imagination is not bad.”

“Do you want to tell me that since you’ve killed people of the Enlightened Empire that I shouldn’t reach this conclusion?”

“Smart.”

“Not so smart,” the Crimson Supreme replied calmly. “With how ruthless the Empire is, would they really bat an eyelash to the death of a few if it meant accomplishing their goals?”

Ryker chuckled. He had, indeed, expected this response. But the Crimson Supreme’s words also confirmed something else.

When he fought those people looking for Rosemary in the forest, they had all turned to goo upon their deaths. One of them had even been killed simply due to losing consciousness for too long. This was in line with the Crimson Supreme’s description of “ruthless”.

The Empire was, indeed, ruthless. If it meant dealing a blow to the Shadow Clan and making their assimilation of the Federation more difficult, why would they care about the death of a handful? Let alone the fact that Ryker hadn’t been confirmed to have killed them, he just had a few spatial bags.

“I really don’t mind telling you who I am,” Ryker finally replied, “it’s just a question of if you’ll believe it. I’ve told everyone I’ve met my identity already, it isn’t a secret. I’m Ryker Valorian like I said, genius of the Valorian Clan. I crash-landed in this place and have been stuck ever since.”

The Crimson Supreme frowned.

If the Empire sent a spy and wanted to make up a convincing lie… couldn’t they come up with a better lie than that?

Crash landing? Who didn’t know that making it out of this world was impossible?

“Valorian…?”

Ryker’s heart skipped a beat. Like he had said, his senses were much sharper than that of others. He sensed a hint of something in the Crimson Supreme’s tone just now…

Familiarity?

“What do you know?” Ryker suddenly asked quite quickly.

The Crimson Supreme was taken aback. Ryker had been so calm just now, but he had lost his composure so easily? Was it an act?

Usually, the most dangerous people were those without weaknesses. It was the tactic of a high-level spy to give someone a fake weakness to hold onto, allowing them to feel secure when in reality they had never grasped the true personhood of the spy at all.

However, if Ryker was just acting, it was a bit too real…

That wasn’t the only problem either. Even if Ryker wasn’t acting, it seemed weird that a man usually so calm and calculating would allow him to get a hold of such a weakness.

Plus, the information he had on this Valorian Clan… the methods by which he had gained them couldn’t be revealed to outsiders.

Wait, how had Ryker known in the first place? All he did was reveal the name? And if he was able to glean something from just a soft mutter, then why would he reveal that he had so easily?

The Crimson Supreme actually frowned before his brows relaxed.

This Ryker was a highly confusing character, and he didn’t know if it was a trick or not but…

His gut told him from the start that Ryker wasn’t a spy at all. It was just that he was confused about where such a person could come from, especially with such a Spirit Beast at his beck and call.

“Hey, old man, I asked you a question.”

The Crimson Supreme hadn’t planned on answering at all. Like he had said, the matter was strictly confidential. But what he didn’t expect was that Ryker would actually press him.

A dangerous light flashed in the Crimson Supreme’s eyes, but an equally dangerous one came from Ryker. It looked as though Ryker wouldn’t mind throwing away all pretense and fighting here.

Not being in a rush to return home was one thing, but that didn’t mean he would miss an opportunity to gain some information about it either.

“Ryker,” Patience pulled on Ryker’s sleeve with a somewhat pleading tone.

Ryker blinked and seemed to realize that he had lost his temper somewhat. He had been about to get up, but he slumped back into his seat taking a breath.

‘Discipline, discipline, discipline…’ he repeated the word again and again.

He took a breath and then slowly stood.

“Are you finished eating?” Ryker asked Patience.

“Ah… yes.”

She hadn’t really eaten at all, but she wasn’t exactly hungry either. She couldn’t eat in this environment.

Ryker took her hand and left, not looking back at the Crimson Supreme. If he did, he might really forget everything and attack.

…

Patience took two steps for Ryker’s every one, just trying to keep up. She had to forget about trying to hide her figure to focus on his long strides, not that she could really think about it at this point. She was more worried for Ryker than anything.

They entered a familiar wing of the Palace and Ryker pushed open a pair of doors, stepping into Patience’s room.

It was quite spacious, even larger than her apartment on wheels. The bed couldn’t even be considered king size, it was like two of them had been stacked side by side, while there was a lush white carpet with the length of wild grass tickling between their toes.

This was the second time Patience had entered here today, but it still filled her with nostalgia. She was a bit distracted when Ryker suddenly scooped her up, pressing her against the wall.

Patience let out an astonished gasp. She probably should have thought this might happen, but she had been too distracted. Plus, she had only lost herself in that whirlwind of pleasure for a short while compared to the length of the rest of her life, it couldn't be said to be something at the forefront of her mind.

~~Rest of chapter censored to comply with rr's rules... I think I forgot to do this for the last couple chapters, whoops, lmao~~