Splitting Up

The information Ansen got from the pirate with the broken leg was about a 'treasure'.

The news reportedly came from a scribe in Erudition City—those who deal with old books every day do occasionally make astonishing discoveries.

And this time, that scribe had uncovered a big secret.

The secret concerned an ancient encampment of the Griffin Knights that had never been discovered, or rather, an ancient ruin.

The reason those pirates kept going to Erudition City and sailing up and down the continent's rivers was to ascertain the location of this encampment.

The Old Pendor Kingdom once ruled the entirety of this continent—to this day, the continent is still named after Pendor.

And the Griffin Knights were once the national knightly order of the Old Pendor Kingdom, as well as the strongest knightly order on the continent, bar none.

But it is said that 150 years ago, under the conspiracy of the Gato Raiders and Duke Alfred of Lionheart, the Griffin Knights were all killed in battle in Long River Town.

After the destruction of the Griffin Knights, Duke Alfred usurped the throne and established the Lionheart Kingdom, destroying all forces loyal to the Pendor royal family, and the Lion Knights, who supported him, became the national knightly order.

Henceforth, the Griffin Knights were declared an illegal armed group by the Lionheart Kingdom, and the golden-crested black griffin emblem, which held countless legends, vanished from the continent.

And their mysterious encampment remained buried by the passage of time, unknown to anyone.

How many treasures would be hidden in the secret base left by a legendary force like the Griffin Knights?

Just thinking about it was incredibly appealing.

And after a long period of effort, those pirates had confirmed the approximate location of the encampment—roughly at the source of one of the rivers near Long River Town.

But there were countless rivers near Long River Town, and they still hadn't found it, so they went to Erudition City again, hoping to find any overlooked information from that scribe.

Li Ang understood the pirates' desire to find treasure or obtain a hidden encampment, but he scoffed at such behavior—spending a large amount of manpower and resources to search for days for a legendary 'mysterious encampment,' were they pirates or explorers?

They were completely neglecting their proper business...

He simply made a mental note of the matter, to be dealt with when a suitable opportunity arose in the future.

The most important thing right now was to go to Lion City and register as a Pioneer Lord.

This team, which had obtained quite a bit of spoils, was now completely renewed, with much higher morale and spirits than before.

But Li Ang had to set off alone in advance—he had to arrive at Lion City before Duke Alma to complete the registration at the Noble Court.

This was Ansen's suggestion.

As a noble-born, even if not from the Lionheart Kingdom, Ansen still understood the behavior of nobles better than Li Ang or Kloze.

Li Ang, at best, was still a commoner. His father's knightly order had been annihilated, and it might even have been declared an illegal knightly order—otherwise, he wouldn't have remained silent about it his entire life.

If he arrived at Lion City after Duke Alma or that illegitimate son, his Pioneer Baron certificate might very well be declared invalid with a few casual remarks from Duke Alma—King Ulrich would likely wish for that too, as there were already too many nobles and never enough territory.

But such matters usually couldn't be resolved by a duke's letter or order; he would have to speak to the king in person, and the king would issue the order. After all, a certificate issued by the Noble Court represented the king's authority.

Moreover, such retribution usually wouldn't lead to any targeted disastrous consequences—at least, they wouldn't send people to intercept him. After all, he hadn't offended them too deeply; he had merely failed to fulfill the illegitimate son's wish, which didn't constitute deep hatred.

Therefore, registering as a Pioneer Lord at the Noble Court before Duke Alma's convoy returned to Lion City would likely pose no problem.

Those who truly wanted him dead were probably the people from the Crimson Brotherhood, so the further he was from chaotic places like the west coast, the safer he would be.

Li Ang thought Ansen made sense, so he rode Alice alone and galloped through the night.

They agreed to regroup near Long River Town to purchase supplies there.

Li Ang wasn't worried about his subordinates abandoning him—he could see them on the party panel.

Although this half-baked system couldn't display basic character attributes, the party panel function was not compromised at all.

Alice was indeed a good horse. By noon on the third day, Li Ang had traveled over a thousand miles and arrived outside Lion City.

Lion City was the capital of the Lionheart Kingdom.

But its former name was Kavala—the name of the founder of the Old Pendor Kingdom.

It was once the capital of the Old Pendor Kingdom.

The city walls were fifteen meters high—this was almost an impregnable fortress from the outside.

Indeed, the city had changed hands three times, and each time it was breached from the inside...

Although the Lionheart Kingdom had been established for 150 years, when viewed from a distance, the outlines of huge griffin reliefs could still be faintly seen on the city walls—they had been deliberately flattened, and then lion shapes with bared teeth and claws were redrawn on their surfaces.

But regardless, the public order here was much better than in Mistveil City...

At least, he didn't see any suspicious small groups on the streets.

The guards at the city gate did not stop Li Ang, nor did they make him stop for inspection—they probably thought that anyone who could ride the golden-maned horse Alice into the city must be a noble, and there was no need to cause trouble for themselves.

This was also the main reason Li Ang had always wanted this horse; it wasn't because Alice had outstanding speed and endurance, but because she looked impressive.

Li Ang galloped along the wide streets.

His destination was naturally the Noble Court of Lion City, the official institution that managed all noble fiefdom affairs in the Lionheart territory.

The Noble Court was actually not easy to find, which was contrary to tradition—it was said that over a hundred years ago, the Pendor Noble Court was the tallest building in the city center, and its high dome could be seen from anywhere within the city.

But ever since the first Lionheart King, Duke Alfred of Lionheart, usurped the throne, that tallest independent building in the entire Lionheart territory became the private property of his family—and now it was also the private property of King Ulrich.

And the new Noble Court, well, it was on a side street next to King's Avenue—hidden in a deep alley, essentially no different from the residences of minor nobles.

Perhaps this was because the old Pendor Noble Court contained a large number of documents, which they dared not make public;

Perhaps it was to make officials more approachable and reduce corruption.

But Li Ang felt that it was probably because the King of Lionheart didn't want any taller buildings within the kingdom, lest someone be "above them."

After all, the reason the usurper became the King of Lionheart was precisely because of his "unwillingness to be beneath anyone."

Looking at the magnificent building in the city center, which towered over thirty meters high, Li Ang shook his head. He walked along King's Avenue, asking his way, and finally found the entrance to the Noble's Court.

Above the main entrance was carved a goddess with a solemn expression, clad in a long robe, holding a spear in one hand and a codex in the other, with an owl perched on her shoulder.

This was the main deity of the Old Pendor people, and the official faith of the Lionheart Kingdom today—the God of Order and Zeal, Eunomia.

The statue was exquisite, but somewhat dissonant. Originally, Eunomia should have had a pendant representing the cycles of the sun and moon on her chest, but this statue had replaced it with a lion's head.

Even the image of the main deity had been altered... This level of flattery was clearly exceptionally high.

He just wondered if this God of Order, without the cycles of the sun and moon, would still be willing to bless the Lionheart Kingdom, which claimed to inherit the legitimacy of Old Pendor.