The Baron shook his head. "There is nothing wrong. You did the right thing; we cannot let the thieves go unpunished. It is just... my body feels a bit off..."

  Hearing this, Richard's eyes flickered for a moment. His gaze fell on the wound on the Baron's arm, and his expression grew more serious.

  "How is it? Is my injury that severe?" The Baron glanced at Richard's face, furrowing his brows in confusion. "It was only a dagger wound, after all."

  "The wound itself isn't severe," Richard replied, "but the assailant used poison."

  "What!" The Baron lowered his head and saw the darkened wound, the blood now dark red and tinged with purple. His eyes widened in alarm. "This...!"

  Richard leaned in, squinting to examine the wound closely. He then sniffed the blood's scent—a foul, acrid stench mixed with a faint fishy odor.

  "It must be snake venom!" Richard quickly concluded, his gaze growing even more somber.

  "Is it hard to treat?" The Baron asked.

  "Very difficult," Richard nodded, speaking deliberately, his expression grim. Without further hesitation, he drew his sword, used it to slice off a long strip of cloth from his clothing, and tightly wrapped it around the Baron's arm near the shoulder.

  Next, he pulled out a small knife, cutting a cross into the wound and began to squeeze out the poisoned blood. Once the venomous blood had been fully expelled, Richard turned to the two men left behind by the First Guard and said to Hughes, "Go to the side tower and wake Lucy. Bring the medical kit."

  "Understood," Hughes replied, not daring to delay, and rushed out of the hall.

  Before long, the sleepy-eyed maid Lucy appeared, carrying a heavy box and yawning as she approached Richard. "Master, what's the matter? Why do you need the medical kit so late...?"

  Halfway through her question, she suddenly froze, her eyes widening in realization. She saw the Baron slumped on the ground and quickly ran towards Richard, her voice rapid and concerned, "Master, is the Baron injured? How serious is his wound? Will he be able to recover?"

  "Difficult to say," Richard answered briefly to the maid's rapid-fire questions. He then placed the heavy medical kit on the ground, opened it, and took out several vials of medicine. He applied some of them to the Baron's wound and administered others into the Baron's mouth.

  Once he had finished, Richard wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at the frowning, silent Baron, and sighed. "I can't say for sure what your situation is right now."

  "What do you mean?" The Baron's voice was low, his tone already heavy with foreboding.

  Richard looked at the Baron and explained, "Although I have squeezed most of the poisonous blood out, some of it has already entered your system, and that is dangerous. Snake venom is not like other poisons. It is inherently complex, and without knowing the exact type of snake, it's very difficult to use the right antidote."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Normally, the best treatment is to inject snake antivenom into the body within 24 hours. Technically, there is no problem; I could even make the antivenom myself, given the current state of this world. But the problem is, making antivenom is similar to creating a vaccine. It requires injecting diluted venom into large livestock, allowing them to develop antibodies, and then purifying the serum. This process takes time, and we don't have that luxury."

  He paused and continued, "Other than that, we can only rely on conservative treatment. We'll use medicine to reduce the effects of the venom on your body, and then, through your body's metabolism, try to slowly expel the poisonous blood. This process will take a long time, and during it, your condition will continue to worsen. So, you need to be prepared."

  "I see." The Baron muttered to himself, no longer agitated but now calm. After a moment's reflection, he looked up at Richard and said slowly, "In that case, it looks like you will need to manage the affairs of the territory for a while. This might be a good thing for you, at least it will give you a chance to exercise your abilities..."

  "Is it?" Richard replied flatly, not sharing the Baron's sentiment.

  "Hmm?" The Baron gave Richard a long look, then seemed to realize something. A bitter smile appeared on his face. "I see. You’ve always hated 'trouble.' So handling the affairs of the territory is definitely a bad thing for you."

  "But," the Baron’s lips twitched as he sat on the floor, his lips purple, "but, whether you like it or not, you have to manage things. After all, you are my heir."

  "Second heir," Richard corrected sharply, then suddenly thought of something. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the Baron. "I am curious. Why would thieves try to assassinate you? Have you made enemies recently?"

  "Well..." The Baron paused, his voice trailing off. After a long silence, he seemed to come to his senses, speaking somewhat stiffly, "Who could I have offended? But now that I think about it, it’s possible that Lanster from next door finally couldn't stand it and tried to take action. That greedy and cunning old dog. You should be careful of him."

  "I will," Richard replied coldly, though in his heart, he couldn't help but shake his head. The Baron's attempt at concealing the truth was too obvious. He clearly had something on his mind but was unwilling to speak.

  Sighing inwardly, Richard turned to Hughes and Red Eye. "Help the Baron to his room. I will prepare some more potions and check on how Tuku and the others are doing with the search."

  "Yes," Hughes and Red Eye helped the Baron up the stairs, while Richard turned and exited the main hall.

  Outside the castle, the night was thick and heavy, the cold wind howling, and the temperature had dropped even further.

  Richard tightened his coat and walked toward a busy group ahead—Tuku and the others.

  As he got closer, Richard called out, "How is it going? How's the search?"

  "Well..." Tuku hesitated, a trace of difficulty on his face. "Master Richard, we've only searched a small part of the castle so far."

  "Hmm?" Richard frowned, clearly displeased. "Why is it taking so long? There are a lot of people in the castle. Why is the search so slow?"

  "This!" Tuku ground his teeth, his voice tinged with frustration. "Master Richard, it's because that group of people isn't cooperating!"

  "What group?" Richard asked.

  "The group of soldiers under the Baron's command!" Tuku spat angrily. "I told them about the Baron’s assassination, and they agreed to lock down all the exits, but when it came to searching, they left it all to us. Damn it!"

  Richard raised an eyebrow. "Someone must be leading them, right? Otherwise, ordinary soldiers wouldn’t dare to speak like that."

  "Exactly!" Tuku nodded. "It’s one of the Baron's new knights, a man named Torls. He’s not particularly strong, but he has all sorts of problems. If things weren’t so urgent, I would’ve taught him a lesson just now!" Tuku clenched his fist as he spoke.

  Richard’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Actually, it's not too late to teach him a lesson now. The Baron just collapsed, and someone is trying to take advantage of the situation. He needs to be dealt with."

  "Then..." Tuku hesitated.

  "Take me to him."

  "Understood." Tuku nodded, turned, and began leading the way.