The Devil’s Cage

Becker politely nodded at Smith and the girls with a smile before standing straight in front of Kieran, placing his right hand in front of his chest and bowing at 90°.

It was the grandest salutation among the Special Operation Division, only used in extremely special occasions.

Becker thought that now was a good time to use it.

“Thank you for saving our lives last night,” the young man said solemnly in a very sincere tone.

No one understood more than Becker how precious life was since he had lingered around death last night, moreover, Kieran saved his entire team.

When he thought about last night, he realized that if Kieran hadn’t appeared, they would have been wiped out, thus he showed more gratitude on his face.

Kieran didn’t say anything.

He didn’t say yes or no. He instead concentrated on his food, neglecting the young man before him.

Becker was prepared for this though.

The attitudes of Monster Hunters, their behaviours, and how they did things wasn’t a secret in the Special Operation Division.

Even before Becker arrived at the hotel, he had already known what he was going to face, still, he came because he thought it was his duty to tell Kieran the secret that he knew.

It was due to gratitude for saving his life and also the desire to prevent more innocent people from losing their lives in an encounter like last night’s.

The young man recalled the terrifying scene last night. Although he didn’t want to admit it, a voice was speaking to him in his heart.

Relying solely on the Special Operation Division wouldn’t allow them to overcome the danger this time. Only with the power of a Monster Hunter would Eiders be safe from a malevolent grasp.

Before coming, the young man purposely voiced this out to the leader and vice leader, whom he treated as a father and brother respectively.

Becker had been prepared for a scolding by his superiors but he didn’t think his leader would choose to turn a blind eye; the vice leader, who suffered a broken arm, didn’t say anything either, only giving Becker encouragement through his gaze.

Knowing that both the leader and vice leader shared the same thoughts, Becker was freed from worries.

After taking a deep breath, Becker spoke in a soft voice.

“Maybe to you, last night was nothing, but to me, it’s a debt that I will remember for the rest of my life. I don’t have anything to repay you, just some news—”

Pausing, Becker spoke even more softly.

“Half a year before the Blood Moon’s emergence, multiple cases of missing persons occurred all over Eiders. None dared to file reports for those cases due to the interference of some powerful figures and a few people who were connected to them, so in the end, the matter was left unsettled. I don’t have any evidence to prove that the missing cases are related to the weird state of Eiders now, but my instinct tells me that they are somehow connected.

“If it’s useful to you, I’ll be thankful, but if it isn’t, please don’t blame me. My name is Becker. If you have any use of me, please drop by my No.6 Patrol team and ask for me.”

The young man then walked closer to the table and placed a piece of paper that had his name on it beside Kieran. He bowed again and quickly left the hotel.

After making sure there wasn’t anything fishy on the piece of paper, Kieran quietly picked it up. At the same time, he also sent an order to Kozert, the ‘hyacinth’ he controlled, to watch and follow Becker.

Kieran would never believe a stranger, even if the stranger bore goodwill.

Everything needed to be proven.

Kieran didn’t check the piece of paper immediately. After finishing his last mouthful of soup, Kieran turned his attention towards the entrance of the hotel.

His Intuition picked up a familiar figure approaching.

Wier, in his blue windcoat and with his walking staff, walked into the lobby politely after a minute.

“Morning,” Wier greeted Lagren like they were friends. Lagren nodded.

Watching Wier approach Kieran, Lagren noticed with sharp focus that Wier paused for a short moment in front of that ‘No Smoking’ sign that he put up.

It seemed like Wier couldn’t make out the contents of the sign at first glance.

Lagren the hotel owner crossed his arms and grunted.

He would not change it. It was his own writing.

It wasn’t his fault that others couldn’t read it.

Monster Hunter training didn’t include cultural classes.

The messy words that he scrawled were already his most outstanding piece.

Bringing his ‘pride’ with him, Lagren returned to his room. He had no intention of listening to the conversation between Wier and Kieran.

It would be boring.

As a matter of fact, the conversation between Wier and Kieran that followed was even more boring than Lagren would have expected.

“Can I sit?” Wier maintained his politeness.

Compared to Becker’s politeness just now, Wier’s politeness was more stiff, as though it were his standard operating procedure; the discomfort from the stiff politeness could drive people away.

So Kieran replied straight away, “No”.

Although both of them had somehow come to working together, it didn’t mean Kieran had to face Wier with a pleasant mood.

Wier knew it as well.

After experiencing the destruction of Aemon Street yesterday, Wier marked Kieran with multiple tags of a Monster Hunter and beyond.

As Wier saw it, Kieran tended to follow rules even less than a Monster Hunter. That was also the reason why he paid a visit to the hotel.

“There were some missing Blood Kins around Aemon Street last night… Is it somehow related to you?” Wier asked.

Wier stared at Kieran while he asked this.

He hoped to glean something valuable from Kieran’s expression, but unfortunately, Kieran sat there coldly without any expression on his face.

As for Smith?

His hands shook for a bit before returning to normal.

Wier, who was concentrating all his attention on Kieran, didn’t notice this unusual reaction.

Maybe it was because Smith had left a certain impression in Wier’s mind.

Although Smith was very smart, he was not strong enough, otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen such a stupid method to try and save the girls.

Wier, blinded by his first impressions, grazed the truth.

He didn’t shift his eyes away from Kieran’s face, as he still knew nothing of the truth.

Then, he saw Kieran’s lips curl up into a mocking smile.

“Since when did the Spec Ops pay so much attention to the safety of some Blood Kin?”

“Because some of the missing Blood Kin chose to follow humans’ rules to coexist,” Wier emphasized.

“Congratulations. You have successfully allowed the Blood Kin to blend into human society. You should really go have a look at the guest list at that ‘restaurant’, check and see whether it has the name of the Blood Kin that you took pride of. And… don’t talk to me about those trash, otherwise, I might not hold back and end up tearing them all to shreds.”

“D, this is Eiders! We have rules here! Here…” Wier raised his voice, stressing with a solemn tone.

However, Kieran didn’t give him the chance to speak. He stood up and walked out of the hotel.

As Kieran moved, the feathered mantle fluttered as though it were a raven extending its wings with an ominous call.

Wier’s face changed. He felt like he was hearing the wails of death, he felt like he was seeing blood flow into rivers.

“Wait!” Wier shouted, trying to give chase to Kieran.

Wier was so anxious that he didn’t notice that a foot was placed in his way.

Wier tripped from the sudden foot that appeared, and although his exceptional reflexes that were stronger than commoners’ saved him from a disgraceful fall, he still staggered uglily.

Wier turned around with slight anger on his face, looking at Smith, who had extended his foot out.

“Sorry, slippery foot,” Smith said with an expressionless, calm tone.