The Devil’s Cage

Kieran brought Smith and Bloody Mary to Kozert’s hideout. The latter ignored the huge bag of spoils of war on Bloody Mary and bowed respectfully to Kieran.

“My lord.”

Kozert straightened his body after the bow and passed Kieran a piece of paper with many words.

At the top of the piece of paper was details about Quaker Wilberst’s entire life and his father’s reaction after the death.

Quaker Wilberst, one of the victims from before the emergence of the Blood Moon, came from a good family, received elite education since young and also shared the hobbies of those higher class people, things like being skilled in all sorts of sports. He’d also loved attending parties and dinners, and from the records, he seemed to be the center of attention every time he attended.

That was why Quaker Wilberst became the appointed heir to Merchant Wilberst.

And if normal procedures were to be followed, a few years later when Merchant Wilberst got older, Quaker Wilberst would eventually become the head of Wilberst Family.

Unfortunately, following Quaker Wilberst’s death, everything popped like a bubble and it infuriated his father beyond words.

The piece of paper even clearly stated how many cups and vases the father broke over the two weeks after losing his beloved son, including his favourite vase.

“Unwilling? Holding back? Or is this another trap?” Kieran speculated.

He didn’t draw a conclusion right away.

The imposter house leader from House of K had already given him a warning.

The opponent he had to face this time was much more cunning and special than he had imagined.

After thinking for a while, Kieran gave orders to Kozert.

“Send the merchant an invitation. Ask whether he is curious about his son’s death. If he is, tell him to find me on Sheryl Street.”

“Yes, my lord,” Kozert bowed and vanished from the room.

After Kozert went off, Smith, who had been quiet all this time, came up to Kieran suddenly.

His habitual silence made him not speak, but Kieran understood what he wanted to say.

“You are nervous? Because you don’t know why I helped you to this extent?” Kieran asked.

Smith nodded.

“I saw a chance, so I made my move. I didn’t help you intentionally, nor do I request a debt of gratitude,” Kieran said calmly.

He didn’t emphasize or reinstate anything, as he was just stating the fact.

His answer stunned Smith.

Smith clearly felt that Kieran wasn’t lying, and because of that, Smith couldn’t accept his help wholeheartedly.

In his mind, he had thought his gifts had caught Kieran’s attention, thus the help from him.

Was Kieran a kind person who just wanted to help?

Stop joking.

Anyone who saw Kieran’s cold and expressionless face would know that he wasn’t a kind and warm-hearted person.

Smith had planned to use his gifts as leverage, and from that point onwards, he even thought of the conditions that he would agree to Kieran and those that he would reject firmly.

However, when he was greeted with the truth, Smith realized that he had been overthinking.

Kieran didn’t care about him, nor his gifts or strength.

In simple words, Smith owed Kieran a massive debt of gratitude, and even if Kieran didn’t care, it didn’t mean that Smith could forget about it.

The people in the world were divided into good and bad.

All sorts of strange personalities existed in different people.

Some people viewed everything that was beneficial to themselves as reasonable while others marked down all the debts of gratitude and try his or her best to repay them.

Smith was the kind of person that was cold on the outside, but warm on the inside kind.

After twisting his body in a nervous and uncomfortable way, Smith finally spilled out the words he had concluded in his mind.

“There must be something that isn’t too convenient for you, right? I can help you with…”

Before he could finish, Smith was forced to stop because Bloody Mary, who was beside him, upon receiving Kieran’s order, swiftly transformed into Wier, Mier, Lagren and even Smith himself.

Each transformation was so realistic that Smith couldn’t tell them apart from the originals.

And when Bloody Mary transformed into his own likeness, Smith especially felt like he was looking into a mirror.

Having an aid that could transform into anyone was undoubtedly better than having Smith.

He became quiet.

He really couldn’t think of anything to repay Kieran with anymore.

In the end, Smith stood in front of Kieran in silence and looked at him with little persistence in his eyes.

He hoped for an answer from Kieran.

Unfortunately, Kieran didn’t even care about him. Kieran walked around Smith and went outside.

He had too many things to attend to, and there was no extra time to waste on Smith.

Looking at Kieran’s back, Smith opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“Being able to help isn’t restricted to a single matter. You can think about what D wanted you to do recently,” Bloody Mary suddenly whispered to Smith when it grazed him. Smith’s eyes shone instantly.

What was he doing lately?

Killing Blood Kins.

What was a Monster Hunter’s duty?

To protect the innocent and eliminate the monsters!

Smith’s eyes shone brighter. He thought he had found the best way to repay Kieran.

Without further doubts, Smith swiftly left the room.

The priceless items in the room? Smith didn’t even bat an eye at them.

To some people, money was everything.

But to some others, there were many things more precious than money.

…

The night in Eiders was quiet.

Kieran and Bloody Mary were walking along Sheryl Street. Kieran was in the front while Bloody Mary was behind him.

When Bloody Mary saw Smith run out in a hurry, it knew what Kieran was already planning.

In this unfamiliar and strange city, its contractor had no assistance at all.

In simple words, Kieran was too busy to attend to everything.

Therefore, he needed a helper to clean out the monsters in the dark.

It wasn’t for the innocent lives, nor was it for justice. It was just because these monsters were related to the Blood Moon’s changes.

However, Bloody Mary was sure that the seemingly smart but truly stupid Smith that ran out in a hurry just now didn’t share the same thought.

In that stupid mind of his, Kieran might have already become the hero who was killing monsters lurking in the dark.

That stupid Smith might very well treat Kieran as his goal while moving forward.

“What an idiot.” Bloody Mary couldn’t hold back its criticism in its heart.

But it quickly tucked away its extra thoughts because they had arrived at Sheryl Street.

A sturdy looking car was stopped beside the road.

Kieran stopped and looked at Bloody Mary. The meaning was obvious.

Why me?

Why am I always playing this kind of probing role?

You must be taking revenge on me because I criticised Smith, right?

Bloody Mary was very unwilling in its heart but it didn’t have the slightest intention to defy Kieran.

A deep breath later, Bloody Mary walked towards the car.

While Bloody Mary approached the car in D’s sight, something happened—

KABOOM!