The Devil’s Cage

Inside Kozert’s room, Kieran was sitting in a chair while rubbing his ever-swelling temples.

Beside his feet were documents stacked to almost half a man’s height.

These documents meticulously recorded everything about Mayor Syro Derl, Senate Speaker Hardy Lynne, Senator Morr, and even Merchant Wilberst.

Among the plethora of information, there were a lot of shady deals.

Kieran was not surprised.

From how Kieran saw it, it was normal for these four men to have some shady sides to achieve their current position in society. Their occupations, as politicians and merchants, required massive amounts of lies and the ditching of their conscience.

Among all the shady records, the most concerning was the ‘Ghoul Incident’.

It wasn’t the Ghoul that re-appeared recently but the first Ghoul from the legends that appeared 30 years ago.

Based on the records on the documents, these Ghouls were created by men that involved Eiders’ military and high ranking politicians.

However, the descriptions were vague, and details were missing.

Obviously, someone wanted to prevent the incident from back then to see the light of day.

But the cowhide bag that Kieran found under Quaker Wilberst’s grave recorded the incident from 30 years ago in detail.

‘Ghoul Incident’, at first, wasn’t named like that but was instead ‘Warrior Plan’. It was a step taken by Eiders’ military and high ranking politicians to deal with the rising dark forces in the city.

They started with goodwill, but it eventually ended in tragedy.

None of the experimental subjects ended up living a normal life; they even defied their initial code and attacked civilians.

However, Hardy Lynne, who conducted the experiments, and Moor, who was responsible for the execution, didn’t take the blame for the misgivings. Instead, they rose prominently, one becoming the speaker of the senate, the other a senator.

Likewise, Mayor Syro Derl, who signed the authorization letter, wasn’t blamed either. He continued onward to become the most powerful man in Eiders.

This particular point baffled Kieran.

Although he knew that politicians’ biggest ability was their shamelessness, it didn’t mean that their political rivals would sit still and not turn the spearhead on them and make the incident into a stain in their political career.

Judging from how bad the ‘Ghoul Incident’ went down back then, Syro Derl and the others’ careers should have been destroyed, ending with them as scapegoats.

The contents of the cowhide bag didn’t state that point clearly.

Neither did it state anything about the connection between Quaker Wilberst’s death and the recent re-emergence of the Ghouls. It only clearly said what Kieran already knew: Old Wilberst killed Hardy Lynne.

Kieran felt as if he was close to the truth but was seeing through a misty veil, ultimately falling short of the end.

“Interesting,” Kieran muttered softly before looking at the waiter he caught earlier, who was standing with his hands down.

“My lord.”

When Boli, the waiter in disguise, caught Kieran’s gaze, he stepped forward, bowed and greeted Kieran; he was already under [Mesly Ring] ‘s control.

“I need dinner,” Kieran said.

“Yes, my lord. I’ll go prepare right away,” Boli answered before heading to the kitchen.

After a while, the aroma of food came out of the kitchen.

For Kieran, Boli’s espionage of Eiders’ high ranking politicians and his cooking were equally important.

Boli’s former identity allowed Kieran to know some things about the politicians in Eiders and what they thought about him in turn, including the mayor, who was allegedly injured from an attempt on his life.

As for the latter?

The cooking satisfied Kieran mentally and physically to the max.

Of course, compared to Starbeck’s cooking, both were still far apart, but it was a lot better than Lagren’s.

If the situations allowed him to, Kieran would instead not torture his tongue, just like how he would never waste food.

After a considerably delicious dinner, Kieran gave Kozert and Boli new orders. When the two of them left, Kieran left too.

He hadn’t forgotten about the documents about Syro Derl and the others in Stove-grilled Fish, which Lagren had promised him.

Although he had already gotten quite a lot, he didn’t mind knowing more.

…

The lobby of Stove-grilled Fish was empty. Ever since Kieran had checked into the hotel, the place had somehow become a restricted place for the living. Lagren had ranted about this a couple of times, hoping that Kieran would pay extra for his loss, but unfortunately, Kieran didn’t care about the sincerity in Lagren’s eyes. He rejected Lagren by giving the excuse that Lagren hadn’t told him beforehand.

That stubborn and cold look on Kieran caused Lagren to criticize him more than once, stingy ghost and sorts.

Of course, it was the most Lagren could do.

As the contact for the Monster Hunters and the one on duty in Eiders, Lagren knew what kind of people the Monster Hunters were.

Other than being powerful and loners, ‘poor’ was also used to tag them.

Although the headquarters would distribute an astonishing amount of allowance to the Monster Hunters, it would usually vanish on the second day after receiving it.

Some used it for booze; some bought things they desired; some ‘invested’ in may brothels.

Some even gave a part of their allowance to the widows of their fallen comrades.

The latter was the majority.

Lagren wasn’t surprised that the Monster Hunters gave so much away because he was doing the same thing.

The friendship built upon life and death was far sturdier than one could imagine.

Dak Dak Dak.

Familiar footsteps sounded, Smith then appeared in the lobby.

Smith was reeking of blood, and Lagren immediately knew what he had done.

“Go wash yourself up in the bath. Oh, and this, this is for you. It’s good for the girls, to help them sleep better—don’t look at me like that, it’s not from me, it’s D’s.”

After tossing the Magic rank item that could calm minds to Smith, Lagren rushed Smith away because he knew Saya and the other girls were waiting for Smith.

The soft footsteps that came from the girls’ room from time to time were enough to tell Lagren how anxious and nervous they were.

Therefore, Lagren hoped even less that Smith would become a Monster Hunter.

But sometimes, things went against one’s will.

After Smith left with thanks, less than two minutes later, the alarm that was installed under the bar counter gave out an irritating buzz.

Without further ado, Lagren quickly reached out to the iron armor, tomahawks and firearms he had hidden around the lobby. He put the armor on, grabbed the scattered rounds for the firearm and grabbed the long tomahawk that required at least three men to move before heading out of the hotel.

As he walked, Lagren habitually ranted again, “I knew that guy would bring trouble.”

When Lagren was almost outside the hotel, Smith was suddenly beside him. Lagren looked at Smith, and he didn’t say anything else.

He didn’t want Smith to become a Monster Hunter, but he wouldn’t be so corny as to deny such a strong helper.

One needed to know that to trigger his alarm, the enemy had to be very powerful.

As for how powerful?

When Lagren stepped out of the hotel door, his eyes widened and he gasped hard.

He was overwhelmed by the overflowing number of Ghouls, which was more than a hundred.