The Devil’s Cage

He opened the message tab.

Starbeck: I’ve made some new dishes want to give them a try?

2567: Sure, wait for me.

…

After the simple reply, Kieran looked at Blacksmith, the words he was going to say before the interruption was gone.

Should he ask?

No need.

It was just some rumors, even if the rumor spread like wildfire, so what?

Those who believed him would believe him.

Those who did not believe him, why then need to explain so much?

Blacksmith knew, yet she asked, which meant Blacksmith didn’t believe, so she was seeking an answer from him.

If Blacksmith knew, Starbeck knew.

Starbeck knew, but he didn’t ask, because he never believed those rumors.

Lawless didn’t ask, and obviously, he didn’t believe it either.

It was enough for Kieran.

“I need you to appraise it for me.”

Kieran then showed a picture of [Frost Heart Remnant] to Blacksmith.

Kieran didn’t continue the topic, which surprised Blacksmith.

In Blacksmith’s mind, Kieran might not care about most things, but when the things were related to himself, even if he didn’t show anything on the outside, he was very concerned on the inside.

It wasn’t hypocrisy, though, just his personal instinct.

Blacksmith was no exception.

Her attention was captured by [Frost Heart Remnant]’s attribute at the next moment, though.

“Rank III?” Blacksmith softened her voice, but it couldn’t cover her astonishment.

Since she was nearing the circle of Advance Ranks, Blacksmith knew what this gemstone represented.

She looked at Kieran, her gaze had surprise and shock all over it.

Was Kieran strong?

Strong!

As one of Kieran’s friends, Kieran didn’t hide much in front of Blacksmith, but Blacksmith never thought Kieran’s strength had reached the peak of the high-rankers’ circle.

Blacksmith was a jeweler, she knew quite a lot about the drop rates of a gemstone.

A rank III gemstone would require the player with the corresponding level to acquire it, which meant that Kieran would at least be above rank III.

In simple words, Kieran was nearing rank IV or already at rank IV for him to get a rank III gemstone.

What was rank IV among the high-rankers?

The strongest! The strongest Blacksmith knew!

“You have reached this level?” Blacksmith took a deep breath and muttered softly.

“What?” Kieran raised a brow.

He heard it, but he didn’t understand.

“Nothing.”

“I can’t appraise this gemstone for now with my power, you need to wait for a while.”

Blacksmith didn’t expect Kieran to understand her exclamations, so she didn’t explain.

Sometimes was no need for explanation, what it required was an action instead.

“How long?” Kieran asked.

“Soon!” Blacksmith then stood up and left, like she always did after a deal.

Kieran watched Blacksmith’s back and saw her off.

After she left, Kieran took the lemon water and slowly drained it.

Even if it were free, he wouldn’t waste it.

However, it irritated Rachel even more as the contempt in her eyes grew more substantial.

“You know, a guy like you would never live past the second day in my past organization,” Rachel said.

“That is why the organization is destroyed. Also, Lawless,” Kieran raised his cup to play along.

“No, I’m wrong. If you really joined the organization that I used to be in, you would be killed on the first day,” Rachel said in an upset tone.

Her hands were not slow as well, wine bottle after wine bottle was taken out of the cellar and was being mixed into a special cocktail.

Although it wasn’t the first time Kieran saw it, he was still captivated by her swift hands that moved around in a flurry.

They moved around in a flurry yet maintained her elegance in the movements.

It could be even considered as a fun show to watch.

Compared to the astonishing skills that he witnessed in the bar he once worked, those skills could really go into the garbage bin.

Then…

Kieran clearly saw two tubes of medicine being quietly mixed into the cocktails.

“What is this?” Kieran raised a brow.

“Lawless’ exclusive,” explained Rachel as she used an even more meticulous way to insert the medicine into the cocktails.

The smell of alcohol covered the medicine’s smell. The medication wasn’t destroyed in the process as well.

Quite the opposite, the medicine and the cocktail became interconnected.

Through his sense of smell, Kieran’s [Mystical Knowledge] and [Potionology] swiftly helped him to differentiate the concoction, but he was more concerned about another thing.

“He’s not taking his meds?” Kieran asked.

“Not taking his meds? That would be great if it’s true, the worst thing is he didn’t acknowledge himself as needing help,” Rachel sighed.

“Didn’t you say you have a way around that?” Kieran frowned.

“Isn’t that good enough?” Rachel pointed at the cocktail.

“Are there better ones?” Kieran frowned harder.

“Yes. But they need more time,” Rachel nodded.

“Does he have that much time?” Kieran asked after hesitating.

“Although there are some problems here that will slightly affect his memories, it will still be enough,” Rachel pressed her temples.

“That will be enough?” Kieran’s tone sounded heavy.

The outcome was not satisfying enough.

“This is already the best.”

Rachel passed the glass to Kieran, the meaning was obvious.

Kieran took the glass and stood up, but when he walked over to Lawless, he paused and told Rachel.

“If you need help, tell me in advance.”

“Of course, you think you can run?”

Rachel smiled with her crossed arms. When she saw Kieran give Lawless the drink, and Lawless grab Kieran’s shoulder happily with laughter and giggles, her smile got brighter.

Then she spoke to herself softly—

“Rank III gemstone eh?”

“What a surprise!”

“I have to work hard, as well. Otherwise, he will surpass me… Can’t imagine the shame then.”

…

After rejecting Lawless’ invitation for more drinks, Kieran left Harvest Inn.

Starbeck was still waiting for him. He was looking forward to Starbeck’s new dishes.

However, when he reached the train station, he saw a rare figure beside the signage.

The big city was extremely spacious, even with a lot of new players flooding the game, it didn’t immediately change the scene. Other than some places with many players, public transport was never filled with people, let alone cramped with others.

Outside Harvest Inn, because the inn was a spot for lone wolves, there were a lot of players who got on and off the train, but… Most of them were familiar acquaintances.

However, this figure before Kieran was a complete stranger.

On top of that…He was a high-ranker, not just any high-ranker but someone far exceeding the standard Advance Ranks.

The man’s hands were in his pockets, his red wind coat was waving with the wind, revealing the dark pants and boots.

Kieran sized up the man, so did the man to Kieran.

Then, the man gave a light laugh.

“Fiery Devil?”

Before his words truly subsided, a dense bloody stench assaulted Kieran’s face.