The Devil’s Cage

As the auction for Kieran’s items came to an end, Rachel declared that Harvest Inn would close early that day, thus the inn quickly quieted down..

Not everyone left though.

Lawless, Blacksmith, Hanses, Coll, Raven the Loner, Ramont, Rhino, Lemour the Alchemist and the newly joined Blair and Garwen were all in their respective seats. Some were resting with their eyes closed, some were whispering to each other, but all of them were waiting for Kieran.

“Did the auction just sell off around 70 to 80 Magic items?”

Blair moved his friend, Garwen’s arm with his while resting his eyes.

“It was 80 Magic ranks and 5 Rare ranks,” Garwen corrected his friend.

“Scary. So this is the power of a player with a Unique Title? One single dungeon run and he can get that much loot?” Blair couldn’t help but exclaim.

“It’s not the dungeon loot, but the loot from killing attacking players,” Garwen corrected his friend again.

“But this is still a show of his strength, right? It would be great if I had that kind of power.”

Blair didn’t mind his friend correcting him. They had been together for so long, Blair was used to Garwen’s slightly OCD character.

Likewise, Garwen was also used to correcting Blair’s carelessness and sloppiness.

If both of them couldn’t get along, they wouldn’t have been good friends in the first place.

“Even if you have that kind of power, it’s hard for you to recreate 2567’s experiences,” Garwen replied after a moment of deep thought.

“Why?” Blair looked at his friend in confusion.

“Resources, luck.”

“What do you mean?”

Garwen’s reply confused Blair even more.

“The literal meaning.”

Ramont, with his dual swords, and Rhino, with [Calga’s Crush], which he bought from Kieran a while ago, came over. Ramont sat opposite of Blair and started to explain.

“When 2567 first entered the big city, it was coincidentally a turning point—on the surface, Broker and the killer players were messing around, while in the dark, the Guardians were plotting. It might seem like they are three different factions, but all of them are somehow related to 2567. Then, 2567 exceeded their expectation time after time, getting unexpected kills one after another, thus reaching his current stage. Throughout the process, resources and luck are indispensable.”

“Resources… You guys treat the attackers as resources?” Blair finally reacted.

“Why can’t we? They treat as as points, we treat them as resources. What’s wrong with that?” Rhino questioned in a low, muffled voice.

“Sounds weird to me.”

As a new member of this small ground, Blair obviously didn’t dare to argue with the veterans. Besides, although he felt weird about it, he couldn’t tell where exactly.

“Why do you guys like to ignore the strongest point of 2567? His tenacity! He is the most tenacious person I’ve ever seen. Even against a powerful enemy, he will never give up! Even when it seems like it’s the end and everyone else falls into despair, he still holds up.”

Lemour, the Alchemist with a primary schooler body, holding a wine bottle, was attracted by the conversation; she voiced her own opinion.

“He is also very calm,” Blacksmith also joined the talk.

“He might be calculative at times,” Hanses and Coll added.

“But he is still a good man,” Raven the Loner said while caressing his cat.

“A good man?”

“That’s right, a good man!”

The crowd was stunned for a moment before laughing out loud.

The loudest among them all was Lawless with his cigar.

Kieran entrusted him to sell his loots every single time.

It was correct that Lawless had a lot of friends, but if one had enough resources, they could have enough friends as well, and no one would mind a friend like Kieran, let alone the considerable amount of commission Lawless gained each time.

5% of 100 Points was nothing, but…

What about 1,000,000 Points? Or even more than that?

Anyone would feel envious.

This time, with the addition of the 5 extra Rare rank items, even though they weren’t some high tier pieces of equipment, it swiftly skyrocketed the auction point over the limit.

Still, Kieran was willing to entrust the auctioning to him, allowing him to take all the initiatives.

Lawless was filled with nothing but gratitude, so he quietly lowered his commission to 1%.

And if Kieran didn’t agree to his terms, he would force Kieran to agree by stepping down from the position.

Lawless wasn’t a person that liked to take advantage of friends; otherwise, he wouldn’t have that many friends in the first place.

Since he treated other friends similarly, Kieran would not be an exception.

Lawless laughed happily. It was the best thing for him since he got to help his friend.

Blair, who was still nervous at first, gave in completely. He raised his cup and toasted with Ramont and Rhino multiple times.

Why not Lemour?

Stop joking. Even if Blair was new to the group, he knew he shouldn’t drink with Lemour, for he might die of alcohol poisoning.

“A bunch of fools.”

Rachel pouted as she wiped the glasses from behind the bar counter but didn’t say anything else after that.

She knew that Kieran was very powerful and tenacious in their minds, cold and ruthless to his enemies, but he was very kind to his friends. It was an indisputable fact.

As Kieran’s friends, that single point alone was enough.

“I guess stupidity is infectious.”

Rachel sighed when seeing Lawless laugh out loud with the others. She then permitted access for Kieran’s entry.

“Hey 2567! Let’s have a drink! My treat!”

The moment Kieran entered the inn, he saw everyone surrounding the table in front of the fireplace.

It was very merry but not messy. Kieran didn’t mind the merry atmosphere, so he nodded.

“Sure. Lemon water will be good.”

Still, something must be stated clearly: he wouldn’t touch alcoholic drinks.

Since everyone knew his habit, no one minded.

Kieran, with his glass of lemon water, sat with the crowd. The meeting officially began.

“Someone tipped me off that the one who put the bounty on 2567 is the guild master of Iron Chariots, Saikory,” Lawless said directly.

“Iron Chariots?”

“Saikory?”

“No way!?”

Lawless’ claims instantly attracted the astonishment of the others, even Kieran’s, because they were no strangers to Iron Chariot.

Although Kieran barely came across any guild players, the first time he entered the big city, he had encountered a guild battle happening outside his doors, which left an impression in his mind.

One had been the Iron Chariots, and the other, Steam City.

Likewise, Kieran didn’t forget Lawless’ comments about the two guilds.

Neither were powerful factions.

So, how could such a faction put a bounty of 5,000,000 Points on him?

Unless…

A thought struck Kieran, and he looked up at the crowd.

Everyone else was also in deep thought.