The Devil’s Cage

Kieran did not have much of an impression of Lady Calamity.

In fact, not only Kieran, even the natives of this world had a vague impression of her. They only knew she had unsevered connections to the Black Cataclysm.

Other than that, nothing was known about her.

Powerful, mysterious, unknown.

In the eyes of the natives, she represented fear, but in Kieran’s eyes, she was very suspicious.

Putting Broker in the mix, her suspicion was elevated to an eye-catching level.

“This so-called Lady Calamity is related to that bastard Broker?” Kieran wondered.

His fingers tapped on the table as he pondered the topic, this little habit an unconscious action whenever he thought.

Meanwhile, outside the suite room, Borl finished double checking the wagon and was talking to Aschenkano.

“Aschen, we don’t need that much alcohol! Food! We should be concerned about food! Traveling from Sicar to Edatine Castle is quite the journey and purchasing enough food for the trip is not something easy, especially in a harsh winter,” Borl emphasized.

Kieran’s appearance disrupted all his plans, for the better and for the worse.

The good part was he was safer; the bad part was that he might need another wagon to carry the food alone.

He temporarily could not afford such spending.

As for the rewards for the spoils?

Holuff was a trustworthy person, the rewards were already given to Borl.

The captive was worth more money than Borl thought. Together with swords and muskets, Holuff paid Borl a total of 800 Gold Purton. Using the money, buying a wagon with two horses was more than enough, but the unfortunate thing was that he had to pay Kieran 90% of what he got.

Half of the remaining was Aschenkano’s and the other half was his.

His portion of money was not enough to buy a wagon for a long journey. In fact, it wasn’t even enough to buy those single-person wagons.

On top of that, replenishing supplies required money as well. Therefore, all he could do was try to figure out a way around this situation on his own wagon.

Fortunately, his wagon was purposely picked to travel a long journey. The carriage wasn’t just wide and warm, the roof was extremely sturdy as well. It wouldn’t be a problem even if 4 to 5 men stepped on it. Behind the carriage were two independent racks to store items, requiring some ropes to steady them down.

What Borl did was put all the dried meats and bread that he just bought on top of the carriage, the other, less important things were strapped on the racks behind the carriage. He then checked how tight the rope was and made sure everything was in place.

Aschenkano, who had just returned from War God Temple, helped Borl in moving.

“It’s done.”

After he strapped the items on the rack, Borl clapped his hands to remove the dust, heaving a breath of relief at the wagon loaded with food.

Before this, Borl’s impression of Kieran was stuck at powerful, cold, and staying true to the promise he made.

Now, ‘gluttonous’ was added into the list.

Aschenkano had a first hand experience about the ‘gluttonous’ part, because he starved that very night.

‘My son, the world is huge. There are always mountains beyond mountains and people stronger than you. You must be careful.’

Unknowingly, his foster father’s words rang in his head.

Those words never felt so right before.

From now on, he must eat before Kieran, otherwise he would die of hunger.

In order to prevent that, Aschenkano was already considering buying more food for a rainy day with his newly acquired reward.

Borl didn’t care much about his bodyguard, who was deep in thoughts. He grabbed the box filled with Gold Purton from inside the carriage and headed to Kieran’s room.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Borl got a reply after the knock, he then took the box into the room.

“Sir Colin, I’ve already gotten the reward from Holuff, a total of 800 Gold Purton, this is your portion, 720 Gold Purton,” Borl placed the box on the table.

“That bounty hunter was worth a lot more than we thought. He must have committed some crimes, hence the heavy bounty,” Borl said as he opened the box to Kieran.

Under the kerosene lamp, the Gold Purton dazzled brightly, making Kieran squint his eyes and joy flashed over.

Gold would always make him happy, even though sometimes it was nothing but numbers.

Though the increase of numbers would also spark joy, right?

“Thank you.”

Delighted, Kieran thanked Borl.

“It’s part of my duty. Sir Colin, we are moving out at first light, do you have anything you want?” Borl asked.

“No thank you, good night,” Kieran shook his head.

Although Borl was a player like him, some things were destined to be a secret and Kieran would never reveal his secrets to another player.

It was because of the loose relationship between them and also for security sake.

Before he could get a grasp of the situation at hand, he temporarily wanted nothing to do with the God of Mist.

Therefore, even if he had to make an extra run tomorrow night, he wouldn’t complain at all.

“Well then, good night. Sweet dreams.”

Borl smiled and went out, telling Aschenkano to check the gates of the courtyard before he too returned to his own room.

The whole courtyard quieted down promptly.

A while later, the clamouring main floor of the hotel also started to quiet down.

After hustling for a whole day, there were only a few who could stay up late. Even the night owls chose to sleep early, considering tomorrow was a working day.

Same thing went for the whole of Sicar City.

Work during the day, rest during the night, the cycle repeated itself for many moons now. Even Mozaar and Edatine Castle, which were neighbouring cities of Sicar, were no exceptions.

Other than the necessary patrols in the streets, the whole city went into slumber.

However, the study room in the mansion of the viscount of Sicar was an exception that night.

The viscount of Sicar, a thin man with a reddish face and white hair, looked very energetic. He was lightly wiping a two-handed sword with a piece of red linen cloth.

The blade of the sword was as long as 1.5 meters, as wide as a palm and extremely thick, the hilt thick and long like a spear. The counterweight was black, as big as a grown man’s fist, and looked like a lock.

The two-handed sword was extremely heavy based on the looks itself, but it was like nothing in the hands of the thin viscount, who was playing with it like a twig.

A twig, of course, wouldn’t attract such care and tender from the great lord of Sicar Land.

The viscount wiped his weapon inch by inch.

His eyes were secretly overflowing with excitement and anticipation.

How could he not be excited?

How could he not anticipate?

The things that he had planned for a long time had finally come to fruition.

Those pagans who defiled the land would soon perish, the whole of Sicar would welcome a new light of hope and return to the arms of God of War while basking in glory.

As the exciting thought lingered in his mind, Viscount Sicar uncontrollably held his sword tighter, performing an upward slash and then a forward thrust.

It wasn’t any special technique, just the simplest of swordplay but after the little swing, a horrifying presence spread from the study room.

The mist-like wicked presence that was invisible to the common eyes grew livelier.

They quietly moved closer to Viscount Sicar, but he did not notice anything.

The wicked presence felt the viscount was getting stronger, stronger than his younger days.

“Thank you for all your gifts.”

After Viscount Sicar finished a whole set of practice with his two-handed sword, he prayed softly.

He then calmed himself down and waited patiently.

Half an hour later, a strong middle-aged man, who was as buff as a wall, appeared in the room quietly. Although the man wore a breastplate and a pair of iron boots, he did not make a single sound.

Viscount Sicar wasn’t surprised at all, neither did he show hostility towards the man.

Quite the contrary, he welcomed the man wholeheartedly.

“Welcome, Sincavolt.”

Viscount Sicar did not greet the man using the noble salutation, opening his arms and hugging the bishop like a warrior instead.

The bishop of Sicar also replied with a similar hug.

“How are things?” asked the viscount.

“Mm… it’s fairly smooth,” replied Sincavolt.

Fairly?

The viscount got stunned but he did not press the topic as he knew how the bishop would react, waiting patiently for a follow up.

A moment later, the bishop continued, “The Mist is much more cunning than we thought. He hid himself and waited to reap benefits during the chaos. If it wasn’t for His Majesty’s hint, we would have fallen short with our efforts.”

After that, the bishop started to pray softly to the God of War, the viscount following. When the prayers finished, Viscount Sicar lowered his voice and asked, “Will he be a problem?”

“He won’t,” the bishop shook his head at the worried viscount. He continued in an affirmative tone, “He might have been a problem if he continued hiding in the dark, but after we discovered him, he won’t be anymore. The only unfortunate thing is… Ecker.”

The bishop looked a little dark when he mentioned the name of the new recruit.

“He is a really good lad, just like Carl. They should have a bright future ahead but in order to protect the glory of God, they had to be sacrificed. When all this is over, I will tell the public about everything in my name. They are heroes, they should not be buried in history,” said Viscount Sicar seriously.

“Mm,” the bishop nodded sternly.

“Not just Ecker and Carl, anyone who sacrificed their lives for the cause should be treated the same way—I assure you they will receive what they deserve,” Viscount Sicar assured the bishop.

“I trust you are a man of your words, but we should minimize the sacrifice and perform damage control,” said the bishop as a warning to his ally.

“Are you talking about the curfew? Wouldn’t it startle them?” The viscount frowned.

“It won’t. Trust me, Carl’s disappearance is enough for you to do it. Lock down the city during the day, people can come in but cannot go out; curfew at night is normal standard operating procedures, since Carl is your sister’s son—those wicked monsters are bloodthirsty and inhuman, yet they possess intellect and can make the right judgement,” said the bishop.

“Noted, I will make arrangements,” the viscount nodded.

Chit-chat happened after that for around a quarter of an hour, the two of them then standing up and parting ways.

“May God be with you.”

 “May God be with you.”

After giving each other their blessing, the viscount held his sword tightly again, the mist-like wicked aura in the area growing more lively.

The bishop who left the study room looked stern and his eyes shimmered red.

…..

“What?! The city is on lockdown? We cannot go out?”

At sunrise, when Borl finished cleaning himself up, he heard the bad news from Holuff.

“Holuff, are you playing with me?” Borl looked at the hotel owner with a doubtful expression.

It was not that Borl didn’t believe Holuff, but he had never heard of Sicar being in lockdown.

The last time Sicar was in lockdown was during the Black Cataclysm.

“Borl, you have to believe me, I want that gate to open and you to leave more than anyone else. Every time I see that Colin, my heart throbs. It’s like bad things would happen to me anytime. And my instinct is mostly accurate!”

The hotel owner scratched his head out of frustration, the few strands of hair on his head erecting after the movements from his hand, further setting off his bald head and making it extra shiny under the morning light.

He had a bad feeling something bad was going to happen and the feeling grew stronger by the minute.

Though he was still explaining with his mouth, it was to inform Borl and also to comfort himself.

“The kin of Viscount Sicar, Captain Carl, has fallen. His uncle loved him very much and now that he is dead, the viscount will surely get to the bottom of this. But I think he will lockdown the city for that long, at most three days. Three days later, you can leave this place. Don’t worry, it won’t hold you up for long.”

Holuff knew exactly what Borl wanted to do and he had nothing against it.

The hotel owner was a retired man anyway. An impressive identity to him was nothing, living the rest of his life in stability was the best option.

“Three days?” Borl frowned.

Three days of course wouldn’t affect his plan but it would make it more tight and nervous.

He might even have to rearrange things.

“Is the communication at War God Temple still open to all?” Borl asked.

“Of course, the viscount would never bring War God Temple into this. He is a devoted believer and would never relate his nephew’s death to the god he serves,” Holuff said.

“I’ll go pay a visit to War God Temple.”

“I’ll leave you to prepare Colin’s breakfast.”

Borl then took out 5 Gold Purton and put them in Holuff’s hand before he ran out.

“Leave it to me,” Holuff smiled when he saw the Gold Purton in his hand.

If every customer was as straightforward as Borl, he would live to a hundred years old.

Of course, those customers did not include the likes of Kieran.

Whenever he thought of the feelings he got from Kieran, Holuff frowned.

Though it did not stop him from telling the cook to prepare extra food.

After Kieran finished washing up, a big tray of milk, toast, sausages and vegetables appeared in his room.

The milk was hot and the toast smelled good.

The sausage had its own unique aroma and it went well with the freshness of the vegetables.

It lifted Kieran’s spirit since he hasn’t slept for the night.

Right after he picked up a toast and made a sandwich out of the sausage and vegetables, the [Lord of Mist] in his arms suddenly buzzed.

Kieran unconsciously frowned.

He hated to be distrubed during a meal.