The Devil’s Cage

Dinner starts at seven.

However, around four in the afternoon, the wagon from the Horton family already appeared in front of Carrot Hotel.

It was still the decently dressed servant.

Old Hank had just woken up from a hangover, and under his drowsy gaze, the servant walked up the stairs.

204 was Kieran’s room number.

The servant lifted his hand and knocked on the door rhythmically.

Dok Dok Dok.

“Sir Colin? I am here to escort you to the mansion,” said the servant respectfully.

“Got it, please hold on for a while,” Kieran’s voice sounded behind the door.

The servant from the Horton family stood straight with his hands down and waited patiently; there was no sign of impatience on his face, only smiles and a peaceful look.

The teachings and bearings of a big family was on display to its fullest.

Three minutes later, Kieran came out of the room.

“Good afternoon, Sir Colin,” greeted the servant respectfully.

“Hello.” Kieran nodded in reply.

In his mind, he was still thinking about the message that Horlaika just sent him.

The Instigator really surprised him by a mile, but he didn’t mind slightly playing along with the plan.

Silent Night Secret Society had been brewing their plan in Edatine Castle for a long time; their influences were too deep. If things weren’t messed up, Kieran would have no chance to find an entry point at all, let alone the key point of Broker’s setups.

“Sir, can we depart now?” asked the servant.

“Of course.” Kieran nodded and the servant immediately led the way.

When they were down to the first floor, Old Hank waved his hand behind the counter.

“The door is not locked here at night. Little Hank will be on guard.” Old Hank smiled.

The little drinking session with Borl was very effective in shortening the distance between them; they knew each a lot better after a few drinks.

Kieran nodded in reply. He followed the servant out of Carrot Hotel then saw a black wagon.

The black color was actually paint, not the color of the wood used.

The glass window had a white silk cloth as curtains.

The wagon was a big four-wheeled model with the wagoner in front and two gasolene lamps on each side; it was afternoon, so the lamp wasn’t lit.

Kieran glanced over the wagoner. The wagoner had a strong, buff physique and a pair of long hands. In between his index finger and thumb was a very thick layer of calluses; he was obviously a veteran in wielding a sword.

Shifting his gaze downwards, he realized the box-like chair that the wagoner was sitting on must be holding a weapon.

Kieran then moved his gaze to the carriage.

Although there was a silk cloth hanging over the window as a curtain, the people inside had no intention of hiding. The curtain was lifted up right away.

Kuer Horton.

He had changed into a knight’s suit from his uniform set. He opened the carriage door before his servant had the chance to then invited Kieran in with a respectful hand gesture.

“Welcome, my most esteemed guest of the night,” said the young noble as Kieran boarded the carriage.

The servant sat beside the wagoner, and as the wagoner shook the reins, the wagon slowly drove away.

At the same time, the young noble brought a new pack of candy out.

“This is also from Snow Owl Candy House. It’s made from pure cocoa. It might taste a little bitter at first but the aftertaste is amazing.”

Kuer Horton passed the candy to Kieran.

Kieran didn’t reject, he simply took it and thanked the young noble. “Thank you.”

Watching Kieran change from his cold expression to a rather softer look, Kuer Horton slightly heaved a sigh of relief, and he too showed a smile on his face.

Kieran’s friendly reminder earlier made the young noble notice that Kieran was different from others, and because of that, he decided to invite Kieran to his dinner tonight.

Of course, it was also to repay the debt of gratitude for saving his life.

A mere ‘thank you’ wouldn’t be enough to repay the debt.

Though, looking at Kieran’s countenance after he received the candy, Kuer Horton confirmed Kieran’s love for food, and it lifted his mood a lot.

As he watched Kieran open the packaging and taste a piece of new candy from Snow Owl Candy House, Kuer Hortoon eagerly asked, “How does it taste?”

“The bitterness is just right and the sweetness is perfect. Not bad.” Kieran gave a fair comment on the candy, which resonated with Kuer Horton’s own comment on the candy!

His answer made the young noble’s eyes shone brightly. He then grabbed a box of food from the trunk and started to bring out all kinds of candies and pastries to share with Kieran.

There were gummy candies, jawbreakers, milk pudding, and chiffon cakes.

Among all the sweets and cakes, the cheesecake won Kieran’s heart, and he deemed it delicious.

Other than being bothered by questions about the taste from time to time, the afternoon truly felt great to Kieran, likewise Kuer Horton.

He never thought he would meet another person who loved food as much as he did.

In the past, whenever he introduced good food to his colleagues, they would always reject his suggestion.

‘As a knight, you shouldn’t be blinded by gluttony!’

‘A tenacious heart requires restraint!’

‘Sweetness is not as good as bitterness!’

For a long time, these bunch of excuses plagued Kuer Horton, who liked to share a lot.

He didn’t mind training bitterly, going into battle or participating in a war, but why couldn’t he eat a little better in his life?

Life is already so hard and bitter, can’t he taste a tad bit of sweetness?

With the question lingering in his mind, the young noble endured a huge load of training every single day and at the end of every day, he’d enjoy good food quietly, especially sweets and candies.

Having a few bites of sweetness after training was joy to Kuer Horton.

Therefore, when Kuer Horton encountered a powerful person like Kieran, who also displayed a love for food, the young noble felt really happy from the bottom of his heart.

Kieran’s appearance was enough to prove that the love of food could also be fuel for a powerhouse, not a burden in the journey to power. Otherwise, how could Kieran be so powerful at such a young age?

Having found the best excuse to refute his colleagues’ arguments, Kuer Horton was eager to celebrate his joyful discovery.

But how?

With another cream strawberry cake!

Kuer Horton picked up a piece of strawberry cake with extra cream and took a small bite of the sharpest part. When the tip of his tongue tasted the sweet delight, the young noble widened his mouth to its fullest and shoved the whole cake into his mouth. His eyes squinted uncontrollably as he savoured the sweetness of the cake, he leaned back on the seat and snorted in delight.

However, right after he snorted, he realized the little behaviour did not suit his identity, but made him look rude.

The young noble sat up straight right away. He glanced at Kieran and noticed that he had immersed himself in eating, to the point that he did not notice the rude manners, which made the young noble heave a sigh of relief.

He was then captivated by how Kieran focused on eating, saliva in his mouth secreting uncontrollably.

After the saliva filled his mouth, the young noble couldn’t hold it anymore.

‘Today is really a day worth celebrating!

‘I will eat another! No, I will eat two more!

‘Only two cream strawberry cakes can fully express the true essence of celebration!’

Kuer Horton reached out both his hands and grabbed two cakes with each of his hands. Opening his mouth, he chomped on the cake. As he chomped left and right, twice the satisfaction appeared on his face.

As he was filled with satisfaction, that rigid look of his turned soft and tender, especially his hawk-like sharp eyes, which were now round and watery like a puppy’s.

His originally sharp crooked nose, which matched his sharp presence a lot, became very abrupt but neither of them cared about such details.

Kuer Horton was so immersed that he could not extricate himself.

Kieran?

He watched as Kuer Horton brought out another hidden food box and unveiled the… roasted meat inside!

It wasn’t frozen roasted meat but a steamy hot one! It’s as if it was taken fresh off the grill; however, inside that hidden food box, there was no coal or fire.

Some kind of spell?

Kieran thought of it.

After catching Kieran’s inquisitive gaze, Kuer Horton took the initiative to explain. “I asked a warlock to help me cast this spell on this box. This food box can maintain the food’s freshness and temperature to the utmost extent! Even if you keep it in the box for over a week, it would be the same as if it were freshly roasted!”

As he explained, he conveniently brought out seasoning, like black pepper, and fork and knife from another box.

The seasoning bottle was twisted and the black pepper was sprinkled on the roasted meat evenly.

Kuer Horton eagerly forked a piece of meat and mimicked Kieran’s way of eating. He didn’t cut the meat before stuffing it into his mouth.

He wasn’t used to it at first, but when the roasted meat was stuffed in his mouth, the unusual delight of chewing on the meat made the young noble’s eyes shone brightly. He couldn’t help but bring out another plate of roasted meat from a second hidden food box.

Unlike the bigger piece of beef that was cut off the hind leg, this second piece of roasted meat was a whole lamb leg, and thankfully, there were two this time!

Kieran simply grabbed one of the lamb legs. Kuer Horton also learned how Kieran ate by using his hand.

Although it went against the noble table manners he had learned, Kuer Horton no longer cared.

It took only half an hour to shift from sweets, pastries, and cakes to roasted meat, but Kuer Horton felt like he was reborn.

Unfortunately, when the last piece of bone was tossed into Kieran’s mouth, chewed up and swallowed into his stomach, the young noble finally regained his senses.

‘W-What have I done?

‘How did I finish a whole week of ration in one seating?

‘What should I do tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and the days to come?

‘Will I have to live like an apostle for a week?’

The presence of despair appeared and clouded the young noble.

“What’s wrong?” Kieran took the initiative and asked.

Kieran had a better impression of Kuer Horton after the food sharing session, so if it wasn’t any big problem, he would be willing to give a helping hand.

“This was my food for a whole week. The military camp that I am stationed in cooks very healthy food, but… it’s not very tasty. The worst part is, the military camp is semi-closed, so other than every week’s holiday, I can’t step out of it,” Kuer Horton explained.

“So you need to refill your food in those hidden spots?” Kieran provided a solution. “The dinner is at seven, the time now is five, so we still have a lot of time to order the food in advance. Then, when you send me back after dinner, just go to the restaurant and collect your orders. Although you’ve invited Snow Owl Candy House, Moose Pastry Maker, and the chef from Gray Bear Restaurant, Edatine Castle is so big, I’m sure there are some other chefs in the same rank, right?”

“But… can I? Would you mind, Colin?” Kuer Horton was a little hesitant.

In his point of view, it slightly went against his noble manners again, bringing the invited guest for food shopping.

Should others hear of this, it would be very shameful.

“Of course I don’t mind. I wished to know about more restaurants that you deem tasty in Edatine!” Kieran smiled kindly. There was a trace of anticipation in his smile.

Although the young noble was nothing stellar in terms of strength, his tongue was quite decent, the restaurants he deemed tasty would surely be great.

Kieran had already decided that after Kuer Horton guided him through the restaurants, he would spare some time in the upcoming days to try all the recommended food.

Just look at how sincere Kieran’s smile was.

Kuer Horton tapped on the carriage window, told the wagoner to make a turn, and changed their destination.

Kuer Horton started to introduce Kieran to the commercial districts that were worthwhile. “Colin, do you know that all the best foods in Edatine are concentrated at the commercial district at Central Third Ring? Of course, I don’t mean to look down on the lower seven rings, which is the civilian district; they have a lot of great food there too. Unfortunately, time is not on our side today.”

Up until this point, due to the sweat from all the eating, Kuer Horton had lifted the silk curtain and cracked open the window. The windy breeze blew in, bringing a comfortable feeling to the two of them inside and also washed away the smell of the food.

While Kieran was listening to Kuer Horton’s recommendation, he also spared some attention to size up the commercial district.

Unlike how a normal person paid attention to the scenery and the crowded spots, Kieran instinctively scanned over the corners and shadows.

Then… he saw Anderson.

Anderson had disguised himself meticulously and was squatting down in a corner, looking like a trading company worker that was slacking off. Right after he noticed Kieran’s gaze, he instantly became alarmed, but he did not turn to the wagon straight away. Instead, he glanced over it from the corner of his eye.

When he saw the wagon that rode along the main street, Anderson was shaken.

‘Why is that guy from Snake Sect here? And… what is with that scent of sweets, pastries and roasted meat that flew out from the carriage?’

Gulp!

When he picked up the smell, the once crazy Demon Hunter couldn’t help but curl up his body tighter.

He was truly hungry. He had spent decades in a dungeon, so it was natural that he barely had anything normal to eat. He was starving most of the time.

Now after waking up to his senses, he came back with vengeance. He quickly returned to the surroundings of the dungeon without any delay.

The temptation of food to Anderson was self-explanatory, but he had to endure it. He couldn’t afford to lower his guard.

But… starvation seriously affected his stamina.

‘Maybe I should go get a biscuit in the market behind?’

Such a thought appeared in Anderson’s mind and then he couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

Just when he was about to stand up, he suddenly realized a figure was closing in on him in a very cautious and vigilant manner.

Anderson vigilantly gripped his dagger tight, but at the next moment, his nose sniffed several times because the approaching figure smelled like fried chicken.