The Devil’s Cage

Not only the young man, but even the other townspeople also reacted weirdly to Kieran’s answer. Some even drew distance from Kieran as if they saw a snake or scorpion.

The reaction of the natives made Kieran slightly grin.

He picked up the scent of a sub-mission but he pretended to be confused on the outside.

“What? Why? Any problem with that? Something happened here?”

Kieran pretended knowing nothing as he pointed at the appointment letter in the young man’s hand.

“The letter has no issues. I can still understand the appointment letters from those big lords in Dawn City.”

“Nice to meet you, Sir 2567. I am Shatterstone’s civilian troop captain, Volgen. It’s a pleasure to finally meet a newly appointed sheriff. You know, I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while. Us civilian troops can’t really maintain the safety of Shatterstone Town.”

The young man diverted the topic and extended his hand.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Kieran shook Volgen’s hand. Volgen then led Kieran into the security office.

While they traveled the short distance, Volgen was sizing up the Frost Wolf pup beside Kieran’s feet from time to time.

“This is really some hunting hound! Its limbs are strong, it’s loyal to its owner and very meek towards people its owner recognized… It really reminds me of my old partner!” The young man praised.

“It must be a good companion hound,” Kieran said with a smile.

“Of course! Unfortunately two months ago… those filthy, disgusting robbers… Don’t let me get my hands on them, otherwise, I’ll teach them hell,” Volgen said furiously but his angry expression was absent of any killing intent or aura.

Obviously, the young man’s words might be scary but the most he could do was beat the robbers up and send them to jail.

A young man that grew up in a town that possessed decent strength and with a heart of justice?

Kieran commented on Volgen right away, but as for whether his comments were true, it was still to be verified.

“Volgen, why did you react like that when I said I was the new sheriff?” Kieran asked.

“The sheriff of Shatterstone is cursed! Since Sheriff Peters was killed on duty while fighting those robbers, Shatterstone Town has replaced a total of three sheriffs!”

“The first one fell down from the stairs and broke his neck.”

“The second one had his heart pierced by an arrow from the shadows.

“The third one died in his dreams two months ago and you are the fourth one.”

This time, the young man didn’t divert the topic.

He lowered his voice at first before he started to lift his fingers up for explanation.

When the fourth finger was lifted, Volgen was looking at Kieran.

“So, are you still willing to be the town’s sheriff after hearing these stories?” The young man’s words were obviously trying to test Kieran; it wasn’t malicious by any means.

It sounded more like how kids used to test each other’s courage, like “Oh since you’re so brave, then why not go somewhere, do something to prove it?”.

Just that the game that he was playing would not just scare him or result in some other small matters but it would really take his life.

Still, Kieran enjoyed the bitterness like malt sugar because the system notification had arrived.

[Discovered sub-mission: The Sheriff’s First Step]

[The Sheriff’s First Step: As Shatterstone Town’s sheriff, you need to break the curse and reinstate the prestige of a sheriff!]

…

“Of course!” Kieran nodded.

Even without the sub-mission, he would agree as well; more so with the sub-mission.

However, the name of the sub-mission subconsciously reminded Kieran of the [Identity] that he just saw.

“A sub-mission based on my [Identity]?”

Kieran squinted his eyes and thoughts flashed through his mind.

Until now, he couldn’t tell what difficulty the title dungeon was and based on the sub-mission that came from his [Identity], it was no doubt a good chance to probe for more information.

But…

Starbeck.

Since he had a sub-mission that was derived from his [Identity], the other four players must have similar encounters as well.

This mission was not just the chance given by the system for the players to find out the title dungeon’s difficulty, it was also a test.

The ones who succeed will stay; the ones who fail will be discarded.

The title dungeon might not have a main mission but the danger still lurks. Especially Starbeck, his danger level was far higher than Kieran.

Kieran didn’t forget Starbeck was the owner of the main scroll. He would have more difficulty clearing conditions compared to the other sub scroll owners. Despite many more conveniences being granted to the main scroll owner, given how cowardly Starbeck was, the conveniences was as good as gone.

As the thought lingered in Kieran’s mind, he spoke to the young man leading the way.

“Volgen, can we hurry up? My dog and I here need some dinner to fill our stomachs and if we can get a soft bed, that would be even better.”

“Relax, dinner, bed, and hot shower, we have it all!”

Even after telling Kieran about the sheriff’s curse, he still agreed to take up the position. Volgen’s fondness towards Kieran increased greatly.

Soon, Kieran was led to the security office by the young man.

It was a two-story building with sturdy outer walls; there was also iron fences surrounding the structure.

“The first floor is where the sheriff, that would be you, works. There are two cells on the first floor to lock up some baddies also. The upper floor is your private space, there is a bedroom equipped with study capabilities and two other guest rooms.”

“29 of our civilian troops including me are yours to command. I am also your assistant. I’ll report the happenings of the town to you every morning and evening on time. There are 10 civilian troops on patrol duty in the morning and 15 at night. The other 4 are on reserve in case of anything.”

The young captain introduced the civilian troops before opening the door to the security office.

“There should be two men on guard duty at night here but because of the curse, no one dares to come anymore. Well, I myself stayed on guard here for three days straight, but nothing happened. Other than that, the gate is important, so I have to keep an eye there.”

The young man spoke as he sized up his surroundings, seemingly hoping to find something unusual but the outcome was disappointing.

Other than the furniture inside the office, there was nothing else.

After lighting up the candles in the office with the torch he brought, the young captain said, “I’ll bring you something to eat and some blankets and I guess you’ll have to wait a little longer for that hot bath.”

“Sure.” Kieran nodded.

The young man then left quickly.

The average sized security office was left with Kieran and his Frost Wolf pup.

The empty room fell into silence in an instant.

Kieran sized up his surroundings. He took a chair and sat in the middle of the hall on the first floor before taking out a card.

[Name: Communication Card (Main Card)]

[Type: Card]

[Rarity: Magic]

[Attribute: Allows the player to contact other players who possess the sub card, 3/3]

[Remark: It allows you to contact at will but can’t bypass certain limits.]

…

This was one of the countermeasures that Kieran and Starbeck came up with but before he used it, an eerie wind was blown over.

Huuu!

The candle on the table went out right away. The moonlight shined through the window seam, providing the dark room with a little brightness. However, the only brightness in the room vanished right immediately.

A shadow was blocking the window seam on the outside.

A pair of scarlet glowing eyes appeared like mist in the shadows and was staring at Kieran through the seam.

Then…

The pair of scarlet eyes was blinded by a sudden poke.