The Devil's Cage

"You came here to buy spices?"

Kieran glanced over the basket in Starbeck's hand.

"Yeah, I come here all the time to buy spices, but who knew…"

Starbeck nodded, he sounded a little depressed.

Obviously, the owner of Pastry House disappointed him by rejecting his entrance when the fight broke out.

Kieran didn't say anything to comfort him though, because Kieran wasn't a fan of doing useless things.

Human hearts were always weak against tests.

Kieran didn't want to tell Starbeck about the saying because he believed that Starbeck already knew it.

And after this lesson, Starbeck should know what to do, so Kieran went with a more direct approach.

"Leave the things here to me."

"Your new bodyguards are fine, they were knocked out in that alleyway."

"Can I give you a piece of advice?" Kieran paused for a moment before trying to voice his opinion.

"Sure!"

Starbeck did not reject Kieran's arrangements and would not deny his opinion.

"When your bodyguards aren't mature enough, you can compensate for that with numbers."

"They are a plethora of dungeons in the city, it's ever-changing and dangerous, but it always has a trail to follow." Kieran made his thoughts known.

"I understand."

After some thought, Starbeck ultimately conceded.

Given Starbeck's character, he was destined never to ignore other people's lives, but…

There were too many people who would sell their lives for money.

After a simple talk, Starbeck parted with Kieran.

He knew why Kieran was there, and Kieran didn't have a lot of time to spend with him.

"With these spices, the next meal will surely surprise you."

Starbeck lifted the basket in his hand when he parted with Kieran.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Kieran said with a smile.

Seeing Starbeck into the train, Kieran then vanished into the shadows.

"Who is that guy to Sir 2567? They seem to be more than just friends."

Rorl, who was hiding further away, whispered his question to Bloody Mary.

"Definitely more than just friends. Believe me, if you step on that coward's tail, you will be stepping on 2567's tail. It might even be worse!" Bloody Mary warned the useless trash beside it.

"Why?" Rorl asked out of confusion.

"Instinct!"

Bloody Mary gave an answer which Rorl rolled his eyes at. Though Rorl didn't further linger on the topic, as a man who knew his own worth, he knew what he should do and say.

Therefore, Rorl didn't ask anything else about what they were going to do next.

"I'll be damned, it seems like you do have some wisdom in your head. You have to thank it for keeping you alive until today, useless trash."

"Don't worry, he will be back soon," Bloody Mary praised.

Useless trash, it was the new title given by Bloody Mary to Rorl after the previous battle.

And Rorl?

He didn't argue after he thought about his own performance during the battle.

Both of them then went quiet, but Bloody Mary wasn't really used to the silence.

"Why don't you ask me how I know?" it asked Rorl.

"Sir, 2567 contacted you through PM?" Rorl played along and asked.

"How could it be PM? It's my brain! It's calculation!" argued Bloody Mary.

It then pointed at its temple with a delighted look, but when it was ready to continue to talk about its 'calculative abilities,' the beating from its heart silenced it right away.

Rorl was curiously looking at Bloody Mary, he was waiting for the follow-up, but this time, Bloody Mary kept quiet and stood there, waiting patiently.

Around 10 minutes later, Kieran appeared in front of both of them.

"Boss."

"Sir, 2567."

Both of them greeted Kieran right away.

"Stay on guard here, keep an eye on the people inside." Kieran then turned around and left.

There wasn't any idle chatter, or rather, through the power of the contract, Kieran was able to deliver his thoughts to Bloody Mary within an instant, just like how he silenced the High Demon earlier.

"Tsk, tsk tsk. What an unlucky bastard."

Bloody Mary turned around to the room behind it and sighed uncontrollably.

As for whosoever was inside the room, they were finished!

Unless they stayed inside for the rest of their lives, otherwise…

Given how calculative its contractor was, the people inside couldn't have escaped even if they had wings.

"What should we do?"

Rorl already treated Bloody Mary as the leader.

"We will… occupy the place for ourselves!"

The High Demon then moved out to carry out its plan.

...

Living room, Harvest Inn.

The auction on the floor was still going on in a lively manner, while the hidden living room was hushed.

Rachel was leaning on the sofa, her hand was shaking the whiskey glass slowly. The liquid inside the glass was bouncing up and down, each time it reached the wall of the glass on one side, it would quickly move back to the other.

After the motion was repeated more than a dozen times, Rachel stood up with furrowed brows.

"You don't know either? Or… You knew, but you don't want to say?"

By her tone, Rachel sounded displeased.

The big, muscular man across for her opened his mouth with a complicated expression.

"Rachel, can you as a different question? I promised that person to never speak of this."

The big man leaned his body forward, asking in a sincere tone.

"Alisritter, I saved your life before."

Rachel leaned back on the sofa. She raised her idle left hand and pressed her thumb against the nail of her middle finger, rubbing it a few times before blowing at it.

Alisritter, the Swordsmith, instantly felt like he was facing a vicious being, he stood up, backed off quickly to the wall before smiling with a bitter look.

"Rachel, I can give you 10 Legendary items, but I can't speak of that!" said Alisritter with his ever bitter smile.

"Advance Rank! 3 Advanced Rank items!" Rachel stated her price.

Alisritter would never agree to the price during regular times, but now, he agreed without even thinking.

Compared to the promise with that person, what were 3 Advance Rank items?

Even though it was extremely painful to Alisritter.

"Okay! I'll give it to you as soon as possible."

Alisritter than swiftly left from the secret passage, leaving Rachel alone in the living room.

"Damn it, I'm in his debt again!"

Since she was alone, Rachel had no need to cover herself. She rubbed her temple and thought hard about what to do.

Then…

She thought of her good friend, Wu.

But before Rachel sent a message to Wu, Wu sent her a request to enter the inn.

Rachel granted permission without any delay, but it was followed by Kieran's.

Looking at the entry request one after another and the two who almost came in almost together, Rachel felt like something was going to happen.