The Devil's Cage

Kieran didn’t show any expression has he was listening to Walloon’s statement.

While in his heart, his gears were spinning fast.

“Aisphany has signed a contract with me, she wouldn’t deliberately do something that hurts me. Which means she had encounter problems that she couldn’t solve in Burning Dawn’s camp, then… came up with this solution to ask for my help? Or did she discovered something that forced her hand? Something that she was afraid of?”

As speculations formed in his heart, Kieran sized up the body infected with the wolf plague.

“As expected, the wolf plague has spread into Burning Dawn! Other than that, the infected soldiers were clearly organized, allowing them to oppose the common soldiers. Is Aisphany’s discovery related to any of this?”

As Kieran was in deep thought, words popped up in his vision.

Related system notifications piled up one after another.

[Triggered special event: Wolf Plague Havoc]

[Based on player’s experience in dungeon world, player has been automatically grouped to Burning Dawn’s faction]

[Wolf Plague Havoc: the sudden wolf plague didn’t just worsen the already wounded Burning Dawn, an internal conflict will occur soon. As the peasant son of the Burning Family, you can’t allow such things to happen. You must solve this internal conflict.]

[Note: Ratings will be based off your performance throughout the event]

…..

“The wolf plague and the soon to come internal conflict?”

Kieran briefly read through the description of [Wolf Plague Havoc] before thinking for a while. Then, he told Walloon, “Follow me.”

Kieran then headed towards the security office. At the same time, he quietly signaled Volgen with a hand gesture.

The young captain caught the signal and swiftly vanished among the crowd.

As the group moved, the office area of the first floor in the security office was stuffed with people.

Kieran pulled a chair and sat down; he signaled for Walloon to sit as well.

He kept quiet after that and Walloon looked at Kieran in a blank state.

However, he didn’t say anything else and followed Kieran’s signal to sit down.

Walloon didn’t really know what Kieran was doing but he believed as one of the imperial envoys, Kieran would do something about the situation.

That was the “trust” which Kieran needed the most at the moment.

After Aisphany “gave” him such an identity, he must prove his own worth.

With Aisphany’s skill in impressions, it saved Kieran a lot of early troubles but he still had to deal with some important parts himself.

The investigation on the wolf plague and the cure!

If Kieran really did investigate the wolf plague and was able to cure it, everything would flow smoothly like water to the sea, but he didn’t.

After entering the dungeon world, Kieran took actions around Shatterstone Town that fit his identity.

He too accidentally heard about the wolf plague from Sharly and Evie Dan and even for now, he still felt suspicious about the two women’s appearance.

However, it didn’t stop him from utilizing the information he got from the two to help him overcome the obstacles before his eyes.

His mind was perfecting this rushed plan and suddenly, he felt a malicious gaze.

The malicious gaze went away in a flash but Kieran managed to capture it.

After glancing at the person who concealed the malicious gaze, Kieran was relieved in his heart.

He knew his flawed and rushed plan might actually work!

Now?

All he needed was to patiently wait for the next move.

Since their superior didn’t utter a word, the aide and soldiers wouldn’t either. They stood beside Walloon and waited quietly.

Right away, the first floor of the security office was exceptionally quitte, to the point even the breathing sounded loud.

Some were long, some were energetic; some were rushed and anxious.

The former was Kieran, Walloon and the soldiers behind him; the latter however was the aide beside Walloon.

Kieran turned his eyes at the aide.

“You sound anxious,” Kieran said.

“Of course. My comrades have been infected by the wolf plague. Despite them being jailed out of their own willingness, I don’t want to see them caged up in a cell,” Walloon’s aide nodded.

The words sounded reasonable and could even be considered as flawless.

If he could conceal the malicious intent in his gaze, it would be perfect.

Perhaps the aide thought he concealed it good enough but for Kieran who had natural sharp senses and was a Chosen One, it was still very obvious as though it was a lighthouse in the dark.

Not only bright but huge as well.

“Mm. Don’t worry, they will be saved soon enough. As for those monsters hiding in Burning Dawn, they will be executed one after another as well. Does Aisphany’s investigation progress worry you? Otherwise, there shouldn’t be two infected soldiers in a single group,” Kieran said calmly.

Right away, Walloon’s face turned pale as he looked at his aide.

The aide was still looking serious at the comments at him.

“Sir 2567, you are accusing me! I don’t know what are you talking about!” The aide shouted.

“Don’t know? Fine, you will soon. You wouldn’t think that only Aisphany had made discovery and I haven’t?” Kieran said before a small giggle.

Even though Kieran really had made no discovery at all, the perfectly timed giggle on his face made others think differently. Especially the aide, his serious face slowly changed.

Kieran spotted the changes, so he decided to strike the iron while it was hot.

“Do you know why I didn’t make my move? Because keeping one alive is too hard. The few infected ones who chased Sharly before are indeed good targets, but they were killed by Evie Dan, the hunter! I am deeply regretful of that but I guess I am quite lucky. You see, you appeared before me now and I suppose your position among the infected wouldn’t be too low either? You must be able to provide me with sufficient information, am I right?”

Kieran didn’t lower his smile while he spoke in leisure.

The absolute tone made everyone think that what he said was all true, including the aide himself.

In fact, when Sharly and Evie Dan’s name were mentioned, the aide’s face turned drastic and the seriousness in his face was absent.

He was looking at Kieran with a gloomy gaze filled with killing intent.

“You and that damn woman are the same, you people are too smart! You are too self-righteous!”

The aide said coldly.

His body engorged rapidly as he spoke and after a while, his body was twice bigger the size of a common man.

Unlike the previous infected, not only his limbs but even his face was transforming to that of a wolf.

His ears were turning sharper, his mouth was bulging outwards but it was incomplete, making him looked like a hideous abomination.

“Why do you think I dared show up here?”

“Power! It’s because of real power! You people have absolutely no idea what real power is!”

Walloon’s aide raised his claws and clenched tightly. He was feeling the strength that filled his body and was growling at Kieran.

“Let me correct you there. It’s not that we are too smart, it’s you monsters who are too stupid. But I kinda agree on your saying that we have no idea what real power is,”

Kieran said calmly.

A longsword flew out from the shadow beside the monster’s feet and pierced its neck. It neglected the monster’s struggle and pinned it down on the floor beside Kieran’s feet with absolute force.