The Devil’s Cage

“Did you rob a Dragon tribe’s treasure again? Or do you have any items that allow you to easily locate Dragon tribes?”

Lawless pretended to be mysterious and asked this softly when Kieran walked into Harvest Inn.

As he spoke, Lawless held his chest as if he was trying to calm his racing heart.

In fact, when Lawless received the news that Kieran acquired a total of 47 Magic rank items, his breath almost stopped.

It wasn’t that he had never seen that many items before but it was very rare for a single person to own that many. The fact that it wasn’t the first time Kieran had surprised him with something grand of this level made it more so shocking and curious, making Lawless wait for Kieran anxiously.

It may have been luck the first time.

But what about the second?

Luck wasn’t an excuse anymore, so Lawless ran to Kieran the moment he stepped in.

“Dragon tribe’s treasure? Item to locate Dragon tribes?”

“No.” Kieran shook his head and continued, “I just robbed a God’s treasure vault.”

“A God’s treasure vault? Nicely done!”

Lawless was stunned for a moment before giving a big thumbs up to his friend.

Lawless would never doubt his friend’s words. If Kieran said he robbed a God’s vault, then he’d robbed a God’s vault, nothing else.

“Do you need me to hold a small auction? You have some decent stuff on that list, selling them off one by one might not profit as well,” Lawless suggested.

“I’ll leave it to you then,” Kieran replied.

Kieran was determined to display absolute trust to Lawless because of his character and personality. If it were anyone else, Kieran might have given it a second thought when given the suggestion about the auction, but since it was Lawless, Kieran would agree directly without any hesitation.

“I’ll arrange it right away.”

Lawless then proceeded to excitedly—or restlessly—send out mail after mail.

Being able to aid his friend while at the same time helping to benefit a lot more of his other friends, it was the most perfect thing in the world from Lawless’s point of view.

Kieran glanced over at the busy Lawless before heading to the bar counter.

“A glass of lemon water, please,” Kieran said.

“This isn’t something a Godslayer should order,” said Rachel with a smile.

“Believe me, this is what a Godslayer like me would order. I’m already pampering myself since I only drink plain water most times.”

Kieran replied in a serious way.

“Stingy ghost.”

Rachel ranted, but the glass of lemon water was still served to Kieran.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Kieran raised his glass to Rachel.

“2567, didn’t you notice your face is getting thicker these days? It seems like you are growing towards the likes of Lawless.”

Rachel held her chin with one hand while the other was softly tapping the bar counter, saying this in an amusing angry tone.

“Are you saying that I can open a tab now?” Kieran’s eyes shone.

“Don’t even think about it!” Rachel declined the thought sternly.

“Too bad then.” Kieran sighed, and it wasn’t pretentiousness but an authentic sigh from his heart.

“You really want to open a tab? A guy like you who earned so much in a dungeon wants to open a tab!? Even the iron cock and Grandet ¹ would look inferior before you!” Rachel heard the honesty in Kieran’s sigh.

She knew Kieran to be stingy at times but she never thought his stinginess would level up.

Could it be that his stinginess leveled up together with his strength?

Pondering upon the guesses, Rachel looked at Kieran in a weird way.

“Iron cock? Grandet? If the situation allows, I’ll scrape the iron off the iron cock and grab the money sack from Grandet.”

Kieran said seriously before sending Rachel a PM.

……

2567: I need a swordsmith that can repair Advance Ranks items.

Rachel: So this is the reason you want to open a tab?

2567: No, I wish to have discounts on intel.

Rachel: No way.

Rachel: 100,000 Points, not a single point fewer.

…

Looking at Rachel’s reply, Kieran took a deep breath and his blurry face showed a released-from-a-burden smile.

The answer he got before him was undoubtedly the best.

What he said before was a joke, Kieran would never really owe Rachel points for drinks. Instead, he was worried that she wouldn’t know any swordsmiths in the big city that could repair Advance Ranks items.

Kieran knew that given Rachel’s established network, if she didn’t have intel on this, then the big city might really have no swordsmith that could achieve what he wanted.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn’t happen.

To his surprise, he even had options to choose from.

…

Rachel: I know three players that can repair Advance Ranks swords.

Rachel: First, Xiu Bai. She is skilled in all sorts of forging, including swords, and can craft all kinds of weapons and also smith armor as well.

Rachel: Second, Doordolde. A silent guy with forging skills at an unimaginable level. Always surprises people by using the most normal of things to craft extraordinary items.

Rachel: Third, “Swordsmith” Alisritter. A weird guy but his skills are astonishing, able to achieve the impossible.

…

Kieran carefully went through Rachel’s descriptions and quickly formed some conclusions in his heart.

Xiu Bai, a multi-talented player.

Doordolde, able to turn the foul and rotten into the rare and ethereal.

And Swordsmith Alistritter, who should have mastered certain kinds of unique techniques.

Without meeting any of the three of them in person and only getting brief descriptions of them, all Kieran had was a general impression. It was natural that he couldn’t decide who he should seek help from.

Fortunately, there was someone before him who was willing to give suggestions.

…

2567: Among the three, who would you suggest?

Rachel: Xiu Bai.

…

Kieran was slightly stunned when he saw Rachel answer without a second thought.

Based on Kieran’s analysis, Xiu Bai should be the weakest among the trio.

There was many sayings about multi-talents among players, but the truth was that most of the time, the player was a jack of all trades, masters of none.

Of course, Kieran wouldn’t deny the players as geniuses or lucky, hence the all-rounded skill level.

After all, he himself was a lucky guy in the start.

….

Rachel: She is the easiest to talk to among the three.

…

Kieran raised his glass to Rachel again to express his gratitude after the reply.

Though he couldn’t think of any valid reasons to refute Rachel’s suggestion, he still asked for the other two’s addresses.

…

Rachel: I have Doordolde’s but as for Swordsmith Alisritter, I guess you’ll have to test your luck.

Rachel: That guy is always wandering around the big city, no one knows where he is.

…

Kieran nodded.

After getting what he wanted, he was prepared to leave.

Downing the glass of lemon water in one gulp, Kieran stood up from the tall stool.

Right at that moment, the door of the inn opened.

A person walked in from outside.

Some other familiar players greeted the visitor loudly.

“Hey, Borl!”