The Devil’s Cage

Kieran’s words faded but no one appeared, as though Kieran’s Intuition was wrong for the first time.

Kieran who was sitting on the sofa showed a smile.

“You see, I said that I was willing to have a talk but you yourself gave up on the chance. I think some others that want to know the location of Holy Thorn Grail might pay me a decent price,” Kieran said slowly.

This time, before he finished, a figure sprung out from the inner room.

The figure was fast and a cold glare flashed over their hand.

A small dagger was pushed up to Kieran’s neck in an instant.

The sharp iron aura from the blade caused goosebumps on Kieran’s neck while he went along with the figure’s intimidating manner and raised his hands up.

“See, we still can talk face to face,” Kieran said without changing his smile.

“I don’t think you have enough leverage! Speak your goals!”

The figure lowered their pitch and growled at Kieran.

It seemed like the figure didn’t want to use their original voice, just like how they covered their real face when they showed themselves but Kieran didn’t mind.

Or rather, when the figure decided to show up, regardless of whatever the process, Kieran would eventually emerge the victor.

“My goals? Shouldn’t it be yours? My men were targeted by a powerful person from the temples without a reason. Of course I have to come here and find out for myself what the hell made an important person strike at a common merchant,” Kieran said.

What Kieran said was all false, everything was uttered based on speculations to deceive the figure but it seemed like his lies were working effectively.

“Damn it! Damn it! I knew it wouldn’t be this easy! The ones who stopped my man outside the inn back at the market, are they yours?” The figure cursed before asking.

“You don’t know either?” Kieran pretended to be surprised.

“Should I? Stop playing tricks! Now…”

The figure wanted to teach Kieran a lesson by pressing the dagger down on his neck but the next moment, the figure was surprise to learn that his dagger was stopped by Kieran with two fingers.

“Let go!” The figure shouted and pulled as hard as they could but the two fingers that pinched their dagger was like an iron clamp.

“So, you are also just a pawn.” Kieran shook his head and sighed.

About the stolen Holy Thorn Grail, there was one thing that bothered Kieran: why would the thief target a specific traveling merchant?

According to the thief’s plan, picking a merchant out at random was the best option.

The methods of specifically targeting some merchant was completely superfluous.

Unless… the thief had ulterior motives!

So when Kieran, who had taken the identity of the traveling merchant and had come back from the market, he had been waiting for the person to show up and as expected, they did.

However, the outcome was sort of unexpected.

The person before Kieran seemed to be unaware of the choice to target this specific merchant as well, he didn’t even know the shadowy attacker who appeared at the inn.

Plus, judging from the words they spoke, it was obvious that this person was nothing but another pawn being used by the mastermind.

“Is there someone else? Or is this person playing coy?”

When the thought came to his mind, Kieran decided to dig out more information from the figure, hence he let go of his fingers.

The person who was pulling with all their might staggered backwards but their decent balance prevented them from falling to the floor.

However, when the person looked at Kieran again, their gaze changed quite a bit.

As the thief who stole the Holy Thorn Grail, other than being bold and reckless, they must have some brains. Hence after that slight test of strength, the person knew they was no match for Kieran.

So, they subtly looked at the window behind them.

They wanted to run!

“I would suggest that you don’t even try. If you don’t want to die that is… Don’t take me wrongly, I mean you no harm, I was just attracted because of my curiosity, but others… I am not so sure about them. The incident that happened in the market was enough to make the others restless.”

Kieran sat at the sofa without moving and continued to bluff.

In his vision, the sub-mission notification popped up again.

[Sub-Mission: Bold and Reckless (Complete)!]

[Discovered sub-mission: Hidden]

[Hidden: The one who stole the Holy Grail was just another pawn of the mastermind behind the scenes. You need to find out what the mastermind wanted to achieve and stop him!]

…

Kieran glanced over the new sub-mission [Hidden]. Obviously it was the extension of [Bold and Reckless] and was triggered by the thief before him.

Other than that, the thief didn’t just provide a single sub-mission, htey still had the Holy Thorn Grail!

“Don’t be nervous. I mean you no harm, really, so please relax. Of course if we can converse frankly and honestly, it would be much better.”

Kieran waved his hand and suggested that the alarmed thief sit down so that they could talk face to face without the disguise.

The thief sat down but they didn’t do as suggested and removed the disguise on his face.

“Who are you?” The thief asked.

“Who am I is not important. The important thing is do you want to live or die?”

Kieran smiled, pretending to be mysterious and leaned back on the sofa. He then looked that the thief with a more pleasant expression.

The thief instantly went quiet after that.

As more unknowns appeared in the thief’s plan, in addtion to Kieran purposely misleading them, the thief had obviously began to think in the wrong direction.

“What do you want?” The thief asked after a few seconds.

“Why ask when you already know the answer? I suppose the only thing you can offer is that grail, am I right?” Kieran smiled.

“I’m not so sure about that! What about me?”

As the thief spoke, they removed their disguise.

Chestnut colored hair fell off down to the shoulder, slightly reflecting the color on the skin. The slightly long eyes with jade coloured pupils rippled one’s heart like water; beneath the tall nose were thin lips with the delight of a young girl, especially under the intentional movement, the lips looked extremely attractive.

The thief was a she.

“Not bad!” Kieran nodded.

The thief smiled even brighter.

She stood up right away, removing her oversized robe and revealed her body in a tight suit. As she walked, it drew out the contour of her nice body, bringing out her inner feminine fatale.

Her looks and body would definitely attract attention, especially men’s but Kieran looked at her in a clear gaze.

Not only because Kieran had experienced Anne Aldrich Augen who was far more attractive than her but also because Kieran was used to keeping calm and being vigilant.

So, when the lady almost sat on his laps, Kieran was ready to move away from her but at that particular moment, the door opened up.

It was Starbeck who came into the room, delivering the cleaned up dining utensils.

When he saw Kieran sitting on the sofa and the unusually dressed lady standing in front him, Starbeck was stunned before blushing.

“I-I’m sorry! I…”

“Come in, close the door.”

Kieran interrupted Starbeck and ordered him to come in but when he realized Starbeck was frozen on the spot, he couldn’t help but frown as he stood up and dragged him in.