The Devil’s Cage

Kieran walked side by side with Starbeck along Ro Street.

Around them were an endless flow of people and along both sides of the street were stalls preparing for the food carnival.

Unlike the usual Ro Street, during the food carnival, the whole of Ro Street was split in three-ways and stalls were placed back to back against each other, forming a total of 4 rows.

The sideways of the street were mobile stalls and shops, and more mobile stalls filled the center walkway.

Kieran and Starbeck walked in the middle, because the food there looked tastier.

Kieran’s powerful Intuition was certain of his choice and Starbeck just purely followed Kieran around.

Standing at the start of Ro Street, Kieran looked into it with his sharp eyes. Other than the moving crowd, he saw many other stalls. Roast oyster, scallops, teppanyaki squid, takoyaki, cheesedog, fresh fruit juice, roasted sweet potato, skewers, fried milk pieces, potato cakes, beancurd warps, friend pancake, cold noodles, and stuffed sausages were all there.

The stalls further away were blocked by the moving crowd, Kieran’s sight only reaching that far.

The smell of the food made him eager but he still followed the rules, lining up in queues and taking numbers for his turn to buy food.

Starbeck smiled all the way beside Kieran, buying one for himself occasionally.

To Starbeck, the food on sale was average but as long as Kieran was with him, even the most average food tasted better.

More so, Starbeck knew the saying ‘everyone has merits and shortcomings.’

No one should be looked down.

Absorbing people’s merits may not rapidly increase his culinary skills but it was enough to serve as hints.

Both of them strolled and pause along stalls. Kieran spent almost 30 minutes exchanging Points for coupons before they reached the end of the center walkway.

Kieran turned back, looking at Starbeck with a questionable gaze.

The center walkway had come to an end, but there were still two more on both sides.

It was irrational for Kieran to give up on the remaining sides.

“Either side is fine,” Starbeck said with a smile. After Kieran picked a side, he added in his heart, “As long as I’m with you.”

…

Borl was on his way to Harvest Inn but the figure that appeared in his way forced him to a stop.

The way the figure stood and posed told Borl the figure came for him.

Although Borl suffered a great loss of strength, his experience told him to step away.

However, another figure jumped behind him, which made Borl wisely give up the option of escape.

Resist?

Impossible. He knew his limits very well.

“Mr. Borl right? Don’t worry, we don’t mean you any harm,” Bella, who stopped Borl’s way, explained with a smile.

“Is that so?” Borl reserved his opinion on the topic.

Power is the truth.

Borl understood it very well when he entered the big city early one, that was the reason for his rapid growth and rise in popularity back then.

He did not oppose the powerful becoming tyrants; he did not show mercy to the weak.

Survival of the fittest, that’s the way the world spun.

If that accident hadn’t happened, he would have kept that thought and would always take pride in being the magistrate of the Guardians.

After that accident, his identity of magistrate was stripped and he was weakened below a normal player, at most stronger than a newbie.

The changes threw him into despair, he hoped to turn it around but the attempts were futile.

The backup plans he saved up were all seen through and he ‘almost’ ended up as an after meal joke. ‘Almost’, because there was still someone who treated him fairly.

When he reigned high on top, fairness stood by him.

When he fell to the abyss, fairness was nothing but a fairytale.

So when he was treated with fairness by this someone, his dead heart was rekindled with hope. He thought he could try again, not relying on anyone but himself!

Therefore, Borl said, “You people are here because of the Guardians?”

“That’s right, we are here for the Guardians. As a matter of fact, we too used to be Guardians but we experienced the same thing as you, Mr. Borl, but lucky us, we were prepared, so we were able to minimize the loss,” Bella nodded.

“And then?” Borl furrowed his brows, not believing Bella completely.

The part about ‘experiencing the same thing’ should be real, but the part about ‘minimizing the lost’? Borl remained doubtful.

If this woman had done what she claimed she did, what was the meeting for?

“We hoped to work with you, Mr. Borl. Although we experienced the same thing, it wasn’t entirely the same, so if you can tell us what you’ve been through, I think it may be a great help to us. Of course, after you helped us, we’ll help you too. Our leader has quite the research on that person, he might be able to help you regain your lost strength,” Bella was being honest.

Her tone rose an alarm in Borl’s heart, becoming more cautious than ever.

He was thinking if he rejected the proposition, what would she do?

There was a high chance that she would abduct him and interrogate him with some special methods to get what they sought.

It wasn’t hard to abduct someone in the big city, even more so when the target was a weak person like him, then it was a piece of cake.

Rather than being forced, might as well give a shot to seize the initiative.

Borl said, “Regain my lost strength? I don’t need it anymore, I want something more practical. Points and Skill Points.”

His mind was thinking about the person who treated him fairly again, and compared to this kind of forced trade, the fairness seemed a lot more valuable.

Bella was stunned, Borl’s reaction sort of catching her off guard. Based on the information she gathered, Borl should be eager to regain what he lost, but she soon smiled.

“Sure, how much do you require?” Bella asked.

“At least 50,000 Points, 30 Skill Points,” Borl voiced his offer.

It was a meticulously thought answer.

The number wasn’t high for an organization and it was sufficient for Borl to handle some situations. If things unfolded as expected, Bella had no intentions to argue on the price.

“Of course,” Bella said and took out a contract.

“Are you sure you want me to tell you here? Why not head to Harvest Inn? That place is safer,” Borl said and walked forward.

Bella didn’t stop him this time because she agreed.

Back in the days, the safest place would be the Witch’s lair, without a doubt, even though no one knew where it was located.

After the Witch was out of the equation, Broker’s secret bazaar was the safest.

And now?

Harvest Inn, where the Flaming Devil always visits, was the publically known safe place.

No one was crazy enough to start trouble there, unless they had a death wish.

Ding Dong!

Borl entered through the front door, the wind chime sounding. Lawless with the mop saw Borl walked in, frowning.

Lawless knew Borl, he was a regular at the inn and considered a friend.

But the lady behind him? First to the eyes.

Her presence wasn’t completely friendly either, especially the two men behind the lady, they reeked of malice.

“Hey, Borl. Need a hand?” Lawless said while mopping the floor.

“It’s fine, they are my trades,” Borl smiled and made Bella’s identity clear.

If that person treated him with fairness, lighted up his dark and despair heart, the man before his eyes would make him feel warm.

He shouldn’t visit the inn as often as he did but because of Lawless, it became a habit, even if he came for just a free lemon water.

“Okay,” Lawless nodded and turned back to the bar counter.

A lot of people tend to finish their trade or deal at Harvest Inn.

Familiar acquaintances with familiar acquaintances; familiar acquaintances with strangers.

The former wouldn’t need to pay a dime, but the latter would have to bear the fee.

“Zaka Egg Whiskey.”

“That will be 10 Points, thank you very much,” Lawless served the glass of whiskey to Bella.

Bella knew the rules, paying for the drink and then taking a glance at Lawless, who returned to mopping. She then looked at Borl.

Borl was smart, so he initiated a chat through private messages.

Borl: The Enigmatic Realm! When you reach a certain level of danger, the Witch’s Mark will initiate it!

Bella: Enigmatic Realm?

Borl: Yes, not a Mystic State or whatsoever, but an Enigmatic Realm! You’ll be sucked into it unknowingly. You think you are in the place you should be, but it’s not. You’ll then get deeper into the realm and when you finally notice, the dagger will be revealed and the realm will reap what it sowed. Your strength will leave you swiftly and then you’ll fall into slumber, when you wake up, you’ll be as weak as me.

Bella: Is there any way to prevent it?

Borl: I have no idea but you people can try wearing more Spirit protection items.

…

The messaging ended quickly.

Bella even left without saying goodbye.

Borl uncorked the egg whiskey on the table as he watched Bella left, and then he walked to Lawless.

“Here. On me,” Borl said.

“Why why! So generous of you!” Lawless laughed happily and took the bottle.

“This is the best I can do now!”

“Can you help me to buy some equipment?”

Borl joked before he voiced his question.

“Of course, what do you need?” Lawless asked.

“Equipment or item that specifically targets a one-time use item.”

Borl listed out his wishlist through a message, leaving only 50 Points on himself and paid everything else to Lawless.

He trusted Lawless too, or rather, the only one trustable here was Lawless.

“Leave it to me,” Lawless then started to contact his friends.

10 minutes later, Borl’s wishlist was fulfilled.

“You are trying to go solo on this?” Lawless initiated a trade and asked.

“Yeah, I’ve run out of options,” Borl smiled bitterly.

“Need help on partying? I’m a very good mercenary!” Lawless pointed his big thumb at himself.

Borl was stunned, then tapped on Lawless’ shoulder.

“Thanks. If I can come back in one piece, I’ll treat you to another round.”

Borl then walked to the bar counter.

“I need a temporary shelter for an hour,” Borl then gave the last 50 Points to Rachel.

“Follow me.”

Rachel glanced over Borl and then turned into the secret passage.

This secret passage did not lead to the usual living room, neither did it lead outside, it was connected to another house behind Harvest Inn.

“An hour, you can use it as you please. If you break something, I’ll have to charge you for that. I’ll come back in an hour.”

Rachel reminded Borl and then walked back into the secret passage.

Borl watched the passage closed up, he then walked to the only sofa in the room.

A few consecutive deep breaths later, he vanished into white light.

At the same time, somewhere else, secluded in the big city, an irritating alarm sounded ceaselessly.

When the alarm rang, Zorl, the publicly known Registrar, rushed out of his room and headed to the healing pod with Broker inside. He quickly pressed the emergency button.

The alarm finally stopped after the button was pushed. Zorl heaved a breath of relief, but at the next moment, he widened his eyes, because…

Splat!

Broker spat out a mouthful of blood from his slumber.

His eyes also slowly opened up.

“Initiate the backup plan.”

That was the only sentence Broker said, clearly. He spat out another mouthful of blood and fell into a deeper slumber.

Zorl did not dare to delay the order, pulling out a black box that he always carried with him. He keyed in a series of complicated passwords, the box opening and revealing a button.

Zorl pressed it, but nothing happened. He wasn’t surprised though because this was what his master was good at: boiling frog!

When boiling a frog, the frog will only know the water was boiling it to death until the very last moment, but it was already too late as it would be boiled to death.

Only until the last moment, the target would realize this was a trap but it would already be useless because it would be in the bag!

Zorl recalled how Broker would always be victorious in the end, his confidence boosted.

Even though Broker had fallen into slumber again and his mouth was still tainted red, nothing would change.

‘Master will surely turn this around!’

So Zorl believed.

…

After truly stopping by every single stall in the food carnival and walking over every inch of the street, Kieran sent Starbeck to his house. Those bodyguards who got undercover behind them for half a day finally heaved a breath of relief. They then returned to their respective positions.

Taking Kieran’s advice, Starbeck increased the security around him and even told his bodyguards to learn from Lawless and the others about dungeon clearing.

Of course, it wasn’t for free.

The bodyguards knew it perfectly, hence they cherished the chance even more because of the scrumptious pay and the chance to change their lives.

The bodyguards were very happy with their employer.

Other than absolutely necessary, their employer would never leave his room, which made their job easy, but today was different!

The endless flowing crowd in the street was a nightmare for the bodyguards, and now recalling back the busy scene, they couldn’t help but bitterly smile because it was very exhausting. A few hours in the crowd would drain them of their energy, despite being quite strong. Still, the bodyguards dare not lower their guards.

Therefore, when an unusual wind blew, they were very alarmed.

Kieran turned around and placed Starbeck behind him.