The Devil’s Cage

The figure stared into the restaurant at Kieran, its eyes sharper than its presence, like knives slicing skin.

The presence was sharp and keen but lacked killer intentions.

Kieran clearly identified it and looked back at the figure with a calm gaze.

Black windcoat, boots, and a fedora of the same color, the figure in the shadow looked like it could simply blend into the darkness.

“Harstarty?” the figure asked in a low voice.

Kieran frowned.

The figure’s intonation was clear, Kieran heard it perfectly but he couldn’t understand.

Confused, the keen aura paused for a second before the figure asked again in doubts, “Weireist?”

The same weird intonation, making Kieran furrow his brows.

“Please speak human, thank you,” Kieran didn’t want to play guess with the figure any longer.

He wasn’t used to this kind of obscure conversation, despite the person being the one that he had been expecting.

Kieran didn’t think the person should speak differently because of his unusual identity.

Other than talking to his true friends, Kieran was always ‘doing business’, more so when he had another identity right now.

“You are not a Herder?” the figure asked with uncertainty after a little delay.

“Herder? Sheep herder you mean?” Kieran asked.

The question further sent the person into confusion, dwelling in doubt. He looked at Kieran in utmost suspicion.

The shock on Kieran’s face shouldn’t be an act, especially with that youthful face. It was easy to win trust, but the person seemed to have suffered from this kind of encounter before and dared not simply go onto topic.

The person slowly, subtly approached Kieran.

Kieran?

He went over and closed the door, preventing the person from stepping in before he went back to his seat behind the counter, taking another magazine and started reading.

Never explain to those who doubt you, any kind of explanation would sound unnecessary! It would only be an excuse in the person’s ears. Even though the explanation made sense and sounded reasonable, people would think it was a meticulously prepared script.

So, all Kieran had to do was wait, wait for the person who doubted him to ask and investigate.

Kieran believed if this person was truly who he thought, knowing information about him should be an easy task for the person.

As a matter of fact, it really turned out as expected.

Half an hour later, the man returned.

He knocked on the door politely and entered after Kieran gave permission.

Compared to the fierce appearance earlier, the man was much softer and mild this time.

His face wasn’t as rigid as before and after showing the wrinkles on his face, his eyes were overflowing with praise and admiration at Kieran.

“I’m sorry. What happened earlier was a mistake. So please forgive me. My name is Ed Wong, just like you, I’m also a second generation immigrant but my father arrived here earlier than yours,” the man took off his fedora, placed it over his chest and bowed.

“Royan,” Kieran uttered his fake name.

“Royan? A nice name. It’s great to meet you Royan, is this restaurant you opened with your brother? Can I have a full course?” Ed Wong smiled and asked.

“Roast rabbit 100, fried rice 15, chicken soup 10.”

Kieran uttered the price first before doing anything.

“Pricey.”

Ed Wong said pricey but he wasn’t slow in taking out a 100 dollar note, a 20 dollar and a 5 dollar note.

“Please hold on,” Kieran received the money, checked it and put it into the money box.

Soon, a full course was served to Ed Wong on a tray.

“This smells good! This is above my money’s worth! Your brother’s cooking is excellent!”

Ed Wong, who started the conversation in order to be courteous, was obviously a man who knew how to appreciate good things. All he did was smell and he gave a big thumbs up to Kieran. He buried himself in the meal and even forgot what he wanted to say earlier.

He ate like a tornado sweeping over, even the roasted rabbit head was chewed into bits before he heaved a satisfied breath.

“It’s been a while since I hate something this good. Royan, aren’t you curious about the things you encounter?”

Exclaiming, Ed Wong looked at Kieran.

“There are a lot more weird things in the mountains than in the city,” Kieran said the line that he had prepared.

He and Starbeck’s forged identity stated that they originated from a village deep in the mountains and were second generation immigrants..

“I guess you are right. Only the mountains can train a body like yours,” Ed Wong nodded.

Kieran never concealed his body, which was considered peak performance for a common man. Normal people might not be able to tell the difference but Ed Wong, a Herder, was quite surprised at the discovery.

He did come across stronger bodies in the past but this kind of growth without any guidance was quite rare.

Only the mountain woods with the least amount of population could train someone like Kieran, because there were many goods things for the human body hidden there.

Any one of the things in the mountains could easily change one’s life.

Of course, one must be lucky enough to find them.

In Ed Wong’s point of view, Kieran was indeed a young man with decent luck.

He must have eaten something that was extremely beneficial to the human body and did not die because of the incompatibility. Instead he absorbed the things he ate perfectly and grew strong smoothly before he arrived in the city.

His background was clean and he was a youthful person worth training.

More importantly, he already possessed a certain level of strength and boldness that surpassed others. As a Herder, Ed Wong would never let Kieran go.

A deep breath later, Ed Wong said, “Royan, I wished for you to join the Herders!”

“Join the Herders?”

Kieran was actually quite calm at the invitation, which he expected.

If Ed Wong did not invite him to join, Kieran would be dubious instead because of how much raw talent he displayed. Kieran went along with his plan and showed surprise on his face.

“That’s right, join the Herders! What you’ve encountered earlier are all under Herder’s jurisdiction, and…”

Ed Wong unconsciously prolonged his tone, until Kieran looked at him, only then he continued, “And joining the Herders is your only way! Otherwise even if you leave Ai City and return to the mountains, trouble will follow.”

“Why is that?” Kieran went along the topic and asked.

“A deer dies for its antlers. You are strong, far stronger than a normal man, and if you know more techniques, you can rival 10 men at once. Because of your raw potential, you will eventually enter some intentional parties’ eyes… If I’m right, you must have eaten some special things in the mountains, right?” Ed Wong looked at Kieran.

Kieran remained silent, but his mind was spinning like a motor.

The mountains had ‘food’ that could enhance power?

If…

Kieran thought of something, but he sat there quietly and listened to what Ed Wong had to say.

“The things you ate made you strong, but also put you in danger. You are strong against men alright, but your opponents aren’t just men. Just like what you heard back in the mountains, some rumours turn out to be true. After eating the power up item, you are like a tonic to those bastards—they will watch you, wait for you to show flaws, and seize the chance to devour you. Don’t underestimate them, what you’ve encountered is just the tip of the iceberg. The stronger ones are far beyond your imagination, you won’t even be a match to them. What’s worse is what you did completely exposed yourself to their eyes, disaster will be waiting for you!” Ed Wong said seriously.

Kieran looked at the man with a face of sincerity.

However, Kieran would never believe everything a stranger said at a first meeting, especially when this stranger invited him to join the so-called Herders, everything would end up in questions.

Ed Wong continued.

“Are you suspecting why I, as a Herder, didn’t do anything? We have our own rules. Before anything bad really happens, we swore to never make the first move. In short, even if we made our move at the last moment, you and your brother might not have escaped alive. You won’t want anything to happen to your brother, right?”

The gaze of anticipation from Ed Wong was strong.

His anticipation was rewarded when he saw Kieran nod. Ed Wong was overjoyed.

The Herders lacked in numbers, having extra manpower was always a good thing in his mind.

“So you agree?” he asked eagerly.

“No, I reject. I don’t want to be involved in some war. I just want to live here peacefully, provide supper to the hungry souls at night, and make a living out of it,” Kieran shook his head and spilled the answer that he prepared.

What Kieran sought was information about this dungeon world from Ed Wong, not joining him.

Kieran knew what kind of treatment he would receive should he join the Herders.

He will end up as a lackey, or worse.

Anything more than that was nearly impossible.

Never expect good treatment for a newly joined recruit.

The newbie will always be the lowest working force in an organization before they learned how to be independent under some veteran.

All industries and all fields were the same, even the seemingly simple sales worked the same.

The Herders was similar to every other organization.

Kieran could already picture the days following Ed Wong around like a lackey before he gained enough strength to be independent. Although he didn’t mind learning, he had no time to follow the rules and walk through the tedious process.

So, he had to approach this from another way and fortunately, he knew how, for the time being.

Fulfill those spirit’s last wish in exchange for recovery to his Origin Forces!

Perhaps each fulfilled wish provided him with very little amount of recovery or enhancement, every little makes a mickle. He understood he had to walk the steps to reach the goal.

Ed Wong sighed at Kieran’s decisive answer.

“What a pity. I thought we could increase our number for once,” said Ed Wong in a regrettable tone.

He then took out a small penlight, pointed at Kieran’s eyes and pressed the switch.

“Though I’ll drop by in the future. The food here is really nice, and although you won’t recognize me… Huh? Who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing?”

The penlight shined but it landed on the tray which Kieran took and placed in front his face.

The light was reflected back on to Ed Wong’s eyes.

His pupils shrunk a few times and went blank for a second. The penlight fell from his hands and Kieran quickly picked it up and switched it off.

[Name: Memory Wiper]

[Type: ETC]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: Strong]

[Attribute: Memory Erase]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: None]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: No]

[Remark: The Herders invented a tool to calm the people down in a much milder way. It has to be ‘charged’ regularly and it’s better wear sunglasses when you use it. Don’t ask why because the person who suggested this had forgotten why.]

…

[Memory Erase: Erase the memory in the past hour. Has to go through a Spirit authentication, when Spirit is higher than E+, memory will be wiped.]

…

When Kieran caught the penlight, related attributes piled up on his vision.

“The maximum Spirit threshold of an average man?”

Kieran went over the attributes and took a second glance at the ‘unable to bring out of dungeon’ line. He stuffed it back into Ed Wong’s pocket.

After Kieran sat back on to his chair, Ed Wong regained his senses.

He looked around out of confusion and then locked his gaze at Kieran, his aura suddenly turned sharp.

“Harstarty? Weireist?”

The questions which Ed Wong had asked an hour ago came again.

“We’ve been through this question before. I am not a Herder and have no intentions of joining,” Kieran said.

Ed Wong was in doubt.

Before?

I knew him?

I spoke to him before?

Why can’t I remember?

“You said you’ll pay for this meal with some useful information but I don’t know why you took the penlight out. It doesn’t seem to function well. Also, you pressed it so many times and it didn’t come on, but it shined on your face when you checked it. If you are walking in the night, I suggest you change it, the supermarket is selling a cheaper one with a brighter light.

Kieran pointed at Ed Wong’s pocket, showing confusion and pretending to be a kind-hearted person.

“Penlight?”

Ed Wong got stunned before he reacted to the situation. He reached into his pocket and when he touched [Memory Wiper], his messed up memory slowly pieced together.

My memory was wiped?