The Devil's Cage

Kieran looked at Rachel in surprise when she suddenly stopped talking.

Both of them were having an honest conversation but now her sudden attitude proved differently, could it be...

Kieran suddenly thought of something.

"You can't say it? Or couldn't?" Kieran asked.

Rachel didn't say anything, keeping quiet and wiping her glasses. She even avoided Kieran's eyes but her reaction was enough for Kieran.

"I understand," Kieran nodded and didn't further question her.

"I'll go do some investigating and I'll tell you everything once I get results," Rachel said before she turned around and walked back to the living room.

Kieran saw her off before going to the ever joyful Lawless.

"Wait for me, 2567! I'm almost done with my challenge!" Lawless said as Kieran walked over but when Kieran was beside him, Lawless started to get blurry and even snuck under the table.

It was easy to knockout a person by mixing two or three types of liquor, let alone 22 meticulously arranged ones.

His blurry conscious was already evidence of his decent drinking capacity, considering anyone else would have easily blacked out.

Kieran grabbed his friend and threw him on the sofa.

"DerDer, check on him please," Kieran told the doctor who was sitting beside.

"Okay."

Although DerDer had joined the gang, he took his doctor etiquette very seriously, not drinking a drop of alcohol.

"It's fine, 2567, Lawless always intoxicates himself with alcohol."

"Yeah, he will be up soon enough."

Hanses and Ramont teased the blurry Lawless.

Both of them obviously didn't think of the other 'things', which was exactly what Kieran wanted.

"It's because of that that DerDer should check on him. I don't want Lawless to run into trouble because of some minor accidents," said Kieran.

He then sat beside J.Pearlman,

"Hey 2567," a simple greeting later, J.Pearlman went quiet.

For the Fisherman, killing his own leader Amilian and getting kicked out of Freedom Alliance were facts that he couldn't accept.

But facts were facts, what happened could not be changed.

"Running away is useless," said Kieran in a very direct manner.

"But other than running away, what else can I do?" J.Pearlman smiled bitterly.

"There is a lot, in fact. Do what you wanted to do, living in the past because of restrictions, or you can avenge your leader. I've killed that guy who took control of you but based on the current situation, he might just be a slightly bigger pawn. There is still some mastermind behind all this. Besides, that bastard's power cannot be activated directly; he must get in contact with you, get either your hair, nail or even blood, and have a 7 days buffer to be in effect," Kieran briefly talked about the effects of [Voodoo Pillar].

J.Pearlman was no idiot by all means, his eyes squinting a little when he heard what Kieran said.

"You are saying there is still accomplices of that bastard in Freedom Alliance?" J.Pearlman said as he looked at Kieran.

"I don't know. Maybe yes, maybe no. It all depends on your investigation and if you don't mind, I hope you can share with me your results," Kieran said slowly.

"Very well," J.Pearlman drained every single drop of his liquor and left Harvest Inn.

Kieran saw the Fisherman off as he took sips from his lemon water.

There must be someone else inside Freedom Alliance who sided with Aligino, maybe even more than one.

Otherwise, quietly getting hair, nails, or blood was fairly difficult. No matter how clumsy or careless a person was, he would be cautious against others who showed interest in people's hair, nails, or blood, especially in the big city.

However, Kieran had no time to deal with small fish when he was facing the big fish.

Giving up a hundred bucks for a penny was inconceivable for Kieran, hence J.Pearlman was the best candidate to solve this problem.

"What a kind guy."

Slightly intoxicated, Lemour the Alchemist muttered in a muffled voice.

Kieran heard it, lifting his glass of lemon water at her without further commenting on the Fisherman's character.

The alcoholic Lemour lifted her head backwards as she poured the bottle of liquor into her mouth, gulp after gulp going down her throat. A while later, the 150 cm lady snuck below the table, no one willing to help her up, including Kieran, who indirectly caused the scene.

Though at the next moment, Kieran felt a grudgeful gaze, it was… Raven the Loner!

The man who had been carrying his cat and had a seemingly weak physique lowered his head when he noticed Kieran was looking at him, trying to pretend nothing had happened.

Kieran, however, would not assume that he was overthinking.

He shifted his gaze between the unconscious Alchemist and the Loner, the latter breathing heavier and heavier as seconds passed. Kieran smiled as he took another sip of his lemon water, looking like he had noticed some huge secret and celebrated the discovery with the strongest liquor.

A minute later, Kieran received a message from Raven.

Raven: Keep it a secret, I know how to effectively train your animal companion.

2567: Sure.

…

A quick and simple trade delighted Kieran a lot. After he saw the transcript that Raven traded him, his delight surged higher.

[Name: Animal Companion Training Book (Transcript)]

[Type: Book]

[Rarity: Magic]

[Attack: None]

[Defense: None]

[Attribute: Special Training]

[Effect: Easy to Understand]

[Prerequisite: Mystical Knowledge (Master), Reading]

[Remark: After he heard Lemour the Alchemist's hamster was not behaving, Raven the Loner accumulated his knowledge and wrote a transcript for Lemour so that she could better train her hamster. He tried his best in using words and methods that the masses could easily understand.]

…

[Special Training: Increase the speed of training towards animal companion that has certain gifts (Speed depends on the animal companion's gift)]

…

[Easy to Understand: The reader can increase the understanding speed by following the remarks in this book (Speed depends on the reader's knowledge)]

[Note 1: This is a real book, not a skill book, multiple learning possible.]

[Note 2: This isn't a skill book, its effect varies on different people or companions]

…

"Not bad."

Kieran commented honestly, voicing his praise for the [Animal Companion Training Book (Transcript)] and also Raven's ability.

Although it wasn't a skill book, the transcript itself had proved Raven's abilities.

Just when Kieran wanted to ask something, a sudden cold aura came from the small living room behind the bar.

Without further ado, he went inside and other than Raven, no one noticed Kieran's abrupt departure.

However, when Raven saw the unconscious Lemour, he didn't act, sitting there quietly and looking at her as usual.

She was unconscious, so Lemour didn't notice anything, as usual.

The laughter in the inn never stopped, just like how it had always been.