The Devil's Cage

"What? The outpost station is in lockdown and a curfew has been imposed?"

Ainte, the temporary person in charge of Kate Trading Company, stood in front of Sicar outpost, blocked by the soldier. After the soldier explained what happened, Ainte couldn't help but turn to Borl beside him.

Although Ainte had been in service in Kate Trading Company for a decade, he followed orders and carried them out most of the time. Suddenly becoming the decision-maker was strange to Ainte, he wasn't used to it, especially after what happened earlier.

And now, the temporary lodging spot which the convoy had planned to stop by was denied access to them due to some unforeseen circumstances. Ainte was perplexed.

The perplexed Ainte did not bother to cover up his emotions and Borl spotted it with a single glance but he did not laugh at the poor man at all.

In order to complete his main mission, Borl was spending all his effort in roping in anyone he could get his hands on and Ainte turned out to be a decent candidate.

More precisely, when the independent divine emblem of the God of War appeared in the convoy, Borl knew Ainte was a man worth investing in.

Just think about it. The convoy had run into some unhappy accidents along the way, the leader of the convoy and the leader of the guards died one after another, Ainte then stepped up and led the entire convoy back to Edatine Castle safe and sound alone.

As long as the boss of the company wasn't an idiot, Ainte would surely be heavily rewarded and promoted.

Likewise Borl, who helped during the difficult times, would naturally enter the boss' sight.

Right away, a decision was made in Borl's heart. He quickly said, "We have enough food with us. We might not be able to enter the outpost station but we can set up camp outside here and rest."

"O-Okay, I will make the necessary arrangements," Ainte nodded repeatedly and then headed off to carry out the suggestion, as always.

Borl thought for a moment and then he stopped Ainte by calling him.

"What's wrong, Mr. Borl?" Ainte looked at Borl in confusion.

"Mr. Ainte, you are now the person in charge of the merchant convoy, albeit temporary. You should have your own stance and make yourself stronger, don't simply be obsequious to any suggestions. Moreover, a leader can influence the entire team. Do note we still have to travel for a day and night to reach our final destination."

Borl reminded him.

Some things were better to keep it to himself in this kind of delicate situation, otherwise being frank would get Borl the opposite result.

He knew he needed allies, not enemies.

Ainte blanked out for a moment.

"I understand, but it's a habit that I can't change overnight. Thank you, Mr. Borl."

Ainte chuckled bitterly and expressed his gratitude truthfully.

Borl also smiled at the truthful gratitude, having achieved his goal.

Next?

Start a fire and cook!

That sir had quite the requirement for food in terms of quantity.

Under Ainte's lead, the convoy reached a side of the outpost in an organized fashion and then started to rest. Aschenkano, who saw Borl, quickly tidied up and then checked the wagon, also releasing the horses from the reins after galloping for a whole night. The horses were pulled to the side, fed with fodders and then allowed to rest.

Bean biscuits were crushed and then added into the fodder bags by Aschenkano.

The bodyguard caressed the horses' mane as he turned around and looked at Borl, or more precisely, the big iron pot in front of him.

Two big stones were moved in to form a crude and simple fireplace, the fire burning fiercely as wood was added. Inside the pot was cured meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions swirling and rumbling as the soup boiled.

Several eggs encased in mud were tossed into the fire by Borl and several big breadcakes stood up beside the iron pot and soon emanated the fragrance of wheat.

Aschenkano sniffed repeatedly and kept swallowing his saliva.

Though the bodyguard knew who was the boss around here, going to the wagon and knocking on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Sir Colin, it's time for breakfast," said Aschenkano loudly.

"Got it," Kieran pushed the door open and came down.

Kieran never rejected food, albeit the normal taste. He'd also gladly accept food that was cooked with effort and heart.

It was without a doubt Borl cooked with his heart, despite the not-so-great cooking.

"I never learned how to cook. I am more concerned about breathing another day," Borl sincerely handed a bowl to Kieran.

"Mm," Kieran understood the meaning and nodded, taking the bowl.

Players, especially newbie players, would never care about culinary skills when they entered a dungeon world. Focusing on enhancing their strength and strengthening their skills and items quickly was the top priority.

This situation never changed, even for an Advanced Rank player.

As for Starbeck?

He was a special one, the rules did not apply to him.

With the thought of Starbeck lingering in his mind, Kieran lifted the bowl and took a sip.

The cured meat had completely boiled into the soup, the potatoes were mushy, the carrots were soft, the breadcakes were crispy, the eggs were also standard. Like all the other food, there was no conflict of taste but there was nothing stellar either.

But… it was filling!

Therefore, Kieran didn't think much and dug into his breakfast.

Borl couldn't help but heave a breath of relief when he saw Kieran start eating.

To him, no changes on Kieran's expression would be the best thing.

As for anything more than that? Well…

He had decided to learn cooking when he got back to the big city, but that was a problem to solve on another day.

Now?

"Aschen, time to eat!" Borl called his bodyguard.

Aschenkano had been waiting for a while, quickly joining the others.

In fact, not just Kieran and company, the whole convoy was having their breakfasts.

Some had it simple, charcoal bread and warm water; some cooked porridge or rice like Borl.

Starting from sunrise to noon, when the sun hung in the center of the sky, the whole convoy was resting.

After that, they would continue their journey in the afternoon, but not all of them.

Some merchant groups decided to temporarily stay around the outpost station after what they'd been through last night. They ought to rest for a full day and continue their journey on the next first light, which would allow them to reach the next outpost station, Edatine outpost, before dark.

However, taking a full day's rest was not a viable option for Kate Trading Company and some other merchant group who had to get to Edatine as soon as possible.

If they had a choice, they wouldn't take risks by traveling at night either, but they were out of options.

Most of it was because of contracts. There was a time limit for the merchant group to deliver the goods and once they were over the time limit, the merchants would have to compensate a hefty amount of Gold Purton.

The hefty compensation fee would bring them back a night before the curfew was lifted in Sicar, or straightaway go broke.

They were already living a considerably wealthy life, albeit without honor. They would definitely refuse to return to the poverty level, hence the courage to take the risk.

After breakfast, other than the necessary guards, the whole convoy fell into silence. Many fell asleep, and after a night of terrifying experiences, the merchants could finally rest beside the outpost station, though not Kieran.

After checking his surroundings out of habit, Kieran looked further away, looking into the direction of Edatine Castle.

More than 10 minutes later…

Groooom!

Gallops as loud as thunder sounded.

The sleeping merchants were woken up, instinctively grabbing their weapons and the guards of the convoy even drew their swords and lit up their muskets.

The soldiers of Sicar outpost even headed up to the wooden defense structure of the station, looking towards the direction of Edatine Castle with cautions.

It wasn't until that group of hundred riders appeared in sight and the leader raised a golden swallowtail flag that everyone heaved a breath of relief.

The golden swallowtail flag waved along the wind.

The icon of an eagle was painted in its soaring pose; it was the emblem of the royal court of Edatine.

When the group of hundred riders arrived in front of Sicar outpost, they pulled the reins and stopped their horses en masse, one of the armored riders jumping down and running towards the outpost.

A while later, the rider ran back and the group rode towards the direction of Sicar once more.

Throughout the whole process, this group of riders did not speak, or even look, at the merchants.

The merchants went along as well. They did not make noise while the riders stopped in front of the outpost, chattering only coming when the riders rode off.

"They are the guardians of the royal court!"

"They are the elite troops founded by His Majesty Edatine I who built the Edatine empire!"

"Why would the guardians of Edatine Castle come all the way here?"

"Are they going to receive the new lord of Sicar?"

"It seems like His Majesty Edatine VI thought highly of that new lord!"

"Of course!"

"Throughout the whole Edatine, no, the whole Northern Lands, who else is more eye-catching than that new lord of Sicar? Don't forget she is an extremely rich widow!"

"The national reserve of our king might not be that wealthy, otherwise he wouldn't have released such an order."

"So, you know."

...

The merchants were obviously well-informed and soon enough, untrue rumours that were hard to differentiate from the truth started to spark and spread among the merchant group.

After Borl heard the news, he quietly observed Kieran's expression.

In Borl's thoughts, the series of events that happened in Sicar must have something to do with Kieran. In short, Kieran used the abruptness of the events to his advantage and controlled the entire Sicar City.

Now, someone else popped up and wanted to reap the fruits of victory, someone was trying to reap HIS fruits.

Based on the rumours revolving around the Flaming Devil's personality, this group of royal troops would die without a grave soon.

However, to his surprise, Kieran didn't react at all, leaning on the seat of the carriage lazily, like he was falling asleep.

Since Kieran didn't show any expression, Borl dared not ask.

He continued to mind his own business, adding coal into the heater to make the carriage warmer.

Sparks sounded when the coal was added to the heater and the noise entered Kieran's ears ceaselessly. Borl's little glance, which he thought was inconspicuous enough, did not escape Kieran's perception, but he did not explain further.

Likewise, he also would not tell Borl that he had everything prepared.

Otherwise, why did he send Bloody Mary to stay beside the baroness?

To let the Baroness Eline look at Bloody Mary like a lass fallen in love?

Kieran wasn't that lame, all he did was pay some attention at Bloody Mary at times.

...

Bloody Mary sat opposite the baroness, its eyes closed as though it was asleep.

Suddenly, it opened its eyes and curled up its lips.

"Everything is as expected by the boss. It's hard even for a king to not be moved by a huge land like this."

The Land of Sicar had fallen into an unusual situation.

After the viscount died and his son missing, plus a bunch of relatives were executed, the baroness became the only one truly qualified to inherit the position, despite the fact that she hadn't truly inherited the land.

Still, her status wasn't what it used to be anymore. It was fair to say that she was highly in demand because no one would mind marrying a widow like her, and through her, absorb a great amount of land under Sicar's rule.

The lands are holy and inviolable!

This was a fact recognized by the whole of Edatine, the whole of Northern Lands, and even the south.

However, there was also another fact recognized by many: a married couple sharing the same wealth and property.

Especially when one side had fallen into a disadvantage, the second fact was displayed at its full glory.

Bloody Mary had purposely researched this beforehand in order to serve the boss better.

At the same time, Bloody Mary also understood another saying better: never overestimate a person's bottomline against temptation.

So, it looked at the baroness.

"What's wrong Simon?"

The sensitive baroness noticed Bloody Mary when it opened its eyes, and when it looked at her, the new lord of Sicar quickly asked, not with a questioning tone, but with a weak and soft tone.

"Eline, my lord informs me of trouble," Bloody Mary did not hide the details.

"Trouble? From…"

Baroness Eline did not utter the precise term but her hand was pointing towards the direction of Edatine Castle.

Bloody Mary nodded.

She sighed and worries smeared all over her face.

As a baroness from a noble background, despite her being a person who liked to stay indoors and was afraid of socializing, she wasn't stupid by anymeans. Quite the opposite, a great amount of reading granted her knowledge that surpassed many others.

Therefore, the baroness knew what situation she was in.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have traveled to Edatine Castle first thing after her brother passed away. She knew she would be able to grasp on to a silver lining of survival there whilst being surrounded by a bunch of greedy bastards.

But now, things were different.

The greedy bastards from inside the family were wiped out.

It was good news, but good news always came with bad news too.

The bad news was she had to face the greedy bastards outside the family.

They ought to be more ferocious and cunning and the leader of them all would definitely be the king, Edatine IV.

The baroness was at a loss when the thought popped in her mind.

A great amount of reading granted her an exceptional amount of knowledge but it did not bless her with the related capabilities.

It was all empty talk.

Perhaps it was the best way to describe her life but fortunately for her, she wasn't in this alone.

Without a second of hesitation, she grabbed Bloody Mary's hand and sandwiched it with her own, putting it down under her chin, looking like she was praying with that sense of begging in her eyes.

"Simon, help me."

"Of course, my lady, that is why I am here."

Bloody Mary smiled and nodded, then subtly retracted its hand behind its back and wiped it against its clothes when the baroness wasn't looking.