The Devil's Cage

An eagle stand.

An essential item when training an eagle. Though after the training, it would become a lodging spot for the eagle instead. Some eagle trainers with a special set of skills could train the eagles to take its meal on the eagle stand as a habit.

It was not out of the blue for a noble to own a eagle.

In fact, owning an eagle was only limited to the nobles because of the resources needed to train it. However, even after being away from his base and obviously on a special mission, Sergourney still brought the eagle stand with him. The fact was food for thought.

Seemed like Sergourney was not some good-for-nothing-man from a wealthy family. He knew his priorities and the consequences of matters. Hence, there was only one reason for him to bring along the eagle stand.

"A communication-oriented eagle?" Kieran muttered.

He then started to search the master bedroom. Using the eagle to communicate would definitely leave behind some specialized scriptures or notes. Kieran couldn't find anything on Sergourney's body nor in the study before; it should be around here.

When Kieran lifted up the pillow, a palm-sized note appeared before him.

Kieran picked up the note made of cow leather and took out a pencil from his backpack before rapidly scribbling on it.

After a while, words began to emerge as he scribbled.

"The target isn't within the convoy, heading towards Swusters Castle."

There was no starting or ending, no names or signs, but enough for Kieran to make more guesses. After all, it was too easy to guess the targets related to Sergourney.

The imperial envoy! There was no other target other than him.

Though, the envoy seemed to be not all that stupid; he left the convoy and carried the secret order to Swusters Castle alone, leaving the convoy to divert attention.

"Hold on!"

Kieran suddenly thought of something. He checked the room a second time and made sure he didn't miss out anything before leaving the house in haste. He went back to the temporary lodging spot.

Of course, Kieran didn't forget Mary's request before he left.

Just when the outpost guard turned around, Kieran took a second and grabbed the two bodies down before disappearing into the shadows.

...

"Are they Harway and Fuller?"

Mary frowned hard when she faced the bloody and gruesome bodies.

The girl was not satisfied after witnessing the two bodies because of the badly mutilated faces; she couldn't achieved what she had thought.

"Umm. I only found these two bodies outside town. Oh, before I forgot, this one too!"

Kieran then handed over the letter written by her mother while they were talking.

Kieran could clearly see the little girl's the strange manner when he handed over the letter, but compared to the doubts from before, Kieran noticed some clues this time around.

More precisely, it was because of a new discovery inside the letter written by Ellen, Mary's mother, to the Harway and Fuller.

The word "trouble" appeared in both letters.

It was not something an old friend would use while meeting. On the contrary, it would appear when addressing those who had a complicated relationship with Ellen.

Evidently, something must have happened between the four of them— Ellen, Harway, Fuller and Andy— when they were young.

Whenever the hormone-filled youth came together, different feelings would naturally occur.

Though, by the looks of it, Harway and Fuller should be the failed candidates and Kieran wasn't sure whether Andy was the winner. But he knew what Mary wanted to do.

To identify her father!

Inside Swusters Castle, there was not a single trace of a father, but surely it didn't mean that Mary didn't need one. However, based on Kieran's speculations, Mary's mother would consider her past lovers as a taboo and seemed like she never mentioned it in front of her daughter.

Which forced Mary to resolve to the most idiotic way, checking whether there was any resemblance between her and the supposed "father".

Throughout the journey, it was not the first time Mary had made such a comparison. Mary even compare herself to Kieran. Although Mary thought she was undetected when she compared herself with him, it couldn't escape Kieran's eyes.

"A father?"

Kieran shook his head and turned around when she saw Mary frowning.

Kieran was not good at dealing with such a situation since he didn't have any parents since his birth. All he could do was wait.

The wait lasted for a whole 10 minutes before Mary said something.

"You have my gratitude, 2567!" The girl said. Her face was somewhat regretful.

If Mary could tell the resemblance between herself and the two badly mutilated face, her senses would be terrifying. There was not much of a gap compared to a real shaman with gifts like that.

Following the thanks, the system notification popped up.

[Sub Mission: Help! (Completed)]

"Where did the envoy and your mother promise to meet up in Tita Town?" Kieran turned around and asked.

"Under the big tree outside Tita Town… Anything wrong?" Mary looked doubtfully at Kieran.

Her sharp sense allowed her to clearly see Kieran's thinking manner as well.

"Just thought of a speculation. If the envoy had no ill-intent and bore goodwill from start, then why would he make an extra move to call your mother to the big tree outside Tita Town?"

Kieran said, handing the paper with the scribbled marks to Mary.

Mary went into deep thought when she took the paper.

Kieran was not stopping though.

"This envoy knew how to use the convoy to divert the attentions of the people targeting him, then he should have known why those people were after him!"

"The secret order?" Mary asked.

"Exactly, the secret order! The secret order is the real target of these killers! And out of instinct, everyone thought the order would be on him all the time and neglected some other important points! So, this smart envoy played tricks on the killers again by using himself as lure, capturing the remaining attention and sent someone away to hide the secret order and inform your mother about it."

Kieran was looking at the girl who had seemingly thought of something.

"You are saying?" Mary was not some dumb child. Quite the opposite, the intelligent girl thought of something.

"The secret order should have been buried around the big tree outside Tita Town beforehand!" Kieran said his speculations.

"But my mother…"

Mary tried to muster up some words, but before she could, she stopped abruptly.

The little girl thought of the blazing Swusters Castle and also thought of some daily habits of her mother. As her daughter, Mary was no doubt the person who understood Ellen the most. And because of such an understanding, made Mary realized something.

"Can I accompany you to the big tree?"

Mary requested, trying to verify her own guesses.

"Sure!"

Kieran nodded and headed towards the big tree within sight.

But…

Someone was quicker!