The Devil’s Cage

“I think I should know more about this Mrs. Augen.”

Kieran tilted his body from the passenger seat and looked at Teresa in the back seat with a questioning gaze.

“Anne Aldrich Augen, originally named Anne Rudd. 15 years ago, she was adopted by the philanthropist from Aldrich family and had her name changed to Anne Aldrich. Three months later after she changed her name, an accident happened to that philanthropist and Anne was left with a ridiculous amount of wealth!”

“Then, she married to a wealthy merchant in Macken state and the same thing happened to that wealthy merchant three months after their marriage as well. After that, she married her second husband, a manor owner in Macken state, the same thing happened again… Before she made herself as Mrs. Augen, she’d been married a total of five times and each husband of hers couldn’t live longer than three months after the marriage, all sorts of accidents would happen to them.”

As she spoke, Teresa’s face was showing disgust and hatred.

She took in a deep breath later, suppressing her subjective thoughts and tried to voice out the situation in an objective view.

“After all her husbands died in accidents, Anne Aldrich’s wealth increased over tenfold and she was given the title as Black Widow by the people. The police investigated this Black Widow more than once, myself included but she didn’t show any flaws at all. The rumors carried on until Symende Augen where it finally came to a slow stop. Their marriage lasted almost for a year… but now it seems like Mrs. Augen here was just delaying her husband’s death!”

Teresa couldn’t hold her anger back anymore and punched hard at the back of the driver seat.

Bang!

The strong rebounding force shook Hoskin as he was all ears to the story.

“Ma’am, I think you can also hit the other side,” Hoskin said with a bitter smile.

“I think your face would be more suitable!” Teresa glared at the young officer before she turned back to Kieran, “Find anything else?”

“I’ve come across a formidable fighter at Mrs. Augen’s place.”

“Sound familiar?” After Kieran briefly described the fighter, he continued to ask.

“No! I’ve only come across some fighters when I was undercover and because of Zaigen. Their world and ours are completely different, common people wouldn’t have any contact with them.” Teresa shook her head after thinking deeply about it.

“2567, how would you compare the fighter you’ve encountered to Zaigen?”

Hoskin was concerned about the other aspect.

Right after Hoskin’s question, Teresa was curious as well.

Although Zaigen was dead, his strength left a heavy impression on Teresa’s mind, the almost indestructible kind.

“Incomparable! Both of them are on a different level. That fighter I met, I guess if he wanted he could kill Zaigen in the blink of an eye.”

Kieran said in an affirmative tone when he recalled the fighter who appeared in front of him like a short distance teleport and the power from both his punches.

Zaigen might be tall and huge with sturdy skin and robust muscles but against that guy, he wouldn’t even stand a chance.

The body that Zaigen was so proud off would be no different than a tofu against the punches from that guy.

After listening to Kieran’s answer, Teresa and Hoskin’s face turned pale, both of them gasped uncontrollably.

For the both of them, Zaigen’s strength and his legends had reached a maximum and now there was a guy that allegedly could kill Zaigen in an instant. It was hard for both of them to accept the fact.

Kieran himself, however, was neglected by the both of them following the time they’d spent together. Kieran wouldn’t also emphasize how powerful he was at that moment either because he wasn’t a lame person. Besides, his focus was not about those petty things either.

“I need a copy of these recordings! Also, get a reliable deliveryman and send the copies to that Mrs. Augen!”

Kieran pointed at the recordings, including the one he got from Ryan Sulfose.

“You want to meet Anne Aldrich Augen?” Teresa frowned, not knowing what Kieran wanted to achieve.

“En. I hope to get some information from that Mrs. Augen. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

“Hoskin, anything to eat around here? We need a good meal and a good sleep now. We’ll leave the rest for tomorrow.

Kieran then leaned back in his seat.

Young Hoskin looked back at Teresa and after his superior nodded slightly, he started the car again.

The night passed in an instant.

When the sun rose up again and the clock was pointing sharply at 10 a.m., Carose Cafe started its business on time.

The waiter moved the signs, tables, and chairs out for outdoor dining.

Around ten minutes later, customers began to arrive.

The waiter asked energetically when a young casually dressed customer with a double strapped bag on him came into the shop.

“Good morning, sir. What are you having today?”

The waiter handed over a menu while he was greeting Kieran.

…

Carose Cafe welcomes you!

Chef Recommendation: Charcoal Coffee – $15

Pure Coffee – $10

Morona Coffee – $10

–

Simple meal:

Sandwich – $5

Fries – $5

Beef Burger (with free Orange Juice on second order) – $12

–

PS: Free bread from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. every day!

…

Kieran wasn’t a stranger to the simple cafe menu.

After he glanced over the price tag and silently calculated the money in his pocket, he quickly made his decision.

“Two burgers please,” Kieran said.

“Okay, please wait for a while.”

The waiter quickly wrote down the order on his pad and left for the kitchen after giving Kieran a smile.

During his wait for the meal to be served, Kieran’s eyes were sizing up the bookstore diagonally opposite the street subtly.

Mecathy and Borjane Books.

One of the mystical gathering points of the mystics in the current dungeon world that Gannett provided him. It was one of the safest locations among the given three.

Of course, Kieran held his thoughts back about Gannett.

The bookstore opposite looked no different from a regular one from the outside.

The entrance was two glass door that opened both directions, on the left and right side of the entrance were display cases 2 meters wide and 3 meters tall.

The display cases were displaying the recent bestseller and in front of the opened glass door entrance was a heap of books and a blackboard.

The heaps of books were the new arrival books and the blackboard was displaying ‘New Arrival !’.

Seeing through the opened glass doors, the store was emptied of people and nothing in particular caught Kieran’s attention. Though it might be a cover-up and required a closer inspection.

Still, Kieran wasn’t in a rush to enter the store.

The reason he came to the place wasn’t just to observe the mystical gathering point.

There was another important matter he had to attend to.

Soon enough, the waiter served Kieran’s food.

Kieran drank almost half of the orange juice with one gulp before eating his burger.

The burger was fine, the meat and the vegetables inside were fresh and the sauce was just smeared in a nice amount. A bite on the juicy meat felt substantial with the meat fragrance fresh from the grill.

The orange juice was ordinary. It wasn’t a fresh orange juice but a mixed one.

He didn’t mind since it was a complimentary one.

After devouring almost half of his breakfast, an extra long limo parked firmly in front of Carose Cafe’s entrance.

The driver came out and opened the backseat door, revealing a crystal heel stepping out, followed by a long fair leg. When the bright red dress was fully revealed, Anne Aldrich Augen had instantly become the center of attention.

Kieran could feel it.

Following Anne Aldrich Augen’s arrival, the waiter, passersby and everyone who saw her were instantly stunned, regardless of male or female, everyone was shocked by her stunning beauty and absurd wealth.

Anne Aldrich Augen was acting as she normally did, a smile was hanging over her face. After glancing over the environment, she walked towards Kieran’s seat under the people’s surprised and envious gaze.