The Devil’s Cage

The afternoon sun was much warmer than the noon sun.

Its radiating and enchanting light shone over the land, causing people to feel drowsy after lunch.

St. Reid Hospital was silent.

Everyone was enjoying their afternoon nap amidst the rare peaceful day.

Kieran carefully searched around the hospital and eventually stood before the [Sister Reid Statue] with a heavy and still face.

Gannett and the other friars who deceived him were nowhere to be found. Even the name “Gannett” that he knew of was a fake.

Gannett was indeed the chief friar of Marulyn Church and also a respectable one but that chief friar was the last leader of Marulyn.

Just like Hoskin said, the church was eliminated during the war a hundred years ago. All that was left was the [Sister Reid Statue] in the hospital currently protected by Saint Relic Association.

“Amnesia is really a convenient title to have!” Kieran slightly mocked himself with a smile.

Obviously, Kieran used his memory loss as an excuse to boldly go ahead with the ridiculous lies.

If it was someone else who understood the mystical realm, they wouldn’t fall for his lies because such stories wasn’t a secret among the community.

During Kieran’s reading session in the bookstore, there were many articles mentioning the matter.

Of course, the main thing was the Saint Relic Association’s protection of [Sister Reid Statue] and some mention of the Marulyn Church along the way.

Kieran stared eye to eye at the merciful statue. A term popped up in his mind: Saint Relic Association, the current protector of the statue.

Without the protection of Saint Relic Association, the statue might be lost in the sea of time instead of being kept in the hospital.

Saint Relic Association, as the name suggested, it was actually a union between the association of churches with the Saint prefix.

During the golden age, there were almost two hundred plus branches of churches around, they fought openly and secretly with the Elder Council throughout the hundred years war and now there were less than forty branches left.

Still, the remaining Association had established their position in the dungeon world not lower than the Elder Council, even further in some aspects because the leaders of the Saint Relic Association weren’t lunatics.

“Did that fake Gannett come from the Saint Relic Association?” Kieran instinctively connected the man to his speculations but he had no evidence to verify it.

Even until now, Kieran had no idea what the goal was for the elderly man to approach him.

Putting on an act along with the Twenty Hounds of the Elder Council?

To make a fool out of him as an amnesia patient?

No one would be that lame. There must be some hidden benefits mixed into the situation that he hadn’t heard of, but the elderly man came and left without a trace, leaving no valuable leads behind.

“No, there must be something left behind!” Kieran frowned.

He took out the paper from his trouser pocket again.

Donna Bar, Mecathy and Borjane Books, and Ximi Candy House were written on it.

He had already “consulted” Mecathy and Borjane Books mentioned in the paper and that owner of the bookstore was a fool blinded by the bounty rewards from the Elder Council.

What would the other two places hold then?

Kieran had no idea but he knew if he wanted to know why the elderly man approached him, he would have to pay a visit to the remaining places due to the high chance that the places would hold some clues for him.

But if he did, he would eventually fall into the elderly man’s arrangements.

The moment he received the paper with the three places written on it, the elderly man was already plotting something in the dark without him knowing and was waiting patiently for Kieran to fall.

“Plotting a scheme eh?” Kieran took a deep breath.

He wasn’t a fan of doing things under people’s control, so he had other arrangements made.

…

Augen Manor was much more astonishing in the day compared to the night.

Whether was it the architectural style or the scale of the buildings.

Unlike the infiltration last night, this time Kieran paid a visit to the manor openly.

Right after Kieran stepped out of the taxi, the guards who saw him through the surveillance camera beforehand had appeared at Augen Manor’s big entrance.

“Mr. 2567?”

Even though the guards had made sure his identity, the leader still asked out of caution.

Kieran nodded as he has nothing to hide.

“Please follow me!”

The guard moved his body and bent slightly, expressing his manners.

The big bronze fence gate slowly opened up and Kieran had once again stepped into Augen Manor.

A slightly heavy guest limo was stopped in front of Kieran and the leader of the guards acted as driver, bringing Kieran straight to the manor’s main building.

“Please!”

The guard leader opened the door with a bent posture, expressing his manners again.

Kieran who already sized up Augen Manor last night didn’t further pause his steps and straightaway pushed the door to go in.

Anne Aldrich Augen who was wearing a pure white one-piece smiled happily when she saw Kieran again.

“Although we just parted ways in the morning, I am still delighted to see you again,” she said.

It was hard to tell whether she was telling the truth based on her expression alone but Kieran didn’t waste his effort in determining the truth. He knew what the purpose of this visit was.

Likewise, Kieran was quite certain that Anne Aldrich Augen knew the purpose of his visit as well. After all, the relationship between both of them wasn’t to the point that one of them could simply drop by in the other’s place.

“Is it the delight of getting rewarded?” Kieran asked.

“It will have to depend on what you brought me today!”

Anne Aldrich Augen said before heading up to the second floor.

The main hall was not a place to discuss private matters but the study room.

While following behind Anne Aldrich Augen, Kieran felt the blade like gaze once again on his skin, his eyes traced back to the source and saw Mayer the fighter.

Mayer was standing under one of the pillars of the main hall. He wasn’t hiding in the shadows and yet many others neglected his existence naturally.

If it wasn’t for Kieran S+ Intuition, it would be hard for him to notice Mayer as well.

“A different type of undercover ability?” Kieran guessed.

“Mayer is quite interested in you as well, 2567. He really wished to have a friendly spar with you. I mean it’s just a friendly fight, right? It’s really troublesome talking between you fighters, you really want to fight it out but you have to find other words to express it.”

Anne Aldrich Augen said unintentionally.

“You know, such a test like this is pointless, didn’t you run checks on my current situation?”

Kieran replied without showing obvious signs but Anne Aldrich Augen replied with a soft laugh.

“Memory loss? Don’t play that joke on me, no matter how good you conceal it, I don’t believe you!” Anne Aldrich Augen said solemnly.

“Trust me, you will soon.”

Kieran then took out that piece of paper.