The Devil’s Cage

After the evening rush hours when people had gotten off from work, the city became merry again.

It wasn’t full of disorderly clamors without a care in the night but more of a near-to-life situation.

In front of Newtart Bread Shop, several housewives holding groceries went into the shop after a “half price” sign was hung over the shop window.

Minutes later, each of them returned home with bags upon bags of bread.

It was the secret discount that only the surrounding residents knew off.

Every Friday evening, Newtart Bread Shop would sell off the remaining bread of that day and possibly the day before at half price.

The housewives’ first choice was all the leftovers of that very day but they would also accept the ones from yesterday or even earlier.

The priorities of the housewives were to consider spending the least amount of money to buy food before they spoil. The saved up money would be enough for them to buy half a sausage more and three to four eggs plus some vegetable soup to make a scrumptious meal for their families.

The residents around the bread shop went in continuously and soon, the half-priced bread was all sold out, leaving some leftover pieces and crumbs in the baskets.

The shop owner then started to clean up the leftovers by putting the remaining pieces and crumbs into a single basket and placed a “$3” sign over it.

It was also one of the shop’s usual means. Some residents didn’t mind exchanging a basket full of leftover bread pieces for a mere $3, even though they were far from perfect.

That night was no exception either, just when the owner was cleaning the shop, a customer entered the shop.

It wasn’t the housewives from around the area, neither was it a total stranger.

Even though the customer was wearing a windbreaker with lifted up collars and liked to cover his face with glasses and a mask, the owner still welcomed him with a graceful smile.

“Good evening, this is all that’s left, is that okay?” The owner asked.

Then, before the customer could reply, the owner started to pack the leftovers into a paper bag.

He knew what the customer wanted even without answering.

Two wrinkled notes then appeared on the counter. The owner opened it up to check its condition and passed the paper bag filled with leftover bread to the customer.

The owner also added a courteous phrase, “Please come again next time!”, but it was still without reply.

The silent customer took the paper bag and left Newtart Bread Shop but as he moved around 4 to 5 meters away, he stopped abruptly.

He saw a group of people standing on the opposite street with long friar robes and Dandon’s emblem in front of their chest. Their outfits were enough to tell where they were from.

The customer turned away to another direction without even thinking but the Dandon friars occupied that place as well.

Another direction change resulted in the same scene again.

The Dandon friars slowly approached the silent customer as he swiftly backed away.

The customer re-entered Newtart Bread Shop and the moment he stepped into the shop…

KABOOM!

An explosion went off.

The tremendous blow sent the entire shop lot flying up in the sky and the strange thing was, there wasn’t any smoke or fire.

All the explosion caused was white flour dancing in the air and white glittering powders.

“Aaarh! Aaaaaaaarh!”

An excruciating growl sounded right away, as though a beast was being tortured, causing it to release a pained roar.

A figure was found rolling and struggling on the ground as the body was covered with flour and the glittering powder, it looked like the body had acid spilled on it instead of flour and powder.

“Dandon with the overflowing battle spirit, banish the evil before your eyes with your holy sword!”

Amidst the heavy chanting, the Dandon friars helped the struggling figure up and splashed bottles of holy water on him.

Souuuu!

White smoke erupted from the body as the holy waters were splashed.

The figure who was struggling and rolling fiercely stopped soon.

“Any kinds of evil cannot exist in the world with Her Majesty Dandon’s gaze!”

After the sonorous claim, a Dandon deacon with white hair and beard walked over from the end of the street.

From the beginning, the deacon was looking at Kieran who was walking beside him and obviously, the words that he uttered was for Kieran.

“You can’t afford to be careless at any time,” Kieran replied the deacon.

It wasn’t really talking back and neither was it a rude comment, plus the humble expression on Kieran’s face when he uttered those words, even the deacon before his eyes couldn’t find any fault in his words.

The other two sisters and the middle-aged father nodded repeatedly, but the deacon thought Kieran should show more compliance, not only to Dandon but to him as well.

The deacon was the most loyal servant of Dandon and he should be respected for his position, not all were given the chance to walk side by side with him like Kieran.

“He is the culprit of Winchester House explosion? Also the killer of the Gravens three in Yuda State University?” The deacon asked questions after questions.

“Yes.” Kieran nodded.

“How can you be sure? Although he is of evil roots, what is your evidence?” The white-haired, white-bearded deacon continued his questioning.

His questions stunned the other sisters and the father right away, especially Sister Liz Dandon who frowned over the question.

“Lord Deacon, what are you doing?” Sister Dandon’s tone expressed the strictness of her words.

“I only wanted to know the truth.” The deacon answered but everyone felt the insincerity of the deacon’s words.

When the thought of how arrogant the deacon was during normal times struck the others, the other three high ranking clergies of Dandon frowned hard. If the deacon wasn’t the only one who could activate the altar, how could he be one of the high ranking clergies with his attitude?

“My evidence? Why would a man who spent all his time and effort in building his own organization give up that easily? And a bunch of books and notes recording the myths and legends that most people don’t believe, why would someone kill for those books?”

Kieran didn’t answer directly.

After using Anne Aldrich Augen to investigate the Dandon Church, Kieran knew who the people he needed to pay attention to were.

He spent quite a bit of time and effort to research about this Dandon deacon, not only his life achievements but also his attitude.

So, Kieran knew what answers would draw the trust from the man.

Kieran needed not to explain precisely to the deacon but instead, he wanted the deacon to look for the answers himself.

As Kieran glanced over the expressions on the deacon, he added more at the precise moment.

“Winchester House’s explosions case… Is it really that simple? The place was blown up just because of some treasure collections from the museum? Is it possible that there are some even more precious and rarer items hidden within?”

Kieran took a second glance at the Dandon deacon whose face was slightly affected and was thinking deeply of his questions.

Not only the deacon felt as such, but the other sisters and the father also had shock over their faces as they looked at the shrunken figure on the ground.

“Other than explaining like this, I really can’t think of a reason why would you do this… Professor Harondentte!”

Kieran looked at the man on the floor who looked dead.

The man wasn’t dead though, although he didn’t seem to be breathing, no one else knew the miraculous traits of the “heart” inside him more than Kieran.

If the professor had the “heart”, plus some hidden aces up his sleeves, the scene where the professor was taken down easily was just an intentional act.

Why?

Kieran looked at the Dandon deacon who stepped up anxiously to inspect the body with simulated emotions and shining eyes, Kieran took a step back right away quietly.