The Devil’s Cage

A few minutes later, a big group of people came out from the manor.

Most of them were frightened, anxious and a few of them had gazes that would be considered hostile.

Though, after that few hostiles caught Kieran’s gaze, they lowered their head down in panic and never lifted their heads up again.

The scene before his eyes told Kieran that Wayne family is going through an inevitable fall and it was the truth.

When John said he wanted to search the manor, no one from the crowd dared to object despite their numbers. They allowed Kieran and John to walk in an imposing manner.

Once both of them entered the secondary grand hall, the middle-aged man pushed over a cart.

The cart looked like a dining cart, the things loaded on it, however, weren’t food, it was gold bricks and gold coins!

After the man lifted the cloth, brick after brick of gold and sack after sack of coins entered Kieran and John’s sight.

The chief officer was stunned but Kieran was still Kieran, keeping his cool.

When the golden stash was brought into the hall and the others were sent away, leaving only the three of them, Kieran already knew what the man wanted to do.

The Church of Dawn did it before as well when they faced off against the Wayne family alliance that outnumbered the believers, a cart filled with gold and gemstones were pushed into the enemy’s camp by the elderly sister herself.

The cart of gold and gemstones were traded for peace.

Now, it was that exact reenactment but with roles exchanged.

It should be an interesting scene but Kieran couldn’t find the slightest interest in it, especially when he couldn’t actually use the gold and the currency for himself.

So, he shook his head and it seemed like the middle-aged man misunderstood Kieran’s meaning.

“Yo-Your Highness, please give us more time, we will gather an amount that will satisfy you!”

The man said after clenching his teeth.

“What I want is not all these gold and coins but the books and scrolls, the records that the Waynes had plundered from Church of Dawn before. They originally belonged to the church and now I am taking back what belongs to us,” Kieran emphasized.

The middle-aged man was stunned, obviously, he didn’t think Kieran would want any of those.

“Please hold on!” The middle-aged man said, then he quickly pushed the cart away, faster than he came.

“Huu! Damn it’s really tempting!”

John heaved a long breath after the man went off, he then looked at Kieran with admiration.

He swore that he didn’t see any changes on Kieran’s face when he saw the gold and coins, not even a quick breath!

“Does all the God’s Child have no desires like you?” John asked in a curious manner.

“It’s because I didn’t see what I want,” Kieran said.

Then, he looked at towards the end of the corridor. Footsteps already sounded in Kieran’s ears, not just one but a lot of them.

At the next moment, a group with 30 plus men and women appeared, each holding a thick stack of books in their hands. After they placed the books in front of Kieran, they backed away one after another.

Kieran saw all of them before just now, they were still looking frightened but the hostility in a few of their eyes was gone.

Undoubtedly, compared to the gold and coins, the books held no value at all in their point of view but for Kieran, they were not to be exchanged even for real gold.

Kieran bent over and carefully checked the books.

After a while, he stood back up with satisfaction. The papers in the books dated back a very long time ago, Kieran slightly flipped through the books and saw the prayers praising the Goddess of Dawn and also records of some mystical news.

Commoners might think the contents were ridiculous but it was exactly what Kieran wanted.

Of course, what Kieran truly wanted was more than just books.

“These are all the books about the Church of Dawn in our collection,” The middle-aged man said.

“Very good! Please ask your men to load them up the wagon… and can you lend me another one?” Kieran said with a nod.

“I’ll arrange it for you right away!”

The middle-aged man dared not and would not reject Kieran’s request, thus the immediate answer.

The situation before them was countless times better than what they had imagined.

All they did was offer some books in return for peace. They didn’ even dare think about it before Kieran’s arrival.

“And! Please find someone to guide me to Gateli’s base of operations.”

Kieran held the man wanting to leave. The man’s heart skipped a beat at first but when he heard Kieran’s request, he was relieved instantly.

Gateli was indeed the previous heir to the dukeship but he was already dead.

A dead heir to the remaining Wayne family was utterly insignificant.

The man went on the arrange the wagons for Kieran before he himself led Kieran down to Gateli’s base, or more precisely the Wayne family grave.

It was not far away from the manor and was located under a small hill.

The grave was guarded by two elders and when they saw the middle-aged man, they quickly opened the gate to the grave as they were ordered.

Kieran then followed the man into the grave right after.

“Your Highness, it’s here!” The middle-aged man pointed at a gravestone.

It was different than the other common family members’ graves and the other deeper underground grave chamber.

Gateli’s grave chamber was behind the gravestone, the one that was on the surface of the ground and in the entire family grave, there were 3 similar grave chambers.

Among the three, Gateli’s one was the smallest, it was approximately 5 meters long, 3 meters wide and 2 meters tall, each side of the wall in the grave chamber was carved with the Wayne’s emblem and patterns.

“The first two chambers belonged to the previous family leaders.”

The man explained when he saw Kieran sized up all the chambers.

Kieran didn’t answer because the moment he entered the grave, he has activated [Tracking] and trying to find the traces left behind by Gateli.

Gateli was a “dead” man and he would never be in the manor. Even if the manor had some secret rooms, bringing the Revival Society members in and out the manor would be extremely eye-catching too.

So throughout the entire Wayne Manor, where else would be more inconspicuous than the grave?

The gravekeeper? Anyone who saw their age would not hold any hope.

Soon enough, Kieran found something but it wasn’t near Gateli’s grave chamber but near the chamber of the first Duke Wayne.

“He didn’t choose his own and neither did he choose the useless duke one but the first Duke Wayne?” Kieran was astonished by the fact.

Two speculations popped up in his heart. He believed there must be a reason for Gateli to choose that particular spot.

As for why?

The answer laid beyond the grave chamber but first, Kieran needed to solve some problems beforehand.

Kieran turned around noticed a sharp gaze similar to a cutting blade coming from a corner of the grave.