The Devil’s Cage

Kieran avoided the gaze of the group and continued his meticulous check on the vault.

A normal man couldn’t do it, but neither could an unusual one.

If it was another dungeon world, Kieran might not have been so sure but here, he was a hundred percent certain.

Whether it was the system background introduction or the books that he has read in the past few days, everything stated that the ‘mystical realm’ had become a remnant of time.

Could the ‘mystical realm’ be hiding behind the scene and controlled the front?

Should that be true, Kieran, the well-known shaman would have been visited by related mystics by now and not roaming freely like now.

As long as the ‘mystical realm’ kept a little bit of ‘power’, they wouldn’t be so quiet and surely there will be an organization of sorts.

Only the minority was willing to settle down plainly, the majority would fight for a higher position and try to be successful.

And because the ‘mystical realm’ was already failing from the start, the Neo Union that had eliminated them also treated them as rumours and legends.

Kieran was also sure about another thing: when the Neo Union first formed, there must have been an organization that was specially created to target the existing ‘mystics’ and there also must be some data or information on that.

However, all of that was history now.

In this peaceful time, where a human’s average lifespan was around 70 years old, a thousand years was too long, to the point that anything could be wiped away from humanity’s memory.

War hastened the process. No matter how good or intact an organization and its data was preserved, once caught in the fog of war, nothing would come out unscathed.

Based on what Kieran knew, throughout the thousand years of the Neo Union, many major and minor wars had occurred, more than 10 times over the millennium and almost once every hundred years.

As for the wars off the records? Kieran believed there were a lot more of those.

Therefore, the missing vase would not be the work of a ‘mystic’. It must be some normal human, just that the methods used were uncommon and hard to discover, thus making the scene looked like something a ‘mystic’ would have done.

Soon, Kieran discovered traces.

He found a single speck of golden dust in a corner of the vault.

It was tiny, almost as small as dust. If he didn’t possess remarkable eyesight and sensitivity towards gold, Kieran would have missed it.

Kieran touched the speck of gold subtly and turned to the cart again, noticing two more specks of gold.

“Is this…”

Suddenly, a bold thought appeared in Kieran’s mind.

He turned around and strode outside the vault.

Kieran stood at the corridor and looked towards the end.

“There is an office there right?” Kieran asked.

“Yes, it was the curator’s office.” The museum specialist answered with a nod.

“I see,” Kieran muttered.

“2567, you already know what happened?”

Riton Lystie, who had been watching Kieran, walked over.

After the vault was opened, Riton Lystie’s eyes scanned the interior, hoping to find something but nothing came into his mind. Kieran, on the other hand, seemed to have noticed something.

It surprised Riton Lystie and at the same time piqued his curiosity.

“Hmm. There are some clues, but I still need more proof.” Kieran then turned to the makeup artist.

Lyn Amie then quickly took out the thermo flask with Kieran’s special drink from his backpack.

Everyone saw Kieran’s face turning pale, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

The confused group looked at each other, hoping for an answer.

Only Lyn Amie and Eckart, who knew a little something, stood beside Kieran with a worried look, afraid that Kieran might fall down.

As a matter of fact, after multiple times exhausting his stamina and even overusing his body, Kieran had slowly gotten used to his ‘weak’ state.

Even during his first time, Kieran could control himself, unlike now, where he was panting hard and sweating heavily. Therefore, he was acting for the group to see.

Also, Kieran wouldn’t explain why, because any explanation was unnecessary.

He knew the answer to himself from himself was the most convincing.

“I’m fine.”

Kieran tiredly waved his hand at Lyn Amie and Eckart, he then twisted the thermo flask open and took big gulps of his drink.

A heavy cocoa smell filled the corridor.

Lin An couldn’t help but move his nose, his gaze at Kieran once again.

But he wasn’t out of the blue though, because everyone’s gaze at Kieran changed also.

The exhaustion on Kieran’s face was obvious but Kieran hadn’t even taken a step.

What, then, had exhausted Kieran so heavily?

Whispering to the dead!

The thought appeared in everyone’s minds almost instantaneously.

Everyone looked around unconsciously, shuddering uncontrollably as though an invisible hand had touched their body.

The disgust towards the dead in their mind urged them to leave the place. Even Eckart, who was the closest to Kieran, wanted to leave.

Only Lyn Amie, the makeup artist who was a little sloppy, didn’t notice a thing.

“Mr. Lystie, can I speak to you alone? It’s about the vase,” Kieran said.

“Sure! We will talk outside, there’s a 24 hour coffee shop opposite,” Riton Lystie said eagerly.

However, the lessons in manners that Riton Lystie had received as a child didn’t allow him to walk before Kieran, so he waited for him to move before he followed.

As Kieran had depleted his stamina, he walked very slowly.

Looking at how Kieran walked, Riton Lystie wanted to help him out of the museum, if it wasn’t for his manners.

Riton Lystie was also certain that Kieran had exhausted a great amount of stamina, otherwise he wouldn’t walk this slow and weak, like an old man.

A disguise? Riton Lystie believed what he saw since he was meters away from Kieran.

More than 10 minutes later, the group entered the coffee shop.

Kieran had mostly recovered his stamina but he was still acting tired. He sat down and told the waiter, “Give me all the desserts on the menu.”

He had tried the desserts here before, not outstanding but an effort was made.

“Okay, mister.” The waiter didn’t say anything else to Kieran and company.

Aside from Eckart who bought out the coffee shop yesterday, Kieran himself was convincing enough already.

Following the morning news, Kieran’s popularity had surge once more.

As the desserts were served one by one, everyone, other than Riton Lystie, left the table and sat somewhere else.

“Mr. Lystie, before this, who else in your family had access to the vase?”

Kieran stuffed an Almond Brownie into his mouth before he asked.

“You are saying?” Riton Lystie was stunned for a moment before reacting to the question.

As the first in line to inherit a big family, Riton Lystie wasn’t an idiot.

An idiot would never become the first heir to Lystie Family.

“Mn. Just like what you think, it’s… CAREFUL!”

Kieran nodded and wanted to continue but before he could finish, his face changed drastically.

He pulled Riton Lystie away and hid behind the chairs.

Then—

Dak Dak Dak Dak Dak Dak Dak.

Machine gun bullets turned the seats of Kieran and Riton Lystie into beehives.