The Devil’s Cage

The convoy traveled forward slowly.

Nighttime outside of Sicar was very dangerous.

It wasn’t just filled with all sorts of ferocious beast, it was also time for the bandits to come out. Despite the late viscount sending countless patrol teams to clear them up, all he managed to achieve was the safety of several main routes.

After the Black Cataclysm, the situation further escalated.

Other than the main route that connected to Edatine Castle, which had a certain level of security because of the combined effort of the royal patrol team and those at Sicar, all the other main routes that connected to other towns and villages of Sicar Land were extremely dangerous at night.

Most people would choose to travel during the day and lodge at night in the nearest town or village, hoping that the increased number of people could fend off the lurking danger.

If there was another option, many people would also prefer to stay away from the main route that connected Sicar and Edatine Castle at night because the security and safety weren’t great.

If it wasn’t for the accumulated numbers in this trip, no one would agree to take the risk and travel at night.

Though even with the advantage of numbers, the guards from the major merchant convoys took shifts and stood guard around the traveling group.

Through the window, Borl saw the guards of the merchant convoys rode past them, his heart calm.

Danger?

Borl never worried about danger when Kieran was sitting opposite him, feeling very secure and fulfilled.

The major routes at night might be dangerous but what was danger to Borl when he was following the Flaming Devil around?

It was insignificant!

Therefore, at this very moment, Borl had the mood to casually add coal into the clay heater.

As the coal was added, sparks flew out and right before the sparks danced freely in the carriage, a teapot filled with water was put on top of the heater, pressing the sparks down.

From the tray beside him, Borl picked up the silver tea knife on top of the linen handkerchief and carefully cut a little chunk of tea leaf from the bigger tea cake beside the handkerchief. Right before the pot of water boiled, Borl opened the lid and tossed the little chunk of tea leaf inside.

As the water was boiling, the little chunk of tea leaf dissolved and reverted to many pieces of leaves. Several breaths later, when the teapot truly boiled, the tea leaves and water rumbled and swirled together.

The aroma of tea spread in the carriage.

Borl then picked up the tea pot.

“There are professional tea makers in Edatine, I just don’t know how good they are. I heard from several other merchants at the outskirts that the tea makers there like to put mustard in their tea. Based on their sayings, it seems like the spiciness goes well with the refreshing tea. There are also many fish dishes in Edatine, the most famous one being fish in potato cake. The fish must be stood vertically, it would be best for the eyes to look up into the sky during presentation. The straighter it is, and the bigger its eyes are, the better and more successful the dish is.”

Borl was pouring tea for Kieran while he talked about the interesting things about Edatine Castle.

Of course, Borl did not forget to elaborate more on the situation at hand.

“The journey from Sicar to Edatine takes around two days one night, and since we are traveling at night, it will be two night one day, but night traveling is harder, so we might end up spending more time on the journey. Unlike the journey to the outskirts of Mozaar, which is a flat land, Sicar to Edatine Castle consists mostly of bumpy mountain paths and there are only two outposts in Sicar and at the outskirts of Edatine that could provide lodging spots for us to rest. In the mentioned outposts, there is a military camp near the one at Edatine’s outskirts and it is also the important guarantee to our safety in traveling on this main route at night.”

Kieran listened carefully to what Borl said with a cup of tea in his hand, his eyes gazing upon the darkness outside the window.

Kieran had some understanding of Edatine Castle in the past two days.

Edatine Castle, the capital of Edatine Kingdom. With a population of over a million, the castle wasn’t just an economic, political, and cultural hub, it was also the biggest city in all of the Northern Land. Even Qitar Bay in the south, which had the terrain advantage because of the coastline, was lackluster compared to the capital.

Though compared to the city which was admired by many natives, Kieran was more concerned about Edatine IV, the reigning king.

During the assault of the Black Cataclysm, the king spent vigorous efforts to turn the tide around.

When the Black Cataclysm happened, the great and mighty Edatine V was celebrating his achievements. Drowning in his own success, he did not notice what kind of dire consequences his conquest brought to his kingdom.

When the fifth king finally realized the situation, it was far beyond redemption and the king himself was struck by illness.

More importantly, the only heir to the sick Edatine V was seven years old back then, so many other royalty members started to eye the throne.

Everyone foresaw all of Edatine Kingdom plunging into a civil war with the slightest misstep, possibly even bringing the end upon the whole kingdom.

In such a desperate time, the teacher of the only heir stood up.

The royal teacher, known for his vast experience and deep knowledge, set up a banquet and invited those royals with the qualifications to the throne in the name of ‘inheriting the kingdom’.

Then… everyone who attended the banquet never walked out from the venue because everyone died in the dinner hall, including those personal bodyguards. After that, with lightning speed, the teacher got the control of the royal troops and started to cleanse the royal court in the name of ‘searching for the roots of the Black Cataclysm’.

Within a week, over 1,500 people in the royal court were murdered.

Blood dyed the royal court of Edatine Castle red.

It was known as the Bloody Week in the memories of the people of the castle.

After the slaughterfest ended, the seven year old heir became the new reigning king.

Despite being seven years old, under the guidance and help of his teacher, the new king swiftly stabilized the messy kingdom and then moved on to clean up the source of the chaos in the south.

The royal court reached an accord with War God Temple and was able to request a group of Temple Knights to aid the royal troops.

Again, the royal court also reached an accord with Lady Calamity, her one and only temple built in Edatine Castle.

Everyone thought a seven year old couldn’t have done it by himself, so they credited the royal teacher behind the king instead.

Then, when the king was 16 years old, the teacher died.

Some said he died of a natural illness, some said the illness was caused by malicious parties.

Regardless of the truth, the might and prestige of that royal teacher was inherited by the young king.

People then started to call the king Edatine IV.

30 years had passed after that but the king’s might and prestige had grown higher and stronger.

Edatine Kingdom even united the north and the south. Only those isolated islands around the continents were yet to be covered by the light of the kingdom, but it did not affect how bright the king shone.

People even started to compare him side by side with Edatine I, due to the fact that Edatine IV had done what Edatine I and all four of his successors had failed: conquer the south.

Of course, a legendary king would be accompanied by many legends, many even spoke of him as a Son of God.

As to which God, no one was able to pinpoint it.

Kieran was unwilling to comment further on the identity, moving his concern to that royal teacher because judging from appearances, the astounding feats, and the disappearance, it all struck him as a familiar feeling: a player!

Kieran wasn’t a hundred percent sure but definitely more than 50%!

Something was fishy about that royal teacher!

Or perhaps… it was also part of Broker’s plan?

Kieran was in deep thought, moving his gaze sideways and looking at the front of the convoy.

Without his knowledge, the whole convoy had stopped.

Several young men with torches in their hands quickly ran backwards and would pause after several steps, shouting at the wagons, “Leaders of the convoys, please head to the front for a meeting!”

Soon, the few young men arrived in front of the wagon that Kieran was in.

They young men saw Borl’s wagon, which wasn’t exactly a low last wagon, even by Edatine’s standards. They were smart young men with some experience in society, so they did not shout rudely like before and knocked on the carriage door instead.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Good evening, sir. Our merchant convoy leader invites you for a meeting up front.”

The words followed after the knocks.

“Okay, I understand.”

Borl took a glance at Kieran and after Kieran agreed to let him go, Borl answered the young men.

With a firm answer from Borl, the young men stepped back and went on shouting at the other wagons again.

As the shouts came back, Borl helplessly shook his head.

“It seems like someone is trying to make up for their losses again,” said Borl.

Then, before Kieran asked, Borl took the initiative to answer, “In the few days that we were trapped in Sicar because of the curfew, every merchant group would surely suffer some loss, and some of them are not happy with it, so they hoped to shift the loss to someone else.”

“Shift the loss?” Kieran’s interest was piqued.

“Mm. The bigger merchant groups would take some ‘protection fees’ from the smaller ones. It’s a common practise among those temporarily formed groups, especially those from the outskirts of Mozaar. They even took it as a rule rather than practise. Therefore, some bastards changed their career path, they thought ‘taking protection fees’ full time would be a more profitable line of work. I’ve dealt with them before and it ended up ugly. They took my goods as protection fees and I used their heads to compensate for my loss.”

Borl nodded and then elaborated. He then pointed behind him, which was the front of the entire convoy.

“But this time it’s different. The way they called people is too rude, it should be a spontaneous idea from the merchant group from Edatine. Otherwise, the bigger merchant groups would send their guards to round up everyone in the convoy and then inform them of the meeting.”

Right after Borl’s voice subsided, Kieran saw someone go out from the convoy.

The group left very quickly and organized.

Almost instantaneously, the group dragged their horses and wagons into the forest beside the main route.

“They should be from the outskirts of Mozaar,” said Borl affirmatively.

Borl then looked at Kieran.

“Sir Colin, what should we do now?” asked Borl.

“Let’s go have a look,” Kieran pointed at the front of the convoy.

Borl jolted.

According to his understanding of Kieran, the Flaming Devil shouldn’t be interested in this kind of trivial thing, unless…

Borl instantly thought of something, but before he opened his mouth and asked, Kieran already pushed the door open and went down the carriage.

“Guard the wagon,” Borl told Aschenkano before he chased after Kirean.

At the front of the convoy, several wagons formed a little circle in the middle and a fire was built in the center. A young worker who was with the merchant group was adding wood into the fire.

A dozen or representatives of respective groups who arrived earlier stood aside and frowned at the three men opposite them, their gazes not exactly friendly but the three men replied with smiles.

“Are you people trying to rob us during such a desperate time?” shouted a man with a big cotton coat and a cloth hat from the bigger group.

The man was very riled up as he shouted, his face flush.

The other merchant group representatives behind him also glared at the three men for they had the same enemy and hatred.

If glares could kill, the three men opposite them would have died countless times over.

However, the three men with smiles didn’t care at all

They exchanged a glance and then one of the slightly older men stepped up.

The gray rabbit hat and the same big cotton coat on the man provided quite a lot of warmth, allowing him to stand straight and not arch his body to keep himself warm when he stepped up.

His face looked extremely clean as well, no traces of age on the man’s face, the beard at his chin trimmed nicely, and the gentleman staff in his hand slightly knocking on the ground before he spoke.

“Everyone, we are all merchants, merchants chase after profits. This is our nature and our job, but we also hoped for fairness and justice from the bottom of our hearts. So we aren’t forcing everyone into this, some of the others left earlier, but did we stop them? No. I won’t stop anyone from leaving and also welcome anyone who is willing to join us. The price is 20 Gold Purton, not an astronomical figure that you all can’t afford,” said the man in a clear and organized way.

Right after the man’s voice subsided, the other representatives from the other side replied straight away.

“Who knows whether or not you are prepared? Or experienced in this?” The question from the representative received support from the other merchants behind him.

“Let’s stop the jokes. As the representative of Kate Trading Company, I’ve traveled the route from Edatine to Mozaar for more than 10 years. I know everything that can happen here, like… didn’t you take similar fees from some other less fortunate merchants?”

As the middle-aged man said, he pointed the gentleman staff at the representative.

The representative who got pointed at the nose shrunk away immediately.

Other than being instinctively frightened, the representative was shocked by the middle-aged man’s identity.

Kate Trading Company, one of the renowned merchant groups in Edatine.

The headquarters of the company was inside Edatine Castle, mainly operating in the mining business and had many sub-business including, but not limited to, newspapers, wagons etc.

To the other merchants, it was fair to consider Kate Trading Company as a titan.

However, the true frightening fact to the representative was that the man knew about the fees that he collected in the past!

Looking at the smile on the man’s face and feeling the distrust from the other merchant representatives behind him, the representative quickly said, “20 Gold Purton is nothing to Kate Trading Company but it’s not a daily number for merchants like us!”

“Yea! 20 Gold Purton is too expensive!”

“I’ve only got 30 Gold Purton of profit this trip!”

After the others voiced up their disagreement, the merchant representative slightly heaved a breath of relief.

He knew how sensitive the group of people was behind him towards numbers and profits, hence the temporary support.

Even though he had other thoughts in mind, he wouldn’t voice it out at this kind of sensitive timing, yet it would be enough! It was enough to be his leverage to continue the negotiation!

As the thought popped, the merchant representative wanted to speak, but the middle-aged man from Kate Trading Company was quicker.

“That is why, after I’ve considered everyone’s situation, I’ve come up with a backup solution—the first who is willing to pay up will only have to pay half the price, meaning 10 Gold Purton. The second one would be 11 Gold Purton, and the number grows all the way to 20 Gold Purton. What do you all think? Our solution isn’t that hard to accept.”

Kate Trading Company’s representative laid his hands open and glanced over everyone in front of him.

When he saw the others were looking into each other’s eyes with cautiousness, he couldn’t help but chuckle in his heart.

Especially that guy who was a representative to the others. Looking at the dull reaction on his face, the middle-aged man was afraid that he might laugh out loud.

Wanting to negotiate with him by relying on a bunch of ragtag rascals?

He ought to incite conflict in this bunch of rascals!

Though, as the party with the disadvantage, the representative reacted extremely quickly.

“I will pay first!”

Due to the advantage of distance as he was standing in front, he ran up to the middle-aged man. His justice and righteous expression from earlier was replaced by a flattering smile.

10 Gold Purton was handed away just like that.

The others behind him jolted at his action and then swarmed forward like bees.

Soon, the discounted slots were all taken.

Those who were slow had to pay the full price with a disappointed look on their face.

No one objected to the price of 20 Gold Purton anymore. Instead, those who were quicker took pleasure in the slower one’s misfortune, delighted smiles hanging over their faces.

When Kieran and Borl arrived, they were greeted with sneers and malicious gazes.

“No more discounts, you have to pay 20 Gold Purton!”

The representative of the disadvantage stood beside the representative of Kate Trading Company and talked to Kieran.

Kieran glanced over the representative and then landed his eyes on Kate Trading Company’s representative.

“You are asking me to pay 20 Gold Purton?” Kieran asked.

“Everyone else paid, you are the one left,” said the man in a courteous way.

Kieran nodded.

The middle-aged man extended his hand to receive the fees but Kieran raised his foot and kicked the man in the face.

BANG!