The Devil’s Cage

As the mist dissipated, Kieran retracted his vision but his brows were knit together tightly.

It was too easy!

A king who inherited the throne from the age of seven and then eradicated all obstacles when he was sixteen, there was no way this legendary king could be this careless.

Or rather… there was no way he would send some rash men here.

Revealing all the hidden trump cards during the first meeting?

Kieran didn’t disagree with the method, a lion going after a rabbit with all its might was a good thing and Kieran was quite fond of doing so, but that was built on top of a clear investigation and grasping everything about the target, yet this king didn’t even test the water… It was like the ways of an idiot!

Edatine VI was no idiot, yet he committed to such a move.

“Interesting. It seems like the king is much more interesting than I thought.”

Kieran reevaluated the king and added a new comment on him, then used the power of the contract to ‘clean’ the battlefield and after he got a clear reply from the Superior Demon, his eyes looked outside the window.

The convoy, which had split up in two, chose to continue traveling into Edatine’s territory.

Although there were still mountains and dense forest, such scenery had started to slow down.

During nightfall, Kieran already spotted fields of crops, albeit covered in a thick layer of snow, after the snow melted away it would surely be a fertile land.

Borl, opposite Kieran, finally heaved a breath of relief at knowing the convoy was safe.

Since the convoy had entered Edatine’s territory, there were more than just sentry soldiers in watch, there were also the elite patrol from the castle. Tnhe robbers and bandits would never dare to appear so close to the castle.

As for pagans, it was also off limits.

One thing worth taking note was that this was God of War and Lady Calamity’s territory.

As a matter of fact, it really was.

After Kieran entered Edatine’s territory, he activated [Tracking] and observed his surroundings.

The wicked presence was a LOT less than what was present at Sicar. There wasn’t any trace of the mist at all, even if they were scattered and tiny clouds of mist dissipated quickly.

It seemed like God of War and Lady Calamity had a much more dignified bearing than imagined.

Under such circumstances, the convoy travelled forward safely.

On the second morning, a huge object appeared in everyone’s sight at the horizon.

Right after the huge object entered everyone’s sight, Kate Trading Company, which was at the front of the convoy, cheered, followed by the rest of the convoy.

“Mr. Borl! Sir Colin, we have arrived at Edatine Castle!”

Aschenkano knocked on the carriage and delivered the good news to Borl and Kieran.

Borl suppressed the urge to jump down and have a look at the castle for himself and quietly looked at Kieran.

Kieran opened the window and tilted his head slightly to have a look at the structure further away.

Looking from far away in normal sight, the structure looked like a mountain or a gigantic sleeping beast.

In [Tracking]’s vision, the light belonging to God of War rose to the sky, dazzling, eye-catching, and awe-inspiring for anyone who looked at it. However, under the light there hid a cold, gloomy darkness, restraining the light from shining with full power.

Everything was as Kieran expected.

Confrontation and evenly matched.

At the next moment, Kieran retracted his gaze and leaned back into his seat.

Borl quickly looked through the window to have a look at the never-before-seen Edatine Castle, almost pushing half of his body outside the window.

Borl finally sat back in his seat after more than 10 seconds.

“As expected of the Mountain Castle, Edatine, it really looks like a mountain. Legend has it that before Edatine I was a king and still a declining noble, this place was the first land he was given. Back then, this place was just a remote village. There wasn’t even an open land suitable for farming, let alone building a city. It was a land with only rocks, but Edatine I converted the wasteland into treasure. He dug out the stones one by one and slowly built his own castle, which also became the firm fundamentals for him to build his empire. Throughout his legendary life, there were a total of three total crises that happened. For the first two times, the king used the castle’s defense and managed to overcome the difficulties but he failed to do the same for the last time. The castle that could defend against a myriad of troops failed to block the dagger from his back.”

Borl shook his head as though he felt pity for the king.

Kieran, on the other hand, was unmoved by such stories.

It was not that he doubted Borl, but he doubted the roots of all these legends and rumours.

Legends were known as legends because of how unbelievable they sounded. Plus the history books were written by the victors, so it was natural that many things were altered to suit the flow.

Unless it was seen by one’s own eyes… no, seeing with one’s own eyes might also be false.

Analyse things carefully, otherwise others would make a fool out of you.

Kieran didn’t want to be made a fool, so he grew more vigilant.

Borl saw Kieran’s disinterest in the background of Edatine Castle, so he wisely shut up and minded his own business.

Although Edatine IV had issued a royal decree that citizens of the land could buy a dukeship with Gold Purton, Borl wouldn’t be satisfied just with a mere dukeship, it was just the lowest requirement of his main mission.

What he needed was to complete his main mission to greater length.

“Maybe I can negotiate with that duke. He is in a poor financial state and this will be my best opening.”

Decisions made, Borl started to calculate his Gold Purtons, then frowned.

The 3,000 Gold Purton to buy the dukeship was off limits, the 5,000 Gold Purton he hid was all spent, and aside from all that, all the available funds that he could use was 479 Gold Purton, 14 Silver Sol and 7 Copper Krak.

“A little hard to meet ends!” Borl knew the duke was not philanthropic, it was fair to consider the man a blood-sucker.

Borl wanted to completely acquire the ‘villages’ under the duke’s name and it would cost him a total of 1,000 Gold Purton back and forth, and if he wanted to get the land from the duke, 479 Gold Purtons wouldn’t be enough, he would at least need an extra 500 Gold Purton!

No! Factoring in that the duke was unwilling to be a noble with just the name, the price would probably double!

It might at least cost me 1,500 Gold Purtons!

Where am I supposed to find this kind of money?

Instinctively, Borl looked at Kieran.

Kieran had acquired quite the amount of reward before this and if it was possible… NO!

‘I don’t want to die!’

Borl then kept away his troubled gaze.

Although he didn’t know the reason, his instinct told him if he really borrowed money from Kieran, he would probably die a graveless death.

Borl trusted his instinct a lot because it had saved his ass more than once.

Money or his life?

Borl picked the latter.

He could earn more if he spent all the money, but if he died?

It would be game over.

Hu!

Taking a heavy breath, Borl leaned back and started to think. He had to come up with a way to earn Gold Purton in a short amount of time.

While he was at it, the convoy had accelerated.

After the destination came in sight, everyone was eager to get into Edatine because it didn’t just mean completion of their task and could get paid, it also represented a warm bath and soft bed!

Ainte, the temporary person in charge of Kate Trading Company, was no exception.

He wanted to fly back to his home this instant and hug his wife and kids, but whenever he thought about the merchant group leader and the guard leader Kagu dying on the way here, Ainte couldn’t help but frown in his troubled mind.

The owner of the trading company wasn’t some petty character. Quite the contrary, the owner had quite the reputation. Even Ainte received his help in the past but that did not mean he was a dummy to be made a fool of.

Anyone who tried in the past was made a fool by him now.

As a senior in the trading company, Ainte would never do that.

He raised a hand and called a guard to his side.

“Go inform the boss, tell him everything that happened along the way,” ordered Ainte.

The guard immediately moved out.

Ainte then hesitated for a while before he tapped his horse and headed to Borl and Kieran’s wagon.

“Mr. Borl, Sir Colin.”

Borl, who was in deep thought, heard Ainte’s voice, blanking out for a moment before his eyes shone. He notified Kieran and then opened the window.

“Yes, Mr. Ainte?” Borl asked with a smile.

“Mr. Borl, there is something that I would like to request: I hope you and SIr Colin here can go meet my boss later, to speak on my behalf and to testify about what happened. Please do not worry, I mean nothing else,” Ainte said, lacking the confidence to persuade them.

“Your boss? Sir Kate Harl?” Borl asked.

Kate Harl, the name had spread through the northern region of Edatine with the famous name of his company, Kate Trading Company. There were many others who heard of his name throughout the Northern Land, the merchant who started his business from scratch and became a well-known wealthy merchant in a mere 10 years.

Or in short, the legendary merchant!

Rumour had it that his first bucket of gold came from an abandoned iron mine.

The abandoned iron mine actually belonged to another merchant and that merchant tricked Kate Harl into taking the mine as mortgage for a lump sum of 300 Gold Purtons, then he ran away with the money.

When Kate Harl found out, the merchant was already long gone.

300 Gold Purtons was undoubtedly a big amount of money for Kate Harl back then. After he was tricked, he walked into that abandoned iron mine dispirited.

Some said that Kate Harl was trying to die in the mine, but things took an unexpected turn.

Maybe because the frustration in his heart surged before he sought death, the young merchant back then grabbed the iron pickaxe on the ground and smashed it into the wall, venting out his frustration.

Then… Kate Harl found gold!

That’s right, it was actually a gold mine! And it wasn’t running low, it was exceptionally rich with gold!

Kate Harl came back from the dead.

Relying on the gold mine, he swiftly rose to prominence and became one of the few powerful merchants in Edatine.

Borl knew everything about such a big merchant.

“Yes, Kate Harl is my boss,” Ainte explained as he sized up the uneasy Borl, afraid that Borl might decline his request.

It wasn’t Borl’s duty or something that he should do, so even if Borl rejected, Ainte couldn’t say anything.

‘Should I offer some payment of sorts?

If I give some payment now, will the boss misunderstand my intentions?’

As an honest man, Ainte was wrestling with his thoughts, but the next moment, Borl nodded.

“Sure, I’ll go. As for Sir Colin…”

Borl prolonged his tone and looked at Kieran, and when he saw Kieran did not show any obvious rejection, he quickly answered, “He is also okay with it.”

Looking at the quiet Kieran agreeing tacitly, Ainte was overjoyed.

“Thank you! Thank you very much!” He thanked Kieran repeatedly.

Then, he tapped his horse and returned to the front of the convoy.

Borl looked at Ainte’s back blankly, and after a while, he rubbed his nose and said, “Even an honest man is dishonest at times.”

It was obvious that Ainte came for Kieran, Borl was just a tag along.

Borl was certain even if he disagreed and Kieran agreed, Ainte would still be overjoyed.

Feeling the insignificance in his existence, Borl shrugged, but was not mad.

Ainte had his own goal, but so did Borl.

A favor for a favor, consider it even.

Borl comforted himself.

He then started to simulate the meeting with that legendary merchant, trying to make it as flawless as possible.

An hour later, the convoy started to slow down.

Edatine Castle, which was at the horizon earlier, was a very short distance away.

Looking from afar, Edatine Castle looked like a mountain.

Looking up close, Edatine Castle looked like a city that could reach the sky.

30 meter tall walls surrounded the city at the bottom but none of them blocked the buildings, which were built in a ring structure heading upwards. People were moving along the ring structure and the rings were connected to the golden dazzling castle all the way at the top.

Because it was noon, the castle under the bright sun made it look like it was connected to the sun, also looking like it was holding the sun at its tip.

Anyone who saw Edatine Castle for the first time would be in awe, including Borl.

“Judging from the productive power of this age, building a city like this is really unimaginable,” Borl exclaimed.

Kieran did not object, but his eyes were absent of the similar joy.

Perhaps there wasn’t any technological advancement or scientific methods in this world but this world was filled with gods and pagans, so nothing was impossible. Even things that could not be explained by science happening in this world would be seen as normal.

Kieran kept his gaze from sizing up the city and then looked at the city gate.

The gate wasn’t fully opened. Instead, a smaller one, 2 meters tall and 5 meters wide, replaced the main one.

Everyone moved in and out of the small gate, merchants and civilians included.

Soldiers on both sides were inspecting the moving crowd strictly.

Beside the soldiers was a fat, middle aged man with two buff servants beside him.

When the middle-aged man saw Kate Trading Company’s merchant group, he quickly walked up and welcomed them.

Kieran’s eyes did not move together with the man, locking his gaze on the gate instead

There, a seemingly honest civilian in line to enter the city suddenly jumped out when the fat middle-aged man walked past him. The civilian dashed through the two servants and pulled out a hidden dagger, stabbing the middle-aged man in the back of his waist.

Aaarh!