The Devil’s Cage

”Please, I’ll give you anything you want! I will fulfill any request within my power!” Hunter promised him.

”Sir, please calm down. I have to know what’s going before I can be of aid,” Kieran tried to speak in a manner that matched his identity.

In real life, Kieran had not come across the detective genre.

The memories he had gained through the key did not include investigating skills either.

Therefore, at the time Kieran could only imitate books and movies inspired from Sherlock Holmes.

He had to imitate almost everything. The way he spoke, the way he moved, everything. It seemed to work on the businessman though.

The man calmed down and continued, ”Oh my, excuse my manners. I’m too anxious over this! Please understand that my daughter is missing, and as a father, I’m extremely worried,” he apologized before he elaborated on the incident, ”It was just yesterday morning that we discovered that Tilly was missing from this very manor. I was with my wife here, and we asked the maid to call Tilly for breakfast, but her bedroom was locked from the inside. My wife knocked on the door, but she got no answer. I had my men knock down the door, but the room was empty! I’ve sent my men out looking for Tilly, but there’s been no news yet. There’s no trace of Tilly inside or outside the manor!”

Hunter explained the incident in an orderly manner from beginning till end.

His wife had remained silent throughout the whole narration. She looked even gloomier when Hunter was finished.

”May I have a look at Miss Altilly’s room?” Kieran asked.

”Of course!” Hunter and his wife answered, escorting him to the top floor of the manor.

”This floor is only occupied by me and my wife, and of course Tilly. This is her room!”

While Hunter explained, he opened a door to his left.

It was a typical girl’s room, filled with pink and decorated with all kinds of puppets and dolls.

Kieran entered the room and started his inspection.

He turned on his [Tracking] skill.

If anything could assist him in acting as a detective, it was that particular skill.

It was also the very reason that Kieran had accepted the detective title right from the beginning without question.

With his [Tracking] turned on, everything before his eyes became more clear.

There were white messy footprints all over the floor.

After a short comparison, Kieran confirmed that the set of footprints belonged to Hunter himself.

It seemed like Hunter had indeed sent his men to look for his daughter while he had searched the room himself.

However, they were not searching at the right direction.

Kieran let his eyes wander a little. Other than Hunter’s footprints, there were two more sets of footprints in the room, both smaller than Hunter’s.

After a second comparison, he decided that one of them was Hunter’s wife’s while the second one belonged to Altilly.

Altilly’s footprints were orderly, unlike her parents’ messy ones. They were frequently circulating between the window and the bed, and less around other places.

Following the footprints, there were two spots that Kieran was suddenly aware of.

The first one was the spot by the wooden frame of the window, where he could see three claw marks on inside the room.

The second one was the carpet beside the bed, where there were two distinctive drag trails formed by a box. Kieran could tell just by looking at the trails that it had been a box.

After inspecting both spots, he looked at the other side of the bed and the window that led outside. It had rained the previous day, so despite his Master level [Tracking], there was nothing left for him to discover.

All the clues outside had been washed away.

The room was a different story though. Kieran bent to look under the bed.

”Tilly is a very obedient girl. She’s studying at the church school. She has always been a lady both at school and at home...”

While Kieran was investigating, Altilly’s father praised his daughter like any father would in front of a stranger.

Before Hunter could finish, Kieran pulled a box from underneath Altilly’s bed and stopped him.

The box had been well-hidden, inside a gap on the floor.

If it had not been for Kieran’s [Tracking] identifying that the drag marks had belonged to a box, it would have taken them a lot longer to discover it.

”What’s this?”

Hunter and his wife looked at each other when they saw Kieran pull out the box from underneath their daughter’s bed. Their eyes had widened in surprise.

Kieran shook his head as he inspected the box. It was locked.

”May I open it?” Kieran asked, pointing to the lock.

”But it’s Tilly’s private belongings...” Hunter’s wife said in a gloomy tone.

She wanted to stop Kieran from opening the box, but she was prevented by her husband.

”Tilly is missing! We need to find her!” Hunter raised his voice to remind his wife of the current situation.

He noticed that his wife’s eyes were red and filled with tears. Looking at her gloomy face, he realized that he had gone too far.

”My dear, I’m sorry! I am so anxious. Forgive me.”

Hunter hugged his wife with a sorrowful expression.

”I.. I understand!” Hunter’s wife said with tears in her eyes.

She apologized to Kieran and quickly excused herself from the room.

”Pardon my wife, Tilly was her precious jewel. Both hers and mine. I’ve never felt this anxious before in my life, and neither has my wife. I contacted the police, hoping that they could locate Tilly, but they brushed me off. They said they were understaffed and had another case. That’s why I called for you. I did not hide this from you on purpose. I just hoped you wouldn’t mind,”

Hunter said in a lowered voice.

”No worries,” Kieran nodded at Hunter’s words.

He remembered that the butler had mentioned the police’s unwillingness to help.

”I’ll get some tools to open it,” Hunter offered and walked out of the room.

Kieran waited patiently.

After a short meeting with the couple, Kieran could tell that they were both well-mannered and well-educated, and loved their daughter very much.

Even if they were to discover that their daughter had a secret, they would keep it among themselves.

That was why Hunter had gone to get the tools himself.

There were a lot of servants in the manor. All he’d had to do was ask for someone to bring them.

Kieran waited for a while. About five minutes later, Hunter came back with a hammer.

He did not say much. He just hammered the lock off the box straightaway.

The box opened, but there was nothing much inside.

A dagger, a flintlock revolver, and a firepower pouch.

The items only occupied about a fifth of the space inside the box.

Judging by this new discovery, Kieran could speculate what had originally been inside the box.

Weapons!

More dangerous weapons than the ones left behind.

”TILLY!” Hunter shouted his daughter’s name as he covered his forehead with his hands.

Hunter was not stupid. He owned a big manor and was a renowned businessman. Just like Kieran, he knew very well what was missing from the box.

”I am not entirely sure about what has happened, but I can assure you that Miss Altilly has not been kidnapped. She has disappeared on her own free will. There are claw marks by the window, but it rained yesterday, so that is all that I can say for now.”

Kieran went over to the window and pointed to the claw marks.

”Blasted! Why couldn’t I discover this earlier? If only I had, I could have brought Tilly back!”

Hunter seemed full of regret as he looked at the claw marks.

”Sir Kieran, please help me find my daughter!”

Kieran’s outstanding performance had won the businessman’s trust, and the man expressed it in the most direct way possible.

A stack of money was placed in Kieran’s hand.

It was a stack of 10$ that amounted to about 500.

Using the memory of his new identity, Kieran knew that the value was sky-high.

Even in the dungeon, an average man could only earn around 30$ to 40$ per month.

”This is a deposit. if you locate Tilly, I will reward you generously!” Hunter promised.

”I’ll see what I can do!”

Kieran did not resist. He accepted the money with grace.

Although the money had no value to him, it could be useful to his identity in the dungeon.

[Name: Stack of Money]

[Type: Etc]

[Able to bring out of dungeon: No]

[Remarks: It’s what they use in the current dungeon as money.]

…..

Hunter and Kieran were standing in front of a painting of a grown-up Altilly. Hunter was telling Kieran more about his daughter, when the kind old butler rushed in.

”Master! Chief Police Officer John has sent his men over. He said that someone has discovered a dead body that looks like Miss Altilly!” the butler spilled everything after Hunter gave him permission to talk. There was a small hesitation behind his words.

Kieran could clearly see Hunter’s face turn white at the news. He clenched his fists hard, his expression transforming him into an angry lion.

A faint cold aura was radiating from Hunter, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

A Killer’s Aura.

Kieran looked at Hunter in astonishment.

No doubt, Hunter was hiding a lot behind his good father image, but Kieran did not question him any further.

Everyone had their secrets, right?

”Mr. Hunter, calm down. It just looks like her, we don’t know for sure yet. Shall we take a look at the body?” Kieran asked Hunter. He needed him to calm down and make a plan.

Hunter nodded and ordered his butler right away, ”Mike, get the wagon ready! And remember, keep this a secret from Madam!”

”Yes, master!” The butler hastened to execute his orders.