The Devil’s Cage

The huge potential rewards did not make Kieran lose his chill.

Quite the opposite, he became even calmer than before.

He knew very well that gaining huge rewards would definitely not be an easy task.

It didn’t matter if Guntherson was an ally or a foe. Kieran would still need to spend all his effort on trying to obtain them.

If Guntherson was a friend, Kieran would need to raise their relationship level through the quest. In other words, the friendlier he got, the higher Kieran’s chance of getting equipment or skills would be.

If Guntherson was a foe, things would be much simpler. All Kieran would need to do was gather enough strength and hope to overpower and defeat him. In other words, kill him and make him drop all his equipment and skills.

However, Kieran was still far from earning the farming equipment he was thinking of.

He needed to solve the problem at hand first.

Helped by the strong wind, Guntherson’s punch was already within meters from Kieran.

Kieran did not plan on having his bones broken by such a punch, therefore he did not take the punch directly.

Master Level [Evading] and E- Rank Evading made his steps swift and quick. He dodged the incoming punch with ease, just like a cat.

”Huh?”

Guntherson was shocked that Kieran had been able to avoid his punch.

Despite his shock though, he followed up quickly with a second punch.

The second one was stronger and faster than the first one.

It was mere fractions of a second before the punch reached Kieran, preventing him from avoiding it by using his swift steps and fast reflexes like before.

Kieran knew that if the second punch landed, things would not be that simple. His bones might get punched out of shape altogether.

No one could survive with so many dislocated bones.

Not even a datafied body.

After all, his head, heart and other inner organs were listed as weak points.

Without any second thought, Kieran bent his waist and leant his upper body back, his legs standing steadfast on the ground.

The punch rubbed over Kieran’s face like a matchstick, messing up his hair.

Kieran suddenly felt immense heat on his face, followed by a dripping sensation.

There was stinging pain as Kieran’s face was chafed by the strong wind.

He did not care about that though as he saw the third strike coming.

The punch that had chafed Kieran’s face turned into an elbow strike. It felt like a hammer beating down a nail as it aimed for Kieran’s abdomen.

He couldn’t spare any strength while he maintained his iron bridge stance. He had been forced into a corner.

Between life and death, Kieran chose to raise his leg and stepped forward.

Kieran’s foot was locked tight on the ground. Loaded like a spring, he stepped on Guntherson’s calf before Guntherson could land his elbow on Kieran’s abdomen. Kieran went flying backwards because of the pressure on his leg.

That was a messy technique.

When Kieran had raised his leg, he had lost his balance. Although he had gathered enough strength to back up, he thought it would be better to roll backwards.

The box that was holding the [Viper-M1] fell to the side.

Guntherson followed Kieran’s backroll, but Kieran was not just going to wait for his end to come.

During the backroll, he had managed to grab the [M1905] and the dagger.

”STOP AT ONCE!”

Sister Mony had seen Kieran clearly from far away, and tried to stop the two of them from fighting.

The old man had his leg raised up and Kieran was holding his gun up ready to fire, but both of them froze when they heard Sister Mony’s shout.

They looked at each other, still on alert.

”Detective, I require an explanation!”

Sister Mony looked at Kieran. Her eyebrows were raised, but her tone and expression were still kind.

Hearing her question, Kieran let out a bitter laugh.

Her kind inquiries were harder for Kieran to answer than a strict, angry question.

”When I spoke to you earlier, I sensed that you were hiding something, so I pretended to leave and came back to see what was going on,” Kieran explained.

”It was my mistake. You are the city’s greatest detective. How could you not have noticed the lies behind my words? I’m so sorry, Guntherson thought that you were someone else, that’s why he got so aggressive,” Sister Mony sighed as she apologized to Kieran.

”Sister Mony, please, it was my fault.”

Kieran’s expression was even more bitter than before.

He was more willing to brawl it out with Guntherson rather than face Sister Mony’s kind, sorrowful expression.

It was not Sister Mony’s fault.

The fact that she had not revealed everything to Kieran was not a mistake.

Other than the girl’s own parents, no one else in the world was obligated to tell him anything.

Kieran understood that very well.

His infiltration might have been forgivable in terms of reason, but it hadn’t been morally right.

As a matter of fact, it had all been Kieran’s fault.

He was not denying that.

He was already embarrassed enough by the situation at hand.

”Detective Kieran, you’re a good man.Tilly was Guntherson’s student, so he should know more about her. I planned on telling you tomorrow, but it would be better if you heard it from him now. Guntherson, tell the detective everything you know about Tilly. I’m asking you.”

Sister Mony looked at Kieran with a kind face before she turned her eyes to Guntherson.

”Yes, your Highness!”

Guntherson’s right thumb pointed at his heart, and his head bent down slightly.

It was old-time etiquette.

The way Guntherson had addressed Sister Mony was part of that etiquette.

As Kieran stared at Sister Mony and Guntherson, he recalled that when the Sister had scolded him, she had addressed him as her Guardian Knight.

Now Guntherson had formally addressed Sister Mony as ”Your Highness”.

Kieran was no idiot. Considering the way they addressed each other, he could tell that there was more to them than met the eye.

Guntherson did not care about what Kieran thought though.

After saluting Sister Mony, the strong old man started to tell his side of the story. He told Kieran everything he knew about Altilly Hunter.

”Tilly accidentally discovered this secluded area of the school compound. She was very curious for her age, and that was how she discovered this place. She just kept on searching until she stumbled upon my secret. At the same time, I discovered that Tilly had quite the potential. Well, to make a long story short, I promised Tilly I would teach her things she could not learn from school as long as she kept my secret.”

There was a smile on Guntherson’s face. The smile of an old man who was happy to forgive the pranks of children.

”Our lessons went on for four years. I taught her all the basic knowledge and some entry level knowledge too. Just a week ago, she brought an injured man here. I think he was a stranger that she had coincidentally saved. The man spent the night and then left. Tilly was worried about him and she decided to follow him. Tilly’s disappearance must have something to do with that stranger. But worry not, Tilly won’t be in harm’s way!”

Guntherson looked confident in Altilly’s strength and in his own teaching.

”Accidents can happen anytime. Guntherson, tell the detective everything you know about that stranger. Our main concern now is to quickly locate Tilly!” Sister Mony ranted lightly with a sigh.

She seemed worried about her student.

”The man had a scar on his face, right between the brows to the left edge of his mouth. It was very distinct. His arms were muscular and he was big-boned. He must have had a certain level of combat practice. His injuries were on his back. If he had not been able to dodge in time, he would have been pierced through the kidneys. Whoever had attacked him must have been a veteran!” Guntherson painted the image of the injured stranger.

He seemed to have thought about this long. Obviously, the man had made quite the impact on him a week ago.

”Will that do?”

Sister Mony looked at Kieran.

”It will suffice,” Kieran answered with a nod.

As a matter of fact, just the mention of the scar on the man’s face had been enough.

Such a feature would definitely have made an impact on people’s memory.

Let alone all the other features as well.

All Kieran needed was the Chief Officer’s help, and he was confident that he could locate Altilly in a short time.

”Please help us get Tilly back!” Sister Mony bowed again, expressing her gratitude towards Kieran.

”I’ve gotten the deposit from Mr. Hunter already. It’s my job as a detective,” Kieran replied with a smile while awkwardly dodging Sister Mony’s gratitude.

Kieran had already found what he had come for, so theoretically he could leave the school.

However, he had not forgotten his goal of completing both the Sub Missions and Title Mission.

According to his information, Sister Mony had to have a Sub Mission for him.

Most importantly, if Kieran completed Sister Mony’s side quest, it would eventually elevate his relationship level with Guntherson.

Guntherson’s strength had made quite an impression on Kieran.

Especially his continuous, lightning-fast punches, which he definitely did not owe to his powerful body, but some kind of mysterious skill.

If possible, Kieran wanted to learn that skill from Guntherson.

Of course, he was also likely to lend a hand to Sister Mony considering her prestigious position.

Therefore, after a short pause, Kieran said, ”Sister Mony, I kind of eavesdropped on your conversation with Captain Reed earlier, and I am truly sorry for that. It seemed like you had some kind of trouble on your hands. If you do not mind, I think I could be of aid. Consider it compensation for my inappropriate behavior!”