The Devil’s Cage

It was too clean!

Not only was the furniture neatly arranged, the floors were squeaky clean as well.

It didn’t look like a crime scene that had just suffered a murder at all. In fact, it looked quite decent for a place to stay. The furniture was not lavish by any means, but it was crafted uniquely. The delicate presentation of the furniture made Kieran realize that their worth had far exceeded the common lavish and luxurious furniture.

A carpet made out of animal fur was placed under the work desk. Judging from the fur and skin stripes, it should be a bear rug.

It was soft and comfortable when stepped on; it would definitely present a unique feeling when stepped on barefooted.

However, it was a pity that the bear rug had a sticky and smelly green goo all over it, causing one to frown over the scene.

The goo was dripping off the chair though.

Kieran moved his sight towards the desk. The files and documents were neatly arranged at a corner and a mug of tea that had gone cold was placed at the spot where the person behind the desk could reach with ease.

”Drinking hot tea, sitting behind the table and waiting for some news?”

Kieran painted such an image in his mind.

As for what the mayor was waiting for, obviously, it was news regarding Herbert as well.

It was the only thing Kieran could think of that caused the Night race to worry so much.

However, the Night monster that disguised as the mayor was killed off before the news could reach its place.

The fake mayor was killed off in a clean and effective way by the killer. There were no traces left outside the Night monster’s body, and after the Night monster died, its body dissolved into a puddle of goo, meaning nothing was left behind.

Though, that was only under the common eye. After activating [Tracking], Kieran spotted a set of footprints that were different from the others.

The footprints were very unique as they only had the front half of a foot; it was exceptionally obvious when mixed around with the other prints.

”Tip-toeing, moving through the shadows as cover, slowly approaching his target and killing it with one strike?” The gears in Kieran’s head kept spinning following the trail of the footprints.

Though, he wasn’t sure about one part. The Night race should have developed a deep understanding towards human. It was necessary despite Night race’s understanding towards human which was similar to how humans understand their food.

So, they should understand how important the mayor’s duties were to a city.

In other words, an important position like the mayor couldn’t have been assigned to a common Night monster. It must have been some powerful Night monster.

Even if the particular one couldn’t reach Bartos’s level, it still should have exceeded the common ones. Such a Night monster was killed off without the least resistance?

Kieran still had a good impression of the green flames and the self-exploding.

Even if it couldn’t control the green flames, it could at least try exploding itself.

With doubts lingering in his mind, his gaze was placed on the cup of tea.

Kieran bent down and took a sniff. The cold tea had no more aroma to it.

”Have you checked the tea?” Kieran asked.

”It’s just some calming medication, not poison,” Roshen answered.

”Calming medications?”

Kieran squinted as he didn’t get the expected answer. His gaze sized up the whole room once more, including every corner.

Eventually, his gaze stopped at the corner of the corridor.

A small incense burner was placed there.

Kieran walked over and lifted the lid. A burnt aroma floated out.

Even without a detailed recognition, Kieran could rely on his [Medicine and Medical Knowledge, Master of Poison] to determine the incense was mixed with some nerve-numbing solutions.

”Who was in charged of this?” Kieran pointed at the incense burner.

”It should be the mayor himself. Since his wife died a while ago, he had been living by himself without anyone taking care of him!” Roshen answered directly.

Seemed like the newly appointed chief officer did know a thing or two about the place.

”Is that so? He had to live alone to hide his secrets?”

”Let’s head to the state secretary’s house next!” Kieran muttered to himself before telling Roshen to move to the next crime scene.

”Okay!” Roshen nodded.

In the two coming hours, Kieran inspected all the three remaining crime scenes with Roshen’s company.

The other three crime scenes were nothing different from the disguised mayor’s crime scene.

The killer relied on the numbing scent to numb its target before killing it off with one strike.

The only different crime scene was the police director house. It seemed like the director was not fond of burning incense, so the killer used another method instead: poisoning his wine.

”Any new discovery?” Roshen asked eagerly after they were back in the wagon.

”The killer seemed to know his targets well, not only knowing their living habits, but their scheduled actions as well, utilizing it to his benefit. The killer knew that these disguised Night monsters that took over the high ranks of Herl City were waiting for an important message. The wait was torturous, but the Night monsters needed to rely on other supplements to help themselves to calm down and wait patiently. Meanwhile, the killer followed their habits and switched between tea, incense and wine! However, the killer seemed to have left a careless mistake behind at some point!” Kieran said.

”What important news? And the careless mistake?” Roshen asked instinctively.

”What exactly happened last night?” Kieran replied with his own question.

”It’s you, dear sir… Uh… But we didn’t find any extra traces at the scene, neither the killer nor the news that they were waiting for!” Roshen realized the question first before covering his face with confusion again.

”The killer did leave traces behind, but because of some techniques, the traces became shallow and small, to the point that your men couldn’t find anything!”

Kieran was not hoping for a dungeon world that had just started developing firearms to possess some high-end technologies. All they relied on to solve crimes were experiences and educated guesses.

That was also the reason why the business of bounty hunters and mercenaries were good. A lot of people wouldn’t believe results that didn’t fit their guesses, and to make the results match their guesses, they wouldn’t mind spending money, thus requesting help from others.

”What about the one who called it in? He wouldn’t neglect his duties, right?”

Roshen joked when he had an obvious guess on something.

”If his life was on the line, he might neglect his duties. Chief officer, now you need to find a low or medium ranking civil servant that had a suspicious living pattern, looked panic all the time and had the access to our dear mayor, state secretary, the speaker of the common house and the director. Either one of them will do, and his identity should not be suspicious!”

”Of course, he is the new target of the killer, so I suggest you to bring more men and weapons! After all, the killer will never let him go to compensate his careless mistake!”

Kieran smiled and reminded the chief officer.

”Surely it will be done! But can I request your aid against such a mysterious killer?”

Roshen nodded at first before requesting Kieran’s aid once more.

”Sure!”

Kieran wouldn’t reject given it was a sub-mission. He agreed right away.

Aside from that, Kieran wanted to see what kind of Night monster could send out a low fire elemental.

”This is a replica of a great item!”

Kieran’s heart was filled with curiosity when he saw the remarks about [The Fallen’s Eye] and [Clamp of Fire].

”Worry not! I will provide sufficient reward for your service!”

After seeing Kieran’s agreement, Roshen jumped off the wagon delightedly and started to order his men around.

No doubt, the chief officer had a precise target in mind.

When the wagon started off again, there were two more wagons filled with police officers behind them. Behind the police wagons was a squad of officers equipped with flintlock pistols.

The crowd was marching vigorously under Roshen’s command, heading towards a residential area.

However, before they could approach the residential area, a loud explosion sounded.

KABOOM!

It was a cannon strike!

Translator’s Thoughts

Dess Dess

Guess who fired the cannon?