The Devil’s Cage

The South gate of Riverdale became busy and crowded the moment the sun rose.

As time passed, the crowded situation didn’t ease up. Quite the opposite, as it only became worse as the refugees returned.

Groups of riders patrolled, ensuring the steady order. In front of the city gate were two groups of guards lined up in a straight line behind a long, wide table.

Bosco and five other recording officers were noting down details of the refugees.

They were carrying out the princess’ order with honesty.

The refugees didn’t show any impatience or anger. Being able to return to their homes, they were excited and overjoyed, the positive feelings casting aside the negative ones a long time ago.

Moreover, the patrolling riders kept distributing water and rations.

It was also under the princess’ order.

When the refugees came to know that the order was from the princess, who was giving her best effort in redeeming the dangerous situation, none of them were short of thanks as they received the water and rations.

Other than those with certain innate sins, most of the people were kind at heart.

They were willing to share their joy.

They didn’t mind helping others and were even more willing to give a smile.

However, not all were the same.

Some of them thought themselves higher than others, thinking that it was an insult to share with the peasants despite having been peasants themselves once.

“Move! Move! Move away!”

The arrogant voice was accompanied with a whipping sound, which was followed by cries.

Some people were struck by the whip but…

Other than crying out, none of the refugees dared to oppose the violence because the one who whipped them was on a wagon with a house emblem that stood out: Zardin’s house emblem.

The emblem of the second-in-command of Riverdale’s military affairs.

Such an identity was destined to be well-known throughout Riverdale.

The neat line instantly fell into a mess.

That wagon along with another group of wagons drove recklessly toward the city gate.

Bosco frowned.

He waved his hand and the soldiers on guard duty immediately stopped the speeding wagons.

The wagoner shrunk back in fear when being pointed at by the spear in the soldier’s hand, but the viscount in the carriage shouted loudly.

“Bosco! Damn it! You can’t recognize my house emblem?”

The sharp, irritating voice was filled with anger.

“Of course, I recognize it! But because you chose to flee, your house emblem has lost its former glory, together with your identity, which was stripped away,” Bosco said coldly.

He didn’t favour those who chose to escape in the face of danger at all.

Maybe some were afraid of losing their house’s inheritance but that didn’t mean they could flee entirely.

According to Warren’s law, during times of war, the nobles were obliged to send a direct descendant of their house to face the enemy to ensure that their title, identity and position were not stripped away.

One man, just one man would do, but the bastard before him fled with his entire family the moment the war broke out.

Not even a useful maiden was left behind for Her Highness.

Once Bosco thought about him being appointed as envoy and being sent to the south with life-threatening risks just to request for reinforcements, his heart was filled with fire because the bastard viscount before him acted like nothing had happened and tried to return to Riverdale.

The soldiers around the gate shared the same thought as well, especially those who lost comrades on the battlefield. They really wanted to stab a million holes into the viscount’s body with a spear.

“Flee? Since when did I flee? I was only returning to my manor at the outskirts, and when I heard of the invasion of the prairies, I brought all my men back to Riverdale immediately. I’ve abided by the honor of a noble! I should be a meritorious officer in this war! This is how you people treat a big, meritorious officer?”

The wagon’s door was then pushed open.

A short, scrawny man with a triangular face and eyes as thin as a thread, sharing a resemblance to a venomous snake, stepped down from the wagon.

He pointed at the guards and Bosco, shouting loudly.

“Meritorious?” Bosco’s breath hurried.

The ex-envoy had thought of himself as a thick-skinned person before, but at this moment, Bosco finally realized what “thick skin” really meant.

The bastard before his eyes wasn’t just meddling with the facts, turning stories upside down, he was even talking bullsh*t without blinking!

“Are I not? You people want to slaughter a meritorious officer of this victorious war? Come! Here! Stab me! BUT! You people should know the consequences of doing so,” Viscount Zardin argued.

As he blasted out his statements, he strode towards the city gate.

His expression was of cold laughter, his gaze looking sinister as he disregarded the sharp spears pointed at him.

The soldiers hesitated.

Although they knew that fleeing during a war lead to the stripping of a noble’s title and identity, the intimidating pressure the viscount gave off throughout the years held the soldiers back. None of them dared to stop him from entering the city.

The viscount smiled in utter delight when he saw the hesitating soldiers.

Everything was just as he expected.

“Hmph! An underage, little lass trying to strip me of my title and identity as a noble? Too naive! I will let you experience the cruelty of the adults.”

His heart declaring his ambitions with delight, the viscount then arrogantly sized up the area.

“Now, you people…”

Puk!

Before his orders could even come out of his mouth, a giant figure fell from the sky and squashed the viscount into meat paste.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the crowd gasped hard at the gruesome scene, their eyes unconsciously looking at the sudden appearance of the giant white wolf and the black figure that rode atop it.

“My lord.”

Bosco immediately bowed when he saw Kieran, his forehead covered with droplets of sweat.

Among those Bosco didn’t wish to deal with personally, Kieran was definitely at the top.

Not just because Kieran was outrageously powerful, it was also because of his hard to grasp personality.

At least, in Bosco’s view, the young man before him was capricious.

One moment, he might be as calm as water, but a moment later, he might be like a raging storm, just like now.

“My lord, that was Viscount Zardin… Or at least, he was before he fled. Now, he is just a criminal that disrupted the order and ignored the laws. Of course, that includes them too!”

As Bosco spoke, Kieran looked at the convoy that Viscount Zardin led. Bosco, too, looked at the convoy.

Only when he saw the giant white wolf dashing towards the several wagons did Bosco react to what was happening.

“My lord…”

Bosco wanted to stop Kieran, but it was too late!

The giant white wolf was already in the convoy, rampaging like an armored-tank without any mercy. The white wolf completely destroyed the convoy from top to bottom with absolute suppression.

Blood mixed with meat paste splattered all over the ground, but it still wasn’t the end.

The giant white wolf kept running south, purposely avoiding all the civilians with Kieran’s order.

Following its calls, more and more wolves appeared along the way.

The sea of wolves also ran south.

Bosco was trembling with a pale face.

He knew what the wolves were going to do in the south.

He opened his mouth, trying to stop it from happening, but he couldn’t find words to do so. When he finally formed words, Kieran, who had been beside him, had already vanished.

What was left was blood and slaughter.

“As I expect… The White Wolf of Wolf Sect.”

Looking at the bloody trail, Bosco smiled bitterly.

In the civilian crowd, some that seemed afraid and had their heads lowered started to hesitate with blinking eyes.