The Devil’s Cage

Lagren walked out from the backyard of the hotel with a bag of coal.

Although the night would be cold because of the season, it wasn’t to the point that a boiler was needed. However, whenever Lagren thought of the six little girls’ poor sleep, he felt he should make the rooms warmer, even though he knew what caused them to lose sleep wasn’t the temperature.

But at least, a warmer room could help them sleep, right?

The boiler was ignited, the shattered coals were inserted bit by bit. Feeling a growing warmth, Lagren took his beer mug and loaded it with beer without washing his hands.

Gulp, Gulp.

His gulping echoed in the empty hotel lobby, but it couldn’t cover the commotion outside Stove-grilled Fish.

The explosion from before sent the Spec Ops group into an ugly state. The ordinary police dare not appear, so the Spec Ops group were forced to complete the rescue and clean up given their limited manpower.

“This is really troublesome.”

Thinking about the encounter of those pitiful Spec Ops members, Lagren went into the kitchen, lit up the stove, and placed fishes and bread on top.

When the grilled fish and toasted bread emanated their unique aroma, the hotel owner served the food on a big tray and walked out of the hotel. He went straight towards the explosion site.

Soon, Lagren saw Mier in the crowd.

“Here, I’ll leave this to you,” said Lagren.

“Thank you.”

Mier replied without even looking as she was busy helping the civilians.

Although she wanted to look for Kieran, she didn’t forget her duty.

Glancing over the site, Lagren paused his gaze on the white body bags for a while before returning to where he came from.

When he returned, another person was already inside the hotel lobby.

Smith.

Smith stood in front of the bar counter with a serious face, he waited for Lagren to go behind the counter before he spoke.

“I want to join the Monster Hunters,” Smith said.

Lagren looked at Smith with a raised brow, he didn’t answer; instead, he slowly pulled out a cigarette, lit it up, and asked, “Want one?”

“No, thanks. I want to join the Monster Hunters,” Smith rejected before repeating his words.

“Do you know what a Monster Hunter is?” Lagren asked after spitting out a mouthful of smoke.

Smith shook his head honestly. After thinking for a while, he added, “Fighting with monsters, protecting the innocent.”

“Mm. Not good enough, so you failed the interview.”

Lagren spat out another mouth of smoke, he rejected Smith and told him to go upstairs quickly.

“You can’t be a Monster Hunter with just sheer power.”

“A Monster Hunter doesn’t just bear the burden of ‘honor’ as you think. Sorry, what am I saying, why would a Monster Hunter have ‘honor’?”

“They are a bunch of fools.”

“Go have a look at Saya and the girls. They can’t sleep well with you gone.”

Lagren then turned around and went back to his room.

Smith struggled and hesitated at the empty bar counter.

In the end, after deciding whether to knock on Lagren’s door or take care of Saya, Smith chose the latter.

After all, his initial goal was to take care of her, and it didn’t conflict with his thoughts of becoming a Monster Hunter.

Smith wouldn’t do things in reverse order.

Dak Dak Dak.

Tsk Gak.

The footsteps and screeches from the old stairs produced a unique sound.

After these sounds went away, Lagren walked out of his room again.

“Sigh, why is everyone so worrisome. But… How did he get so strong?”

Lagren muttered to himself, his face couldn’t help but look serious.

He knew a lot of ways to increase one’s power, but all of them bore incredible side-effects without exception, some methods might even cost one’s life.

Lagren didn’t want anything to happen to Smith at a time like this.

Otherwise, what will happen to Saya and the girls?

Even though the adoption institution related to the Monster Hunters could help, Lagren would not contact those guys if it wasn’t the last resort.

There are no free meals in this world, everything is give and take.

The Monster Hunter institution was no exception either.

Whenever an orphan was adopted, they would be trained, and the good ones would become new Monster Hunters, while the less than decent one would still be attached to the institution, they will have to serve the Monster Hunters instead.

Although whenever any of them reached the age of retirement, a complete retirement package would still be provided but…

Almost none could live that long.

Monster Hunter was a synonym for trouble, for the outsiders and for one of their own.

“Trouble! Trouble everywhere!” Lagren grunted and poured himself a mug of beer.

He then looked at the shadow beside the bar counter.

Kieran walked out without being overly secretive.

“The fire in old K’s lair is your handy work?” Lagren asked bluntly.

“Mm,” Kieran nodded.

“You are exactly like them. Stop denying it!”

Lagren voiced out his rants before asking, “Need anything to eat? The fish and bread were all sold out, but I still have some sausages.”

Kieran was hesitant after having a full meal, but in the end, he nodded.

“Okay, then.”

Soon, Lagren brought out some sausages and a bowl of egg soup.

Kieran still chose the seat in the corner.

Lagren, however, didn’t place the plates down, he knew he would lose the chance to ask when he served the food.

If he wanted to ask anything, this was his chance.

“Smith wants to become a Monster Hunter.”

“Mm.”

“He’s influenced by you?”

“Mm.”

“Which means you know why he suddenly became stronger?”

“Mm.”

“There isn’t any side effects, right?”

“Mm.”

Amidst the exchange of questions and answers, Kieran’s gaze was locked on the sausages.

Lagren then served the food when he got the answers he sought.

The sausages were actually big frankfurters, they were grilled with coal, and the casings were torn because of the heat. Beside the frankfurters was some sauce consisting of mustard, lemon, and salad dressing.

The egg soup was simple, boiled with clear broth and some sugar.

Kieran ate as fast as usual. Three frankfurters plus the sauce and soup were devoured instantly.

Then, he placed something on the plate and handed it the plate to Lagren.

“You’ve paid for your meal already,” Lagren said.

“That is why this isn’t for you.”

“Put in the rooms of the girls, they will sleep better.”

Kieran then turned around and headed upstairs.

As for the ignited boiler further away?

Kieran didn’t even have to look, he noticed the change of temperature when he got close to the hotel and knew what it was for.

“What a twisted guy.”

Lagren mumbled and picked up the item from the plate, he was thinking about how he would give this item to the girls.

As for the value of the Magic rank item?

Kieran and Lagren didn’t care, although Kieran felt a little bit heartache.

The night left when the sun rose.

Liveliness descended upon Eiders again.

After a short rest, Kieran was interrupted by a rhythmic knock on his door.