The Devil’s Cage

By the time Kieran came down to the lobby, Smith, Saya and the other girls were already seated.

At the sight of him, Smith stood up and greeted Kieran politely.

“Morning, Lord D.”

His voice was still as low-pitched as ever, but Kieran sensed a visibly frantic manner between the lines.

Kieran didn’t care, though. He knew Smith misunderstood something, but he couldn’t explain himself.

Not just because it would cause more trouble, it was also because Kieran needed the identity of a Monster Hunter right now.

“Good morning, Lord D.”

Saya and the other girls stood up along with Smith, but they greeted after Smith.

Obviously, after experiencing the horrifying events, these girls had become very mature and well-mannered.

“Em.”

Kieran nodded at the girls before sitting in his corner.

The corner had practically become his personal seat ever since he checked-in at Stove-grilled Fish, just like how Lagren liked to cross his arms and lean at the bar counter.

Little Tom, the worker, was used to it though.

Of course, what made an impression on Little Tom’s mind was Kieran’s appetite.

He could eat at least three servings…No, five servings of food in one go.

Little Tom corrected his calculations when seeing his boss carry in a sack of bread from outside the hotel. He then quickly helped Lagren in distributing the breakfast.

Little Tom had his speciality as well since Lagren recruited him as a worker of the hotel.

He knew what he should do and would not care about things that he shouldn’t know of, like the black box beside Kieran’s feet.

“Sir, your breakfast.”

Little Tom served bread, milk, salad and a bowl of roast meat onto Kieran’s table. He didn’t understand why a person would ask for roast meat so early in the morning, but similar to how he never asked about the black box, he did not care about customers eating roast meat in the morning.

After all, all sorts of weird people exist in the world.

One more wouldn’t make a difference.

Even though it reeked of blood outside the hotel.

Little Tom served Kieran’s breakfast, while Lagren served the girls and Smith their portion. The latter was just because he was along the way though, as Lagren was primarily taking care of the girls, but he would not admit it out in the open.

“Here is some butter, some milkshakes, and honey from the leftovers last night. On the house. And these ham sandwiches, the convenience store next door gave them to me. Since they are going to go bad soon, I’ll give them to you,” Lagren muttered as he placed the food down before going back to the bar counter.

“Thank you,” Saya and the girls said softly.

“I’ve said it before, it’s just along the way.”

Lagren waved his hand, acting like he was impatient.

But if you stood in front of him, you could see him smiling brightly.

Saya and the girls weren’t stupid; they had become quite perceptive and vigilant after that horrifying incident. They could tell what was good and what was bad, and they were also aware that the hotel hadn’t served butter, milkshakes and honey last night, neither was there a convenient store next door.

Breakfast carried on with Lagren’s good mood.

He, too, brought himself and Little Tom something to eat.

Lagren’s serving size was similar to Kieran’s while Little Tom had a ham sandwich.

Little Tom had milk along with his sandwich, but the bloody stench continued to assail his nose, and when he saw his boss take a big chomp of his roast meat, oily juices oozing out from the crunch, the young man felt a little uncomfortable.

When he subconsciously turned towards Kieran, his face turned pale, and his stomach clenched.

He saw Kieran devouring his food like a hungry tiger.

Any other time when Little Tom saw Kieran eating, he would always feel hungry, but now, the scene was like a monster gobbling down its prey. With the addition of the bloody stench that stung his nose, Little Tom’s mind couldn’t help but picture bodies upon bodies.

Then?

A ferocious black beast crawled on top of the corpse hill, chomping down on body after body.

Perhaps Little Tom’s mind painted the picture a little too vividly—he couldn’t manage to eat his sandwich anymore. To suppress the queasiness in his stomach, Little Tom picked up the glass of milk, but he realized it was a mistake right away.

When the bloody stench mixed with the rich milky smell, Little Tom was disgusted beyond words. He couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Ugh!

The young man covered his mouth and dashed out of the hotel, throwing up outside. He bumped into people with his nervous dash and had to apologize multiple times along the way. Then, he threw up louder.

“Careful! I just bought this beautiful piece of meat!” Mier said.

Mier then brought inside a bag of bloody meat, which should have been mutton; most of the blood and residue were clean, but not all.

When Mier, who was holding the piece of steak in one hand and a big bag of spices in the other, saw Kieran, her eyes shone.

But she knew it wasn’t the time to interrupt, so she went to Lagren and said, “Lend me your kitchen.”

“Go ahead,” Lagren shrugged.

He knew what Mier wanted to do, but he was sceptical.

How could that guy be bought over with a single meal?

Too naive!

Lagren crossed his arms and hoped for a good show. He watched Mier bring out a big pot.

She didn’t try to keep a secret of her cooking and started to marinate the meat out in the open.

The spices sprinkled in layer after layer based on a proportionate ratio.

Then, she beat and slapped the meat with her bare hands, no tools or utensils involved.

Pak Pak Pak!

After the clear and rhythmic beating, the meat was beaten into smaller pieces. Mier didn’t stop until the meat was beaten into a paste; she wiped her hands and went back into the kitchen to bring out the flour.

She started to mix the flour after pouring egg whites into the mixture.

Soon, when the flour was kneaded into dough, she started to spin it.

A few breaths later, the dough that was tossed and held in her hands was flattened.

Then, the meat paste was placed in the centre. She began kneading and spinning it again.

“A meat pie?!”

Lagren was stunned by the spinning dough.

It wasn’t that he had never had meat pie before, but it was the first time he saw it in such a big size.

Similarly, the way Mier baked the pie was unique as well, not using the stove but instead building a fire and placing an iron plate above it.

Supported by four tables, a car-size iron plate was placed on top.

Oil was smeared evenly over the plate, and when it started to glisten because of the rising temperature, the meat pie was smacked on top firmly.

Tssss!

The hot oil instantly roasted the outer layer of the pie, making it crispy.

But the spinning didn’t stop.

Mier didn’t care about the high temperature as she continued spinning the pie in the middle.

Seconds turned into minutes, and the aroma of the pie became richer.

Everyone in the lobby was instantly captivated, including Kieran.

When Mier had appeared in the hotel, Kieran only spared some attention on her, and of course, everything that happened in the area was also within his perception and Fire Raven’s sight.

So when he saw cars appear, he frowned. And when he saw the person who stepped out of the car, his eyes even showed disgust.

So he raised his hand and waved it.

“Senator Morr, this is the place…”

The attendant was speaking to the senator as he disembarked from the car, but before he could finish, he stopped abruptly, as the senator was suddenly sent flying like a ragdoll that rammed into a speeding truck.

He flew high and far before falling—

BANG!

He fell hard on the ground, not knowing whether he was still alive or not.