The Devil's Cage

Riton Lystie was much younger than Kieran had expected. His face was handsome, his hair was brown, and he wore a gray suit; there was also a folded red handkerchief hanging out of the pocket. His gray eyes sized Kieran up curiously.

Behind him were two big bodyguards, looking over the room's decoration and, at the same time, sizing up Gorbor and two of his men.

It was just a simple check over, not a threat.

As a bodyguard, sizing up others in the same field was nothing much but if there was any provocative action in front of their respective employer, neither of them could have become the best bodyguards in the business.

After all, in the field of a bodyguard, everything depended on the employer.

"Hello, 2567."

"Hi, Riton Lystie."

As both employers greeted each other, the bodyguards of both sides stopped their competitive sizing up of each other and were sensible enough to leave the room.

"Water, tea, or coffee?"

As the host, Kieran was carrying out his duties.

"Water will be fine," Riton Lystie replied, a smile on his face.

After a few minutes of chitchat, both of them sat on the sofa opposite each other and Riton Lystie began the topic he was here for.

"2567, I hope you can help me locate the Curseman Vase. It would mean a lot to me and my family," Riton Lystie said sincerely.

"I can't make any guarantees. Us shaman have to borrow 'their' eyes, and after last night…'They' went off," Kieran answered.

Even if Kieran was a hundred percent confident, he would not give Riton Lystie his word because there was something called "accidents".

"I understand, but I hope you can do your best. Name any kind of payment you want, I will not be stingy if it's within my reach."

Riton Lystie nodded, giving quite the promise.

"You have to discuss the payment with Eckart. He is the one in charge of everything related to money. He will be right here anyway." Kieran pushed the matter about money to Eckart, confident he wouldn't be disappointed.

"Very well." Riton Lystie wasn't surprised, because a man of his standards barely discussed matters personally, most of which were given to his men to handle.

If it weren't for the deep meaning behind the Curseman Vase, Riton Lystie wouldn't be talking to Kieran. After all, after agreeing to exhibit the vase at Rain City Museum, a series of safety precautions were already in place, like insurance.

In simple words, losing the Curseman Vase would not do any harm to Riton Lystie.

"But the problem we have now is how I get into the Rain City Museum." Kieran laid his hands open.

"Don't worry, leave it to me." Riton Lystie smiled.

...

True to his word, since Riton Lystie, the owner of the missing vase, was on their side, Kieran, Eckart and Lyn Amie entered the museum easier than they had expected.

Of course, Lin An, the officer, was with them the whole time.

However, Lin An looked a lot worse than he had when Kieran saw him in the morning news.

Lin An's eyes were bloodshot, his shirt not as neat as it was on tv, and he looked worse than Eckart a few days ago.

"I am sure this was planned a long time ago. Starting with Porl Nelson colluding with the thieves, everything is part of the bigger scheme. Although the group of thieves from Edwood Mansion really was an accident, it didn't stop them at all and in fact, from a certain aspect, the thieves got even more skilled."

Lin An pulled at his collar to loosen his tie and pointed at the display case that once held the missing vase.

"After the incident last night, the museum has activated an emergency backup plan. Us, the police, and the museum securities, together with two more scholars that worked for the museum and another specialist, moved Curseman Vase into the museum vault together. It was right here!"

Lin An brought the group to a sealed-off vault.

With the heavy metallic exterior and solid concrete walls, the looks of the vault made it appear extremely sturdy, tough and highly secured.

"Opening the vault requires three keys and a password. The three keys are kept safely by the two scholars and the specialist, and the password was with the curator Porl Nelson. And once the vault is closed, it can only be opened from the outside with the keys and password. It's impossible to open it from the inside. Last night, the vault was closed and tightly sealed, yet the vase inside vanished," Lin An said angrily, puckering his lips.

The two scholars and the specialist were with them as well. Each of them took out their respective keys and inserted them, with the specialist finally keying in the password.

The vault was just as heavy as it looked, the door thicker than expected, requiring two grown men to push it open.

"The keys are with you guys all the time?" Kieran asked the scholars and specialist.

"Yes. The key never leaves me," the three of them replied.

"And I only got the password last night," the specialist added.

"Em."

Kieran nodded without further comments and walked into the vault.

The vault wasn't big by any means, only around 50 square feet.

Just like what Lin An said, the vault was only used when the emergency backup plan was activated.

As for any other time?

It wasn't actually deserted but its usefulness was definitely limited.

Kieran glanced at the empty display case and eventually landed his attention on one corner of the vault.

There was a modified cart, obviously used to transport the Curseman Vase.

The vase was half a meter tall, weighed a ton, and was made entirely out of gold and silver. A normal man couldn't have moved it alone without damaging it. Even if a strong man could lift it up, the distance traveled with the vase would be extremely short.

Trying to run with the vase?

It was impossible, let alone with a group of police officers and security guards outside the vault.

In Kieran's current state, even he was not confident enough to fool past that many eyes to get to the vase.

"How can a normal man steal the vase with all these security and safety measures?"

Lyn Amie, who was behind Kieran, sized up the surroundings and muttered softly.

His voice was indeed soft but since everyone was quiet, so his words were heard clearly.

And when everyone heard what the makeup artist said, a thought bloomed in their minds and they turned their attention to Kieran.

A normal man couldn't steal the vase, but what if the thief wasn't a man? Or normal at all?