The Devil's Cage

When the sun rose in the morning, the darkness that clouded Eiders swiftly went away.

That ominous presence scattered into nothingness as well.

Kieran was standing in his room on the second floor and looking through the window, watching the people on the streets.

Each of them was showing smiles from the bottom of their hearts while bathing under the sunlight.

It wasn’t happiness but… gratefulness to be able to survive another day!

It seemed like even the commoners knew something about the night at Eiders.

“The night is dangerous while the day is safe? Interesting.”

Kieran stood up with his bag and went downstairs.

Lagren was yawning behind the bar counter while a plain-dressed yet clean-looking young man stood beside him.

“This is my worker, Little Tom. This is our V.I.P guest… Right, what should we call you?”

It wasn’t until now that Lagren remembered that he never asked for Kieran’s name.

“D,” Kieran uttered an alphabet.

“D? You are really strange.”

Lagren grunted at first but then he continued with a serious look, saying, “Eiders hasn’t been too safe recently, especially at night. If you can, I suggest you return to the hotel when the sun sets. I have rules here as well. You can’t strike my guests, and at the same time, I will do my best to protect my guests’ well-being. Though… I don’t think you will need my protection.

“The gold you paid me allows you to stay here for two weeks, including getting one meal every day. You can freely choose from breakfast, lunch and dinner but we are off for breakfast today… If you have other needs, just tell me or Little Tom here.”

The hotel owner couldn’t help but pout when he mentioned the ‘breakfast’.

Eating at night always made it hard to fill the stomach, Lagren did his best to control his appetite last night but why had the breakfast gone missing in the morning?

Lagren was confused as he rubbed his belly.

“I need to exchange for some cash.” Kieran glanced at the two.

“Exchange? I don’t take a processing fee here and although I want to, some other guys aren’t willing to let me take a share of their cake.”

Lagren’s eyes shone for a while before turning dark as he ranted again.

“Exchange for how much?” After ranting for a while, Lagren finally asked.

Kieran then tossed over a golden pea.

When he got back to his room last night, he split a gold bar into pea-sizes and made about 50 gold peas.

“Good stuff!”

Lagren received the golden pea, weighed it, and sized up its lustre before taking out a stack of notes from the moneybox.

All sorts of currency notes were inside, the highest value at 10, the lowest at one.

Each of the notes had the image of a lady, and behind her was the full frontal view of a palace.

A total of 300 dollars.

After carefully counting the money he exchanged, Kieran stuffed it in his pocket before walking out.

“If you are looking for breakfast, the bakery at the corner is recommended,” Lagren added as he watched Kieran walk away.

Kieran didn’t reply and vanished beyond the door.

“What a weirdo, ain’t he?”

The hotel owner commented on Kieran after he left before his worker.

“But he must be a good person. Otherwise, you wouldn’t treat him with this kindness,” the young man, Little Tom, touched his face shyly and said timidly.

“Good person? I don’t know whether he is good or not but he should be a man with a code—buy more ingredients later, that guy has quite the appetite.”

Lagren then walked behind the bar counter to the place that was his room.

The timid young man didn’t question his boss anymore. All he had to do was follow his boss’ orders.

…

Compared to the timid Little Tom, the worker in the bakery was a lot better.

When Kieran walked into the bakery, the worker welcomed him with a warm smile and swiftly led him to the best seat in the place. He also brought forth a menu for Kieran.

Although it was breakfast, the customers in the bakery weren’t that many. A few visited, buying what they needed and then mostly leaving; only a handful sat down and ate as Kieran did.

After sizing up the place around him, Kieran turned his attention to the menu.

On top of the cowhide menu—

Set A: Milk + Donuts x2 ($2)

Set B: Milk + Ham Sandwich ($2.5)

Set C: Milk + Bacon Egg ($2.5)

…

A total of three sets.

“One of each set, please.”

Kieran made his order when he returned the menu.

The worker obviously jolted for a moment before he smiled and walked into the kitchen.

The food was served quickly, as less than five minutes later, all three sets that Kieran ordered were placed on the table, along with an extra donut.

“It’s on the house,” the worker said.

“Thanks.” Kieran nodded and paid him first.

The worker jolted again because his order of doing things was out of the norm.

In the bakery, every customer paid after they finished their meal. Asking for payment before that was a rude thing to do.

However, when the worker saw Kieran quickly indulging himself in eating, he was smart enough to not interrupt.

But not all were as smart as the worker though.

Some men had been following Kieran the moment he left the hotel, and when Kieran entered the bakery, they hid outside, watching Kieran’s every move through the window.

Being watched while eating was undoubtedly a very disturbing notion.

Kieran felt as such. He slightly frowned and hastened his eating.

He drained the cup of milk within a single gulp, stuffed the donut in his mouth after a bite and ate the sandwich like he was gobbling rice.

The bacon and eggs were a little different, as he rolled the egg with the bacon before poking the yolk and dipping the bacon in the golden essence. In the end, he scarfed down everything in one bite.

The worker in the bakery was astonished at the scene. He had never seen anyone who could eat so fast, it was like watching a wolf devour its prey!

Somehow, that analogy popped up in his mind while at the same time, the bakery worker kind of understood now why Kieran chose to pay first.

The bakery worker had only seen such eating speed in people who tried to run after eating and didn’t want to pay.

If Kieran hadn’t paid earlier, the worker might have walked over in a less friendly manner because he thought Kieran was one of those rascals who tried to run for it.

Once he thought about that loathsome action, the worker couldn’t help but shake his head, and just when he was thinking about whether he should apologize to Kieran for having the wrong assumption about him, he suddenly realized Kieran’s seat was empty, leaving behind three neat plates and utensils.

…

Kieran walked on the street at an average pace.

Of course, Kieran’s average pace already forced those who were following him to run and chase with their best efforts, trying not to lose Kieran.

After another turn at a corner, the followers realized Kieran was moving even faster than before.

A large portion of the stalkers stopped chasing as they faced despair, only a few continued the pursual.

One of the faster ones threw a contemptful gaze back and sneered at those who had stopped, as if he were mocking them for their abilities, laughing at them because they were not qualified.

Then, this particular person moved even faster, as he wanted to prove himself to be different from the others.

So, when he entered the alleyway that Kieran went into, he was seized by Kieran single-handedly.

“Look into my eyes,” Kieran said.