The Devil's Cage

"Work together?"

The inspector repeated what Kieran said in a lower voice.

The wisdom of an elderly provided him with an answer the moment he reacted to what Kieran said.

Kieran then became more direct with his intentions.

"Yes, let’s work together. Against those fiends, commoners like you are nothing against them but you have a natural advantage with your position, access to first-hand news! All I want is you to deliver that first-hand news to me!"

Kieran spilled what he was after, to get the information on the fiends outside Saint Brilliant, or more precisely, to get his hands on more sub-missions.

From how the main mission was progressing, regardless of how much fiend cases Kieran solved within Saint Brilliant, everything would be counted towards the main mission.

Though, the more he solved, the higher his ratings would be, but...

Kieran hadn’t come across such a main mission before and there was no reference he could refer to. He wasn’t able to calculate how much increments he would get after solving one case, and more importantly, how many cases there would be within Saint Brilliant High School.

The shadows in the mist yesterday might seem a lot but after removing the cover, at most there would be around three to four and within that day alone, he had solved two cases.

There wasn’t much left for him.

Perhaps the unusual environment would attract more fiends to the school but who could assure him no accidents would happen?

Kieran was always vigilant and careful towards matters that he had no confidence in.

So, he might have to take the initiative, trying to excavate more sub-missions and get a higher rating boost.

"Why? I still stand by my point, you are not an enthusiastic person who helps others, why are you doing this? Give me a reasonable explanation, otherwise, even if you kill me, I won’t help you!"

The inspector straightened his back and looked serious when he talked. He was not in the mood for joking.

Perhaps his impulsive and boiling blood attitude was way past him, all that was left was to observe the time and judge the occasions but the persistence in his heart didn’t decrease at all.

The moment Kieran saw Inspector Oaker, it reminded him of his native friend, Schmidt.

A weird temper plus a sharp sense, hard-working at his job but because of all sorts of reasons, Schmidt was stuck in his current position and couldn’t advance anymore until the day he retired. Schmidt might even take the blame for things that he shouldn’t take the blame for and be forced to use the achievements of old days to cover up for the wrongs.

Kieran had no idea if he didn’t appear in [The Shaman’s Partner], would Schmidt end up like the inspector before his eyes now?

Fortunately, Kieran knew how to deal with such people.

"I think someone with better qualifications should be able to persuade you."

Kieran then looked at the door as he said.

Tssk Gak.

The door was opened. The moment the inspector saw the person who was donning a body of mourning clothes and a glimmering mask, he pulled out his gun the first instant.

It was Lee, one of the members of the Funeral Society. His weird looks plus his weird timely manner and appearance made one cautious of him.

"Pardon me, I should be more polite. Though, some accidents happened, forcing me to a rash move."

Lee only glanced over the inspector with his gun and he turned his attention to Kieran.

The way Lee changed his attitude concerned Keiran.

Lee was still very polite during the meeting last night but the prideful attitude from his bones was very obvious. Even when he mentioned the unusual incidents in Saint Brilliant, all he did was warn Kieran to be vigilant and said that they would deploy some specialist to deal with the situation.

Kieran remembered clearly that Lee’s voice sounded very calm.

Now? A sense of panic was mixed in his voice.

"What happened?" Keiran was curious.

"The Fiend Hunter that was deployed to Saint Brilliant was killed. He was torn apart into a pile of minced meat by something on the way here."

Lee gave his best effort in maintaining his calm tone, trying to get rid of the trembling in his voice to make it sound clear.

"Torn into minced meat? The mysterious case of that dismembered body that happened in the suburbs this morning?"

The inspector quickly said the moment the clue struck him before Kieran could say anything.

"Yes." Lee nodded.

The inspector took in a cold breath right away.

"So this is the doings of a fiend eh?"

Recalling the gruesome crime scene, the inspector started to feel uncomfortable.

The long career life in the force made Inspector Oaker assume that he would never be scared by cases again but the incident that happened and the call in the morning were exceptions.

Now, both horrifying cases were categorized under one case.

"What about you?"

Kieran didn’t care about the muttering from the inspector. He looked at Lee, pretending he didn’t know anything but in fact in his heart, he knew why Lee was there.

To request assistance!

Obviously, it caused major panic to Lee that the reinforcement was killed before even making an appearance.

Coincidentally, in his own jurisdiction, there was a person with decent capabilities and able to replace the reinforcement fella. If he wasn’t an idiot, he would know what was the best move.

"I hereby represent the Funeral Society to deliver a special investigation assist request to Master Bird of Death. You can reject but should you accept, we will reward you with two times the normal fee!"

"I personally hope that you can take up this mission. After all, you are able to easily eliminate the Puppet Fiend and Flurry Blade Ghost, proving that you are already a Fiend Hunter rank huntsman. You will be able to complete this investigation and regarding the rewards of Puppet Fiend and Flurry Blade Ghost, I will deliver them to you in a later time!"

Lee added after a slight pause.

’As expected’ Kieran nodded and laughed coldly in his heart.

It seemed like Lee had retained some of the native habits. Kieran was quite sure that, should he reject the investigation request, the rewards of Puppet Fiend and Flurry Blade Ghost would be a lot different than what they would be should he accept.

’Still doesn’t forget to make use of your authority eh...Corrupted!’

Kieran commented in his heart and quietly shifted his attention to the inspector who was already looking disgusted.

No doubt, the elder inspector had found something that he hated the most throughout his career from Lee, the Funeral Society member.

"So, you see the picture now? More rewards, that’s the reason I want to work together. So, do you agree now?" Kieran asked again.

"Fine!" Inspector Oaker finally nodded after a deep breath.

"Well then, let us start our first task together! I suppose the dismembered case this morning has you scratching your head right?" Kieran said with a smile.

"Please wait a moment, Master Bird of Death, I will bring over your rewards right away!"

Lee was delighted beyond words, he bowed and said.

Kieran too replied with a smile because notifications popped up in his vision.

[Discovered sub-mission: The Intercepted Supporter]

[The Intercepted Supporter: The Fiend Hunter that the Funeral Society deployed has been killed, you need to find the culprit. This will affect how the Funeral Society and the other forces in the underworld view of you.]

A simple remark but none of it looked simple at all.

More importantly, Kieran had found the crucial point to break out of his current situation.

Once the thought bloomed in his mind, his already grinning smile was added with another layer of brightness.