"N-no."

Wait…she was hiding something.

Alfonso could tell. He had once been in the torture wing of the Sect, and he had seen the way people spoke when they didn't want to reveal something they were holding deep in their heart.

"Tell me what you chuckled about, or I'll make sure Sammy also gets fined a few Ker Gems, which you don't have."

This usually made the women beg, but he looked on with startled eyes as Margaret just felt afraid for a second or so before appearing to remember something.

"Pl-please don't."

No. She was only begging as that was what she was supposed to do. There was no real fear in her voice.

Over the years, Alfonso had gotten addicted to the cries of mercy and the desperate begging from people whose fate he held in their hands. Hence, when he saw that it was missing, it infuriated him to no end.

Casting a spell that used both metal and fire elementary particles, Alfonso conjured a red-hot metal rod before pressing it onto Margaret's hand mercilessly.

As she screamed in pain, he immediately made the rod vanish and cast a healing spell, while Margaret watched with tears as her skin slowly began to heal itself.

If marks were left, it was always possible that someone might be able to testify against him to the Sect.

This wasn't the first time this had happened, and as Margaret still kept her mouth shut, Alfonso repeated this for 4 more times on different places before she finally shouted, "PLEASE, ENOUGH! I'LL TALK!"

"That's more like it. Why did we need to go through all this? I really do like you, Margaret."

As Margaret shrunk into the bed like a defenseless new-born turtle, Alfonso chuckled and resumed his groping while using his other hand to twirl his mustache.

With a stutter, Margaret said, "Th-there was this kid who came in yesterday to me. He visited a lot of women in the past 4 days. He's just an Amateur Warrior! We couldn't figure out how he had so many Ker Gems! We finally managed to worm the information out of him after a lot of coaxing. He found a large Ker Gem mine outside the sect, bigger than any discovered in recent years. He knows it's a crime to conceal the information, b-but he said that they wouldn't notice a few missing Ker Gems, so he plans to mine a few hundred before reporting to the Sect. 4 days ago was his first time with the new-found money…and he will be a regular customer, and he pays a lot, that too, directly to us. Th-that's why I…Please don't do anything to him!"

By the time Margaret was done, Alfonso was almost foaming at his mouth with excitement.

Could he…really be this lucky? To have found out about something like this before anyone else?

No. He had to stay calm and verify it with the other women. What if she was just saying things to escape?

Without a word, Alfonso took the key and unlocked the room.

However, just as he was about to step out, he calmed himself due to a thought.

If he went around to all the women now, it might arouse suspicion. He had to do it slowly.

So, walking back in, he said in a threatening tone, "Speak with no one else about this. If you do, I'll know," before leaving while whistling a tune, as if everything was normal, and as though he wasn't planning to kill all these women after he confirmed everything.

Margaret heard these words with an expression of fear on her face, while her frizzy hair was in disarray.

However, as soon as his footsteps faded away from her earshot, a proud smile came on her face as she relaxed and lounged back on the bed, stretching her body while putting on her clothes.

She was just slipping on her dress when Jessica appeared at the door, asking, "Is it done?"

Gesturing at Jessica to close the door, Margaret waited until she was done to laugh out loud before saying, "Of course! The pig bought it. He only sees us as nitwits who are only good for one thing. I bet he can't even imagine that we are all very good actors. We need to act when we get nice boys like Travis in here, after all."

As Margaret said the last sentence with a chuckle, Jessica smiled and replied, "Good. And I'm glad you and the others didn't go through with your plans. I knew what you were thinking the minute I saw that gleam."

This made Margaret frown slightly before saying, "We just wanted to tease him! You know, see if he cracks when he gets a real, hard look at what he's missing? A slip here, a tear there…it would have been so much fun! You're such a spoilsport."

"No. He's sure about what he wants. Maybe it would have been fun for us, but it definitely would not have been for him. Instead, it might even have driven him away. All right, I'll go tell the others to prepare themselves. Take care."

Saying so, Jessica was about to leave, but she turned around when she heard Margaret ask a question in a tone unlike the confident one before.

"Hey…do you think he'll really do it?"

Seeing her shoulders shake, Jessica could tell that she was probably crying.

That confident side was just a veneer that all of them put up in different ways, just to mask their suffering to the outside world.

"I sure hope so," she replied, before praying to the heavens and closing the door.

….

3 days later.

As a blonde-haired kid walked into a remote clearing inside the Sect of Hedon where an anti-eavesdropping formation was set up, he frowned and saw the bald man in front of him and said, "I'm here, Mr. Alfonso. Why did you say you wanted to meet me?"

"Travis, Travis, Travis. You've been a really naughty boy. You-"

"Is this about the Ker Gem mine?"

What the heck? Aren't you supposed to deny all knowledge of it?!

Having his 'you have no way out, reveal the truth' speech ruined, Alfonso sputtered for a bit before regaining his calm.

"Yes, I wanted to-"

"Oh, I was going to report it to the sect anyway. I guess you can do so, sir-"

"NO!"

As Alfonso shouted this while imagining his riches going away, he realized how implausible this situation was.

Why wasn't this kid clinging on to such a ma.s.sive amount of treasure?

He got the answer in the next second, and when he heard the kid's response, it was accompanied by the strange feeling that nothing was going as he had expected.

"I'm not confident at all in keeping it a secret, I'm too afraid. It's also a pity to tell it to the sect. Wait…here's an idea! Will you take it, sir? There must be, like, 200,000 Ker Gems in there, at least. In return, can I have your post in the Central Tower? I can't do it for free, right."