My mind began to race the moment I heard the witch's secret. She was right. This single information could decide everything.

"You witches are something else. I don't know if I should feel impressed or terrified," I said. I generally considered myself to be a bit of a schemer, but these witches were something else.

"Preferably both," the witch chuckled.

"What is it, Liam?" Yuki asked, looking eager to be clued in.

The witch placed her finger on her lips, instructing me to keep quiet.

"This secret should stay between you and me for now. If anyone finds out, then not only will you not get Isabella back, but the entire city might suffer as a consequence," she said.

I agreed with her. It's best not to tell anyone for now. Something like this could easily jeopardize Isabella's safety.

"I'm sorry, Yuki, but I'll keep this a secret for now."

"Uh, no fair!" she folded her arms and pouted, clearly displeased.

"Now down to the next issue at hand," the witch of greed said before directing her attention at Ember who was sitting beside me, visibly trying to make herself seem smaller so she isn't noticed.

"Not only did you not obtain the mana crystals, but you joined up with the enemy. Such an act can't go unpunished."

Ember's breath stopped as the witch of Greed stared at her. Suddenly, her eyes darted to me as if expecting me to save her. The only way I could possibly do that is if I decided to trade the mana crystals for her life.

But was she worth it?

I haven't even begun to learn magic yet, and Khalissi said mana crystals will be crucial for me to learn. Trading them to save one treacherous witch doesn't seem to be worth it.

"Liam!"

Ember threw herself at me, practically begging.

"You don't know what she'll do to me. The torture will last for days. She'll use my blood, sweat, and tears to make her potions. I helped you, remember?"

The witch of greed said nothing and only stared at us with a sly smile on her face. She was clearly hoping that I had developed such a relationship with Ember that I would trade my treasures to save her life.

Both of them were trying to manipulate me in their own way.

"You're on your own, Ember. You'll have to figure a way out of this yourself."

"What if I allowed you to turn me?!" she pleaded. "That's what you've always wanted, right? For me to join your pack."

"Yes, a witch would be a valuable asset to my pack, but now that I have a little more experience, I think I'd rather have one of the queen witches join my pack."

The witch of Greed immediately raised an eyebrow when she heard this.

"Awfully ambitious, aren't you? You want one of the four queen witches to join?" She chuckled. "Well, I can tell you from now that the possibility of that happening is 0%."

"We'll see," I replied simply.

"Besides, to make someone join your pack, don't you have to make them submit to you? It's foolish to even think that you can break one of us."

"I have my ways."

"Ha! Such arrogance will get you nowhere here."

"Anyway," I said, wanting to change the conversation. "Pertaining to Ember, you can do whatever you want with her. It's none of my business."

"Liam, plea—"

Ember was going to plead again, but with just a flicker of her hands, the witch of Greed was able to shut her up.

"Shame, you were such a promising witch, Ember. But I'm sure you'll make a very high-class potion," the witch said, licking her lips. She then turned her attention to me. "That will be all."

With that, I said my farewell to the witch and Yuki and left her mansion together.

"Things are going better than we hoped," Yuki giggled as we exited the witch's mansion. "You've managed to enter into an alliance with a queen witch. This puts you miles above most nobles in this city."

"It's not an alliance," I quickly corrected Yuki.

That witch is probably scheming against me as we speak. The fact that she didn't even try to bargain for the mana stones makes my stomach churn.

She must be confident that she can easily take them from me. These witches are not to be trifled with. The fact that she's keeping herself this composed must mean there is a hole in my plans that I somehow can't see, but she can.

I've simultaneously obtained an advantage over the vampires but a disadvantage over the witches.

"You're probably right," Yuki agreed. "Witches are known to come up with some of the most devious plots to get what they want, and the Queen witches are the worst of them."

"What I need now are more allies. The ghouls that I have now won't cut it."

"Hehehe, does that mean you're going to conquer another pathetic group and bring them to your side? Purgatory is teeming with different races, so you have lots to choose from."

"Yes, I'll have to figure that out later; for now, I'll have to go find the girls."

"Oh, I almost forgot about them, your harem. They must be going crazy looking for you," Yuki chuckled, holding her stomach before her expression changed and she began looking at me curiously.

"Say, what does a girl have to do to get a pound of flesh?"

"There is nothing you can do. Giving blood is where I draw the line."

"What if I show you my boobies?"

"Still no."

"Hmph! No fair. Remember how I saved you from that witch earlier? A part of me was expecting a reward," she pouted. "What if I offer you the same deal? I'll let you bite me all over; a lot of ghouls would kill for such an offer."

"Not interested."

Yuki and I walked back to the now destroyed inn as she desperately tried to sell me the idea of letting her snack on me like a chew toy.

Soon we were back at the inn, and the first person to notice me was Khalissi, who was soaring in the sky, most likely searching for me.

There were quite a few survivors crawling out the rubble. Khalissi notified the others. Sylvie, Selthia, and Kumo all rushed towards me, almost knocking me over in the process. After I was done assuring them that I was fine, someone else rushed towards me with tears in her eyes.

It was Asia. She seemed devastated. I immediately guessed it must be something else apart from their inn being destroyed.

"Master Liam! I need your help... it's papa."

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