31 THE CHALLENGE OF DECEPTION

The woman had confidence in her skills. Was I too quick? Did I not moan well enough? She was sure she had not missed on any level. So why? Why?

In the woman's moment of reflection, the young man moved away and went to pick up his earlier fallen jacket. He then grabbed his briefcase and walked past the woman, heading towards the cave's exit. The woman remained stoic, the shock refusing to leave her face.

But as the young man was about to leave, he stopped.

"I don't know what you've been through that led you to such vices," the young man began, "I've chosen to give you a chance." He turned his head to look at the woman. "After all, I know what living in this world can drive someone to do."

The woman also turned her head towards the young man. What was he talking about? How could he dare to judge her? Just because she was going through a tough time, he dared to ridicule her? He was lucky. If only she knew, she would have slit his throat in his sleep. She clenched her hands in rage, and her eyes turned red.

"Oh, and also..." The young man spoke again. His serious demeanor had disappeared. "Your promise still stands, I hope." The young man raised his left hand and mimicked fondling something. "It was a pleasant sensation."

At these words, the woman's rage turned into embarrassment. Remembering only now that she was still naked, she quickly grabbed her clothes to cover her body. The young man flashed an amused smile and resumed his walk.

"I'll be waiting outside. If you delay, I'll leave without you."

Leaving these words, the young man walked away, leaving the woman behind, staring at his back with eyes whose thoughts no one could guess.

In the present.

"Hey, are you still with us?" Leorio said, seeing his companion still staring blankly.

At Leorio's call, the woman came back to herself, her gaze falling on Leorio.

It had already been four days since she had agreed to follow this young man. Although most of the time lacking common sense, she had to admit that he had a certain awareness that allowed them to get by together. Their collaboration was based on mutual interest, each having something to offer the other. According to their agreement, they had to combine their strengths to deceive both criminals and candidates. At the beginning of their cooperation, Leorio had established the rules for managing rewards after dealing with criminals or candidates.

According to him, criminals did not bring enough points and would rather risk penalizing him in the long run. His focus was on his fellow candidates, which suited the woman, having nothing to gain from pursuing them, especially as she was currently evading some of them.

Their first day of cooperation was disastrous. Not only did they find no candidates, but they had to hide or flee from criminals. On the second day, by chance, they encountered their first candidate. In surprise, the candidate mistakenly thought that Leorio was in a struggle with the woman. It was at that moment that the woman improvised the presumed scenario of the candidate. Accustomed to manipulating others, her acting skills were top-notch. The problem then lay with Leorio. But to the woman's surprise, her co-conspirator was not left behind. Caught in the scam, the candidate agreed to join the woman to take Leorio's badge without suspecting it would be a fatal mistake.

Their first deceived candidate, Leorio said to establish a new arrangement. Thinking he was trying to turn the tables, the woman made sure to have the candidate's badge with her, ready to flee. However, her fears turned out to be unfounded.

In the past.

"How many years is your sentence?" Leorio asked.

The woman was somewhat surprised. She who expected to be betrayed, the shock between her expectations and reality made her confused for a moment.

"Believe me, it will be of crucial importance for our collaboration," Leorio added.

Regaining her composure, the woman scrutinized Leorio's gaze for a moment before responding hesitantly and with a dry tone, "70 years." She was quite intrigued as to how this information would be useful.

"Hmm, you must have messed up big time," Leorio retorted.

"If it's to mock my fate, you could have just said so," the woman said sternly.

Noticing his mistake, Leorio tried to correct himself. "No, no, that wasn't my intention..."

"Anyway," the woman interrupted, "How are we going to decide on this badge?" She revealed the badge she had subtly stolen at the start.

"Huh? When?" exclaimed Leorio, surprised by the woman's dexterity. Although his eyes were wide open, he hadn't seen anything.

"It doesn't matter," replied the woman. She then looked at the badge. "It's obvious that most candidates choose to scan their badges first, leaving only one scan possible. Since there are two of us, I suggest that we take turns scanning the badges. Since I'm the one who suggested the collaboration, I will be the first to scan this candidate's badge. Next, the turn will pass to you and so on. What do you say?"

After laying out her thought process, the woman waited for Leorio's response. According to her, her idea was the best and suited everyone. But she also knew that the other party would try to oppose the scanning order, which would be normal. The first to scan has a better chance than the second. And as for the guarantee of having another candidate, nothing ensures that the one who gives up the turn for this round will not be deceived.

"No, I have a better idea," Leorio said.

The woman's reaction was in line with her expectations. His decision had already been made. If Leorio insisted on refusing his deal, she would escape with the badge and leave. Candidates were not in short supply. She would find someone manipulable, most likely better than Leorio. She had even hesitated to truly betray Leorio for this first candidate, but she had chosen Leorio again in the end. The candidate was a man approaching fifty and from his look, he was certainly quite clever. There was no choice to make in this case. However, the idea of changing hosts for a better one remained a perspective for the woman. So, she hoped that Leorio would kindly accept her agreement, in which case a separation would be necessary.

"A better idea, you say? What is it?" the woman pretended to be interested.

Leorio held the badge in the woman's hands. "What number is written on this badge, please?"

Although still intrigued, the woman simply turned the badge in front of Leorio's eyes so that he could see the number himself: 614.

"Good," Leorio replied.

"I'm still waiting for your better idea," the woman remarked impatiently.

*

A/N: I know, I know. The chapters have been short recently. For clarification, I must specify that it's intentional for the sake of readability. This new format is designed to make the reading more digestible and, I admit, to put less pressure on myself.

By the way, take a look at my original novel participating in this year's WSA contest: 'The Slacker Hero.' I'm already on my third chapter. Encourage me!