Leon and Jordi got out of the alleyway immediately rushing each to their respective tasks. Leon put on his hood and changed the shape of the [Chameleon Cloak] to look more like vagrant's clothes as he joined the gathering of the vagrants near the Honey Saloon. It seemed that Ruth was planning on a display tonight.

"Molly! Molly! How many kegs of wine do we have? Is it all set for tonight?" Ruth's voice echoed as shouted at Molly the cook of the Saloon.

"Yes, Madam. I've just loaded the empty barrels on the wagon."

"Off to your work then."

Leon could see from outside Molly walking back to the kitchen. Her face had bruises all over it and seemed to have been through a lot since she looked pale and shaken.

Truth be told, he was mistaken to leave things to Jessica and leave. Most of what is happening now can be considered his fault for not seeing things through to the end.

Anyway, going around the building with no one noticing was as simple as ever. Leon arrived at the backyard where the wooden cabin is located and from it, he could see the river. Before rushing to heroically save the day, Leon made sure there is a boat tied and the stream is suitable for a nimble escape.

As that was secured, Leon returned to the cabin and quietly removed the lock on the door by simply pulling out its nails. As soon as he stepped in, however, he felt the air moving fast towards his head.

"You vile… evil… twisted fucks! I won't do it. I won't surrender art. No more! No more!"

Leon evaded the stick Zal waved at him hurried to hush the man who was struggling.

"Shut up, fool!" Leon said, holding Zal by the neck.

"L… Leo? You're alive?"

"Why would I die?"

"I was… I was told they never found you."

"Now I have to deal with you." Leon held his forehead, "Get out now, go to the boat, stay hidden. Thank goodness the street is bustling and nobody can hear you."

"Leo… by the Spirits! You came for me."

"Get the fuck out. I'll grab someone and get the fuck out of here together."

"Thank you, Leo! Plenty of thanks."

Zal seemed dispirited since the painting accident but was still desperate to survive. He put on his silly hat and walked outside with his old bag looking around like some thief until he hid in the boat.

Leon then needed to get to the other corner of the building where a certain small hopper window has access to the basement where Jessica should be. Yet just as Leon hastily walked around a corner, he bumped into a girl that looked kinda familiar.

The girl saw his face under the hood and before she even reacted, Leon already muffled her mouth and pushed her against a wall with his body cornered hers as he kept looking around.

The girl was indeed worried but she acted quite amenable as Leon kept her against the wall. Looking at her again, Leon could easily tell she's a girl from the Saloon, he just can't remember the name.

"Hm mhm. Hmmmhmm." She tried to say something.

"Sorry?" Leon lifted his hand momentarily.

"Mr. Leo, you can't be here." She said.

It seemed that this girl was even looking out for Leon. A trait uncommon in hookers but before Leon would be even given more time to think, a voice sounded.

"Judy! Judy! Where did that little skank go?

On the sounding of Ruth's voice, Leon muffled Judy again and pushed himself against the wall even further. The voice came from upstairs which meant that he's barely unseen by Ruth.

She called a couple more times before slamming the window back. Leon, however, didn't put his guard down.

Something was… buzzing. No, it was beating softly like a heart. Completely strange that he feels the particular sound at this moment.

It wasn't coming from Judy just to be safe as he wouldn't be bothered by someone else's heartbeat even at this close distance. It was actually coming from him. He was physically exhausted or anything, his heart wasn't even racing either. It is just this feeling coming from the back of his mind as if he can sense it.

And it is disturbingly familiar.

In his Storage! That the feeling of something inside of his Storage spell. Leon completely shut his eyes for a couple of seconds and browsed through the content of his large inventory where one can find almost a ton of stuff.

And there, here was it. The strange pink gem with an unreadable name, the one he took from the Prince.

As mentioned before, Leon knew this gem as the Hint Gem because it was like a game mechanic which would give hints when the player got stuck with the choices the game gave.

In the conversation screen where the flirting target has her conversation choices displayed. That Gem would show up and start glowing the more the flirt level goes. It also starts beating whenever the player chooses the correct choice and whenever a player clicks or taps on it, it would give a free hint regarding what to do.

Simple?

Pretty much so.

But this Gem turned to be more than just a game mechanic but an actual… item? Is that what he should call it? The System called it a "System Upgrade Material".

Leon wasn't dumb, if this Gem can upgrade the system then he should expect some features that existed in the game he played but that made him still postpone it because he had more important questions.

But right now, that Gem is radiating and giving the same sound effect when the player makes the right choices.

Leon backed down a little to allow himself to think but as soon as he did, it stopped.

"Hm?"

He moved forward again and it started doing what it was doing.

"Oh!"

Leon looked ahead of him at the girl he was pinning against the wall and muffling her mouth. Just one look was enough to make him know what's going on.

Her face was hot and rosy, as soon as he removed his hand, she started breathing heavily. Her eyes were certainly a bit moisty and she kept squirming with her body against his.

"So it works like that…" He thought, "And you get off on getting pressed against a wall?"

"Mr. Leo… huff… I… what?"

He backed away but still kept looking at the small gem hidden in his hand. It was beating at the same rate as Judy's heart when Leon checked her pulse just now.

"Interesting!"

Is that the thing Edward used to hook up with the girls in the Academy the same way as it used in the game?

Kinda low for him to do such a thing but Leon knew what kind of a character the Prince is.

Anyway, back to saving Jessica.

"Jessica is in the basement, right?" He asked as he stored the gem away.

"Huh? Miss Jessica… is… right… the basement. It is locked. Madam Ruth… she locked it." Judy replied with a flustered face as she tried to gather her attention slowly.

"Stay with me." He said and held her from her arm dragging her after him.

"Wh… where are we going?" She asked.

"I am going to get Jessica."

Leon dragged Judy after him until he reached the basement hopper window which was blocked by iron bars and a few wires to hinder rodents from getting in.

"Jessica." He whispered through the window, "You hear me? Jessica."

"She's passed out." Judy said, "Also she's gagged and tied. Madam Ruth wanted to make sure that Jessica doesn't bite her own tongue."

"Fucking hell!" Leon frowned.

Leon had no other way than to use his Magic yet again. Magic is truly useful for basically all problems.

In this particular case, Earth Magic would be very sufficient. Leon was used to Somatic casting so he placed both his hands on the ground and pressed down. It didn't seem like much is happening but Judy started to notice some tiny fractures forming on the ground.

"Wow!"

That wasn't all. When Leon was done with the pressure, he started slapping the ground with his hands. It looked painful but the effect started to get visible.

What he did was to cast [Earth Magic - Earth Mold] to cause vibrations through the ground which made the structure of the ground loosen up. He then started to break the structure and carefully, he turned it into fine sand. This all happened in a tiny area around the basement hopper window.

Leon then backed away and stomped on the spot he worked on for it to disintegrate like nothing and completely slide from under the window into the basement without any noise.

"Amazing! What was that?" Judy asked.

"Years of experience and awesome." He said with a wink, "Stay here. I'll be back in a jiffy."

Leon slid into the basement through the hole he made and landed carefully and stealthily. Once he was in, he could see this room once again. The room he woke up after almost drawing in the river.

Everything aside, Leon could finally see Jessica sitting against a wall and being tied by sheets of cloth to it with her mouth gagged and feet tied together.

"Jess."

Immediately, Leon walked in front of her and saw… a really bad sight.

Jessica's skin was fair and had a bit of tan to it but now… her body was clearly whipped, her face was bruised, knife masks were all over her arms, her left eye was badly swollen, most of her clothes were even ripped and her hair was burnt.

"This looks bad."

What he saw was just the first glance but the girl was kept in this hot room so that she suffers. The beautiful Jessica was reduced to this state overnight.

Leon started by loosening her gag. Once she felt her body being moved. She slowly opened her eyes to catch a glimpse of Leon then closed them again.

"M…"

"What?"

"Ma…"

"Water?"

Leon retrieved a waterskin right away and poured some in her mouth but she ended up coughing hard.

"Easy, easy."

He pushed her back and started cutting the sheets she's tied with before using them to cover her body.

"Will get you out of here, okay? Is there any injury that might threaten you if you move?" He asked.

"…" She didn't answer and he didn't expect her to answer either, he just asked hoping she would.

During that, he tried to cast [Light Magic - Healing] on her and tried to see if any injury will be stimulated with recovery faster than other spots. As far as he's aware, magic gets drained faster the wider its array and thankfully that spell looks for any signs of recovery in wide areas and fortifies it. Luckily, all her injuries were flesh wounds without anything internal to worry about or any bones fracturing.

Immediately, Leon carried her through the hole he made and as he quietly entered, he quietly got out.

"Spirits!"

When Judy saw what has become of Jessica, she went pale instantly and lost her cool.

"Shush!"

Leon glared at her as he carried Jessica again and peeked around the place before signaling for Judy to follow.

Going through the backyard of the Saloon, Leon arrived at the boat where Zal was hiding.

"Give me a hand, will you?"

"Huh! Sure."

The two put Jessica in the boat and lied her down. Zal went two one end, held an oar, and passed it to Leon while he took the other.

"You too get in." Leon signaled to Judy.

"What?" She frowned, "Why would I go?"

"Because you saw me taking Jessica and Zal away. Ruth will question you and if you were caught lying, you will replace Jessica for the most part."

"Of course not." Judy held back, "I am the most expensive girl right now after Miss Jessica and I am not afraid of Ruth. Jessica was doing this for us girls and we respect her. I won't go with you though."

"I am just looking after you." Leon said.

"Don't worry. You just take her away and make sure she lives." Judy held Leon's hand.

"Very well." Leon smiled as he felt the Hint Gem in his storage reacting again, "Listen, I will drop by once again. I want you to count all the men Ruth has and what weapon they use. Where they stay and the places they guard. Can you do that for me?"

"Are you…"

"If it is too much, don't worry about it. I'll find out one way or another." He said and jumped in the boat, sat at the opposite side of Zal, and pushed the boat away from the pier together, "Take care."

Judy nodded and returned back while she watched Leon and Zal row the boat down the stream and disappear into the wide city.