The hut had been untouched for a long time. Dust fell down like rain every time Isabell struck the door. Despite her repeated attempts, the door had barely budged from its initial position even if it was just stuck because of the accumulated dust.

Vincent did feel bad looking at the comical sight of the girl trying to open the door but let her do it as he didn't know what was inside the hut. Even though he didn't know much about witches, he had heard and read stories where witches would put hexes on others and slowly make them suffer. He wasn't ignorant enough to trust those stories blindly but he wouldn't mind letting the girl take the vanguard into this unknown territory.

Her shoulders hurt from all the battering and the door finally gave way a little bit. Reigniting her fighting spirit, she braced herself and rammed against the door one last time. Putting on a victorious smile after watching the door open wide, she walked in cheerily. Vincent followed her carrying the lamp.

The hut was pretty much normal with nothing standing out. A small bed accompanied by a round table and a bench, that was pretty much all the furniture in the entire room. The floor creaked with every step he took and he felt a little uneasy listening to the sound. The girl, on the other hand acted as if she couldn't hear the weak board beneath her feet and crouched near a corner.

With her back faced against Vincent, she activated a hidden mechanism and lifted the floorboard beside her. Vincent could see a ladder attached to the opening and peered down after bringing the lamp closer to the 'hole'. Yes, it was indeed a hole for it was too crude of a construction to actually call a basement.

Isabell climbed down and Vincent waited for a while to see if there was any danger. "Aren't you coming down? At least give me the lamp if you aren't coming. I can't see much down here." The girl complained after noticing that he was still not descending.

Ignoring her, he waited for a while more. Confirming that it was safe, he slowly descended. The hole was barely big enough for three people to stand together. Even with just the two of them, it felt quite cramped. He hung the lamp from a nail hammered to a wall and took a good look in front of him.

The place was filled with all kinds of junks and materials he couldn't recognize. While he was studying the materials to see if they were of any value, Isabell grabbed a fist sized stone and put it in her pocket.

"Let me see what that was. How will we be able to split the loot evenly if you just grab something and put it in your pocket." They had agreed that the girl would take the stone but he still wanted to try his luck and see if he could get the girl to hand it over and study it for a while. It was the object that was weakening the gargoyle according to the girl after all. Such things were usually artifacts or materials used to make artifacts. Their value was naturally high.

"Says the stingy guy who didn't give me half the heart. Keep dreaming." The girl made another snarky comment and ignored him.

The duo began going through the pile of junks to fish out the treasures. Both of them had the look of a seasoned collector on their faces and not a single word was exchanged until they had gone through everything twice. Soon, they were left with two books, a ring, a spell scroll and a potion.

One of the book was a journal by a witch who used to live two centuries ago and the other was a grimoire of the owner of the hut. Vincent gave a cursory look to everything and said, "I will take the potion and spell scroll, you can keep the ring. We can share the books and the final ownership can be decided later on. How about it?"

"No. I want the potion and spell scroll. You can keep the ring. I don't have any problem with sharing the books." Isabell protested and proposed a counter argument.

"Woman, are you stupid? Judging by the fact that you couldn't deal with gargoyle despite knowing it would be weakened at midnight, you are either an apprentice witch or one of the first circle at most. I am looking out for you and offering you the only magic gear. It's a second grade gear to boot. Why would you possibly want a spell scroll and a potion which are one use items instead of a gear which will allow you to use a second grade spell every now and then?"

"I don't know. All I know is that you are trying to keep the good stuff for yourself. You did the same before as well. I am not falling for your tricks."

Vincent was speechless. It was true that he was looking out for her. The magic gear didn't help him much but was of huge help to the girl. The spell scroll and potion on the other hand, were of a kind he had never seen before. He wanted to get them so that he could study them but the girl was adamantly refusing his offer. He had kept the heart of the gargoyle because it was his spoil of war and the girl had no claim over it. But it seemed like the girl had convinced herself otherwise and painted herself as a victim of a scam in her mind.

The two argued back and forth reaching no conclusion. Vincent grew tired. He had exhausted himself in the fight earlier and he felt like he couldn't deal with the girl for now. "Let's split the loot tomorrow. I am tired. Let's head back."

"Where do we keep the loot?"

"In my house of course."

"You think I am stupid? You will probably run away when I fall asleep."

"I can say the same about you if you suggest that we keep the loot at your place." Vincent didn't know how to reply to the girl. She was bright when it came to all the wrong things.

"Let's leave it here then."

"What if you come back here and run away with these?"

"What do you suggest then?"

"Keep it at my house. You can sleep with Alba if you don't trust me. We can lock these inside a chest and you can hug it to sleep. I will keep the keys." Vincent grew tired of her antics and suggested the most stupid solution he could think of.

"Okay. That's a great idea." Much to his surprise, the girl was fine with the solution. They had finally come to an agreement and it wasn't like the idea was impractical. He decided to go with the flow and save time. The two packed everything into a sack the girl had picked up and headed back.

When the duo got back to Vincent's window, they found Alba waiting there. Vincent jumped over the window sill and asked, "You are awake?"

"I realized that you weren't here when I woke up and found the window open. I was worried if someone barged in and decided to wait."

Isabell had learned her lesson and put one leg over the window sill followed by the other. Alba hadn't seen Isabell and was surprised to see her climbing over. "Why is she here?"

Isabell patted her cloth near her knees and smiled, "Oh you silly girl, why would a young man and a woman come out of the forest so late? Of course, it's a late night tryst."

Alba was rendered just as speechless as Vincent. Looking at the strange look Alba was giving him, he ignored her and took out a chest from under his bed. He shoved the entire sack inside and locked it. Keeping the key inside his pocket, he handed the chest to Isabell who happily held it like it was her precious child.

"Let her sleep with you tonight." Vincent instructed Alba and proceeded to lock every door and window in Alba's room with locks. He didn't know what abilities the young witch had but she shouldn't be able to unlock a lock from the other side of the door. Such abilities would make one a legendary thief. Ensuring that all the locks were working properly, he washed the blood off his hands and went to sleep.