Greg had always avoided her before, yet now he was being so straightforward. That surprised Catherine a little.
Still, she had indeed seen no signs of a lie from Greg. That meant her gamble had paid off: Greg really did know about the Magic Device, Screech.
The perfect, professional smile on her face deepened slightly, and her tone grew more sincere:
"Good. Then I'll be direct as well."
She leaned forward slightly, her hands still folded on the table. Keeping her eyes fixed on Greg, she said clearly:
"I would like you to keep everything you saw in the Deep Layer, along with any information about that item, confidential. Don't mention it to anyone."
She paused, then presented the offer she had already prepared:
"In return, I'm willing to pay you the compensation written here."
As she spoke, she gently turned the sheet of scratch paper covered in calculations a hundred and eighty degrees and pushed it toward Greg. With a slender, fair fingertip, she tapped a number in the lower right corner that she had deliberately circled.
Greg's gaze followed her fingertip.
Then his eyes widened involuntarily.
"O-one thousand gold coins?!"
What did a thousand gold coins amount to?
It was enough for an ordinary family of three to live comfortably and respectably in the Royal Capital for decades!
For Greg, who currently depended entirely on scraping a living out of the Dungeon, it was an enormous sum that could instantly relieve all his worries about survival!
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't tempted.
Greg felt his heart beat a little faster.
Catherine wasn't surprised by his reaction. It was exactly what she had expected.
She nodded gently and added in an even tone:
"To be precise, one thousand gold coins in cash, plus... a