Aile replied, "It is simple I have a unique fox down at that room. All you have to do is pet it, and then I will go inside, and the fox will know from the contact between your hand and its head if you are a traitor. I will know from the fox's behaviour if you are guilty or not."
The chef nodded and said, "I will go first."
There were many magical creatures in the world. Thus, it was not a hard concept for them to accept. Especially since it came from an eccentric merchant like Shadow.
Like this, each employee would go towards the darkroom, and Aile asked them if they were a traitor before they entered. Then Aile would enter after they exited the room to check on the fox. Time passed, and soon all of them were done.
Emily, who was watching this from a concealed spot, was confused. She looked at Fiona who was not far away from the area she hid and noticed she had a confused expression too. They knew that the fox was not special and they could not figure out why Aile would go through this. Emily thought Aile was just planning to guess the culprits as they already had proof of the guilty ones.
She was a bit disappointed she thought she could see something unique again from Aile. Everyone was confused as Aile had not pointed at anyone to be guilty.
Aile then looked at Emily's location and nodded to her she appeared next to him disguised. He whispered to her, "If I miss anyone point at them in the end to stay."
He then looked at the people and said those that I point to please stand to the side. Soon after, he started pointing at people, and 14 people were picked by him. He then looked at Emily, who chose 2 more from the group.
"The 16 people will remain here, the rest of you may leave, and you can claim a bonus for your loyalty."
The rest of the people sighed in relief. They looked at the 16 people with pity in their eyes. From how Aile killed the first person they knew that their end will not be good. The 16 people had all turned ashen, and they sweated excessively.
The most confused person here was Fiona and Emily because they knew that Aile did not know the identity of the people that they had gathered evidence against. He had picked 14 people out of the 17 they had suspected. One of them was already killed by Emily, so only 16 remained. Hence, they were all surprised by how he did it.
The 16 people knew that they could not escape, not too long ago a 2nd stage cultivator was killed by Emily who was concealed before he could even take five steps.
"Now all of you are here... I will be talking to each one of you individually, if you show your worth, maybe I will spare you... So, we will start with you." Aile pointed at one of them and gestured them to come to another isolated room. After talking with them, he would give them to Emily. She would guide them to their new home, the prison area, where he will use them as free labour. Then he would interview the next person.
"What is your name? What do you have against me? And what can you offer me that will save your life? Oh, and by the way, do not think you can lie to me, I am not very patient, and you will die."
"I am Jude..."
"I am Xin..."
"I am Elia..."
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"I am Victor..."
"..."
"I do not have anything against you? I was paid to get information about you..."
"... paid to get more information about you."
"I wanted to risk it and steal from the richest man in Port Kiar... I am Sorry!"
"I am working with the Pirates and Bandits, if you do not let me go, they will come for your place next and destroy it like the magistrate's place."
"..."
"If you do not kill me, I will give my family's treasure map that has been passed down..."
"I found a unique rock from the sacred mountain range... Please do not kill me, I have a family..."
"I know a secret..."
"I have 3 beautiful daughters..."
"..."
"I am Zash, I am not a thief or a spy. My wife son and daughter are sick, and I do not have money to treat them. I have nothing to offer you. If you heal them, we will all serve you to our life's end."
After the last one was taken to prison. Aile arrived there and announced to them, "Well, you have all gone against my interest, and there is no pardon for that. You will all be working for me until your last breath. But I am not heartless.
If you show your worth and work diligently, you will get a better life. I will also not be cruel to your families as a lot of you are the sole breadwinners for your families. You can write a letter inviting them to work. We will evaluate their talents, and they can work for me.
However, you cannot see them for at least 5 years. In these five years, only those of you that are honest with us will get the chance to live with them again.
This might not be the best option for all of you or your family's as once you agree. You are not allowed to do anything that will misalign your loyalty with me, neither will your family be permitted to do it.
Those that want to invite your family are allowed to send them a letter."
Although Aile's condition seemed harsh, the truth was spies and thieves are killed or sold as slaves, making their life hell. Their families would get the sign of a traitor, and they would not have a good fate and end either.
With this, he was done with a crucial step of his plan.
This was not a simple house cleaning, but a warning and rule set to all those that will be working for him. The fact that he decisively killed his enemy and those that betrayed him had disappeared. This was done in front of the other employees, creating a deterrence from ever doing such a thing, and a rumour will soon spread. This will make those that want to harm his interest think twice. Plus, he will add some more details about some more horrible deeds he did to those that betrayed him through rumours, creating a protective mechanism for his business.
He told them to think overnight if they want to send an invitation to their families. Then some guards of the estate were told to retrieve the treasures, they had promised Aile in exchange for their life. Although Aile did not need them, he was curious about their worth and free stuff was always welcomed, so he wanted to get his hand on them.
Once they were out of the area where they will be spending quite a long while he was met with two curious gazes. One came from the disguised Emily and the other from Fiona.
Emily did not want to disclose her identity to anyone. Fiona did not know that she was the one that saved them before and helped her vet the employee candidates for the estate. So, they were not talking like the usual.
Fiona could no longer hold her curiosity and asked, "How did you identify them with the fox? The fox is not special, and you did not even talk to them, so how did you find the guilty ones?"
Aile replied, "If you go and see the fox, you will understand?"
Emily then disappeared a few seconds later, she brought the fox that was covered in black soot.
Fiona looked at it and then asked, "How does a dirty fox help you identify traitors?"
Aile chuckled and explained, "If you were guilty and I told you, that if you pet the fox. I will know if you are guilty or not, would you pet the fox without any supervision. Of course, you would not. Why would you risk petting if you could be found out and killed? Those that were guilty did not pet the fox and had clean hands. That is how I found the suspects."
Both Emily and Fiona were surprised.
Fiona then said, "Then you went to the room after each of them for show."
"Yeah and also to reapply some soot on the fox's fur."
Both Emily and Fiona were amazed and started to think about what happened. It was a simple method yet effective. The simple protective mentality of people would give them away. Both Fiona and Emily thought about if they were in such a situation how they would act, but they could not come up with a concrete answer. They too would possibly fall for such a simple ruse. Not only that, but Aile also managed to make himself more mysterious by employing such a method. Both of them started to admire him more.