What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

Author: Feeding Pigeons in the Square

Summary:

[Breaking Bad in Another World] After years of wandering in this world, Leon realized that some paths, once embarked upon, have no turning back; the staircases paved with countless bones lead only to the throne or the grave. Due to the explicit prohibition of the Imperial Church, the production and smuggling of magic essence extracted from monsters has become a dangerous yet highly profitable industry in this world. Thus, he started as an unknown nobody, training witches wanted by the Church to become his monster breeders and apothecaries, building a smuggling empire spanning the continent! Now, he is the most powerful lord in the Empire, the newly appointed cardinal of the Church… but he still remembers when the gears of fate first turned, he was just Leon Set, a heretic inquisitor lurking in the lower levels of the Church.

Chapter 1 Debt Collectors

“Miss Foster, last year you borrowed one hundred tyros from the church. According to the terms you signed, along with the donation, you are required to repay nine tyros every month. You were already late last month, and this time you absolutely must repay it…”

Leon stood in front of the hotel room door, reading the IOU in his hand, when he suddenly heard a sob. He paused, looked up at the woman standing in the doorway, and asked, "Miss Foster, are you listening?"

“Acting Officer, I am truly ashamed of the debt I owe the church. But I simply cannot afford it right now…”

The young woman sniffled and took out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "My mother back home is seriously ill, but my father has squandered all the family's money gambling. My younger brother is only twelve years old. He finally got into the parish school in town, but we can't afford the room and board fees. The priest there has a bad reputation; I heard he abuses children who can't pay... So I work like crazy, and I have to borrow money from all sides just to barely keep my family alive. Last month, a letter came from my hometown, and people came to our door demanding repayment. I had no choice but to send all the money I had back. Please have mercy and give me one more chance! Next time! Next time I will definitely pay!"

After the girl finished speaking, she raised her face and looked at Leon with teary eyes, wanting to see his reaction.

However, Leon was not moved by the woman's sob story, and simply nodded calmly: "Oh, go on, I'm listening."

"You don't believe me?" The girl sensed the other person's indifference.

“Your current situation is pitiful, but I don’t understand why you’re renting a hotel room for ten Taylors a month when you’re so strapped for cash. There should be many more affordable places in Hamel.”

Leon's gaze passed over the woman's shoulder and looked towards the side of the room. The room at the Dream Moon Inn was decorated quite elegantly.

It's by the window, furnished with nice furniture, and even offers regularly changed fresh flowers, making it a relatively upscale long-term rental hostel in Hamel.

Taylor silver coins were the most common high-denomination currency in the Norren Empire. Because they were printed with a wolf's head, they were also known as silver wolves. Fifty years ago, the empire standardized the currency exchange rate, and one Taylor silver coin could be exchanged for two hundred pfennig copper coins.

If we compare this to the standards of Leon's previous life when he transmigrated to this world, considering only food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, the purchasing power of one Taylor silver coin in most situations is not much different from that of two hundred yuan when he was a corporate slave earning four or five thousand yuan a month.

The monthly rent is ten taels, which is two thousand pfennigs. Some laborers can only earn that much in a month. This debtor woman's living conditions are probably better than those of more than 80% of the people in this town.

“What you’re saying is true. The rent in the slums is the cheapest, but can a single girl like me afford to live in a place like that? I have to make sure I’m safe, right?” The woman smoothed her hair to the side, looking a little uncomfortable.

“I didn’t say it had to be that extreme. There are always safe and economical options, right?” Leon replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, Mr. Ron voluntarily waived part of my rent after learning about our family's situation. He is truly a kind gentleman..." the woman tried to explain.

“Oh, Miss Foster, I’m not interested in any money-saving tricks you have with the hotel owner. I only care whether you can use the money you save to pay off the church’s debts,” Leon interrupted directly.

"What are you implying about me? How rude!" The woman understood Leon's implied meaning and glared at him angrily.

"Forgive me for not being good with words, but just this week, you've gone out for dates with at least three different men at night. It's really hard for me not to make some connections," Leon chuckled.

"You...you're following me!?" The woman's face showed fear upon hearing this, and she instinctively put her hands in front of her body to protect herself.

“I only need to ask around downstairs to find out about this. You’re quite well-known in this area. I’ve also heard that you always wear gold and silver when you’re having a secret rendezvous with men, so could I take a look at your jewelry box?” Leon suddenly asked.

If you have money to buy jewelry, then you should naturally have money to repay your loan. Even if you don't, gold and silver jewelry can be used to pay off your debt.

The woman's expression changed slightly, and she quickly retorted, "Those... I borrowed them from a friend!"

"Which friend? We can go and confront them right now," Leon replied calmly.

“She…is not in town.” The woman’s gaze shifted.

“I think you don’t need to make any more excuses.” Leon slowly put away the IOU. “I’ve already inquired at a jewelry store on this street. The owner told me personally that just the day before yesterday, Miss Leah Foster, a dancer at the Marigold Tavern, bought a pair of silver earrings with emeralds here, accompanied by a middle-aged gentleman, for twenty tyles. I bet it’s in your jewelry box on your dressing table right now, and I can find plenty of things in there to pay off the debt.”

As Leon spoke, he began to walk into the room.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The woman immediately had a bad feeling when she saw his posture and reached out to stop him.

"Let me search it. So, will you open the jewelry box yourself, or should I pry it open for you?" Leon replied simply.

"What did you say?" the woman's voice suddenly rose. "What right do you have—"

“I do. The church has the right to search the residence of anyone suspected of maliciously delaying payment.” Leon, without changing his expression, grabbed the woman’s shoulder and pushed her aside, striding into the room. “Madam, if you’re not planning to hand over the money obediently, please step aside.”

"Don't come in! Don't touch my things!!" The woman became hysterical as soon as she saw Leon force his way in. "Help! Someone help me! Someone save me!!"

The woman's high-pitched scream was louder than a crowing rooster, and soon it echoed throughout the entire hostel.

Soon, the tenants living on this floor began to open their doors one after another to see what was going on. The woman stomped her feet and shouted even more loudly:

"No! Don't touch me! It's indecent assault! Help! Isn't there a real man in this country who can help me drive away this demon?"

A series of noisy footsteps approached, and soon three men who looked very righteous appeared at the door.

The woman rushed out at just the right moment, throwing herself into the arms of the tallest man among them, and sobbed through her tears, "Thank God, thank God you've come..."

Leon stood inside the room, silently watching the woman's performance.

It must be said that this young lady's acting skills are quite good, and she can really arouse people's protective instincts.

The men who arrived rushed into the house and shielded her behind them, glaring angrily at Leon. More onlookers appeared at the door, gradually forming a circle around her.

He sighed softly, lifted his coat, and pulled a flintlock pistol from behind his waist.

The men's expressions immediately changed when they saw that the intruder was armed.

This gun is single-shot, and even a skilled user needs half a minute to reload each time.

Even now that he's loaded, Leon would only be able to fire one shot before being subdued by so many people.

But the single shot, even before it was fired, was enough to intimidate everyone present, since no one wanted to be the first to be shot dead.

Leon didn't point his gun at them. Instead, he immediately pulled a silver badge with a four-pointed star on it from his jacket pocket and said sternly:

"Inquisition of heretics! Anyone else want to step forward and try?"

The badge, combined with those words, was even more effective than the gun; everyone inside and outside the door turned ashen-faced.

The Inquisition is the empire's law enforcement agency, independent of other law enforcement agencies and loyal only to the Church.

In the general public's perception, inquisitors are church henchmen who specialize in arresting witches and heretics.

They always carried weapons, wore church uniforms, and gas-proof bird-beak masks, and would go out in groups, kicking down someone's door in the middle of the night, throwing them off their beds, and arresting them on charges of blasphemy.

Then, regardless of whether this person is truly a heretic or has been wrongly accused, their fate is sealed:

They were tortured in the cold dungeon until they were covered in blood and gore, and while unconscious, they pressed their bloody handprints onto confessions before being dragged to the execution ground and burned at the stake.

The leading escorts raised their hands to make way for Leon, distancing themselves from Miss Leah Foster and leaving the girl standing there bewildered, staring at Leon.

Regardless of whether this young lady is a real witch or has been wronged, this is not a place they should get involved in, and the heretic inquisitor in front of them is not someone they can afford to provoke.

"Get lost, all of you." Leon didn't want to waste any more time and snorted at the people gathered there.

Those who heard this left as if they had been granted a pardon, no longer bothering with the matter.

"I wasn't talking about you." Leon called out to Leah, who was turning around nervously, trying to leave with the crowd.

"Your Honor..." Lia cried, her voice trembling slightly—this time it wasn't just acting.

"Now you know I'm the judge? So what did you initially think the church's debt collectors were? A priest? A handyman?" Leon put away his unused gun and badge and asked Leah.

"I don't know... I really don't know!" Leah shook her head as she protested.

Leon just smiled when he heard this. Most people don't know that the daily work of the Church's Inquisitors is rarely related to catching witches. Most Inquisitors may not encounter a real witch in their entire lives.

The Inquisitors were actually just law enforcement officers of the church.

To put it bluntly, these lower-level judges are not much different from the town's security guards, except for the scope of their responsibilities.

The cases Leon handled were mostly about smuggling monster materials that were explicitly prohibited by the church, copying books that were banned by the church, or making statements that damaged the church's reputation...

Besides handling cases, their main job is actually going door-to-door to collect debts for churches.

Few people are as clueless as this woman, so most of the time when he collects debts, he doesn't need to reveal his identity, which makes many people keep their distance.

People often think they are far removed from inquisitors.

Little did they know that the "errand runners" who occasionally came to their door to collect debts for the loans issued by the church were actually heretics inquisitors.

"Now you know what to do?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, I... I suddenly remembered, I think I still have some money that I haven't had time to transfer, it should still be here! Including last month's, it's a total of eighteen taels, right? I'll get it for you right away!" Leah rushed to her cabinet in a fluster.

“It’s Thirty-Six Taylor,” Leon interrupted her coldly.

"What?" Leah was stunned on the spot, and turned around stiffly to confirm with Leon.

“According to church rules, maliciously delaying repayments will result in a fine equal to the amount owed. You just tried to frame law enforcement to delay repayments for two months, which, including the repayment and the fine, amounts to thirty-six Taylors. Is that clear?” Leon explained.

"No, this..." Leah hesitated for a moment, then said with an apologetic smile, "It's just a misunderstanding, I don't think it needs to be taken so seriously."

"You want to frame the church's judge as a criminal and have me beaten up, just so you can retaliate against the church and continue to delay repayment. You think that's not serious? I'm just asking you to pay the fine now. If you don't understand this mercy, I have alternative plans."

As Leon spoke, he took out a small obsidian sculpture from his pocket, just the right size to fit in the palm of his hand. It depicted a woman draped in a veil, her body covered in thorns, with a broken spear stuck in her heart.

The woman clutched the broken spear to her heart, tilting her head back and wailing in agony, a scene that looked incredibly lifelike.

"Do you know what this is?" Leon asked.

Leah shook her head blankly.

“This is carved with the image of Moirai, the Primordial Witch, the greatest heretic of the four major churches. We seized it from a witch. Every witch who believes in her carries such an idol and occasionally takes it out to pray.” Leon stared into Leah’s eyes, paused, and continued, “You are no exception, Miss Foster.”

Leah was stunned for a moment, then her face showed horror: "What nonsense are you talking about? You clearly took this out of your pocket..."

"No, no, no, this was found in your room, just now," Leon interrupted, shaking his finger.

"You're trying to frame me!?" Leah's eyes widened.

"Oh, so you know what framing someone means!" Leon laughed.

“You clearly said earlier that it was seized from a witch!” Leah argued, pointing at Leon.

"That witch could be you, do you understand what I mean? Miss Foster, you now have two choices. One is to be arrested on suspicion of blasphemy and have some minor interactions with us in the dungeon of the Inquisition. After that, your teeth and nails may become our collection, and your property will be confiscated by the Church."

As for yourself, if you're lucky, you won't be sentenced to death and can spend the rest of your life in St. Rosalia Prison. But just a heads up, it's actually a research institute where the church conducts all sorts of experiments on witches..."

By this point in Leon's story, Leah was already pale. He smiled and offered a second option, "Or, you have the chance to settle everything with Thirty-Six Taylors. Now, can you understand God's mercy?"

Chapter 2: Without cheat codes, how can one transcend?

Two minutes later, Leon left the room contentedly with a money bag containing gold and silver coins, ignoring the cries of pain and the curses of "robber" that followed him as he walked away.

After turning into an alley and making sure no one was around, he took out the money bag and opened it. Inside were three gold coins worth ten taels each, each with a shield, and six silver coins worth one tael each, each with a wolf's head.

He took two silver wolves from his person and put them in, then took two gold shields from them and played with them in his hands.

The church does have a system to punish malicious defaults, but if Leon chooses not to report it, then naturally no one will know.

The story about Leah Foster was basically all lies. The idea that you could throw someone into the Inquisition just by stuffing them with a heretical token is a thing of the past, and church laws have been reformed many times.

The Inquisition is not exactly a lawless place, but the trial of witches is a serious case that will be subject to strict scrutiny and requires complete evidence.

If Leon really uses this method to frame her, and she turns the tables and accuses him in return, it will actually be Leon who will be in trouble.

But how could a woman who thought the church staff who came to collect debts was just a handyman know the intricacies of the situation? This kind of intimidation tactic is still quite effective on most people.

Eighteen Taylors, a total of three thousand six hundred pfennigs, was no small gain for Leon.

The salaries of lower-ranking inquisitors are not high.

Leon worked almost non-stop from morning till night, and could only earn 23 Taylors a month, which was equivalent to 4,600 Finnies, not much different from the salary of a corporate slave in his previous life of 4,000 to 5,000 a month.

Even so, without deliberately trying to take advantage of others, being a heretic inquisitor revered by ordinary people and receiving a stable salary from the church is much better than being a farmer or dockworker in such a world.

Given the prices in this world, as long as you don't spend extravagantly, you can still save a little bit.

Leon had tried to do the job properly before, until he investigated a case involving a gang smuggling monster materials.

He was attacked with a crossbow by a member of the gang who was trying to break away and escape. Fortunately, the crossbow bolt did not penetrate him but only grazed his left upper arm. Unfortunately, the crossbow bolt was coated with poison extracted from the monster.

Thanks to the help of the Holy Healing Order, a church-affiliated religious order, he was not in mortal danger, but he was left with some aftereffects.

The healed wound left a purple scar that would itch unbearably whenever it flared up, an itch that seemed to seep into your very bones. If left untreated, it would worsen into excruciating pain, so painful that you'd want to break your arm off.

There is no comprehensive work injury insurance in this world. The church only provided him with first aid, and the long-term effects were not covered by their insurance.

As a result, Leon had to spend a third of his salary each month to buy expensive holy water from the Healing Order to apply to alleviate his symptoms. Even so, in order to save money, he still had to lengthen the interval between medications and endure a few days of discomfort each month.

If I continue in this job, who knows what kind of trouble might arise one day.