What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

The mansion fell silent abruptly as the men at the entrance collapsed to the ground.

Adele and Hailey stood there stunned, and then they were shocked to see blood seeping in through the crack in the door.

Then, a steady sound of footsteps grew closer and closer along the corridor.

The robbers outside appeared to be dead, but the two women inside the house were still worried, because they had no idea who had killed them.

These bandits charged forward like madmen, completely fearless of death. Yet their shouts were filled with terror, as if the people who came to kill them were far more terrifying than they were.

The other person stopped by the door of the room, clearly noticing the door that was about to be kicked open.

"Is anyone inside?" the other person asked in a calm voice.

The voice sounded somewhat familiar to both of them, but in their moment of tension, neither of them could recall it.

"Who is it?" Hailey asked nervously.

“That voice? Is that Miss Hayley?” Standing outside the door, Leon, with his extraordinary memory granted by the blessing, accurately identified the voice as Hayley, Adele’s former bodyguard. “How is Miss Adele Lovelace? I am Leon Seth, the Inquisitor. I hope you still remember me.”

“Leon Seth?” Adele blinked, finally realizing that the voice belonged to the Inquisitor who had almost left her with psychological trauma.

Upon hearing the other person's voice, both Hailey and Adele breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of relief at having survived a disaster.

Leon may be terrifying to them, but he is, after all, a member of the church and a soldier. In times like these, nothing is more reliable than the soldiers who come to their rescue.

The two finally put down their guns.

"Miss Adele, are you alright?" Leon asked upon hearing Adele's voice.

“I’m fine… Did you come to rescue us?” Adele asked cautiously.

“Yes, we were on duty on the island when we discovered a group of intruders and came over. I’ve already dealt with the people outside. If it’s alright, could you please open the door?” Leon replied.

Hayley glanced at Adele, who nodded and then quickly handed the flintlock pistol back to Hayley.

Hayley put the gun away and, together with Adele, went over and opened the door, which was almost kicked out of shape.

“Thank you for coming—” Adele said as Hailey opened the door.

However, when the shocking expanse of bright red outside came into view, Adele's voice abruptly stopped.

Even Hailey had never seen such a horrific scene before, and she stood there stunned.

The ground and walls outside were covered in blood, and there was even some what looked like brain matter on the walls. Two corpses lay on the ground, soaking in pools of blood, one of which had its skull shattered.

Leon, dressed in the uniform of an inquisitor, stood indifferently beside the corpse, his boots treading on the blood, holding a sword in one hand and a gun in the other, his body and the blade stained with blood.

"Ah...ah..." Adele's mouth opened and closed in terror as the unprecedentedly shocking scene instantly sent her consciousness to the heavens.

“Miss Adele?” Leon was puzzled by Adele’s reaction.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!" Adele suddenly let out a high-pitched scream, then her eyes rolled back and she fell straight forward.

"Young Miss!" Hailey, who was standing there in a daze, didn't have time to reach out and catch Adele.

Leon managed to catch Adele as she fell, asking, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Adele lay limp in his arms, completely unconscious.

Leon was taken aback.

This viscount's daughter actually fainted from fright just from seeing a little blood?

Chapter 186 Is this how you treat your savior?

Adele slowly woke up in bed, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the familiar ceiling.

She was lying in her room.

It's already morning? That's strange, what day is it today?

She blinked, somewhat bewildered, her mind a little confused, unable to recall anything from before she went to bed.

I feel like I had a nightmare, like I dreamt about...

"You're awake?" A deep, resonant voice came from beside the bed.

Adele opened her eyes slightly and turned her head to see Leon sitting on the chair next to her bed, arms crossed and legs crossed, staring at her.

Adele gasped, suddenly snapping back to reality.

"You!" Adele sat up abruptly, clutching the blanket and moving further away from Leon. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Is this how you treat your savior?" Leon sat still and calmly asked.

Savior?

Adele was startled, and memories from before suddenly flooded back.

Those... were either nightmares, or things she had experienced not long ago!

"Did I... faint from fright?" Adele blinked to confirm.

“Yes, you fainted when you saw blood everywhere, and then I carried you to your room. It’s been about half an hour,” Leon replied.

"You brought me here?" Adele couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed as she recalled the scene of Leon carrying her here.

Suddenly she realized something, looked at herself a few more times, and found that she had been changed into a light dress.

"Why...why were my clothes changed?" she asked Leon in a panic.

“After all, it’s stained with blood,” Leon said calmly, pointing to the blood-stained dress spread out on a table to the side.

When Adele fell, Leon caught her, and the blood splattered on Leon got onto Adele's clothes.

"You changed her clothes?" Adele stared at Leon in horror, the image of this man changing her clothes while she was unconscious flashing through her mind.

“Don’t worry, Miss Hayley changed it for you,” Leon replied.

“Haley… that’s strange, where is she?” Adele suddenly thought of this.

Why wasn't Hailey by her side? Why would Hailey leave this man alone with her while she was unconscious?

“Miss Hayley has resigned. This is the letter she left for you.” Leon handed Adele a folded piece of paper.

Adele took the letter with some confusion, opened it and read: "Miss Adele, please forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye. I am not capable enough to do this job. I hope you can find someone more capable to serve as your bodyguard in the future."

Hailey actually quit her job, and she even abandoned her at this time, without even paying her wages for the past two weeks.

Adele felt a little disappointed.

Although she could understand it, Hailey always encountered situations that ordinary guards couldn't handle when she was with her, and this time she almost died for no reason.

"When she asked me to pass this on to you, it seems you still owed her half a month's wages, so I settled it for you. After all, she was quite responsible in the end," Leon said.

“At least wait until I wake up before you leave…” Adele muttered with a bitter face, glancing at Leon with some unease.

Haley is really something, leaving her unconscious alone in this man's care, not knowing what he might do to her. Is this what you call being dutiful...?

Leon saw right through Adele's thoughts and said, "Don't be so harsh on her. With her here, she can't stop me from doing whatever I want. It seems she's a little afraid of me, just like you. Don't worry, Miss Adele, if I wanted to do something to you, I would have done it while you were unconscious. Even if I wanted to do something now, you can't do anything about it, can you?"

"How can I feel at ease if you say that?" Adele became even more uneasy after hearing this.

"For the sake of me saving your life, at least give me some trust and respect," Leon said.

“You saved me, and I’m very grateful. But…” Adele thought for a moment and then realized something was wrong. “What’s the deal with those people? If I may be so bold, are they… related to you?”

After calming down and thinking about it for a bit, she realized what was strange about the matter.

There have been no pirates along the coast of River Valley County and Southport County, so these people couldn't possibly be after her father. Even if her father had caused some trouble, given his current state—no power, no money—if someone wanted to deal with him, there would be no need to make such a big fuss. Why use cannons to kill a mosquito?

Moreover, these people had sailed over in a large group, but they did not land directly on the east side of the island where their residence was located. Instead, they went to the west side first, and it seems that only about twenty people managed to sneak over here. As soon as these twenty people broke in, Leon arrived.

No matter how you look at it, these people were all after Leon from the start, and she was just caught in the crossfire.

She had long suspected that Leon was doing something illegal because he associated with Father Auden.

Now it seems that the things Leon did could attract so many people to his door, so his illegal activities must have been something serious!

“Maybe.” Leon shrugged.

"Your Honor, I don't know what you're doing over there, but please, please, can you spare our family?" Adele pleaded tearfully.

She would really break down if she experienced something like this again.

“Miss Adele, is there some misunderstanding?” Leon replied calmly.

"A misunderstanding?" Adele asked, puzzled.

"Let me first explain what I did on the western side of your territory. As I explained to you before, the Inquisition, where I am located, suspected that the maze that appeared in your territory was at risk of spreading, so it organized an investigation."

Our investigation has revealed a large number of Level 3 demonic wolves lurking deep within the labyrinth, posing a significant danger. We currently lack the capacity to seal the labyrinth, and the Church is also short of resources. However, I'm concerned that if this labyrinth were to erupt, it could endanger the residents on the eastern side of the island, including you and your family.

"So I voluntarily built fortifications around the labyrinth to seal it off, and hired some monster hunters to keep watch. That way, if the labyrinth were to erupt one day, it would buy me time. I could then be informed of the situation immediately and report it to the church for handling. That's all," Leon explained slowly.

"You're still lying at a time like this? You've become friends with people like Father Auden, and you—you threatened me before!" Adele's eyes widened; she hadn't believed a single word Leon said.

“Father Auden is also a priest of the Prophet's Church, he's a member of the church, we just have a personal relationship. He also has a relationship with the Viscount, so it's not surprising that he introduced me to help the Viscount resolve his troubles. Of course, you can explain that the priest used my connections to try and restore your family's assets as much as possible to deal with the Viscount's debts,” Leon replied calmly. “As for threatening you, that was just a few little jokes I made with you, I didn't expect you to take it so seriously.”

Adele stared at Leon in disbelief; this man's ability to lie through his teeth was truly exceptional!

But she also knew that if someone investigated, she would have no way to refute Leon's excuses, as she had no evidence whatsoever that Leon had threatened her.

"Then how do you explain these people today? With such a big incident, when someone comes to investigate, are you going to say they're here for us?" Adele couldn't help but question.

“These people might be after me, but I have a clue. About eight months ago, I did something great for the church by uncovering tens of millions of dollars in assets belonging to a gangster in River Valley County. I reported this to the church, and maybe that’s why I offended the organization behind that gangster.”

For the past six months or so, I've been investigating this criminal organization and have gathered some information. So it's possible they've been targeting me, wanting to get rid of me. They specifically chose today, when I came to Arend Island to inspect the labyrinth, and sent a large number of people to kill me on this island and dump my body at sea, but I managed to repel them." Leon slowly recited the script he had prepared.

"How did you handle so many people?" Adele asked incredulously.

“I deliberately opened the fortifications and then lay in ambush around them. I used fake tracks to lure them into the maze. When they were attacked by the monsters in the maze and lost their composure, we took the opportunity to catch them off guard and they ran away. I just didn’t expect that such a group of people would run to your side in their panic,” Leon replied calmly.

This was a script he wrote to deal with the investigation.

The count made such a big fuss; although he must have taken precautions to deal with the church's investigation, those precautions might become ineffective after his death.

It's unlikely that any of the Count's subordinates who know his identity will voluntarily report him to the Church. If he's arrested by the Church and reveals the Count's organizational network, those subordinates will also suffer, especially since they no longer have the Count as their protector. Conversely, Leon can strike first, using his position as an inquisitor to put these subordinates on the Church's investigation list.

To confront the church's investigation and intervention, Leon has an absolute advantage.

But ultimately, with such a huge commotion in the underworld, and even the disappearance of an earl with close ties to the church, it's unrealistic to think that the church wouldn't be aware of the problems on his side at all.

He couldn't be too optimistic about the matter. The church didn't know now, but it would probably find out one day that the count's disappearance was related to the labyrinth on Arend Island.

Even with his identity as the head of the Inquisition, Leon had to prepare for an investigation by the Church in advance. He not only had to set up the script and destroy all evidence, but also had to rearrange the labyrinthine stronghold to match his script.

Of course, this script would be best if the Viscount Arendt family also cooperated.

Chapter 187: Let's start by eliminating the eyewitnesses.

After hearing Leon's explanation, Adele still looked suspicious. After all, in her mind, Leon was already a corrupt law enforcement officer who embezzled public funds and was involved in illegal industries.

She had observed that since Leon had rebuilt the dock, ships were coming and going very frequently, and all kinds of materials were being transported to the mine. It seemed that only flour produced by a mill on the east side of the island was being transported out of the dock. When she checked, she found that the mill that had been mortgaged to the Watchers Merchant Guild was now owned by Leon Seth!

She knew the island's grain harvest very well. The mill produced far more flour than the island's own crops could produce, meaning it must be sourcing raw materials from outside the island. But where weren't there mills? Who in their right mind would deliberately transport grain to an island to grind it?

There must be something fishy going on here!

Now that Leon is telling her that he is honest and innocent, and that he is being hunted by the underworld because he was investigating them, she finds it hard to accept it all at once. In comparison, it seems more believable that this is a case of gangsters killing each other.

"In short, my Inquisition will investigate what happened today. Don't worry, you don't need to file any further reports," Leon said.

"No need for further reports?" Hearing this, Adele narrowed her eyes, almost certain that Leon's actions were far from innocent, as he claimed. "What exactly are you trying to hide?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to save you some trouble. If you don't want me to investigate, then I'd like to ask you, Miss Adele, who you want to investigate? You should know that according to imperial law, lords bear some responsibility for the security situation within their territory, right?"

"Your father's territory has no law enforcement agency whatsoever. Forget about establishing a policing agency, you can't even afford to hire a sheriff. And if you want the policing agency of any nearby town to take over this matter, you'd better have provided some donations to the local area, otherwise... I don't think anyone will be willing to take on such a troublesome matter." Leon shrugged.

Adele was speechless. Indeed, there was no independent security force in their territory. There were no sheriffs or guards. The fishing village had a small population and there were no major security incidents to manage. Any disputes were usually mediated by the village elders, and any issues involving outsiders were handled by the village's self-organized self-defense force.

As for her father, who was the lord, he was basically incapable of managing matters within the territory. When seeking help from the outside world, no one was willing to work for free to maintain order in their territory unless they made significant investments and donations to the area, in which case the local security forces would be willing to give them face.

But Adele doesn't necessarily have to rely on law enforcement agencies.

“Then I can report to the Grand Parish…” Adele said again.

“You have to prove this is related to heresy before the church will get involved. Of course, I can prove it for you, because I will also report the attack on Arend Island, but in that case, I will be the most suitable person to investigate this matter, and it will ultimately be assigned to me,” Leon said.

"Do you have that much authority to investigate on your own?" Adele frowned.