What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

"No, no, no..." The captain was at a loss.

"Hehe, just kidding. You're too serious."

The director pointed at the team leader and smiled, then quickly suppressed his smile. "But fining you is no joke. You have to be taught a lesson. Rules are rules!"

It was said in a grand and respectable way, but in reality, everyone present knew that the Inquisition did not have such a penalty rule; it was just a decision made unilaterally by Director Caron within the institution.

As for where this deduction from each person's Taylor salary will end up, that's really hard to guess.

"Alright, to make a long story short, I was called to a meeting in the county yesterday. My colleagues in the Mister District told me that their informants have discovered a new batch of potions on the market."

Director Kalon took out a small bottle of potion with an orange-red glow and placed it on the table for everyone to see. "This is the sample. The performance of these potions far exceeds that of the products on the market before. After their people analyzed and deduced, the activator used in these potions has a purity of nearly 80 percent."

Upon hearing this, Leon's heart skipped a beat.

“And there are reports that…” the director tapped the table with his finger and continued, “the magic element, which acts as an activator, is flowing from here to there.”

Chapter 32 A Big Fish Arrived

"So fast?"

This was Leon's first thought.

Although he had expected the Inquisition to find the magic essence he was selling in the market, he was still greatly surprised that it was discovered so early.

In just ten days, the church forces in Nangang County noticed the appearance of higher purity magic essence products on the market and immediately began to investigate them. They have even roughly grasped the flow of magic essence.

He had thought that the church would not react until his next batch of goods entered the market.

Based on Leon's experience in the local inquisition, this efficiency was highly unusual.

While it's possible that the Inquisition in Caster Town is particularly diligent in its duties, and that Karon's unusual behavior might be due to concerns about a new, large-scale magic element transaction in his area that he hasn't yet uncovered, and his desire to find it and profit from it as soon as possible, the fact that both sides are cooperating so closely at the same time is rather strange.

Caron mentioned earlier that he was going to a meeting in the county. Could it be specifically about this matter?

It's just ten grams of magic essence with a purity of 78%, yet it's enough to alarm the entire county's church law enforcement? That's too outrageous.

His transaction of this batch of magic essence was only worth two or three hundred thousand, which was just a small ripple in the black money flowing in the underground market of the entire Nangang County.

Magic essence with a purity of 78% can be considered a high-end product, and it is very rare in Hamel Town.

However, if we look at the entire eastern part of the empire, it's not exactly rare. In the major cities of the east, it's common to find that about 80% of the magic essence traded is from the Earls...

Thinking of this, Leon felt a chill run down his spine.

The Earl? Could this be related to the Earl's expansion of power into Southport County?

"If the information provided by our informant over there is accurate, then there might be a big fish in our territory."

So, guys, perk up! You've got work to do now. Go out and find out all the petty thieves you know on the street, and also those 'distributors' you've arrested before. Find out more about them.

"We might be holding a joint investigation meeting with people from other courts soon, so we don't end up being the only ones with no useful information to share," Caron continued, instructing his men.

At this moment, the captain suddenly raised his hand and spoke up: "Chief, could it be that some locals are importing goods from outside Nangang County, such as Helenburg in the north, where the Earl's goods have always been circulating?"

Leon became fully focused; he had just been considering this matter when the captain brought it up in time.

Perhaps the higher-ups also noticed that the Earl's influence was expanding into Southport County, and were worried about this new batch of goods. They only took it seriously because the Earl had secretly used his own goods to enter the market.

This situation is relatively advantageous to him. If the Southport County Inquisition investigates the direction of the external earl's forces, he will be relatively safe.

However, Caron immediately shook his finger after hearing this: "No, it didn't come from outside, at least it's not the Earl's stuff."

Leon was puzzled; his secret creation of high-purity magic essence was just an accident.

The production of this magic essence within Hamel Town is a low-probability event, and most people would first suspect the possibility of it flowing in from outside. However, Karon immediately insisted that this matter had nothing to do with the Earl.

"What is the basis for this claim?" the captain asked.

Caron didn't answer immediately. Instead, he lit his pipe, puffed out smoke, and raised his eyebrows, staring meaningfully at the captain as if to ask, "Are you questioning what I said?"

The captain's expression immediately became uneasy. Just as he was about to say something in his own defense, Caron took off his pipe and continued in a casual tone:

"The intelligence came from Caster Town. Their intelligence is quite reliable. You guys should also try to be as capable as those people, so I can make a good impression when I go to the county meeting next time!"

"Yes, sir!" the others echoed.

Leon responded while pondering the situation in his mind.

Against the backdrop of the Earl's forces starting a territorial struggle with local forces, as soon as he began supplying goods to the local forces, the Church's forces reacted very quickly, starting to track down the new source of goods and locking onto the local forces with unbelievable precision.

This is like... deliberately helping the Earl's power expand.

Thinking of this, Leon suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Could it be that the Earl's power could directly influence the Inquisition and drive local church forces to put pressure on local powers?

He had heard that the "Earl" was incredibly powerful and influential, and that even the central Inquisition could not do anything to him.

But he never imagined that the other party's power could even control the Inquisition, just like a gang directing the police to deal with their rivals!

After that, no one raised any further questions. Caron gave a few more brief instructions and then adjourned the meeting.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to leave the meeting room.

Leon, also preoccupied with his own thoughts, was about to leave when the captain coughed lightly, leaned closer to Leon, and whispered to him, "Stay a moment, the director has something to say to you."

Leon was startled and subconsciously turned to look at Director Caron, who was still sitting at the end of the conference table. Caron was still smoking his pipe and seemingly casually sizing him up.

A cold sweat broke out on Leon's back. The director had just announced at the meeting that he would investigate the batch of goods that had flowed into the black market, but now he had kept him behind. Could it be that they had already suspected him?

The old shop owner's face immediately flashed into his mind. Could it be that guy betrayed him?

After the other team members left the meeting room, the captain closed the door. Leon stood there, looking at Director Caron across the room, and asked in as calm a tone as possible, "What are your orders, sir?"

“Leon Seth, a junior first-level judge who joined the force two years ago…” The director said, taking off his pipe and pointing to the captain beside him, “I heard from Martin that you ran errands for him?”

Leon quickly realized that this was referring to the incident more than four months ago when he went to the recycling shop in place of the captain.

Leon glanced sideways at the captain, who was standing at attention to the side. The captain nodded to him in a barely perceptible manner.

“Yes, sir,” Leon replied.

He calmed down a bit. Director Caron said that the captain had mentioned it, not that the boss had said it, which at least meant that the boss hadn't told Caron anything.

“People from other courts may come soon, and maybe even higher-ups will come to inspect. You should know what you should and shouldn’t say, right?” Director Caron stared at Leon and gave him instructions.

Upon hearing this, Leon finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had handled the stolen goods that Caron had embezzled, but recently there might have been an inspection by someone from above, which is why Caron specifically warned him to watch his mouth after four months. Otherwise, Caron wouldn't have even paid attention to such a small fry as him.

“I completely understand what you mean. I was on duty normally that day, and there was nothing unusual,” Leon replied earnestly.

“Very good, you can go now.” Director Caron waved his hand.

"Yes, sir." Leon breathed a sigh of relief, saluted, and left the conference room.

Then the team leader prepared to leave: "Then, Director, I'll go back to work now."

"Yes. Martin, you need to investigate the case I just mentioned thoroughly, understand? Make this the focus of your work recently." Director Caron instructed the captain, who nodded repeatedly in agreement, then picked up the potion bottle and examined it for a moment, letting out a snort. "My territory, and there are still transactions I haven't uncovered?"

Chapter 33 A Happy Ending to a Fairy Tale

That evening, Leon reappeared in front of the secondhand recycling shop in Shekou Alley. After confirming that he was not being followed, he pushed open the shop door, which was still lit up.

The shopkeeper looked up at him, a hint of surprise in his expression, prompted by the sound of the bell.

"Why did you come early? Do you need that thing so urgently?" The shop owner got up, went to the door to check the small window, locked the door, and then turned back behind the counter. "Luckily, what you wanted arrived quite early."

As he spoke, he took out a quartz test tube containing purple liquid, placed it on the balance, put an empty test tube of the same size on the other side of the balance, and then began to add weights to weigh it.

"A little over seven grams, let's say it's 35,000."

The shopkeeper looked at Leon and said, "By the way, do you want to take some to test the goods first? But I should warn you, this stuff has been stored for a long time after it was extracted, so its toxicity is not as strong. It needs to be activated with a little bit of magic essence to become a potent poison."

"I'll just take it back and take a look."

Leon took the reagent, carefully checked its seal, then carefully put it away, and counted out the money to hand over to the shopkeeper.

"Thank you for your patronage!" The shopkeeper smiled as he put the money away, then noticed that Leon was still standing there and asked, "Is there anything else?"

“Actually, I didn’t come here to pick up the goods. There’s something I need to tell you.” Leon looked earnestly into the shop owner’s eyes. “The Inquisition has started investigating our source of goods…”

He briefly explained to the old shopkeeper what he had learned at the Inquisition.

"So fast?" The old shopkeeper frowned halfway through the conversation, his reaction mirroring Leon's when he first heard it.

"Kalon, or rather the entire Southport County Inquisition, insisted that these were not the Earl's goods, without the slightest doubt, and directly concluded that the source of the goods came from here."

"How much do you know about the Earl's side? Do they have enough power to put pressure on the Inquisition of the entire Southport County?" Leon asked the old shopkeeper.

He came not only to warn the old shop owner, but also to exchange information; the other party was definitely more informed about the underworld than he was.

“I don’t know much about the Earl either. There are rumors that he is actually a titled lord in the East, rumors that he runs a multinational trading company, and some people say that he once held a position in the church. If any one of these rumors is true, he should be able to do it,” the old shopkeeper said, clasping his hands.

“It sounds like you guys don’t have much of a chance,” Leon said.

"What's wrong, young man? Do you perhaps want to switch allegiance to the Earl?" the old shopkeeper teased.

“If there’s a chance,” Leon shrugged. “It sounds like supplying him wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught by the church, but supplying you guys, and the church came looking for you after only ten days.”

"Heh, don't even think about it. I wouldn't rashly trust a stranger. The Earl would be even more cautious when looking for partners. Not to mention, their industry is complete and they can continuously produce products with higher purity than yours. They don't need an extra supplier like you at all."

"I bet they're already looking for your local supply. If you expose yourself, it's tantamount to suicide. Besides, in our line of work, being a fence-sitter is a big no-no. Those who betray others are often the ones who suffer the worst fate," the old shopkeeper said earnestly.

"Just kidding. Things are already this bad, can't I even complain a little?" Leon shrugged. "Anyway, the Inquisition has already started investigating in Hamel. Do you have any countermeasures?"

“We don’t need any countermeasures, do we? The deal here is just between you and me. Caron needs me to dispose of the stolen goods, and you yourself are the judge. Just like you said before, young man, you keep your mouth shut, and I’ll keep mine shut, and we’ll be fine.”

The shop owner said nonchalantly, then added, "Oh, by the way, if you have other people with you, remember to keep a close eye on them."

“You’d better keep your people in check, and your mouth too,” Leon replied, staring at the shop owner.

"However, judging from the current trend, it's probably only a matter of time before the Earl takes control of Southport County."

The old shop owner said meaningfully, "Young man, if you want to make money, you should do it as soon as possible. While we can still sell goods here, we should sell as much as we can!"

He tried to persuade Leon to supply more and faster so that he could make as much money as possible.

"Are my goods selling well?" Leon asked.

"Excellent! Your batch of magic essence has produced products that have satisfied customers like never before. My supplier is already impatient for the next batch of Fenrir. You'd better get as much as you can; you'll soon make a name for yourself in this industry." The shopkeeper grinned.

“I will, but I don’t want to make a name for myself,” Leon replied.

"By the way, if you need anything or run into any trouble... I mean, anything that's not directly related to the church, you can come to me anytime. I have some connections in this area," the shop owner said.

"Thank you in advance," Leon said, then left the store with the goods.

The situation is not very optimistic. The Inquisition is investigating the source of their shipment, and the Earl's power is ready to replace the local forces at any time.

After entering this line of work, Leon discovered that the forces within it were incredibly complex. As an Inquisitor, he couldn't possibly see the whole picture, and the risks of getting involved were far greater than he had imagined.

But the money he has earned so far is still far from enough. Business cannot stop. On the contrary, as the shop owner said, they should make as much money as possible while the local forces are still in power. Otherwise, once the Earl’s forces control Southport County, Leon will lose his channels for shipping goods.

Thinking about this, he returned to Melissa's house and quietly opened the door with his key so as not to wake Sally and Melissa upstairs.

However, as soon as he opened the door, he saw a faint candlelight in the innermost room of the house.

That used to be a small living room, which was Melissa's room. Now the bed has been moved to the attic, where there is a spinning wheel. When Melissa has free time at home, she sits in it and spins yarn. Although she doesn't earn much money, it helps supplement the family income.

He sighed and went over to remind Melissa to get some rest. Spinning yarn so late at night would barely leave her with any money after deducting the lamp oil used for it. Not only would it damage her eyes, but she might also get pricked by the spindle.

However, when he stepped into the small room with candles lit, he saw Selena sleeping on a small table where tools were placed. After several months of consistent medication, Selena was able to walk with difficulty. Although her feet were not yet very nimble, she could do quite a few chores and no longer needed to stay in bed and be taken care of by Melissa.

“Mrs. Hershey.” Leon tried to wake her up; he couldn’t let her sleep here all night.

"Ah!" Selena woke up with a start at the sound.

She looked up and saw the lamp still on, and let out a sigh of annoyance—she had actually fallen asleep with the oil lamp lit, not only failing to work properly but also wasting lamp oil for the family.

“I really… how did I fall asleep?” Sally covered her face and sighed, but still turned to thank Leon, “Thank you for waking me up, Mr. Leon.”

"You've been working all night?" Leon glanced at the thread and yarn wrapped around the spinning wheel. "You're still weak; you shouldn't overexert yourself... Strange, where's Melissa?"

If Melissa were home, she certainly wouldn't let Sally stay in this room working so late, much less let her fall asleep like this.

“Melissa…” Sally blinked, her still sleepy mind suddenly clearing. “Melissa! Mr. Leon, what time is it?”

Leon recalled the time the clock struck: "It's been a while since nine o'clock."