What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

He gave a soft "humph," it seemed that the second batch these people were sending was also intended to be a truckload of monsters that were almost dead.

However, before the other party could use the excuse of an accident on the road to make excuses, Leon first created an accident for them, directly robbing the goods on the edge of their territory.

The last time he sent Baal's men back with the potion, he had already sent people introduced by the priest to observe several points along the route to determine the routes these people usually used to transport contraband.

That way, when the second delivery arrives, he can accurately predict the timing and ambush the convoy transporting the monsters at the right location.

Since this official couldn't handle the transportation issues, Leon didn't mind doing it himself. Moreover, if he didn't let the other officials know that provoking him would have consequences, he'd likely face even more sabotage in the coming year.

"Bring our wagons over, transfer all the goods up there, and feed all the monsters. Move the wagons here to a distant place and burn them, the farther the better, and then the corpses..." Leon gave the instructions.

“Don’t worry, sir, we’ll burn it all together.” Simon nodded.

“No, I want to ship them back with the cargo!” Leon waved his hand and gave the order.

……

Several days later, at the Inquisition.

Leon was summoned to the director's office by Bishop Beckett.

"Mr. Baal sent word that the convoy delivering your second batch of monsters has gone missing." Bishop Beckett stared into Leon's eyes and asked in a low voice, "Do you have any leads?"

"Missing? What do you mean by missing?" Leon spread his hands innocently, and replied in a low voice that only the two of them could hear, "This time, Mr. Baal doesn't want to give me anything. Is he not even going to pretend anymore?"

“They insist that you are involved in this,” Bishop Beckett said.

"Where did Mr. Barr's convoy go missing?" Leon asked in return.

“It seems we haven’t reached River Valley County yet,” said Bishop Beckett.

"So, his men got into trouble on their own turf, but they're coming to me? What's wrong? Is Mr. Barr planning to hand over the turf to me?" Leon replied jokingly.

But Bishop Beckett didn't laugh. Instead, he said seriously, "You said you would handle it yourself, but you didn't tell me you would handle it this way."

"What should we do?" Leon continued to play dumb.

“Alright, you don’t need to do this here. I’m in charge of this territory now, and I’m on your side.” Bishop Beckett breathed a sigh of relief.

“Then you surely know, sir, that shipment was originally meant for us. What reason does Mr. Barr have to question whether I would try to steal his goods?” Leon countered.

“That makes sense.” Bishop Beckett raised an eyebrow.

“Sir, you said everyone should be able to handle their own problems. I’ve already taken care of the monster problem. Since Mr. Baal’s transport is so prone to problems, and he can’t even manage his own territory, I won’t bother him any longer. Could you please thank him for his help and concern?” Leon said.

This time, Bishop Beckett finally laughed: "Alright, I'll tell him to do his job properly."

“Do you have any other instructions?” Leon asked.

“That’s all,” Bishop Beckett replied, then asked, “Now the work should be on track, right?”

“Yes, we will move forward as soon as possible.” Leon nodded.

“That’s good,” Bishop Beckett replied.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

Bishop Beckett and Leon exchanged a glance, then raised their voices to answer the door: "Come in."

"Yes, sir!" A member of the Inquisition on duty in the hall opened the door, bowed tremblingly to Bishop Beckett, and said, "Director, we have a visitor..."

At that moment, his gaze drifted to the side, and he suddenly exclaimed, caught off guard, "Ah, Your Excellency, what brings you up here?"

"Excuse me, I was rude." A tall, slender figure appeared at the door.

The newcomer was dressed in a pure white nun's robe embroidered with the emblem of the Church of the Creator, clearly a distinguished bishop. Upon seeing this, the team member who came to report could only step aside.

When they saw this person, both Bishop Beckett and Leon showed surprise.

Bishop Beckett immediately stood up with a serious expression: "Bishop Weiss, what brings you here?"

“Long time no see, Bishop Beckett. I apologize for the sudden visit.” Bishop Weiss nodded to Bishop Beckett, then glanced at Leon standing in the room, her gaze lingering for a moment. “It’s you?”

Testimonials

It will be available at midnight on October 1st, which is tonight at 12 o'clock.

To be honest, I don't have many drafts saved up lately. I'll try to publish as many as I can, and I'll continue writing and publishing tomorrow.

This book is another completely new attempt, and it's newer than anything I've done before. Personally, I think it does contain something different from what I've written before.

However, under the new recommendation rules, this book's data growth has been a bit slow, although the number of readers following it is still decent. But in the end, we'll have to see how well it performs in terms of subscriptions. We'll know for sure when it's officially released. Of course, the success of the book depends on my own abilities. If I ultimately fail to satisfy everyone enough to make them willing to spend real money to subscribe, then it's my fault for being incompetent, and I can't blame anyone else.

Given the current state of this book, the initial subscriptions will likely determine its future fate. So, if you think this book is worth reading, please continue to subscribe and vote for it.

There's so much more I wanted to say, but I have to rush to finish uploading more content, so I won't go into details. See you at midnight tonight!

Chapter 86 The Saintess's Intentions (Seeking First Subscription)

"Hello, Your Excellency."

Leon snapped out of his daze and quickly bowed to Bishop Weiss.

"You know each other?" Bishop Beckett noticed Weiss's reaction and asked.

“At the beginning of the year, Bishop Weiss and Archbishop Rogers came to inspect the area, and I met the bishops briefly then,” Leon replied.

“Bishop Weiss has a good memory; she can remember even a low-ranking judge perfectly,” Bishop Beckett said meaningfully, glancing first at Weiss and then at Leon.

Bishop Weiss's rank in the church was that of a third-order elected bishop, the same rank as Aaron, and one rank higher than Bishop Beckett.

Rogers was an archbishop who was about to be promoted to cardinal. When the two of them traveled together, even the head of the Inquisition could only bow and scrape. At that time, Leon was just a junior inquisitor and was at most a background figure standing on the side. How could he be remembered by Bishop Weiss?

Bishop Beckett's scrutinizing gaze made Leon feel a little uneasy. He could sense that Bishop Beckett was very concerned about, or even somewhat wary of, his acquaintance with Bishop Weiss.

Could it be that these two don't get along? Or do they belong to opposing factions within the church? Leon pondered to himself.

“I noticed he had injuries from prolonged use of holy water, so I took the opportunity to diagnose him,” Bishop Weiss calmly explained.

“Are you injured?” Bishop Beckett asked Leon.

“Yes, I was grazed by a crossbow bolt laced with monster poison before, and I still have lingering effects,” Leon said, pointing to his upper arm.

Even after receiving the witch's blessing and gaining the power of cursed blood, which was even more potent than the venom of the chicken snake, Leon discovered that the aftereffects of his injuries had not disappeared.

Perhaps because curses and poisons work on different principles, he seems to be immune only to his own curse. In any case, he still needs to find a way to treat his injuries, but fortunately, he is not short of money now.

“That is indeed quite arduous,” Bishop Beckett nodded.

Then he glanced at the inquisitor outside the door, then at Leon, and said, "Alright, you can go back to work now."

"Yes, sir." Leon and the judge saluted simultaneously.

Bishop Beckett looked at Weiss again, about to ask what her purpose was, when Weiss suddenly spoke first: "Bishop Beckett, may we let him stay?"

As she said this, she pointed at Leon, who was about to leave.

Not only Bishop Beckett, but Leon himself was also taken aback, not understanding what Weiss meant.

Bishop Beckett turned thoughtfully to the team member who was still waiting bewildered by the door and nodded to him: "Close the door for me."

"Yes!" The team member closed the office door and left.

Seeing this, Leon could only stand at the door and wait.

“Please have a seat, Bishop Weiss.” Bishop Beckett gestured for Bishop Weiss to take a seat among the guests. “You’ve come here today, perhaps for the case we handled previously?”

Upon hearing this, Leon finally realized that if Bishop Weiss had come for Sally's case, it wouldn't be surprising if he was asked to stay. The case report mentioned his relationship with Sally, and keeping him around was probably to make it easier to question him if needed. Bishop Beckett immediately understood this.

"Yes, I have seen the case files and your application to keep the witch Selene Hershey, who is involved in the case, here. Knight Diaz has also contacted the research institute, requesting our assistance in alleviating the suffering of prisoners afflicted with halogenation disease."

"This prisoner's plight is also very pitiful, so I would like to formally discuss with your unit the possibility of transferring her to St. Rosalia Prison." Bishop Vess stated her purpose in a formal tone.

Leon tensed up immediately upon hearing this, but still managed to give Bishop Beckett a meaningful look.

The inquest's detention area was designed to function as a prison, and Bishop Beckett applied to have Selene detained there on the grounds that she was ill.

This was part of the deal between Leon and the Count: to keep Selene here, Leon would still be able to contact her and secretly administer medication to her using the connections provided by Bishop Beckett. In fact, Selene was being administered medication normally in her cell, and Leon could also secretly bring her food and other necessities to make her life a little better.

But if Selene is sent elsewhere, it will be out of their control, and Leon will find it difficult to even make contact with her, let alone try to rescue her.

“Bishop Weiss, as we mentioned in the report, this prisoner’s salinization disease is in its late stages, and his physical condition is very poor. He cannot withstand a long journey.”

Moreover, the blessing she possesses is the blood of an extremely rare curse, and there is a possibility of accidents during the transport process. Taking all factors into consideration, we still believe that it is more appropriate to detain her here,” said Bishop Beckett.

“But she’ll die soon here. If we take her to St. Rosalia Prison, we can try to provide her with proper treatment. That’s what Sir Diaz, who is in charge of the case, requested from us, isn’t it?” Weiss said.

Leon finally understood that Weiss's purpose in requesting that Selene be transferred to Santa Rosalia Prison was actually similar to Aaron's—both were to help Selene.

But in a way, this is actually a case of good intentions gone wrong. Seri can still secretly receive the special medicine developed by Lena, who has been researching the salt disease, here. What decent treatment conditions can the church in St. Rosalia Prison provide for a witch? Even if it is approved, how effective will the holy water be for the salt disease, given that the church has never researched a special medicine for it?

You should know that Melissa was heavily in debt at the church, and even though she used holy water on Selene, she could only watch helplessly as Selene's condition deteriorated day by day.

“In that case, as long as the St. Rosalia Institute sends the holy water under development here under the guise of assisting with experiments, we can cooperate in administering the medicine to the prisoners without having to deliberately send them back and forth,” Bishop Beckett said.

"To my shame, the church's research on salinization is still very superficial, and the current holy water is not particularly effective against salinization. But I have tested the special medicine she developed, and it does have a certain degree of efficacy against salinization."

At this point, Bishop Beckett suddenly interrupted, "Are you planning to use potions on someone? Is that in accordance with church regulations?"

"In St. Rosalia Prison, potion experiments are permitted within certain limits, as long as the subjects are prisoners and the trial court approves them. I am personally very interested in the potion developed by this prisoner."

Furthermore, she suffers from halogenation disease and possesses the rare blessing of cursed blood, making her inherently valuable for research. Regarding the transportation issues, the research institute is willing to assist. Could I meet the prisoner to learn more about her situation?

When Weiss said this, her eyes seemed to light up, a stark contrast to her previous indifferent expression.

Leon could sense that Weiss not only wanted to help Selene, but was also very interested in researching Selene, or more precisely, in the witch who developed that special medicine.

The problem is that it was actually Lena who developed the drug. Selene couldn't make that kind of special medicine at all. In fact, she wasn't a witch at all. Without the ability to bestow blessings, she couldn't even refine magic essence. Let alone sending her there, just letting Weiss meet her might risk exposing the truth. This made Leon nervous again.

“I think this… is probably still not very convenient.” Bishop Beckett still chose to refuse.

"Why? I hope your organization can provide a suitable reason." Weiss was clearly unwilling to give up easily.

“The reasons are rather complicated…” Bishop Beckett replied thoughtfully, then suddenly turned his gaze to Leon standing to the side. “Well then, Bishop Weiss, you can ask Judge Seth for details. I imagine you’ve read the case files and have many questions for him; he’s quite knowledgeable about the prisoner’s situation. I have a lot of urgent work to attend to here. If you don’t mind, the reception room is still available; may Judge Seth receive you first, if that’s alright?”

Leon looked at Bishop Beckett in surprise, who smiled back, the meaning of which was obvious: "If you're the one who needs to get rid of her, then you'd better try to do it yourself!"

Bishop Beckett unhesitatingly passed this troublesome matter to Leon, since it was Leon's request to keep Sally here.

“Alright.” Weiss stood up and turned to Leon without hesitation. “Then let’s talk alone.”

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Leon could only reply, forcing himself to speak.

Chapter 87 She is Our Enemy (Seeking First Subscription)

A few minutes later, Leon led Weiss into the reception room.

“Your Excellency, please have a seat.” Leon gestured for Weiss to sit down and then walked towards the tea cabinet. “I’ll make you some tea.”

“No need, let’s save some time.” Weiss called out to Leon, pointing to another chair next to the tea table, indicating that Leon should sit down.

“Okay.” Leon turned around and carefully took his seat.

"Could you tell me more about the prisoners? Why are you so insistent on not transferring them to Santa Rosalia Prison?" Vess asked Leon.

“Bishop Weiss…” Leon began, while mentally searching for a suitable excuse, “You should have seen the case file and have some understanding of the criminal’s situation. I believe you already know that the criminal has a daughter. The reason she was forced by the underworld to become a witch to refine magic essence for them is because her family owed a large sum of money, and she did it to prevent her daughter from being burdened with debt.”

“I know, her daughter should be in the local reformatory by now,” Bishop Weiss nodded.

"This prisoner doesn't have much longer to live. After paying off her debts, she had no will to live. Now that she's come here to surrender, she's prepared to die. She doesn't have many years left. She wants to spend the rest of her life in her hometown, and if there's a chance, maybe she can get permission to see her daughter one last time. But if she goes to Santa Rosalia Prison, she'll never have that chance."

Furthermore, because her family had accumulated a huge debt from purchasing holy water, she was very resistant to the Holy Healing Order. "If you reveal that you are the apothecary who develops the holy water, I think... your conversation with her probably won't be very pleasant," Leon fabricated a reason.

Bishop Weiss lowered her eyes; she couldn't really refute this point. Once inside St. Rosalia Prison, given the possibility of revealing research secrets, no visits were allowed during her imprisonment.

If one acts under the guise of sympathizing with prisoners, one cannot ultimately bypass the prisoners' own will.

"It sounds like you still have sympathy for the prisoners?" Weiss asked Leon to confirm.

“She was forced to become a witch; she suffered the injustice of fate and had no other choice but to fight for her daughter’s future with her own strength… I respect that about her,” Leon replied sincerely.

That was half true; Sally chose to accept his proposal in pursuit of a dignified death, something he greatly admired.

“I have tested her medicine repeatedly, and it is indeed remarkably effective against halogenation disease. She has found the right direction.” Weiss said with some regret, “If, I mean if, she could have assisted in the experiments at the St. Rosalia Institute, perhaps… she really could have developed a cure for halogenation disease.”

“You have the medicine she left behind, that’s her achievement, so can’t you make the medicine?” Leon asked tentatively in a low voice.