What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

The wolf leader suddenly jumped up, making a gagging sound in its throat, and purple smoke spilled from its mouth before collapsing to the ground and struggling.

"It's useful..." Leon thought.

His cursed blood is different from other demonic poisons. Even the demonic wolf, which is immune to poisons, cannot resist the curse brought by his blood!

Soon the wolf leader's body stiffened, showing signs of petrification, and it stopped moving.

The other dire wolves were also frightened. They circled around their leader but dared not approach rashly, only jumping around in panic.

Seeing that his blood was effective against the dire wolf, Leon took off his gloves, cut his hand with his dagger to let the blood flow, and then strode over.

He activated his ability, and the blood on his hands turned purplish-red, his entire hand enveloped in purple smoke.

He tentatively approached the wolf pack, and the wolves, sensing his presence, let out threatening growls and fearful howls.

Leon continued to approach, and the dire wolves, after a tense standoff, finally gave in and turned tail and fled one after another, disappearing into the depths of the maze.

Leon breathed a sigh of relief and went over to check on the petrified wolf leader.

After a brief moment of thought, he took out a rope, put it around the wolf, and began to drag it back.

Chapter 93 Are you doing something illegal?

It took Leon almost twice as long to finally drag the stiff dire wolf to a place where he could see the entrance to the mine.

By this time, Simon and his men had completed their reconnaissance of the other routes and had all gathered at the entrance to light a fire and wait.

When Leon's heavy footsteps approached, Simon and the others stood up from the campfire.

"Mr. Fenrir, it's so good to see you alright! You have no idea what I went through in there!" Simon went to greet Leon personally, saying with a hint of excitement, "We encountered three-headed demon wolves! I swear this was the closest I've ever come to death while exploring the labyrinth. Thankfully, you gave us this life-saving charm, and we were—"

Simon's incessant chatter stopped the moment Leon was dragging something. When everyone present realized that Leon was dragging an enormous dire wolf behind him, they fell silent.

"What are you standing there for? Come and help!" Leon threw down the rope as soon as he saw them and walked towards the cave entrance alone; he was already exhausted from dragging it.

"Yes!"

Simon led his men forward. At first, they were somewhat wary of the wolf, but when they found that the monster was no longer moving, they pulled on the rope and dragged it to the vicinity of the cave entrance.

Leon sat down to rest by the fire, took a big gulp of water from his water pouch, and Simon came over and handed him a towel, asking cautiously, "Mr. Fenrir, how did you deal with that dire wolf?"

Based on his past experience as a labyrinth hunter, a mature dire wolf is more troublesome than a bear. Even two or three soldiers working together would have difficulty dealing with it. Unless one is fully armored with plate armor and a long-handled weapon, it would be impossible to kill a dire wolf without taking any damage. Moreover, dire wolves usually do not appear alone.

Often, when dungeon hunters encounter monsters of the level of the Dire Wolf, their survival depends entirely on whether they can outrun their companions.

This dire wolf was a size larger than an ordinary dire wolf, and it looked like the alpha wolf of a pack. It could even take on lions and brown bears one-on-one. He really couldn't imagine how Mr. Fenrir, who was acting alone, had managed to take it down.

“I used a little trick to get it to drink the potion,” Leon replied casually.

"Aren't dire wolves immune to poison?" Simon asked, somewhat puzzled.

If the dire wolves could be poisoned, then the dungeon hunters wouldn't need to fear them. They could simply throw poisoned meat into the dungeon and kill a large number of them. However, the dire wolves are immune to all poisons.

“I didn’t use ordinary potions,” Leon replied, then gestured for everyone to gather around the fire, took out a map, and began to ask, “How are the results of your reconnaissance?”

Simon and the others began to explain their findings in turn. The terrain of the front and middle sections of the mine was roughly the same as indicated on the mine map. The monsters there were mostly vampire mosquito bats, slimes, and giant rats. However, some people also saw a few wild goats in the tunnels. The rich ecology of the maze sometimes attracts wild creatures from the outside world.

The most noteworthy aspect is that there are two routes on the map. What was originally a dead end that was only half-excavated leads to a spacious underground space within a mountain. This space contains the remains of some man-made objects. It seems that Leon and Simon have arrived at the same area, just in different locations.

In that space, there were demonic wolves, seemingly treating this ruin as their own territory.

Leon drew a circle deep within the two routes of the maze. The space wasn't particularly large; no matter how exaggerated it was, it wouldn't exceed the size of this mountain.

To conquer this labyrinth, we must first deal with the pack of demonic wolves that infest the ruins.

Fortunately, after this experiment, he has a general plan.

After a moment's thought, he asked Simon, "Simon, are you willing to accept long-term employment? From now on, you will serve me exclusively, just like you did with Mr. Griffin before."

Simon's face lit up with delight. He exchanged a glance with his subordinate and quickly replied, "Of course, sir! We'd be delighted!"

“Then let’s go back and make some plans. My business needs to clear this maze, and I need more manpower,” Leon said, standing up.

To manage a living maze, he will need manpower to be stationed and cleaned up long-term. Simon and his few people are not enough. He needs more manpower, enough to form an armed gang!

"Mr. Fenrir, shall we butcher this wolf for you?" Simon asked, pointing to the half-stiffened wolf carcass on the ground.

Leon examined the wolf for a moment, then shook his head: "No, I have other uses for it. Take it back intact, without any damage, and don't let anyone see it."

"Yes." After saying that, Simon began to direct his men to take out a black cloth from their luggage and wrap the entire corpse of the demon wolf.

After the survey was completed, Leon strode out of the cave, looked in the direction of Father Auden, and suddenly frowned.

He saw Father Auden standing there, with two women in front of him. One of the women, a young woman dressed in hunting attire, was arguing with the priest.

"Put your work aside for now, something's come up!" Leon shouted to Simon and the others.

Meanwhile, Adele, Viscount Arend's daughter, was arguing with Father Auden, holding the contract in her hand: "I'll say it again, Father Auden, although my father does owe you a huge sum of money, before the deadline, this island remains Viscount Arend's territory. If you come to the island for the purpose of disposing of assets, you are legally required to inform us in advance. Now that you have suddenly come to the island, I have the right to ask you about your purpose."

“Miss Adele, your claims now belong to the Watchers Merchant Guild, and I am the guild’s agent. I have the right to come to the island at any time to verify the assets here as the creditor’s agent, without having to report to the debtors. Otherwise, it would be too easy to transfer assets in advance in this world,” Father Auden replied calmly.

“Then let me ask you, what assets on this island could you suspect could be transferred? Some villagers said they saw the boat you boarded, with at least five or six people on board. Where are those people now? What exactly are you doing on this territory? Apart from not being allowed to mortgage them without authorization, the management rights of the assets here still belong to us. You cannot touch them without permission. I have the right to demand that you explain your actions of landing on the island,” Adele said, glaring at Father Auden.

Father Auden sighed inwardly. The current Viscount Arend was a useless piece of trash who could be easily manipulated, but his daughter, Adele, was a different story. The previous Viscount Arend seemed to have once taken this granddaughter under his wing and even sent her to the capital's highest academy to study law.

Adele had been in the capital, but upon hearing the news of her grandfather's death, she rushed back, only to find that her estate had become worthless due to a natural disaster, and her father had left behind a mess of gambling debts amounting to tens of millions.

Unlike her father, who had completely given up, Adele was desperately trying to salvage everything her grandfather had accumulated. This was somewhat of a good thing for the creditors, as she had to actively repay her debts in order to save Arende Island.

But Father Auden disliked dealing with Adele, who was an agent working for the debtor. Adele was as knowledgeable about the law as he was, and every time they disagreed, it would turn into a grueling debate for him.

But this time he really couldn't linger with Adele for too long. Fenrir was exploring the labyrinth and certainly didn't want any witnesses when he came out.

So this time, he directly used his trump card: "Miss Adele, I must remind you for the hundredth time that you are not Viscount Arendt himself, you are not the debtor, nor are you the owner of the assets. If you want to ask us any questions on behalf of Viscount Arendt, please produce a letter of authorization."

"You made a deal with my father in private, allowing him to go to those damn nightclubs of your business group, in order to prevent my father from letting me act as his agent. Do you think I can't find out about this?" Adele glared at Father Auden and said, enunciating each word clearly.

The group behind the priest had already pushed their family into a fire pit, so she naturally had to be wary of these people continuing to harm them. Unfortunately, her father was a good-for-nothing, and now she was the last guardian of the Viscount Arendt family.

“First, if you have a claim, then you must provide evidence. Second, even so, we haven’t done anything illegal. Your father has the right to appoint an agent; if he won’t let you handle it, you should talk to your father, not me.” Father Auden shrugged.

Adele was furious, her eyebrows furrowed, and just as she was about to say something, she suddenly caught a glimpse of several figures walking towards her from the direction of the mine.

The priest noticed as well, and the two of them turned to look at each other at the same time.

Wearing a mask, Leon led Simon and the others towards them. Leon, walking at the front, stared at Adele's exquisite face for a moment. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He would have found her pleasing to the eye elsewhere, but seeing such a stranger here was not a good thing. He then cast a questioning glance at the priest.

“It’s alright, sir, it’s just a minor issue, I’ll take care of it soon.” Father Auden immediately replied to Leon, “This is Miss Adele Lovelace, daughter of Viscount Arend, she has a few questions about our landing on the island.”

"Didn't you say that Viscount Arend wouldn't get involved in things here?" Leon frowned slightly behind his mask.

If someone came to manage his maze-solving business every day, what would happen?

“He won’t interfere, but his daughter is a little… not very well-behaved. I assure you, I’ll talk to her about it soon,” Father Auden explained.

At this moment, Adele looked at Oden, then at Leon wearing a mask, and quickly realized that Leon was the one in charge here, and that Father Oden's visit to the island was actually to guide this person.

“Sir, could you please let me speak?” Adele immediately bypassed the priest and tried to talk to Leon, realizing that persuading Leon would be more effective than persuading the priest.

“You can’t talk to this man. You have to talk to me!” Father Auden quickly stopped Adele.

"Is it inconvenient for me to have a few words with this gentleman? What are you hiding?" Adele sensed something was amiss and her voice suddenly rose. "Are you planning to do something illegal on our property?"

"Listen carefully, Miss Adele..."

Just as Father Auden raised a finger, ready to start the next round of debate with Adele, Leon suddenly put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him away.

“Hey!” Father Auden protested.

"Are you willing to talk to me, sir?" Although Adele was a little nervous, she mustered up her courage and looked up to meet the eyes behind Leon's mask.

"..." Leon was silent for a moment, then suddenly drew his gun and aimed it directly at Adele's forehead.

At that moment, the air froze, and Adele's blood seemed to freeze as well.

Chapter 94 The Viscount's Daughter's Nemesis

"Young Miss!" the servant who had come with Adele exclaimed, instinctively reaching for his sidearm.

Adele is now constantly traveling around negotiating business deals and attracting investment in order to save her family. For the sake of the necessary pomp and circumstance, she still used some of her savings to hire this servant, whose main job is to act as her bodyguard.

For a frail woman like her to travel around, this is a necessary expense. A female bodyguard with simple training can reduce a lot of danger for her, and ordinary thugs can't possibly target her.

But this time she was not facing ordinary thugs. The gangsters behind Leon were all experts who had been through many shootouts and were far more experienced than her bodyguards. The moment the maid gripped the gun, Simon and the others had already drawn their guns and aimed at her.

"Don't move, ma'am. Pointing a gun at this gentleman will get you killed!" Simon warned the maid.

They've finally landed a long-term employer, so naturally they can't let this job slip away.

It was a serious dereliction of duty to allow Mr. Fenrir to be held at gunpoint despite their protection.

The maid dared not move, the color draining from her face. Adele had no money to hire experienced bodyguards; she was, in fact, a novice herself, and had never seen anything like this before.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Father Auden was getting a little agitated, waving his hand at Leon incessantly, trying to dissuade him.

He wasn't showing pity for Adele or having a change of heart; rather, shooting Viscount Arendt's daughter here was definitely not a good idea. No matter how poor she was, she was still a noblewoman, and this was no ordinary murder case.

Moreover, the only assets that Viscount Arendt currently possesses that are of interest to others are his title and his beautiful daughter, and the value of that title is essentially tied to his daughter.

According to imperial law, under certain conditions, nobles are allowed to pass on their titles to their sons-in-law through certain procedures. Without Adele, anyone who wants to buy the title of Viscount Arend would have to become Viscount Arend's adopted son or "long-lost son." The success rate of this form of inheritance is very low, and no one would spend money to buy a worthless title and then have to become someone else's son.

As long as Adele, who was determined to revive her family, was alive, they still had a chance to squeeze the last bit of value out of Viscount Arend. Now that Leon had shot Adele dead, he couldn't explain it to the Watchers Merchant Guild.

In fact, given the current situation, he doesn't even know how to end it!

Adele turned deathly pale with fright; the hollow muzzle of the gun felt like an abyss, making her knees buckle.

"You...you can't..." Though she was so terrified she was about to faint, she managed to squeeze out a trembling voice, "I am...the daughter of a viscount, killing me will get you into trouble..."

"Oh? You're now hoping the law will protect you? If I'm doing something illegal, do you think the law can deter me?" Leon calmly held his gun and retorted, "All I have to do is pull the trigger and throw your body into the maze to destroy the evidence. How is the law supposed to protect you then, esteemed lady?"

Adele was speechless this time, only trembling all over. Seeing the chilling look in Leon's eyes, she truly felt the approach of death, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Just then, Leon suddenly moved the gun away: "So, stop doing such stupid things, Miss Adele Lovelace."

Adele stood there, tears welling in her eyes, stunned and unable to react for a moment.

Then Leon suddenly pulled out the church's emblem from his person: "Inquisitor! I have been ordered to investigate the labyrinth on Arend Island."

"Inquisitor?" Adele stared blankly at the four-pointed star badge.

“That’s right. I was ordered to survey the labyrinth and assess its dangers. Because of a shortage of manpower, I asked a few labyrinth hunters for help. Father Auden of the Prophet Church happens to know about this area, so we asked him to come and guide us, right, Father?” Leon put down his gun and turned to Father Auden.

“That’s right.” Father Auden nodded without changing his expression, immediately agreeing with Leon.

"Alright, everyone, put your guns down," Leon instructed Simon and the others behind him.

Simon put away his gun as instructed. Although they didn't quite understand what Leon was up to, they both knew that all they needed to do now was keep quiet.

"The Church does not necessarily need to obtain approval from the local lord to carry out reconnaissance and sealing of the labyrinth, especially when it judges that the local lord is incapable of managing the situation."

"It may be impolite to say this, but I heard from Father Auden that Viscount Arend has gone bankrupt and is completely unable to handle the labyrinth that has appeared on the island, so we have not contacted the Viscount. Please forgive us," Leon said in a businesslike tone.

Adele blinked, trying to process Leon's explanation. Leon's threats had left her completely terrified, and she hadn't even had time to feel grateful for her narrow escape. She could only stammer, "We...we reported the labyrinth to the church, but they never paid any attention..."

"In Southport County, the church is preparing to reassess the danger of the mazes within its borders, and the Arend Island maze is on the list," Leon said.

Adele thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Does the Church... intend to seal the labyrinth on Arend Island?"

"Whether or not to seal it still depends on further instructions from above. But in any case, since Viscount Arend can't provide any support for the Church's actions, please don't hinder them. Especially you, Miss Loveles, you'd better not show up here again. If we happen to be fighting monsters, a stray bullet could kill you!" Leon replied.

Adele was too frightened to reply. Even though she temporarily believed that the man was from the church, she was still wary of him.

Father Auden saw through the deception and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The thrills Leon created robbed Adele of most of her ability to think. Now she has to be a beat slow to understand anything Leon says and can only be led by the nose by him.

When confronting a highly educated young lady like this, pointing a gun at her head is definitely more effective than debating.

Adele was much more clueless now than when she was arguing with him; she couldn't see the flaws in Leon's argument for the time being.

Now that Leon is disguised as a member of the church sent to investigate, making it seem as if the church might consider sealing the labyrinth, Adele will be put on the defensive if she doesn't suspect anything.

Normally, the Church's dispatch of Inquisitors or Knights to seal the labyrinth is not entirely free. Whoever owns the territory must contribute a portion of the money as a donation to the Church. If it belongs to a kingdom, the national treasury must allocate funds, and if there is a lord, the lord must contribute money. Viscount Arend, of course, could not afford to contribute a single penny.

If the Church determines that the labyrinth on Arend Island is too dangerous and performs the seal first, allowing Viscount Arend to owe a donation in advance, it would naturally be a good thing for Adele. Without the labyrinth, the mines and other lands on Arend Island would have value for development. She is the one who owes and begs the Church, and even if Leon acts a little more forceful, she wouldn't dare to say anything.

The exploration and evaluation phase can be very long, possibly one, two, three, or even four years, and once Leon gets the opportunity to use the maze, he can generate huge profits in a short period of time.

Of course, once Adele calmed down, she should have been able to sense that something was wrong. But even if she considered that Leon might be doing something illegal and wanted to stop him again, she would have to assess the situation if Leon pointed a gun at her head and didn't put it away.