What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

“No, he betrayed the Papacy but was not wanted because he was already registered as dead,” Bishop Beckett replied.

"Was it arranged by the Earl?" Leon's first thought was that the Earl had staged a death so that the apostate knight could escape the manhunt, and in return, the knight would serve the Earl.

“The situation is more complicated than you think.” Bishop Beckett gathered his thoughts and began to explain carefully, “He originally belonged to the Papal Navy, and was the Grand Master of a Knights Order, commanding three warships and two escort ships…”

Hearing this, Leon was taken aback. A Grand Master of a Knights Order, a rank far above that of a regular Knight, who also managed a fleet, was at least a Colonel, according to the military ranks he knew.

The Knight Commander is on par with the Archbishop, and those above him are also eligible to be selected as Cardinals.

"According to the church's records, in the war against the heretics ten years ago, his fleet was besieged and wiped out in a fierce naval battle. He went missing as a result and was eventually judged to have died. The church also posthumously honored him."

But he actually survived, and instead of returning to the church, he adopted the name Johnny and began engaging in underworld business within the empire. Later, the Earl found him, struck a deal, and recruited him into his ranks. "Bishop Beckett continued to explain.

"Is there some hidden story behind this?" Leon asked.

“I don’t know. First of all, we are in different departments in the church, and our ranks are quite different. In addition, the files on the battle he participated in back then have been sealed by the Church Discipline Council. They can only be accessed with the approval of the Cardinals. The Earl has never revealed the details to anyone else.” Bishop Bette added, “You’d better not inquire about it, and even more so, don’t mention it in front of him.”

Leon then suggested that the count persuade Johnny Wellman, since taking over the labyrinth would almost guarantee the local supply the count wanted. After careful consideration, Bishop Beckett agreed.

Bishop Beckett then directly performed his Mystic Blessing in front of Leon, using the Mystic Seal to remotely contact the Earl—it was the first time Leon had known that the blessings of this world could be used to replace the calling function of a mobile phone.

After Bishop Beckett relayed the problem Leon had encountered, the Count replied as follows:

“Johnny and I only have an employment relationship established through a transaction. This additional task is not in our agreement. It is already quite a stretch to ask him to handle River Valley County temporarily.”

However, he is indeed the best person to handle this matter. I can arrange a meeting between you two; whether you can persuade him is up to you.

The Earl then sent someone to Riverdale to arrange the meeting, and Bishop Beckett also offered to go along, reasoning that "if anything goes wrong during the talks, at least there will be someone to mediate, so you won't get killed by him."

To be honest, Bishop Beckett's words only made Leon more uneasy.

The appointed time arrived quickly, and the other party did not keep them waiting for long.

Soon, a burly, bearded middle-aged man entered the hall, guided by the butler.

As soon as he entered, the people in the room immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol. This middle-aged man seemed to have been thoroughly soaked and marinated in a barrel of liquor.

Bishop Beckett and Leon stood up at the same time. Bishop Beckett spoke first: "Long time no see, Mr. Johnny."

"Hmm." Johnny responded casually, then turned his gaze to Leon. "So you're the one who wanted to see me, right?"

"Hello Mr. Johnny, I am..."

Just as Leon was about to reach out, Johnny raised a hand to stop him: "Alright, alright, young man, now that you've seen me, can I go back?"

Leon stood there, stunned for a moment: "Is this... a local joke?"

Johnny didn't seem to be joking; he appeared to genuinely intend to meet him once and then leave.

“Mr. Johnny, please don’t do this. This is a discussion requested by the Earl,” Bishop Beckett intervened.

Johnny sighed, finding the situation rather troublesome.

“Sigh, if the Earl hadn’t asked me to come see him, I wouldn’t have wasted this time at all.” Johnny said, his gaze falling on Leon. “I already know the whole story, kid. You want to find someone to kill an earth dragon in the labyrinth, right?”

Leon nodded.

“Now you know my answer: I have no interest.” Johnny spread his hands. “Just staying in this River Valley is already a favor to the Earl. You expect me to clean up other people’s messes? Sorry, kid, find someone else!”

Bishop Beckett sighed inwardly. This was an expected outcome; Johnny's refusal was so decisive that there seemed to be no room for negotiation.

“You can take a cut of the profits generated by this maze in the future,” Leon immediately offered his prepared terms.

He had considered this condition for a long time. If the maze could be suppressed, the Earl's goal should be achievable. The annual revenue of over six million was considerable, even if only two or three percent was taken, and it was a long-term benefit.

Furthermore, if Johnny were to join the labyrinth's shareholding, he would have a vested interest in Leon, which would be very beneficial for Leon to gain a foothold in the Count's sphere of influence in the future.

“Wow, that sounds really good, but who knows how many years you can last in this line of work? Ha, you’re doing a business that could cost you your life.” Johnny still seemed uninterested.

"Of course you can choose to settle the payment in one lump sum, but please tell me what conditions would make you willing to consider this?" Leon didn't want to give up on this matter easily.

Bishop Beckett and the Earl both said that this man could solve the problem, and since he was also the former Grand Master of the Knights, Leon believed that Johnny really had this ability.

"Conditions? What kind of conditions can you offer?" Johnny scoffed, looking down at Leon with a condescending gaze. "Do you think my men are like those lowly thugs you use and discard, worthless cowards?"

“Mr. Johnny, firstly, I will pay you according to the terms you are willing to accept. Secondly, I don’t just use it and then discard it,” Leon replied earnestly.

"Oh, sounds like you treat your men quite well? You must have lost quite a few people this time you encountered the earth dragon, right?" Johnny looked at Leon with a mocking expression.

“Only one died. He was the first to run into the earth dragon, and then another person was injured by the earth dragon’s breath, but his life was not in danger,” Leon replied.

"That's a real shame. If a few more people died, you could have saved a lot of costs, right?" Johnny said with a smile, casually pulling out a tin wine jug from his person and opening it without any hesitation, preparing to drink in front of everyone.

Generally speaking, if mercenaries in the underworld die during a mission, and the commission is paid per death, the employer can usually save on the cost of those deaths. If the commission is paid per mission, then the remaining survivors split the commission.

“No, the others paid a total of over two hundred thousand, but I paid a separate one hundred thousand to the dead guy, which was given to his family,” Leon replied calmly.

Johnny suddenly stopped bringing the flask to his lips.

"What did you just say? You paid 100,000 pfennigs for a dead man?" Johnny suddenly looked at Leon with great interest. "Are you thanking him for dying so you could live?"

“I have an agreement with my people. If they die while working for me, I will cover their funeral expenses, a pension for their designated beneficiaries, and their medical and nursing care costs,” Leon replied.

This time, not only Johnny, but even Bishop Beckett looked at Leon in surprise. Even a novice knight of the church might not receive such a large pension when he died.

Johnny blinked and sized up Leon as if he'd seen some novel creature. Suddenly, he burst out laughing, then slammed his hand on the table and roared with laughter: "Pfft, hahaha, medical expenses? Compensation? Paying a bunch of thugs for their deaths? Hahaha, unbelievable... There can't be a fool like you in this world!! Do you know how easy it is for these guys to die? If ten of them die, you'll have to pay a million. Have you even done the math?"

Leon watched Johnny burst into laughter without batting an eye, and simply replied, "If you're going to buy them to risk their lives, you should at least offer some real money."

The compensation for the victims, as well as the medical and nursing expenses for the injured, accounted for a large part of the expenditure. Afterwards, when the priest was handling the funeral arrangements according to the contract, he repeatedly said things like "You see" to Leon, but Leon did not regret it.

After a while, Johnny finally stopped, still not quite satisfied, and looked at Leon with a big smile: "Kid, do you know that even if you worked and sacrificed for the church, you wouldn't be compensated this much money? You've made those thugs' lives worth more than yours."

“That’s the church’s problem. I was injured while working for the church, and they gave me a thousand pfennigs to get rid of me. If I wanted to avoid becoming disabled because of my injuries, I would donate every penny I had worked so hard to earn to the Healing Order, and that wouldn’t be enough. Then the church would have one more heretic inquisitor who had apostasy. I don’t want such a ridiculous thing to happen in my organization,” Leon said.

“Hey, I agree with that! You’re right, the church is full of sons of bitches!” Johnny suddenly pointed at Leon and grinned, as if they had found common ground.

Leon was taken aback, thinking to himself, "I didn't go that far."

Bishop Beckett, listening from the side, looked embarrassed and could only cough awkwardly.

"But even if there are a few more apostates, the church will still be able to operate just as well. Do you think that by spending more money to buy people's hearts, you can build an organization that is more powerful than the church?" Johnny retorted.

“I did this just to make myself feel better. Since I’ve been caught in the rain, I should understand how others suffer when they are caught in the rain. Even if I can’t hold an umbrella for someone, I shouldn’t at least take their umbrella away,” Leon replied, looking into Johnny’s eyes.

Johnny raised an eyebrow and let out a soft chuckle through his nose, it was hard to tell whether he agreed or found it funny.

After a moment of silence, just as Leon was about to continue discussing the terms, Johnny suddenly blurted out, "Three million."

Leon was taken aback: "What?"

“Three million pfennigs, and I’ll kill that earth dragon for you,” Johnny said, holding up three fingers.

Surprised, Leon realized he didn't have that much money on him: "I don't have that much money on me right now..."

"You can pay half the deposit upfront, and settle the rest within a year. Also, we have priority to take anything valuable from the maze ruins. The earth dragon's corpse is ours too, but you can take its brain and heart to refine magic essence," Johnny stated lazily. "Oh, and one more thing, I'll take care of my own people. I don't need you to use any compensation to buy them over. Don't mention your bullshit agreement in front of them, understand?"

Chapter 100 The Shared Misery Among Fools

Johnny's terms caught Leon off guard. The price wasn't low, but it was all within his budget.

He didn't have three million, but he could definitely afford one and a half million. He would also be able to pay the balance after he met the count's quota a year later.

It's reasonable for Johnny to kill the earth dragon and keep the earth dragon's corpse and valuable items in the ruins. On the contrary, Johnny's willingness to give up the part that can be used to refine magic essence is quite generous.

The earth dragon's brain and heart can only be of the greatest value in their hands, but if Johnny asks them to refine all the magic essence and give it to him, Leon wouldn't really have much of an objection.

For him, three million pfennigs to get rid of the earth dragons entrenched in the maze, plus the ability to pay half the remaining balance on credit, allowing his maze management strategy to proceed smoothly, was already a pretty good deal.

He had seen in the witch inheritance materials in Lena's possession that the higher the level of the demon, the more magic essence was refined, and the higher the purity was generally.

If this is true, the magic essence that the earth dragon can extract should be quite considerable, which would be a great help for him to achieve the goal of becoming an earl.

But this made him a little confused. Why did Johnny, who had initially shown little interest in the matter, suddenly agree and even make concessions regarding his situation?

While he was still confused, Johnny suddenly reached out his hand to him across the table.

"You want me to pay half the payment right now?" Leon was caught off guard. "I don't have it with me; I need someone to bring it over..."

“It’s a map, you idiot!” Johnny said impatiently. “Didn’t you explore the maze? I need to know the specifics inside to plan my moves! And tell me the size of that earth dragon, otherwise how am I supposed to kill it?”

Leon quickly pulled out a map of the mine from his pocket, but Johnny didn't even wait for him to agree before pushing the conversation forward, as if the matter was already settled, leaving Leon a little behind.

He spread the map out on the table and gave Johnny a general explanation of their previous exploration of the maze, including the ruins connected to the mine, the hall deep within the vast space, and the earth dragon that dwelled in the hall.

"Lord of the Labyrinth." Johnny suddenly blurted out this word after hearing it.

"What?" Leon asked instinctively.

“Those ruins must be the temple where the Elanders worship Moirai, and that earth dragon must be the temple’s guardian, the labyrinth master summoned by Moirai in response to the believers’ call to protect the temple,” Johnny said with certainty.

Elland-Leon struggled to recall the history he had learned in this world.

Eland was a pagan nation that existed on the eastern coastline of this continent three hundred years ago. They worshipped a special sect, and in addition to the four origin gods, they also worshipped a pagan deity called the Earth Mother Goddess. The sect's emblem was a pentagram—the same emblem commonly used by witches today.

Throughout history, the relationship between Eland and the Norn Empire has not been harmonious. The Empire's church claims that the Earth Mother Goddess worshipped by the Eland people is actually the primordial witch Moirai, who hates the four gods and mankind, and that her faith is a blasphemy against the four primordial gods.

Three hundred years ago, in a full-scale war, the Empire, taking advantage of its strength, successfully crushed Eland, leading to the country's destruction. Legend has it that a part of Eland's army, along with the surviving Eland princess, fled across the sea and established a new country on an archipelago on the other side of the sea. This is the pagan nation of Moiland, which openly worships the monotheistic god Moiland.

Large swathes of land along the eastern coast of the Empire today, including River Valley County and Southport County, were once part of the land of Elander, including the island of Arend.

"Is there anything special in that temple?" Leon asked tentatively.

“Who knows? But if it can support an earth dragon, the magic in this labyrinth must be very abundant.” Johnny stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then took out a nautical map of the nearby area from his body, pointed to the location of Arend Island and asked, “Tell me the landing point.”

“Here. There used to be a dock here, but it’s been destroyed. There’s a mountain path that leads directly to the entrance of the maze,” Leon said.

"Then we'll meet there at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll prepare the equipment and people, but at least one person needs to guide me. Also, remember to bring money." Johnny made the arrangements on the spot.

“Tomorrow…” Leon was somewhat surprised by Johnny’s efficiency.

"Is there something inconvenient for you?" Johnny asked impatiently.

“No, then tomorrow,” Leon replied.

“Then it’s settled.” Johnny nodded, finally picked up the tin flask, took a swig, and then looked at Leon, who was still looking him over, and spread his hands with a puzzled expression. “You can leave now. I wasn’t prepared to keep you here for dinner.”

“Alright, then I’ll leave this to you, Mr. Johnny.” Leon stood up upon seeing this and glanced at Bishop Beckett.

“You go down the mountain first. I have something I want to discuss with Mr. Johnny,” said Bishop Beckett.

“Okay.” Leon walked out the door alone, crossed the yard, left the villa, and went down the mountain path.

“What do you want to say? What message did Mustang ask you to deliver this time?” Johnny glanced at Bishop Beckett.

“The Earl did not instruct me to deliver the message. I am merely curious and would like to ask why you suddenly agreed to his request?” Bishop Beckett asked earnestly.

He was genuinely curious about the reason, because Johnny was someone whose influence, even as Earl, depended entirely on his own mood.

"Is this important? Don't you want me to handle this? Otherwise, you wouldn't have come in person, and Mustang wouldn't have sent someone to meet that kid." Johnny said.

“The Earl would certainly be surprised if he knew this outcome. I know very well why the Earl favors him, but I don’t understand why you also admire him so much,” said Bishop Beckett.

“I admire him? That kid?” Johnny’s reaction was as if he had heard a joke. He took another swig of wine, then stared blankly at the mouth of the tin jug, watching the liquid inside churn. Suddenly, the raging waves of that day and the faces of those who bravely faced death flashed through his mind.

"It's just fools feeling sorry for each other..." Johnny suddenly said, his voice so low it sounded like he was talking to himself.

“What?” Bishop Beckett asked instinctively.

But Johnny didn't continue the conversation. Instead, he said, "Tell Mustang for me that after this is over, I'll stay in Riverdale for another two months at most. I miss my ship."

Bishop Beckett smiled slightly upon hearing this: "Don't worry, Mr. Johnny, if you're willing to help him settle this matter, someone will take over the territory in River Valley County very soon."

……

The following day, Arend Island.

Leon stood on the dock waiting, with ten mercenaries standing behind him as his guards.

At 7:30 a.m., the morning mist on the river had thinned considerably, and the rising sun illuminated the water, revealing the faint silhouettes of sailboats.

At approximately 7:45 a.m., the silhouette of a ship finally appeared in the morning mist to the northwest, heading straight towards us, getting closer and closer to Arend Island.

It was a fairly large armed merchant ship, with rows of side gun ports on both sides.

The ship, with its sails billowing, was traveling quite fast, heading straight from the northwest towards Arend Island, seemingly coming from a port in Riverdale County.

As he watched, Leon suddenly felt something was strange. He sensed the wind direction and found that it was generally blowing westward from the sea to the land, but the direction in which the merchant ship's sails were billowing was almost completely opposite to the wind direction.

Was this ship specially built? Or did someone on board use special powers?

Leon was still guessing in his mind that the ship had approached the damaged dock, and very cautiously lowered its anchor at a distance, then launched three small boats to sail in this direction.

Leon saw Johnny himself. He and five others boarded the small boats separately. Then, he had two ballistae lowered from the large ship by ropes and placed on the small boats, along with several crossbow bolts that looked like harpoons, with iron locks attached to the ends of the bolts.