What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

“We suspect it’s because the magic in the Arend Island labyrinth is more refined, perhaps related to that temple,” Leon suggested.

He certainly wouldn't reveal to Bishop Beckett that his and Rena's abilities had evolved.

"You're already preparing to ship 120 grams of goods after just one winter? Oh, that's perfect then." Bishop Beckett nodded repeatedly.

"What's just right?" Leon asked cautiously.

“It seems you can report to the Earl ahead of schedule. I’ll contact him later.” Bishop Beckett’s smile returned.

“But I haven’t reached two hundred grams yet.” Leon was a little surprised.

“You’ve already achieved that. You signed a contract with the Earl for six million worth of magic essence, 120 grams of magic essence with a purity of over 80%. The value has been fully achieved!” Bishop Beckett suddenly adopted a half-joking tone as he spoke. “Ah, of course, if you’re just bragging to me, you’d better make it clear as soon as possible, otherwise things will get complicated if I report it.”

"No, not at all," Leon replied calmly, even underreporting the amount by a tiny bit.

“Very good, then it seems I should congratulate you in advance.” Bishop Beckett nodded. “The timing couldn’t be better.”

"What timing are you referring to?" Leon recalled that Bishop Beckett had just mentioned "just right."

“Johnny is preparing to leave Riverdale, and the Earl is still considering who will take over Riverdale, and you have just completed your task.” Bishop Beckett shrugged at Leon.

"Does this mean... I'm going to take over the territory of River Valley?" Leon asked tentatively.

“That was the plan from the beginning. Of course, the premise was that you could complete the task. Now you have exceeded expectations, so taking over is a natural progression. Don’t worry, River Valley County was originally the Earl’s territory. It’s full of our people, and the business has already been established. You just need to get to know a few local officials to take over. I will also assist you for a while longer,” Bishop Beckett said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Leon silently took a deep breath. Southport County and River Valley County—he now possessed the territory and market of two counties.

Previously, Jero, an official from River Valley County, and Mr. Griffin, the local tyrant from Southport County, had been fighting each other, but now this large area of ​​territory has fallen into his hands.

“It seems we need to speed things up on our end too. It’s time to bring this out.” Bishop Beckett placed an appointment letter in front of Leon. “Sign this, and I’ll have to hand it in later.”

Leon glanced at the appointment letter: "Are you going to appoint me as deputy director now?"

“There’s no time to lose. If you want to take full control of the territory, you have to become the director here as planned. Only then can you guarantee the business on the territory. We’ll try to complete this within six months.” Bishop Beckett said this in a very calm tone.

"Six months? Is that alright?" Leon was a little worried.

He had just been promoted to team leader, and a quarter later he became deputy director. This rapid progress was enough to arouse suspicion.

However, it can still be explained to some extent, because during this time he had been accumulating merits in the Inquisition, mainly dealing with the remaining forces of Mr. Griffin.

Most of the useful people under Mr. Griffin were transferred to his command through Father Auden's introduction, while those who were unreliable, whose loyalty was questionable, or who had no intention of surrendering were all wiped out by Leon through internal intelligence and under the instruction of Bishop Beckett, using the power of the Inquisition.

In addition, he dealt with some scattered vendors. The count's requirements for territorial control were far greater than those of Mr. Griffin. Leon himself did not want other competitors to develop their territories in secret.

However, these minor achievements are insufficient for a person to achieve a promotion that transcends social class.

The deputy director of the local inquisition was the highest-ranking position among lower-ranking judges, and it was the end of Leon's career that he could have foreseen, the pinnacle of his social class. The possibility of reaching this goal was extremely low.

Ironically, he achieved this in just one year of working in this field, and it was even a transitional stage.

But to become the director, the nature of the matter changes.

The head of the local court is a mid-level inquisitor, a rank within the church, and is on the same level as regular knights and bishops.

This also means that he must receive a blessing from the church.

Chapter 114 Even in Another World, You Need to Take the Civil Service Exam?

“You don’t need to worry too much about the achievements needed for your promotion; I’ll take care of that for you.” Bishop Beckett gestured for Leon to sit down, then lowered his voice and said, “Let me explain the script to you first. You know Jay Sid, the original officer of Riverdale County, right?”

Leon nodded: "They call him Jero in the underworld. I heard he was dealt with internally."

Jero, an official in the River Valley region under the Earl's control, whose real name is Jay Sid, was mentioned to Leon by Father Auden when Father Auden offered himself to be his advisor, and the priest told him that this man was likely to be dealt with by the Earl.

After joining the Earl's forces, he also discovered that there were no cadres in the River Valley County. The River Valley County was currently being handled by Johnny, who was originally in charge of cross-sea transportation, which largely verified the priest's statement.

“That’s right, do you remember the assassin you encountered at Potter Manor?” Bishop Beckett reminded him.

“Of course,” Leon replied.

"That person was actually an assassin trained by our organization, working for Jay. Jay was always worried that after the Earl took over Southport County, he would subdue Potter and continue to govern Southport County, so he took it upon himself to send an assassin to kill Potter, which almost caused a conflict with our plans."

Bishop Beckett explained the events of that day to Leon in detail.

"So that's how it is!" Leon suddenly understood, finally grasping the whole story of the mysterious assassin. "So, Jero was purged by the Earl because of this serious mistake?"

"Pretty much. The corpse of the Blessed One that the Earl gave you is actually him. The Earl had given him another chance; he was the Earl's nephew, and the Earl trusted him quite a bit. You should take this as a warning," said Bishop Beckett.

"So what does this Mr. Gerald have to do with our plan?" Leon asked.

“After Jay disappeared in River Valley, the local church authorities became aware of the situation. The Inquisition in Helenburg believed he was either dead or on the run, so they searched for his assets everywhere,” Bishop Beckett said.

"Are the Earl's subordinates also investigated by the Inquisition?"

The count always gave Leon the impression that he had immense influence and connections, even controlling the local power of the church.

“We don’t control the church’s power in all areas. Most cadres are fine while they are alive, but if they die or lose power, the church will act quickly, uncover their crimes one by one, and then use that as a basis to find and confiscate their property. This is a huge income for the local church.”

Jay is relatively young and hasn't been a manager for very long, but he's already accumulated tens of millions in assets. These assets are handled by expert money launderers and generally go undetected, or if discovered, are untouchable. But what if, at this point, an Inquisitor happens to apprehend one of Jay's subordinates who has been involved in money laundering?

Bishop Beckett patiently guided him.

"So you've already prepared a scapegoat?" Leon roughly understood the arrangement.

"Of course, he is one of our people. We will use legal means to get him a lenient sentence, and he will receive a generous reward afterwards. His task is to provide a lot of evidence that Jay's assets are involved in organized crime, so that the church can confiscate these assets with a valid basis."

"And the deputy director of the Hamelin Heresy Inquisition, who happened to capture this person and successfully used a judicial deal to get him to talk, has naturally done a great service. With my recommendation, you will be qualified to evaluate intermediate judges." Bishop Beckett explained the plan.

"So essentially, it's about using the wealth left by Gerald to gain merit, buying a position for tens of millions?" Leon said.

“No, releasing just a portion, around ten million pfennigs of assets, will be a significant achievement. We will sort out those assets that are inherently risky and difficult to manage and give them to the church. If the church doesn’t get a taste of the benefits, they won’t stop their pursuit of Gerald. This is a reasonable sacrifice,” Bishop Beckett said.

Intentionally leaving out 10 million yuan of assets involved in organized crime to give to the church to deal with the investigation, and also giving the mole infiltrated into the church a chance to gain merit, is such a tactic even possible.

Leon felt that he could always learn something new from the Count and Bishop Beckett.

"So in this way I can gain a rank and also receive a blessing?" Leon asked tentatively.

“If everything goes smoothly,” Bishop Beckett said, then paused for a moment, “but even after you achieve merit, you only theoretically qualify for the review; there’s still another hurdle to overcome.”

What are the requirements?

"What's your level of education?" Bishop Beckett suddenly asked.

"You mean, you need to pass an exam on education to gain a rank?" Leon was a little surprised.

“Yes, that’s right. The Church has academic requirements for its members, and there will be a written test.” Bishop Beckett said to Leon, “If you are weak in this area, you’d better brush up on it as soon as possible.”

"What will be on the test?" Leon suddenly became a little nervous.

I never imagined that coming to this world would require me to take a written exam to become an Inquisitor for Heresy?

He felt that the nightmares of his student days in his previous life were about to be awakened again.

"More than half of the questions were about theological knowledge, and the rest included knowledge from various disciplines, such as history, medicine, mathematics, military affairs, and natural philosophy, but they were all relatively superficial."

"You don't need to worry too much. The requirements for bishops and regular knights are quite strict, but the requirements for inquisitors are a little more lenient. As long as you pass the minimum requirement, the church will want you. After a simple interview, you'll be able to obtain your rank," Bishop Beckett said.

Leon blinked as he listened. This sounded a lot like a civil service exam.

I've come into this world and I still have to take the civil service exam?

"What you've said makes me a little uneasy," Leon said with a wry smile.

“Just study hard for the next few months, and there shouldn’t be any major problems… By the way, there seem to be some past exam questions here. Why don’t you give it a try? Take this opportunity to fill in any gaps in your knowledge?” Bishop Beckett’s gaze fell on the locked filing cabinet, and suddenly a scroll appeared in his hand.

“Bishop Beckett, what is this…” Leon only saw the space in Bishop Beckett’s hand seem to distort for a moment, and then the scroll appeared out of thin air.

It seems that the blessing that Bishop Beckett possesses is not as simple as long-distance communication like a mobile phone.

"It's just the blessing power of a mysterious god." Bishop Beckett handed the scroll to Leon. "Give it a try."

"Right here?" Leon was caught off guard.

“Of course, I happen to have some free time. After I’ve corrected your work, I can give you some advice.” Bishop Beckett handed the pen to Leon. “You write here, and I’ll go and contact the Earl.”

Leon had no choice but to sit down in his office and reluctantly begin working on the exam paper. Bishop Beckett got up and went to the corner, where he cast a blessing in an attempt to contact the count, who was far away in his own territory.

Leon picked up the exam paper and scanned it. He actually had some understanding of the theology of this world. How could he not understand the background of this world after transmigrating to it?

Not to mention that he once longed for superpowers. In order to study the knowledge about the origin of the four gods' blessing, he even collected relevant information everywhere. However, after he took a position in the church, he realized that having knowledge but no connections was useless.

After glancing at the initial theological questions, he found that he could answer most of them. After all, it was just a basic test. As long as he had read the orthodox church traditions about the gods and carefully understood the content of the scriptures that were preached to the public, he would not have any problems.

The Supreme God governs endless time, the God of War reigns supreme power, the Creator creates all matter, and the hidden God of the Starry Night controls boundless space. Together they constitute the origin of this world and created humankind as the most intelligent of all beings, acting on behalf of the gods to manage this world...

Leon wrote quickly and soon moved on to general knowledge questions for each subject, finding that he could still answer most of them.

Especially mathematics, and natural philosophy encompassing physics, chemistry, and biology—the classroom knowledge he learned in his previous life was, after all, the essence of thousands of years of world civilization. Considering the development and education level of this world, he could actually be considered a top student.

Bishop Beckett quickly finished his report to the Earl, strolled back to Leon's side, and watched Leon answer the questions with a smile on his face. After a while, he showed a surprised look: "Wait a moment."

Leon stopped writing and gave Bishop Beckett an inquiring look.

Did he write something he shouldn't have when answering the question?

Surely not, these are mostly simple common sense questions.

Bishop Beckett took the exam paper, glanced at it, and looked at Leon with surprise: "Did you actually get into a district church school?"

He glanced at it and realized that Leon's score on the test paper was no low; his knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary people.

"I'm usually quite studious; I often borrow books to look up information, that's all," Leon replied.

“With your abilities, you could easily pass the exam to become a priest at a district church school. Being an inquisitor would be a waste of your talent.” Bishop Beckett laughed. “Sorry, it seems I was overthinking it.”

Seeing that the exam wasn't as difficult as he had imagined, Leon breathed a sigh of relief: "If the exam goes smoothly, will I be able to obtain a rank and a blessing?"

"Yes."

"What blessings can I receive, and will I have a choice?" Leon tried to ask.

"Under normal circumstances, this is probably not the case. It mainly depends on which church decides to hire you. This is related to the church's job allocation and your written test performance. Generally, whichever church is willing to hire you, you will receive the corresponding blessing when you are transferred to that church."

However, this is not absolute; there can be a certain number of exchanges between churches. For example, I am a bishop of the Church of the God of War, but I was exchanged for a blessing from the Mystic God, although such exchanges are relatively limited,” Bishop Beckett said.

"What if they don't teach me and then they don't want me?" Leon asked.

“Not necessarily. With our internal connections, if other churches aren’t interested, the Church of War will at least want you.” Bishop Beckett smiled slightly. “However, it’s best to join other churches if possible. After all, the more departments you join, the more intelligence you’ll have, which will be more convenient for our organization.”

"Sir, I'd like to ask, can a person only have one blessing?" Leon suddenly asked.

After all, he already has the blessing of the witch, and it is unknown whether he can also receive the blessing of the four gods of the church.

“No, that’s not true. There are precedents for having two blessings, but they are very rare. It’s not just about talent, but also about status. I think you don’t need to worry about that,” Bishop Beckett smiled.

“When I saw those ruins in the labyrinth, I actually thought about a question. In the past, besides worshipping the Earth Mother Goddess who was actually Moirai, Eland also worshipped the Four Origin Gods. Did they also possess the blessings of the Four Gods?” Leon said.

“Although the church may not want to admit it, the records of war history cannot erase so many accounts; they certainly exist,” Bishop Beckett replied. As a bishop of the Church of War, he was quite knowledgeable about war history.

"Then, has there ever been a witch who possessed the blessings of the Four Gods and Moirai at the same time?" Leon suddenly asked in a curious tone.

From theological and historical perspectives, as well as from his research on monsters, both Moirai and the Four Origin Gods can bestow blessings upon people, but there is a certain form of opposition between them.

He felt he should figure out if there was a conflict between the blessings.

He was curious about a rather obscure question, but he didn't think it would arouse suspicion, since who would expect a man to have the blessing of Moirai?

“There are cases like the one you described in the records of the war with Eland, but the Church does not acknowledge their authenticity.” Bishop Beckett paused slightly. “However, there are indeed such witches in Moiland today.”

"Won't the two blessings conflict?" Leon asked.

The intelligence that the Earl's forces have smuggling dealings with Moyland sounds reliable.

"I'm not sure about that. However, after receiving the blessing of the Four Gods, you cannot take potions, as there will be very serious side effects. The Church won't remind you of this, but you should know it," Bishop Beckett said casually.

"Having received the Church's blessing, one cannot use potions? Is this the real reason why the Church prohibits the trade in potions?" Leon was taken aback.

“I think it counts as one of them,” Bishop Beckett nodded.

Upon careful consideration, Leon realized that if potions using the power of Moirai were widely used, people might become wary of the blessings of the Four Gods.

Potions can produce side effects, but blessings can coexist, meaning that there are not necessarily conflicts, and even if there are, they are within a controllable range.

However, regardless of the circumstances, a position within the church is necessary to achieve his current goal of rescuing Sally.

Returning to this business is inherently risky, but if the risk is necessary, it's probably worth taking.

Chapter 115 Settlement of the Deal with the Earl