What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

"Actually, it started at four in the morning and has continued until now. I just finished my shift." Enrique smiled helplessly.

"Oh dear, then I've just added more work for you again?" Leon said apologetically.

That being said, he actually came precisely when Enrique was changing shifts. He had secretly observed the city gates beforehand and knew the changing-shift times arranged by the church.

Enrique was an acquaintance of his, much easier to talk to, and when it came time to change shifts, the other party would definitely want to resolve things quickly.

"Not at all, nothing like that happened. I should have hosted another gathering for you all, but at least I can give you a send-off," Enrique said with a smile.

“Then let’s not take up any more of your rest time, let’s begin.” Leon shrugged at his carriage.

“Hmm, just going through the motions, please understand.” Enrique said, instructing two apprentice knights to open the carriage door while simultaneously casting a blessing. He then immediately made a slightly surprised sound, “Judge Seth, is there a hidden compartment under this carriage?”

“Yes, we usually leave some classified documents and evidence out on missions that are not convenient for others to see.” Leon calmly gave the explanation he had prepared in advance. “Let me open it and show you.”

“No need, no need. I know it’s empty, and no one can hide there.” Enrique waved his hand.

Previously, only Vice's Magic Mirror was kept in the hidden compartment. Now, Vice's Magic Mirror is on him, and Vice has set it to its normal mirror state.

At this moment, the apprentice knight who opened the back door of the carriage made an unexpected sound. The carriage was divided into sections. Originally, the rear section was designed for the prisoners being transported, but this time Leon used it as a warehouse.

Now, the apprentice knight who opened the back door saw five human sculptures covered with white cloth, each revealing only a small part of its body, as well as several framed paintings covered with black cloth.

Enrique paused slightly as he walked over, then turned to look at Leon: "Judge Seth, you're not only interested in academics, but also in collecting art?"

"It's just a bit of affectation. Actually, I mainly want to invest in art. I know a friend who bought a sculpture a few years ago. Later, the sculptor became famous, and his sculpture sold for twenty times its original price. So I just picked out a few that I liked." Leon stepped forward and lifted a white cloth to show Enrique the most revealing nude female sculpture he had chosen from the art gallery. "Look at this, Bishop Davidson, those breasts, that butt... the artistic level is obviously very high!"

"Haha, it's...not bad." Enrique could only manage an awkward but polite smile, thinking to himself, "Dude, you're not just being modest, are you? Your artistic level is all about chests and butts, huh?"

"And these paintings too, the figures are all drawn perfectly..." Leon then enthusiastically pulled back a black cloth to show Enrique the figure paintings underneath.

"Alright, alright, alright!" Enrique quickly stopped Leon to avoid making the conversation even more awkward and leaving him unable to continue. "Congratulations on buying the item you wanted. Your carriage is in perfect condition and can depart anytime. When you have the chance to visit the parish again, I'll treat you to a proper meal."

"Okay, see you next time." Leon tactfully covered up the sculpture and painting again.

At this moment, Enrique noticed a sculpture at the very back, wrapped in a white cloth, with only its head and hands used to cover its face visible. He suddenly said, "That sculpture..."

"What's wrong?" Leon asked, slightly tense.

Enrique glanced at it a couple more times, then asked Leon, "What's the name of that sculpture?"

“A shy maiden,” Leon replied.

“This sculpture is really good. The workmanship of the head and hands alone is exceptional. It feels like it’s on par with the works of famous artists.” Enrique nodded repeatedly. Despite his noble birth, he did have a certain fondness for art.

"Thank you for your kind words. I'll look forward to it appreciating in value then," Leon replied with a smile.

Chapter 160 Professor Weiss's Guidance

Two days later, at the Arend Island dock, Leon carefully led Weiss off the ship.

Having left the Southeastern Archdiocese unharmed, Leon and Viss returned to Southport County without stopping, and then set off from the docks of Caster City to Arend Island.

Viss's face was covered the entire time, and after arriving in Castel, she was blindfolded. When changing trains, Leon had to lead her by the hand most of the time.

As soon as Leon stepped off the ship, he saw his men trying to salute and greet him. Leon raised his hand to stop them with a look, then pointed to a nearby carriage.

His subordinates immediately understood and called for their companions to drive a carriage to pick up Leon.

Leon and Weiss boarded the carriage heading towards the mining town. After the carriage had been traveling for a while, Leon finally spoke: "You can take off your eye bandages now."

Weiss raised her hand and untied the black cloth covering her eyes. In front of her was the closed carriage and Leon sitting opposite her.

“Where are we going?” Weiss asked.

“For us, this is the safest place. My territory, and also where you will work in the future,” Leon replied.

"What exactly are you doing behind the church's back?" Weiss asked, puzzled.

“You’ll find out about that later. Now let’s talk about the topic you’re most interested in, that… the mastermind behind your framing,” Leon said.

Upon hearing this, Weiss's expression immediately became focused. After leaving the Southeastern Parish, Leon had not directly told her about the mastermind behind it all, and only now was he willing to speak up.

Weiss understood that besides feeling safe enough here, another reason was that Leon was unsure whether she would do something unnecessary on the way after learning the truth.

From the moment she stepped onto Leon's territory, she was completely under Leon's control, which was part of their deal.

In this situation, Leon could at least feel at ease sharing some secrets with her.

“You should know Count Frey, right? Isaac Mustang,” Leon said, giving the answer directly.

“Count Frey?” Weiss looked surprised.

She hadn't expected a name she had almost no connection with to pop up here. Of course she knew the most powerful Earl of Frye in the East, but... this person really had no connection with her at all.

She had never heard of her father having any dealings with Earl Frey. Her father was currently serving in the north... no, wait a minute...

“My father once served as an inquisitor for heretics in the Foley region. Could this be related to that?” Weiss asked tentatively.

Her father moved around to several regions when he was young, and for a time served as an inquisitor for heresy. It was in the Frye region that the Earl of Frye was not yet the Isaac Mustang we know today.

“Twenty years ago, when your father was still an Inquisitor, Count Frye, who was then a novice knight, was engaged in apostate business. Your father investigated his business, and although he didn’t catch the Count himself, he did catch one of his accomplices, which directly led to the accomplice’s death in prison. The Count has always held a grudge about this and has been plotting revenge against your father,” Leon explained briefly.

"So he framed me to make my father suffer?"

“That’s right. He wants your father to experience the pain of losing someone important to him, just like he did. That’s his revenge plan.”

"Then Bishop Beckett, and the Great Witch Alexie, were all organized by him?" Weiss asked in surprise.

It's not surprising that Count Frey could get Bishop Beckett to do things. Count Frey was once the Knight Commander of the Church of War, and Bishop Beckett was supported by Count Frey. It's not surprising that there was a master-servant relationship between them in private.

The problem is that being able to collude with Alexia is something that ordinary people cannot do.

“Bishop Beckett is his subordinate, while Alexie is his collaborator. Count Frye appears powerful on the surface, and even more so behind the scenes. He is the creator of a criminal empire and has been cooperating with the witches' gathering in Moilland,” Leon explained.

"And what is your relationship with him?" Weiss looked into Leon's eyes and asked the question, already having a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

“I was one of his subordinates, responsible for managing some of the businesses on his territory, as well as some production. As you can imagine, my rank in the church was actually arranged by them,” Leon replied.

"Business? What kind of business do you do? Could it be..." Weiss stopped mid-sentence, realizing the answer, "...magic smuggling?"

If they were colluding with the Great Witch of Moyland, the only business that comes to mind would be the smuggling of magic essence. The vast majority of magic potions circulating within the empire, which use magic essence as a raw material, are smuggled in from outside.

“That’s right. He’s been smuggling magic energy from Moyland all along. His territory is so wealthy now, and his current status and power all started from there,” Leon said.

"So, as an officer, you also help him produce magic potions using magic essence, and then sell them, right?" Weiss asked Leon for confirmation.

“There’s a slight difference,” Leon corrected. “I produce more than just potions.”

"Anything else?" Weiss asked instinctively.

“It’s magic essence. I’m in charge of producing magic essence and supplying it to the Earl,” Leon replied.

“Producing magic essence? You raise monsters?” Weiss frowned slightly. “Monsters can only obtain magic essence by living in dungeons.”

“Yes, it only works in the maze…” Leon said, just as the carriage stopped in front of the fortified wall at the mountain pass.

Leon then led Weiss out of the car, and the guards on the walled city saluted him.

"You're finally back, Mr. Fenrir." The subordinate, who was serving as the captain, stepped forward and greeted Leon respectfully, then looked at the veiled Weiss, "And this is?"

“New apothecary, open the door.” Leon waved his hand.

The gate slowly opened, and Leon led Weiss into the mountain pass. Before Weiss lay a village-like fortress, with many people coming and going, pushing boxes of goods.

The road stretched deep into the mountains, where there was a mine entrance.

“Welcome to my labyrinth; that’s the entrance,” Leon introduced.

Weiss curiously observed the layout and asked, "Is that maze alive or dead?"

“The living maze has been turned into a breeding farm after we cleared it out,” Leon replied. “Let me show you the lab where we make potions. Starting today, I’ll have to trouble you to make a new antidote for the saltification disease.”

After realizing that Lena was overwhelmed, Leon added a new laboratory outside the maze to prepare potions and hired two apothecaries to be in charge of the production of ordinary potions, so that Lena could focus on the extraction of magic essence and the preparation and development of a small number of potions.

Leon led Weiss to one of the buildings in the stronghold. The guard saluted and let them in. Inside the building was a warehouse that looked very ordinary.

But after Leon unlocked a locking mechanism and pushed the shelf against the wall along a hidden track, a secret door appeared behind it.

They passed through a hidden door, which led to a space without doors or windows, but which was brightly lit.

This is a laboratory specifically for preparing potions. Several workbenches are pieced together, with bottles, jars, and various equipment scattered around. A male and female apothecary are busy working back and forth. Hearing the noise, they turn around and immediately stop what they are doing.

Weiss looked around and frowned.

"Boss," the two pharmacists greeted Leon, who had come to inspect the place.

Leon nodded in response, then turned to Weiss and asked, "What do you think?"

"Can I be frank?" Weiss's brow remained furrowed.

"You said."

“Absolutely not, this feels like a junkyard.” Weiss shook her head.

Both pharmacists widened their eyes simultaneously.

“You’re quite right,” Leon said with a bitter smile.

“Whether it’s research or potion concoction, there’s no room for error. I understand you’re here to concoct potions just to make money, but if you’re asking me to use them, I’m sorry to say, there’s almost nowhere here that meets my standards,” Wei said without any mercy.

The two pharmacists exchanged glances, then the older male pharmacist raised his hand and said, "This lady..."

Weiss immediately glanced at him and interrupted, "What's wrong with your protective gloves? They're already contaminated with the reagent from the last experiment, why are you still using them?"

The pharmacist glanced speechlessly at the traces of medicine on his fingers and argued, "It doesn't matter. I know perfectly well that the interaction between them is safe and controllable."

“There’s no safety or controllability involved in this kind of operation.” Weiss’s gaze swept across the lab bench, and she pointed to an alcohol lamp. “Take that thing down immediately. That container can only be used for mixing, not for direct heating.”

"Do as instructed," Leon commanded.

The pharmacist who was about to offer his opinion swallowed his words, one of them extinguished the alcohol lamp, and the other removed the utensils.

Then Weiss casually picked up a bottle of potion, shook it, and faced the apothecary: "Is this mandrake essential oil?"

“Yes.” Both pharmacists were surprised that Weiss could identify the potion's ingredients at a glance and gave an affirmative answer.

“No, this is a bottle of impurities. See these tiny black particles?” Weiss put the bottle down expressionlessly.

"Madam, that's a normal residue from the extraction process; it doesn't affect the efficacy of the medicine," the pharmacist explained.

"You're still using light kerosene for extraction? That's a method from twenty years ago. Switch to pure alcohol from now on and see if you can find any residue," Weiss replied coldly.

She glanced around the scene and let out a long sigh.

“If you want me to work for you, I think we should start by stopping work and starting over. This is not a qualified laboratory.” Weiss looked at Leon.

“This is causing us a lot of trouble,” the pharmacist said cautiously, glancing at Leon. “We have a lot of orders to catch up on.”

“Listen to her, do as she says, she’s the expert,” Leon ordered the pharmacist. “From now on, this place is under her jurisdiction.”

Chapter 161 You brought her back?

"The pipes here are old and need to be replaced! And in such a confined space, you don't even clean the ventilation vents regularly? We need to install a new lens here to concentrate the light and improve the reaction efficiency..."

Leon stood in the corner with his arms crossed, watching the two pharmacists frantically rearranging the laboratory under Weiss's guidance. When his eyes met Weiss's by chance, Leon waved her over, signaling her to come to the corner.

"So? Can you make a cure for salification disease here?" Leon asked.

The main reason he chose to bring Weiss here as a pharmacist to manage the laboratory was to give her a place to prepare medicine to treat halogenation.

He brought Vice back not only to ensure her safety, but also to use her strength to save people; he couldn't completely hide her away.

For Weiss to produce the drug, a proper laboratory environment is needed. It is difficult to find a sufficiently safe location outside, and the process of building a new laboratory could also be discovered.

Now it's not just the Earl's power; the entire church is after Weiss. If Weiss is left outside and discovered by any party, then a surprise attack would basically finish them off.

After much consideration, Arend Island was ultimately the most suitable option. There was a ready-made laboratory there, and the necessary materials and instruments could be purchased and transported to the island, or rearranged, without attracting much attention within the Earl's inner circle.

The island is geographically isolated. Anyone who wants to explore it must pass through the numerous checkpoints and informants he has set up. It is full of his people. The core area is the manpower of this stronghold, including the inner side of the maze, the guards of the stronghold, and the two apothecaries, all of whom have consumed the blood of the curse.

Of course, Leon knew that this still couldn't guarantee an absolute information blockade, but at least the place wouldn't be directly attacked. Even if the Earl sent people to inspect, the fortress wouldn't let anyone in without his order, giving him ample time to prepare and deal with the situation.

Therefore, Weiss can only hide here. In order for Weiss to use the laboratory on this island and be under the special protection of his subordinates, he naturally needs to be given the title of chief apothecary. Otherwise, the appearance of a mysterious woman in the stronghold would be more suspicious to outsiders and could easily cause misunderstandings to insiders.

The current choice can only be considered a compromise that takes into account both his needs and risks. Faced with the pursuit of the two major powers, the Earl and the Church, it is actually difficult to find an absolutely safe location. He can only choose a location with relatively low risk.

"The current conditions in this laboratory are somewhat inferior to those of the Saint Rosalia Research Institute. Purchasing some equipment and making technical adjustments should solve most of the problems." Weiss paused here. "The only problem is magic essence. I don't know if you've tested the purity of the magic essence in the medicines I gave you..."

“Ninety-six percent, is that right?” Leon said.