What witch? The Deadly Pharmacist!

There is still an agreement between them, and according to the Earl's assessment, Leon has no obvious ambitions. It seems that although he has the means to do this, he has no motivation to risk his life to save Weiss.

The assumption that Leon is the culprit is missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

“My lord, how did your last test go?” Bishop Beckett asked in return.

“It’s not clear that he’s contacted Archbishop Rogers, but he at least understands the seriousness of the matter,” the Earl replied.

At the time, he invited Leon to talk at the club, not just to confide in him, but also as a small probe, but he did not get any obvious results.

“Then let’s leave him for last in the investigation,” Bishop Beckett suggested.

Leon was a prime suspect, but Bishop Beckett was in no hurry to investigate.

Leon's magic potion production has now been integrated into the Earl's business system. Including his own territory, he also supplies raw materials to five surrounding counties. The magic potion business in River Valley County and Southport County is also quite good, and the share he pays to the Earl is also considerable. Not to mention, Leon has accumulated considerable connections in the church as their man.

In less than a year, his value had surpassed that of all other cadres.

If the suspicion is correct, rushing into an investigation of Leon might arouse the other party's suspicion.

If suspicion is wrong, the investigation is meaningless; on the contrary, if it is discovered, unnecessary discord will arise, affecting their management and control of that person.

Therefore, Bishop Beckett did not want to investigate Leon until he had pieced together the puzzle and was absolutely certain of success.

The carriage stopped at the local inquisition. Bishop Beckett ended his discussion with the Earl, got out of the carriage and entered the inquisition. He met up with the other bishops in the evidence room and began to collect the documents and evidence from Weiss's residence.

Bishop Beckett did not have high hopes for this. The items seized from Weiss's residence contained a lot of seemingly researchable materials, but they were of no use to Bishop Beckett.

After a quick glance, he noticed some herbal ingredients packaged in bottles and test tubes.

"Is she also conducting research projects at her residence? Or perhaps, secretly researching potions?" Bishop Beckett asked.

“No relevant records were found in the church. It seems to be a private study, which is not uncommon in the church. There are only common herbs here. Either they are mixing ordinary potions, or they have carefully hidden the main ingredients of the magic potion elsewhere,” the bishop in charge of sealing off Weiss’s residence replied.

"Then at least start with these potions. Have you tried to find someone to prepare them?" Bishop Beckett asked.

“We don’t know the proportions; we’ve only made a few mixed samples.” The bishop pointed to a few small bottles in the corner. “We can’t tell anything yet.”

Bishop Beckett picked up a bottle, shook it, and tried to open it. Suddenly, he smelled a scent similar to mint.

His brow furrowed slightly, and his memory suddenly returned to a year ago when he was investigating the Hamel Maze!

Where had he smelled that similar medicinal odor before?

Chapter 167 The Cultivation of a Monster Army

In the deepest part of the Arend Island labyrinth, in the temple, Leon led Weiss into a cage separated by iron bars. Lena was standing inside, with four wolf cubs and a petrified lizard that was also in its infancy in front of her.

Although they are in their infancy, these level 3 monsters were about the size of foals when they were born.

These were the first batch of monster soldiers they created. They weren't directly bred by the demon wolves, but rather created out of thin air by Leon drawing on the labyrinth's magic over the course of a week, saving the gestation period and greatly increasing breeding efficiency.

The monsters created were relatively obedient to Leon, the master of the labyrinth, and with Lena's blood pact ability to control them, they were quickly tamed and made obedient.

After that, Leon also had Weiss concoct some high-purity magic potions to feed these monsters, accelerating their growth and development.

"How is it?" Leon asked Lena.

“That’s right. The first dire wolf we created has reached about three months of development compared to the individuals we bred naturally from the dire wolf pack last year,” Lena replied.

Leon looked at the few wolves and estimated that they had been created with magic and had been growing for more than a month. They were already weaned and able to feed themselves.

Now, in just one week, they have achieved the growth of two months' worth of growth, almost eight times the normal growth rate. This is all thanks to the technology provided by Weiss, who possesses the formula for a magic potion that allows monsters to grow and develop rapidly.

The church's complete ban on technologies related to Moirai does not mean that the church does not possess such technologies.

Researchers at the St. Rosalia Institute constantly gather intelligence and experimental data from captured monsters and imprisoned witches, acquiring a wealth of knowledge in potion-making and monster science, not to mention Rose School scholars like Weiss who voluntarily became witches.

Now, Weiss's technology has fallen into Leon's hands.

This potion recipe requires a considerable amount of high-purity magic essence. Essentially, it's an investment to accelerate the growth of monsters. If the goal is to grow monsters and extract magic essence and materials, it's not worth the cost. However, it's extremely useful for quickly producing soldiers in an emergency.

Based on this calculation, in about a month, he will be able to possess a level three monster force with basic combat capabilities.

"Your potions are really quite effective," Leon commented to Weiss.

"These drugs are actually forcing growth. Monsters that grow rapidly after taking these drugs will have poor fertility and shorter lifespans," Weiss explained.

“It doesn’t matter. These are soldiers meant to be used for attrition anyway. As long as they can fight, that’s fine. I just hope they grow as fast as possible,” Leon said.

He wasn't sure when the Earl and Bishop Beckett would officially suspect him, so he could only work overtime to prepare for the confrontation with the Earl as soon as possible.

“If you can receive specific blessings to enhance the effect, the side effects can be further improved, and the side effects can be reduced significantly,” Weiss said.

"Are you referring to the blessing of new life?" Lena asked Weiss.

Of all the witch's blessings she knew, only the Blessing of New Life could rapidly promote the growth and development of living beings.

The blessing that Celie received after becoming a witch was rebirth.

“Yes,” Weiss replied.

“In that case, Mrs. Hershey’s blessing is actually a new life,” Leon said.

They had previously considered using Selene's Blessing of Rebirth to accelerate the growth of monsters, but the use of the blessing required the person to be present, and Selene could not leave the prison for long periods of time or frequently.

“Seri Hershey? Right, her blessing wasn't Cursed Blood. When you imprisoned her, the Cursed Blood blessing was something you faked, which means she wasn't a witch then?” Weiss quickly figured it out. “So you re-performed the ritual to turn her into a witch? Was it so you could give her the drug?”

“That’s right. Since we’ve already been accused, becoming a witch isn’t a bad thing. It’s better than dying from the saltification disease,” Leon said.

“But she’ll still be imprisoned. After that, she’ll be transferred to another facility. The church has records of her salination disease, and if she continues to live, it will attract the church’s attention, won’t it? What do you plan to do about this?” Weiss asked, puzzled.

“I have a plan to get Mrs. Hershey out before her detention period ends,” Leon replied calmly.

If the count shows any signs of becoming aware of the situation, he should act quickly.

Of course, rescuing Mrs. Hershey in advance also meant signaling to the Earl that he was certain of his suspicions.

Once it evolves to that point, it can basically be seen as a signal of conflict.

"Does the person need to be present to use the blessing when combining it with the newborn's blessing?" Leon asked Weiss.

“No need. Just add fifty milliliters of blood to a liter of potion, and then have the person with the blessing activate it with the blessing. The magic element in this potion will keep the Blessing of Rebirth active for about three days. According to past experimental data, adding a first-level Blessing of Rebirth can increase the potion's potency by about 30%,” Weiss said.

“It seems we’ll have to ask Mrs. Hershey for a little help,” Leon said.

In this way, the production efficiency of the monster army can be further improved, so we must continue to speed up the production of monsters.

"Speaking of Ms. Seri, have you prepared the raw materials for the magic essence?" Weiss asked.

To manufacture the medicine to treat chlorination disease, you need magic essence with a purity of over 95%. Even with Weiss's unique technology, you still need materials from level 4 monsters to make it.

Leon suggested to Weiss that they could try using an earth dragon egg, but Weiss didn't believe Leon could get his hands on one.

True dragons and sub-dragons are mostly generated in high-level dungeons. Once generated, they usually become the dungeon masters, occupying the dungeon alone, ruling the entire dungeon with their dragon might, dominating the monsters in the dungeon, attacking humans and armies who enter the dungeon, and piling up valuable equipment and treasures deep in their lair as decorations and collectibles.

Therefore, dragons are mostly solitary and rarely reproduce naturally. Dragon eggs are extremely rare, and even if they exist, they can only be found in nests guarded by adult dragons. They are not something that can be stolen easily.

“Here.” Leon pointed to a table on the inside, with a black cloth covering an oval-shaped object.

Leon stepped forward and lifted the black cloth on the table, revealing a huge egg with a gray metallic sheen on its surface, standing about 1.2 meters tall.

Weiss immediately recognized it as an earth dragon's egg. She activated the Blood Blessing to sense it and detected a heartbeat emanating from inside the egg, indicating that a baby dragon had already begun to hatch.

"Where did you get this earthworm egg?" After confirming that the earthworm egg was genuine, Weiss asked curiously.

“It’s not convenient to disclose that yet.” Leon tapped the eggshell and said to Weiss, “In any case, this should be usable.”

It took him, the master of the labyrinth, almost a whole day to create this earth dragon egg. After successfully creating it, Leon was nearly exhausted. Although the creation of the dragon egg mainly relied on the labyrinth's own magic, he also had to expend some of his energy to guide this enormous magic.

According to the information Leon consulted, the church had captured whelps long ago. The newly born whelps were only slightly larger than an adult human and had only the strength of a level three monster, which they were still able to control.

“It’s definitely worth a try.” Weiss looked at the dragon egg in front of her, her eyes shining.

The opportunity to study this material was a once-in-a-lifetime one for her.

However, she was actually more curious about how Leon obtained the dragon egg than about the dragon egg itself.

She could sense that the Moirai Temple deep within this labyrinth was quite special, and Leon clearly knew many of its secrets. For her, doing research here wouldn't be boring.

"Is it possible to extract magic essence while ensuring the earth dragon's survival?" Leon suddenly asked.

“What do you want the earth dragon to live for?” Weiss asked.

“I want to try and see if I can tame it,” Leon said.

Even with methods to accelerate the growth of earth dragons, it still takes a long time. However, earth dragons are born with the strength level of a level three monster, and their combat power will increase considerably as they grow. Although it comes with certain dangers, Leon believes that since it starts with a hatchling, the risks are relatively controllable and worth trying.

"Generally speaking, only third-tier witches have the ability to tame fourth-tier monsters. But I haven't heard of any precedents for raising them from infancy, so it's worth a try."

"As for extracting magic essence, besides the brain and heart, a small amount can be extracted from the fetal blood of unborn monsters. We can crack a small hole in the egg and then use the Blood Blessing to extract some of the fetal blood. The formula for the Salt Disease medicine only requires a small amount of magic essence as an activator, so I think it's theoretically feasible," Weiss said thoughtfully.

“Let’s do it this way for now,” Leon said.

"Leon," Lena called out to Leon, "If we're going to continue taming monsters, shouldn't we expand the dungeon with some more secret chambers to hide them? That way, if someone comes to inspect..."

“Yes, we need to take some precautions, just in case.” Leon paused here, “But to be honest, even if the Earl becomes suspicious, the chances of him coming to inspect are not high.”

"Why do you say that?" Lena asked, puzzled.

“Our fortress is guarded by our own people. No matter how sudden their arrival, they need to notify me to let them pass. That means giving me time to prepare. The Earl wouldn’t be unaware of this. If it’s out of suspicion, there’s no point in inspecting such a thing.”

"What if they just barge in looking for evidence?" Lena was still worried.

"They've suspected us to that extent, why don't they just storm in and deal with us?" Leon shook his head with a smile. "Lena, you don't understand them. They don't need any evidence to deal with us. What we should really be wary of is something else entirely."

Chapter 168 The Last Piece of the Puzzle

"What do you mean?" Lena didn't understand.

“Lena, their suspicions are hard to guard against. Any opportunity that might deepen their suspicions to a certain extent will prompt them to take direct action,” Leon explained.

"So it still means the same thing, right? We need to be especially careful not to leak any clues, right? In that case, if we don't handle the situation here carefully, if we have a mole among us who has been bribed, they'll immediately notice the problem, won't they?" Lena said.

“Yes, that’s why I said we need to take some precautions, just in case. But for this part, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. We can do our best to prevent them from obtaining any evidence and minimize the clues they find, but to ensure that it doesn’t arouse any suspicion at all…” Leon said with a wry smile, “that’s not up to us.”

"Suspicion and distrust can arise from mere imagination," Weiss suddenly said. "That's what you mean, right?"

“That’s right.” Leon nodded to Viss, then looked at Lena. “Lena, think back to how they cornered us, how they found you, and how they saw through me.”

Lena thought for a moment and understood. Whether it was Bishop Beckett's sneak attack on Hamel's Labyrinth to capture her or his immediate identification of Leon as Fenrir, neither the Count nor Bishop Beckett had actually obtained any concrete evidence or clues.

But the Count, relying on his past experience, accurately guessed everything they had done, while Bishop Beckett's initial targeting of Leon was based solely on a self-consistent hypothesis; for them, guessing was enough.

This means that as long as the count's side has any suspicions about them, even if they are well-prepared and the count's side cannot find any evidence or concrete clues, as long as the count and others can determine through imagination and assumption that they can or will do such a thing, then they will be suspected.

Once a suspect is identified, it's very difficult to clear their name, because they are indeed the real culprits.

From this perspective, Leon's decision to kill the count ahead of time, though seemingly unbelievably decisive, might actually be the most appropriate course of action at the moment.

This is actually a lesson learned from Leon's past defeat at their hands.

“Moreover, I estimate that ever since I used time acceleration in front of Bishop Beckett, he has been suspicious of me. Given Bishop Beckett’s level of expertise, he only needs to make assumptions to suspect me, but to get him to dismiss me, he needs irrefutable evidence,” Leon continued. “So instead of trying to reduce their suspicions, we should think ahead about what they might do to us after they become suspicious, and how we should respond.”

“According to your logic, they could break in at any time,” Weiss calmly analyzed.

“If they choose to storm in directly, we still have a chance. The problem is that they might resort to other methods,” Leon said.

"They won't just arrest you and interrogate you, will they?" Lena immediately became worried about Leon's safety.

“I don’t think so. I still have value to them. If they capture me and interrogate me, and they can’t get any information out of me, it will needlessly damage our relationship. But if they are absolutely certain they have me, they won’t need to interrogate me; they can just take action directly. It’s the same as just barging in. They won’t use such an uncertain method on me now,” Leon said.

"Then what do you mean by being afraid they'll resort to other methods?" Lena asked, puzzled.

“…What I fear is that they will target weaknesses other than my own.” Leon paused for a moment and pondered.

Lena and Weiss are fine now that they're in this stronghold, but the problem lies with Sally and Melissa. The Count knows that he went into business to reverse the decision to send Sally to prison, and once he becomes suspicious enough, who knows what he might do to them.

"By the way, Leon, you implanted the cursed blood into Bishop Beckett, right?" Weiss suddenly remembered something.

She still remembered when Leon, in his werewolf form, scratched Bishop Beckett. At that time, Leon had implanted the cursed blood into Bishop Beckett and could even sense Bishop Beckett's location while he was being chased.

The Blood of Curse and the Blessing of Parasitic Infection belong to the same category. After reaching the second level, they can both parasitize the target's body, and the user of the blessing can sense the location of the parasite.

“That’s right, I can sense the general location of Bishop Beckett, but this sense becomes very blurry at greater distances, and I can’t pinpoint the exact distance,” Leon replied.

“But you should be able to roughly guess his location using this kind of intuition, since Bishop Beckett is definitely focused on investigating me right now,” Weiss said.

Bishop Beckett's investigation of Weiss will likely focus on a few locations, such as the Southeastern Archdiocese where she first disappeared, the St. Rosalia Institute where she worked, and the monastery where she lived. Combined with Leon's ability to sense locations, it's possible to gain some understanding of Bishop Beckett's itinerary.

“I am indeed monitoring Bishop Beckett’s movements, but I cannot send someone to follow him. Given his abilities, he could easily detect that he is being watched, and doing so could backfire,” Leon said.