What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

“Mm, I’m back.”

Leon replied softly as he stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.

“You were gone for such a long time this time. You didn’t come back at all, and I started getting worried.” The landlady’s daughter, Melissa, walked down the narrow staircase leading to the attic, holding a bowl with a spoon inside.

Melissa was thirteen this year—an age that should have been full of youthful vitality—but she was very thin, her complexion pale, with the unmistakable look of malnourishment.

Even the smile that should have been lively on her face carried a distinct gloom.

Her hair had grown almost to her waist and had clearly not been tended to for a long time.

Though it was tied up with a thin hemp rope, it still looked somewhat messy.

Only her bangs and side hair had been cut by herself, and the cuts were far from neat.

She was even wearing her mother’s old clothes and apron, loose and ill-fitting on her small frame.

“Yeah, I was handling a case and worked overtime for a few extra days,” Leon replied casually, making up an excuse.

“Were you upstairs just now?”

“Mm, feeding my mother,” Melissa answered in her usual tone.

Leon noticed the small wooden bowl in her hands.

It had probably contained a little porridge before, but it had been scraped completely clean.

Melissa’s mother—Leon’s landlord in name—Mrs. Hesh, had been bedridden for a long time.

Melissa had always been the one taking care of her.

“Then are you back from overtime to take compensatory rest today? Do you need me to make you some lunch? There’s still some of the oat flour and beans you bought last time…” Melissa suggested.

“When I’m not around, you can just eat what I bought,” Leon said, then hesitated for a moment before continuing, “This kind of weather makes it easy for bugs to grow. But I didn’t come back to rest this time… I came for work.”

“Ah!” Melissa noticed the rolled-up stack of parchment Leon was holding in his hand, and her gaze immediately went blank.

The Hesh family, who owed the Church more than a hundred thousand, were precisely Leon’s landlords.

Although he was on good terms with Mrs. Hesh and little Melissa, work was work—debts that had to be collected still had to be collected.

If anything, it was precisely because Leon had always been the one handling the debt collection for their family that he had been able to give them as much leniency and care as possible.

“Brother Leon, I… I won’t be able to get money from Mrs. Kate and the shop until the week after next.

Could you…” Melissa clutched her apron and spoke cautiously.

“I’m sorry, Melissa. Not today.” Leon sighed.

“You need to at least pay two months’ worth of interest, or penalties will be added.”

“Th-then how much is it?” Melissa asked uneasily.

Leon spread open the copy of the debt note and took a look before saying, “…About twenty-one Thaler.”

The actual amount even included some odd change—four thousand two hundred and forty Fenni in total.

Even Leon himself felt that the number was absurd when he said it aloud.

That sum was almost equal to his entire monthly salary.

Yet for Melissa, it was only interest.

Even if she managed to produce that much money, her family’s debt would not decrease in the slightest; they would merely gain another two months of grace.

Leon clearly saw the suffocating sense of embarrassment appear on Melissa’s face.

It was obvious that she could not come up with such a sum right now.

Leon opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

There was nothing he could do to help Melissa at this point.

He had been renting here for two years, and this situation was not happening for the first time.

In fact, under the pretense of paying rent in advance, Leon had lent Melissa money several times already.

By now, he had effectively covered a full half year of rent in advance.

He had done all he reasonably could.

Over the past several days, he had not gone to work and had been staying outside, incurring expenses for food and lodging.

He had also purchased medicine once.

After reaching a partnership with Rena, he had additionally paid out of pocket to buy things for setting up a new workshop.

The eighteen Thaler he had extorted earlier were almost completely spent.

The business of selling Mana would not generate income for at least another two or three months.

Daily living expenses, medicine purchases, and further investment into his operation would continue to pile up.

Meanwhile, the Hesh family’s debt kept accruing interest endlessly—it was a bottomless pit.

Sympathy was sympathy, but in the end, he simply did not have the ability to keep helping indefinitely.

“It—it’s fine!” Melissa suddenly seemed to have adjusted herself.

“I can still get money in advance! Could you wait for me at home for a bit? I’ll go out and come right back.”

“Is that so…” Leon responded, though he felt some doubt in his heart.

He knew that Melissa had dropped out of school long ago and was working several part-time jobs.

Two days a week she worked as a helper at Mrs. Kate’s place at the end of the alley, and she also did part-time work as a shop assistant at the bakery and the fabric store on the street.

When she was at home, she used an old spinning wheel kept in the house to spin thread to help support the household… But even working herself to the bone like this, her income still could not compare to that of an adult.

At a time like this, where could she possibly get more than four thousand in advance all at once?

“I’ll go get ready first.” After saying that, Melissa climbed back up to the attic.

Before long, Leon saw her come back down again, now holding a comb and her mother’s headscarf.

Then she hurriedly went out the door.

Leon stood idly in the room.

After thinking for a moment, he turned and stepped onto the narrow staircase leading to the attic, deciding to go up and check on Mrs. Hesh.

When people rented out their homes, they usually kept the main living area for themselves and rented out the attic or basement.

But in order to rent out as much space as possible, the Hesh mother and daughter had left the more convenient main floor to him and moved themselves into the cramped attic.

They only kept a small room downstairs to store the spinning wheel for spinning thread to support their livelihood.

Leon paid them four Thaler in rent every month.

For the Hesh mother and daughter in their current situation, this was an extremely important source of income.

Leon would occasionally buy daily necessities and food to share with them.

When he was at home, Melissa would help him cook and wash his clothes.

The floorboards creaked as Leon climbed the steps and reached the attic.

The space was small.

There was a bed, and Melissa’s mother, Sally Hesh, lay on it on her side with her back facing Leon.

Beside the head of the bed was a rolled-up floor mattress that belonged to Melissa.

In its usual place now stood a small table.

When Melissa fed her mother, gave her medicine, or wiped her down, she would place the tableware and washbasin there.

At the foot of the bed stood an old wardrobe, with Melissa’s and her mother’s clothes mixed together inside.

The small attic window was open to allow ventilation and remove odors.

Sunlight shone onto the foot of the bed, dust motes continuously dancing within the beam of light.

Seeing Sally breathing evenly with her back turned, Leon thought she might still be taking her afternoon rest and did not want to disturb her.

Just as he was about to turn around, he heard her weak voice call out to him:

“Mr. Leon?”

“Mrs. Hesh,” Leon replied.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No, I wasn’t asleep. I was just looking out the window to pass the time. If I sleep during the day, I won’t be able to fall asleep at night at all…” Sally paused here for quite a while, taking several breaths to steady herself before continuing, “If you don’t mind chatting with me for a bit, could you help me turn over?”