What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Bourbon Street, Snake Mouth Alley, Owl Old Junk Shop.

A burst of urgent knocking sounded.

The shop owner, who had been dozing on a reclining chair, frowned.

He neither opened his eyes nor responded, pretending that no one was home.

The old junk shop was merely a cover to him.

Though it did include some personal interests, it could not be considered real work.

He rested whenever he wanted.

At that moment, the person outside spoke in a lowered voice through the crack in the door: “Old sir, are you in? Roddy sent me.”

Only after hearing the code phrase did the shop owner open his eyes and struggle to get up.

This, to him, was real business.

He walked to the door and opened the small window.

A familiar face appeared in the opening—it was Martin, the Inquisitor who usually ran errands for Caron Eso.

“So it’s you.” The shop owner relaxed, unlocked the door, and opened it.

“Please come in—”

At the instant the door opened, he suddenly froze in place, as if struck by an arrow on the spot.

Martin stepped aside the moment the door opened.

Only then did the shop owner notice that there was another person standing behind him.

“Old friend, long time no see.” Caron Eso stood there, grinning broadly at the shop owner.

“Director Eso!?” Caught completely off guard, the shop owner only reacted after a moment, his face instantly filled with forced smiles.

“What wind blew you here?”

Seeing the Director of the Inquisition standing there, alarm bells were already ringing wildly in his mind.

“Can’t I come check on you once in a while?” Caron raised an eyebrow.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I was just surprised. If you had any orders, you could have just sent word. How could I trouble you to come personally?” the shop owner said with a flattering smile.

“Are we going to keep talking at the door?” Caron suddenly spread his hands.

“Ah—please come in, please come in.” The shop owner could only step aside to invite Caron inside.

“Sorry, it’s a bit messy in here…”

“It’s fine. It’s not my first time here.” With his hands behind his back, Caron entered the shop, surveying the interior with interest.

Martin followed him inside and stood guard at the door, locking it.

Though uneasy inside, the shop owner maintained a calm exterior.

He quickly cleared an empty table, brought over a chair, and invited Caron to sit.

“Please have a seat, Director. I’ll make you some tea right away.”

“No need for tea. Let’s get straight to business.” Caron stopped him as he turned to fetch the tea set, then gave Martin a look.

“Oh, then Director, you came this time to—” The shop owner spoke as he turned back around.

What met his eyes was Martin suddenly stepping forward and swinging his fist.

Captain Martin’s heavy punch landed.

A flash of gold exploded before the shop owner’s eyes, and the world flipped upside down.

He let out a miserable scream and collapsed to the ground.

Before he could react at all, Captain Martin had already used a grappling hold to wrench both his arms behind his back and hoist him up, slamming him onto the small table.

“No!” The shop owner finally recovered from the pain and looked tearfully at Caron, who stood unmoving.

“Director, what are you doing!?”

“Oh, old friend, you know better than I do.” Caron replied with a smile.

“Director, what are you talking about? Is there some misunderstanding?” the shop owner continued to argue.

“Martin.” Caron gave his subordinate another look.

Captain Martin pressed down firmly on the shop owner’s wrist with one hand, and with the other grabbed his left little finger and bent it hard.

A crisp crack sounded as the finger snapped.

The shop owner instinctively let out a scream, but Caron had already placed his hand on the back of his head, forcefully pressing his face down onto the tabletop.

With his chin jammed against the table, the shop owner was forced to clench his teeth under the pressure, his cries suppressed.

“There are only ten fingers. You’d better use them sparingly,” Caron said cheerfully.

Only after the shop owner steadied himself did he release his hand.

“Ah… Director…” The shop owner began to cry with tears and snot streaming down his face.

“What did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this?”

“That batch of Mana with eighty percent purity that Mr. Griffin obtained—was that turned in by you? Where did it come from?” Caron asked with a smile.

“That has nothing to do with me! I’ve been trying to find out who turned it in myself!” the shop owner shouted, eyes wide as he defended himself.

“Two more,” Caron said to Martin, once again pressing down on the shop owner’s head.

“Mm—mm—mm!” The shop owner desperately squeezed out sounds through clenched teeth, unable even to clearly utter the word “no.”

Following the order, Captain Martin snapped the shop owner’s left ring finger and middle finger as well, followed by another muffled scream.

“Don’t pass out on me, old friend. Talk. You still have a chance,” Caron said.

“It really has nothing to do with me! You’ve got it wrong, you’ve absolutely got it wrong! Who’s slandering me to you? Let me confront him! I’m begging you!” the shop owner pleaded through sobs.

“I heard you’ve been doing pretty well lately. You were always fighting with others over that storefront on South Street—Mr. Griffin was going to give it to you? Planning to open a branch shop?”

Caron patted the shop owner’s face and questioned him in a low voice.

“Congratulations. You must have rendered quite a few services to earn that, right?”

“No… you’ve misunderstood! That was because ‘Crocodile Dar’ said the wrong thing in front of Mr. Griffin and got punished, so Mr. Griffin gave the storefront to me. You can go ask around again to confirm it!” the shop owner argued.

He had spread some rumors before to cover himself, but whether they could fool Caron, even he was unsure.

“Perhaps I should let you come sit in my office for a while, where you can explain it more clearly?” Caron continued smiling.

“You’re in no shape to work like this anyway. How about taking some time to recuperate?”

The shop owner’s expression changed slightly.

Caron meant to discard him once he was no longer useful—arrest him and deal with him directly.

After all, Caron still had other informants who could replace him in moving stolen goods.

Yet he still did not confess.

Instead, he broke down into pitiful sobs.

“Director, if you no longer needed me, you could have just told me. Why go this far? I’ve worked for you all these years—what exactly did I do wrong… for you to treat me like this? Why won’t you believe me?”

“No, no, old friend. I’ve always needed you. Among your group, you’ve always been the most reliable.”

Caron said with a genial smile.

“Even if you really hid something from me, there’s still goodwill between us. In the future, if I have extra goods to deal with, I’ll still come to you. I’ve always trusted you. The question is—did you trust me?”

The old shop owner lifted his face in surprise.

The smile on Caron’s face did not fade.

“Did you misunderstand something? Once you tell me, it’s not like I won’t let you keep making money. The only thing that changes is who you’re cooperating with. Does that make any difference to you? Why suffer like this for no reason?”

Hearing this, the old shop owner gradually withdrew his pitiful act and began to think seriously.

Caron’s meaning seemed to be that he did not intend to blame him at all, but was instead more interested in the source of the goods.

Even after learning the source, Caron planned to replace that supplier and continue selling through him.

For the shop owner himself, there was actually no loss.

This combination of the whip and the carrot loosened the defenses in his heart.

Watching the change in the shop owner’s expression, Caron felt assured.

“Martin, go out. Let me do some private persuasion with an old friend.”

Captain Martin complied, released the shop owner, and went outside to stand guard.

A short while later, Caron walked out alone.

“Director, what’s next…” Martin asked for further instructions.

“That’s enough. Your work ends here. No need to investigate further. Forget everything that happened today,” the Director replied.

“Yes.” Martin was somewhat surprised, but this was not the first time Caron had abruptly halted an investigation.

Caron slowly left Snake Mouth Alley, a smile hanging at the corner of his lips.

In the end, the shop owner never spoke that person’s name, because he himself did not know it.

But from just that small amount of description, Caron already knew who it was.

That person was an Inquisitor.

Aside from Captain Martin, only one person under his command had ever contacted the shop owner.

“Fenrir… Leon Set… heh.” He silently repeated the name in his mind, the image of that inconspicuous low-ranking Inquisitor under his command surfacing before his eyes.