What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Several days later, urgent bell tolls rang throughout the Inquisition.

Leon followed the others and quickly assembled on the Inquisition’s training ground, lining up in formation.

Leon glanced around.

His colleagues were just as confused as he was, exchanging looks—clearly, no one knew the reason for this summons.

The frequency of the alarm that had just sounded was the full mobilization call.

In theory, it was only rung for collective missions requiring everyone’s participation—such as storming a criminal organization of considerable scale, or firefighting.

But at the Hamel Inquisition, Caron had never ordered a full mobilization for any major case.

Since Leon joined, the assembly bell had only rung once during a drill when higher authorities conducted an inspection.

Once everyone had finished forming up on the training ground, the new Director, Aaron, soon appeared on the raised platform.

After inspecting the assembled personnel on duty, Aaron clasped his hands behind his back and spoke:

“Just moments ago, the Church received reliable intelligence from an important witness. We have identified Mr. Griffin’s true identity—Henry Potter, representative of the Gold Ring Merchant Consortium, a wealthy magnate with numerous properties across South Harbor County, especially in Hamel Town. I believe most of you here have heard his name.”

Leon was startled. Mr. Griffin had operated underground trade in South Harbor County for over a decade without incident.

The reactions of the others were similar.

Mr. Griffin was a local underworld kingpin and a key investigative target of the Hamel Inquisition.

Yet Caron had never formally opened a focused investigation against this target.

And now, barely a month after the new Director took office, he had already secured solid evidence that Potter was Mr.

Griffin and was prepared to uproot this kingpin entirely?

“After further investigation, we have also successfully identified one of his criminal bases—a winery located to the northwest of the town. The suspect, Potter, is highly likely to be there today. We will now carry out an emergency operation against him. This operation will be led directly by me.

“According to our intelligence, there is a very high probability that the site contains armed forces. All personnel on duty are to complete combat mobilization preparations under the leadership of your respective team captains. Team Three will be under my direct command. We depart by carriage in ten minutes. Move!”

With a sweeping gesture from Aaron, the Inquisitors present immediately formed up in sequence and went to prepare.

Leon followed the other team members into the equipment room, put on his uniform and mask, received an extra gun and ammunition, a Church longsword, a waterskin, as well as a small pack of emergency rations and medical supplies.

Inquisitors rarely encountered real witches or heretics, but they frequently clashed with hunters smuggling magical beast materials and underworld members.

They were not lacking in combat experience.

Carriages filled with Inquisitors rolled out from the Inquisition.

Leon and the others were crammed into the swaying carriage compartment, thinking through their next moves.

Father Auden had once warned him that Potter had been insufficiently cautious in his dealings against the Earl, making trouble highly likely.

Leon had simply never expected that trouble would come so fast—so suddenly.

There had been no sign at all within the Inquisition.

Without deploying any Inquisitors beforehand, the new Director had suddenly grasped Mr. Griffin’s identity and criminal base and immediately taken action, leaving Leon no opportunity whatsoever to prepare or deal with the situation.

Now it seemed that Director Aaron and Bishop Becket had already been able to uncover the crimes of the Deputy Director and Martin before taking office, which meant they possessed investigative forces outside the Inquisition—and with extremely high efficiency.

The winery they were heading to should be the same place where he had previously conducted business with Potter.

If Aaron’s intelligence was accurate, Potter would likely be caught there.

If Potter could escape capture, or find a way to clear himself after being arrested, that would naturally be the best outcome.

But if Potter were captured and convicted, that would be troublesome.

The Inquisition would trace the high-purity Mana Potter had recently obtained and uncover who Fenrir, the supplier, was.

Leon clearly realized that, no matter what, he could not allow Potter to be captured.

The convoy stopped beside a hill.

Leon got out with the other Inquisitors.

All twenty-five Inquisitors on duty at the Hamel Inquisition were present today.

Strange—Director Aaron was personally commanding the operation.

Where was Bishop Becket?

Only then did Leon realize that whether on the training ground or during the carriage ride, he had not seen Bishop Becket at all.

He had only seen Aaron in uniform, wearing his sword, acting as commander.

Aaron personally led everyone up the hillside at speed.

At the top of the low slope, Aaron crouched down, glanced into the distance a few times, and said to those behind him, “From here, we can already see the winery’s location.”

Leon looked as well.

He could see a vast expanse of open fields, with an estate like a miniature model sitting in the middle, surrounded by plantations.

The straight-line distance to the buildings was probably around one to two kilometers.

This was exactly the winery he had visited before.

“Sir, the winery is too large. We don’t have enough manpower to surround it,” the captain of Team One advised Aaron.

“The location of the estate is also far too open. We can still hide here, but once we descend the hill, it will be difficult. If we launch a group assault from any direction, even with slightly more people, we’re very likely to alert them in advance. The estate may well have concealed escape routes.”

“In addition, the number of people inside is unknown, and we haven’t confirmed which building the suspect is in. Many areas are blind spots. Shouldn’t we tail them for a period and act when the suspect leaves the base?” the captain of Team Two added.

Aaron thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“If we wait until they leave the base to act, there’s a possibility that the criminal evidence on site will be destroyed in advance. We need to do our utmost to catch them with both people and evidence, to prevent the suspect from using methods to evade conviction after capture.”

Leon observed for a while, then spoke in a low voice, “Sir.”

Aaron turned to look at him.

“Inquisitor Set, do you have something to report?”

“Look there. The vegetation on that side of the slope is dense and extends directly into the plantations. If it’s just one or two people, it might be possible to approach the estate from there without being detected,” Leon said.

Aaron looked over and agreed.

“Indeed. So you’re suggesting… sending a scout to infiltrate the site?”

“Yes,” Leon replied.

Hearing this, the other team members cursed Leon inwardly.

Whoever this infiltration job fell to would be risking their life.

If, as the intelligence suggested, there were multiple armed gang members inside, discovery during infiltration would lead to being surrounded and attacked.

With the others waiting at such a distance, timely rescue would be nearly impossible—essentially a dead end!

“It sounds feasible, at least…” Aaron said, sweeping his gaze across the group.

For a moment, no one dared to meet his eyes directly.

Nowadays, within this Inquisition, there were almost no people willing to throw themselves into fire and water for the Church.

“Then I’ll carry out the infiltration myself. If I can return, all the better. If I sound the whistle or fire a shot, you’ll execute the assault immediately,” Aaron continued after scanning the crowd.

Everyone stared at Aaron in shock.

They had not expected the commander to lead by example to such an extent.

It was said that when Director Caron had first taken office, he also dared to engage in firefights with the underworld personally—but even he wouldn’t have gone so far as to infiltrate an unknown criminal base without backup.

But thinking carefully, Director Aaron was a Fully Appointed Third-Rank Knight.

His strength was far beyond ordinary people.

It wasn’t strange for him to have such confidence.

At that moment, Leon spoke up, “Sir, how could a commander put himself in danger? Let me go.”

The other team members were shocked once again, as if seeing Leon for the first time.

Leon wasn’t exactly a veteran, but he was certainly adept at lying low and coasting along.

Normally, he would have had no enthusiasm whatsoever for a mission that put his life at risk.

Was he really so desperate for promotion that he would throw his life away just to perform in front of the new Director?

Aaron also looked at Leon in surprise, momentarily unable to decide.

“If something happens to you, the operation will fail. Even if I’m discovered, you can still command the assault and capture. Defending the Church’s law with our lives is our duty. Please make a rational judgment,” Leon said, meeting Aaron’s eyes steadily.

“Please give the order.”

Aaron felt Leon’s resolve.

After a moment’s thought, he nodded.

“Be careful.”

…

Twenty minutes later, Leon quietly passed through the plantations and successfully infiltrated the estate.

He wasn’t particularly worried about being discovered.

He was Fenrir, who had done business with Potter here before and had shown his face.

Even if discovered, it wouldn’t necessarily be a problem.

What he needed to do now was to reach Potter before the Inquisition.

That was the real reason he had requested the infiltration mission.

If there were secret passages or escape routes, he could inform Potter in advance and let him slip away.

That would be the ideal outcome.

If Potter truly had no way to escape, then Leon would have to find a way to eliminate him.

Under no circumstances could he allow Potter to fall into the Inquisition’s hands.

In such a case, the bodyguards around Potter would be troublesome for him, but he also had opportunities to deceive them and launch a surprise attack.

He would have to adapt on the fly.

What puzzled him, however, was that after infiltrating the estate, he didn’t see a single person.

The villa he had entered before now had its front door tightly shut, with no one guarding it.

At a glance, the estate looked completely deserted.

Was Aaron’s intelligence that Potter was here really accurate?

Leon tried circling to the other side of the building.

The back door was closed, but he noticed an open window.

If there was no one here, why would a window be open? Doubt arose in Leon’s mind.

He looked around again and still saw no one.

After hesitating for a moment, he quietly climbed in through the window.

Inside was the hall where he had previously conducted business with Potter.

He saw no one there.

He entered the corridor, searched the first floor, then carefully went upstairs along the staircase.

As he passed through the second-floor corridor, he suddenly froze.

At last, he saw two people lying on the floor at the doorway of the room at the end of the hall—motionless, with a pool of blood on the ground.

Someone had been killed!!

A chill instantly wrapped around him.

He clenched the gun in his hand and went on full alert, guarding against threats from both front and back.

He sensed no other presence.

Looking more closely at the two bodies, their clothing seemed similar to the bodyguards he had seen at the estate last time.

They had been guarding outside the room at the end of the corridor.

Now the door was half open.

Leon realized something.

He drew his sword, raised his gun, and advanced toward the room as if walking on thin ice, stepping over the blood and corpses on the floor.

He peered inside through the crack in the door and saw splattered bloodstains on the ground.

He carefully pushed the door open, and the full view of the room finally unfolded before him.

At this moment, he finally saw the Mr. Griffin he had wanted to meet—the wealthy merchant Potter—and locked eyes with him.

Potter sat upright in a boss’s chair behind a desk, staring at Leon with dull eyes, his mouth half open yet utterly silent.

He would never speak again, because his throat had been slit, and all the blood had long since drained away.

Leon stepped into the room, froze in place while keeping his gun aimed forward.

He hadn’t even had the chance to kill Potter to silence him, and yet Potter had already been murdered!?

Who did it?

At that moment, a barely noticeable shadow silently flickered out from a dark corner of the room and moved toward Leon.