What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

“You don’t need to worry too much about the merits required for promotion. I’ll arrange that properly for you.” Bishop Beckett raised his hand to signal Leon to sit down, then lowered his voice and said, “Let me explain the script first. You know Jay Sid, the original cadre of River Valley County, right?”

Leon nodded. “People on the street all called him Jero. I heard he was dealt with internally.”

The cadre of River Valley County within the Earl’s sphere of influence, Jero—whose real name was Jay Sid—had already been mentioned to Leon by Father Auden when the latter recommended himself as Leon’s advisor. The priest had told him that the man had most likely been eliminated by the Earl.

After Leon joined the Earl’s faction, he had also discovered that the cadre position in River Valley County was currently vacant. River Valley County was temporarily being managed by Johnny Wellman, who had originally been in charge of maritime transport.

This largely confirmed what the priest had said.

“That’s right. Do you remember the assassin you encountered at Potter Manor?” Bishop Beckett prompted.

“Of course,” Leon replied.

“That man was actually an assassin trained by our organization. He worked under Jay. Jay had always been worried that after the Earl took over South Harbor County, he would subdue Potter and let him continue managing it. So Jay privately sent an assassin to kill Potter, nearly causing a conflict with our arrangements.”

Bishop Beckett carefully explained the events of that day to Leon.

“So that was it!” Leon suddenly understood, finally piecing together the origins of that mysterious assassin. “So Jero was purged by the Earl because of that major mistake?”

“More or less. The corpse of the Blessing Recipient the Earl gave you—that was him. The Earl had originally given him another chance. He was the Earl’s own nephew, and the Earl had trusted him quite a bit. You should take this as a warning as well,” Bishop Beckett said.

“Then what does this Mr. Jero have to do with our plan?” Leon asked.

“After Jay disappeared in River Valley County, the local Church forces became aware of it. The Inquisition in Helenburg believed he was either dead or on the run, so they started investigating his assets everywhere,” Bishop Beckett said.

“Even cadres under the Earl get investigated by the Inquisition?”

The Earl had always given Leon the impression of someone with vast influence, even keeping the local Church forces firmly under control.

“We don’t control every local Church force. While most cadres are alive, there’s usually no problem. But if they die or lose power, the Church will move as soon as they catch wind of it, digging up their crimes one by one and using them as grounds to trace and confiscate their assets. For the local Church, that counts as a huge source of income.

“Jay was still relatively young and hadn’t been a cadre for very long, but he had still accumulated assets worth tens of millions.

“These assets were handled by experts in money laundering and normally wouldn’t be discovered. Or even if discovered, they couldn’t be touched. But what if, at this moment, an Inquisitor happened to arrest one of Jay’s subordinates who had handled the laundering operations?”

Bishop Beckett guided him step by step.

“So you’ve already prepared a scapegoat?” Leon roughly grasped the arrangement.

“Of course. He’s one of ours. When the time comes, we’ll use a plea deal to secure him a lighter sentence. Afterward, he’ll receive a generous reward. His task is to provide plenty of evidence that Jay’s assets were connected to the underworld, allowing the Church to confiscate them with justification.

“And the Deputy Director of the Hamel Inquisition, who just so happens to arrest this man and successfully uses a plea deal to make him talk, will naturally have rendered great service. With my recommendation, you’ll then qualify for evaluation as an Intermediate Inquisitor,” Bishop Beckett explained the plan.

“So essentially, we’re trading Jero’s remaining assets for merit—buying a position with tens of millions?” Leon said.

“No. We only need to release a portion—around ten million Fenni in assets. That’s already enough merit. We’ll sort out those assets that were already risky and difficult to handle and hand them over to the Church. If we don’t let the Church taste some sweetness, they won’t stop pursuing Jero. It’s a reasonable sacrifice,” Bishop Beckett said.

Intentionally leaking ten million in underworld-linked assets to the Church to deal with the investigation, while also creating an opportunity for their planted insider within the Church to earn merit—such tactics truly existed.

Leon felt that from the Earl and Bishop Beckett, he was always learning new methods.

“So with this, I can obtain a rank and receive a Blessing?” Leon asked tentatively.

“If everything goes smoothly.” Bishop Beckett paused. “However, after obtaining merit, you technically only gain the qualification for evaluation. There’s still one more hurdle.”

“What hurdle?”

“How’s your level of education?” Bishop Beckett suddenly asked.

“You mean to say that obtaining a rank also requires passing an academic test?” Leon was surprised.

“Yes, that’s right. The Church has scholarly requirements for fully appointed personnel. There will be a written exam,” Bishop Beckett said, looking at him. “If you’re weak in that area, you’d better start cramming early.”

“What will be tested?” Leon immediately felt nervous.

He hadn’t expected that even becoming an Inquisitor in this world required taking a written exam.

It felt like the nightmares from his student days in his previous life were about to be awakened again.

“More than half the questions are theological knowledge. The rest cover various disciplines—history, medicine, mathematics, military affairs, natural philosophy, and so on. But they’re fairly basic.

“You don’t need to worry too much. The standards are stricter for bishops and Fully Appointed Knights, but a bit more lenient for Inquisitors. As long as you pass the minimum score, some Church will take you. After a simple interview, you’ll receive your rank,” Bishop Beckett said.

Leon blinked.

Why did this sound so much like a civil service exam?

He had come to another world, and he still had to take the civil service exam?

“You’re making me feel a bit uncertain,” Leon said with a wry smile.

“Just study diligently for the next few months. It won’t be a big problem—oh, by the way, I believe we have past exam papers here. Why don’t you try one now? Fill in your gaps while you can.” Bishop Beckett glanced toward the locked filing cabinet. With a raise of his hand, a scroll suddenly appeared.

“Bishop Beckett, that was—” Leon only saw the space in his hand distort slightly before the scroll appeared out of thin air.

It seemed the Secret God’s Blessing he possessed was far more than just something like long-distance communication.

“Just the power of the Secret God’s Blessing.” Bishop Beckett handed the scroll to Leon. “Give it a try.”

“Right here?” Leon was caught off guard.

“Of course. I happen to have time. Once I finish grading it, I can give you some advice.” Bishop Beckett handed him a pen. “Write here. I’ll contact the Earl in the meantime.”

Leon had no choice but to sit down in the office and reluctantly begin working on the paper, while Bishop Beckett walked to the corner and used his Blessing to attempt contact with the distant Earl.

Leon picked up the test and scanned it. He actually had a decent understanding of theology in this world.

After transmigrating here, how could he not understand its background?

Not to mention that he had once yearned deeply for supernatural abilities. To study the knowledge surrounding the Blessings of the Four Gods of Origin, he had gathered relevant materials everywhere. It was only after entering Church service that he realized that knowledge without connections was useless.

After scanning the initial theological questions, he found he could answer most of them.

After all, this was merely a threshold examination.

As long as one had read the Church’s orthodox legends about the gods and seriously studied the publicly promoted teachings in the holy scriptures, there wouldn’t be much difficulty.

The Supreme God governed endless time. The God of War dominated absolute power. The Creator brought forth all material things. And the hidden Star-Night Secret God ruled boundless space.

Together, they formed the origin of this world and created humanity as the primates of all beings to carry out the will of the gods and govern the world—

Leon wrote swiftly, soon moving on to general knowledge questions from various disciplines, discovering that he could still answer most of them.

Especially mathematics and natural philosophy—which encompassed physics, chemistry, and biology—the classroom knowledge from his previous life represented the crystallized essence of thousands of years of civilization.

Given this world’s level of development and education, he was practically considered highly educated.

Bishop Beckett quickly finished reporting to the Earl and strolled back to Leon’s side, observing him answering with a faint smile.

As he watched, his expression shifted to surprise. “Hold on a moment.”

Leon paused his pen and looked at him questioningly.

Had he written something he shouldn’t have?

That seemed unlikely—these were mostly basic short-answer questions.

Bishop Beckett took the paper and glanced at it twice, then looked at Leon in surprise. “Did you attend a district Church school?”

After just two glances, he realized the score on this paper wouldn’t be low. This level of knowledge far exceeded that of ordinary people.

“I’ve always been studious. I often borrowed books and looked up materials. That’s all,” Leon replied.

“With your level, you could qualify for a priest position at a district Church school. Becoming an Inquisitor is almost a waste of your talent.” Bishop Beckett laughed. “My apologies. It seems I worried unnecessarily.”

Seeing that the exam wasn’t as difficult as he had imagined, Leon finally relaxed a little. “So if the exam also goes smoothly, I’ll obtain a rank and a Blessing?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what Blessing would I receive? Do I get any choice?” Leon asked tentatively.

“Generally, no. It depends on which Church finalizes your appointment. That relates to position allocations and your written exam results. Whichever Church is willing to take you—once you transfer there, you’ll receive the corresponding Blessing.

“Though that’s not absolute. Churches sometimes exchange limited quotas. For example, I’m a bishop of the Church of the God of War, but I was exchanged to receive the Secret God’s Blessing. Such quotas are limited,” Bishop Beckett said.

“What if no Church wants me?” Leon asked.

“That won’t happen. With our internal connections, if no other Church is interested, the Church of the God of War will at least take you.” Bishop Beckett smiled faintly. “However, if you can join another Church, try to do so. The more departments we infiltrate, the more intelligence we gain—it will be more convenient for our organization.”

“Sir, may I ask—can a person possess only one type of Blessing?” Leon suddenly asked.

After all, he already bore the Witch’s Blessing.

Whether he could add one of the Four Gods’ Blessings remained unknown.

“Not necessarily. There have been precedents of people possessing two Blessings, though they’re rare. It depends not only on talent but also on status. I doubt you need to consider that,” Bishop Beckett said with a smile.

“When I saw the ruins in the Labyrinth, I thought of something. In the past, besides worshipping the Earth Mother Goddess—who was actually Moilai—the Islanders also worshipped the Four Gods of Origin. Did they also wield the Blessings of the Four Gods?” Leon asked.

“Though the Church doesn’t like to admit it, war records can’t erase so many accounts. Yes, they did,” Bishop Beckett replied.

As a bishop of the Church of the God of War, he was quite familiar with war history.

“Then were there ever witches who possessed both the Blessings of the Four Gods and Moilai at the same time?” Leon asked casually.

From theology, history, and his own research on Magical Beasts, both Moilai and the Four Gods of Origin could grant Blessings, yet there seemed to be some form of opposition between them.

He felt he needed to clarify whether there was conflict between Blessings.

It was a rather niche question, but surely it wouldn’t arouse suspicion. After all, who would imagine that a man could bear Moilai’s Blessing?

“Such cases did appear in war records involving the Islanders, though the Church does not acknowledge their authenticity.” Bishop Beckett paused slightly. “However, in present-day Moirland, there are indeed witches like that.”

“Wouldn’t two Blessings conflict?” Leon asked.

The Earl’s faction maintained smuggling ties with Moirland, so this information should be reliable.

“I’m not sure. However, after receiving a Blessing from the Four Gods, one cannot consume Magical Potions. The side effects would be severe. The Church won’t remind you of this, but you should know it,” Bishop Beckett said casually.

“After accepting the Church’s Blessing, one can’t use Magical Potions? Is that the real reason the Church prohibits Magical Potion trade?” Leon was startled.

“I think that’s one of the reasons,” Bishop Beckett nodded.

Leon thought it through carefully. If Magical Potions that used Moilai’s power were widely applied, people might grow wary of the Four Gods’ Blessings instead.

Magical Potions produced side effects, yet Blessings could coexist. That meant they might not necessarily conflict—or if they did, perhaps it was within controllable limits?

But no matter what, to achieve his current goal of rescuing Sally Hesh, a Church rank was essential.

Reinvesting himself in this endeavor was already a risk. Necessary risks, it seemed, still had to be taken.