What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Leon could tell that Johnny was not merely trying to scare him. Regarding the Witches’ Assembly, he did not know much, but as for Arachne, he had investigated her long ago. The Church also retained quite a lot of information on this Great Witch because, compared with the other Great Witches, she was simply far too notorious within the Empire. The sheer number of crimes she had committed ranked among the highest even across generations of Heretics.

Arachne was a Great Witch of the Witches’ Assembly. Great Witch was the term used on the Empire’s side; in Moirland, they were called High Priestesses. The so-called Witches’ Assembly was actually an extension of the priesthood of the Earth Mother Goddess Church after Moirland shifted from the Ailander belief in the Five Gods to exclusively worshiping Moilai, corresponding to the College of Cardinals formed by the Empire’s Four Great Churches.

In other words, Arachne’s status in Moirland was equivalent to that of a Cardinal in the Empire.

It was said that Arachne also served in Moirland’s Nemesis Agency. The so-called Nemesis Agency was reportedly an intelligence force in Moirland specializing in various forms of infiltration and rear-area sabotage against enemy nations. The Ailander Restoration Faction in the Eastern Region that had triggered the war ten years ago had been secretly supported and organized by them within the Empire.

But as a spy, Arachne acted far too conspicuously. Her enthusiasm for “destruction” clearly exceeded her enthusiasm for “infiltration”.

Many of the horrifying assassination operations she had carried out in the Empire were considered unnecessary, and there was even intelligence showing that she was frequently ordered to restrain her excessive behavior.

The Saintess Incident in the Southeastern Archdiocese previously demonstrated this as well. When framing Weiss, she killed many civilians, and the number was completely unnecessary. In truth, even if only a few people had died, together with the incident itself of the Saintess transforming into a Witch in full public view, the impact would already have been great enough.

Yet she still killed a three-digit number of people and even left behind clues from spider Magical Beasts, utterly unconcerned that suspicion would point toward her. Her style of acting was so flamboyant that she did not seem suited to being a spy at all.

She was a cooperative partner whom even the Earl had been unable to control. For Leon to rashly make contact with her himself would indeed be far too risky.

Leon thought for a moment, then suddenly realized something.

“Arachne must have profited quite a lot from her dealings with the Earl over these years, right?” Leon said.

“Of course. After the war ended, she was originally supposed to be held accountable for her poor management of the Restoration Faction, but because she reestablished a smuggling route through the Earl, her punishment was shelved. Most of the Magic Essence smuggled to the Earl was produced by her, and the money also passed through her hands. The intelligence and technology supplied by the Earl were likewise regarded as her achievements.

She didn’t just profit enormously, her position within the Witches’ Assembly also rose sharply. So, by killing the Earl, you basically cut off both her source of wealth and the further advancement of her career. Once she finds out, she’ll definitely want to skin you alive and tear out your tendons.” Johnny said.

“You’re certain?” Leon said.

“I was the one responsible for dealing with them, what do you think? I might not understand the other Great Witches, but I know Arachne’s style very well. Even one of her own maids would be thrown into an insect pit as feed if she did anything that displeased her.

Just collect some information on the things Arachne has done yourself, and you’ll naturally understand how terrifying that woman is. Why take a ninety-percent chance of being settled with by her just to proactively contact her? What you should be doing right now is vigorously developing your own forces while you still have room to breathe.

Right, Mr. Turtledove has already been killed by us. We can start with him and liquidate some of his assets, then make up a story and leak a little intelligence from your side to the Church……if you already have connections, maybe you can use that achievement to help yourself advance by one rank after the New Year.” As Johnny spoke, he picked up his flask again.

Leon still believed Johnny’s account. Johnny’s evaluation of Arachne basically matched Leon’s investigation, and Johnny definitely did not want anything to go wrong on Leon’s side either.

Proactively contacting Arachne was simply too risky.

“From what you’re saying, the biggest problem seems to be Arachne, rather than the Witches’ Assembly itself?” Leon tentatively asked.

Johnny’s movement paused as he was lifting the flask toward his mouth. Realizing something, he frowned: “What are you thinking about now?”

“The Witches’ Assembly isn’t an individual, but a collective. You said earlier that there are factions within it too, and Arachne even has political enemies.” Leon stared at Johnny with burning eyes.

He remembered the Great Witch Lamia whom Weiss had once mentioned to him. The reason she had defected to the Empire’s side was reportedly because she had lost a political struggle and was going to be held accountable by Moirland.

“Of course. The Church is already full of factions tripping each other up, and with a bunch of women mixed together over at the Witches’ Assembly, heh, anyone can imagine they couldn’t all possibly coexist harmoniously!” Johnny smiled, then quickly restrained that smile, “So, you want to start with another Great Witch?”

“Arachne profited so much from her dealings with the Earl that surely someone must have been envious. Maybe there’s someone more reasonable among them who could cooperate?” Leon said.

The conditions he could offer were inferior to the Earl’s. For Arachne, cooperating with him would be an outright downgrade, and he was also the culprit who had harmed her interests, so the possibility that Arachne would accept was not high.

But to the other Witches, this would be going from nothing to something. If the Earl’s death could become an opportunity for them to seize this benefit from Arachne, they should be more willing to accept it.

Arachne’s appetite had already been enlarged by her dealings with the Earl, but the other Great Witches who had envied Arachne’s profits would probably be more willing to compromise a little, especially since Leon’s side still had room for development.

If the Great Witch he established contact with happened to be one of Arachne’s political enemies, then the willingness to cooperate would probably be even higher.

“Your optimism truly amazes me.” Johnny curled his lips, making no effort to conceal the sarcasm in his smile, “If you join forces with Arachne’s political enemy, then Arachne will simply have one more reason to kill you.”

“If there are already enough reasons for her to act, what difference does one reason or two make? By your account, Arachne’s problem can’t be avoided. She’ll find out sooner or later that I killed the Earl, and there’s a high probability she’ll come after me. Since we don’t have a way to resolve that, naturally the only option is to actively prepare for battle.

Using another Great Witch to restrain her wouldn’t be a bad method either. Just burying my head and developing my forces won’t necessarily be enough to deal with her once she comes knocking.” Leon said.

“Fine, that sounds quite reasonable.” This time Johnny unusually nodded in agreement with him, “But the question is, how are you going to find another ‘reasonable’ Great Witch and then recommend yourself to her? Moirland is an exceptionally closed-off country. Both the Church and the Earl know very little about the Witches’ Assembly. The only Great Witch I know is Arachne.”

“I do know one avenue for investigating members of the Witches’ Assembly. Let’s start from there and see what we can find.” Leon said while thinking.

“The Great Witch Lamia?” Johnny immediately realized.

“You know about her too?” Leon said.

“I used to be a Knight Commander of the Church of the Creator, what do you think?” Johnny spread his hands, “But that woman is imprisoned in the most secure core area of Saint Rosalia Prison. With your authority, you shouldn’t be able to get anywhere near her, right? Do you have connections?”

“I’ll try to find some.” Leon replied.

For this, he would probably have to ask Weiss.

“Then good luck.” Johnny had no objections to this, “Be careful with what you do. Don’t somehow get yourself killed for no reason.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” Leon said as he stood up, preparing to leave.

But at that moment, Johnny called out to stop him again: “Right, what was it that you made them drink?”

Leon turned around and discovered that Johnny had suddenly changed from his usual manner, staring at him with a sharp gaze.

Leon realized something and looked back at Johnny: “If you want to ask something, you might as well say it clearly.”

“I heard a few details about how you killed the Earl. Not many, but what I heard sounded a little bizarre, so I’ll ask directly……” Johnny stared at Leon and lowered his voice, “Could it be that you possess the power of Moilai’s Blessing?”

Leon was not particularly surprised. Ordinary people were still spreading the story that the miraculous power he had used to kill the Earl and the many elite fighters around him in one go was the effect of a Magic Potion created by the Witch at his side, namely Rena, and this had even caused Rena to begin gaining some fame in the Underworld.

But if it was a Knight Commander like Johnny who had fought against Witches before, then upon hearing those details, he would naturally notice that something was wrong. Werewolf Transformation and the large-scale release of blood mist from Cursed Blood were clearly Second-Tier Witch Blessings, so Johnny could very likely infer that these were Leon’s own powers.

A man possessing a Witch’s Blessing was unprecedented.

But this could also explain, to some extent, the Earl’s bizarre defeat——who could have imagined Leon possessed such a trump card?

“If I said no, would you believe me?” Leon asked in return.

“What exactly are you?” Johnny narrowed his eyes and studied Leon. There were indeed still some mysteries surrounding Leon.

“It doesn’t matter to you, Johnny, at least not right now. Since we’ve reached cooperation, and as long as this relationship can continue, I won’t use those things against you.” After Leon finished speaking, he walked around the long table and left the small house.

……

Several days later, thousands of miles away in Moirland, within an illusory space.

There was an enormous garden here, filled with blooming flowers and brimming with vitality, while crisp birdsong sounded from time to time.

Yet dense mist tinged with rosy light shrouded the entire courtyard, allowing only a few indistinct shadows of flowers to be seen. Looking upward, one could not see the sky either, making it impossible to distinguish whether it was morning or dusk, dream or reality.

A massive round table stood within the courtyard. At this moment, seven people were seated around it, all female figures, with teacups placed before them, looking as though they were holding a tea party together, yet the atmosphere was exceptionally solemn.

“Dorothy, explain the reason for summoning us.” One of the figures spoke first. Among the seven, only she was completely enveloped in mist, with no details visible at all, only a pitch-black shadow.

“I have important intelligence to report to Your Majesty.” Dorothy, wearing a Witch’s hat, stood up and first respectfully saluted the shadow, then moved to the main subject, “I’ve received intelligence that Earl Foyle, Isaac Mastan, died approximately two months ago.”