What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Arend Island, Leon made his way from the pier into the mountains, passing through the stronghold built in front of the Labyrinth.

Although it was deep into the night, his subordinates were still standing guard along the mountain path and around the Labyrinth. Even deeper inside the Labyrinth, there were people watching over the Magical Beasts they were raising. As he walked through the stronghold converted from a mine, every subordinate he encountered greeted him with utmost respect.

Leon crossed the mine-refitted stronghold. At the end of the road stood a single-story house converted from an old warehouse. This residence was now the home where he and Rena usually lived.

By the door, several wooden crates covered with black cloth were piled up. Leon knew they were merely disguises made from wooden boards. Inside was actually a beast cage. The Pack Alpha of the Demonic Wolf pack they raised was hidden within, acting as a guard. If it detected the scent of a stranger approaching, the Demonic Wolf would immediately enter a state of alert.

If Rena encountered any situation, she only needed to give a whistled signal, and the Demonic Wolf would break through the wooden boards used for disguise and rush toward the sound.

As Leon approached the door, there was no movement from the crates. The Demonic Wolves raised here all remembered Leon’s scent and would not show hostility toward him.

Leon took out his key and opened the door, discovering that the hall was still lit. Rena had not gone to sleep and was sitting at the table reading a volume of Church Doctrines.

Hearing the door open, Rena immediately looked up and stood. The moment she saw Leon, her eyes lit up—but then she pursed her lips in dissatisfaction.

“What’s with that expression?” Leon could not help but laugh.

“Of course it’s the expression of ‘why are you only coming back so late’!” Rena muttered. “Even if something came up suddenly, this is way too late! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”

“I had arrived at the pier in the morning, but something urgent came up. From here to Hamel Town, a round trip takes over four hours. There was really no helping it.” Leon smiled, walked inside, and closed the door, opening his arms toward Rena. “Sorry to keep you waiting!”

Rena let out a “hmph,” but seeing Leon with his arms open, she could not suppress the smile tugging at her lips. She quickly stepped forward and threw herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

Rena pressed her face against Leon’s chest and took a deep breath, savoring the warmth of the moment.

Then her nose caught a faint, almost imperceptible fragrance.

For some reason, the scent felt just a little—familiar?

Where had she smelled it before?

The related memory resurfaced in her mind in an instant. Rena’s eyes snapped open, and her entire expression changed.

“Hm?”

Leon suddenly felt Rena’s grip tighten around him. Lowering his head to look at her face, he immediately saw her staring at him with a mixture of grievance and hurt.

Before Leon could speak, Rena spoke in a resentful tone: “Shouldn’t you give me an explanation?”

“—” After a brief silence, Leon understood what was going on and replied calmly, “I met Bishop Weiss.”

“Why did you go see that woman again?” Hearing Leon admit it so frankly did not dispel Rena’s suspicion. Instead, her brows furrowed even tighter.

“She specifically came to Hamel Town to see me and even had Bishop Beckett send someone to pass along the message. I had no choice but to go,” Leon explained.

“She specifically came to see you!?” Rena seized on the key phrase. “What did she want with you?”

“She mainly had some things she wanted to discuss with me. Where should I start…” Leon began organizing his thoughts.

Before he could explain, Rena frowned, suddenly sensing something off. She pushed him away. “Wait!”

Leon looked puzzled. Then Rena questioned him, “When I received the message in the morning, it was twelve o’clock. What time did you leave?”

“A little before eleven,” Leon answered.

“It’s almost eleven now too. That’s twelve hours in total! Even if I count five hours for the round trip, that still leaves about seven hours in between. Just to ‘discuss some things,’ did it really take that long?” Rena stared at him.

At that moment, Leon finally understood what it felt like to have his schedule scrutinized by his girlfriend.

“No, I went back to the Inquisition in between. I spent most of the time there,” Leon explained.

“Oh—” Rena let out a breath of relief. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“—I only stayed with her for a little over three hours,” Leon added.

“Three hours?” Rena tensed again. “What were you doing for that long?”

“It was mainly academic discussions that took so much time,” Leon explained.

In truth, the serious matters had not taken long at all. If not for Bishop Beckett’s eavesdropping interference, fifteen minutes would have been enough for him and Weiss to clarify everything important.

Even during their second meeting, which lasted until six o’clock, discussing the matter of giving Sally the Magical Potion had only taken a little over ten minutes. What truly spiraled out of control was the academic discussion afterward. He had never expected the seemingly aloof Weiss to become so talkative once the topic turned to scholarship.

To maintain his persona, he racked his brain for knowledge accumulated in his previous life, citing various examples and drawing on different fields. Instead, that only further ignited Weiss’s enthusiasm for discussion. By the time they parted, she still looked reluctant to stop.

Correspondingly, Weiss had also mentioned much Church-held knowledge that deeply interested him. That was why the conversation had flowed so well, and more than two hours had passed in a flash.

However, after hearing his honest explanation, Rena looked at him again with an expression as if the sky had fallen.

“What’s wrong now?” Leon asked, confused.

“You can’t even be bothered to come up with a decent excuse anymore?” Rena said pitifully. “You and her discussing academics? What could you even discuss? I’m the one who taught you how to brew Magical Potions!”

“No, we were discussing knowledge in other fields—” Leon tried to explain.

“Doesn’t that sound even more ridiculous? She’s a professional scholar!” Rena said, full of disbelief.

“Wait—have you always thought I have no real education?” Leon suddenly realized something.

“Just tell me the truth. I’m prepared!” Rena’s gaze flickered as she looked at him anxiously.

Given the difference in status between Bishop Weiss and Leon, it was obviously strange that she would come specifically to see him!

Leon sighed, realizing he could not let Rena continue to lead the conversation further astray.

He searched around on himself for a moment and took out the small vial of Magical Potion base solution that Weiss had given him.

“What is that?” Rena asked instinctively.

“It’s a medicine that can theoretically cure Saltification Disease. She developed it,” Leon said seriously.

Rena’s expression immediately shifted to astonishment. The trivial suspicions from before dissipated by more than half.

What Leon had just mentioned was precisely the goal she had been pursuing ever since becoming a Witch—something that could even be called her life’s pursuit.

“Now, can you sit down and listen to me first?” Leon raised a hand.

Then Leon carefully organized and explained everything that had happened after he left Arend Island, placing special emphasis on this Magical Potion. Rena’s expression finally turned serious.

“So, Miss Sally has to become a Witch before she can use this medicine?” Rena confirmed, pointing at the vial after listening.

“Yes—provided that what Bishop Weiss said is true,” Leon replied. “Because the Mana is too high, only Witches and Magical Beasts can take it. Is that really possible?”

“There are indeed records of such cases, but theoretically, that would only happen if extremely High-Purity Mana were used, resulting in a Magical Potion that only Witches and Magical Beasts could withstand,” Rena said.

“How high would that purity have to be?” Leon asked.

“Not something we can produce right now,” Rena replied.

“That would have to be over ninety percent, wouldn’t it?” Leon said in surprise.

The Mana they currently extracted from that Drake had already reached a limit close to ninety percent purity.

As for Mana exceeding ninety percent purity, he had never seen any mention of it in the case files—at least not in any publicly accessible ones. When Rena had previously proposed further increasing Mana purity to enhance medicinal effects, he had specifically searched for it.

Could it be that the material Weiss mentioned—something only the Saint Rosalia Research Institute could produce—was precisely this?

They truly could not produce Mana exceeding ninety percent purity. Could it be that Saint Rosalia Prison was detaining a Great Witch capable of creating such material?

“If this was improved from my medicine, a simple analysis would allow us to reverse-engineer the Mana purity. But even if we confirm it, as she said, even with the formula, we probably still wouldn’t be able to make it,” Rena said.

“We need to test this medicine. There are forty days’ worth here. Can we separate part of it?” Leon said.

Before giving it to Sally, they had to confirm that the effect was indeed as Weiss had described.

“If we use a Head-Hunting Rabbit for the experiment, we’d only need about one-eighth of the dosage. One or two days’ worth would be enough to confirm the effect. But obtaining an individual Head-Hunting Rabbit afflicted with Saltification Disease may take some time,” Rena said.

No matter how large the dose of Saltification Disease Crystals fed to those creatures, it still took time for the disease to manifest.

“It’s fine. You handle it first. I also need some time to complete the succession process,” Leon said.

According to Bishop Beckett, after responding to Archbishop Miller, he would still have to wait for the Prophet Church to complete their procedures. Only after participating in the ritual and receiving the Blessing could he officially obtain his rank, become an Intermediate Inquisitor, and then assume the position of Director.

“Do you really intend to let Miss Sally become a Witch?” Rena looked at Leon and asked.

“It concerns her life. I plan to persuade her to give it a try. But we’ll have to wait until all the conditions are in place,” Leon said.

Without first verifying the medicinal effect and obtaining the authority to proceed, there was no point in talking about giving Sally the medicine.

“Then—are you going to keep in contact with Bishop Weiss after this?” Rena asked cautiously.

“She gave me something—” Leon briefly explained the matter of the magic mirror to Rena and mentioned that he had already hidden it somewhere safe.

“In the future, will you often use that to contact her alone?” Rena’s eyes widened as soon as she heard this.

“If you’re present and she notices your existence, what then? We still can’t be certain that the item is entirely safe,” Leon said.

“That makes sense—” Rena muttered softly.

But for a man and a woman to maintain long-term secret contact like that—somehow, it still felt very unsettling.