What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

After a brief moment of thought, Leon gave up on the idea of increasing manpower in this laboratory.

"How about this? I’ll build another Apothecary Room outside. There are actually some Apothecaries in River Valley County. I’ll pick two reliable ones and bring them over. For the potion-mixing work that doesn’t require you personally, we’ll hand it all over to them. As for the number of Magical Beasts, keeping it at the current level will be enough," Leon said.

"What? Not expanding production anymore?" Rena said in a teasing tone.

When Leon had first approached her for cooperation, his very first demand had been to expand production—then expand it again, and again—until it had reached its present scale.

Now, the number of Magical Beasts was so large that they even had to specially purchase corpses through Underworld channels to feed them in order to ensure the purity of certain products. Of course, Leon had handed that portion of the work over to Simon and the others, so he did not need to handle it personally.

"It’s already enough for us." Leon smiled faintly, and then the smile gradually faded. "Rena, the Mana we’re producing now supplies the Earl, as well as the Magical Potion trade in River Valley County and South Harbor County. And then there’s the processing of Magical Beast materials. Every quarter now, we’re making more than twenty million."

"You said a few months ago that we’d only made ten million in total—" Rena was slightly startled.

"It’s already exceeded thirty million now, and it’s still steadily increasing." As Leon began extracting Mana, he turned his head to glance at Rena. "Half of that is yours. Have you thought about how you’re going to spend it?"

"The three million you gave me before is still hidden away, and I haven’t even dealt with it. Even if you give me more now, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Just keep it with you," Rena said after thinking for a moment, shaking her head.

With their current income, even Father Auden was struggling to launder money for them in time. It wasn’t that Father Auden lacked the channels, but rather that, given Leon and Rena’s identities, suddenly possessing wealth in the tens of millions within half a year without a sufficiently reasonable explanation would make them far too easy to target.

On the surface, Leon currently owned a tavern, a fleet of six ships, a mill purchased on Arend Island, and a leased pier. Even including the assets laundered through these industries, it amounted to just over three million. By ordinary standards, that already counted as having struck it rich.

As for Rena, she had not even begun laundering money. After all, she had nowhere in particular to spend such large sums. Even if she were somewhat extravagant, it would not reach the point of arousing suspicion of involvement in illegal industries.

The remaining more than thirty million in cash and various assets were entirely black money—and it was still increasing.

"If you suddenly launder ten or twenty million now, you’ll become prime prey in the eyes of the Church Disciplinary Order and the Tax Officials. But once you obtain a Church Rank and hold a corresponding position, it won’t be a problem. As long as you have power, even if money comes quickly, people won’t immediately suspect apostasy—at most they’ll suspect corruption.

And no one will seriously pursue corruption with a thorough investigation. As long as the laundering is done properly, they won’t be able to touch you. Among those Bishops and Knights with rank, how many aren’t rolling in wealth?" the Priest had told him at the time.

Their enterprise was thriving and still in its growth phase. Whether in production or in market expansion, there was still vast room for development.

They could raise even more Magical Beasts in the Labyrinth. The purity of their Mana was already very high—the quality far surpassing what Mr. Griffin and Jero had produced before—and it had received widespread praise. Through expansion within elite circles, their number of clients was still increasing.

But Leon himself no longer had the mind to keep expanding. Neither he nor Rena lacked money anymore. What they needed now was not money.

"We’ve already earned more than we could spend in a lifetime. Increasing it further would only add numbers. Once we rescue Mrs. Hesh, the debt we owe them should be repaid as well." Leon began channeling his magic to extract Mana. "Have you tested the medicine Bishop Weiss gave you before?"

"Mm. It succeeded, at least. The improved version’s efficacy is indeed far better than what I made before. In theory, as long as no side effects appear, it really should be able to cure Saltification Disease—" Rena’s voice lowered as she spoke.

Leon noticed that she did not seem particularly happy while saying this, and turned to observe her expression. "What’s wrong? Isn’t success a good thing?"

"It’s not that. It’s just… a little regrettable, I guess. I still would’ve preferred to make it myself. But in the end, someone else achieved the results first." As she spoke, Rena secretly watched Leon’s eyes. "By the way, have you been in contact with Bishop Weiss recently?"

The medicine Weiss created could not yet be used on ordinary people, but at least it had theoretically achieved the breakthrough goal of reversing and curing the illness.

Creating a special medicine capable of curing Saltification Disease had been one of Rena’s major life goals. If it could be accomplished by someone else, she was actually willing to accept that. Still, it inevitably diminished her sense of achievement somewhat.

Moreover, the one who accomplished it happened to be Bishop Weiss, who had secret dealings with Leon. She could not help comparing herself to the other woman, nor could she help caring about Leon’s relationship with her.

"Not really—" Leon thought for a moment before replying.

"But?" Rena keenly sensed there would be a turn.

"But before I went to attend the investiture ceremony, I saw that she’d left me a message in the mirror. She asked me to contact her proactively at seven in the evening the day after tomorrow," Leon said.

The magic mirror designed by Weiss required only that a card with writing be placed against its surface. Even if kept in darkness, as long as the other mirror was in a lit place, the first mirror would reflect the light that should have been reflected in the second mirror, illuminating the card and allowing the second mirror to read the message. In this way, they could leave messages for each other.

"You replied?" Rena’s brows were already furrowed when she asked.

"Mm. I left a message agreeing," Leon answered.

Rena’s expression immediately turned somewhat sulky.

"I told you before—staying in contact with her is necessary. And there’s nothing between us." Seeing her reaction, Leon understood that she was not at ease with his dealings with Weiss. After all, this was entirely secret communication.

And judging from their last meeting—chatting enthusiastically for over two hours—it had indeed been a bit excessive. No wonder Rena was uneasy.

"That’s one thing, but being unhappy is still being unhappy. There’s no helping it!" Rena muttered softly.

"Are you feeling inferior because Weiss developed the special medicine?" Leon asked.

Rena opened her mouth to retort, but could not come up with a single rebuttal. She merely let out a "hmph."

Leon smiled. "After all, Weiss is the Saintess of the Creator Church. She has the Church’s resources supporting her research, along with the Church’s accumulated knowledge. And she herself is an outstanding Apothecary. Given the right research direction, it’s not surprising she could make a breakthrough—"

By the time Leon praised Weiss this far, Rena had already clenched her fists angrily. If Leon had not been handling the Mana extraction work for her at that moment, that little fist would likely have landed on his back.

Then Leon changed his tone. "But that correct direction was based on your research! How many research breakthroughs stand on the shoulders of giants? And you are that giant. Without your foundational work, she wouldn’t have achieved any results at all."

"—" Rena gave no particular response to the flattery. Leon’s intention was far too obvious.

Still, after hearing the pleasant words, she at least lowered her fists.

"Rena, Mrs. Hesh and Melissa have both expressed willingness to try the plan we discussed. In the future, we’ll need to obtain the medicine from Bishop Weiss," Leon said earnestly.

Before attending the investiture, he had made a point of visiting Sally and Melissa to explain that he had obtained a medicine with hope of curing Saltification Disease, but that Sally would need to undergo a ritual to become a Witch.

Sally and Melissa had reacted similarly—initial surprise, but after careful consideration, they agreed.

After all, this was to allow Sally to live and be spared the torment of the disease. And in substance, Sally had already paid the price of becoming a Witch. In that regard, even if she formally became one, there would be no additional loss or risk.

"I know." Rena muttered helplessly. "That medicine… I’m afraid she really is the only one who can make it."

"Did you discover something?" Leon asked.

Although Weiss had said the formula design was confidential and that only she had the conditions to produce it, Leon had still suggested that Rena attempt to analyze its components.

"I haven’t identified the other ingredients yet. But based on the Mana activity within it, I reverse-calculated the purity of the Mana she used—and I got a very astonishing number." Rena’s expression turned serious. "About ninety-six percent."

"You didn’t make a mistake?" Leon was startled.

"It’s real—unless she added something that interferes with Mana measurement methods. But the purity of the Mana she used is definitely far higher than what we can produce! In short, the preparation conditions required for this medicine are indeed beyond what we can currently achieve," Rena said.

"Ninety-six percent…" Leon repeated the number. "Then where did she obtain it?"

That level of purity was practically unheard of. Leon was certain that no publicly available case files had ever recorded Mana of such purity.

In other words, if Mana of that purity truly existed, the related case files would likely have been sealed away—let alone the Mana itself as evidence.

If she had really used Mana of that purity, then the fact that Weiss could obtain it and continue using it to produce special medicine for their experiments would appear highly suspicious.

"Saint Rosalia Prison holds Witches. Could it be that a Great Witch imprisoned there secretly produced it under her instructions?" Rena speculated.

Her guess was the most reasonable explanation—but Leon felt something was off. "Such an act of apostasy—even she couldn’t withstand the consequences, right? Would she really risk her life just to help Mrs. Hesh?"

Moreover, Mana of ninety-six percent purity—if paired with the proper formula—might even push the effects of a Longevity Potion close to immortality. Just imagining it entering the market, whether in the Underworld power structure or within the Church’s Inquisition forces, would likely trigger a tremendous upheaval.