What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

At the Owl Old Junk Shop, the old shopkeeper was carefully standing on a ladder, placing old books onto the very top shelf of the bookcase.

“Ah—oh.” After finishing, he cautiously moved down from the ladder.

Three fingers on his left hand were fixed with wooden splints and wrapped tightly.

Relying on just the remaining two fingers of his left hand and his right hand, working was inevitably a little cumbersome.

Several days had already passed since Caron had come looking for him, and there had been no contact since.

But the shopkeeper was not anxious.

With Caron’s abilities and methods, he reckoned there was only one possible ending to this matter—it was merely a question of time.

There was no other choice anyway.

If Caron had simply wanted to cut off this supply line, then even if he were truly sent in, he would not easily sell anyone out.

Otherwise, if the supply suddenly broke off, his upstream contact would inevitably demand an explanation.

If the supply ran into trouble while he himself remained perfectly safe, the upstream side would first suspect that he had betrayed someone.

And the truth was that he had always been a downstream fence selling stolen goods for the director of the Inquisition.

The underworld never went easy on traitors.

If he could not justify himself, what awaited him would be a fate more terrifying than death.

But Caron’s objective was to replace the supply source, seize this business, and still let him continue fencing the goods, taking a share of the profits.

In that case, there was no reason for him not to choose Caron.

This line of work was survival of the fittest—clinging to the strong and sipping the broth was far better than being eaten as meat alongside the weak.

Just then, the shop door was pushed open, and the bell let out a crisp chime.

“Welcome,” the old shopkeeper said casually, looking toward the entrance.

Then his eyes suddenly widened, and he nearly cried out, because the person who entered was actually the “Fenrir” he knew!

Leon looked as calm as ever.

Carrying a black cloth bag, he closed the door, exchanged a glance with the shopkeeper, then suddenly raised his eyebrows and laughed.

“What’s with you? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“Uh… oh.” The old shopkeeper snapped back to his senses and hurriedly adjusted his expression.

“I just didn’t expect you to come today.”

Inside, his heart was in complete turmoil.

He could not understand what was going on at all.

What was going on with Caron? Had he failed to deal with this kid? Or had he already settled things, but then seized leverage on the kid and taken him under his command?

But if that were the case, Caron should have informed him in advance.

And letting the very kid he had sold out continue to make contact with him—what was that supposed to mean? Wasn’t he afraid this kid would lose his temper and beat him to death?

Moreover, judging by the kid’s complexion, there was nothing unusual.

It was no different from their previous transactions.

“Recent output has been higher than expected. These rabbits don’t keep well after processing, so I need to ship out a batch first.”

As Leon spoke, he had already tossed the cloth bag onto the table and opened it.

Inside were several Head-Hunting Rabbit corpses, along with a test tube filled with mana.

Then Leon looked at the still-motionless shopkeeper and suddenly asked, “What happened to your hand?”

“Ah, this… I slipped while working on the ladder and didn’t brace properly. I just broke it, that’s all.”

The shopkeeper replied with an awkward laugh.

Then he went to the door, glanced outside, and locked it.

With a heavy heart, he took out a scale and placed it beside the small table.

Looking at Leon waiting with arms folded, he pretended to be casual and asked, “Has everything been going smoothly lately? No issues with production, right?”

“Nope. Everything’s great. At this pace, before winter arrives, we should be able to put out another batch—at least fifty percent more than the first half of the year.” Leon smiled.

“Oh, that’s really great. Haha…” The shopkeeper forced out a few dry laughs.

What exactly was Caron doing? Still not closing the net?

Could it be that this kid had sensed something in advance and come to settle accounts with him? That was impossible.

With Caron’s overwhelming status, he could easily keep this kid under control.

There was no risk of information leaking at all.

Besides, if this kid truly realized that Caron knew his secret, he would have fled long ago.

How could he still have the time to come here to settle scores?

The shopkeeper never once considered the possibility that Caron had already been dealt with by this kid.

In his estimation, that was completely impossible.

Though he did not know what was going on, all he could do now was grit his teeth and proceed according to the normal process.

At the very least, he could not let the other party see anything amiss.

This batch was no small amount—one hundred and five thousand six hundred Fenni in total.

“I’ll go get the money.”

As he spoke, the shopkeeper went behind the counter, lifted the carpet, unlocked the wooden hatch, grabbed a lantern, and prepared to go down into the cellar.

The cash in the counter was only enough to handle the junk shop’s business.

Every time he made this kind of purchase, he had to go to the cellar to get the money.

Just as he turned and started down the stairs, he suddenly sensed movement behind him.

When he turned his head, he was shocked to find that Leon had somehow already come around the counter and was standing behind him, pulling gloves onto his hands.

“You—”

He immediately became alert and was about to speak, when Leon suddenly lifted his leg and kicked him down.

“Ah!!”

The old shopkeeper screamed as he tumbled down the stairs into the cellar.

Leon rushed down after him in a few quick steps and closed the cellar door behind them.

Having been kicked and then fallen down the stairs, the old shopkeeper felt as if his entire body had fallen apart with pain.

The worst was still the few broken fingers—when he rolled down, the injured area was struck again.

He struggled to get up, his right hand reaching for the gun hidden on his body.

At that moment, Leon had already jumped down from the stairs and mercilessly stomped his full weight onto his back.

“Gah!!”

The old shopkeeper’s mouth flew open from the agonizing pain of broken ribs as all the air in his lungs was forcibly squeezed out, leaving him in utter agony.

Leon half-knelt down, braced his knee against the old shopkeeper’s back, seized both of his hands, wrenched them behind him, and snapped handcuffs on.

Then he began searching him, pulling out the gun he had hidden on his person.

“We agreed, didn’t we? As long as we each kept our mouths shut, we’d be safe!” Leon said coldly, smashing the gun butt hard into the man’s head.

“It’s a pity you didn’t keep your word. You should know very well what kind of end awaits a traitor, shouldn’t you?”

Down here in the cellar, there was no need to worry about his voice being heard outside.

“Y-you… what are you talking about? Why attack me all of a sudden?” the old shopkeeper gasped out, sucking in cold air as he spoke.

His first reaction was to play dumb and act pitiful, hoping to muddle through.

“All right then. Looks like you’re choosing the most painful way to die.” Leon’s voice was as calm as if he were discussing tonight’s dinner.

The old shopkeeper’s heart sank straight down.

The icy killing intent radiating from Leon made him realize that the other party had completely grasped the truth.

If he knew that he had sold him out to Caron, then why hadn’t he fled? Why had Caron not taken action for so long?

Could it be… could it be!

That possibility he had never even considered surfaced in his mind, making his pupils tremble.

The old shopkeeper painfully twisted his head, looking toward Leon’s chilling, bone-freezing face in the darkness, and asked in a trembling voice:

“Where’s Caron? Didn’t Caron Eso come looking for you?”

“What do you think?” Leon shot back coldly.

“You… you killed him?” the old shopkeeper cried out in disbelief.

“You killed Caron Eso!?”

Leon pressed a hand onto the old shopkeeper’s head, slamming his face hard into the dust-covered cellar floor, cutting off his shout.

“Raise your voice again and I’ll pull out your teeth one by one,” Leon threatened coldly.

“Listen well, traitor. If you want to live, bring out at least three million Fenni. Otherwise, the way you die afterward will make you regret ever having come into this world!”