What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Gazing into Rena’s tear-filled eyes, Leon froze in place, even forgetting to blink.

In that moment of eye contact, he finally understood that Rena felt exactly the same as he did.

To Rena, he was the only person in this world who bore the same sins as she did.

What had already happened could no longer be changed.

Before time could dull the torment brought by it all, only he could share this burden with her, holding each other close for warmth.

Leon cast an inquiring look at Rena while slowly raising his hand, tentatively brushing her cheek.

The girl’s face trembled slightly in his palm, but she did not resist.

“All right, we’ll stop,” Leon said, his voice trembling despite himself.

“Once all of this is over, we’ll leave this place!”

“Mhm!” Hearing Leon’s answer, Rena nodded repeatedly, tears spilling from her eyes.

……

Enough! No more of it! None of it!

Leon once again stood before the doors of the Inquisition and strode inside.

The position of Inquisitor, the power of a Witch, the business of dredging gold from blood—he no longer needed any of it.

Both he and Rena would stop completely from this point on.

Just as he was preparing to give himself over to despair and continue trudging through the Abyss, Rena had pulled him back from behind and given him a future they could share together—no more risks, no more hurting others, leaving this place behind and letting time wash everything away……

For someone like him to receive such salvation, what more could he possibly ask for?

But before that, he still had to wait patiently—wait for the case to settle, wait for everything to come to an end.

He returned to the Duty Room belonging to his team, preparing to write the final report for Rena’s pretrial procedure.

At this hour, the other team members were all out on assignments, leaving the spacious Duty Room with only him seated alone at the desk.

Leon let out a long breath and adjusted his state.

Just as he was about to put pen to paper, he suddenly heard footsteps stop at the doorway.

He turned his head and saw Bishop Beckett appear at the door once again.

“Sir?” Leon hurriedly stood and saluted, forcing himself to remain calm as he asked, “Is there something you need?”

The moment he saw Bishop Beckett, his entire body tensed.

This was the second time today the Bishop had suddenly appeared before him—something was clearly off.

“Nothing much. Has the person been sent back?” Bishop Beckett asked.

“Yes. I escorted the suspect back to her home in River Mouth Village,” Leon replied.

“Is that so? Good.” Bishop Beckett nodded calmly, then suddenly stepped into the Duty Room and closed the door behind him.

“Regarding the Witch, Sally Hesh, who turned herself in today, there are a few things I need to say to you.”

“Please go ahead.” Leon’s heart rate spiked instantly. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“You knew that Witch and even lived under the same roof without discovering or suspecting anything… Ah, of course, I also know that this is asking a bit much. Director Aaron was very understanding about this as well. Still, once this is written up in the report and submitted, the higher-ups may hold you accountable.

“So we plan to go through the proper procedure and give you the lightest possible disciplinary action in the submitted report. I hope you understand—this is to protect you.” Bishop Beckett said kindly.

“Of course. I completely understand,” Leon nodded in response, though he did not let his guard down.

“This may still have a slight impact on your future performance evaluations, but only for a short while,” Bishop Beckett continued.

“I don’t mind. Thank you for informing me, sir,” Leon replied.

“As long as you don’t mind.”

Bishop Beckett smiled and nodded, then paused for quite some time before suddenly lowering his voice.

“After all… your objective has already been achieved, hasn’t it?”

Although Leon had long prepared himself mentally, at the moment when the blade was finally revealed, he still felt as if his entire body had fallen into an ice cellar.

Bishop Beckett had indeed seen through the problem—and had even pointed directly at him!

“Sir, what are you talking about?” Leon put on a confused expression.

There was no evidence whatsoever regarding his having Sally take Rena’s place.

Even if there were suspicions, nothing could be investigated.

Unless Sally confessed and admitted it herself—but she would never open her mouth.

“Just listen to me first…” Bishop Beckett said with a smile, raising a hand to signal Leon to calm down.

“I’ve always trusted my intuition. From the moment we captured Rena Lothark, the outline of the case had already taken shape in my mind. Yet despite mobilizing so many resources and striking preemptively, I still couldn’t obtain the key evidence, forcing me to even use the final trump card of the Supreme Investigation Warrant.

“Then, just as we were applying for the Supreme Investigation Warrant, Sally Hesh suddenly turned herself in. The evidence practically delivered itself to our doorstep, and when pieced together, it formed a truth that completely overturned my original deductions. My intuition told me something was wrong, but I couldn’t see through it at the time. Fortunately, when I reported to that person, he gave me a hint.”

As Leon listened, a chill crept up his spine and spread through his entire body.

“In fact, we only need to make a single assumption,” Bishop Beckett continued.

“Assume that there is someone trying to mislead us. That person must be connected to every incident, like a hidden thread in the dark, linking every point of suspicion together.”

Bishop Beckett looked at Leon and nodded as he spoke.

“And you are that hidden thread. You came into contact with the informant who disappeared along with Caron. You had the opportunity to move the evidence before we did. Director Aaron once told you about the investigation warrant. And the Hesh who turned herself in just so happened to be connected to you.”

“Forgive me for saying so, sir, but if the premise of your assumption is wrong—”

Just as Leon was about to argue, Bishop Beckett raised a hand to stop him.

“It’s fine. This is all just my speculation, without any evidence. As long as no one suddenly testifies against you, the Church’s procedures pose no threat to you.”

Hearing this, the unease in Leon’s heart did not diminish—instead, it swelled even further.

“But if it’s a force outside the Church, then no evidence is needed. For us, suspicion alone is enough,” Bishop Beckett continued, hands clasped behind his back.

Leon’s heart lurched.

He suddenly recalled how Father Auden had mentioned that Bishop Beckett, like the Priest and Caron before him, had once been subjected to an internal Church investigation.

Even then, Leon had suspected that Bishop Beckett was not as clean as he appeared.

A name—one he had long known could influence powers beyond the Church—surfaced in his mind.

That force truly had no need for evidence.

They stood in opposition to the law itself.

Once suspicion fell upon a target, it was sufficient reason for them to act.

They could be even more dangerous than the Church!

Leon’s heart sank as he sharply realized that if those people turned their suspicious gaze toward him, Rena’s situation would be the same!

In an instant, he prepared himself for battle, though his expression remained calm, betraying no hostility.

Bishop Beckett was undoubtedly a Transcendent.

The fact that he had dared to stand in front of Aaron while Sally was holding Cursed Blood proved that he had methods to deal with it.

However, Bishop Beckett did not necessarily know that the blood was actually Leon’s power.

After all, a Witch’s Blessing on a man was profoundly counterintuitive.

If used properly, that lethal ability might still find a breakthrough.

Yet there was still a question lingering in Leon’s mind.

If Bishop Beckett truly represented that force, and suspicion alone was enough reason for them to act, then there was no need for him to come here to confirm anything.

For them, this conversation only added unnecessary trouble.

Bishop Beckett continued to watch him with a half-smile, hands behind his back, showing not the slightest hint of tension.

“Do you want to save them?” he suddenly asked.

At that moment, Leon felt as if his heartbeat stopped for an instant.

“Them”? Did that mean not only Rena, but also Melissa—and even… Sally?

He could not be sure whether Bishop Beckett was deliberately provoking him into revealing a flaw, or if there was some other purpose behind it.

But if such a possibility truly existed… even if it meant gambling with his life, he would not hesitate in the slightest!

Vaguely, the future that Rena had painted for the two of them together faded from his mind, replaced by a narrow, perilous path stretching along the edge of a cliff, extending endlessly forward with no end in sight.

His expression darkened as he fixed his burning gaze on Bishop Beckett.

“What do you want?”

At this moment, he was no longer Inquisitor Leon Set, but the fugitive Fenrir speaking.

And the man before him was no longer Bishop Beckett, but the agent of some supreme lord of the Underworld.

“More than twenty years ago, someone once faced the same choice as you, sir. His ending, however, was different from yours. My master greatly admires your approach, and thus specifically instructed me to extend to you a sincere invitation—”

Bishop Beckett straightened his posture with hands behind his back.

The smile on his face was courteous and impeccable, like a butler conveying his master’s words to a guest.

“Mr. Fenrir, the Earl… wishes to see you.”