Chapter 160: Professor Weiss’s Guidance |
Two days later, at the docks of Arlend Island, Leon carefully led Weiss off the ship.
After safely leaving the Southeastern Major Diocese, Leon immediately brought Weiss back to Southport County without stopping, then departed from the docks of Caster City and arrived at Arlend Island.
Weiss had kept her face covered the entire journey, and after arriving at Caster City, she was even blindfolded. During transfers, Leon had basically needed to guide her by the hand the whole time.
The moment Leon stepped off the ship, he noticed nearby subordinates attempting to salute and greet him. Leon raised a hand and stopped them with a glance, then pointed toward a nearby carriage.
The subordinate immediately understood and quickly called for others to bring a carriage over to pick Leon up.
Leon and Weiss boarded the carriage headed toward the mining fortress. After the carriage traveled for quite some time, Leon finally spoke.
“You can remove the blindfold now.”
Weiss raised her hand and untied the black cloth covering her eyes. What appeared before her was the enclosed carriage interior, along with Leon sitting opposite her.
“Where are we going?” Weiss asked.
“What exactly are you doing behind the Church’s back?” Weiss asked in confusion.
“You’ll know soon enough. For now, let’s discuss the topic you’re most interested in—that mastermind who framed you.” Leon said.
The moment she heard this, Weiss’s expression immediately turned focused.
Even after leaving the Southeastern Major Diocese, Leon had still not directly told her about the mastermind until now.
Weiss understood that besides this place being where Leon finally felt sufficiently safe, another reason was that he had not been certain whether she might do something unnecessary midway after learning the truth.
From the moment she stepped into Leon’s territory, she had completely entered Leon’s control. This was also part of their agreement.
Under such circumstances, Leon could finally feel somewhat at ease sharing some secrets with her.
“You should know Earl Foyle, right? Isaac Marstan.” Leon directly gave the answer.
“Earl Foyle?” Weiss revealed a surprised expression.
She had not expected a name with almost no connection to her whatsoever to suddenly appear here. Of course she knew Earl Foyle, the most powerful noble in the east, but… she truly had no connection with him at all.
Nor had she ever heard that her father had any dealings with Earl Foyle.
Her father was currently still serving in the north. No, wait a moment…
“My father once temporarily served as an Inquisitor in the Foyle region before. Is it related to that?” Weiss cautiously asked.
When her father was young, he had rotated through several different regions. For a period of time, he served as an Inquisitor in the Foyle region, though the Earl Foyle at that time had not yet been the current Isaac Marstan.
“Twenty years ago, when your father was still an Inquisitor, the then-apprentice knight Earl Foyle had been involved in apostate business dealings. Your father investigated and destroyed his operation. Although he failed to catch the Earl himself, he captured one of his accomplices instead, which directly led to that accomplice dying in prison.
The Earl has always held a grudge over this and spent years scheming revenge against your father.” Leon gave a brief explanation.
“So he framed me in order to make my father suffer?”
“Exactly. He wanted your father to experience losing someone important just like he did. That’s his revenge plan.”
“Then Bishop Beckett and the Great Witch Arachne were all organized by him?” Weiss asked in shock.
It was not strange for Earl Foyle to command Bishop Beckett. Earl Foyle had once served as a Knight Commander of the God of War Church, and Bishop Beckett had also been promoted through Earl Foyle’s support. A private master-servant relationship was unsurprising.
The real issue was the ability to collaborate with Arachne. That was not something an ordinary person could achieve.
“Bishop Beckett is his subordinate, while Arachne is his collaborator. On the surface Earl Foyle appears extremely influential, but behind the scenes he’s even more powerful. He’s the founder of a criminal empire and has long maintained cooperation with the Witch Gathering of Moiland.” Leon explained.
“Then what exactly is your relationship with him?” Weiss looked directly into Leon’s eyes. By the time she asked this question, she had already vaguely guessed the answer.
“I’m one of his executives, responsible for managing some of the businesses and production within his territories. Just as you suspected, the rank I obtained within the Church was actually arranged by them.” Leon answered.
“Businesses? What kind of business are you involved in? Don’t tell me…” Halfway through speaking, Weiss arrived at the answer herself. “Magic Essence smuggling?”
If they were connected to Great Witches from Moiland, then the most obvious business would be Magic Essence smuggling. Most Magic Essence used as raw material for Magic Potions within the Empire was smuggled in from outside.
“That’s right. He’s been smuggling Magic Essence from Moiland for years. The reason his territory is so prosperous and why he possesses his current status and influence is because he built everything from this.” Leon said.
“And as one of his executives, you help him use Magic Essence to produce Magic Potions and sell them, correct?” Weiss confirmed with Leon.
“There’s one difference.” Leon corrected her. “What I produce isn’t just Magic Potions.”
“What else?” Weiss instinctively pressed further.
“Magic Essence itself. I’m responsible for producing Magic Essence for the Earl.” Leon answered.
“Producing Magic Essence? You raise Magical Beasts?” Weiss frowned slightly. “Magical Beasts can only obtain Magic Essence by living inside Labyrinths.”
“Exactly. Only inside Labyrinths…” Just as Leon reached this point, the carriage happened to stop before the fortress wall at the mountain pass.
Leon then led Weiss out of the carriage. The subordinates guarding the fortress all saluted him.
“You’ve finally returned, Mr. Fenrir.” The subordinate serving as squad leader stepped forward and respectfully greeted Leon before glancing toward the veiled Weiss. “And this lady is?”
“A new Apothecary. Open the gate.” Leon waved his hand.
The gates slowly opened as Leon led Weiss into the mountain pass.
Before Weiss appeared a fortress settlement resembling a village. Numerous people moved throughout the stronghold, transporting crates of cargo.
The road extended deep toward the mountain itself, where a mine entrance could be seen.
“Welcome to my Labyrinth. That entrance over there is the entry point.” Leon introduced.
Weiss curiously observed the layout before asking:
“That Labyrinth—is it alive or dead?”
“A living Labyrinth. After we cleared it, we converted it into a breeding facility.” Leon answered. “I’ll take you to see the laboratory where we formulate Magic Potions. Starting today, I’ll have to trouble you with producing the new special medicine for Saltification Disease.”
After realizing Rena could no longer keep up with the workload, Leon had added a new laboratory outside the Labyrinth for Magic Potion production. He also hired two Apothecaries responsible for ordinary Magic Potion manufacturing so Rena could focus entirely on Magic Essence extraction along with a smaller amount of advanced Magic Potion preparation and development.
Leon led Weiss toward one of the buildings within the fortress. The guards saluted before allowing them through.
After entering the building, the inside appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary warehouse.
However, after Leon unlocked a concealed mechanism and pushed aside a shelf along hidden rails, a secret door appeared behind it.
They passed through the hidden door into a completely enclosed space without windows.
Yet the room inside was brightly illuminated.
This was a specialized laboratory dedicated to Magic Potion formulation. Several workbenches were connected together, with countless bottles, containers, and instruments scattered everywhere.
A male and female Apothecary hurried back and forth busily inside. Hearing movement, they turned around and immediately stopped their work.
Weiss looked around the room, and her brows slowly furrowed.
“Boss.” The two Apothecaries simultaneously greeted Leon as he inspected the laboratory.
Leon nodded in response before turning toward Weiss.
“What do you think?”
“May I speak frankly?” Weiss’s brows remained tightly knitted.
“Go ahead.”
“This simply won’t do. It feels like a garbage dump to me.” Weiss shook her head.
The two Apothecaries simultaneously widened their eyes.
“You really are blunt.” Leon smiled bitterly.
“Whether it’s research or Magic Potion formulation, mistakes cannot be tolerated. I understand that you’re making Magic Potions here purely for profit, but if I’m expected to use this place, then regrettably, there is almost nowhere here that meets my standards.” Weiss said mercilessly.
The two Apothecaries exchanged glances. Then the older male Apothecary raised his hand.
“This lady…”
Weiss immediately shot him a glance and interrupted:
“What’s wrong with those protective gloves of yours? They’re already contaminated with reagents from the previous experiment, yet you’re still wearing them?”
The Apothecary looked speechless as he glanced at the traces of liquid on his fingers before defending himself.
“That doesn’t affect anything. I know perfectly well the substances involved are safe and controllable together.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘safe and controllable’ with procedures like that.” Weiss’s gaze swept across the laboratory table before she pointed toward an alcohol lamp. “Remove that immediately. That container can only be used for mixing. It must never be heated directly.”
“Do as she says.” Leon ordered.
The Apothecary who had been about to object swallowed his words. One extinguished the alcohol lamp while the other removed the container.
Then Weiss casually picked up a bottle of potion and gently shook it before facing the Apothecaries.
“This is Mandrake essential oil?”
“Yes.” Both Apothecaries were surprised Weiss recognized the potion ingredients at a glance and immediately confirmed it.
“No. This is a bottle of impurities. See these tiny black particles?” Weiss expressionlessly set the bottle back down.
“Madam, those are normal residuals left from the extraction process. They don’t affect the medicinal properties.” The Apothecary defended himself.
“You’re actually still using light kerosene for extraction? That was already outdated twenty years ago. From now on, switch to pure alcohol extraction instead, then check whether you still get these residues.” Weiss replied coldly.
She swept her eyes around the room once more before letting out a long breath.
“If you expect me to work for you, then I think we should begin by halting operations and reorganizing everything from scratch. This is not a qualified laboratory.” Weiss turned toward Leon.
“That would place us in quite a difficult position.” The Apothecary cautiously looked toward Leon. “We still have many orders waiting.”
“Do as she says.” Leon ordered the Apothecaries. “She’s the expert. From now on, this place is under her management.”