Free Web Novel“What do you mean?” Rena did not understand.
“Rena, their suspicion is impossible to guard against completely. Any opportunity that causes their suspicions to deepen beyond a certain point could prompt them to take action immediately,” Leon explained.
“So isn't that basically the same thing? Doesn't it mean we need to be especially careful not to leak any clues? In that case, if we don't handle things carefully here, and there happens to be a spy among us who's been bought off by them, wouldn't they spot the problem right away?” Rena said.
“Yes, which is why I said we still need to take precautions, just in case. But for this part, all we can do is our best and leave the rest to fate. We can do everything possible to keep them from obtaining evidence and minimize the clues they uncover, but guaranteeing that we never trigger any suspicion at all...” Leon smiled bitterly. “That's not something we can control.”
“Suspicion and doubt only need imagination to exist,” Weiss suddenly said. “That's what you're trying to say, right?”
“Exactly.” Leon nodded to Weiss before turning back to Rena. “Rena, think back to how they cornered us back then. How did they find you? How did they see through me?”
After a moment's thought, Rena understood.
Whether it had been Bishop Beckett's surprise raid on the Hamel Labyrinth that captured her, or the way he had immediately identified Leon as Fenrir, neither the Earl nor Bishop Beckett had ever possessed definitive evidence or concrete clues.
Yet the Earl had accurately guessed everything they had done purely through his own experience, and Bishop Beckett's identification of Leon had been based entirely on a self-consistent hypothesis.
For people like them, a guess was enough.
That meant that once the Earl's faction became suspicious of them, even if they covered their tracks perfectly and left no evidence behind, they would still become suspects if the Earl and his people could imagine a scenario in which they were capable of committing the act.
And once suspicion existed, it would be nearly impossible to wash away.
Because they really were the culprits.
Viewed from that perspective, Leon's decision to start planning the Earl's assassination in advance seemed astonishingly decisive, but it might actually be the most appropriate course of action under the circumstances.
In a way, this was also a lesson Leon had learned from having once fallen into their hands.
“Besides, I estimate that ever since I used the Blessing of Time Acceleration in front of Bishop Beckett, he's already been suspicious of me. For someone of Bishop Beckett's caliber, all he needs is a hypothesis to suspect me. But to rule me out, he'd require indisputable proof,” Leon continued. “So rather than exhausting ourselves trying to reduce their suspicions, it's better to think ahead about what they'll do once they become suspicious, and how we'll respond.”
“If what you're saying is true, then they could attack us at any moment,” Weiss analyzed calmly.
“If they choose to attack this place directly, we'd actually still have a chance. What worries me is if they resort to other methods,” Leon replied.
“They wouldn't just arrest you and interrogate you, would they?” Rena immediately became concerned for Leon's safety.
“I don't think so. I still have value to them. If they arrest me for interrogation and fail to get any answers, they'll only damage our relationship for no reason. And if they become absolutely certain, there'd be no need to interrogate me at all—they could simply move against me directly. That's no different from attacking us outright. As things stand, they won't use such an uncertain method on me,” Leon said.
“Then what do you mean by other methods?” Rena asked.
“...What I'm worried about is them targeting weaknesses other than myself.”
Leon fell silent for a moment before speaking.
Rena and Weiss were relatively safe inside this fortress.
The problem was Sally and Melissa.
The Earl knew that Leon had entered this business in order to make up for the decision to send Sally to prison.
If the Earl became sufficiently suspicious, there was no telling what he might do to them.
“By the way, Leon, you implanted Exhaust Blood into Bishop Beckett, didn't you?” Weiss suddenly remembered something.
She still recalled how Leon, in his Werewolf Form, had wounded Bishop Beckett.
At the time, Leon had implanted Exhaust Blood into him and had been able to sense Bishop Beckett's location while being pursued.
The Blessing of Exhaust Blood and the Blessing of Parasitic Infection belonged to the same general category.
After reaching the Second Rank, both could parasitize a target's body, allowing the blessing holder to sense the parasite's location.
“That's right. I can sense Bishop Beckett's approximate direction, but once the distance becomes too great, the sensation grows vague. I also can't determine the exact distance,” Leon answered.
“But using that sense, you should still be able to roughly estimate where he is, right? After all, Bishop Beckett must be focusing all his efforts on investigating me right now,” Weiss said.
To investigate Weiss, Bishop Beckett's activities would naturally be concentrated in a few locations:
The Southeastern Archdiocese where she had disappeared.
The Saint Rosalia Research Institute where she had worked.
The convent where she had lived.
Combined with the direction Leon sensed, it should be possible to track Bishop Beckett's movements to a certain degree.
“I am monitoring Bishop Beckett's movements. But I can't send anyone to follow him. With his abilities, he'd notice the surveillance very easily. Trying that could easily backfire,” Leon replied.
“But we can't remain completely passive and let him investigate freely. Otherwise all the initiative remains in their hands,” Weiss argued.
“Right. That's why I didn't send anyone to follow him directly. Instead, I've stationed people at several key locations.”
Leon paused.
“All I can do now is pray that they never see Bishop Beckett appear at those places.”
......
Southeastern Archdiocese, Archive Hall of the Inquisition.
Bishop Beckett arrived at the duty room outside the administrative office.
The Inquisitor on duty immediately stood and bowed respectfully upon seeing him.
“Bishop Beckett, what can I do for you?”
“I'd like to retrieve a case file,” Bishop Beckett said.
The Inquisitor blinked.
“Ah, all documents and records related to that incident in the Archdiocese were already transferred to the investigation team according to your instructions. I don't believe anything was omitted...”
He knew that Bishop Beckett was a member of the investigation team assigned to the Saintess Incident and was currently devoting all his efforts to locating Bishop Weiss.
“No. The file I want is the case from a year ago involving the murder of Intermediate Inquisitor Caron Esso in Hamel Town, Southport County,” Bishop Beckett said.
“Wasn't that your own case?” the man asked in surprise.
He could not understand why Bishop Beckett, who was currently handling such a major investigation, would suddenly request an old case file that seemed completely unrelated.
Had the investigation reached a bottleneck, prompting him to revisit one of his old successes to regain inspiration?
“That's right. No need to ask questions. Just bring me the file,” Bishop Beckett urged.
“As you command.”
The Inquisitor immediately moved into action.
Soon afterward, a sealed duplicate copy of the file was delivered to Bishop Beckett.
He sat down at a nearby table and immediately began reviewing it.
His objective was clear.
Before long, he found the report detailing the analysis of a Magical Potion's ingredients.
In the case file, the potion was recorded as the special medicine for Saltification Disease supposedly developed by “the Witch Sally Hesh” for her own illness, along with the analysis results produced after it was sent to the Saint Rosalia Research Institute.
But according to the truth as Bishop Beckett now understood it, Sally had indeed been a Witch, yet she had never possessed the ability to develop such a medicine.
The true creator should have been another Witch—Rena Lothak.
The case file stated that Sally Hesh had developed the medicine in the cellar beside her residence.
At the same time, other Apothecaries arranged by Henry Potter had been attempting to improve the medicine in the workshop inside the Hamel Labyrinth.
Thus, traces of the same potion had also been found within the labyrinth.
But the reality was different.
The labyrinth was where those potions had originally been created.
The potions found in the cellar were merely a disguise.
Regardless, the formula itself had already been confirmed.
The primary ingredients were Blood of a Headhunter Rabbit, Slime mucus, and extracts from several herbs.
The resulting Magical Potion emitted a scent resembling mint and citronella, primarily due to its herbal components.
The herbal materials found in Weiss's residence produced a similarly scented mixture when combined.
In truth, many different herbs produced comparable aromas when mixed.
And these herbs were fairly common.
A similar scent alone could hardly establish a meaningful connection.
But at this point, Bishop Beckett would not ignore even the slightest possibility.
Especially when the mastermind behind the Hamel Labyrinth incident—Fenrir—already occupied a place on his suspect list.
Bishop Beckett carefully reviewed the ingredient report.
Each time he saw a listed ingredient, a corresponding herb recovered from Weiss's residence surfaced in his memory.
He knew nothing about herbs himself.
However, when the evidence had been cataloged, specialists had already labeled everything.
He had memorized every detail of those exhibits.
By the time Bishop Beckett finished reviewing the report, the suspicion that had once drifted through his mind like fog finally began condensing into something tangible.
The ingredients were not identical.
But there was significant overlap.
That alone was not enough to qualify as critical evidence.
But for Bishop Beckett, it was already sufficient to construct a logically consistent hypothesis.
After reviewing everything once more, he swiftly organized the file and returned it to the archivist.
“Thank you.”
“It's my duty. Bishop Beckett, may I ask why you suddenly requested this old case file?” the Inquisitor asked cautiously while accepting it.
“Nothing important. I merely wanted to... organize my thoughts.”
Bishop Beckett smiled faintly before taking his leave.
He exited the archive building and boarded his carriage.
At the same time, someone hidden behind the curtains of a building across the street was observing the archive entrance through a telescope.
That person also witnessed Bishop Beckett entering and leaving the building.
“I've found the missing puzzle piece, my lord.”
The moment he entered the carriage, Bishop Beckett immediately contacted the Earl.
