Free Web NovelAfter hearing Leon’s words, Rena did not immediately repeat his question.
Instead, she looked deeply at him.
Leon calmly returned her gaze.
He had anticipated her reaction long ago.
The very first time he had considered the Earl’s weaknesses, Ophelia had come to mind.
Ophelia was an illegitimate daughter without any official status.
She was also a Witch.
And the heir to the underworld business.
Unlike the Earl, who possessed an openly recognized noble title, she could not casually appear in public.
Leon guessed that she likely had a relatively fixed hiding place.
And it was probably somewhere within the Earl’s territory—in the eastern region—not too far from here.
The Earl’s whereabouts constantly changed.
He had to manage both his territories and his business interests.
There was also another family to consider.
He could not personally watch over his daughter at all times.
That meant many responsibilities had to be entrusted to reliable subordinates.
Therefore, Bishop Beckett was very likely to know where Ophelia was hidden.
The Earl had gone to tremendous lengths to avenge Ophelia’s mother.
Leon reasoned that the Earl could not possibly be completely indifferent toward his daughter.
Of course, there was another possibility.
The Earl might care more about himself than anyone else.
Leon had considered the possibility that the Earl never truly cared about the mother and daughter to the extent he appeared to.
Perhaps Ophelia’s mother had not committed suicide at all.
Perhaps the Earl had killed her himself.
Just as Father Auden had once advised Leon to kill Rena, such a choice would have been the most rational means of self-preservation under those circumstances.
The Earl’s relentless pursuit of revenge might simply have been born from humiliation at being forced into such a choice.
Perhaps he had sought revenge against Archbishop Rogers merely to restore his wounded pride.
If that were the case, then he certainly would not tolerate someone like Leon causing him to lose his biological daughter.
To the Earl, that would be another humiliation.
Now that he had attained his current status, how could he possibly allow history to repeat itself?
In that sense, Ophelia was both the Earl’s reverse scale and his weakness.
Strictly speaking, however, Leon had no deep personal grudge against her.
Using the Earl’s daughter to destroy the Earl was, in essence, not much different from the Earl using Weiss to take revenge on Archbishop Rogers.
Judged by ordinary moral standards rather than underworld standards, it was unquestionably despicable.
Yet Leon felt very little hesitation.
If the method offered even a chance of defeating the Earl, then he would consider using it.
During the year he had spent under the Earl and Bishop Beckett, his way of thinking had gradually become closer to theirs.
In that regard, they truly could be called his teachers.
Or perhaps...
At his core, he had always been the same kind of person as the Earl.
Maybe that was why the Earl had recruited him in the first place.
Rena looked at Leon with complicated emotions.
She did not object.
She merely asked softly:
“Are you sure?”
“Ophelia is the Earl’s heir. Even if we kill the Earl by other means, we’ll still have to deal with her afterward. We’re only changing the order of events.
“Rena, this is an underworld war. A lot of people are going to die. The people serving the Earl don’t necessarily have any personal grudge against us, but we’ll still have to kill them. Ophelia’s life isn’t worth more than theirs.”
Leon’s response remained calm.
Suddenly, Rena recalled the day she and Leon had killed Granny Hannah together.
That had been the first time they had taken a life.
Without realizing it, Leon had reached the point where he could use someone’s blood relative without hesitation.
Yet Rena found that she still understood him.
Seeing how methodical Leon had always been about killing the Earl, she had vaguely guessed he might eventually choose this path.
Those who gaze into the Abyss are, in turn, gazed upon by the Abyss.
And gradually drawn toward it.
When one approaches the Abyss, one inevitably becomes stained by its colors.
Even someone like her, who had once been timid and kindhearted, was no exception.
In the end, Rena voiced no objections.
She merely sighed softly and turned toward Bishop Beckett.
“The Earl’s daughter, Ophelia. Where is she?”
For a brief instant, hesitation appeared on Bishop Beckett’s face.
His brows furrowed.
It was as though some remaining fragment of consciousness sensed danger and was struggling against the command.
“Be obedient. Speak.”
Rena increased the flow of her mana.
Bishop Beckett’s resistance was suppressed.
His eyes became vacant once more.
“She lives... at a farm south of Brano Town... near the border of the Foyle Region...”
Leon had Rena continue questioning him in detail.
They asked about Ophelia’s routine.
The layout of the farm.
The defenses surrounding it.
And intelligence regarding Ophelia’s abilities as a Witch.
Bishop Beckett answered each question in a fragmented voice.
Leon quickly organized the information in his mind.
Based on the description, Ophelia’s farm was hidden extremely well.
It also possessed a respectable defensive force.
Overall, however, the defenses were limited.
For a Witch like Ophelia, avoiding attention from both the Church and the Earl’s enemies was the safest strategy.
Turning the hideout into a heavily fortified fortress would only attract suspicion.
The hideout’s greatest advantage was its secrecy.
And the moment Bishop Beckett revealed its location, that advantage ceased to exist.
The remaining defenses would be troublesome for Leon.
But not impossible.
At the very least, infiltrating that location was easier than assassinating the Earl directly.
While Leon considered the matter, Bishop Beckett’s expression suddenly changed dramatically.
Rena also sensed fluctuations in the mana flow.
“He’s breaking free,” she warned.
Bishop Beckett’s resistance was simply too strong.
Although using blood as a medium should have granted approximately an hour of control, the duration had been reduced to less than half.
Attempting another blood-based hypnosis shortly afterward would produce significantly diminished effects.
“Then let’s stop here for now.”
Leon activated the Cursed Blood once more, returning Bishop Beckett to a lightly petrified state.
He would not die in that condition anytime soon.
But he would remain unconscious.
Silence settled over the dark chamber.
Neither Leon nor Rena spoke for a long while.
Eventually, a third voice emerged from the darkness.
“Leon, that daughter of the Earl you mentioned earlier... what exactly are you planning to do with her?”
Leon turned his head.
The speaker was Weiss, who had remained hidden in the shadows the entire time.
This interrogation required both the Water of Vengeance and the muscle-paralyzing solution used on Bishop Beckett’s jaw.
Both had been prepared by Weiss.
Even the dosage adjustments had depended on her expertise.
She had deliberately remained outside Bishop Beckett’s field of vision.
With his Blessings sealed by the Water of Vengeance, he had been unable to detect her presence.
“Do I really need to spell it out?” Leon replied calmly. “I’ll first try to make use of her. If that doesn’t work, I’ll resort to stronger methods. It’s that simple.”
Weiss seemed about to say something.
Leon interrupted her first.
“We don’t have time to hesitate. Don’t waste your breath trying to persuade me.”
“I’m not trying to persuade you,” Weiss replied. “I just want to know what we’re going to do next.”
“Once we make a move against Ophelia, the Earl will realize it very quickly. Then we’ll have to face his wrath. Before that happens, we need to secure Mrs. Hesh and Melissa. We need to protect them and at least prepare their escape routes.”
Leon already had plans prepared for both Sally’s extraction from prison and Melissa’s removal from the Reformatory.
Before attacking someone else’s weakness, one had to hide one’s own.
“Won’t the Earl notice soon that he can’t contact Bishop Beckett?” Weiss asked. “Do we really have that much time?”
“I’ve already eliminated everyone Bishop Beckett placed in Hamel Town. Next, I’ll remove the Earl’s people in South Harbor County.
“Bishop Beckett was the Earl’s eyes here. Once contact is lost, the Earl will naturally realize he has lost control of the area.
“But even if he immediately gathers troops from the Foyle Region and marches here, it will still take time.
“That little bit of time is all we have.”
Leon paused.
“If we can use that time to kidnap Ophelia and safely return to Arend Island to fortify our position, then we have a chance.
“If we return and discover the Earl got there before us... then we all run.”
Bishop Beckett’s loyalty to the Earl was absolute.
But that loyalty meant little against Rena’s ability.
Rena’s power was a blind spot in the Earl’s intelligence.
One of their very few advantages.
Leon estimated that even if the Earl failed to contact Bishop Beckett, at most he would assume Leon had recklessly killed him during the delivery of the final ultimatum.
The Earl likely had not yet imagined that Leon now knew Ophelia’s location.
“Shouldn’t we at least try contacting my father?” Weiss cautiously asked. “If he helps us, maybe we’ll have more options...”
“The Church is looking for you too,” Leon replied. “Do you think they wouldn’t consider the possibility that you’d contact your father?
“And how much could he really restrain the Earl?
“And if your father learns about my existence as a heretic, how do you think he’ll react?”
Weiss found herself speechless.
Leon had never seriously considered using Archbishop Rogers.
In theory, Rogers stood on the opposite side of the Earl and could become a valuable ally.
But because of the Weiss incident, Archbishop Rogers himself was under investigation.
The Church was watching him closely.
Every faction within the Church was searching for Weiss.
Naturally, they had also considered the possibility that she might contact Archbishop Rogers.
Attempting contact now could easily draw unwanted Church attention.
Leon had neither the time nor the resources to deal with threats beyond the Earl.
The Earl was undoubtedly watching Archbishop Rogers as well.
He had spent years laying plans involving Weiss.
He even knew the secret that she had become a Witch.
How could there possibly be no agents planted around Archbishop Rogers?
Any attempt at communication might be discovered by the Earl first.
Bishop Beckett had openly admitted that Leon had long been on the list of suspects.
When the Earl revealed the truth to him that day, it likely had not been mere confession.
It had been a test.
The Earl wanted Leon to contact Archbishop Rogers after learning the truth.
The moment Leon did so, his guilt would effectively be confirmed.
If the Earl had been willing to make such a test, then he clearly was not afraid of Archbishop Rogers learning the truth.
He already had ways of dealing with Rogers.
All he needed was Weiss to complete his revenge.
Furthermore, as a criminal himself, Leon could not fully trust an Archbishop he barely knew.
Rogers was still a man of the Church.
He had once been an Inquisitor.
Rogers might fight with all his strength to obtain justice for Weiss.
But expecting him to spare Leon afterward out of gratitude would be naïve.
Not to mention the rest of the Church.
Any Church involvement posed risks for Leon.
Without hard evidence, even the Earl’s influence was difficult to challenge.
And even if an anonymous report somehow succeeded in drawing Church action against the Earl, Leon himself could easily be traced through his connections as one of the Earl’s former cadres.
“I understand, Weiss. You don’t completely trust me yet. Maybe having your father involved would make you feel safer.”
Leon fixed his gaze firmly on her eyes.
“But you need to understand something.
“The person protecting you now is not your father.
“It’s me.
“Only me.
“You belong to my side now.
“You will follow my arrangements.
“I will deal with the Earl using my own methods.
“Do you understand?”
Weiss stared blankly back at him.
She could clearly feel the force behind those words.
By now, she had gradually come to understand another side of Leon.
A dangerous side.
In the end, he belonged to a different world than hers.
Yet the unknown quality surrounding him, though somewhat frightening, attracted her deeply.
Just like the truths she had spent her life pursuing.
Those who gaze into the Abyss are themselves drawn toward it.
“I understand,” Weiss replied softly.
