What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

At the edge of the Foyle Region, at a farm south of Brano Town.

Several farmhands were skillfully loading cylindrical bundles of straw onto flatbed carts and securing them in place.

They handled the bundles with great care.

Deep within each bundle were Magical Potions destined for sale.

A straw bundle worth a dozen copper coins contained Magical Potions worth hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

These potions would next be transported to another stronghold and distributed to the cadres acting as regional dealers, who would then sell them to their own clients.

This rural farm had actually been one of Earl Foyle’s earliest Magical Potion workshops.

The person managing the place was the Earl’s daughter, Ophelia.

Shortly after the Earl established trade relations with the Witches' Assembly, Ophelia returned from completing her studies under Arachne and began helping her father manage the business.

Magic Essence and various Magical Potion ingredients were smuggled continuously from Moirland.

Under her supervision, they were refined into Magical Potions and shipped throughout the region.

Now that the business had expanded to its current scale, Ophelia rarely crafted potions personally anymore.

Those tasks were delegated to the Apothecaries she had trained.

She mainly focused on organizational management.

Nevertheless, she still lived here most of the time.

The location was hidden.

And safe.

A farm worker who was actually an internal operative drove a carriage through the gate.

The gatekeeper glanced at him, confirmed his face, and let him pass.

There were no passwords.

No inspections.

No one noticed that his eyes were far more vacant than usual.

Nor did anyone realize that several intruders were hidden inside the carriage.

This location had always been known only to people absolutely trusted by the Earl.

From the earliest days of cooperation between the Earl and the Witches' Assembly until now, neither the Church nor any rival had ever discovered it.

And with the Earl’s current influence, the Church no longer investigated him lightly.

Nor did he have any meaningful competitors remaining.

The possibility of anything happening here had become even lower.

As a result, security was far more relaxed than it had been in the early years of the business.

The farm worker drove through the bustling farmyard and headed toward the interior.

Eventually, he stopped before a farmhouse.

Immediately, another guard disguised as a maid frowned and approached.

“What are you doing? Park the cart in the yard over there! If the Young Lady comes out and sees you leaving it here, you’re dead!”

The shabby farmhouse behind her was actually Ophelia’s workshop.

The upper floor served as an ordinary storage area for farming tools.

Beneath it, however, a vast underground cellar had been excavated.

Inside were elegantly furnished studies and living quarters.

Most of the time, Ophelia worked underground.

“...”

The farm worker did not reply.

His expression remained vacant.

He was currently under hypnosis.

“What’s wrong with you? What are you transporting?”

The maid immediately became suspicious.

She pulled a hunting shotgun from a nearby haystack and aimed it at him while cautiously approaching.

Just as she was about to call for reinforcements, her heart suddenly felt as though it had been clenched by an invisible hand.

The flow of blood throughout her body abruptly stopped.

An intense feeling of suffocation instantly filled her throat.

Inside the carriage, Weiss had transformed into her Vampire form.

With her eyes closed, she sensed the heartbeat outside.

She concentrated the Blessing of Blood Exhaustion on the woman.

The guard immediately lost the ability to move.

“Bring her inside.”

At the same time, Rena, in her Succubus form, leaned close to the carriage window and spoke softly.

The command reached the hypnotized farm worker.

He immediately stepped forward and caught the collapsing maid.

The woman widened her bloodshot eyes and attempted to resist.

But the lack of blood flow had left her limbs numb and powerless.

When she was dragged beside the carriage, the door suddenly opened.

A massive furry claw reached out.

Like grabbing a chicken, it seized her and dragged her inside.

Then the door closed.

Two minutes later, it opened again.

The maid stepped out on her own.

Her eyes had become completely vacant.

Mechanically, she walked to the farmhouse entrance.

Using a key, she unlocked the door and stood beside it.

As though welcoming guests.

A black blur flashed past at impossible speed and rushed inside.

Meanwhile, Ophelia sat in her underground study, examining financial reports submitted by her subordinates with the assistance of a personal attendant.

After a short while, both women heard movement in the corridor outside.

Without even looking up, Ophelia called out:

“What is it?”

Normally, a trusted guard remained outside to act as a messenger.

Anyone wishing to report something to Ophelia had to go through that guard first.

No answer came.

Instead, they both heard an odd sound.

Something seemed to be melting into liquid and beginning to flow.

The sound came from within the door itself.

Outside, Weiss stood behind Leon.

She was using the Creator’s second-rank foundational Blessing.

The thick, heavy steel lock mechanism inside the door was temporarily transformed from solid metal into liquid.

It softened like mud.

Ophelia immediately jumped to her feet.

Her attendant sensed danger and placed a hand on her pistol.

At that moment, Leon kicked the steel door.

The door burst inward.

The attendant drew her gun with lightning speed.

But in front of Leon, who had activated Time Acceleration, she still looked as though she were moving in slow motion.

Leon drew first.

Blood flowing from his fingertips formed a thin line and concentrated around the muzzle of his firearm.

The moment he fired, a bullet coated in Cursed Blood struck the attendant’s right arm.

The accelerated poison instantly paralyzed the limb.

In the next moment, Leon drew a second gun and aimed it at Ophelia.

The instant he canceled Time Acceleration, the female attendant lost her balance and collapsed.

Ophelia stared wide-eyed at the gun pointed directly at her.

Then she looked at the Werewolf holding it.

Shock filled her voice.

“Who are you? How did you get in here!?”

“Long time no see, Ophelia,” Leon said.

In his Werewolf state, his voice had become deep and distorted.

It sounded completely different from before.

Ordinary people would never have recognized him.

But after a brief moment of thought, Ophelia understood.

“So it really is you.”

Her expression darkened.

“Traitor Leon Set!”

The Earl and Bishop Beckett had always shared intelligence with her.

The Earl’s revenge plan had been disrupted by a Werewolf capable of accelerating time.

And that Werewolf had already become the prime suspect—Leon.

Unfortunately, her information ended there.

Afterward, Bishop Beckett had been captured by Leon.

Both the Earl and Ophelia lost access to further intelligence.

Now the Werewolf before her had greeted her as someone he knew.

That alone confirmed his identity.

It was Leon.

Someone she had met before.

Leon had actually tracked her down and launched an assault on her hideout.

Neither the Earl nor Ophelia had ever anticipated such a thing.

Staring at the gun barrel pointed at her, Ophelia felt her scalp go numb.

“Don’t be nervous, Miss Ophelia.” Leon fixed his gaze on her and spoke slowly. “Before I decide whether to pull the trigger, you still have one choice.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ophelia’s brows knitted tightly together.

“How about making a deal with me?”