What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Arend Island, the Viscount Arend Estate.

Adele, daughter of Viscount Arend, sat at her desk, rubbing her temples while painfully working through account books.

Recently, she had tried every possible method to create profitable ventures using the resources available on the island.

If she was being honest, the results were not terrible.

After all, the island's resource ceiling was right there for everyone to see.

No matter how skilled she was at management, there was only so much she could do.

Compared to the debts her father had left behind, however, the profits were little more than a drop in the ocean.

Because of those debts, most of the island's assets had already been mortgaged.

They could not even secure additional loans.

If only she could find a proper investor.

But who could she still turn to?

Countless names passed through Adele’s mind.

Over the past several days, she had visited many wealthy merchants and nobles in search of investment.

Most of them had not even been willing to meet her.

Viscount Arend’s predicament had long since become common knowledge.

In both business and noble circles, their family had become little more than a joke discussed over tea.

A few people had met her out of respect for her grandfather’s old friendships.

Then they politely declined.

Others had shown far more interest in her than in investing.

Their words and behavior openly hinted that she could become their mistress and explore certain “special ways” of making money.

Remembering the blatant looks those people had directed at her face and body made Adele feel disgusted to her very core.

“Ugh, what am I supposed to do!?” Adele wanted nothing more than to grab a handful of her own hair.

But she worried about ruining the carefully arranged hairstyle and forced herself to stop.

At that moment, the maid she had hired suddenly pushed open the door and called out anxiously:

“My Lady!”

“What is it?”

Adele immediately noticed the panic on her face.

“Some villagers came to report that pirate ships are heading toward the island!” the maid said seriously.

“Pirates?”

Adele looked confused.

“How is that possible? I’ve never heard of pirate activity around here. Could they have mistaken merchant ships for pirates?”

The nearby sea lanes were filled with merchant vessels.

Armed escort ships were also common.

If one ship encountered trouble, neighboring fleets would quickly notice and provide assistance.

A naval port was not particularly far away either.

If pirates wanted to cause trouble, they would normally operate farther offshore.

“But I saw them myself from the hill! And more than one person reported it! Some fishermen said the ships are full of armed soldiers!” the maid replied gravely.

Adele blinked.

“Then... where are these ships coming from?”

“Both the north and the south!”

The maid’s answer finally changed Adele’s expression.

She hurriedly searched through her study, found a telescope, and rushed upstairs.

The maid followed closely behind.

Their residence was built atop a hill.

The roof contained a pavilion-style observation platform overlooking the sea.

From there, almost the entire eastern coastline surrounding the island could be observed.

Adele looked north and south.

Sure enough, she could vaguely make out the silhouettes of sailing ships.

She raised the telescope and examined them closely.

To the north were two three-masted sailing ships.

Neither carried any flag.

Alongside them sailed three smaller armed merchant vessels.

To the south were more than a dozen small ferries advancing together.

Every ship was heading directly toward Arend Island.

On the deck of the largest vessel, she saw orderly formations of men.

All appeared fully armed.

These were not pirates.

This looked like an army converging upon the island!

Adele lowered the telescope.

Panic spread across her face.

“W-What's going on?”

She could not understand it.

Arend Island was poor and barren.

What could possibly attract an armed force of this scale?

“Where’s my father?” she asked the maid.

How could a noble young lady possibly handle something like this?

Only Viscount Arend, the actual lord of the island, could deal with such a situation.

“The Viscount... hasn’t come home since yesterday,” the maid replied cautiously.

That bastard!!

The highly improper phrase almost escaped Adele’s mouth.

Could her useless father have caused another disaster somewhere?

Ships were approaching from both sides.

Trying to flee in any direction would likely result in being surrounded.

Would it be better to find a place to hide?

As she clutched her head in complete confusion, the maid looked at her sympathetically and hesitantly spoke:

“Um, My Lady... if we all survive today... could I perhaps resign?”

……

However, things turned out differently from what Adele feared.

These ships were not coming for them at all.

About half an hour later, the fleets from both directions arrived at the western docks of Arend Island.

Earl Foyle stood upon the deck wearing light knight armor.

A longsword and flintlock pistol hung at his waist.

His gaze toward the docks was cold and severe.

It had been a very long time since he personally took the field.

More accurately, it had been a very long time since he faced an enemy worthy of mobilizing troops on such a scale.

Time was limited.

He had summoned every mercenary force stationed in River Valley County.

Cadres from three neighboring counties had also received orders and gathered troops.

His elite personal guards traveled with him from his territory.

This time, the traitor Leon Set had to be executed by his own hand.

The docks renovated by Leon had already been completely cleared.

Not a single person remained behind.

Only two scouts serving as messengers had stayed in the lighthouse.

The moment they spotted the approaching fleet, they retreated to report.

Troops quickly assembled at the docks.

The temporary gathering packed the area so tightly that some men did not even have room to disembark and form ranks.

The mercenaries came from many different territories.

Their combat abilities varied greatly.

However, the quality of their equipment rivaled that of official Church Knight Orders.

More importantly, the Earl had urgently gathered ten elite Transcendents from within the organization.

The combat power assembled here was already beyond the capacity of any ordinary Inquisition branch to oppose.

Together, they were strong enough to confront three to five Church Knight Orders head-on on a battlefield.

Even if Leon hired every mercenary he could find and packed his Labyrinth Fortress full of fighters, they would only be slaughtered.

The Earl mounted his horse and personally led the army forward.

The massive force advanced steadily along the mountain road.

Soon, they reached the pass near the Labyrinth.

From the suddenly narrowing mountain pass, the Earl could see the fortress checkpoint.

The valley stretched over two hundred meters in length.

But its average width was less than twenty meters.

At its narrowest point, it was only about ten meters wide.

It was indeed terrain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, the checkpoint Leon had constructed there was not particularly sturdy.

There were no true stone walls.

The fortification consisted of earthen barriers reinforced with thick wooden stakes.

It resembled a bandit stronghold more than a fortress.

After all, it had originally been intended merely to prevent people from casually spying on the area.

No one had ever imagined facing an assault of this magnitude.

Without the slightest concern, the Earl led his forces into the pass and approached the fortress.

The elite Transcendents rode around him in protective formation.

Horses strained as they hauled artillery pieces into position.

At a single command from the Earl, the assault would begin.

The fortress looked as fragile as paper before them.

In fact, if the Earl himself reached the base of the walls under proper cover, he could simply tear a hole through them and charge inside to begin slaughtering.

“That’s far enough. Stop.”

A shout rang out from above the checkpoint.

The Earl pulled on his reins and looked up.

Behind the fortifications, he saw half of Leon’s face.

The two men looked at each other across a distance of roughly fifty meters.

From atop the wall, Leon surveyed the scene.

The Earl’s forces completely filled the mountain pass.

Just within his field of vision, there were already more than twice as many people as were inside the fortress.

Beyond them, even more troops continued arriving through the pass like an endless dragon.

Their firearms, artillery, and heavy armor far surpassed those of Leon’s mercenaries.

Because of the terrain restrictions, the Earl could not deploy his entire force at once.

Nearly a third of his troops remained on standby at the harbor.

“Today!”

The Earl suddenly raised his voice.

His words echoed throughout the valley.

“Everyone will witness the most miserable fate that awaits a traitor!

“Traitor Fenrir!

“This is your judgment!

“Now surrender Ophelia and Beckett!”

Leon remained silent for a moment before replying:

“That’s quite an impressive display, Earl. All I wanted was a conversation.”

“A conversation?”

The Earl’s face remained as hard as stone.

His voice carried no warmth whatsoever.

“You’ve flown too high.”

At a time like this, was negotiation even possible?

Just as Leon had once told him the tale of Icarus, Leon had now become the man who had flown too close to the sun.

The Earl could only destroy his wings and send him crashing back to earth.

“You only need one shot to kill me. I only need one shot to kill your daughter.

“Stop threatening us with torture. When you break through this place, the only thing you’ll find will be corpses.

“For you, killing me a hundred times wouldn’t equal the value of your daughter’s life.

“Don’t tell me you don’t care!

“Because losing your daughter to a nobody like me will become the greatest pain of your life.

“The greatest humiliation of your life.

“The initiative is in my hands.

“So when I say we talk, you will talk!”

Leon’s tone was equally cold.

“Surrender Ophelia and Beckett.”

The Earl simply repeated his demand.

He showed no interest in asking for Leon’s terms.

“Withdraw your forces. Leave this place. Then I’ll let you see your daughter,” Leon replied.

The Earl slowly raised a hand.

His troops immediately began loading artillery and firearms and forming battle lines.

They looked ready to launch an assault at any moment.

The Earl had experienced countless situations like this.

He understood one truth very clearly.

When both sides held blades to each other’s throats, the first person to lower their weapon was the first to die.

If he yielded to Leon’s demands, he would lose any chance of rescuing Ophelia.

He would also place himself in danger.

At times like this, the correct approach was to advance and pressure the opponent.

If the opponent refused to surrender the hostage, he should storm the position and suppress the situation as quickly as possible.

That would maximize Ophelia’s chances of survival.

He held the absolute advantage.

Why should he allow himself to be controlled?

Seeing the Earl completely unmoved and apparently preparing to begin the assault, panic briefly flashed across Leon’s face.

“Stop!”

Leon shouted.

“Beckett has already been executed!

“But I can return Ophelia to you right now!

“She’s been poisoned!

“If you want her to live, do not act rashly!!”