What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

“Hesh?” Father Auden thought carefully for a moment and soon recalled it.

“Oh, the Hesh couple who ran a theater.

You know them?”

“Yes. I know Mrs. Hesh and her daughter. If I remember correctly, their family has debts here with you, right?” Leon said.

The primary creditor of Sally Hesh and Melissa Hesh was Potter.

His falling out with Garcia at the tavern had actually stemmed from this very issue.

On Potter’s side, although he had seized the initiative during this business negotiation, afterward he would definitely find ways to investigate Leon.

Although Garcia was dead, he still had several subordinates.

They had all seen Leon stand up for Melissa, and it would not be difficult for them to find out that he was connected to the Hesh family.

Once the investigation reached that point, those underworld figures might privately treat Sally and Melissa as leverage to control him.

That would actually put the two of them at risk.

If so, it would be better for Leon to bring it up himself.

But timing was crucial.

He had to make the other party realize that the mother and daughter were not that important to him, while also making it clear that touching them would still bring trouble.

He had thought of this earlier while talking with Potter, but after weighing it carefully, he did not bring it up right away.

At that time, they were discussing critical details of the transaction, and suddenly mentioning the Hesh mother and daughter might instead draw unwanted attention.

Now that he unexpectedly had a chance to chat idly with Father Auden, Leon felt the timing was just right.

He could also take the opportunity to probe the specifics.

“Yes, and not a small amount either. Including late fees, it should already exceed six hundred thousand,” Father Auden said, his sharp gaze fixed on Leon.

“What’s wrong? What’s your relationship with them?”

“I’m their tenant,” Leon replied in a casual tone.

“You earn so much a year yet live in a rundown house that’s about to be seized? You’re quite cautious. But it sounds like you care a lot about that mother and daughter?” Father Auden suddenly asked.

“Because…” Realizing the priest’s deliberate probing, Leon carefully chose his words.

“I’m very interested in that mother and daughter.”

When dealing with underworld figures, showing concern for Melissa and the others would only make them targets.

Displaying exclusive, possessive desire, on the other hand, would make them realize that touching someone else’s prey would incur unnecessary costs.

“What?” Father Auden did not quite understand.

“Sally Hesh? A widow who’s about to die—what’s there to interest you?”

Leon could only grit his teeth and continue, putting on an eager expression as he spoke:

“Precisely because she’s about to die. Only someone who has lost all hope of survival can radiate that kind of despair and pain. And a woman who’s on the brink of death—give her just a bit of hope, and she’ll do anything. Blooming flowers are beautiful, of course, but withering flowers have their own unique flavor.”

“Uh… to be honest, I don’t really understand,” Father Auden said, his expression turning a little awkward.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly sensed something was off.

“Wait. Could it be that your feud with Garcia was because of this? But someone like Garcia…”

Someone like Garcia would never be interested in a dying Sally.

There was only one other possibility…

Father Auden’s eyes widened slightly.

“Don’t tell me you’re also interested in the child from the Hesh family?”

Leon did not want to admit it, but at this point he could only see the act through to the end.

“Aren’t you asking a bit too much?”

“…Nothing. I respect everyone’s preferences.”

Father Auden finally gave up on digging further.

He realized that he had truly encountered a real pervert today, and there was a faint hint of wariness in the way he looked at Leon.

But Leon did not end the topic there.

“I’ve actually been considering whether you could package their debt and sell it to me.”

“Spending six hundred thousand on two women—no, strictly speaking, just one little girl—doesn’t seem very worthwhile,” Father Auden shook his head.

“Do the math yourself. Is that debt really worth six hundred thousand? Once you seize the house, that little girl alone has no way to repay it in full. Are you really planning to resell it to me at full price? You need my goods—throwing this in as a freebie shouldn’t matter, right?” Leon retorted.

Now that he had established connections with Potter and Father Auden, Leon felt he might be able to use that relationship to renegotiate the debt, squeeze out the excess, and transfer the creditor rights to himself.

Father Auden replied calmly, “That’s asking for too big a freebie. Potter is a businessman; he won’t do a losing deal.

There might be some room for a discount, but there’s no way it’ll be given to you for free.

And even giving you a discount depends on our business being able to continue stably.

You’d better focus on doing your job first.

Also, if you need to explain the source of your money, I’m always available.”

Leon realized that he would have to deliver goods at least once or twice before it would be convenient to negotiate the Hesh family’s debt.

“Alright,” Leon said.

After thinking for a moment, he probed again, “I remember that the small theater the Hesh family ran was burned down.

Was that incident related to you?”

The Hesh couple had taken out a loan to buy that small theater, which then suddenly burned down.

Afterward, Father Auden represented Potter in taking over the land.

With relatively little cost, they saddled the family with massive debt, thoroughly squeezing them dry.

Only Mr.

Hesh’s unexpected death and Mrs.

Hesh’s illness had made the debt difficult to repay.

Considering that Potter was Mr.

Griffin and Father Auden was his adviser, and that these people were underworld figures to begin with, the fire seemed all the more suspicious.

In fact, Melissa’s family had always suspected arson, but the Security Office had never found any results.

“At least it had nothing to do with me. I don’t know anything. I only handled the aftermath,” Father Auden replied with a very subtle attitude.

“Is that so.” Leon more or less had his answer.

He wanted to help Sally and Melissa, but the reality was that he had now begun to associate with the very villains who had once persecuted their family, pretending to be one of their kind.

Thinking about it was indeed rather ironic.

But no matter what, he still had to keep the business going.

Only by earning enough money would he have the conditions to break the deadlock—whether for Melissa and the others, or for his own situation.

Another stretch of silence followed.

Wheel tracks began to appear on the ground; it seemed they had reached Hamel Town.

“You’d better sell more goods as soon as possible. Don’t hold back too much,” Father Auden suddenly said.

“Hm?” Leon responded.

“As I said before, you killed Caron Eso. The Church will soon send someone troublesome, and the Earl will also make his next move. With Potter’s level and the cards he has in hand, I don’t think he’ll last to the end. As for you—since you’ve entered the game, you’ll probably be quite busy as well,” Father Auden said.

“Is it appropriate to talk about your own boss like that? Why aren’t you more concerned about yourself?” Leon asked.

“My job is to help people like you get out of trouble. I have my own way out,” Father Auden replied calmly.

“Here’s a piece of advice: no matter who the Inquisition sends next, don’t think that killing him will solve everything. It will only make things more troublesome. Though I suspect… you might not even get that chance.”

Without waiting for Leon’s response, Father Auden knocked on the carriage wall and spoke through the gap at the front.

“Drop me off once we reach town. Anywhere is fine.”

The coachman answered with a whistled signal, then slowly pulled the carriage to the side and came over to open the door.

“Farewell. Come find me if you need anything,” Father Auden said, then stepped down from the carriage.