What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

An hour later, Leon and Zona took a ferry back to the pier of Caster Town in South Harbor County.

Zona then led Leon to a prepared carriage and handed him a black Secret God Emblem badge. “Director Beckett asked me to pass this to you.”

“What is this for?” Leon asked as he sat inside the carriage compartment.

“This is the Secret God’s Mark, a sacred item crafted by the Secret God Church, used for communication. Next, I’ll take you straight back to the Cathedral in Hamel Town. Bishop Weiss is already waiting there. On the way, Bishop Beckett will contact you,” Zona said. After closing the carriage door, she leapt onto the driver’s seat and drove toward Hamel Town.

Leon sat inside the compartment and knocked on the carriage wall. The compartment was thick and should have excellent soundproofing.

There were no windows, and it was illuminated by a lantern. It was a place well suited for confidential discussions.

He picked up the badge and examined it for a moment, understanding a few things, and tried speaking, “Sir?”

After a short while, Bishop Beckett’s voice sounded from within the badge. “Zona already told you about the situation, right?”

“Yes,” Leon replied.

As Leon had expected, this badge was actually a tool that facilitated Bishop Beckett’s use of divine arts.

Bishop Beckett could transmit intangible things such as light, shadows, and sound across vast distances.

However, to send them to a specific location, he likely needed certain auxiliary means to achieve precise positioning.

Presumably, this was that auxiliary terminal device. This object had been marked in some way by Bishop Beckett using divine arts.

He could transmit his voice to wherever the badge was located, effectively turning it into a two-way communicator.

Whether the badge was activated or not should have depended entirely on Bishop Beckett.

In that case, Bishop Beckett could hear the movements around the badge and perhaps even see part of them. Thus, it could also be considered a surveillance device or eavesdropping tool.

The fact that Bishop Beckett had never given Leon such a thing before was

probably because he had considered that Leon would have reservations about it.

Holding this item allowed constant communication with a marked Blessing Recipient of the Secret God, but at the same time, it also placed one under the other party’s surveillance.

“I don’t quite understand what you released during the assessment, but the academically inclined figures within the Church seem to like it very much. They’ve published it in the Church’s academic journals. Weiss Rogers has come this time to conduct academic discussions with you and to persuade you to join the Creator Church. She plans to personally recommend you. She may even have reserved a position for you at the Saint Rosalia Research Institute,” Bishop Beckett said.

“So now there’s another option?” Leon said.

Bishop Beckett had previously told him that under normal circumstances, those who took the fully appointed assessment had no opportunity to choose which Church to join afterward.

Most people who participated in the assessment through internal recommendation had already decided from the start which Church they would use their connections to join.

As for the rest, after the assessment rankings of each diocese were released, they would be cross-selected by the Four Great Churches and finally assigned directly to whichever Church still had recruitment vacancies.

The only time one gained the right to choose was in a situation like this—when, like receiving the favor of Archbishop Miller, one was recommended by a major internal figure before the allocation process, thus gaining the chance to directly select that Church to join.

And this time, following the Prophet Church, Weiss had also extended an olive branch to him on behalf of the Creator Church.

Weiss herself was a Saintess Bishop of the Creator Church with boundless prospects. Her father was Archbishop Rogers, who was about to run for Cardinal.

This background was, in fact, even stronger than Archbishop Miller, who merely held a teaching post.

However, Bishop Beckett replied in a tone that brooked no argument, “No. This time, when you go, you must refuse her invitation!”

“Not consider the Creator Church?” Leon frowned.

“It’s not about not considering the Creator Church. It’s about not having anything to do with Weiss Rogers! Have you already forgotten my previous warning?” Bishop Beckett said.

Leon naturally remembered that Bishop Beckett had mentioned Weiss was an enemy of the Earl’s faction, yet Bishop Beckett had refused to explain the reason.

Bishop Beckett had specifically summoned him back to meet Bishop Weiss.

He had originally thought this meant he was allowed to treat the Creator Church’s invitation as an alternative option, but it turned out he was being told to personally refuse it.

“It’s only a recommendation opportunity. Do I really need to avoid her to this extent?” Leon asked for confirmation.

Given his current situation, no matter whose invitation he accepted, he would still return to Hamel Town to serve as an Inquisitor rather than take up the position recommended by the corresponding Church.

The Inquisition was an institution under the jointly established College of Cardinals formed by the Four Great Churches.

If compared to a company, the Four Great Churches each held a share. Inquisitors serving within it could belong to any of the Churches.

For example, even if he accepted Archbishop Miller’s invitation to join the Prophet Church, he would not become Archbishop Miller’s student or shift into a teaching bishop position. Likewise, even if he accepted Bishop Weiss’s invitation to join the Creator Church, he would not go to the Saint Rosalia Research Institute to join Weiss’s faction.

Moreover, he was somewhat puzzled. If Bishop Weiss and Archbishop Rogers were enemies of the Earl, why would the Earl not consider placing his own people into their faction as spies instead of avoiding them entirely?

From Leon’s personal standpoint, he would not blindly regard the Earl’s enemies as his own enemies—especially when the Earl’s side had not even explained the reason to him.

Bishop Weiss had given him the antidote to Cockatrice Venom. To him, that was a favor.

Moreover, Weiss had once expressed an intention to research a special medicine for Saltification Disease. He actually had a fairly good impression of her.

“Leon, this is an order, not a suggestion.” Bishop Beckett’s voice suddenly turned cold and stern.

“...I only need to find a reason to refuse her, correct?” After a moment of silence, Leon responded.

Bishop Beckett still did not explain the reason, but he had already made it clear that there was no room for negotiation.

It was not as if Leon absolutely had to follow Bishop Weiss’s recommendation to join. At the very least, there was no need to incur the Earl faction’s suspicion over it.

To rescue Sally and take the position of Director of the Hamel Inquisition, he still needed the Earl’s support.

“I’ve already discussed this with the Earl. We’ve decided that you will accept Archbishop Miller’s invitation and join the Prophet Church. You’ll use the fact that you’ve already agreed to Archbishop Miller’s invitation as the reason to refuse her. After dismissing her, we’ll respond to the District Church and to Archbishop Miller,” Bishop Beckett said.

“It’s already been decided?” Upon hearing this, Leon suddenly felt a faint, inexplicable discomfort in his heart.

If he could not leverage Weiss’s connection to join the Creator Church, joining the Prophet Church was not unacceptable to him.

As Father Auden had said, having Archbishop Miller’s backing was certainly far better than having none.

It was just that making the decision himself and having the Earl and Bishop Beckett make the decision for him were entirely different feelings.

The Earl had not intended to discuss the matter with him at all. He had simply made the decision based on the organization’s interests and ordered Leon to carry it out.

Since joining the Earl’s faction, perhaps because they had been assessing his capabilities, aside from assigning performance targets, the Earl had largely let him handle matters freely.

This had given him the sense that he still had considerable freedom in his actions.

However, as he officially became a Cadre and began acquiring authority, the Earl’s intervention also began to reveal itself.

There would always be certain decisions that would not seek his opinion.

“Up to now, none of our people has directly joined the Prophet Church. You have the ability to build good relations with the academically inclined figures within the Prophet Church. That is extremely rare,” Bishop Beckett offered a partial explanation. “When you go to the Cathedral to meet Bishop Weiss, keep this badge on you. Do not let her discover it.”

Even the conversation had to be monitored? Bishop Beckett’s wariness toward Bishop Weiss was so high that Leon found it difficult to understand.

But in the end, he had no reason to refuse Bishop Beckett’s request. “I understand.”

“Remember, you must refuse her. Do not mention me. Do not say anything unnecessary,” Bishop Beckett instructed. “Leon, this is for your own good.”

“Understood.” After responding, Leon carefully put away the badge.

By afternoon, Leon finally returned to Hamel Town by carriage and disembarked at the main entrance of the town church.

He stepped through the main entrance and presented his identification to the nun welcoming guests at the Church door.

The moment he reported his name, before he could even state his purpose, the nun immediately understood. “Please follow me. Bishop Weiss has been waiting for quite some time!”

Leon followed the nun through the grand hall and arrived at the monastery area at the back.

He ascended the stairs, crossed the cloister bridge over the courtyard, and entered a white tower within the monastery.

The white Tower of Truth was an academic facility found in both town-level and archdiocesan-level major Church monasteries.

Inside were archives, laboratories, and seminar rooms, used by bishops engaged in academic research.

Leon was led to a seminar room.

The nun knocked on the door. “Bishop Weiss, Inquisitor Set, Deputy Director of the Inquisition, has arrived.”

Footsteps immediately sounded from inside, and the door was opened at once. Behind it stood the tall figure of Bishop Weiss.

When their eyes met, Leon felt that Bishop Weiss’s gaze upon him seemed to glow faintly with delight.

Even the nun beside him noticed the unusual fluctuation in Bishop Weiss’s expression upon seeing Leon.

“Greetings, Your Excellency Bishop. I pay my respects,” Leon said, performing the proper salute.

“You’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting for you. Please, come in!” Bishop Weiss stepped aside.

“Thank you.” Leon entered the seminar room. After nodding in thanks to the nun, Bishop Weiss closed the door.

Then the nun heard a click—the sound of the door being locked.

Strange. Why would a fully appointed Third-Rank Bishop, and the Saintess of the Creator Church at that, be so eager to see a Lower-Ranking Inquisitor?

Was there some urgent mission requiring him to report in person?

As the nun speculated inwardly, she walked away.