What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

“However, speaking of which...” Archbishop Miller turned toward Leon again, as if he had finally brought up the main topic, and changed the direction of the conversation. “I have not heard much news about your paper from you these past two months. Have you encountered some difficulties?”

Leon’s heart skipped a beat. This topic had finally turned to this.

Adele controlled her expression and did not directly reveal her surprise toward Leon in front of Archbishop Miller.

He was still writing papers?

She was a top student who had graduated from the Norlen Royal Law Academy, so she naturally understood that writing papers was, in most cases, something unrelated to people outside scholars and students of higher academies.

In her impression of Leon, he was still an underworld figure and fallen Inquisitor who had gotten involved in illegal business and threatened to sink her into the sea.

She truly found it difficult to connect such a person with an intellectual who wrote papers.

“Recently, I encountered some troublesome work, so...” Leon could only smile apologetically toward Archbishop Miller.

Since the Holy Spirit Festival, he had been hiding Weiss, dealing with the Earl, and after killing the Earl, he had been busy handling the aftermath and dealing with Johnny. Even now, he was running around trying to change his situation. On top of that, he still had to manage the Inquisition and the businesses in his territory. He truly had not had any time to pad out that paper.

“I can understand that you have work to handle, but this matter itself is also an endeavor that cannot be ignored. It will also help you greatly, so you should take it seriously!” Archbishop Miller began earnestly educating Leon.

“You are right!” Leon could only repeatedly agree.

“Your talent will inevitably allow you to achieve something in the academic world. Your work in the Inquisition may be something others can do, but your ideas in academia, in the era you live in, may be something only you could have happened to come up with. I do not want your talent to be buried.”

Archbishop Miller continued talking. Adele listened from the side with uncertainty. After Archbishop Miller’s words finally came to a pause, she found an opportunity to ask, “Forgive me for asking, Archbishop, where do you currently serve as a faculty member?”

From their conversation just now, she could vaguely tell that Archbishop Miller should be serving at a higher academy of the Church. His manner of speaking and conduct were very similar to the respected professors she had seen at university before.

“I am currently serving as the dean of the Church Academy of Sciences in the Southeastern Archdiocese, specializing in mathematics.” Archbishop Miller smiled.

Adele became even more surprised. The dean of a higher academy in a major archdiocese was basically equivalent to one of the top experts in the academic world.

“Then Leon... is he your student?” Adele tentatively asked.

“I would very much like him to become my student and take a position at the Academy of Sciences, but unfortunately, he has his own work.” Archbishop Miller said regretfully. “He is one of the most talented young people I have ever met. As soon as he entered the academic world, he had already achieved impressive theoretical results in both mathematics and natural philosophy.”

“You praise me too much.” Leon smiled awkwardly.

“I see... I truly never knew...” This time, Adele could not completely suppress the surprise in her voice. This top scholar and Archbishop of the Church had actually given Leon such a high evaluation.

“Are you interested in these subjects, Madam?” Archbishop Miller casually asked.

In this country, children of noble families usually had more opportunities to obtain educational resources than commoners. Adele also gave him the impression of someone who had received a very good education.

“Ah, I studied law and finance before.” Adele replied embarrassedly.

“Did you study at the law academy of a major archdiocese?” Archbishop Miller asked.

“I studied at Norlen Royal Law Academy.” Adele answered honestly.

“That academy is not something that ordinary people can easily enter.”

Archbishop Miller showed an expression of admiration. He understood very well how these higher academies worked. If they were members of academic factions or children of great nobles, sending someone in only required making a few connections. But if they were children of local minor nobles, they had to spend considerable manpower and resources, and the children themselves needed to have enough ability to pass the examinations.

“Speaking of which, I also have several old friends there whom I have not seen for many years. Do you know Professor Wood?” Archbishop Miller asked.

“He was the professor who taught us actuarial science!” Adele nodded repeatedly.

“How has he been recently?” Archbishop Miller opened up the topic, and Leon quietly felt fortunate that Adele had unintentionally helped him change the subject.

Archbishop Miller chatted with Leon and his wife for more than ten minutes. During that time, other guests also came over to exchange greetings and introduce themselves. Finally, he once again emphasized the matter of Leon’s paper before turning toward the table where his other acquaintances were seated.

After he left, Adele looked at Leon beside her in disbelief and quietly asked, “Could it be that... your academic qualifications are unexpectedly high?”

“My level is probably just literacy.” Leon casually replied. His academic background in this world was not considered high. Without the knowledge accumulated as a transmigrator and the parts he had self-studied, he would not have been able to discuss academics with someone like Archbishop Miller.

Seeing that Leon had no intention of properly answering, Adele did not continue asking. However, in truth, she did not even have the chance to ask further. After Archbishop Miller, new guests immediately came over to speak with them.

Leon welcomed each one with a smile. Most of them were Church personnel he had met briefly at the previous Church gathering. Afterwards, other curious local nobles also came over to converse with him, including some people Adele knew.

Whenever Adele noticed that Leon had overlooked some point of etiquette, she would quickly lean close to his ear and quietly remind him, helping Leon smoothly get through it.

“Inquisitor Set... ah, now I should call you Viscount Arend! I said it back then, sooner or later you would receive a noble title.” A familiar person who had been waiting for some time quickly approached. It was Enrique Davison, whom Leon had met several times before. “Long time no see, Miss Adele. I suppose I should call you Viscountess now.”

“Bishop Davison, I knew you would definitely be here!” Leon enthusiastically shook hands with Enrique.

“Hello, Mr. Davison.” Adele also recognized Enrique. Then her gaze moved toward the middle-aged man slowly following behind Enrique. “And... Viscount Locat.”

“Ah, this is...” Leon also looked over. He actually knew Viscount Locat.

Viscount Locat, Enrique’s father, was the tax official of Caster City. He was considered a fairly influential figure in Southport County, and was also one of the loyal clients within Leon’s territory, occasionally exchanging letters with him.

Leon knew Viscount Locat, but Viscount Locat only knew Fenrir as his business partner. He did not know that Fenrir was Leon.

Enrique, the son of Viscount Locat, had become a bishop of the Hidden God Church, so father and son naturally appeared on the marquis’ invitation list.

“He is my father.” Enrique immediately began introducing both sides. “Father, this is the Inquisitor Set I mentioned before.”

“Viscount Locat, I have long admired your reputation.” Leon took the initiative to extend his hand.

“Likewise. I have heard Enrique mention you many times. He said that you are highly valued within the Church and have limitless prospects. I never expected that you would become Viscount Arend...” Viscount Locat’s smile was slightly stiff. He looked at Adele again. “And Miss Adele, I did not hear any news about your marriage at all.”

“...” Adele stared at him for a while, then suddenly revealed a meaningful smile. “Thank you for your concern, Viscount. My husband and I both prefer things to be simpler, so we only invited a few close friends and relatives and held a small ceremony.”

“Simple is good, simple is good.” Viscount Locat repeatedly nodded in agreement. His expression was slightly awkward. Then he turned toward Enrique. “You young people chat. I will go greet some old friends.”

Enrique looked somewhat surprised as he watched his father leave. After chatting with Leon for a few more sentences, he suddenly lowered his voice and asked, “By the way, have you heard anything recently about Earl Foyle?”

“Yes, the Earl has disappeared.” Leon nodded. Several guests who had just spoken with him had also mentioned the Earl. After all, many of them had seen him being introduced to the Earl by Bishop Beckett. “Even Bishop Beckett has also been missing for a long time.”

This matter had caused a huge commotion among the noble circles and the Church forces of the East. However, the investigation had fallen into a quagmire. On one hand, both the Earl and Bishop Beckett had disappeared during their respective secret operations, leaving few clues. On the other hand, the great nobles of the West who were considered suspicious were not people ordinary investigative forces could rashly act against.

To investigate in the correct direction, they first needed to know that Earl Foyle was actually the underworld emperor “Earl” of the underground Mana Essence trade. There were not many people who matched this condition alone. Moreover, Leon had used his own channels to spread many related false rumors throughout the Underworld. For the Church, confirming the true culprit who killed the Earl through rumors in the Underworld still required distinguishing the authenticity of the information.

“Have you found out anything?” Enrique asked.

“I am afraid not...” Leon shook his head.

Seeing that there was no result from this topic, Enrique casually chatted with Leon about a few other matters before going to greet other people.

Leon and Adele finally got a chance to catch their breath from the dense socializing.

“Viscount Locat seemed very uncomfortable when he saw you. What happened?” Leon quietly asked Adele. He could tell that Viscount Locat’s expression had been somewhat awkward when facing Adele just now.

“Viscount Locat serves as the tax official in Caster City. He used to be my grandfather’s friend and also knew my father. He even attended my grandfather’s funeral. However, after our family declined, we had little contact with each other until I approached him when I was looking for investment before. Then...” Adele paused here.

“Then what?” Leon pressed.

Adele looked at Leon, moved slightly closer to his ear, and spoke in an even lower voice. “He hinted that he wanted me to become his mistress. I scolded him.”

“Hoh.” Leon raised his eyebrows. “No wonder he felt awkward.”

He actually knew about Viscount Locat’s lecherous nature. After all, among the medicines the other party purchased from the black market, contraceptives and aphrodisiacs were the majority. After working in this field for a long time, one would naturally know some secrets about these powerful clients.

“If he had only seen me, he probably would not have been so awkward. Back then, when I scolded him, he just laughed it off. But after seeing you... things are different.” Adele said.

Leon understood what she meant. If Viscount Locat had only encountered Adele alone, or encountered Adele and her father appearing at a social event, he could probably still have acted as if nothing happened. After all, the Viscount Arend family basically no longer had much influence. In front of a noble like him who possessed real authority, they were no different from commoners. Bullying them before truly did not count for much.

But now, Leon had suddenly displayed astonishing connections in this social circle. Enrique had also mentioned to his father that this Inquisitor Set had connections with even an Archbishop and Earl Foyle. Now he had become the new Viscount Arend, Adele’s husband. Thinking about the unpredictable future development of this new Viscount Arend, it was no wonder Viscount Locat, who had once offended Adele, felt uneasy.

“Where exactly... did you accumulate such a large network of connections?” Adele asked curiously. She could tell that Leon’s influence displayed here was somewhat unusual.

“Business.” Leon glanced at Adele and replied in a lowered voice.

“Business?” Adele secretly considered it for a moment, then suddenly felt shocked.

Could it be the illegal business he had been secretly working on at the other side of the island?

Could a business that could not be brought into the open really allow someone without any background to rise within noble circles?