What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

“You want to investigate Dorothy? Heh, plenty of people in the Tribunal want to track her down, but unfortunately they can’t even catch sight of her tail. You’re not the first person who’s tried to start from me.” Lamia smiled casually.

“Indeed, there really isn’t much information about her circulating within the Church.” Leon nodded as well.

“Although they’re both commanders of the Nemesis Agency, she acts extremely cautiously, the complete opposite of Arachne.” Lamia said.

“She also belongs to the Nemesis Agency?” Leon asked.

“Nowadays in Moiland, aside from a traitor like me, the only ones who have contact with you people are basically the Nemesis Agency. Moiland doesn’t have the ability to launch an expedition against the Empire, so all it can do is carry out intelligence work like this.

The Nemesis Agency is directly led by the Queen, and beneath her are two commanders, Dorothy and Arachne. Dorothy is cautious and responsible for intelligence and organization, while Arachne is aggressive and mainly handles sabotage and assassination. The two of them form a balance.” Lamia explained.

“Then what is their relationship like?” Leon asked.

“Their relationship? Completely incompatible. Their personalities don’t mesh, and they’re also competitors. Arachne is also the kind of lunatic who easily develops murderous intent. If the Queen weren’t keeping them in check, and if both of them weren’t so difficult to deal with, one of them would probably have secretly gotten rid of the other by now.” Lamia thought for a moment before answering.

So they were political enemies too? That was even more perfect. Leon thought.

“I’ve always heard that Arachne is an extremely troublesome lunatic. Then what about Dorothy, the one you mentioned?” Leon continued asking.

“Dorothy…… is somewhat easier to get along with than Arachne, but she’s also the kind of person who hides a blade behind a smile. For you, there really isn’t much difference. Judging from your appearance, your rank isn’t very high either. Trying to investigate a Great Witch would probably be rather difficult.

You specially pulled strings to find me, and your procedures aren’t exactly proper either. Greedily rushing ahead for merit will get you killed, kid.” Lamia looked at Leon with a smile and advised him.

Lamia assumed Leon was the type of mid-level Inquisitor who had stumbled upon a few clues and greedily wanted to monopolize the credit, so he intended to independently investigate an organization that might be connected to a Great Witch.

“Actually, during my investigation, I unexpectedly obtained some clues. After the war, a new Magical Potion smuggling organization appeared in the Eastern Region of the Empire, and this smuggling organization seems to have stronger ties to Arachne. It’s said that this caused Arachne’s status in Moiland to rise very quickly.” Leon said.

“Arachne doesn’t have the brains for business, much less the ability to compete with Dorothy. She must have a capable agent helping her. For someone like her, finding that sort of person probably required a bit of luck.” Lamia immediately said.

She hit the mark instantly. Leon thought.

Lamia had defected twelve years ago. She should have known nothing about the Earl cooperating with Arachne to establish a smuggling and distribution network within the Empire, yet with just this much information, she had already guessed the fact that someone skilled in organization and management, like the Earl, was helping Arachne construct a sales network.

From the looks of it, Lamia’s evaluations of the other Great Witches were fairly credible.

“But the latest intelligence I obtained says that the organization connected to Arachne seems to have suffered a severe blow. It’s said to be on the verge of dissolution already.” Leon continued.

If he wanted Lamia to analyze the movements of the Witches’ Assembly, then he still had to reveal at least some of the current situation to her.

“Hmm? If it wasn’t the Church, then Dorothy did it?” Lamia became somewhat suspicious, “No, if the smuggling channel was already operating steadily, then with her style, she probably wouldn’t risk doing something that would get her held accountable if discovered.”

“We still don’t know the reason, but if something like this really happened, what measures do you think the Witches’ Assembly would take?” Leon continued asking.

“Nothing more than finding another smuggling and distribution channel, I suppose. Of course, it would basically have to be entrusted to those two again. But if it’s Arachne, she’d probably prioritize finding the culprit and killing them. She’s extremely petty and won’t let off anyone she has a grudge against. As for Dorothy, she’d probably focus on rebuilding the smuggling channel.” Lamia analyzed.

Lamia’s answer gave Leon a basic idea of what to expect. Whether it was Johnny or Lamia, both had given the same prediction regarding Arachne’s logic of action.

From the looks of it, the risk of making contact with Arachne had already become so great that it absolutely should not even be considered.

Rather, if it was certain that Arachne would sooner or later launch a retaliatory action against him, then he should seriously begin thinking about how to eliminate her in return.

And this Great Witch Dorothy was both Arachne’s political enemy and very likely interested in establishing trade, making her seem precisely like the suitable cooperation target Leon had envisioned.

However, the problem now was how to establish contact with this Great Witch Dorothy, whom he had only heard about by name.

“According to what you’re saying, would they personally come to the Empire?” Leon continued asking.

“For Arachne, there’s an eighty percent chance she would. She has always handled revenge personally. Once Arachne makes a move, Dorothy will most likely take similar action as well, in order to establish a channel…… Of course, assuming your intelligence is true.” Lamia said.

“In that case, do you have any way to find them?”

“If I knew how to locate Arachne, I would’ve told your Church long ago. I’ve never liked her. As for Dorothy, you won’t be able to find her, and I don’t have a way either.”

“What I mean is, is there any way to specifically leak some kind of message to one of them, for example, Dorothy.” Leon explained slightly.

“What are you trying to do?” Lamia suddenly felt that something was off.

“Nothing much. Since they might be active in the Empire, I just want to try releasing some intelligence to lure them a little.” Leon gave a provisional explanation.

“If you exploit Arachne’s desire for revenge, you might be able to lure her out, but Dorothy isn’t that easy to bait.” Lamia yawned as she spoke.

She already seemed to be losing interest in the topic. In her view, even if the Inquisitor before her obtained some intelligence from her, he still would not pose much of a threat to Arachne or Dorothy themselves, nor would he be able to change anything.

Even if this fellow truly struck extraordinary luck and found traces of Arachne or Dorothy, he would probably only end up getting killed.

“From the way you’re speaking, it sounds like there isn’t absolutely no way to contact them.” Leon did not give up asking, “You said earlier that Dorothy was responsible for intelligence work here. Do you know any of her contact points in this country?”

“Contact points for Moiland intelligence personnel? Don’t you think your Church would have asked me about information like that already? Once they knew, do you think those contact points would still exist?” Lamia asked in return.

“As far as I know, Miss Lamia, the Church has always had great difficulty squeezing intelligence out of you. If there are still parts you haven’t revealed……” Leon tentatively said.

“Then why exactly should I tell you?” Lamia suddenly interrupted him and asked in return, “Just because you brought me a book? Who sent you here? What exactly are you trying to do?”

Lamia’s gaze sharpened. She had faintly realized that Leon’s purpose was not merely investigation.

Normally speaking, an investigation should avoid letting the other party know as much as possible, yet Leon kept obsessively asking about methods to contact Dorothy, even after Lamia repeatedly reminded him that it would not work.

Leon thought for a moment and replied: “I want to kill Arachne.”

“Judging from your rank, you’re not even at Kulik’s level. Your Church still hasn’t managed to do that to this day. What makes you think you can? Are you that eager to die?” Lamia said.

“I want to avenge Bishop Weiss. She once did me a great kindness.” Leon tried offering this reason.

Earlier, when the matter of Weiss supposedly being killed by Arachne had been mentioned, Lamia had not seemed entirely indifferent to it.

“For Weiss?” Lamia was somewhat surprised and examined Leon again, “What do you intend to do?”

“I have some intelligence about the smuggling organization in my hands. If that Great Witch Dorothy you mentioned intends to rebuild the smuggling channel, then I think she might be interested. I want to try using this intelligence to make a deal with her and deal with Arachne. You said earlier that they both wish they could get rid of each other, didn’t you?” Leon said.

“The Noren Church wouldn’t allow you to privately contact a Great Witch. If you have intelligence, why not report it to the Church and use the Church’s power to eliminate Arachne?” Lamia asked.

“There are many factions within the Church, and some people are involved with that smuggling organization. They may even be connected to Weiss’s incident, and they would want to conceal evidence of their own crimes. Those with influence aren’t trustworthy, while those who are trustworthy don’t have enough power. I can only consider a few more methods.” Leon said.

“Sounds like it isn’t that simple……” Lamia narrowed her eyes and stared at Leon.

She could sense that Leon was hiding some kind of reason.

Leon was thinking through an appropriate explanation when Lamia let out a long breath through her nose: “Forget it. Whatever hidden circumstances you have have nothing to do with me. I’m not interested in knowing. I’m too lazy to listen to you keep inventing excuses. But you really do want to deal with Arachne, right?”

Leon nodded upon hearing this.

“Fine. I don’t like that bitch either. Your life or death has nothing to do with me anyway. You want to try using Dorothy, fine…… Actually, within the Empire, Dorothy possesses a labyrinth under her control. That is her contact point with Moiland. I can tell you its approximate location. You can try going there and testing your luck.” Lamia said.

“She possesses a labyrinth?” Leon was somewhat surprised.

Could Dorothy also have once occupied a labyrinth to produce Mana?

Come to think of it, why use a labyrinth as the so-called contact point?

“Let me make this clear first. That is absolutely not a safe place. You’d better make some preparations. If you can still return alive, then you’ll owe me an extra favor. Don’t forget to repay it!” Lamia smiled as she picked up the book in her hand and waved it at Leon.