novelraw Chapter 29 : Ants on the Same Rope
Chapter 29 : Ants on the Same Rope
Chapter 29: Ants on the Same Rope
Hearing Leon say this, Rena was greatly surprised.
“Is that really okay?”
This was the first time she had obtained Mana of such high purity.
She very much wanted to keep more of it for research.
In theory, the higher the Mana purity, the better the effects of the Magical Potions produced through Mana activation.
An increase of five percent in purity was probably still not enough to allow the medicine she was currently researching to leap straight to the point of reversing the progression of Saltification Disease.
However, as long as there were clearly observable effects, it would at least point her toward a concrete research direction.
But Leon’s greatest objective was making money.
He should have wanted to sell as much as possible for the highest price.
Yet now, Leon had taken the initiative to propose keeping more than four full grams of Mana.
“This batch’s output far exceeded my expectations. There’s still room for our production to increase going forward, so I’m not in a rush. It’s rare to get Mana of such high purity—maybe it’ll allow your research to break through. We’ll still split the money fifty-fifty as usual,” Leon said.
“There’s no need for that. You can just deduct it directly from my share,” Rena offered.
“Just consider it my sponsorship for your research. I also hope you can develop a specific cure for Saltification Disease as soon as possible,” Leon said, looking into Rena’s eyes.
“You…” Rena looked at Leon and suddenly realized that she had not really looked him in the face like this for quite some time.
Her heart stirred slightly, and she became aware that this was actually Leon making an active effort to ease the tension between them.
Compared to that bit of money, Leon clearly cared more about his relationship with her.
In truth, Rena herself understood that Hannah’s death was entirely self-inflicted.
Leon had been determined to kill Hannah in order to protect her.
Even if Leon had not pulled her into this business, she would sooner or later have been implicated because of Hannah anyway.
From the moment she decided to become a Witch, she had long since fallen into a predicament where exposure meant death.
This was not Leon’s fault.
It was just that the impact of killing someone was far too great.
For several days, she had been unable to sleep.
Even now, with the dust settled and the pressure gradually receding, she still did not know how to face Leon as she had before.
Remaining in such a stiff atmosphere all the time had actually been quite painful for her as well.
Now she understood that Leon felt the same way.
During this period, both of them had wanted to ease the tension between them, but they simply had not found the right opportunity.
Thinking this, she smiled softly and accepted the favor.
“Alright then. Thank you, Leon.”
Lowering her gaze, she thought for a moment, then suddenly spoke again.
“Um… actually, I’d occasionally been thinking about something even before.”
“What is it?” Leon asked.
“Leon, do you want to… let me try treating your injury?” Rena asked tentatively.
“You mean this?” Leon realized she was referring to the lingering aftereffects that had been troubling him all along.
He rolled up his sleeve and revealed the purple scar.
“But didn’t you say you’d never researched it before, so you had no idea where to start?”
“What I mean is starting from scratch. Back then, when my grandmother and I began researching Saltification Disease, we also started with nothing but scattered bits of information. Witches pass their knowledge down through generations of mentors and apprentices, so I’ve preserved a large amount of research material accumulated by my grandmother from her own teacher and those before her.”
Rena looked seriously into Leon’s eyes.
“I was thinking that maybe you could use your channels to purchase some Cockatrice Venom extracted from Cockatrices and let me study its toxic properties. Maybe I can find clues to an antidote in the existing materials. If you’re no longer troubled by this injury, you wouldn’t need to spend so much money, right?”
Leon looked at Rena in surprise.
She had suddenly proposed helping him research an antidote—was this in return for his initiative in giving up profit during the Mana distribution?
If one were overly suspicious, it could also be that Rena was completely fed up with their current dealings and wanted to break free from him, or even wanted to poison him.
After all, Rena had only recently crossed the line into killing for the first time, and after Hannah’s death, he was the only one who knew the secret that Rena was a Witch.
However, thinking about it carefully, based on Leon’s understanding of Rena, that possibility was extremely, extremely small.
Seeing Leon fall silent, Rena immediately understood what he was thinking.
She waved her hand and explained, “I’m just bringing it up. Of course, I understand that you’d definitely have your concerns. It’s fine—everything’s up to you.”
Leon shifted his gaze aside and thought seriously for a short while before quickly giving his answer.
“Alright. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“You’re serious?” Rena looked at Leon in surprise.
“I thought you’d definitely say something like, ‘You think I’d give you the chance to poison me?’”
Given the level of caution Leon had shown in the past, Rena had actually felt that her proposal would most likely be rejected.
“If I’m afraid you’ll poison me, or that you might accidentally mix the wrong medicine, I can just test it on a mouse before using it, can’t I?” Leon said, letting out a long breath.
“If you think about it carefully, what we’re doing is already so dangerous. One wrong step and it’s total annihilation. If we still go out of our way to scheme against each other, wouldn’t that be incredibly foolish?”
Rena heard the implication in Leon’s words.
She neither echoed nor refuted him, only nodded gently.
Hannah Weislan’s incident had made them fully realize that they were now accomplices—ants tied to the same rope.
If one person were exposed and caught, the other would also be in danger.
There were crises lurking all around them.
If they still considered betraying and undermining each other, it would eventually devolve into the same life-and-death situation they had had with Mrs. Weislan.
Mrs. Weislan’s fate was a clear cautionary example.
“Alright, let’s pack things up. I’ll head over early to sell this batch and ask around to see if I can buy what we need,” Leon said as he began tidying up the scene.
“Okay.” Rena also quickly portioned out the Mana.
As she handed the goods to Leon, she suddenly thought of something.
“Oh right, Leon—do you think we should move the things in the cellar?”
“You mean moving the altar and everything that could become evidence into the Labyrinth?” Leon swept his gaze around the cellar.
“Yes. After all, last time it was…” Rena hesitated here, but still finished her sentence.
“…the trouble caused when Granny Hannah snuck into the cellar.”
“Mm…” Leon thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head.
“She’s already dead, and the lock has been changed. This place isn’t that dangerous anymore. There’s only one altar—unless absolutely necessary, don’t destroy it. It’s very difficult to move it out quickly inside the Labyrinth. In the end, it’s still more suitable to keep it here. If you’re worried, you can actually give me a copy of your cellar key. That way, if anything happens, even if you’re not around, I can rush over in advance and help you clean up the evidence.”
“Alright then. There just happens to be two keys. I’ll give you mine first,” Rena said as she took out a key and handed it to Leon.
Leon did not take it immediately.
He looked at Rena with some surprise.
“I thought you’d hesitate a bit. Aren’t you afraid I might come in and do something strange?”
“It’s not like it’s the key to my front door. What do I have to be afraid of? Take it.” Rena directly tossed the key to Leon.
“Then I’m heading out.” Leon smiled, put the key away, and set off for town to sell this batch of goods.
“Mm. Be careful on the road,” Rena replied softly.