novelraw Chapter 68 : You Had Already Won
Chapter 68 : You Had Already Won
Chapter 68: You Had Already Won
Sally Hesh woke up on the bed, propping herself up tiredly as she struggled to sit.
She saw Melissa Hesh crouching beside the attic staircase, carefully paying attention to the movements downstairs.
“What’s wrong, Melissa?” Sally said as she got up, only to suddenly feel dizzy and sit back down onto the bed.
“Ah!”
“Mom!” Melissa turned back in alarm and hurried to her mother’s side.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine. I just felt a bit dizzy when I got up,” Sally said with a soft smile.
“You’re dizzy again?” Melissa worriedly reached out to check Sally’s forehead.
Fortunately, it didn’t feel hot this time.
After using the special medicine given by Bishop Leona, Sally’s condition had clearly improved.
Her legs had become more nimble, strength had returned to her upper body, and the effects of the medication over the recent period had even caused the crystallized portions on the surface of her body to peel away, growing tender, smooth new skin.
However, until the last consultation, Bishop Leona had always told them very seriously that the current medicine was still incapable of curing the illness.
It could only alleviate symptoms and prolong life.
The progression of the disease inside the body was still slowly advancing.
In fact, once it reached a certain stage, Sally’s improvement had reached its limit.
Although her body had regained mobility, it remained extremely weak.
She would occasionally experience abdominal pain and dizziness, sometimes accompanied by fever.
Moreover, over the past few months, the symptoms had shown a tendency to become more frequent.
As Bishop Leona had said, the disease process was still slowly eroding Sally’s body.
Even so, for Sally, the past half year had been far better than lying bedridden before, clinging to life without dignity.
“It’s fine. I’m not dizzy anymore. Sitting for a bit will do. Pour me a glass of water,” Sally forced a smile.
Melissa picked up the kettle and cup from the cabinet and poured her a glass of water.
Just as Sally took the cup, she suddenly heard some movement downstairs.
“Is Mr. Leon still here at this hour today?”
Sally was a little surprised.
At this time, Leon was usually already at work, or he simply hadn’t come back overnight.
“Brother Leon has a guest today. It’s his superior, so we need to be careful and not let him know about Bishop Leona,” Melissa gestured with a shushing motion.
“Oh, I see.” Sally immediately understood.
At that moment, the sound of a door closing came from downstairs.
“Seems like he’s gone…” Melissa glanced over.
“I’ll go take a look.”
Melissa walked down the hallway and saw Leon standing with his back to her in the entryway.
The door was closed, and it looked like Leon had just seen his superior off.
“Brother Leon, has that gentleman left?” Melissa asked.
“Yes,” Leon replied in a low voice.
For some reason, Melissa felt that Leon’s tone and the aura radiating from his back were a little different from usual.
She still walked down, retied her apron around herself, and suggested, “Then you probably don’t need to go to work, right? I’ll make breakfast for you.”
Melissa went into the kitchen and began taking out ingredients to prepare.
At that moment, Leon, who was standing in the entryway, spoke up, “No need, Melissa. I suddenly remembered there’s something I need to take care of right away. I have to head out.”
Immediately after, the sound of the door opening was heard.
“Huh?” Melissa froze and turned back out of the kitchen, but she only heard the door closing.
Leon’s figure had already disappeared from the entryway.
……
At the East District Church of Hamel Town, Leon looked up at the emblem on the church, formed by hourglass-shaped lines intertwined with a Four-Pointed Star Emblem.
This was a Prophet Church that primarily worshipped the Supreme God.
The Four Gods of Origin worshipped by the Church—the Supreme God, the God of War, the Creator, and the Secret God—appeared in myths and church works as the Prophet, the Warrior, the Craftsman, and the Traveler respectively.
Among them, the Supreme God, who manifested as the Prophet, held a higher status than the other three gods.
He was the apex of the Four-Pointed Star.
The authority he governed was time—the origin and the end of all things.
He was omniscient, knowing the past, present, and future.
He was history itself, the embodiment of knowledge, and the patron god of all who wielded the pen: scholars, writers, bards, teachers, and the like.
Although the Supreme God held the highest status, the Prophet Church and its clergy were the fewest among the Four Great Churches, because the standards for evaluating its exclusive clergy were the most stringent.
Across all districts and villages of Hamel Town, there were actually ten churches in total.
Only this one was a Prophet Church, and the one presiding here was Father Raymond Auden.
Leon strode into the church courtyard.
At this time, there were no townsfolk visiting.
The doors of the main hall were closed, and only a young menial could be seen sweeping in front of them.
“Excuse me, is Father Auden here?” Leon asked.
“Ah, sorry, the Father just went out—” The menial spoke as he raised his head, then suddenly stopped when he saw Leon.
He carefully examined Leon’s face, and his gaze instantly became sharp and alert.
Leon sensed something and tentatively asked, “Is the Father waiting for me?”
“Yes.” The menial suddenly straightened his expression, glanced outside, set down his broom, and lowered his voice.
“Please follow me!”
Leon followed the menial around the main hall of the church, along a side corridor into the monastery area restricted to internal personnel, and finally arrived at a single-story building in the corner that looked like a warehouse.
The menial knocked on the door in a specific rhythm and called inside, “Father, the guest you mentioned earlier has arrived.”
After a moment, the door opened.
Father Auden’s aged face appeared behind it.
Seeing Leon, he instructed the menial, “You may go. If anyone comes later, tell them I’ve gone out.”
“Yes,” the menial replied and immediately left the monastery.
At Father Auden’s gesture, Leon entered the building and discovered that it wasn’t a warehouse at all, but a fairly tidy study.
A desk surrounded by bookshelves was piled high with documents.
“I was wondering when you’d come to see me. Potter died, and you didn’t even tell me in time,” Father Auden said as he locked the door and walked past Leon.
“You already knew he was dead?” Leon was somewhat surprised.
Potter had only been killed yesterday, yet Father Auden had already received the news.
“I have my own sources. I knew his estate was searched and that he died, but I don’t know how he died. You had no reason to shoot him dead, did you?” Father Auden asked.
“No. It was an assassin—a killer with the Blessing of the Star-Night Secret God. When we arrived, he had already killed everyone. Then when Aaron Dias captured him, he committed suicide,” Leon replied.
“A blessed assassin?” Father Auden frowned deeply.
“You have a lead?”
“The only one I can think of is the Earl. Among Potter’s enemies, only the Earl had that capability, which is why I warned Potter early on,” Father Auden shrugged.
“That doesn’t seem right. The Earl had the ability to directly apply pressure on the Inquisition. Back then, the Inquisition was just one step away from finishing Potter off. Sending an assassin at that point would only complicate things,” Leon questioned.
“That is indeed strange, but we have no way of knowing what their actual situation is, or what other plans they might have. Potter dying before being formally apprehended actually saves us trouble. The key now is that we need to handle the aftermath properly.”
Father Auden spread his hands toward Leon.
“To be honest, I’m very busy right now. A pile of Potter’s assets urgently needs to be dealt with and transferred to avoid being seized by the Church. So keep it brief. Do you have new information to tell me, or do you want me to launder money for you?”
They were all people connected to Potter, and there were links among them.
In a sense, they were now all in the same boat.
“My person was arrested,” Leon said bluntly.
“Your person? Is it important?” Father Auden immediately became alert.
If Leon’s subordinate had been arrested and implicated Leon himself, then Father Auden would need to make additional safeguards for his own sake.
“It was the witch who refined Mana for me. My apothecary room was also raided at the same time yesterday,” Leon said gravely.
“They even tracked down your place? And that witch who could refine people into poison was actually caught?” Father Auden’s expression turned solemn.
“Since you’re still standing here, that means she didn’t give you up, right?”
“Not for now. I taught her beforehand. And before the Church searched, I moved all the evidence,” Leon said.
“You plan to drag it out for thirty days until she’s released? Can she hold on? If Caron Eso were still around, he wouldn’t care about so many rules,” Father Auden reminded him.
Judicial torture required approval, but not all Inquisitions strictly followed procedures.
There were always those who tried every means to force a confession, fabricate evidence afterward, and then send it to the tribunal for conviction.
“But Aaron Dias won’t do that,” Leon said firmly.
“That’s possible. If his status is special and the merits he’s pursuing have to be perfectly clean, then unauthorized torture would indeed be problematic. But at the same time, they won’t accept an unsolved case being dragged on indefinitely either. You’d better not be too optimistic,” Father Auden cautioned.
“No. They went through another process. Aaron Dias told me they applied for a Supreme Investigation Warrant, saying it’s the only method the Church has to identify a witch…”
Before Leon could finish, Father Auden’s eyes widened.
“A Supreme Investigation Warrant!? Are you sure that’s what they said?”
“You know what that is?” Leon looked at the priest seriously.
He had come specifically to Father Auden to find out what the Supreme Investigation Warrant was.
Father Auden sank into thought.
After quite a while, he finally spoke.
“At present, within the Prophet Church, including the Pope, there are three people who possess miracles recognized by the Church as ‘omniscience.’ Through divination-based divine arts, they can uncover the key past information of a person and restore the full truth of the cases that person experienced with one hundred percent accuracy.
“It’s said that using such a miracle requires several months of recuperation. That’s extremely troublesome for Cardinals who are swamped with affairs, so very few cases can move them. But on the other hand, as long as any one of them gives approval, the Prophet Church can activate a Supreme Investigation Warrant. Once the suspect is sent to the Imperial Capital, their judgment can serve as decisive evidence!”
Leon felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
“Using divination to judge a case? Something that absurd can be acknowledged?”
“There’s no doubt that their miracles are real. Every handled case can be retroactively verified through key evidence. If the Church’s upper echelons wanted to frame someone, there would be no need to put on such a farce. The most critical point is that your person truly has problems. Once the procedure starts, she will definitely be convicted, and you will be uncovered as well. Don’t cling to false hope,” the priest said.
“Would a case of this scale really warrant issuing that kind of order?” Leon still found it hard to believe.
“I’m also surprised. The only explanation is that the one surnamed Dias truly has some serious backing—enough for a Cardinal to openly stand on his side,” the priest actually laughed at this point.
“You should feel honored, Fenrir. A Supreme Investigation Warrant, and that Earl… The highest powers of both the underworld and the establishment are dealing with you at the same time.”
“What’s so funny about that?” Leon frowned.
“You’re the one who should be laughing,” Father Auden said with a grin.
“Because they exhausted every effort and still couldn’t touch you at all. You’ve already won! Let me tell you—procedures involving Cardinals like the Supreme Investigation Warrant, starting from here and going up layer by layer, will take at least five days to be approved, even if expedited. And you’re an Inquisitor. You have the conditions to access the detained witch. Five days is more than enough for you to eliminate all future troubles!”
“Eliminate what?”
Sensing the priest’s meaning, Leon’s expression turned incredulous.
“That witch,” Father Auden replied, looking back at Leon in confusion.