novelraw Chapter 70 : The Sacrifice That Must Be Made
Chapter 70 : The Sacrifice That Must Be Made
Chapter 70: The Sacrifice That Must Be Made
Leon was left speechless.
This situation was not something he had never imagined.
He had even discussed it with Rena before.
“Next, I’ll use my connections to help you confirm whether there truly is a Supreme Investigation Warrant application sent to the central authority. If there really is one, then you need to face reality. In the end, you’re just a mana dealer from some backwater place. What you’re facing is the Church’s top-tier power and the largest giant of the underworld. No matter how mad you go, what kind of waves can you possibly stir up? The fact that you can still walk away unscathed now is already incredibly lucky. What more do you want?”
Father Auden continued his efforts to persuade Leon.
“You’re doing a business that costs heads. You’ve been fishing for gold in a sea of blood from the very beginning. That Witch is already destined to die. Kill her now, end everything, take your one million, and enjoy your victory. Oh, right—aren’t you quite taken with that mother and daughter? I’m still handling their debts. You still have a chance to buy them.”
At those last words, Leon, who had been standing there in a daze, finally reacted.
“The Potter family is already dead. Do the Hesh family’s debts still exist?”
“If debts disappeared just because someone died, then the line of people wanting him dead would stretch all the way to his winery. A man like him naturally has to make arrangements for after his death early on. After he dies, someone will inherit the assets, and groups will take over the business. Those debts actually left his name a long time ago and were legally transferred under other interest groups. His death doesn’t affect anyone coming to collect.” Father Auden replied.
“So the money you’re handling won’t have any problems, right?” Leon asked.
“If there were problems, after Potter’s death I’d either be arrested or on the run. I definitely wouldn’t be standing here properly like this. You can doubt me as a person, but there’s no need to question my ability in this regard.” Father Auden answered with great confidence.
“Is that so…” Leon shifted his gaze elsewhere, his expression inexplicably calming down.
Father Auden frowned and scrutinized him for a long while, yet still couldn’t tell what Leon was thinking.
Without any warning, Leon turned around and walked toward the door.
“You’re getting ready to make a move?” Father Auden confirmed from behind him.
“I need to think about it.” Leon replied softly, his back to Father Auden.
“Think about it?” Father Auden’s brow furrowed even tighter.
“You only have five days!”
“Yes. There are still five days.” After saying that, Leon opened the door and left.
After leaving the East District Church, Leon went all the way back to near the Hesh family’s house, but he didn’t open the door and go inside right away.
After checking the alley and confirming there was no one else around, he took out another key and opened the door to the neighboring row house.
He stepped inside.
The interior was still covered in dust, and the ceiling was filled with spiderwebs.
Leon walked deeper into the house, found the lantern he had placed nearby, lit it, and opened the cellar entrance to go down.
In the darkness, the lamplight illuminated the Moilai Altar that had been transported here, the experimental tools Rena had used, and the bottled magical potions—this was the only remaining batch of special medicine for treating Saltification Disease.
Judging by appearances, it would probably only last for about three months.
It was only when Father Auden mentioned the Hesh mother and daughter that Leon remembered this matter.
Whether Rena died in prison or he turned himself in, there would no longer be Bishop Leona to prepare medicine for them.
He himself actually knew the formula as well.
Rena had never hidden it from him.
But without mana and cultivated Magical Beasts, it was no longer realistic to make more medicine.
Once these were used up, Sally would only be able to rely on holy water to cling to life.
As for Bishop Leona being investigated and recalled to the Church—no matter the reason or excuse—this matter, cruel as it might be, at least allowed him to give that mother and daughter an explanation.
Leon stood there for a long time.
In the end, he swept his gaze across the cellar once more, picked up all the medicine from the ground and bundled it together, then left the house.
He changed keys and opened the door to the Hesh family’s home.
Sally, who was by the kitchen table, heard the sound and stood up to come out.
“Mr. Leon, you’re back.”
“Mrs. Hesh.” Leon nodded.
“Is Melissa out?”
“Yes, she went to work.” Sally replied.
At this time, Melissa should have gone to Mrs.
Kate’s place at the end of the alley to work as a helper.
“Oh, right, that child still left breakfast for you. Would you like to eat a bit?” Sally asked.
“Alright.”
Leon answered absentmindedly and walked over to the table.
Bread and fried eggs were laid out on it.
“I’ll go get you some soup.” Sally slowly walked into the kitchen and carefully poured the last bit of soup from the pot into a bowl.
Leon put the cloth bag on the table, sat down, and casually forked a piece of fried egg into his mouth.
The egg was already cold, but the doneness was just right for him.
He liked his eggs fried until both sides were crispy.
Melissa had always remembered his taste.
“I’ll reheat it for you.” Sally brought the soup over and said.
“It’s fine.” Leon replied dully.
Mrs. Hesh noticed the items on the table and sat down beside it.
“You went to Bishop Leona to get the medicine? This time there’s so much?”
“Yes.” Leon responded, staring at the stains on the wall opposite him, thinking for a long time.
Sally looked at Leon in confusion.
She could sense that today, Leon seemed to have something on his mind.
“Mr. Leon, did something happen?” Sally asked with concern.
Leon finally made up his mind.
He slowly turned his head to look at Sally.
“Mrs. Hesh, there’s something I must tell you.”
……
That night, the Inquisition.
Rena hugged herself and curled up on the hard wooden bed in the detention room, unable to sit still.
The less than two days since her arrest had felt like years to her.
During yesterday’s interrogation, no matter how the bishop and the young man who looked like a knight tried to coax and question her, she never gave in.
Leon had once told her that before finding evidence, the Inquisition would subject her to high-intensity interrogations every day, and that they might even ignore regulations and use torture.
However, after yesterday’s interrogation ended, she was sent to this detention room set alone at the end of the corridor, and she hadn’t gone out for an entire day.
She couldn’t see the outside world here.
The only light came from a lantern hanging in the corridor.
She could only judge the approximate time by when food was delivered.
There was no interrogation and no punishment, but being alone in such a stifling, enclosed space still caused unease to continuously swell.
She suddenly remembered the time when her grandmother passed away.
Since it was an incurable illness, she had been mentally prepared.
Whether it was staying by the bedside watching the other slowly breathe her last while unconscious, or watching her grandmother be buried, she had actually been unexpectedly calm.
However, when she returned home and saw the empty room, realizing that the only family member who had accompanied her until then would never appear again, that tide-like loneliness suddenly seized her.
Tears wet her eyes without warning.
She was thirteen that year.
Almost four years had passed, and she had finally gradually adapted to being alone.
But now, sitting in this cell, that feeling from years ago caught up to her once again.
“Why hasn’t he come yet…”
Rena hugged her legs and curled into a ball, burying her face in her arms as she thought sadly.
The Inquisition apparently hadn’t found the altar that could serve as decisive evidence in her home, which meant Leon had already taken care of those things for her.
But after that, Leon had never appeared before her.
She figured Leon must be running around for her, or that he simply didn’t have an opportunity to contact her yet.
Sooner or later, he would come see her, tell her what to do next, and encourage her to hold on.
At times like this, aside from Leon, she had no one else to rely on.
At that moment, a series of indistinct whispers came from outside the detention room door, as if the guards stationed outside were changing shifts.
Then footsteps approached from far to near.
During shift changes, the incoming guard would always peer inside through the small window in the detention room door to check on her condition.
Rena slowly lifted her face.
Every time the guards patrolled here, they would order her to raise her face, make eye contact, and respond, to ensure that her condition was fine.
However, this time, the face that appeared in the window was Leon’s.
Rena jolted up in shock, instinctively about to call out his name, but Leon promptly stopped her with his eyes.
Rena immediately reacted, suppressing the excitement of finally seeing him deep in her heart, and silently nodded at Leon.
Leon glanced around again, confirmed there was no one else nearby, and Rena slowly walked over and pressed herself against the door, standing on tiptoe to bring her face close to the small window sealed with iron mesh.
They had to be close to each other to whisper.
“I didn’t say anything.” Rena whispered as she looked into Leon’s eyes.
“I know.” Leon replied softly.
“As long as I hold out, it’ll be fine, right?” Rena looked at Leon with hope.
These thirty days would undoubtedly be extremely hard for her.
Right now, she needed Leon’s assurance—just one sentence of encouragement, telling her that as long as she endured it, both of them would be fine.
She felt that she could keep going.
“……”
However, Leon didn’t respond immediately.
For a brief moment, he even lowered his eyes, avoiding her expectant gaze.
“What’s wrong?” Rena faintly sensed that something was wrong.
“They’re preparing to use other procedures to send you to the Imperial Capital, using a miracle controlled by a Cardinal to directly determine your Witch identity. I never knew there were such methods.” Leon softly told Rena the truth.
In the end, he still obtained confirmation from Father Auden.
The application for the investigation warrant had already been sent to the central authority.
At the fastest, within five days, Rena would be transferred to the capital under the escort of Church knights.
Upon hearing this, Rena’s heart plunged straight down.
“I’m sorry, Rena. I really can’t think of any other way now…” Leon said softly as he looked into Rena’s eyes.
“This time, someone has to make a sacrifice.”