novelraw Chapter 71 : Voluntary Surrender
Chapter 71 : Voluntary Surrender
Chapter 71: Voluntary Surrender
Three days later, early morning, East District Church.
“Now you’ve confirmed everything. I’ve taken care of all the things you requested—without the slightest flaw. You’ve completely bought out the debts of the Hesh mother and daughter. The money they owed the Church has also been settled. It’s all clean money that I handled myself—procedures compliant, paperwork complete. Even the Church can’t find a single issue,” Father Auden said, hands clasped behind his back, to the Leon standing before him.
“This sort of thing should have been done after you resolved your future worries. That Witch is still alive, yet you’re doing all this as if handling your own funeral arrangements. In the end, are you really planning to—”
“That’s enough, Father Auden. Mind your own mouth. From now on, this matter has nothing to do with you,” Leon interrupted him with his back turned, straightened his collar, and walked out the door.
“Farewell.”
“It isn’t worth it for you to do this,” Father Auden shook his head at Leon’s departing figure.
“Goodbye forever, Fenrir.”
After leaving the church, Leon summoned a carriage and rode straight to the Inquisition.
He sat upright inside the carriage, like a knight preparing to march to war.
Today, he intended to bring everything to a complete end.
He stepped down from the carriage, paid the fare, and stood at the entrance of the Inquisition.
He suddenly turned and looked deeply toward the distance once more, then strode inside without hesitation.
“Good morning, Captain.”
Several colleagues were in the main hall.
One of Leon’s teammates greeted him in a half-joking tone.
After the assault on Potter Manor, Aaron Dias had used his authority as Director to revoke the disciplinary measures previously kept on Leon and promoted him to Captain of Team Three.
However, the atmosphere between Leon and his teammates had not changed much.
“Mm. Good morning,” Leon forced a smile in reply.
“Your injury hasn’t fully healed yet, has it? The Director clearly approved you to rest for a few more days. There’s no need to push yourself this hard,” a teammate said.
“There’s something I must deal with today,” Leon replied.
“What is it?” the teammate asked casually.
“I’m here to surrender myself.”
A new voice suddenly sounded at the entrance.
The noise in the hall gradually subsided, and gazes turned one after another toward the person who had spoken.
Leon also put on a look of surprise and turned his head toward the entrance.
At the main doors of the Inquisition stood a woman in her early thirties.
She wore a black formal dress, with a gray-white knitted shawl draped over her shoulders—attire commonly worn by women of that age at formal occasions, elegant yet solemn, also often seen at funerals, save for the absence of a hat.
Her hair was carefully pinned up, and she wore light makeup.
Her features showed a rather good foundation, but the gaunt complexion and sallow hair caused by long illness had still diminished her beauty.
The sentence just now had come from her mouth.
The Inquisitors, whether on duty or preparing to head out on assignment, revealed looks of surprise.
Hearing such a frail-looking woman say “I’m here to surrender myself,” many of them were momentarily confused.
Just as someone was about to step forward to question her, Leon spoke first in a shocked tone.
“Mrs. Hesh?”
The person who appeared at the entrance was none other than Sally Hesh, who had come in full formal attire.
“Hello, Mr. Leon,” Sally smiled back at him.
Seeing that she was someone Leon knew, the other Inquisitors chose to observe for the moment.
“Mrs. Hesh, why would you—” Leon stared at Sally with an incredulous expression.
“I came to surrender myself,” Sally replied calmly.
She took out a Test Tube from her hand, containing what appeared to be dark red blood, and announced to everyone, “I am the Witch you have been searching for—the one who refined Mana for Mr. Griffin, Henry Potter!”
As soon as those words fell, the Inquisitors present exchanged looks.
In the Mr. Griffin case, the Witch suspect was currently being held in the detention cells of the Inquisition.
How could another Witch suddenly appear to surrender herself?
Yet this woman knew that Mr. Griffin was Henry Potter—she was clearly involved!
Some gazes also focused on the test tube in Sally’s hand, not understanding what she intended to do with it, though they instinctively became alert.
Then, in the next instant, the blood inside the test tube suddenly turned Purplish-Red before everyone’s eyes and began to boil!
In a flash, an instinctual sense of intimidation flooded into everyone’s awareness.
All of them clearly felt that the purplish-red liquid carried a kind of danger that surpassed common understanding!
Most of the Inquisitors sucked in sharp breaths and reflexively retreated away from Sally at the entrance, drawing their Guns one after another—including Leon’s teammates beside him.
The moment she saw the gun barrels, Sally’s entire body tensed up, but she held on.
“Calm down! Everyone, calm down!!” Leon raised his hand and shouted.
The others retreated with guns at the ready, not daring to act rashly.
If someone fired here and that liquid shattered on the ground, no one knew what consequences it would bring!
“I’m sorry for deceiving you, Mr. Leon. May I see the person in charge here? I’ve come to surrender myself,” Sally said as she looked at Leon.
Leon seemed to come back to his senses from the shock and turned to his teammate.
“Go get the Director—now!”
The teammate ran into the corridor.
Less than twenty seconds later, the alarm bell rang throughout the Inquisition, and Aaron Dias and Bishop Beckett surged out from the corridor with a group of people.
The moment Bishop Beckett saw the purplish-red liquid in Sally’s hand, his expression changed instantly.
“Cursed Blood?”
He clearly recognized it.
He immediately stepped in front of Aaron, drew the Church’s Silver Dagger, and seemed ready to invoke some power.
“Stop immediately, madam! This is your only warning!” he shouted at Sally.
Seeing so many people appear, Sally was obviously nervous, but she still barely maintained her composure and spoke while suppressing the tremor in her voice.
“Please rest assured, sir. I’ve come to surrender myself. I will properly control my power.”
As she finished speaking, the purplish-red liquid in her hand suddenly stopped boiling and reverted to dark red.
That terrifying sense of intimidation vanished along with it.
“A Witch…” Aaron muttered in surprise.
The others present shared much the same thought.
Watching Sally control the blood inside the test tube so freely, this ominous power was clearly not a Blessing of the Four Gods!
Except Leon.
He alone knew who truly controlled the blood inside that test tube.
What it contained was his blood.
“What are you surrendering yourself for?” Bishop Beckett stared at the “Witch” before him in disbelief.
“I am the Witch who extracted Mana for Henry Potter. I am the Fenrir you’ve been looking for!”
Sally mustered her courage and declared loudly, sweeping her gaze over everyone present, exchanging one final look with Leon.
Three days earlier, beside the Hesh family dining table.
“So you want me to… take her place? And then you’ll pay off our debts?” Sally stared blankly at Leon.
“Yes. I’ve confirmed your debts. This money will clear them all, and I’ll leave the remaining portion entirely to Melissa,” Leon said slowly, staring at Sally.
“That’s the content of the deal.”
Sally processed all the information with lingering fear, thinking seriously.
After Leon solemnly told her that “there’s something I must tell you,” what awaited her was a series of shocking truths: Mr. Leon’s involvement in Mana transactions, Bishop Leona actually being a Witch, the so-called special medicine they used actually being a Magical Potion, the Witch now captured having only three months’ worth of potion left, and so on.
Before Sally could fully recover from the shock, Leon suddenly took out a stack of Church Gold Vouchers and placed them on the table, speaking.
“Mrs. Hesh, I’d like to discuss a transaction with you…”
The transaction Leon proposed was for Sally to confess as the Witch, thereby washing away Rena’s suspicion.
Sally would not only have to strictly cooperate with Leon’s script and play the role of the Witch supplying Mr. Griffin Potter, but after completing the confession, she would also have to die inside the Inquisition.
Once the remaining Magical Potion was used up, Sally would soon return to her previous condition.
Even with life extended by expensive potions, her remaining lifespan would not exceed two years, and the debt left to Melissa would only increase, never decrease.
The house had long been mortgaged under contract to offset the debt.
Once the term expired, it would be confiscated.
Melissa would not only be left homeless but would also continue to bear enormous debt, almost impossible to live a decent life.
After much deliberation, Leon decided to use all the money he had on this deal.
If Sally was willing to make the sacrifice, then he and Rena would have at least a slim chance to survive together.
He himself had no idea how big that chance was.
But if Mrs. Hesh refused the deal, or if the plan was exposed, his final option would be nothing more than taking all the crimes upon himself.
He had nothing left to lose.
Even if the odds were small, why not risk it.
After thinking for a long time, Sally finally spoke.
“If I admit to being a Witch, will Melissa be implicated?”
“According to Church regulations, she had no knowledge of it and is not yet an adult. She won’t be implicated—she’ll only be sent to a Reform Institution for one to three years of education,” Leon replied.
“Won’t the money used to repay the debts be recovered by the Church?” Sally pressed on.
“I’ll go through money-laundering channels. The person handling it is an expert. So far, none of the dirty money he’s processed has had any issues or been tracked by the Church,” Leon said, not daring to mention that the expert was Father Auden, whom Sally deeply despised.
“…” Sally fell into silence once again.
Leon spoke softly to break it.
“I know you might not fully trust me…”
“No, I trust you,” Sally suddenly interrupted him.
“Precisely because it’s you, Mr. Leon. Everything you’ve done for Melissa and me, I’ve always seen it. That’s why I believe everything you’ve said. I also believe you’ll keep your promise… even though I think you yourself probably aren’t certain whether all this will go smoothly.”
“…” Leon could not refute her.
Sally and Leon held each other’s gaze for a long time.
Suddenly, she revealed a somewhat mournful smile.
“You really are alike.”
Leon froze for a moment, not understanding whom she meant.
“The way you look now is exactly the same as he did back then…” Sally said nostalgically, sorrow filling her eyes.
Leon finally understood.
She was talking about Mr. Hesh from years ago.
Back then, Mr. Hesh, powerless to save his wife and daughter, had also been driven to desperation, and had once shown Sally the same all-or-nothing expression.
“…I accept your deal, Mr. Leon,” Sally said softly after a long while.