What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

“Even you know about this?” Leon was somewhat surprised.

He had not expected that Johnny had specifically come to find him just to discuss something like this.

“After the Earl’s death, you should pay attention to matters in noble circles, especially since you are trying to enter this circle now. I guess you probably do not know that about half a month ago, Marquis Veronia had already held a gathering in his own territory. Those who attended included Marquis Lorraine, as well as his daughter, the current Countess Foyle who manages the Foyle Region, and several other influential figures from the East.”

At this point, a sarcastic smile suddenly appeared on Johnny’s face. “I do not really understand why the powerful figures of the East suddenly gathered together for a meeting. But I think you might know the reason. How about explaining it to me?”

Leon could tell that Johnny was mocking the matter of him killing the Earl. The Earl had disappeared for so long that, no matter how optimistic the people connected to him were, they had basically already concluded that he was dead.

With the Earl’s death, the eastern noble group had lost one of its main pillars, so they would inevitably need to consider countermeasures.

The most powerful and core group of people would naturally gather together to find a solution.

“Who knows? That is really hard to guess.” Leon shamelessly replied. “So Marquis Veronia’s banquet invitation is also related to this?”

“I made a little investigation. On the surface, this banquet is to celebrate that he recently bought a new estate in Helenburg, so he invited the nobles of River Valley County and the surrounding regions to gather together.” Johnny said.

“The invitation says the same thing.” Leon nodded.

“But I noticed that there is some particularity regarding the people invited.” Johnny raised one finger.

“Particularity? Even a small Viscount Arend like me can receive an invitation?” Leon spread his hands.

“Viscount Arend was not originally on the list. But two days ago, an Intermediate Inquisitor holding a rank in the Church suddenly inherited the title of Viscount Arend and was registered in the Church’s archives. Marquis Veronia’s side temporarily added another invitation.” Johnny spread his hands toward Leon.

“So what is the condition for receiving an invitation? Having a rank in the Church?” Leon asked.

“And you also need to be a noble.” Johnny added. “After you became Viscount Arend, you happened to meet their conditions. In addition, you were someone previously connected with the Earl, so it is no wonder they hurriedly sent you a supplementary invitation.”

“So, what does Marquis Veronia want to do by suddenly inviting eastern nobles who hold ranks within the Church?” Leon continued asking.

“If you want to know, just attend the banquet.” Johnny said.

“You came to find me just to persuade me about this?” Leon finally realized Johnny’s intention.

“I had to come before you rejected it. Kid, the conflict between the eastern and western nobles is becoming increasingly serious. Now that the Earl is dead, the eastern group will inevitably feel threatened. After those great nobles finish their meeting, they must have made some decision. Now they are gathering small nobles like you who have established connections within the Church. I estimate that there should be some major matter announced at the banquet, something that can unite the eastern nobles!

If you want to follow the Earl’s path, you have to integrate into this group. In the future, whether you want to establish a foundation or conduct business safely, you will need connections in this area. You absolutely cannot miss this banquet!” Johnny’s expression became slightly more serious.

Leon looked at Johnny and realized that although Johnny had quite a few complaints about him killing the Earl and often mocked and ridiculed him, overall, Johnny still hoped that he could successfully complete the transaction and help him resolve his current problem.

Johnny had come this time to provide him with information and advice.

Just as Father Auden had suggested before, he now needed to follow the Earl’s route, grasping both business and power. The power aspect did not only mean that he needed to find a way to rise within the Church, but also that he needed to establish himself within noble circles.

Rumor had it that the Church had long known the true identity of the “Earl” from the underworld, but they had been unable to move against him. The main reason was probably that the Earl’s interests were deeply bound with the eastern noble group. Moving against him would cause the balance between the Empire’s eastern and western forces to tilt, leading to the current situation.

Among the Church’s upper levels, there were certainly nobles from the East, or people whose interests were connected with the eastern noble group.

It was not strange that Johnny had knowledge of the circle of powerful figures. After learning Johnny’s real name, Leon had specifically investigated him. Johnny had once been a Knight Commander in the Church, and his rank at the time had been above the Earl’s. Being able to reach such a position meant that there were basically few people from humble backgrounds.

Johnny’s original name was Jonathan Ruit. Ruit was the family name of an Earl’s family in the East. The current title holder of that family was one of Johnny’s cousins, who also served within the Church.

At this moment, Leon thought of something and tentatively asked Johnny, “Mr. Johnny, do you know anything about the Earl’s connections among the Church’s upper levels?”

The Earl should have had a protective umbrella among the Church’s upper levels with deeply connected interests. Most likely, those people were also from eastern noble families, but Leon did not know who they were.

Even Bishop Beckett did not know. From Bishop Beckett, Leon had only extracted the names of some lower-ranking Church personnel who had been bought over by the Earl’s organization through different methods.

Those Church higher-ups should not have allowed unnecessary people to know their relationships. Someone like Bishop Beckett, merely a Second-Tier Bishop, and a servant of the Earl, would not have been allowed by those higher-ups to grasp their weakness. The Earl himself should also have retained some reservations toward the people around him.

But Leon suddenly realized that Johnny might know something.

Unlike Beckett, who had a lower rank within the Church, Johnny had once been a Third-Tier Knight Commander and a person with real authority who commanded troops. When he had “died in battle,” he had even received a posthumous promotion according to the standards of a cardinal.

He had been closer to the Church’s upper levels than the Earl himself, who had once been a First-Tier Knight Commander and deputy commander of the Knight Order. He should have possessed corresponding information and connections.

In that case, after he had been hired by the Earl back then, perhaps he had provided the Earl with relevant information to help him establish relationships within the Church.

The high-level Church information that Bishop Beckett did not know, he might actually know more about!

“Take care of the work in front of you first, kid!” Johnny responded to Leon’s question with a cold laugh.

But for Leon, this was basically already an answer. It seemed Johnny truly had some knowledge in this area.

However, Johnny would only be willing to provide assistance after Leon successfully fulfilled the conditions of their transaction.

“Then can you at least answer me this first? What exactly is the relationship between Grand Inquisitor Stuart and the Earl?” Leon asked.

The only information regarding the Church’s upper levels that he had been able to obtain from Bishop Beckett was that Cardinal Stuart had some kind of connection with the Earl.

Cardinal Stuart, the current Grand Inquisitor of the Church’s Holy Tribunal, was one of the three people in the Prophet Church who possessed the “Omniscience” miracle. When Rena had been captured and they wanted to use the Supreme Investigation Order, it was this high-ranking figure they had requested help from. The reason Bishop Beckett had done so was because of the Earl’s orders.

This was the extent of what Bishop Beckett knew. But under normal circumstances, it was strange that an underworld leader like the Earl would expect Grand Inquisitor Stuart to provide assistance.

If the Grand Inquisitor himself was the Earl’s protector, then the Earl would have had no need to worry about the Church’s Inquisition investigating him at all.

If Cardinal Stuart was also a member of the eastern nobles, then this relationship could indeed be explained.

However, the problem was that he himself was also a duke. The eastern region of the Empire, which originally belonged to the frontier territories and Eiland lands, did not have any duchies. The Stuart family was actually an ancient ducal family from the West.

“You have investigated the Earl more deeply than I expected.” Johnny frowned and looked at Leon. “However, Stuart is not one of our people. You should not assume that he will protect people like us heretics.”

“Then he...” Leon was somewhat confused after hearing this.

“The enemy of an enemy is not necessarily a friend, but at least they can make use of each other. The western noble group is not a united block either. Stuart simply has an old grudge with Duke Gran’s family.” Johnny explained.

Leon remembered Duke Gran, one of the central figures of the western noble group, who was currently the primary suspect responsible for Earl Foyle’s disappearance.

If Cardinal Stuart’s family had a conflict with Duke Gran’s family, then secretly using the Earl, who belonged to the eastern nobles, to restrain Duke Gran sounded quite normal.

Duke Gran’s granddaughter was Imperial Princess Freyde. When Bishop Beckett assisted Aaron in investigating the case to gain achievements, he had attempted to apply for the Supreme Investigation Order from Cardinal Stuart under the Earl’s suggestion. Aaron himself was suspected to be the Emperor’s Illegitimate Son rumored to be secretly supported by the eastern noble group...

Thinking about it this way, everything seemed to connect.

For Grand Inquisitor Stuart to turn a blind eye, the prerequisite was becoming an enemy of someone like Duke Gran... This did not seem like a very profitable arrangement.

This circle of powerful figures was not easy to navigate. Leon thought.

Johnny watched Leon fall into thought and casually raised his wine glass, taking a sip. “Work hard, kid. I hope the next news I hear is not bad news.”

“I hope so too.” Leon nodded thoughtfully.

However, even if it was not easy to navigate, he still had to find a way to squeeze himself into it now.

It seemed that he would have to bring Adele to the banquet after all. If possible, he needed to prepare formal clothes for the banquet in advance and learn some noble etiquette. Adele had been right about one thing: failing to follow etiquette and making a fool of himself would be a minor matter, but offending people would be a major one.

Thinking of what Adele had told him, he suddenly frowned and realized that when he had not yet completely decided whether to attend the banquet, he had subconsciously ignored one matter.

“Mr. Johnny, this kind of noble banquet...” He looked at Johnny with a serious expression. “Do they require dancing?”

“Hmm?” Johnny blinked twice in surprise, then suddenly realized something. He grinned with schadenfreude. “You have never learned? Then you really need to make time to cram practice!”