Several days later, two carriages belonging to the cadre Bar crossed through the canyon, preparing to pass through River Valley County and head toward South Harbor County.
The carriages were loaded with Magical Beasts and cargo used for disguise.
Each carriage was escorted by a mounted guard at the front, rear, left, and right.
Together with the two coachn, there were six people in total.
In the forest on the canyon slope, Simon observed the situation through a spyglass, then turned to Leon behind him and said, “Forgive my bluntness, Mr. Fenrir, but this isn’t the best ambush site. I’d still recomnd making a move after they pass through the canyon.”
“Why?” Leon asked.
“This place is clearly ideal for hiding. Why go to open ground instead?”
“Sir, precisely because anyone can tell people can hide on these slopes, they’ll be extra vigilant. Look at them constantly scanning around. Secondly, if we attack from a forested slope, we won’t be able to ride horses. If they suddenly speed up and flee once attacked, it’ll be hard for us to stop them. Chasing them on the plains would be more suitable,” Simon advised.
Seeing that Leon remained silent, Simon added, “You should trust our experience.”
They were elite enforcers introduced by the Priest who had once worked for Potter.
The underworld war initiated by the Earl wasn’t large in scale.
Although many people had died alongside Potter on the day he was killed, quite a few survived—only to find themselves unemployed after Potter’s death.
Simon was one such example.
At thirty-two years old, he was considered an experienced enforcer under Potter, and the Priest’s evaluation of him had been fairly positive.
Therefore, when Leon approached the Priest, Simon and his n were introduced first.
Their first task was to rob two shipnts belonging to the Earl’s cadre Bar.
They had no qualms about it; after all, when they worked under Potter, they had robbed shipnts from Jero, a cadre in River Valley County.
“No. We’ll ambush them here,” Leon rejected the suggestion.
“Once they pass the canyon, it’ll be River Valley County’s territory. Getting entangled with soone else’s turf would be troubleso. Let the incident happen on their own land.”
“Then how about attacking them from both sides of the canyon?” Simon suggested again.
“With our limited manpower, splitting into two groups would just make it easier for them to break through, and our casualties would be higher,” Leon shook his head.
“Do as I said. Have you finished setting up what I asked for?”
“It’s done, but that setup… it hardly counts as a trap,” Simon said in confusion.
Not long ago, Leon had instructed them to pour a bottle of dark-red liquid onto the middle of the road that the carriages had to pass through, forming a dark-red pool of blood.
If the other party saw it, they might stop—but they would also beco alert.
After pouring the liquid, Leon had them cover the blood pool with withered grass to disguise it as much as possible.
This left them utterly puzzled.
“Listen carefully. We’ll lie in wait at the agreed spot. When the convoy passes there, the horses will be frightened. Once they fall into chaos, you can act. Don’t let a single one escape. Understood?” Leon ordered.
“Alright, sir,” Simon sighed helplessly.
He quietly exchanged glances with his n, then shrugged.
Being able to find work again while unemployed was sothing to be grateful for, but this employer was more troubleso than expected.
At the very least, Mr. Griffin had never interfered so much in how they carried out robberies.
After a while, the carriages finally reached the spot Leon had designated.
The foremost guard rode his horse over the withered grass.
At that mont, the first carriage’s coachman noticed red seeping out from the pile of grass, and the guard’s horse left wet hoofprints.
“Wait—what’s that?” the coachman shouted.
The leading guard stopped and turned back, stunned.
The guards on both sides also ca forward to take a look and discovered what seed to be blood beneath the withered grass.
They imdiately beca alert.
“This is bad—they’re starting to look around!”
Simon and his n, lying in ambush, grew tense.
Simon was already cursing Mr. Fenrir’s terrible idea in his heart.
Leon hid in a nearby thicket, watching as the convoy noticed the blood he had left on the road.
Seizing the mont, he activated his ability.
In an instant, the blood pool beneath the withered grass turned purple, transforming into Purple Smoke that curled upward, including the parts that had sared onto the horse’s hoof.
Cursed Blood manifested.
When the convoy saw the Purple Smoke, they imdiately felt an instinctive biological intimidation.
Before they could even gasp, the horses suddenly neighed in terror, stomping and bolting on their own, desperately trying to flee from the spreading smoke.
The smoke created by the small amount of Leon’s blood covered only a limited area.
It was difficult to poison people or large animals, but it was more than enough to frighten the horses.
“Stop! Stop!”
Both guards and coachn desperately pulled at the reins, trying to calm the horses.
The convoy instantly fell into chaos, which quickly spread to the rear carriage as well.
“Now!” Leon glared at the stunned Simon and urged him.
Simon snapped out of it, grabbed a Gun from the ground, and shouted, “Move!!”
The enforcers lying in ambush on the slope rushed out from their hiding spots, charging downhill with Guns, crossbows, and bows, then unleashed a volley from above.
The convoy, mired in chaos, couldn’t respond in ti and imdiately began taking casualties.
Leon did not join the attack.
He simply stayed behind a tree, watching.
He had already done what he needed to do.
The situation was completely one-sided.
After two rounds of gunfire, the convoy was mostly dead or wounded.
One carriage’s horse was struck by arrows and toppled over with the carriage.
The other carriage’s coachman was shot down, and the frightened horse dragged the carriage into a mad sprint.
Simon ordered one of his n to seize an uninjured horse to pursue it, while he led the others in checking for survivors, finishing off anyone still moving with a blade.
After quite so ti, Leon finally descended from the slope and stepped out.
By then, Simon’s n had already recovered the runaway carriage and driven it back.
“Mr. Fenrir!” Simon called out.
“Everyone’s been dealt with.”
“Very good. Gather the bodies and clean up the scene,” Leon ordered.
“Sir, what exactly was that stuff you poured out earlier?” Simon asked cautiously, his gaze toward Leon now carrying a mix of admiration and awe.
“A Magical Potion refined by my people. Quite amazing, isn’t it?” Leon smiled at him, then strolled over to the overturned carriage to inspect the cargo.
After the carriage tipped over, the disguised partitions collapsed as well, and cages holding Magical Beasts rolled out together with the camouflaged goods.
Leon checked the Magical Beasts.
Most of them were still alive.
However, after searching the carriage, he did not find any feed ant for them.
He let out a soft “hmph.” It seed this second shipnt was also ant to deliver him a carriage full of nearly dead Magical Beasts.
This ti, however, before the other party could brush him off with excuses about an accident on the road, Leon had created an “accident” for them first, directly seizing the goods at the edge of their own territory.
The last ti he had Bar’s n bring back the Magical Potion, he had already secretly arranged for people introduced by the Priest to observe several nodes along the route, confirming the usual path used to transport contraband.
That way, when the second delivery ca, he could calculate the approximate timing and lie in ambush at a suitable location for the convoy transporting the Magical Beasts.
Since this cadre couldn’t handle transportation issues, Leon didn’t mind transporting them himself.
Moreover, if he didn’t make other cadres understand that provoking him ca at a cost, he would likely face even more obstacles in the coming year.
“Bring our carriage over and transfer all the goods onto it. Feed all the Magical Beasts once. Take these carriages sowhere far away and burn them—farther is better. As for the bodies…” Leon issued his instructions.
“Don’t worry, sir. We’ll burn them together,” Simon nodded.
“No. I want them transported back together with the goods,” Leon waved his hand and gave the order.
…
Several days later, at the Inquisition.
Leon was summoned by Bishop Beckett to the Director’s Office.
“Mr. Bar’s side sent word that the convoy delivering your second batch of Magical Beasts has gone missing,” Bishop Beckett stared into Leon’s eyes and asked in a lowered voice.
“Do you have any leads?”
“Missing? What does ‘missing’ an?” Leon spread his hands innocently and replied in an equally low voice only the two of them could hear.
“This ti, is Mr. Bar not even bothering to pretend anymore that he wants to give
anything?”
“They insist that this matter is related to you,” Bishop Beckett said.
“May I ask where Mr. Bar’s convoy went missing?” Leon countered.
“It seems they didn’t reach River Valley County,” Bishop Beckett replied.
“So his people ran into trouble on his own territory, and yet he cos to ?” Leon said jokingly.
“What is it—does Mr. Bar intend to hand his territory over to
to manage?”
Bishop Beckett didn’t laugh.
Instead, he said seriously, “You said you would handle it yourself, but you didn’t tell
you’d handle it like this.”
“Handle it how?” Leon continued to play dumb.
“That’s enough. You don’t need to do this with . I’m in charge of this territory now, and I’m on your side,” Bishop Beckett let out a long breath.
“Then you must know, sir, that batch of goods was ant to be delivered to us in the first place. What reason does Mr. Bar have to suspect that I would rob his shipnt?” Leon asked in return.
“That does make sense,” Bishop Beckett raised an eyebrow.
“You said everyone needs to be capable of dealing with their own problems. I’ve already resolved the issue of the Magical Beasts on my end. Since Mr. Bar’s transportation runs into problems so easily—he can’t even manage his own territory—I won’t trouble him anymore. Could you please convey my thanks for his help and concern?” Leon said.
This ti, Bishop Beckett finally smiled.
“Very well. I’ll advise him to mind his own affairs.”
“Do you have any other instructions?” Leon asked.
“No,” Bishop Beckett replied, then added, “Things should be back on track now, yes?”
“Yes. We’ll push things forward as quickly as possible,” Leon nodded.
“That’s good,” Bishop Beckett said.
At that mont, there was a sudden knock on the office door.
Bishop Beckett and Leon exchanged a glance, then raised his voice.
“Co in.”
“Yes!” A mber of the Inquisition on duty in the main hall opened the door, nervously saluted Bishop Beckett, and said, “Director, there’s a visitor—”
His gaze then flicked to the side, and he blurted out in surprise, “Ah—Your Grace, Bishop, why have you co up already?”
“Sorry for the intrusion,” a tall, graceful figure appeared at the doorway.
The visitor wore a pure white nun’s robe embroidered with the emblem of the Creator Church, clearly marking her as a distinguished Bishop.
The reporting mber could only step aside.
Upon seeing her, both Bishop Beckett and Leon showed expressions of surprise.
Bishop Beckett imdiately stood up with a solemn expression.
“Bishop Weiss, what brings you here?”
“Long ti no see, Bishop Beckett. My apologies for the sudden visit,” Bishop Weiss greeted him with a nod, then swept her gaze over Leon standing in the room.
Her eyes paused slightly.
“You?”
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