Chapter 243: Business Negotiations with the Witches’ Gathering

Hearing Dorothy say this, Johnny continued glaring at her: “How long will a leg you reattach last?”

He was not surprised that Dorothy knew his real name. After all, he had once accompanied the army on an expedition to Moyland and had repeatedly been responsible for transporting smuggled mana. His face and identity should have been familiar to most of Moyland's Great Witches, especially Dorothy, who was responsible for intelligence.

“If it's his own leg, there won't be any rejection after it's reattached. It'll remain part of his body until the day he dies, I guarantee it.” Dorothy replied.

“……” Johnny said nothing more.

Although he did not trust the Great Witch before him, as things stood, only Dorothy, who possessed the Tier Three Chimera Blessing, could help reattach his subordinate's severed leg. Otherwise, the man would have no choice but to live the rest of his life with a wooden prosthetic leg.

“Then let's treat the wounded first before we talk.” Leon shifted his gaze toward the cavalryman lying on the ground in the distance after losing his leg.

The man was lying on his back, struggling to breathe, while the medic desperately tightened a belt around the stump of his thigh. Otherwise, continued blood loss would quickly become fatal. Saving him was the priority right now.

“Of course, no problem.” Dorothy lifted one long leg and effortlessly stepped over the shrubs in front of her, passed through the scarecrow formation, and entered the firing range of Leon and the others without the slightest concern, arriving beside the wounded man.

“Please bring his severed leg over.” Dorothy instructed the two medics, “Cut away the fabric, clean the wound.”

The medics first looked toward Johnny, and Johnny signaled with his eyes for his subordinates to comply.

The medics quickly got to work, then followed Dorothy's instructions and aligned the severed leg with the wound.

Dorothy gestured for them to move back a little, then said to the wounded man who was still struggling to breathe: “Sleep for a while first.”

After saying that, she fiddled with a gemstone on the smoking pipe, and a relaxing incense fragrance suddenly began emanating from it.

She took a deep drag, then exhaled toward the wounded man. The smoke she breathed out faintly carried a fluorescent-blue hue.

After inhaling several breaths of the smoke surrounding him, the wounded man's expression immediately became dazed.

Dorothy then raised a hand. A stitch line on it split open by itself, and blood quickly flowed down. She dripped the blood separately onto the wounds on both sides of the severed leg.

The moment her blood touched the wounds, it began writhing, spreading over both sides. Then, as though sensing one another, strands of blood extended outward and connected together, leaving the severed leg in a state as though it were still tenuously attached.

Then the connected strands of blood began pulling against one another, dragging the severed leg over, adjusting it back into position, and sealing the wound together.

At that moment, the injured cavalryman suddenly convulsed, and even the severed leg twitched along with him.

Finally, the viscous bloody fluid seeping from the joint writhed a few times before sinking back into the connection, leaving only a red seam-like scar behind.

“Done. Once he wakes up, he'll be able to get up and walk.”

After saying that, Dorothy strolled back to her original position without looking back, while the Manticore that had likewise lost a leg limped toward her.

Dorothy stroked the Manticore's nose, then pointed at one of the scarecrows.

The scarecrow immediately hobbled over. The dried vines covering its body suddenly peeled away, revealing a constantly writhing mass of dark-red flesh within.

The flesh rapidly wrapped around the Manticore's severed hind leg, then transformed into the shape of a new leg, gradually growing a new layer of skin and fur.

Leon watched the scene. Dorothy's ability could accomplish a surgical procedure that completely surpassed the era. The powers of witches still had enormous room for application, especially in medicine.

“You can rest for a while too.” Dorothy smiled at her Manticore.

The next moment, the Manticore's body suddenly began collapsing and deforming, eventually turning into a hunting dog. It circled once around Dorothy's feet, then ran back into the woodland.

The two Tin Giants also hunched their bodies and withdrew into the woodland. The scarecrows emitted creaking noises as they followed them inside, as though they had never appeared at all.

As those monsters concealed their true forms, the oppressive atmosphere at the scene eased somewhat.

Dorothy herself also released her demonkin transformation. The horns on her head and the wings on her back retracted, while her legs returned to normal, leaving her standing barefoot on the ground.

“We should be able to talk properly now. If you agree as well, I propose that those who don't need to listen in move away from here first, how about it?” Dorothy said as she swept her gaze toward Johnny, signaling a ceasefire.

Johnny's eyes were finally no longer quite so sharp, but he still showed no intention of lowering his guard against Dorothy in the slightest.

This Great Witch was truly troublesome on her own turf. If she suddenly attacked, even he and Leon working together would probably have a difficult time dealing with her.

Johnny and Leon exchanged a glance. Dorothy's request was not particularly strange. What they were about to discuss might involve quite a few secrets from both sides. Besides that, the fewer people who knew about what they were going to agree upon, the better.

“Fine. Have your people withdraw too, and how about you come out of the woods?” Leon spoke.

“And put out the smoke in your hand.” Johnny added. That smoke might have been mixed with some special magical potion, so they had to remain cautious.

“All right.” Dorothy smiled calmly, signaling her attendants with her eyes and having them retreat into the trees, then stepped out of the woodland herself and walked alone to a position only about thirty paces away from them.

Leon and Johnny also had their respective subordinates withdraw into the distance.

Dorothy glanced with slight concern at Rena, who still stood behind Leon, but did not raise any questions about it.

“So, Miss Dorothy. Now that you've finished testing me, what do you intend to do?” Leon asked Dorothy in a lowered voice.

“Of course, just as you said, we'll discuss cooperation. But before that, I hope you can satisfy our curiosity first. Mr. Fenrir, would it be convenient for you to tell me exactly where the Moylai Blessing you possess came from?” Dorothy asked with her arms folded, holding the extinguished smoking pipe.

“Obviously from Moylai, just like yours.” Leon replied.

“Moylai has never granted Blessings to men in the past. Just what is the mystery behind you obtaining one?” Dorothy asked.

“Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure either. One day in a dungeon, she suddenly granted me a Blessing. Perhaps she simply took a particular liking to me.” Leon said.

“Particularly fond of you?” Dorothy looked Leon over meaningfully and replied, “Allow me to ask something for the time being, how deeply do you pursue Moylai's power?”

Leon had just opened his mouth when Dorothy added another sentence: “For this question, I hope you'll answer carefully.”

“What do you mean?” Leon sensed there was something more behind Dorothy's words.

“If Moylai truly does favor you in particular, that may not necessarily be a good thing for you. It might even bring fatal disaster upon you, and that disaster may not necessarily come from the Empire's Church. Do you understand what I mean?” Dorothy said as she studied Leon.

“……” Leon remained silent, faintly feeling a chill run down his spine.

After the battle on Allende Island, the fact that he possessed a witch's Blessing was no longer much of a secret among certain people.

When he had decided to make contact with the Witches' Gathering, he had once imagined that the fact he possessed a witch's Blessing might make it easier for the Witches' Gathering to accept his existence.

After all, the Abyssal Church to which the Witches' Gathering belonged worshiped Moylai alone, and Moylai granting a Blessing to him, a man, was also an expression of Moylai's will.

But Dorothy's words suddenly made Leon realize that matters might not be as simple as he had imagined.

For those witches who pursued power to its absolute limits, how would they feel upon suddenly learning that he, a man who should originally have had nothing to do with Moylai's power, had effortlessly received power directly from Moylai?

Not only did he possess Moylai's Blessing, he also possessed the ability of a Dungeon Lord. The previous person to possess such a Blessing had been Isis, the former Princess of Ireland who became the founding Queen of Moyland.

To Queen Alice, the current ruler of Moyland, a man who possessed the same Blessing as the founding Queen was enough to shake the faith of the Abyssal Church's believers. To her, would that be the will of the god, or simply a threat?

At the end of the day, even the bishops of the Church could hardly be said to possess absolute faith and loyalty toward the gods. Theology had even developed a branch of doctrine acknowledging that “the gods are dead”. When he had discussed matters with Weiss, Leon had also considered the possibility that Saint Astarte sought to pursue divine authority.

If there were also someone among the witches pursuing the authority to act in Moylai's stead, then it was possible they would regard him as a rival.

“Power is more valuable than money. Naturally, I'll pursue power too, but I'll also carefully consider the price.” Leon replied.

“Carefully consider the price……that really is quite a cautious answer.” Dorothy smiled, “All right, then let's discuss what you came to speak with me about.”

“I think you should already know that I've now taken over most of the Count's territories, so I want to replace the Count and establish a long-term cooperative relationship with the Witches' Gathering.” Leon said.

“Just as I expected. But your main reason for wanting to establish cooperation should be to stop Arachne from taking revenge on you, correct?” Dorothy directly exposed Leon's true objective.

“If I replace the Count and reestablish trade, putting an end to pointless conflict, I believe that would be the most beneficial choice for both me and the Witches' Gathering.

I now possess the sales network the Count left behind. I'm the best distributor to help you rebuild your smuggling routes. If you allow Arachne to take revenge on me, all of your work in this area will have to start over from scratch. That's completely meaningless.” Leon said.

“Meaningless? That may not necessarily be the case. First of all, even by the judgment of our Witches' Gathering, Arachne taking revenge would be entirely justified. You killed the Count. Regardless of whether your reasons were directed against us, you undeniably caused us enormous losses.

Second, as far as I know, you did not completely inherit all of the Count's business. At the very least, you can't casually touch Count Fry's territory. Finally, you've been using the Temple Island left behind by Elrod in the past, which is the dungeon on Allende Island that you now occupy, to produce mana. Your production directly occupies part of our original market share. And your own situation can hardly be called stable either. It wouldn't be strange for the Church to take action against you at any time.

So allow me to ask, Mr. Fenrir, under such circumstances, exactly how do you intend to replace the Count in doing business with us? Or rather, how do you intend to compensate for our losses?” As Dorothy said this, the smile on her face faded slightly, and her expression clearly grew more serious.