At the mention of Raven, Midgard stood there in a daze for a long moment before finally coming back to herself, disbelief still lingering on her face.
"You mean that Belby guy?" Midgard frowned. "He's working for Raven?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure," Leonard said calmly. "We don't have any direct evidence. The only thing we know for certain is that there's something wrong with Damocles, and the timing just happens to match the period when Raven has been active."
"No matter what, we need to stay alert. We can't let Damocles leave this place. At the very least, he can't leave it alive."
"Didn't you say he was important?"
"Damocles is important to the Werewolves, but what matters is his experience. That doesn't mean he as a person can't be replaced," Leonard said evenly. "If it turns out he can't be used by us, killing him would not be an unacceptable loss."
"So do you think he's one of Raven's people?"
"Probably not. Even if Damocles's abnormal behavior really is connected to Raven, he's most likely only just come into contact with them. Otherwise, his past wouldn't have been so impoverished."
"So he's a bloodline wizard?" Midgard asked.
She found it hard to imagine. In Midgard's mind, the bloodline wizards Leonard talked about ought to have something special about them.
But Damocles?
What could possibly qualify him?
"He's not," Leonard said, rubbing his chin. "But what he's researching may be related. Didn't we talk before about whether Werewolves count as bloodline wizards?"
"So what? What's the connection?" Midgard asked. "Werewolves can't even control themselves. They're nowhere near these so-called bloodline wizards. Other people are part-Veela, part-giant, things like that. What are we supposed to be? Half rabid dog?"
Midgard laughed at herself.
"Not a bad joke, but there's no need for it." Leonard looked thoughtful. "I have a bold guess. If the end point of the Wolfsbane Potion is the complete removal of the Werewolf curse, then would a Werewolf at that stage count as a bloodline wizard?"
Completely removing the curse did not mean a Werewolf would no longer be able to infect others. It meant that a Werewolf would no longer lose their mind, and could transform into a Werewolf at will, gaining immense strength and resistance to magic.
Just like Delacour's Veela bloodline. He had inherited the Veela transformation ability and could take the form of a bear, an eagle, a swan, a horse, a snake, or a wolf.
If Werewolves gained that kind of power, there would probably be no shortage of people begging to be infected by them.
Of course, curse-based infection itself was likely just an unstable external trait. A truly perfect Werewolf probably either could not infect others at all, or could choose whether to do so.
After hearing Leonard's speculation, Midgard froze. She hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "I guess so? You mean... Raven's real target is the Werewolves?"
"To be precise, perfect Werewolves," Leonard said.
"Raven's people may have taken an interest in Damocles because of his success in researching the Wolfsbane Potion and decided to bring him in. We don't know when that started, and we don't know what they promised him, but one thing is clear. He's already completely leaning toward them."
"But why? We're paying him well," Midgard said irritably.
Leonard guessed, "Because we can't give him the fame and recognition they can. We already agreed that any patents related to the Wolfsbane Potion would have nothing to do with him. That promise must be extremely tempting to someone like him."
"That bastard... we agreed on that from the start, didn't we? When he was broke and desperate, we were the ones who helped him!" Midgard ground her teeth. "He really deserves to die."
"This is only speculation for now, but even if it's true, it's understandable," Leonard said flatly. "A person's greed always grows along with their improving circumstances. The Werewolf lying by the entrance is exactly that kind of example."
The old saying had it right. When a person is starving, all they want is a full stomach. Once they've eaten enough, they want warm clothes and a proper place to live. Once those desires are satisfied, they start thinking about leaving descendants.
After ten years of frustration, Damocles had reluctantly given up the patent rights to the Wolfsbane Potion. But once he had enough money, he began to regret it.
Once he had enough to eat and enough to wear, he naturally started thinking that maybe back then, he should have held out just a little longer.
That was simply human instinct.
And desire itself was the force that drove progress.
"In any case, after Raven's people got in touch with Damocles, he stopped wanting to help us improve the Wolfsbane Potion. He's probably planning to use the new technique to curry favor with his new masters."
"But what good would the Wolfsbane Potion do Raven?" Midgard asked unhappily. "Are they Werewolves too?"
"No," Leonard said. "But if a perfect Wolfsbane Potion appeared, that would mean every Werewolf could become a bloodline wizard. At that point, they could use that perfect Wolfsbane Potion to make the Werewolves work for them."
Leonard did not know what Raven wanted bloodline wizards for, but if every Werewolf became one, then the entire Werewolf population would become a treasure trove in Raven's eyes.
"But even if a perfect Wolfsbane Potion existed, it would only exist because of your enhanced Aconite Fruit. What gives them the right to..." Midgard was furious. "Forget it. Let's go kill that traitor Belby right now!"
"The reason they're so confident is probably... the seeds from the twice-enhanced Aconite Fruit," Leonard said. "I never dealt with the seeds. And there's no rush to kill Damocles."
...
"Half of our trump card is already in someone else's hands," Midgard said anxiously. "And you're telling me that's not urgent?"
"Damocles isn't stupid. He's worried that Raven's people might throw him out as bait to draw attention," Leonard said with a faint smile. "The fact that he's still here means those seeds are still on him. He'll definitely use the seeds as leverage and demand that Raven take him away."
"Isn't that even better? We kill Belby and settle it once and for all," Midgard said eagerly.
"No. Wouldn't that just be doing Raven a favor?" Leonard sneered. "A few words from them, and one of our potion masters is gone. We can't let them off that easily."
"And I suspect the attack on you was arranged by Raven as well. If Damocles was acting as their inside man, getting hold of your movements wouldn't have been difficult," Leonard said with a smile. "They need to be taught a lesson."
"But we don't know when they'll come to take Belby away," Midgard said.
"Most likely very soon. Maybe even tonight," Leonard said. "Whether they really are Raven or not, I looked through Damocles's notebook today. The contents have already exposed his intentions. He'll probably contact those people tonight and tell them to come take him away."
"But all of this is still just my speculation," Leonard said. "Our enemy may not actually be Raven at all."