Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Pure Witch_1
"The one who made a name for herself over a hundred years ago?" Aiden asked Meiruki, seeking confirmation, "She is still alive?"
"Alive and well. Challenging death is a subject studied not just by witches, but all practitioners of black magic, and necromancy is one of the byproducts of this specialization," Meiruki murmured. "The difference is that necromancers only seek to manipulate life and death, while witches challenge death to extend their limited lifespans and gain time to explore the boundless realms of knowledge."
"Ha, so you’re saying that all witches are just purely academic overachievers?" Aiden lifted his teacup and took a sip, "It sounds like you all ended up in prison quite innocently."
He was somewhat skeptical of Meiruki’s statement, indeed, witches all pursue forbidden knowledge, but to say that all witches were purely engaged in the pursuit of knowledge seemed a bit off.
Most witches weren’t arrested and sent to prison solely for dabbling in black magic; there were numerous cases where witches used forbidden knowledge to engage in illegal business practices, make and sell contraband drugs, traffic human beings, and commit theft and robbery for profit.
Meiruki herself was a prime example, having utilized the knowledge she acquired as a witch to cultivate assassins, traffick Magic Potion, and thereby secure power and amass wealth in the underworld.
Meiruki detected the irony in Aiden’s voice but just laughed self-deprecatingly, "Indeed, some witches... including myself, are merely using forbidden knowledge to seek greater benefits, which is why we don’t get recognition from those witches who are purely committed to the pursuit of knowledge. My teacher has complained more than once, saying I have great talent but lack purity. Rather than seeking the ultimate ends of knowledge, I prefer the mundane power and wealth. And it is because of this that I will forever remain just one step away from becoming a Great Witch recognized by Abigail."
"So, she kicked you out of the fold for that reason?"
"No, it was because I misused her name to sell Magic Potion, something commonly done among witches but explicitly prohibited by the ’witches’ gathering’." Meiruki shrugged, "She got so angry that she expelled me."
"Alright, so you’re saying this thing is a token only attainable by scholarly witches recognized by Abigail, and one could meet Abigail herself by having it..." Aiden tried to summarize the intelligence Meiruki had provided, "How do you use it, though? Can you find Abigail’s residence just by carrying it into Banquet Forest?"
This so-called "token of the Great Witch" would mostly have to be handed over to the magical authority, but they would surely still demand more information about it from him.
With Presia completely amnesiac and Daili unable to reveal anything, Meiruki was now the only relatively reliable source of information he had, so for Aiden, it clearly made sense to ask everything at once and hand it all over together.
But this time, Meiruki simply spread her hands, "I don’t know that; I’ve never held it. You should ask her."
Meiruki raised her hand to point at Daili.
"But she’s unable to speak." Aiden glanced at Daili, then turned back to Meiruki, "You mentioned she’s bound by an ’unspeakable contract’; can you break it?"
Meiruki was skilled not only in Magic Potion; she had in the past removed the demon contract Aiden had placed on Daili.
"You must be joking. I am indeed very adept at this, but to challenge the ’apex witch’ is far too presumptuous. The contracts she makes might even contain hidden backlashes." Meiruki didn’t even think about it before waving her hand dismissively, "I’d rather not, if you don’t mind."
It seemed no more information could be gleaned, Aiden thought.
Just then, someone knocked on the door from outside the room.
"What is it?" Aiden called out.
From outside came Flandre’s voice, "Warden, a person claiming to be a Judge from the magical authority has arrived, saying they have urgent business with you."
"Coming directly to me?" Aiden furrowed his brow slightly.
He had not yet informed the Inquisition of Presia’s condition when, at this moment, someone from the Inquisition suddenly visited. Could it be that someone had only just realized something was wrong with Presia?
No matter what, bypassing the normal bureaucratic procedures to come directly to him, the visitor must be someone who knew him.
"What kind of person is it?" he asked offhandedly.
"The person didn’t bring any official documents or identification, so the reception asked her to register her name. She claimed to be Rebecca Sien."
"Rebecca?" Aiden paused for a moment.
Rebecca was still recuperating, so why would she suddenly come looking for him using the title of a Judge?
Moreover, he had just visited her that very morning...
After pondering for a short while, Aiden replied, "Tell the reception to take her to the meeting room, I will meet her there."
"Understood."
Aiden stood up from his seat, looked back and forth at Daili and Meiruki Nu, "Alright, you two go back to your cells."
There was no more information worth interrogating them for anyway.
Minutes later, he personally entered the room designated for meeting prisoners and visitors. Rebecca was waiting on the other side of the glass wall, her expression somewhat anxious.
"You’ve come all of a sudden, what’s the matter?" Aiden got straight to the point.
"Aiden..." Rebecca looked at him with a grave expression, "I went to the Inquisition today and heard that Presia was brought here early due to a sudden illness. Is that true?"
"Don’t even mention it, the Inquisition has handed me a big problem, and I haven’t even gone to complain to the old man yet..." Aiden let out a long breath, then frowned at Rebecca, "Aren’t you still recuperating? Did you need to come all the way here just to ask this?"
"After all, I was the one who captured her... and she caused me to lose my memory. The only remaining memory I have of my work is a little of the operation to capture her. Isn’t it quite normal to be concerned about what happens after?" Rebecca replied matter-of-factly, "Presia, what exactly is her condition now?"
"It’s a gastrointestinal foreign body, don’t you have any clue?" Aiden casually asked.
"Uh..." Rebecca hesitated briefly, then shook her head, "Sorry, I really don’t remember that."
That was normal; if Rebecca knew and remembered that Presia had swallowed something she carried when cornered, the Inquisition would not be completely unaware of the situation.
"Since it’s a gastrointestinal foreign body, the prison’s medical facilities are unable to handle it, right?" Rebecca suddenly asked again, "Did you send her to the hospital?"
"No, we..."
Aiden had only partially responded when Rebecca suddenly raised her voice, "Why not? This needs to be dealt with immediately, perforation could be fatal!"
