Chapter 106: Chapter 106 Getting Off the Donkey by Borrowing a Slope_1
Aiden shuddered at the sound.
He had meant to stay quiet and observe, to last as long as he could without drawing attention. He had not expected someone to strike up a conversation with him right from the start.
But it wasn’t surprising. He was dressed in the warden’s uniform, his physical transformation could only alter his build, not magically change his outfit like some magical girl.
Though the others couldn’t see the details of his uniform, transforming into a female figure like Presia’s made it ill-fitting: baggy, with sleeves that were suddenly too long. It all looked so awkward.
Damn it... Shouldn’t the heads of the witch gathering be discussing lofty matters? Was it necessary to nitpick over clothing? The person to my left doesn’t have any clothes on, why don’t you comment on that?
After a moment’s thought, Aiden turned his head away, pretending he didn’t want to talk to her.
He’d try to get by as best as he could.
"Hey, hey, what’s the matter? You’re not upset over this, are you?" The witch beside him was surprised, but she still didn’t suspect anything.
"Enough with the small talk, I’ve got a potion brewing at home! Abigail, if there’s an agenda, let’s get it over with and adjourn the meeting!" The short-statured witch sitting opposite Qiqimora spoke impatiently.
A child? Aiden was puzzled by the juvenile tone of her voice.
But then he thought, he could also use his ability for physical transformation to make himself look like a child. Perhaps this witch had achieved a similar effect by some method.
Among the Great Witches present, barring completely non-human forms like Lamia, the others sounded quite young from their voices and figures. The heads of the witch gathering should normally include some older witches—perhaps they also maintain their youth with dark magic, demonic pacts, or Magic Potion.
Abigail, sitting at the head of the table, opened her mouth slowly in response to the direct question, "Nothing much. Just taking our regular headcount during the full moon. The situation out there is getting more serious; wanted to make sure you all are still with us."
"What? Just for that?" The small witch seemed dissatisfied, "So boring. If there’s no progress on divine words to share next time, don’t bother calling me!"
"If you’re not interested then get lost, Habanis. No one’s keeping you here," the witch sitting to Aiden’s right countered directly across the table, "What exchange? Don’t act like you’re sharing any collected divine words or relics. You’re just mooching off the divine words taught by Abigail, aren’t you?"
"What’s it to you, Vila? So what if I am? Are you any different?" The opponent responded with a triple retort.
Clearly, the relations among these Great Witches were not very harmonious—they’d start sniping at the slightest provocation.
Aiden listened to these women argue, attempting to extract any useful information from their dialogue.
Divine words... relics?
What are those?
It seemed these Great Witches were not conducting ordinary academic exchanges at their clandestine little gatherings.
"You two are quite lively; want to be expelled, do you?" Lamia spoke up, trying to stop their bickering.
"I should hardly be the first to go," Habanis scoffed, "Daili hasn’t been around for years, has she? Speaking seriously, Abigail, why not take this opportunity to discuss it and expel that useless trash that’s been locked up?"
"Hold on, she’s not dead, nor has she done anything to violate the covenant of the gathering. What grounds do you have for expelling her?" Vila, sitting beside Aiden, started defending Daili, "Our situation is becoming increasingly dire. Shouldn’t you be thinking of uniting rather than starting infighting?"
After finishing, she turned towards Presia, "Presia, say something, will you?"
Aiden, who had been listening intently on the side, was caught off guard as she turned the conversation his way.
And this time, it seemed much harder to keep silent and muddle through than before.
This serene and quiet beauty was really hard to impersonate.
"Presia?" Vila looked puzzled by his silence.
Damn, she’s starting to suspect...
Unable to come up with a suitable approach, he had no choice but to speak up with a grave voice, "I think..."
Sure enough, the moment he spoke up, the atmosphere in the room froze.
"Hmm? What’s the matter?" Habanis turned her face toward him, sitting opposite.
It wasn’t just Habanis; the other witches also focused their gaze on him,
"Your, your voice..." Vila said in surprise.
After undergoing a bodily transformation, Aiden’s speaking voice had changed to a feminine one, but it was still quite different from Presia’s timbre. Anyone familiar with Presia would notice something amiss the moment they heard this unfamiliar voice.
Aiden began to rapidly search his mind for an excuse but couldn’t think of a suitable one.
Recently caught a cold? Some problem with the throat?
No, such child’s play excuses were hardly enough to deceive these Great Witches.
The disguise seemed to be reaching its limit...
Just as Aiden was beginning to entertain thoughts of giving up, Vila suddenly exclaimed with a realization, "Could it be... the spell you’ve been developing has succeeded!?"
Aiden was momentarily stunned—what was this woman talking about?
A spell being developed? Was Presia researching some new magic?
A spell that could change a voice? Or maybe some magic with a voice-altering side effect or cost?
Although he couldn’t immediately guess what Vila was getting at, he quickly realized he could play along with her assumption, "Yes, it has succeeded, as you can see, I have tried it out."
"Oh?" Lamia also sounded intrigued, "Such a difficult spell and you’ve managed to develop it; does this mean you’ve reached the zenith of the ’Book of Spirits’?"
"That’s fantastic! With this technique, we no longer need to live a life of hiding and being hunted!" Vila seemed extremely excited, "Right, let’s use this to rescue Daili!"
Upon hearing this, Aiden became alert.
Rescue Daili?
Does it mean, the spell developed by Presia could also be used for a prison break?
But Habanis remained scornful of the idea, "Boring, so boring. Are you guys really into playing this savior game?"
"Is there a problem with that?" Vila clashed with her again.
"Of course, there is! Please, aren’t we all here to use each other for the purpose of quickly finding a way to grasp the essence of the world?" Habanis said disdainfully, "Since when did the witches’ coven turn into such a naive social club?"
