Chapter 610: Chapter 609: The Witch Chess Club_1
At night, within Abigail’s summoning space.
Abigail, Qiqimora, and Lamia, the three Great Witches, were gathered around a table, waiting.
"Why hasn’t the Warden arrived yet?" Qiqimora asked, a lit cigarette in her hand, "I’m almost out of smokes."
"He has not responded to the summoning," Abigail said. "Either the token has left his possession, or he has suppressed the token with his power."
"Is there an issue... or has he already been taken care of?" Lamia hissed, "If he was dealt with this early, we’d miss out on a lot of fun."
"After all, he is a saint; he shouldn’t die that easily," Abigail said.
"Did any of you seriously consider what we’d do if he really was done for?" Lamia suddenly said.
"Since we have already chosen to bet on him, we might as well stick with the wager until the end," Qiqimora said calmly.
"Heh, it’s rare for us to be in agreement," Lamia laughed.
"Here he comes!" suddenly said Abigail.
Fog billowed around the vacant seat, and Aiden’s figure gradually emerged within the mist.
"Warden, what happened? Why did you not respond to the summoning?" Abigail asked.
"Unlike you idlers, I have a job to work," Aiden’s voice carried a hint of helplessness. "You summoned me while I was on my way home from work; I couldn’t very well hold a meeting with you in a hired carriage, could I? The coachman would have taken me straight to the hospital."
"Sorry, I’ll consider the timing next time," Abigail said.
"You’re unusually polite to this youngster; with us, you’d summon us whenever," Lamia teased.
"So, you called me here for something important to discuss?" Aiden asked. "Have you received any new intel?"
"Yes, something quite important," Qiqimora said. "Warden, please take a look at the table."
Aiden’s gaze shifted to the table, and he saw a military strategy game laid out.
He instinctively tried to match the game with the map of the autonomous region, searching for information, but quickly failed—the game bore no resemblance to the map, or, in fact, to any map in reality.
On closer inspection, he noticed neatly arranged squares on the game board—it was a chessboard.
And in each of the four corners, there were four pieces, the design of the pieces... Aiden found them very familiar.
"Isn’t this..." Aiden realized.
"The Knight’s Game you demonstrated for us last time," Qiqimora said excitedly. "We have recreated it."
"I have already learned the rules," Lamia smiled.
"This is quite... exquisite," Aiden remarked.
"Don’t underestimate my ability to craft props." Abigail said, "I’ve imbued these chess pieces with life and tamed them. Each piece has a number; they can move directly upon a verbal command. However, the dice still need to be rolled by the players themselves. You do have dice, don’t you?"
"Hold on, the important matter you mentioned, it wouldn’t be..." Aiden suddenly realized something.
"As you can see, we’re one short," Lamia said with a wide grin.
"I’m going to take a bath," Aiden stated in a flat, uninflected tone.
"Come on, we have been waiting for a while," Qiqimora said.
"The last time I taught you this game, it was to lighten the mood of our strategy meetings, not to replace them with the game itself," Aiden realized the Great Witches seemed to have lost sight of their purpose in their amusement.
They had always been buried in their research and rarely encountered proper entertainment; teaching them more games might turn witch gatherings into a witch’s chess club.
"Just like last time, we’re planning to play the game while we discuss our future strategy," Abigail said indifferently, taking out a die, "This game is mainly about chance and doesn’t require much thinking, which I think is perfect for a break during our discussions."
"Alright then, I’ll go fetch the dice," Aiden realized he probably couldn’t persuade these three playful souls.
"Warden, make sure not to cheat, like using divine words on your dice or anything," Qiqimora suddenly joked.
"How could I do something like that? It’d be quite pathetic to cheat in this kind of game, wouldn’t it?" Aiden blurted out without thinking.
The atmosphere suddenly tensed, and all three Great Witches froze with their dice in hand.
Obscured by the fog, Aiden couldn’t see their expressions and didn’t immediately realize their awkwardness, continuing, "I hate cheaters the most; trampling on the rules of the game takes away its meaning. I can understand cheating to profit from a game, but to cheat just for the thrill of domination, that’s nothing short of a psychological disorder."
"Alright, alright, Warden, no more scolding," Qiqimora said with a forced chuckle, "It was just a joke, no one really suspects you of cheating."
"Precisely," Abigail also nodded her head, her voice still flat, just a bit softer than usual.
"Go find your dice," Lamia said with a raspy chuckle as well.
"Alright," Aiden temporarily released the token of the Great Witches and detached himself from the projection, found the dice that went with the game, and re-entered the summoning space.
"Let’s begin. Roll the dice once to decide who goes first," Aiden said.
"Don’t throw your dice too far from you; they might disappear from the projection," Abigail reminded.
"Don’t forget about the strategy meeting," Aiden reminded.
"Let’s start the discussion directly, I think we need to set a broad direction on some matters," Abigail said, "Even though we are allies, we have different goals. We’ve agreed to work together but haven’t fully determined the order, which is related to who will ascend first."
"Objectively speaking, it’s more realistic for the Warden to ascend first, considering he only needs to defeat a saint to advance, which is much more realistic than targeting a sovereign," Qiqimora said. "Besides, Abigail, you don’t even know your own conditions for ascension; becoming a sovereign is a tricky requirement."
Qiqimora still didn’t mention her own ascendancy, and Aiden could tell that Qiqimora’s ceremony probably included something she currently found impossible to achieve.
"Then I could concede this point, take care of Mr. Bloody first, but after that? Do we also prioritize dealing with the ’Desire’ sovereign?"
"From what I understand, after Mr. Bloody is dealt with, that guy will probably come knocking on our door. I don’t insist on this matter; do your best," Aiden said. "After all, if you get assimilated, it would become very troublesome."
