Chapter 674: Chapter 673 The Guardian of the "Saintess"_1
Several days later, at the Inquisition Bureau.
"Senior Aiden, you’ve arrived," greeted Senior Judge Rebecca as she approached Aiden who had come for a visit. "The Director has been waiting for you in his office."
"Okay," Aiden nodded with a smile.
"Senior, were you, by any chance, out shopping with someone the day before yesterday?" Rebecca asked.
"Did you see me?" Aiden chuckled. That evening, he had been on a date with Veronica.
"Um..." Rebecca watched Aiden for a moment, then let out a laugh through her nose, "We’ll be waiting for your invitation card."
Aiden silently chuckled and continued on his way to the office.
As Rebecca walked forward, she saw the elder Senior Judge Victor with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, observing her.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, look at that, just as I said back in the day," Victor teased. "When he was at this unit, you missed your chance for not taking initiative, now someone else gets to enjoy the opportunity right under your nose."
"Leave me alone, I only ever saw him as a competitor!" Rebecca frowned, glanced at him, and then added under her breath, "I might have had a slight crush on him, but it’s not like he was the only one for me. Stop making fun of me."
"Oh, indeed. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have shown no sign for years after he transferred away," Victor nodded thoughtfully. "By the time they saved your life, someone else had already..."
"Could your mouth possibly be any more problematic?" Rebecca clenched her fist.
Victor quickly raised his hands: "Emma and the others said they’re going to the usual place for a drink tonight and asked me to invite you. It’s just us Senior Judges. Are you coming?"
"If Senior Victor isn’t going, then I’ll join them," Rebecca shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave, "I’ll go let them know now."
"Hey, hey, I was wrong, don’t just target me... They will tease you too," Victor hurried after her. "How about this - I’ll pay for the drinks, okay?"
In the Director’s office, with a coffee table between them, Aiden sat down opposite the Chief Judge of the Inquisition Bureau, Harold.
"You’ve become a celebrity," Harold remarked between puffs of his cigar. "To think I can see your name on both the political and the entertainment news sections. What, are you planning on debuting as an actor?"
"Stop being sarcastic," Aiden sighed, "I have no idea when the reporters will stop hounding me this time. You called me here today..."
"Can’t we just catch up? Occasionally you should visit your old unit," Harold interrupted before he finished, "consider it mingling with this old bag of bones."
"Alright, alright," Aiden laughed and picked up a teacup, pouring himself some tea.
"The Blood Moon Cult should be done for good this time. This year, really, a lot has happened, starting from when you helped us deal with the ’Black Goat’ cult," Harold mused, and then his gaze sharpened, "Speaking of which, you’re still in contact with the Witches’ Gathering, aren’t you?"
"You’ve always known," Aiden casually lifted his teacup.
"The Inquisition Bureau isn’t limited to just one excellent investigator like you. Besides, with how conspicuous you’ve been lately, it would be hard not to notice," Harold said stone-facedly, continuing to smoke his cigar.
"I’m merely making use of criminals too, it’s the usual style I have in prison. You didn’t call me here today just to invite me into a trap, did you? Or is it just for a chat?" Aiden asked bluntly.
He knew Harold didn’t approve of how he used the criminals’ powers to deal with incidents; the conventions of the Inquisition Bureau were rather traditional.
"I don’t like the way you operate, but I can’t deny that what you’ve done has some positive implications. Since you’ve become active, the crime rate related to witches in the autonomous prefectures has halved, dropping to single digits in the past couple of months," Harold spoke calmly. "So, for the time being, I’ll turn a blind eye. However, you have to remember..."
"That you’re always monitoring me from behind the scenes?" Aiden said with a smile, completing Harold’s sentence.
He had known that Harold’s summoning him was not going to be just a matter of reminiscing.
"Glad you understand," Harold nodded.
But then Aiden abruptly changed the subject: "Have you been doing this since six years ago, when I transferred to the prison?"
Harold was taken aback but quickly regained composure, "You knew all along?"
"I only realized recently... I remembered some things," Aiden said quietly, "After the Blood Moon Cult case six years ago, did ’I’ specifically ask something of you?"
Harold fell silent; his thoughts drifted back several years.
"...Director, about the detailed intelligence, my lips are sealed by that deity, and I can’t speak even if I wanted to. There’s only one thing I can say: In the future, I might become someone else... I mean a change in personality, I might even resign to do other work. This sounds strange, but I hope you’ll believe me. In the future, I want you to keep an eye on ’me,’ to use your judgment and see what kind of person ’I’ become. If you find ’me’ committing crimes, don’t hesitate and just deal with me. But if you find ’me’ still as upright as ever, please... treat ’me’ like you always have."
After a long silence, Harold nodded wordlessly at the Aiden of the present.
"Knowing this is enough; I won’t ask anything more," Aiden ended the conversation decisively, "Thank you for everything till now."
"Can you tell me, have you acquired ’that power’?" Harold asked in a hushed voice.
"Yes," Aiden admitted frankly, "But rest assured, at least for now, I stand on the side of ’order.’ I continue to act with the will I’ve inherited; there won’t be much difference between me and my former self. This is the assurance I can give right now; you can verify it with your own eyes."
"Alright then," Harold said slowly, continuing to smoke his cigar, "If we ever find ourselves on opposite sides one day, we will act as we did six years ago, even if it seems out of our depth."
"I understand," Aiden smiled.
"Say, since you claim ’you’ are still ’your former self,’ have you considered coming back..." Harold brought up the idea once again.
"That won’t work, I’m now the warden of the Rose Iron Prison," Aiden laughed, fiddling with the uniform cap he had taken off, "Speaking of which, there’s something I need to report to you."
"What is it?"
"Prisoner 4001, codenamed ’Saintess,’" Aiden read out Melifilia’s number, "During the recent events, her cell location was compromised. Due to urgency, I’ve relocated her somewhere else."
"Such an important matter and you’re telling me only now?" Harold frowned discontentedly. "Where did you move her to?"
"A space created with my power, more secure than that underground cell," Aiden smiled, "Rest assured, I will continue to be her vigilant custodian. After all... that’s my true role now, isn’t it?"
