Chapter 73: Chapter 73: The Deadline for Revenge_1
"...this is a very normal phenomenon, her time is nearly up," Asenna said indifferently, standing in the corridor outside the solitary confinement cell.
"What time limit?" Aiden asked following up.
"The time limit for a resurrected corpse. In the end, a corpse ghoul is created by using necromancy to forcibly attach a resentful spirit that has left the body back to the corpse, allowing it to linger in the world driven by the grudge of revenge. This spell actually has a duration, usually only about one year," Asenna explained, raising a finger.
"So you’re saying from the start she only had one year to take revenge?"
"Right, the effect of resurrection won’t disappear before she successfully kills her nemesis. But if the time limit is reached, whether her revenge is successful or not, the spell will be forcefully undone," Asenna said, adjusting her glasses.
"Then what does this have to do with her suddenly becoming like this?" Aiden continued to probe.
"This is a characteristic of a resurrected corpse. If the revenge has not been successful, the closer to the time limit, the deeper her grudge for revenge will be, and the strength of a resentful spirit is determined by the intensity of the grudge. It’s similar to the ’last rally’ of someone who is dying. Living people might temporarily regain vitality when close to death, and in the same way, a resentful spirit’s grudge will greatly augment as it is about to be forced to pass on," Asenna explained with professional certainty.
Aiden listened and fell into deep thought.
So, Slyne’s sudden increase in magic power was simply due to her nature as a corpse ghoul.
Slyne seemed to sense that her time was almost up, hence her growing obsession to carry out her revenge on Camilla.
For prison management, this was no small threat.
Regardless of whether her increased resentment gave her a chance to kill Camilla, just the intensely bitter aura emanating from her was enough to pose a threat to the other prisoners and the prison guards.
Theoretically, by strengthening the operation of the prison’s barrier, it should be possible to suppress Slyne’s power, but doing so would significantly increase the cost of maintaining the barrier’s operation—clearly not a worthwhile expense for just one prisoner. As the head of the prison, he had to consider the rational allocation of the prison’s resources.
Managing a prison, one always encounters such troublesome prisoners.
"Is there a simpler way to deal with this issue?" Aiden sought advice from Asenna, an expert in necromancy.
"The simplest way..." Asenna raised her hand to point to the solitary confinement where Slyne was held, then to the distant room where Camilla was, "is to eliminate one of them, either shatter the corpse ghoul with necromancy or help her kill her enemy."
For necromancers who are used to death, the solutions they think of are always so refreshingly unconventional—if they can solve problems by killing, they usually choose to kill.
Indeed, the most straightforward way to solve a problem is to directly eliminate the person causing the problem.
But obviously, Aiden couldn’t use this method.
"If I could simply execute the prisoners and be done with it, there wouldn’t be many left in the core area," Aiden said rolling his eyes and sighing, "Please suggest another feasible method."
"I can add an additional sealing spell to the corpse ghoul to temporarily suppress her augmented strength," Asenna thought for a moment and replied, "Just drag it out until her time limit, and she will naturally disappear."
"How long will that take?"
"It’s hard to say for certain, but judging from the current situation, it shouldn’t exceed two months at most."
"There’s no other choice then," Aiden said nodding in agreement after a moment of silence.
His duty was to maintain the order of the prison. Slyne’s personal history was certainly pitiable, but he couldn’t abandon his position because of it, allowing her to commit acts in his prison.
Suppressing Slyne’s power and reinforcing the supervision over her until she died resentful was currently the most correct action from his standpoint.
After properly explaining the situation to his subordinates, Aiden returned to his office to rest for a bit.
But just as he had barely warmed his chair, someone knocked on the door of his office.
Aiden sighed helplessly and called out, "Come in."
The young prison guard responsible for the core area, Isabella, entered the office and saluted Aiden, "Commander!"
"Isabella? I remember you are supposed to be on duty at... the visitation reception today, right?" Aiden suddenly recalled, "What’s the matter?"
Every day, there are people who apply to visit inmates, most of them being the inmates’ friends, family, or lawyers. Isabella’s post for the day was to receive these people.
"Yes, a young man who wants to visit an inmate in the core area just arrived, but the situation is a bit special, so I came to ask for your instructions," Isabella reported respectfully.
Under normal circumstances, as long as the inmates still have the opportunity for visitation, direct approval can be given for their friends, family, or lawyers who wish to visit them.
However, if there is a situation with the inmate inside the prison, it requires approval from the prison administration department and prison leadership.
"Who does he want to see?"
"He wants to see inmate 3271," Isabella said cautiously.
"Slyne?" Aiden frowned slightly, "What is he to Slyne?"
"He claims to be inmate 3271’s nephew."
"What nephew would that ghoul have?" Aiden was a bit surprised.
He was aware of Slyne’s situation, Slyne was a widow without any brothers or sisters, and her only relative was a son who had been killed in a gang shootout a year ago.
"But looking at the visitation records, he has come three times over the year, inmate 3271 also agreed to see him, and he has brought money and items for inmate 3271," explained Isabella.
If the inmate does not acknowledge the relationship with the visitor and does not agree to the visit, naturally, the visit cannot take place.
That said, at least this so-called "nephew" has some kind of relationship with Slyne.
"But now inmate 3271 is in solitary confinement for a week, and according to the rules, she cannot have visitors," Aiden shook his head.
"I’ve already told him that," Isabella’s expression seemed somewhat helpless, "but he insists on seeing the prison leadership and refuses to leave. Um, Commander..." Isabella looked at Aiden’s expression for guidance tentatively, "Should I get the riot squad to drive him out?"
Aiden thought for a moment before finally waving his hand, "No need, arrange a visitation room for him, I’ll go see him now."
He suddenly remembered what Asenna had just informed him — Slyne’s remaining time was running out.
If this person coming to visit Slyne really had some kind of kinship with her, then as prison guards, it was their duty to inform him of this.
