Chapter 85: Chapter 85 The Witch with Amnesia_1
Rebecca was a colleague of Aiden’s predecessor at the Heretic Inquisition who had quite a good relationship with others. She joined the unit a year after Aiden and had been part of a squad led by Aiden; she was also a key investigator among the younger generation with considerable abilities.
After inheriting the body’s former owner’s identity and memories, Aiden consequently took over the previous interpersonal relationships. When Aiden left the unit to take up a position at Rose Iron Prison, it was Rebecca who had helped organize his farewell party.
Investigators at the Heretic Inquisition often face high-risk missions involving hunting black wizards and exotic criminals, which frequently carry the risk of injury or even death in the line of duty.
A Judge leaving their post for "recuperation" is usually to heal from injuries.
"Just last week, we found out that S-rank fugitive Presia had relocated to the dense forests south of the city. Rebecca led the team on a raid," Harold said as he struck a match, toasting a cigar and explaining the situation.
"The witch Presia?"
"Ah, that’s her."
The witch Presia was an S-rank fugitive wanted by the Heretic Inquisition, a Great Witch with a red danger indicator. Specializing in psychic magic and a key member of the "Witch’s Gathering," her bounty was not inferior to that of the witch Daili.
"Was she caught?"
"Caught. There was a slight complication during the raid, members of the search team got scattered in the dense forest. But Rebecca alone pursued Presia to her dwelling and arrested her."
"That’s pretty impressive," Aiden sincerely admired.
Even among the ranks of experienced and skilled higher-level Judges, it was still a feat of considerable achievement for someone to single-handedly take down a red-alert level criminal.
When Aiden left, Rebecca had just been promoted to a higher-level Judge. In just a few short years, she had already advanced so far.
If Presia was captured, it wouldn’t be long before she would be transferred to Rose Iron Prison.
"But she’s lost her memory now," Director Harold said gravely.
"Memory loss?"
"There was an incident during the arrest. She suffered a Mental Attack from Presia, causing some memory impairment. The situation is a bit complicated; it seems to be somewhat difficult to recover," Harold lit his cigar, took a puff, and exhaled a plume of smoke solemnly.
"Since Presia was caught, why not have her try to restore Rebecca’s memory, isn’t she proficient in psychic black magic?" The first solution that came to Aiden’s mind was this.
Harold glanced at him with a complex look and scolded, "Only you would come up with such a rotten idea right away. Don’t get too close to those monsters. They’re criminals!"
After Aiden left his job to work at the prison and eventually became the warden of Rose Iron Prison, there was a new "highlight" that quickly emerged, which was his close association with the criminals of Rose Iron Prison—a point of significant annoyance to Harold.
The Heretic Inquisition is a typical law enforcement agency, and it’s one with an extremely strict ethos. Their job is to capture criminals with formidable combat abilities; to them, criminals are plainly the enemy.
Harold was a very typical Heretic Inquisitor, deeply mistrustful and even harboring considerable hostility towards the criminals they were tasked with capturing.
But Aiden, as a prison guard, saw it completely differently. To him, criminals were his work subjects. The criminals he dealt with had been captured and brought to justice, with most stripped of their fangs and claws.
Since he had to live with these convicts for an extended period, it wasn’t possible for him to always consider the prisoners as adversaries. Although he too had no trust in the criminals, he at least tried to communicate with them by standing on the same side.
The nature of his work dictated a different way of thinking; simply put, Aiden would utilize criminals, but in Harold’s eyes, this approach was tantamount to making a deal with a tiger for its skin.
In fact, when Aiden had previously convinced the Heretic Inquisition to allow Daili and Asenna to research forbidden arts in exchange for reduced sentences, he had exerted considerable effort to persuade Harold.
"Criminals are also valuable talents," Aiden replied calmly, "and besides, concerning Rebecca’s recovery, please don’t be so rigid."
Harold stared at Aiden for a while and huffed, "Do you think I’ve really become senile? If it were possible to try, of course I would be willing to give it a shot... but it’s just not possible."
"What do you mean?"
"Because the Great Witch Presia has also lost her memory," Harold replied irritably, "and her condition is even more severe than Rebecca’s; she can’t even remember who she is."
"How could that happen?" Aiden frowned slightly.
"Rebecca still retains some fragments of memory from the incident. According to her report, it happened like this: when Presia was casting a Mental Attack on her, Rebecca fired a shot at Presia before the magic took effect, hitting the witch’s arm with a magic-devouring bullet. Rebecca passed out from the mental blow, but Presia also suffered from backlash of her own magic, which erased her memory."
"Such a thing happened..."
"The results of the mental evaluation also proved that Presia now has absolutely no memory. Hoping for her help is impossible," Harold said somberly.
"This makes things troublesome," Aiden couldn’t help but sigh.
The complete memory loss of the Great Witch Presia didn’t just mean that Rebecca had one less possible way to recover her memory; it also signified that Aiden was about to take in a criminal who required special attention.
Given the identity of the Great Witch Presia, he would mostly have to confine her in the core area. But a woman without her memory in the midst of those monsters in the core area was like a lamb dropped into a wolf pack.
"So, when you have time, go take a look at the girl. She almost has no memory of her work at the Heretic Inquisition. Interacting with someone she used to work with may help in her recovery," Harold spoke softly.
Strictly speaking, Aiden actually didn’t have much experience working with Rebecca, although the memory was still in his mind.
He agreed to it for the time being: "Alright, after I’m done with this matter, I’ll go and visit her."
"There are fewer and fewer capable people in the bureau, I’m afraid the days ahead are going to be tough," Harold drew on his cigar and sighed deeply with his head tilted back, giving Aiden a meaningful glance. He was very close to saying "Why don’t you just come back to work."
From the memories Aiden inherited, it seemed as though Harold had actually wanted to cultivate the former Aiden as his own successor at work.
Aiden thought to himself that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, it was just that his abilities were limited...
"Given the time, I should take my leave now." Staying any longer was not advisable, so Aiden quickly excused himself from his former superior.
"Get lost, you brat," Harold muttered with the cigar clenched in his teeth, forcing out a curse from the corner of his mouth.
