The Warden of The Witches

No Time to Relax

The next day, Aiden stood in the interview room. On the other side of the glass, Qimora, adorned in her usual extravagant attire, sat gracefully in the visitor's seat, smiling elegantly at him.

"So, what do you intend to do by bringing me this information?" Aiden asked her suspiciously.

In the past few days, Qimora had requested to meet him twice through the prison visitation procedures to inquire about his response on joining forces with the Witch gathering to oppose the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult. Aiden had mostly put off giving a definitive answer.

This time when Qimora visited, Aiden initially thought it would be the same old discussion. However, as soon as they met, she mentioned having intelligence to share with him—the location of the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult's outpost on the outskirts of Silver City.

"Of course, I hope you can pass this on to the Inquisition, to take out their outpost. As a witch, even if I'm not on their watchlist, it wouldn't be quite appropriate for me to directly deal with the Inquisition," Qimora said calmly, "The Inquisition here shouldn't be so clueless as to not know what the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult is up to, right?"

Aiden caught her drift.

After reviewing the file Rebecca had brought him, he finally understood why Rebecca had struggled to disclose the Cult's information.

According to the records, the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult worshipped the Earth Mother who symbolized fertility and the propagation of all life. They glorified biological reproduction to the extreme and often, under the guise of this ideology, they conducted large-scale "fertility rituals" with their nuns and followers after routine religious ceremonies—of course, not without costs to the followers.

In other words, on the surface, this cult was an illicit organization that wildly amassed funds through such means and expanded its operations.

(TN: so basicaly it's segs party (⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠) )

Even in a world teeming with cults, a religious group as audacious as this is quite rare. The most common are the so-called cult leaders who exploit concocted doctrines to deceive innocent women.

However, such "above-board" actions are already in violation of public order. Even if the Inquisition has not gathered deeper evidence of criminal activity, this reason alone is sufficient to shut down their outpost.

"If you're planning to use the Inquisition to eliminate the cult, you might want to reconsider," Aiden warned Qimora, "The Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult is only prohibited from conducting religious activities in the autonomous region, and not on the purge list."

"Actually, with just a bit of digging, they could easily be added to that list. The atrocities this cult has committed are far more numerous than you can imagine. Moreover, their activities in Silver City are targeted at you. Don't you feel any sense of danger?" Qimora pointed at Aiden.

Even if Aiden Galord himself is not prepared to directly confront the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult, relying on his network within the Silver City Inquisition to mobilize the autonomous region's Inquisition to eradicate the cult would be a significant boost for the Witch gathering. This is one of the primary reasons why Abigail sees Aiden as having value for cooperation.

"You seem so sure they're coming for me. There must be some concrete information you've obtained to say that, right? Or perhaps..." Aiden stared back into Qimora eyes, "Are you subtly tipping them off about something?"

The Witch gathering is currently intent on persuading him to join their unified front. They wouldn't hesitate to discreetly inform the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult, for example, that the warden of Rose Prison belongs to the Flying Spaghetti Monster sect.

"Well, let your imagination run wild," Qimora replied, without much attempt to conceal her intentions, "But the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult showed signs of activity in the autonomous region long ago. You must have noticed, right?"

Aiden was well aware of this. Rebecca had also mentioned that the appearance of Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult files in the Inquisition was due to their infiltration of the autonomous region.

This made Aiden somewhat suspicious that the other party might be targeting not just the Blood Moon Cult but possibly also Mephilia.

If that were the case, as the guardian of mephilia, conflicts with the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult would likely be inevitable.

"So, make up your mind and cooperate with us, former inquisitor," Qimora once again tried to persuade him, as she had done the previous times.

"Don't rush me; I haven't finished considering it," Aiden replied without hesitation.

Currently, for him, the Witch gathering, with whom he had been in frequent contact, required more caution than the Bountifull Mother Goddess Cult, whom he had not yet encountered.

Just the fact That Qimora held the "Void" Divine Language and could easily infiltrate Rose Prison was enough to make Aiden extremely vigilant.

Although Qimora had been meeting Aiden through regular visitation methods these days, Aiden didn't believe she had refrained from using Divine Language to infiltrate the prison for reconnaissance.

However, Aiden believed that she probably hadn't detected mephilia's presence. If she did, they would likely leverage this information as bargaining chip, demanding his assistance in eradicating the cult.

Furthermore, there was no guarantee that the Witch gathering, upon learning of this, wouldn't turn against him directly. After all, when it came to ascending to godhood, Mephilia was a valuable source of information. Individuals like Priscilla were investigating the Blood Moon Cult for this reason.

Therefore, cooperating with the Witch gathering required utmost caution.

"It's quite impolite for a gentleman to always be so indecisive with a lady," Qimora teased.

"Dealing with dangerous women requires caution. Being careful isn't solely a female trait," Aiden calmly replied.

"It seems I'll have to return empty-handed today for my response," Qimora sighed and stood up from her seat. "Take care, Mr. Galord. Hopefully, next time you'll have made up your mind."

At that moment, Aiden suddenly stopped her. "Don't leave in a hurry, why not have a chat with your two companions? I can use my authority to have them meet you here."

"How thoughtful of you?" Qimora looked surprised. "Aren't you afraid I might take advantage and abduct them?"

"Prisoners have the right to receive visitors, as long as it's within regulations, I won't arbitrarily deny that. Besides, having you meet them under our watchful eyes is much better than you sneaking into the prison to see them. Please wait here for a moment."

Aiden walked out of the interview room, then, lowering his voice,and instructed Veronica, who was waiting nearby, "Bring Dailey and Priscilla here to meet with her. Try to extend their time as much as possible. But remember, keep a close eye on them, especially the witch who is visiting. No room for laxity, not even for a moment."