The Warden of The Witches

A Bit Beyond the Scope

In the evening, the warden's office.

Four seats were arranged near the coffee table. Priscilla and Dailey, two witches, sat side by side on one end, while Veronica and Rebecca sat opposite them. Aiden sat in the large chair behind the desk, his eyes fixed on Priscilla.

After having the remnants of the puppet taken away for investigation by the Inquisition, Aiden began gathering intelligence in his own way.

First, he needed to confirm if the recent events were indeed the work of the witch, Vera.

Vera, a powerful witch who rose to fame after Aiden left the Inquisition, was someone he knew little about.

He summoned two witches who were familiar with Vera - in fact, when he learned from Priscilla that he might be a target of Vera, Aiden had attempted to question them.

At that time, Priscilla remained tight-lipped about Vera, while Dailey only mentioned that Vera excelled in alchemy - not the study of potions but rather the traditional art of transmutation with the goal of turning lead into gold. However, she did not provide any information about golems.

"Well, that was indeed Vera's handiwork," Priscilla nodded in confirmation to Aiden's question from her seat. "She knows the craft of creating golems."

"When I asked you for information about her today, you didn't say a word," Aiden sneered. "Now you're cooperating quite well in divulging it."

"I have no obligation to tell you. Just reminding you that your being targeted is already more than enough goodwill..." Priscilla stopped mid-sentence, sensing the unfriendly expressions on the faces of the two opposite her, She wisely choosing to remain silent.

Veronica and Rebecca had been wearing grim expressions since Aiden's was attacked.

Rebecca, in particular, occasionally displayed a fierce glare, looking almost as if she could devour someone - since their dinner with Aiden had been disrupted, her mood had been extremely volatile.

"What about you, Dailey? You only told me she excelled in alchemy..." Aiden shifted his gaze to Dailey. "Are you deliberately hiding something from me?"

"How could that be?" Dailey hurriedly smiled. "When I entered the prison, I had no idea she possessed such skills..."

"Vera indeed specializes in alchemy. And Crafting golems is a technique originally developed by ancient alchemists. Vera recovered this knowledge from ancient scrolls two years ago and improved upon it. Dailey truly didn't know," Priscilla defended Dailey.

Aiden finally understood why Priscilla had suggested he might not be able to catch Vera - if she sent only autonomous golems to kill him, he might not even catch a glimpse of Vera's presence.

"When the department brought in that puppet, I took the liberty of asking the forensics team," Rebecca spoke up. "The puppet's construction was quite crude; only the wax figure on its face showed some effort, likely a rushed job."

Aiden nodded. Indeed, compared to the golems made of steel or stone as described in ancient texts, Vera's use of a puppet was a much simpler version, with only a wax face on its head.

A golems made of steel would indeed possess greater combat prowess, but crafting such intricate golems from steel is no easy task. It requires a certain scale of equipment to achieve.

In comparison, puppets can be handcrafted, and if one could control golems made from puppets to produce more puppets, it might even lead to mass production...

At this realization, a chill ran down Aiden's spine.

"Chief, what's wrong?" Veronica noticed the subtle change in Aiden's expression.

"I was just thinking, could that person sending golems to kill me have more than one?" Aiden furrowed his brow. "Will I have to constantly guard against these puppet assassins in the future?"

"Ah, indeed." Rebecca also nodded in agreement.

As described in ancient texts, golems, once given certain commands, would act autonomously.

The Grand Witch Vera might currently be hiding in some corner of this city, continuously creating golems, and disguising them as pedestrians near Aiden's workplace and residence, ready to strike upon identifying him as the target.

Given Aiden's skills, dealing with these simplistic puppet golems shouldn't be challenging, but the concern lies in the variety of unpredictable threats.

"I wonder, can you establish contact with Vera?" Aiden looked at Priscilla.

"Do you want me to persuade her to stop?" Priscilla inquired.

"Continuing like this benefits no one," Aiden locked eyes with Priscilla. "Even if you don't like me, once I'm gone, there won't be anyone left to help reduce your sentence, will there?"

Priscilla was already in prison, serving a considerable sentence. To seek a reduction in her term, she, like Dailey, had to rely on Aiden to act as an intermediary, exchanging research results in dark magic for a reduced sentence.

So if Vera killed Aiden while Priscilla and Dalia were still incarcerated, they would not reap any rewards, unless Vera could directly free them from prison

"I don't mind putting in a good word for you, but now that Vera knows I'm trapped, it's unlikely she'll reach out for more information. Even if I manage to contact her, she may not believe I'm voluntarily trying to persuade her," Priscilla shrugged indifferently. "Moreover, she currently holds a grudge against you, and your main offense was offending the entire witches' gathering."

Aiden couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. The overall technological development in this world could roughly be compared to the modern society of his previous life. Yet, suddenly facing an opponent capable of mass-producing "intelligent robots" that even his past modern society couldn't create, he felt a bit out of his depth.

Furthermore, using such advanced technology not to change the era but to target him seemed like a waste...

"Senior, don't worry. I will go to the department tonight and request a team to patrol near your residence, to see if there are any of those things still around," Rebecca suggested.

"I will also contact the mounted police unit to strengthen patrols in the area where you operate, Chief. If those puppets are wandering around the city, it could pose a security risk," Veronica added, raising her hand.

"I feel bad about this. You should all be off work by now," Aiden expressed apologetically.

"What are you talking about..." Rebecca chuckled.

"It's the least I can do. After all, Chief, you saved my life," Veronica chimed in.

"I think I'll stay at the office for the time being to assess the situation," Aiden made a spur-of-the-moment decision, rising from his seat. "Although it's a bit of a shame... Rebecca, why don't you join me for dinner at my workplace today?"

Rebecca stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then her face lit up. "Sure!"

Aiden then turned to Veronica and asked, "Veronica, since I unintentionally kept you here so late, would you like to join us for dinner before leaving or..."

"I'd be honored to accept," Veronica responded promptly, without a moment's hesitation.

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