The Warden of The Witches

Makeup Lesson

"You're so stubborn... Are you doing this to avenge Priscilla, or are you trying to provoke the Inquisition Bureau of the Autonomous Prefecture to force Abigail to consolidate the Witch Gathering?" Qimora looked into Vera's eyes and asked.

"Think what you want. Abigail could have made our situation better, but she didn't. Since she won't, I'll do it myself!" Vera insisted. "How about you help me too?"

"I don't like doing things without benefit. Killing Aiden galord doesn't do anything for me," Qimora straightforwardly refused.

"I don't need you to act, just help me investigate that prison. It should be easy for you, right?" Vera tried to persuade her. "He's holed up in that prison and won't come out. The barrier there is tricky, and I want the map."

"Holed up in the prison and won't come out? No wonder you're so frustrated..." Qimora chuckled. "Alright, I'll take a look. If all goes well, maybe I can scout out the prison for you."

"Don't tip the enemy," Vera reminded.

"Don't worry about that, but...," Qimora pointed to the iron bucket in the corner, "are you sure you want to use that thing?"

"I should have used it long ago. If I had used it from the beginning, Aiden Galord would have been dead by now," Vera gritted her teeth.

"I made that thing..." Vera tried to argue.

"But it was Abigail who gave it life," Qimora interjected, "If something goes wrong, how will you explain that?"

"I'll take care of it myself," Vera waved her hand impatiently.

"You're really desperate," Qimora shook her head, "Not only is the Inquisition Bureau, but the city's mounted police are also patrolling everywhere looking for you... In my opinion, you should leave this city as soon as possible."

"Shut up!" Vera retorted coldly.

"Frankly speaking, starting a war with both the 'Black Goat' and the Autonomous Prefecture at the same time is not wise. According to my investigation, the 'Black Goat' is also becoming active in the Prefecture. If we can pit the Inquisition Bureau against them, it would be the best scenario for us, but the way you are now..."

Qimora was about to continue when Vera cut her off, "Enough. Dealing with the 'Black Goat' is Abigail's problem. I don't need to consider her in everything!"

"It seems I can't persuade you," Qimora sighed, choosing to give up.

"Don't forget what you promised me!"

"Should I take care of that now?" Qimora, feeling helpless, turned towards the entrance to the basement. "Just make sure you're not caught by the Inquisition Bureau before I get back."

"I won't use those useless dolls anymore. They won't find me here. But you, make sure no one sees you when you go out."

"Don't worry, no one can see me in this city," Qimora smiled, ascending the steps.

The entrance to the basement was covered with tightly locked panels. Nevertheless, Qimora went straight through the panels as if she were a ghost without substance.

At that moment, a strange sound emanated from the iron bucket, like a low growl with a metallic clang.

Vera stooped to pick up the cast-iron crucible from the ground and casually tossed it toward the bucket.

A dark shadow flashed by, snatching the crucible mid-air like a frog's tongue catching a fly, then pulling it into the bucket, where the sound of chewing abruptly echoed.

..........

Another late night at the Rose Prison, in the underground dungeon, Aiden was playing Ludo with Mephilia.

"You've been visiting me more frequently lately, I'm pleased," Mephilia controlled the dice with her mind and rolled a six.

"You're not even trying to hide your dice rolls now..." Aiden watched as she moved all her pieces out of the waiting area.

"I used to try to manipulate the rolls before, just not as seriously as I do now. If you can do something during leisure time and deliberately choose not to, it won't be as fulfilling," Mephilia pondered. "If you insist on both sides being random, you can roll the dice for me."

After a brief pause, Aiden shook his head, "Forget it. It would be like playing ludo against myself."

Mephilia ability to control the dice rolls was fair game and didn't violate any rules. He lost to Mephilia not because she cheated but because he let her go easy on him, rendering the game itself meaningless.

"So, what do you want to ask today?" Mephilia cut to the chase.

"I want to know if there's a way to prevent mental contamination when the Divine Words take effect," Aiden went straight to the point.

Lately, while holed up in the prison, he had been studying the effects of the "Return" Divine Word. In this process, he realized that using the Divine Words in the presence of others posed risks.

When Ordinary people hear the Divine Words, they Will experienced acute mental contamination, severely disrupting their rationality. Without timely intervention to address their mental state or using an appropriate expression to adapt to the Divine Word, the consequences could be severe—leading to either suicide or a complete loss of sanity like "Mad Hailo."

When he used the Divine Words on Priscilla, an investigator from the Inquisition Bureau happened to be present. Fortunately, due to Priscilla's scheme, he directed a "Spectre Roar" at the girl, causing her to lose consciousness.

Such luck was not always guaranteed.

However, Mephilia chuckled at his question, "You're worried about this? Rest assured, normally, using the Proverbs shouldn't cause mental suppression in ordinary people. Your current experience is just because you haven't fully adapted to the Proverbs, and confusing about'teaching' with 'using,' that's all."

"'Teaching'?" Aiden was momentarily puzzled.

"The Divine Words of the gods only forcefully enter the consciousness of mortals and suppress their minds during 'teaching.' Divine Words are different from human language, incapable of direct textual representation; they can only be disseminated through 'teaching' and 'inheritance," Mephilia explained to him.

"Unable to be documented in writing? That doesn't make sense," Aiden questioned. "Although ordinary people can't produce those sounds, their ears can discern them. Couldn't specific symbols be used to correspond to each sound, recording them one by one?"

"Recording the sounds in that manner would be meaningless; they would just be noise. Have you forgotten everything I've told you before? Like the divine, the Proverbs require a vessel," Mephilia sighed, as if regretting the dullness of her student. "It's time for another lesson."