The Warden of The Witches

Chapter 185 - Approval from the Inquisition Bureau

The next day, at the Inquisition Bureau, in the Director's office.

"Say that again." Director Harold glared at Aiden, who was sitting in the guest chair.

His face was dark, and the veins on his wrinkled forehead throbbed, making his expression quite intimidating.

To their side, the senior inquisitors who had carried out yesterday's mission, Victor and Rebecca, sat side by side on a long sofa, both looking at Aiden with expressions of astonishment.

"I said, I propose to use the inmates from my prison to participate in the task of eradicating the Bountifull Mother cult. Of course, I will be responsible for leading the team, and the Bureau will provide intelligence support," Aiden said calmly with a smile.

To openly use Dailey and Priscilla as pawns against the cult, approval from the Inquisition Bureau was necessary. After all, the opponent was an armed group, not something that could be dismissed as mere "community service" for prisoners.

"Teaming up with the witches' gathering?" Harold's eyes twitched.

"Yes," Aiden smiled. "In fact, the prisoners I've chosen are—"

In an instant, cracks appeared on the guest tea table.

This action not only startled the onlooking Rebecca but even left Aiden dumbfounded.

The old man's palm strength... He could probably shout "Great Dragon Might" and smash someone's skull.

Only Victor, an old inquisitor who had worked on the front lines for ten years, sighed and murmured, "Poor fifth-generation tea table..."

"You previously applied to have prisoners study black magic, and I turned a blind eye to it. But now you want them involved in our work? Why don't I just give them jobs and salaries too!?" Harold shouted at Aiden, his imposing manner making Aiden momentarily consider retreating.

However, Aiden maintained his composure, and staring directly into Harold's eyes then spoke. "Having dangerous criminals volunteer for this risky mission in exchange for reduced sentences, thereby reducing the casualties among our inquisitors, seems like a win-win solution to me." He glanced at Victor and Rebecca sitting nearby. "How were our casualties in this latest raid?"

Rebecca exchanged looks with Harold and Victor before responding, "One person was killed, one severely injured, and seven others sustained minor injuries to varying degrees."

During last night's operation, two junior inquisitors were severely injured after being struck head-on by a priest transformed into a chimera. One of them succumbed to their injuries despite rescue efforts, while the other remains bedridden, likely unable to get up for at least ten days to two weeks.

The remaining injured were either hurt during the gunfight or sustained injuries due to bizarre mental attacks from the priest, leading them to crash into walls or self-harm under mental corruption.

Fortunately, the team included several mid-level inquisitors skilled in handling mental contamination, quickly administered emergency treatment to those affected.

Afterwards, many of the more severely mentally affected inquisitors had to return to the Bureau to seek further psychiatric treatment from specialists.

"This is despite the fact that we got a tip-off and made ample preparations, deploying two senior inquisitors and forty people for the raid. That's more than double the standard for capturing an S-class fugitive. Yet, we still lost someone without catching the main culprit. The Bountifull Mother cult isn't an easy target..." Aiden looked seriously into Harold's eyes, adding with a hint of deeper meaning, "You know this well, Director."

The Divine words, a top-secret intelligence even senior inquisitors weren't privy to, was known to Harold. And Father Barles holds a Divine word, as evidenced by yesterday's operation.

Although the mental contamination caused by the Divine word could be managed using specific mental magic, encountering such an opponent in the field posed significant challenges. Not to mention the inherent power of the word itself.

Harold calmed down slightly after hearing this but still pointed out the issues. "Don't make it sound so easy. If prisoners were that useful, we would have drafted them into the army long ago! Remember, the prisoners in your cell, the witches' gathering, and that cult are all criminals at their core! Have you considered what would happen if the witches caused a criminal incident while dealing with the cult? What if they teamed up with the cult? And what if your prisoners defected in an attempt to escape? You'd be facing more than just dismissal; you'd be looking at serious jail time!"

"I've considered these issues. First, even if we don't intervene, a clash between the witches' gathering and the Bountiful Mother cult is inevitable; their causing incidents is already a foregone conclusion. Secondly, based on my investigations, the cult aims to revive the old kingdom, while Abigail, the leader of the witches' gathering, admitted to a certain involvement in the assassination of the old Reiss Kingdom's queen. There's a deep-seated conflict between the cult and the gathering that cannot be reconciled," Aiden reasoned calmly. "Finally, I have ways to control my prisoners. They won't easily escape, and if they show any inclination to do so, I'll take responsibility and execute them."

"You haven't been this proactive since you left your position," Harold frowned.

"After all, this cult is affecting the operations of my prison. If another batch of those short-lived artificial humans arrives, my prison won't be able to handle it," Aiden shrugged.

"If you want to get involved, I can assign more trustworthy personnel to assist you. I can reassemble your old team," Harold said, his expression now serious. Clearly, he supported his former reliable subordinate's willingness to take action but was against letting prisoners perform the duties of inquisitors.

He gestured to the two others nearby.

Senior Inquisitor Victor was taken aback—was he being asked to handle the persuasion?

He sighed and gave his opinion: "I agree with the Director. The risk is too great. Since this cult has been marked for elimination in both the Empire and Gistas, why not submit a request for assistance to both sides simultaneously? That way, we can ensure we have enough personnel."

Harold then turned his gaze to Rebecca.

After a moment of thought, Rebecca voiced a different opinion: "I still think... Senior Aiden's proposal is worth considering. Requesting international assistance takes too much time and would only give the enemy a chance to regroup. They can mass-produce manpower through alchemy. Since the witches' gathering is bound to get involved, if we intervene proactively, we might have a better chance of controlling the situation."

Harold's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting his subordinate to "betray" him in this decision-making process.

"Well, Director, consider it carefully," Aiden said, waiting for Harold's decision. "Using prisoners can reduce our casualties. I believe taking on some risk is worth it."

After a long pause, Harold let out a long breath through his nose, seemingly giving up. And Glaring at Aiden, he replied, "Fine, do as you please. If anything goes wrong, you're responsible!"

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