Free Web NovelChapter 206: Chapter 206 Post-event Handling_1
By midnight that same day, Aiden had hurried back to Silvertown, taking care of a series of wrap-up tasks.
He met with Presia, who had swapped bodies with Father Bales, and had her revert the body exchange. He then escorted Father Bales to the Heretic Tribunal as the main culprit in the "Harvest Mother Cult case."
The fact that Sister Neve was the actual controller of the Harvest Mother Cult wasn’t known to the public, and even now it was left without evidence. The information on Divine Decrees was top-secret even within the Heretic Tribunal, and the "succession" rights of the "reproduction" authority were even less known; there was no way to present them as evidence in court.
Aiden asked the priest to confess to the crimes of organizing the heretical cult—Father Bales had no choice in this matter. The other main culprits he could confess to were only his late mother, the former leader of the cult, and although he could truthfully reveal that Sister Neve was the actual controller of the cult, it was highly unlikely that the judicial authorities would believe him. freewebnovёl.ƈom
While the Harvest Mother Cult was a politically subversive terrorist organization within the Empire and Gistas, in the autonomous state, which was neutral territory, they were considered just an extremist cult—involved in illegal profiteering, dabbling in black magic, and violently resisting the law... It seemed quite serious, but overall, it wasn’t too bad, especially when compared laterally to other heretical organizations on the cleansing list.
Aiden crafted a story of the priest turning himself in voluntarily. Combined with the fact that he himself was a victim, having been transformed into a synthetic beast by the former cult leader, it was unlikely that he would be extradited to the Empire or Gistas as a political prisoner. At four meters tall, there weren’t many prisons equipped to contain a synthetic beast—Thorn Iron Prison in Silvertown was the most suitable place.
Aiden figured he probably wouldn’t be sentenced to death, but he estimated he’d spend the rest of his life in Thorn Iron Prison. Even if there was a chance for his sentence to be reduced and be released, it would likely be in the distant future.
As for Sister Neve’s death, Aiden pinned it on the witch coven. Sister Neve’s original body, along with most of the battle nuns, died at the entrance of an abandoned mine shaft, where they had clashed with three Great Witches from the witch coven.
When he and Veronica had finished dealing with a series of post-mission processes and returned to Rose Iron Prison, dawn was breaking.
After sending Daili and Presia back to their respective cells, Aiden and Veronica could finally sit down in the office and catch their breath.
"I’m so tired. I feel like this took more out of me than the surprise raids we used to do." Veronica stretched her arms as she sat on the visitor’s sofa.
"You seem to be in better shape than me," Aiden said with a smile.
To prevent being pursued by the witch coven, they had rushed back right after resolving the cult issue and had spent almost an entire night on post-mission debriefing, with their total sleep over two days totaling less than five hours.
But comparatively, Aiden felt Veronica’s complexion looked much better than what he had just seen of himself in the mirror. After all, Veronica was a physically gifted werewolf and also younger.
Physical strength might still be on the rise after turning twenty-five, but it was true that staying up late was becoming increasingly difficult. Thinking this, Aiden couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.
"After this mission, which was an external assignment in cooperation with the Heretic Tribunal, once completed today, I can give you three additional days of paid leave. You can arrange it yourself. As for the bonus, I’ll give it to you once the Heretic Tribunal has transferred the funds. You can go back and rest now, you’ve worked hard," Aiden told Veronica.
"Yay!" Veronica immediately clenched her fists, very happy.
Aiden could only smile wryly at her. Having finished this arduous task, he too wished he could give himself some paid leave, but the affairs of the prison probably wouldn’t allow it. While it was still dark, he planned to take a nap in his office to recover a bit.
Veronica got up but didn’t leave the office immediately. Instead, she kept staring at Aiden, seemingly hesitant to speak.
"What’s the matter?" Aiden asked casually when he noticed she hadn’t left.
"Hmm..." Veronica seemed conflicted for a good while, took a deep breath, and then looked squarely at Aiden before speaking, "Chief, since we’ve successfully completed the mission... tonight, shall we go... go out for a drink together?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt her blood rush to her face, making it feel a bit hot. freewёbnoνel.com
But she couldn’t bother guessing whether her face was red or not at this moment; her mind was full of "I said it, I said it, I finally said it"...
Aiden was taken aback at first but replied, "Actually, I don’t really drink..."
Veronica’s expression stiffened for a moment.
But Aiden immediately added, "Having a meal together is fine, though. This task went smoothly thanks to your suggestion, so I think I should treat you to a meal,"
Upon hearing this, Veronica’s expression immediately brightened, "Sure!"
Aiden and Veronica set a time and place and watched her leave the office, almost subconsciously scratching the center of his brow.
An invitation from a female subordinate...
He did have romantic experiences in his past life; he had seen Veronica’s reaction just now and could tell that she had some fondness for him. It was just that he himself was almost past the age where such things would thrill him.
In his opinion, Veronica’s fondness was just a hint of potential, far from reaching the point where he needed to respond to it directly.
Moreover, he had life-and-death matters to deal with right now...
Aiden glanced at the box beside him, which contained the reclaimed evidence of the Great Witch. As long as he used that, he could immediately contact Abigail.
On his way back, he had not initiated contact with the evidence to prevent Abigail from summoning him forcefully; he wanted to be prepared before negotiating with the witch gathering.
Sitting alone in the office for quite some time, Aiden finally spoke up in a soft voice, "Qiqimora, you’re here, aren’t you?"
Seconds of silence, and an inadvertent blink later, Aiden suddenly realized there was a woman standing in the corner of the office.
She hadn’t appeared suddenly, she had always been there, just too inconspicuous for anyone to notice.
Qiqimora, she had already snuck into the prison and had been waiting in the office for quite a while.
"Your clothes look a bit plain today," Aiden said with a smile.
"I rushed over and didn’t have time to change," Qiqimora sat down next to the guest seat, looking straight at Aiden. Different from her previous visits, her expression was much more serious this time, "The warden guessed I’m here, huh."
"Ah, I took all the spoils of war, so I figured you would definitely come here to protest," Aiden replied calmly.
