Free Web NovelChapter 221: Chapter 221 Eternal Sage Mode_1
That evening, after finishing his work and having dinner in the canteen, Aiden changed out of his uniform in the changing room, and left the Rose Iron Prison through the side door.
He headed towards the nearby intersection, ready to take a public horse-drawn carriage home.
Suddenly, a figure emerged under the lamppost at the intersection and approached him head-on, "Excuse me, sir, are you the leader here?"
"Who is it? What’s the matter?" Aiden couldn’t help feeling puzzled as he stopped in his tracks and asked the person.
The sky was dim, and the streetlight had not yet come on. Aiden could not make out the person’s face, only hearing a somewhat unfamiliar voice.
"My name is Kael Kaordo, I’m here to visit the leader of this prison. May I ask if you are the warden?" Kael removed his hat and held it in front of his chest, introducing himself with impeccable manners.
"Ah!" Aiden suddenly realized, "You’re Ophelia’s—"
"Yes, indeed, indeed, it is I!" Kael nodded hastily, "Then you must be..."
"Ah, I am the warden here, my name is Aiden Galahad." Aiden admitted.
"My goodness, Warden Galahad, I have heard so much about you!" Kael extended his hand enthusiastically to Aiden.
"Good evening, good evening." Aiden extended his left hand with a calm expression.
Seeing this, Kael had no choice but to switch to his left hand for the handshake, then made small talk as if nothing was amiss, "Warden, you look... rather young, if I may ask, how old are you this year?"
"Twenty-five."
"Only twenty-five and already in such a position? Truly remarkable!" Kael exclaimed.
"Just lucky, that’s all." Aiden replied indifferently. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
These were not just modest words. His ascent to his position owed a great deal to the times. In such an institution, no matter how outstanding one’s abilities, if someone else occupied the higher positions, promotions could be quite unattainable. The main reason Aiden could become the top leader of the Rose Iron Prison within five years was due to the extremely harsh working conditions at the time, leading to vacancies in the upper management, including the warden, which no one wanted to fill.
"Here is my ID. I am a registered non-human from the Kingdom of Nedland, a lawful citizen of Nedland." Kael showed his ID voluntarily.
"I know, I know, my subordinate has mentioned you to me." Aiden nodded.
"It took quite the effort to get an audience with you." Kael sighed, "Truth be told, blood race society has its challenges; as soon as one’s identity is exposed, people immediately keep their distance. Even organizations related to the rights of non-humans sometimes overlook blood race, as many consider us to belong to the undead and not to be treated as ’special humans’."
I understand, your social circumstances are indeed difficult," Aiden nodded.
"You can understand?" Kael’s eyes suddenly brightened.
"Yes, my prison has housed many non-human inmates, including more than one blood race, so I’ve had some contact with them," Aiden nodded.
"That’s wonderful! Since that’s the case..." Kael’s face bore an awkward yet polite smile, then he looked down and carefully pointed at Aiden’s right hand, "Would you mind, putting your gun away, please?"
When Kael extended his hand to try to shake hands, Aiden had nonchalantly drawn the pistol at his side and held it in his right hand, hence he could only extend his left hand to shake hands with Kael.
"Sorry, just an old occupational hazard," Aiden replied without changing expression. "I used to work at the Inquisition, as a Superior Judge, and seeing a vampire without a gun in hand always leaves me a bit uneasy."
"But this is making me very uneasy!" Kael said helplessly, spreading his hands.
"Don’t worry, as long as you don’t do anything strange, I definitely won’t do anything to you," Aiden answered calmly.
Aiden was allowed to carry a gun outside of the office not because he was the leader of the prison, but because of the special privileges left over from his time as a Superior Judge. He was still charged with the Inquisition’s task of watching over Melifilia, so he retained many of the powers of a Judge.
He didn’t discriminate against other species, but that didn’t mean he would drop his guard around potentially dangerous strangers.
Just because Kael possessed legitimate documents didn’t mean he had no intention of attacking. Eager to see Ophelia, he might be tempted to use his vampire abilities to control the prison staff, and Aiden had every reason to be wary.
Pulling out the gun was simply a statement of attitude, and revealing his past as a Superior Judge was also to make the other party cautious, so they wouldn’t make a move against him lightly.
Of course, if it really came down to a fight, it wouldn’t really be a concern. Unlike before, Aiden now had the confidence to win. The "Order’s" divine words should be effective against the vampire’s blood magic and special abilities, especially since this was near the prison.
"Alright, fine," Kael could only sigh and try his best to ignore the weapon in the other’s hand, continuing the conversation, "Did you receive the letter I sent earlier?"
"I did."
"Then, what do you think of the gift I included in the letter?" Kael asked tentatively.
"Hmm... very nice," Aiden nodded.
"I knew you’d like it!" Kael snapped his fingers, looking very pleased with himself, "Those are my prized collections!"
Kael’s previous attempts to visit the Rose Iron Prison had been thwarted, making him somewhat reluctant to meet face to face with the warden. His subordinate was a Pureblood Werewolf, and the visitor was an inscrutable witch; Kael couldn’t be sure what level of a high-ranking figure she was.
He knew that vampires were easily dreaded by people, and approaching someone with that identity could easily arouse their alarm. If the other party mistook his intentions as hostile and struck first, he felt he would likely die bafflingly.
So he changed his strategy. After finding out that the warden of the prison was male, he sent photographs from his years of collection to the warden’s mailbox, hoping to break the ice. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
As the saying goes, one’s hold on others is weakened when accepting their gifts. Kael was confident that his collections could garner some favor from the other party—at least enough to eliminate any hostility.
To some extent, he achieved his purpose.
When confirming the other party’s identity, the first impression that came to Aiden’s mind was—this is the guy who bribes people with lewd pictures.
"To be honest, I’m a bit surprised," Aiden began, "because as far as I know... vampires are not supposed to have such desires. Or am I mistaken?"
In Aiden’s retained knowledge, nearly all of the undead, including vampires, lost the ability to reproduce through sexual acts when they became undead, and naturally, the related desires would also fade away.
Being undead meant an eternal state of asceticism.
That a vampire, who should by all means be asexual, was collecting erotic pictures was indeed an incredible thing.
