Free Web NovelChapter 381: Chapter 381 The Story of the Minotaur_1
Rose Iron Prison Core Zone, Aiden brought Sera to the library.
"Asenna," Aiden greeted the prisoner who was arranging books beside the bookshelf, "come over for a moment, I need to talk to you about something."
The young Necromancer glanced over emotionlessly, stopped her work, climbed down from the wooden ladder, and walked over at a leisurely pace.
"What do you require, Warden?" Asenna asked.
"I remember your cell is a double, right? Starting tonight, this person will be staying in your room," Aiden motioned toward Sera standing beside him.
"I don’t want that. Warden, you know I don’t like being in close quarters with others," Asenna protested.
"Look at you, I’m not asking for your opinion, just informing you," Aiden replied. "Could you please be conscious of the fact that you’re a prisoner? For a regular inmate, I wouldn’t even bother to notify."
"When you asked for my help initially, the conditions you agreed to included arranging for me to have a more spacious cell to myself. Are you going back on your word now?" Asenna adjusted her glasses and calmly negotiated with Aiden.
"Our agreement was to ’see how things go’ before arranging a more spacious cell for your solitary use. Moreover, there was another condition: when the task I need you to do conflicts with the conditions given, completing my assigned task takes priority," Aiden rebutted calmly. "With your memory, you shouldn’t need to check the contract to confirm, right?"
"Tch," Asenna let out a hint of dissatisfaction while still wearing her expressionless face, then turned her gaze towards Sera, whom she had been ignoring, "So what’s the deal with this woman?"
Sera, being stared at directly by Asenna, felt as if she was being dissected by two surgical knives and couldn’t help but tense up.
"Just an ordinary person, but with a somewhat special identity. She’s gotten into trouble with a significant power outside, and they might send an assassin into the prison to kill her," Aiden summarized succinctly. "I’d like you to keep an eye on her until the situation cools down."
"Worried about assassination? That’s easy to solve..." With a poker face, Asenna spoke in an utterly unemotional voice, "Just let me kill her and turn her into a zombie. Dead people don’t have to worry about being murdered."
Upon hearing this, Sera instantly sucked in a breath of cold air, while Aiden just looked at Asenna without expression.
"..."
"..."
An awkward silence lasted for several seconds before Asenna spoke again, "It was just a joke; didn’t you have to go all silent on me like that?"
Aiden sighed, "I’ve mentioned this before, your facial expressions and tone are so cold that they could freeze someone to death. How can anyone tell you’re joking?"
"So this lady is... a Necromancer?" Sera hesitantly asked.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Asenna scanned her with a cold gaze.
Sera immediately fell silent and shook her head.
"Having a bodyguard is not so bad; don’t be picky. She’s the most suitable choice available right now," Aiden glanced at Sera. "And you don’t have the right to be choosy. I’m making the arrangements, don’t talk back."
"Honestly, why does this task have to fall to me?" Asenna looked at Aiden again, "Warden, you must have plenty of inmates at your disposal, right?"
"Inmates I can use? Daili and Presia are staying in a double cell; Avansa still hasn’t cleansed off her poison; with Camilla, who knows what troubles she might cause. And then there’s Ophelia; she’s in the smallest single room and without her Magic Power being unsealed she can’t be a bodyguard," Aiden listed calmly.
"Don’t you also have that ’personal little fleece’ of a succubus?" Asenna mocked with a deadpan expression.
"Her as a bodyguard? I hope she doesn’t end up as a burial companion." Aiden raised an eyebrow.
"Sigh." Realizing that she couldn’t escape the responsibility after all, Asenna heaved a helpless sigh, "By the way, what’s the story with that girl?"
"It’s better for you not to know," Aiden smiled. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Then I’ll happily remain ignorant," Asenna replied coolly, "I only guarantee her safety when she’s within my sight."
"In that case, try to stay together in the cell, and I’ll have someone arrange for her to clean the library regularly," Aiden said.
"Work together, too?" Asenna asked.
"Haven’t you always complained about being short-staffed in the library? Honestly, I’m not keen on reducing your workload. You sit there reading and researching all day, getting winded just walking up a few stairs. If you get sick and need treatment, wouldn’t the prison’s money be spent?" Aiden shrugged, "Having you move books and clean is a form of exercise too."
"I’d rather apply for a corpse, turn it into a zombie, and have it assist me..." Asenna said.
"That joke’s too cold," Aiden commented.
"You’re really looking out for this newbie," Asenna said with a deadpan expression, "A new target? Comparing her looks and figure, she’s not just below Daili and that succubus, even the werewolf officer by your side is a cut above."
Aiden’s reaction to these words was minimal, for she knew it was another of Asenna’s jokes.
A major topic in necromancy is the separation of spirit and flesh, stripping a person’s spirit from their body to preserve it as a necromancer. Necromancers often perform such experiments on themselves, which is the so-called astral projection. The result is that the spirit becomes less and less capable of affecting the body; emotional fluctuations are rarely reflected in facial expressions or body language, and Asenna was a typical case of facial paralysis. Without spending some time with her, it’s really hard to tell when she’s joking and when she’s serious.
But Sera became somewhat embarrassed because she didn’t understand the joke: "Stop talking nonsense, I... I have —"
She stalled at that point.
"Got someone you like? Oh, it’s no problem, our warden just loves to snatch what others desire, just like in the stories," Asenna said expressionlessly as she gave a thumbs-up, then turned to Aiden, "Sorry, warden, I shouldn’t have doubted your taste."
Sera quickly looked back and forth between the two, filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
"Stop reading those weird tales!" Aiden glared at her, "Keep making these jokes and I’ll start restricting the books that come into the library!"
Asenna immediately raised her hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, I’ll perform my duties well. If she accidentally gets killed, I’ll make sure to preserve her spirit promptly and turn her into a ghost."
"This... is a joke too, right?" Sera asked cautiously.
"Of course, I’m serious. What are you thinking?" Asenna replied coldly.
"Eh?" Sera was stunned in place.
"It seems you two are getting along quite well," Aiden nodded in satisfaction, "I can rest easy now."
"But compared to the possibility of someone sneaking into the prison to commit assassination, I think you should be more concerned about plugging other security holes," Asenna remarked.
"I know, and I will take care of it," Aiden responded.
