The warden who guards the witches.

Goddess of Conspiracy

Prisoner 4001, Melifillia Hughes, Heresy Bureau file code name "The Virgin".

　　The maximum capacity of the Rosebud Iron Prison is 4,000 inmates, and inmates' file numbers only go up to 4,000.

　　Prisoner 4001 is an "extra prisoner" here, and her file is not in this prison, but is sealed in the Heresy Judgement Bureau's headquarters not far from the Rosebud Iron Prison.

　　She was transferred to the Rosebud Iron Prison by the Heresy Judgement Bureau, the unit where Aiden had stayed in the past.

　　This cell was built six years ago, and was secretly reconstructed by isolating a part of the dungeon in the Rosebud Iron Prison that used to be abandoned and filled up. The funds for the reconstruction were also allocated by the Heresy Judgement Bureau, it was almost entirely made of secret silver, embedded deep underground like a huge safe, whether it was the cell itself or the complex project of placing the cell underground, its expenses were astronomical, the Rosebud Iron Prison, which had been chronically underfunded, naturally couldn't afford to take out this amount of money.

　　In other words, strictly speaking, this cell should belong to the Heresy Judgement Bureau, and Melifillia herself actually had no relationship with the Rosebud Iron Prison, which had only provided a venue for housing this prisoner.

　　Before Aiden was transferred here, the entire Rosebud Iron Prison, not to mention having the right to open the cell door, did not even have a warden who knew of the existence of this cell. The warden's office, which was directly above the cell, was also moved here after Aydin took office.

　　Before that, that room had been in the state of being requisitioned by the Heretic Judgement Bureau as an archive room, with the Heretic Judgement Bureau claiming that it was borrowing the heavily guarded Rosebud Iron Prison to store some excess archives.

　　The top management of the Heresy Judgement Bureau was willing to let go of Aiden, the ace investigator, and agreed to transfer him to work in the Rosebud Iron Prison, in large part because of Melifillia - they were about to need someone who knew about the existence of Prisoner 4001, to regularly monitor the status of her internment.

　　Aiden and Melifillia, there was some sort of connection.

　　"When was the last time we met?" Melifillia said somewhat sluggishly, looking like she hadn't fully recovered her state from her long sleep.

　　"Half a month ago." Aiden took a seat at the interrogation table at the front of the executioner's rack, taking off his hat and placing it on the edge.

　　"A rare visit, a long overdue game of chess with me." Melifillia offered.

　　"Alright, which one?"

　　Aiden brought up the chest next to the table and opened it, stacking it with an assortment of homemade chess pieces and boards.

　　"Flight Chess." Melifioria answered without thinking.

　　"You're really into this kind of game that relies mostly on luck."

　　Aiden said as he sorted through the cluttered boxes to find the pieces for the flight chess pieces drawing the parchment for the board, all of which he had made himself.

　　As a traveller, he hadn't forgotten the fine tradition of travellers promoting and carrying forward the culture of their own world in the new world.

　　After entering the Rosebud Iron Prison, Aiden had tried to promote some of his past world's cultural and sports activities here, including some chess and simple ball games, which were very popular with the inmates and became a killer app to stabilise the mood of the inmate population.

　　The downside was that some of the games were so popular that they followed suit among the prison guards, causing Aiden to have to ask his subordinates three times not to neglect their duties by indulging in games during work hours.

　　Melifillia was also fond of board games, one of the few means of quenching her boredom that she was not allowed to leave her cell, other than a long sleep.

　　Of course, the only person who would play chess with her here was Aiden.

　　"Playing a game that uses your brain, you're bound to lose, a game with no suspense at all is just too meaningless, it's better to have more variables in this kind of game that spells out probability." Melifioria watched Aiden set up the chess game with a stoic face.

　　Aiden did not refute, what Melifillia said was the truth.

　　Melifillia had computing power that surpassed human beings - if Aiden evaluated himself, I'm afraid that it was comparable to the artificial intelligence of that era in his previous life, and in board games such as chess, where victory or defeat was completely based on strategy, an ordinary person would never be able to win against her.

　　"You first or me first?" After setting up the chess game Aiden picked up the dice.

　　"Me first." Melifillia replied.

　　As soon as the words fell, the dice levitated from Aiden's hand and hurled itself towards the board.

　　Even though most of her power was sealed by the ten holy nails, she still retained the power of intent that could move the dice and the pieces.

　　"Hey hey, you didn't cheat by rolling a six on the first shot." Aiden watched as she flagged down the first piece and moved it to the takeoff zone.

　　"To each his own." Melifillia beamed, clearly pleased with the outcome of the starting hand.

　　Aiden also rolled his first move, but only by a point.

　　"A bad year." Aiden sighed.

　　"So, what did you want to ask me this time?" Melifillia asked as she rolled the dice.

　　"You say that as if I seek you out with intent every time."

　　"Having been placed by you until now, I've long since learnt how thin-skinned you are. Apart from regular inspections, you can count on two hands the number of times you've taken the initiative to accompany me, and every single time you've done so, you've asked for something." Melifioria stared at the chessboard and said slowly, "Deal, play chess with me today until dawn and I can grant you inspiration."

　　"Looks like it's going to be a protracted battle." Aiden took out his pocket watch and glanced at it.

　　"That's not a bad deal." Melifillia smiled, "You won't be allowed to sleep today."

　　"Fine, then I'll get right to it."

　　Aiden picked up the dice and played chess with Meliferia on one side while narrating Veronica's case.

　　"...... So that means it's fine as long as you turn that witness and get him to admit that he perjured himself?" Listening to Aiden's narration, Melifillia summarised.

　　"Yes."

　　"Isn't it simple, just make those two accomplices break ranks."

　　"How would that be done?" Aiden realised the other man already had an idea.

　　"Let's say, for example, if the murderer is afraid that the witness will suddenly have a guilty conscience and turn himself in, and sends an assassin to gag him, only for the assassin to accidentally miss ......" a dark smile hung on Melifioria's face, "and the escaped witness realised that the killer wouldn't let him live, in which case their relationship must have broken down, right?"

　　"But the murderer wouldn't necessarily do that." Aiden questioned, "To the killer, that witness is a very manipulative character, and he has absolutely no need to kill the other man yet."

　　"Then the killer doesn't have to be sent out by the killer, it's enough to make that witness think that way, isn't it?" The smirk on Melifioria's face widened, "It just so happens that you don't have quite a few good pawns on your hands, don't you?"

　　Aiden's hand reaching for a piece stalled for a moment and raised his face to Melifillia, "Doing that sort of thing ......"

　　"Out of order?" Melifillia raised an eyebrow as if mocking Aiden, "Mortal rules mean nothing to the Dominion. You yourself should know very well what praying to me for wisdom will get you, shouldn't you?"

　　Aiden was silent for a moment and continued to move his pieces, "True to form, the Goddess of Conspiracy, the schemes she comes up with are still as sinister as ever."

　　"The so-called intrigue and yang conspiracy is ultimately just the definition of a mortal." Melifillia finished casting the dice and then moved the last piece to the end, "Alright, I won, let's start the next game."