Chapter 22 Goddess of Conspiracy_1

Prisoner 4001, Melifilia Hughes, Heretical Judgement Bureau's archive code "Saintess".

The maximum capacity for inmates at Rose Iron Prison is four thousand, and the file numbering also only goes up to 4000.

Prisoner 4001 was an "extra prisoner" here; her file was not kept in this prison but sealed away at the headquarters of the Heretical Judgement Bureau, not far from Rose Iron Prison.

She had been additionally transferred to this Rose Iron Prison for detention by the Heretical Judgement Bureau, the unit where Aiden had previously worked.

This cell was constructed six years ago, secretly refurbished from a portion of the previously abandoned and buried dungeons within Rose Iron Prison. The renovation was funded by the Heretical Judgement Bureau, and it was almost entirely built with Mithril, embedded deep underground like a colossal safe. The cost of the cell itself, as well as the complex project of placing the cell underground, was astronomical in scale, an amount that the chronically underfunded Rose Iron Prison could never afford.

Strictly speaking, this cell should belong to the Heretical Judgement Bureau. Melifilia herself actually had little to do with Rose Iron Prison, which merely provided a place to detain her.

Before Aiden was transferred here, not a single guard in the whole Rose Iron Prison had the authority to open the cell door, nor were any aware of the existence of this cell. The warden's office, directly above the cell, only relocated here after Aiden took office.

Before that, the room had always been requisitioned by the Heretical Judgement Bureau as a record room, publicly claiming to borrow the highly secure Rose Iron Prison to store some surplus archives.

The willingness of the higher-ups in the Heretical Judgement Bureau to let go of Aiden, their ace investigator, and agree to his transfer to work at Rose Iron Prison was, to a great extent, because of Melifilia—they needed someone who knew of the existence of prisoner 4001 to periodically monitor her detention conditions.

Aiden and Melifilia had some sort of connection.

"When was the last time we met?" Melifilia asked slowly, apparently not yet fully recovered from her long sleep.

"About half a month ago," Aiden replied as he sat down next to the interrogation table in front of the execution rack, taking off his hat and placing it to the side.

"Rare visit, let's play a game of chess, long overdue," Melifilia suggested.

"Alright, which type?"

Aiden moved a box from beside the table, opened it, and took out various homemade chess pieces and boards.

"Ludo," Melifilia answered without hesitation.

"You really do like games that primarily rely on luck," he said, sorting out the Ludo pieces and the goatskin paper with the board drawn on it from the cluttered box—all of which he had made himself.

As a time-traveler, he had not forgotten the fine tradition of time-travelers to promote and glorify the culture of their original worlds in the new worlds they arrived in.

After entering Rose Iron Prison, Aiden had tried to promote some of the literary activities from his former world in this place, including some card games and simple ball sports. These games were very popular with the prisoners, becoming a trump card in stabilizing the inmates' emotions.

The downside was that some games became so popular they even caught on among the guards, forcing Aiden to frequently demand his subordinates not to shirk their duties by playing games during work hours.

Melifilia also liked chess-like games very much, one of the few ways to alleviate boredom for her, who was not allowed to leave her cell, other than sleeping for extended periods.

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

"Playing brainy games, you're bound to lose, games with no suspense are really too boring. I prefer games with an element of chance, where there are more variables," Melifilia said calmly as she watched Aiden set up the board.

Aiden didn't object; what Melifilia said was true.

Melifilia had a superhuman computing ability—by Aiden's own assessment, it was probably on par with the artificial intelligence of his previous era. In chess-like games that relied wholly on strategy, ordinary people stood no chance against her.

"Should you go first, or should I?" Aiden asked, picking up the dice after setting up the game board.

"I'll go first," Melifilia replied.

No sooner had she spoken than the dice levitated from Aiden's hand and was cast onto the game board.

Even though most of her powers were sealed by the ten Holy Nails, she still retained the telekinetic ability to move the dice and pieces.

"Hey, hey, rolling a six on the first throw? You're not cheating, are you?" Aiden watched as she triumphantly moved her first piece to the take-off zone.

"All's fair in war," Melifilia said with a smug look, obviously very pleased with her opening move.

Aiden then rolled his first move, only to roll a one.

"Not my lucky year, huh." Aiden sighed.

"So, what is it you wanted to ask me this time?" Melifilia inquired as she rolled the dice again.

"The way you say it, it's as if every time I come to you, I'm after something," he said.

"After you left me here, I've had a good measure of how inconstant you can be. Other than your regular inspections, you can count on two hands the number of times you've sought my company of your own volition, and each time you wanted something from me," Melifilia spoke slowly, eyes on the game board, "Let's make a deal; keep me company playing this game until dawn, and I will bestow inspiration upon you."

"Looks like it's going to be a long night," Aiden said, glancing at his pocket watch.

"This deal is a good one, I suppose," Melifilia chuckled, "and tonight, I won't let you sleep."

"Fine, then I'll just come out with it."

Aiden picked up the dice and began to speak of Veronica's case while playing the game with Melifilia.

"…so you're saying that all we need to do is turn that witness around to admit he was lying?" Melifilia summarized after listening to Aiden's recounting.

"Yes."

"That seems simple enough, just make the two accomplices turn on each other."

"How can we do that?" Aiden realized she already had an idea in mind.

"For instance, if the murderer feared the witness might have a change of heart and confess, and sent a hitman to silence him, but the hitman unexpectedly failed…" Melifilia wore a dark smile, "The witness, having narrowly escaped death, would realize the murderer won't let him live. Wouldn't that break their relationship?"

"But, the murderer might not do such a thing," Aiden objected, "To the murderer, that witness is a puppet he can control; there's no need to kill him just yet."

"The hitman doesn't necessarily have to come from the murderer. As long as we make the witness believe that, isn't it enough?" Melifilia's smile grew broader, "You do have quite a few useful pawns at your disposal, don't you?"

Aiden's hand reaching for a game piece hesitated, and he looked up at Melifilia: "To do such a thing…"

"Against the rules?" Melifilia raised an eyebrow mockingly, "To a sovereign, the rules of mortals mean nothing. You know very well what outcome you get when you seek wisdom from me, right?"

Aiden was silent for a moment, then continued moving pieces: "You truly live up to the title of Goddess of Conspiracy, always conceiving such devious schemes."

"Conspiracy, strategy... These are merely definitions by mortals," Melifilia said as she rolled the dice and moved her last piece to the finish line, "There, I've won. Let's start the next game."