Chapter 116: The Puzzle that Seals the Deal_1

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: The Puzzle that Seals the Deal_1

"Presia’s research into a new spell?"

"Yes, I heard a witch named Vila mention at your gathering... Presia is researching some kind of new spell that would allow wanted witches to stop hiding and might even get you out."

At dusk, in the warden’s office, Aiden and Daili sat opposite each other, separated by a coffee table.

"I’m not aware of that. Think about it, how many years have I been imprisoned? I haven’t had any contact with her during that time," Daili said indifferently.

"Indeed."

This answer was as Aiden expected.

Aiden guessed that even if Daili knew what spell Presia was researching, she wouldn’t spill everything to Aiden. This information held no value for Daili to trade, and even if she did tell, she wouldn’t get much in return.

Aiden hadn’t actually expected to pry any concrete answers from her; he was just asking casually.

When he had infiltrated the witches’ meeting, he had been very concerned about the spell Vila mentioned Presia was researching.

"Warden, how is Presia today?" Daili suddenly asked.

"Much better than expected, Meiruki’s potion proved rather effective. By the afternoon, the pain had completely subsided, and barring any surprises, she might be able to return to her cell tonight. Just to be safe, though, it’s better to have her on a liquid diet for another two days," Aiden replied.

"That’s truly wonderful." Daili seemed genuinely pleased about this.

An object in the gastrointestinal tract coupled with severe gastric bleeding would, even using the medical technology of Aiden’s former world, require sophisticated surgery and a period of hospitalization to heal. For the current medical standards of this world, it was a particularly difficult challenge and almost certainly fatal.

Meiruki’s beast transformation potion combined with a hemostatic drug had completely cured her within a day—although the treatment process was somewhat bizarre, it was undeniably effective.

This world’s witches and alchemists who tiptoed on the legal red line to conduct taboo research, possessed knowledge and technology far beyond their era. However, because of mainstream rejection and their self-serving styles, they generally did not share their research with the outside world.

From Aiden’s perspective as a transmigrator, it was a great pity, which was why he had used his past life experiences to allow prisoners like Daili to have their sentences reduced based on their research achievements.

"It seems you and Presia have quite a good relationship," Aiden commented lightly.

"To some extent, we can be considered friends," Daili smiled. "Even though I’ve ended up like this, I don’t want to see her bullied in prison. I suppose I have enough sentiment to look out for her."

"That’s somewhat unexpected. I’ve always thought that relationships among you witches were quite...," Aiden paused appropriately.

"Indeed, most witches are rather distant from one another, even somewhat antagonistic. But in the end, we’re just people with ways of life different from most. If we get along with others, it’s normal to have some dealings," Daili said, laughing mockingly and gesturing between herself and Aiden, "Look at you and me, the warden—we even manage to have a mutual understanding, don’t we?"

"Who has a mutual understanding with you? That’s enough questions for now, roll back to your cell," Aiden said, gesturing dismissively.

After having the guards and riot team outside escort Daili back to the core area, Aiden sat down on his chair, lost in thought.

Still couldn’t get any crucial ’puzzle pieces’...

As for Rebecca and Presia’s situation, he already had a faint inkling of what was happening.

From their various abnormal behaviors, it was clear that their condition was not as simple as amnesia—of that, there was no doubt.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Director Harold noticed this earlier than he did, but unlike him, Harold seemed to be focusing solely on Rebecca.

When speaking with Harold, Aiden could roughly make out his thoughts.

Harold must be suspecting that something extra was done to Rebecca during the arrest by Presia, a Great Witch skilled in dark spirit magic. It wasn’t impossible that Presia could have left some deep-seated hypnotic suggestion in Rebecca’s consciousness. Thus, Harold temporarily revoked Rebecca’s authority under the guise of recuperative suspension and even had people watch her.

If one only considered Rebecca’s abnormal behavior, this suspicion was somewhat reasonable.

But clearly, the Inquisition Bureau had not paid attention to Presia’s issue. Presia’s total amnesia led the Bureau to prematurely conclude that she lacked interrogation value and even swiftly sent her to Rose Iron Prison.

It was definite that Presia did something to Rebecca besides wiping her memory; the key was what exactly she did.

If one considered the situations of both individuals together, the range of "what was done" could be narrowed down at once.

The most crucial point was that both exhibited symptoms of confusing their dominant hands.

Rebecca was left-handed, but after "losing her memory," she kept subconsciously favoring her right hand, while it was the exact opposite for Presia.

It was as if the memory of their dominant hands in their bodies and consciousness had been swapped. That being said...

"Indeed, the most likely possibility is that they exchanged bodies," thought Aiden.

During that day’s arrest, in a moment of desperation, Presia used some kind of spell to directly swap bodies with Rebecca and then erased Rebecca’s memory, while feigning partial amnesia herself to barely contend with immediate suspicions.

In other words, the one currently moving around the city in Rebecca’s body was actually Presia.

And the "Presia" unknowingly thrown into prison was the real Rebecca.

If one started with this hypothesis and reconsidered everything, many previous doubts were suddenly explainable.

The pendant, the token of the Great Witch, was inexplicably swallowed by "Presia," and then "Rebecca" remained highly attentive to that token, but as soon as the pendant was confirmed damaged, she immediately lost interest...

Also, "Rebecca’s" insistence on transferring to Rose Iron Prison...

And, the magic that Vila mentioned Presia was researching...

All of it made sense!

However, even if it all made sense, this was after all just a highly probable conjecture.

Another key piece of the puzzle was still needed, something that wouldn’t necessarily serve as evidence but at least could provide definitive confirmation. That’s why he just tried to inquire with Daili—though he didn’t have much hope.

"If only there were a way to directly explore one’s subconscious..." Aiden suddenly had this thought.

At that moment, he paused abruptly.

It seemed... there actually was.