The Warden of The Witches

Chapter 170:

Artificial Being

"Chief you're finally back!"

As Aiden returned to the prison, Veronica, who was waiting at the entrance to his office, greeted him.

"What's going on? Why the anxious look?" Aiden detected a hint of worry on Veronica's face, suggesting that something unusual had occurred in the prison.

"One of the inmates who arrived just a few days ago suddenly died," Veronica reported concisely. "They're in the infirmary now. You should go take a look!"

Aiden's expression immediately turned grave.

In the past, fights and riots were so common at the Rose Prison that the death of an inmate was hardly noteworthy. However, since he took office, discipline in the prison had significantly improved—not to say that deaths among inmates from non-natural causes had been eradicated entirely, but they had indeed become much rarer.

Aiden promptly made his way to the infirmary, with Veronica following closely behind.

Upon pushing open the door to the infirmary, he saw not only the prison supervisor, Franda, and the physician responsible for the core area, but also Melusine.

He immediately locked his gaze onto the nearby sickbed, where the inmate lay covered with a white sheet.

With a gesture, he indicated for Veronica to temporarily lift the white cloth covering the inmate's face.

Aiden examined carefully. The face appeared relatively young, with the skin turning slightly blue due to coagulated blood. He vaguely remembered the face, but it didn't leave a deep impression. The inmate seemed to have arrived recently, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about their file.

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"Give me the details," Aiden turned to Franda.

"Inmate 3624, Bonnie Wells, a necromancer, arrested for illegal grave robbing and sentenced to six months. She was transferred here the day before yesterday and has no contacts outside the prison," Franda reported succinctly. "At around 2 p.m. this afternoon, while working in the textile workshop, she suddenly collapsed. We rushed her to the infirmary for emergency treatment, but her condition didn't improve. By 3 p.m., she had ceased breathing and her heart had stopped. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful."

"Was there any indication of trouble beforehand?"

"No, I asked others who were present. She showed no symptoms before collapsing," Franda shook her head confidently.

Aiden processed the information. No contacts outside the prison, no previous warrants, and uncertain identity information. In other words, it was possible that the inmate's identity was false—just like Melusine had fabricated an identity and willingly entered the prison. Such types of inmates were quite common in the autonomous state, wandering alchemists and dark magicians; even with an unknown identity, as long as they were caught committing a crime, they would be sentenced and sent to prison.

Necromancers arrested for illegal grave robbing were not uncommon in both Rose Prison and Thorn Prison. In this world, most necromancers only scratched the surface of the art, barely able to manipulate corpses or summon spirits. Those like Arsena, who could directly engage in battles using necromancy like firearms, were extremely rare, and liches who could craft phylacteries were even rarer.

Even though Rose prisons saw about two or three of these mediocre necromancers every month, there was usually nothing particularly noteworthy about their incarceration to report to him as the warden.

Based on franda's description, it seemed like this person had suddenly fallen ill and died without any prior symptoms—it didn't seem like a contagious disease.

He turned to the prison doctor. "Any leads on the cause of death?"

"It's Not... entirely clear yet," the physician responded wearily. "No signs of external injuries or poisoning. But the Symptoms suggest multi-organ failure. I suspect she had some underlying chronic illness, but... we'd need to perform an autopsy for specifics."

Aiden furrowed his brow.

In his experience, inmates dying suddenly wasn't unheard of, and there didn't seem to be anything particularly suspicious about this case.

But at this timing... it felt somewhat delicate to him.

At that moment, Melusine chimed in, "No, it's not that simple."

Her statement drew the attention of everyone present. Veronica, Franda, and the physician looked puzzled, while only Aiden asked with utmost seriousness, "What do you mean?"

"It's not just multi-organ failure. I've had some experience with corpses, and the rate of decay after her death was much faster than usual," Melusine explained, crossing her arms. "I have a sense of déjà vu regarding this phenomenon. The way this inmate died... it's reminiscent of when an artificial being's lifespan ends. I've learned a bit about life alchemy from Lamia. Artificial beings have very short lifespans, sometimes just a few days, and their deaths are just as sudden."

Artificial being—Aiden immediately became alert.

Melissa's words echoed in his mind: "You'll soon find out that what I said is true."

When mortals use the power of "proliferation" to create offspring through rapid asexual reproduction, their descendants have fatal flaws similar to those of artificially created beings in alchemy.

The Bountifull Mother Cult might have begun infiltrating this prison...

"It's impossible. If it were an artificial being created through alchemy, the problem would have been detected during the physical examination," Franda denied firmly.

"I also find it suspicious. Just now, I drew her blood for some tests, but I didn't find any issues. She seemed slightly closer to a normal person than the artificial beings I know..." Melusine glanced curiously at the corpse. "To be honest, I'm quite interested, Warden. It seems this inmate doesn't have any family. Why not... let me handle the autopsy?"

"Absolutely not. If an autopsy is to be done, it will be carried out by personnel from the prosecutor's office and the Inquisition. It's not our place to intervene," Aiden responded coldly, then turned to Franda. "You notify the prosecutor's office and the Inquisition, preserve the body according to regulations, and I'll write the report."

"If she really is an artificial being, she definitely won't last until then. Her body will decompose on its own by tonight," Melusine added.

"Have someone watch over the body and keep thorough records," Aiden added to his command, without changing his expression.

If the body decomposed tonight, then it would confirm the origin of the inmate beyond doubt.

"Warden... do you, by any chance, have some clue about this inmate's background?" Melusine suddenly sensed something.

Veronica looked at Aiden in surprise upon hearing this.

"That's none of your concern," Aiden glanced at Melusine, signaling her not to ask further.

"Chief..." Veronica hesitated.

"Veronica," Aiden turned to her, "go organize the profiles of all the inmates who were incarcerated this week and last week. Bring them to my office for me to review."