Chapter 254: Chapter 254

Chapter 283: Buying Divinity with Money

The next day, Qimora visited Aiden's office.

As discussed at the last Witch gathering, Aiden converted the Coven's share of the profits into cash and handed it over to Qimora.

"I've counted the money, no issues." Qimora, seated on the single sofa, retied the money pouch, then raised her teacup towards Aiden in acknowledgment. "Pleasure doing business with you, Warden."

"Likewise," Aiden also raised his teacup.

"Excellent. At this rate, once next year's deposit arrives, we'll have enough to rebuild the Sabbath Forest meeting ground," Qimora said, her gaze fixed on Aiden. "I suppose you'll become quite the wealthy figure in the Autonomous Prefecture sooner or later yourself, Warden? How about it, have you started looking for a mansion yet?"

"Unfortunately, I personally can't get rich overnight from this. The prison isn't exactly my private property," Aiden waved his hand dismissively. "If I took even a small amount of the money flowing through here, it would be enough to land me in court."

"The reason we can cooperate on production now is thanks to my authority within the prison. I can handle many procedures myself. If I were to start my own factory, our cooperation would become much more complicated," Aiden spread his hands. "Besides, even if I wanted to become a capitalist, I'd need capital myself."

"That's true," Qimora chuckled, covering her mouth. "But this way, it almost feels unfair to Your Excellency. It's a joint venture, yet only our pockets are getting heavier."

"I wouldn't put it that way. Thanks to the project you provided, this prison has completely escaped its financial difficulties. I no longer have to constantly worry about operational expenses and applying for funding," Aiden stated frankly.

"Then doesn't the Warden himself desire money?" Qimora narrowed her eyes. "If I were to give you money directly, wouldn't you be able to pocket it legitimately?"

Hearing this, Aiden paused, the teacup halfway to his lips.

After a moment of silence, he put the cup down. "What scheme are you plotting now?"

Neither the Witch Coven nor Qimora herself would offer benefits for free.

Even in ordinary business, so-called discounts and rebates are commercial strategies aimed at securing greater profits.

In this world, receiving extra "benefits" from others usually required paying a corresponding price.

"My idea might be a bit strange, I hope Your Excellency won't take offense," qimora smiled apologetically at Aiden. "I just wanted to ask if Your Excellency would be interested in exchanging Divinity for other valuable things? Money, or things other than money."

"You intend to buy Divinity with money?" Aiden was somewhat surprised.

"After all, Your Excellency should still have quite an abundance of Divinity, correct?" Qimora gestured towards Aiden.

From the beginning, the Witch Coven had estimated Aiden's Divinity reserves to be significant—even if not quite at the Saint level, likely not far off. After the battle with the Bountiful Mother Cult, Aiden alone had taken the lion's share of the "spoils."

In Qimora's eyes, the man before her possessed Divinity close to the mortal limit. However, judging from his previous attempt to trade divine word with the Coven, he likely didn't possess enough divine word incantations to fully utilize all his Divinity.

"Is this the collective will of the Coven, or..." Aiden probed cautiously.

"It's my personal idea, though the others likely share the sentiment," qimora smiled. "Or perhaps Your Excellency would prefer we bid for it at the gathering?"

"Do you desire Divinity that much?" Aiden asked casually.

"Oh my, Your Excellency, that question..." Qimora gave a slightly bitter smile. "Acquiring Divinity must be much easier for you than it is for us." Official source is Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

Aiden reflected on his own journey of obtaining Divinity. The first point was a direct gift from Mephilia, practically part of the starter pack for his reincarnation in this other world, something he wasn't even aware of initially.

Later, during the collaboration with the Witch Coven against the "Black Goat," he inadvertently landed the killing blow, taking most of the Divinity.

Compared to these Grand Witches who had pursued divine power for years, even decades, his progress had been so smooth it rivaled Wuxia novel tropes where falling off a cliff grants peerless secret techniques.

From Aiden's casual question, qimora couldn't help but hear the subtext: Is Divinity really that hard to obtain?

Aiden realized his comment sounded like a well-fed person unaware of the starving one's hunger and could only wave his hand. "Well... okay, that's not what I meant."

"It's alright. I just wanted to confirm. After all, Your Excellency is indeed a highly reliable trading partner," qimora replied nonchalantly. "Compared to killing the others in the Coven, trading with you is more realistic."

"You actually considered killing your companions?" Aiden sensed she wasn't joking.

"Well, everyone has Divinity now, right? And strictly speaking, we aren't exactly companions. It's just... I definitely can't beat Abigail. Lamia isn't easy to deal with either. Vera is crucial for rebuilding the Coven right now, and Hasbinis wanders everywhere, impossible to find," Qimora stated with a helpless expression. "Besides, if I actually made a move, Abigail would surely expel me, so I gave up the idea."

Although Qimora said she wouldn't do it, the mere fact that such thoughts crossed her mind revealed just how desperately she desired more Divinity.

Aiden recalled she possessed at least two divine word incantations of the "Void" Authority, and she had also gained some Divinity after the Bountiful Mother cult incident... In other words, this "unassuming" witch was likely the Grand Witch closest to becoming a Saint in the entire Coven, aside from Abigail.

"Honestly, I haven't considered exchanging Divinity for money..." Aiden thought for a moment. "However, let me ask first, can you personally offer an equivalent price?"

In this world, Divinity should be considered a priceless treasure. Converting it to monetary value would naturally result in an astronomical sum. Even emptying the entire money pouch currently before Qimora wouldn't come close, not to mention the money didn't belong to her personally.

"Currently, I don't have it... but if you have such intentions, I will do my utmost to prepare equivalent conditions," Qimora said slowly. "Things other than money are also acceptable."