"It seems what the goddess guarding the house in the dungeon said was all true," Aiden leaned on his cane, studying Melissa's expression. "This face of yours, it's practically carved from the same mold as hers."
"Knowing you're facing a goddess, your tone doesn't show a shred of respect," Melissa looked at Aiden.
"Would respecting you be useful?" Aiden asked.
"Of course not. Mortal respect is utterly useless to gods," Melissa echoed words similar to Mephilia's, then sat down in the chair behind the counter, casually placing the wine bottle on it. "Good. Since you know everything, there's no need for me to continue this pointless role-playing."
Aiden realized that upon entering, Melissa hadn't immediately perceived what he knew. Only when those thoughts surfaced in his mind did Melissa read them through mind-reading.
In other words, Melissa's mind-reading can only access currently surfacing thoughts, not immediately delve into deeper memories.
"Oh my, analyzing me?" Melissa narrowed her eyes at Aiden. "It seems our 'chess piece' has started to harbor rebellious intentions towards the goddess who kindly helped him."
"Don't make it sound like I was loyal to you in the first place. I'm not your believer," Aiden frowned slightly. "And I think you need to check a dictionary to see what 'kindly' actually means."
"You should know by now too, the one who actually summoned you to this world and gave you Divinity was me," Melissa chuckled. "No matter how you put it, I should count as your benefactor."
"This conversation feels exactly like a repeat of last night," Aiden shook his head helplessly and cut straight to the chase. "I came today mainly to confirm one thing..."
"'Want to confirm if I intend to assimilate your mind'?" Melissa didn't wait for Aiden to finish, simply reading his thoughts. "Why would you think that? No matter how willful I am, I wouldn't easily break a precious toy... However, I can't guarantee I won't suddenly want to do so in the future, because it feels quite interesting. 'Just as I thought'? You already guessed the answer. Looks like you're truly getting to know me better."
"..." Having the entire conversation snatched away before even asking the questions, Aiden fell silent.
After a good while, he finally spoke: "Your mind-reading ability, is it a power of 'Wisdom' or 'Desire'?"
"Actually, both, I suppose. The 'Wisdom' power can deduce the other party's thoughts, and the 'Desire' power can perceive their intentions. I possess both powers... Oh dear!" Melissa suddenly read Aiden's thoughts.
Aiden silently took out the Codex Anomos and fountain pen he carried, flipped it open, crossed out the rule concerning Qimora, and then wrote: "Directly reading others' minds is forbidden."
Melissa is the Dominator of 'Desire.' The Codex Anomos cannot restrict her use of the 'Desire' Authority's powers.
But since the 'Wisdom' Authority isn't with her, according to the theory that the strength of Authority power only relates to the individual's proximity to the Authority, the Codex Anomos should be able to restrict her use of 'Wisdom' powers.
If what she said just now was true, although it couldn't completely stop her from reading some of his "purposeful thoughts," at least not every single notion would be completely seen through by her.
"Putting the Unique Authority to good use right after getting it. Seems you quite like the gift I 'sent' you," Melissa didn't seem angered by Aiden's action at all. Instead, she pushed the sparkling wine bottle on the counter towards him. "We should still celebrate, right? I went to the trouble of buying this bottle specifically."
"This..." Aiden glanced at the bottle. "Isn't this sparkling wine from the Griffin Winery?"
"You have good taste," Melissa's tone was casual.
"I don't have good taste, but I know this stuff is expensive," Aiden answered frankly. "Do gods also like things like this?"
Aiden knew this wine, bearing the griffin trademark, was a luxury item on the market, affordable only by wealthy merchants or landed nobility. The prices of the several wines produced by this winery varied greatly, but the variation was merely between several times and over ten times his monthly income.
"Just a whim. I am the Dominator of 'Desire,' after all. I don't reject matters of pleasure," Melissa said, taking out wine glasses and an opener. "The shop still needs to open today. You go clean up the party popper ball; I'll pour the wine."
"The party popper affects business, but drinking won't?" Aiden reached up and pulled down the celebratory ball. "Honestly, I don't feel there's anything worth celebrating."
"But I want to celebrate because my chess piece performed well on the board this time," Melissa opened the wine herself and poured sparkling wine into two glasses. "No need to be too rigid. Although everything was arranged by me, you ultimately benefited, didn't you? Unique Authority, money, and... fame."
"Fame?"
"It made the papers, after all. You're a celebrity now," Melissa said teasingly.
She took out today's newspaper, spread it on the counter to show Aiden. However, Aiden's first glance only caught a report about a female singer's solo concert: "Sophie Carter's Dreamy Night at the Royal Opera House Concludes Perfectly."
"This front page has nothing to do with me," Aiden said.
He felt the singer looked somewhat familiar. Thinking back briefly, he suddenly felt like he'd seen her frequently in magazines and newspapers lately.
"Your section is over here, still carries some weight," Melissa pointed to the second page.
Only then did Aiden see the report: "Pirate King Navia Drake, Who Once Broke Out of Empire's Capital Prison, Defeated at Rose Iron Prison."
"Your luck wasn't great. A celebrity's solo concert happened to steal your headline yesterday," Melissa chuckled.
"I didn't particularly want it anyway," Aiden shrugged.
"No matter. Although this pirate isn't particularly famous inland, in the Empire, especially the northern coastal regions, he's quite renowned. News of his capture will soon spread there. You're really going to become famous," Melissa raised her glass independently. "Perceptive individuals or forces might be able to discern something from this."
"'Unique Authority'?" Aiden realized Melissa's implication.
"Perhaps not to that extent, but they should be able to figure out it's related to Authorities," Melissa took a sip of wine. "After all, so many things have happened here; it must have already attracted the attention of numerous powers... In a way, this place has become quite a trouble spot."
(TN: 是非之地 (Shìfēi zhī dì) - Lit. 'land of right and wrong'. Place prone to disputes, trouble, or gossip.)
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