That evening, Aiden arrived punctually at Abigail’s summoning space as expected, and was surprised to find his seat had been moved.
Glancing to his left, he noticed the towering, half-human, half-snake figure watching him from the mist.
“Well, hello,” Lamia greeted him, flicking her forked tongue with a grin.
Unlike before, where Aiden had been seated at the far end of the table, facing the others, his new seat had been shifted to the side, to the spot that originally belonged to Priscilla—the same seat he’d occupied when he first infiltrated this gathering.
“Ladies, you’re all quite punctual,” Aiden greeted the witches with casual ease.
He understood the change in seating arrangement as a gesture of camaraderie from the coven. Previously, despite their collaboration, they’d always sat at opposite ends of the table, much like two rival gangs negotiating a truce. Now, with everyone seated side by side, there was a true sense of "belonging."
“Hmph.” Vera, seated to his right, turned her face away, clearly still unenthused by his presence.
“Come now, Vera, don’t be so cold,” Qimora chimed in, exhaling a puff of smoke from her rolled paper cigarette. “Thanks to the Warden keeping his word, you now have the divine words you’ve always sought, don’t you?”
“We merely received the payment we deserved; why should we be grateful to him?” Vera retorted dismissively.
“We’ve come this far, so there’s no need for this exclusionary attitude,” Qimora urged. “Today’s main focus is you and the Warden. If you’re not going to be a little enthusiastic, all that we’ve discussed might just go up in smoke.”“So, does that mean you two are getting cozy now?” Hasbinis remarked with a mocking tone at Vera. “Congratulations, Vera.”
“Do you have a death wish?” Vera shot back, instantly at odds with Hasbinis.
“Stop bickering. Let’s get down to business,” Abigail intervened, cutting off their impending argument. She then turned to Aiden. “Thank you for joining us, sir. Do you remember the last time we met, when you mentioned using the prison’s resources to assist us with production?”
"Of course."
"May I ask if you were serious about that?"
"Absolutely," Aiden replied, instantly realizing the purpose of Abigail’s summons this time. "Why? Do you have some lucrative opportunity in mind?"
His interest was piqued. When he had first proposed this idea to Abigail, he had indeed been quite serious about it.
The funding that Rose Prison received had never been abundant; they largely relied on their own earnings to cover expenses. In the recent case involving Carmilla and Silaine, he’d teamed up with the Mounted Squad, not only taking down a gang officer but also seizing a significant sum from the gang.
Even so, Aiden’s portion could only go into the prison’s treasury to keep daily operations running. While it was a considerable windfall on a personal level, within the scope of an institution's budget, it was just a drop in the bucket.
"Vera," Abigail looked over at her.
"Wait... Are we really about to discuss business with an Inquisitor?" Vera still seemed reluctant.
"Is this really the time to fuss over such minor details?" rasped Lamia. "The Black Goat has already devoured most of the Forest of the Witch Banquet. They even destroyed the gathering place, and now the route into the forest has been made public. This year's gathering is practically impossible."
"Reestablishing the Witch Sabbath Forest or setting up a new venue—both are costly endeavors," Qimora added. "Selling a few trinkets here and there won't be enough to cover household expenses. This time, Abigail has managed to secure us a proper income. We should support her in this."
From their discussion, Aiden could tell that, after the battle with the Bountiful Mother Cult, the Witch gathering was now in the same position as Rose Prison—they were both running low on funds.
"Fine, fine," Vera finally turned to Aiden. "Listen carefully. While researching materials, I stumbled upon a special powder that can absorb a huge amount of water, and turn it to a nearly solid gel. Its absorption capacity is about two hundred times its own weight, much higher than cotton, and once it absorbs the water, it doesn’t leak."
"A material that can absorb large amounts of water?" Aiden's mind immediately jumped to a synthetic material that seemed out of place for this world's technological level—superabsorbent polymers.
It sounded like Vera had accidentally created something similar, though likely with less advanced properties, during her alchemical research. If he considered the potential applications…
"Just get to the point, Vera! What’s this thing actually good for? Tell him already!" Hasbinis egged her on, unable to contain her excitement.
"Um…" Vera hesitated, momentarily at a loss.
Aiden glanced between the two of them before speaking up, "You've already applied this to personal hygiene products for women, haven’t you?"
All eyes immediately locked onto Aiden.
"How did you guess!?" Hasbinis exclaimed.
The most obvious application for a superabsorbent material would be in products like sanitary pads or diapers. In this world, women typically managed their menstrual cycles with cloth made of hemp or cotton, washing and reusing it as it got soiled. Since the cloth’s absorbency was limited and prone to leaking, women had to change it frequently.
Rose Prison even had to provide prisoners with such cloth to handle their personal hygiene needs. But if they could incorporate Vera's material into a properly wrapped fabric…
"It’s essentially a sanitary pad," Aiden blurted out, using the closest term this world’s language could offer.
"Sanitary pad…" Qimora murmured, rolling the phrase around thoughtfully. "It’s a fitting name."
"Perfect! This has huge potential! Can the raw materials be mass-produced?" Aiden asked, clapping his hands as he turned to Vera.
Though its performance might still fall short of modern-day standards, for this world, it was a revolutionary product. Even if production costs were high, it could be sold as a premium item.
Judging by the reactions of these witches, it seemed they had already tried the product themselves, so its safety was likely well assured.
"I... I already have a preparation method," Vera replied, still somewhat taken aback by Aiden's enthusiasm. "If someone assists, there shouldn’t be any issues."
"Then we’ll handle sewing it into fabric, turning it into a finished product to sell," Aiden said, quickly outlining their roles, nodding with satisfaction.
"A man showing such interest in women’s products—rather unusual, isn’t it?" Hasbinis commented with a touch of sarcasm.
"What’s wrong with that? I simply support the liberation of women’s physiology through technology," Aiden replied nonchalantly, spreading his hands.
It seemed he was about to embark on a business venture selling diapers and sanitary pads in this other world.