Chapter 331: Chapter 331 Friendship’s Little Boat Turns Over Easily_1
Prisoners consecutively appeared at the door, and Aiden, as usual, entered the corridor for inspection with Flandre, followed by an exceedingly loyal mercury golem.
Sophie also approached the door and looked around.
"The discipline in this prison is pretty good, huh? With so many tough-looking tough guys locked up, they all behave during room checks," she commented.
"It wasn’t like this before," Fille whispered back.
Today, when Aiden stepped in, the entire prison was silent as a graveyard, and not even a single complaint drifted from the cells—overall, the level of discipline was now no different from that of the general population inmates.
Since Veronica took over as the head of the riot control team, Camilla became a jailhouse enforcer supporting Aiden, and the prison funds became more abundant improving the quality of life for the inmates... All these factors influenced a marked improvement in the discipline within the core area cells.
Moreover, after the collective escape attempt was harshly suppressed by Aiden, many inmates involved were beaten up by other prisoners under Aiden’s arrangement and were dragged to work as labor in the textile workshop, so now in this prison, nobody dared to openly defy Aiden anymore.
"Hey hey, Lord Aiden! Over here, over here! I’ve been waiting for you for several days!!" Fille had not seen Aiden yet when she stretched her arm through the bars and began waving.
"Inmate 3307, pull your hand back in!" Flandre scolded.
"You seem... to have a good relationship with the warden?" Sophie asked in a lowered voice upon seeing this.
"Hmph, of course!" Fille instantly turned on boast mode, "We’re quite close!"
"How close?" Sophie asked, curious.
"Imagine whatever you want, but whenever he needs something, he comes to me for help," Fille said meaningfully.
Indeed, whenever there was a need (to use the succubus’s abilities) Aiden would find her, Fille thought to herself, so of course this could not be considered lying.
"Really? Then you must have quite a good standing in this prison," Sophie asked with interest.
"Of course!" Fille responded decisively—as a five-time palace-goer with a backing cash ability, she naturally had it easy in prison, "Don’t worry, newbie, I’ll take good care of you here."
"That’s... Well, thank you, um," Sophie thought, considering the amount of money on her own account, she really did not have to worry too much about not being able to get by in prison.
Soon, Aiden approached the vicinity.
"Lord Aiden, over here, over here! Come and chat with me for a bit! Mwah!" Fille greeted Aiden as she always did and blew him a kiss.
"Oh." Aiden’s response lacked any ripple of interest; he merely glanced at her and then turned his gaze towards her roommate.
"What?" The pirate Annie, who also resided in cell thirteen, looked back at Aiden with some displeasure, her face etched with exhaustion.
Now that she had lost her father’s Red Shark Pirates as a backing force, the current Annie Drake was just an ordinary inmate whose treatment level had been reduced to the lowest, the continuous overtime of recent days had completely worn away her edges.
Aiden sighed regretfully in his heart, beginning to miss the days when Annie still had a bit of fight in her when he first started applying punitive measures. Now, this inmate had also completely lost the will to oppose him, which made him feel somewhat unenthused.
Then he bypassed the succubus who was still clamoring for him to enter the cell to "get cozy" and arrived in front of cell fifteen.
"Warden, you’re here... Did you come specifically to see me?" Sophie smiled and greeted Aiden.
"Sort of, I came to see how well you’re adapting here," Aiden answered.
At that moment, Fille muttered while holding the bars, "Lord Aiden, you’ve never cared about me like this..."
"What’s there for you to worry about?" Aiden glanced at Fille.
Fille had long been a regular in this prison, every time she came it was like coming home, worrying about whether she would adapt was utterly unnecessary.
"Warden, don’t you think this ’gift’ is a bit... excessive?" Sophie lifted her hand and shook her handcuffs.
"I think it suits you just fine," Aiden replied nonchalantly.
Sophie’s ability to swap her appearance with that of others could actually make the shackles invisible as well, but what she could change seemed to be only the "perception" of others. The cuffs clamped on her wrists still physically existed and were capable of restricting her movements to some extent.
"Gift? What gift?" Fille, unable to see the situation next door, shouted eagerly, "Lord Aiden, you’ve never given me any gifts! I want one too!"
"Stop making a fuss," Aiden glanced at her.
"That officer on duty has been watching me closely, even coming over to check on me from time to time," Sophie said, pointing towards the door. "I’ve already said I won’t cause you any trouble, you might be showing too little trust in me."
The person on duty in the surveillance room today was indeed Veronica; Aiden had instructed her to keep a close watch on Sophie.
"Aren’t you worried about your personal safety being threatened? I’m just concerned about you," Aiden completely overlooked Sophie’s protest.
"Lord Aiden, you never worry about me!" Fille protested as well.
This time, Aiden outright ignored her.
Annie Drake, who had once been manipulated by Fille with money, watched her roommate without saying a word.
"Warden, do you mind having a quiet word with me?" Sophie beckoned.
Aiden thought for a moment, then stepped closer to the cell door.
Seeing Aiden’s action, Fille immediately started yelling: "Lord Aiden, why are you so close with this newbie but ignore me so completely? This isn’t fair!!"
"Quiet!" Aiden pointed at Fille.
Then, Sophie leaned in close to Aiden and whispered in a voice only they could hear: "I really don’t have any ill intentions towards you, could you give me some face and not be so harsh on me?"
"Sorry, my principle is to never trust prisoners easily, I must take precautions against your abilities. If you take this place as a shelter, you should have expected such treatment," Aiden refused without hesitation.
"I thought you’d be more approachable," Sophie said wistfully, stepping back from the cell door.
"Approachable people often can’t handle this job well," Aiden finished and turned to continue his inspection deeper within.
After Aiden left, Sophie whispered to Fille: "You just mentioned that you’re on good terms with the warden, right..."
Hearing Fille brag earlier, Sophie thought perhaps she could try to soften Aiden’s vigilance towards her by getting on good terms with Fille, especially since they had just hit it off; Fille even said she would look out for her.
However, Fille’s attitude had changed completely, she replied indignantly: "Are you bragging to me? Damn! Don’t get cocky, I’ll remember this!!"
"Eh?" Sophie was taken aback.
They were just getting along so well a moment ago, how come it feels like... the friendship boat has capsized?
