Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Juvenile Offender_1
Five days later, in cell number thirteen of the core area.
Succubus Phyllis was idly sitting by her bed, reading a novel, when the cell door opened and her cellmate—prisoner 3340—was brought in.
"Sis, you finally got out," Fille greeted her.
"Yeah, I’m finally out. These five days were torture, having to sleep next to the toilet every day," Meiruki collapsed onto her own bed and exclaimed loudly.
"You really took a big risk, keeping that bottle of medicine out in the open like that," Fille glanced at her, "Medicine is tightly controlled in this prison."
"I had no idea they would do a sudden inspection. I thought I had it all worked out with the guard, but it didn’t help at all," Meiruki said helplessly.
"This check was a spur-of-the-moment decision by the warden. Even if you had things worked out with other guards, it couldn’t have been prevented."
Fille understood what was being implied. A prisoner who wasn’t short of money like herself would always find ways to bribe the guards to make things easier for herself—though Warden Aiden didn’t play that game, it didn’t mean every single one of his subordinates was clean.
The large sums of cash and precious metals she had stashed away were not intended for other prisoners but for bribing the guards. In prison, that money couldn’t buy things and was a hassle to hide, not counting as very solid currency among prisoners, but it could buy off guards looking for a quick buck.
Once you get a guard on your side, they can arrange easier jobs for you and give you a heads-up about major inspections, among many other benefits.
"You really are familiar with this place," Meiruki said with a laugh, looking at Fille, "You must have quite a network here, right?"
"Somewhat," Fille responded casually.
"So..." Meiruki said with a meaningful smile, "are you interested in making some money together here?"
"What do you have in mind?" Fille looked over cautiously.
"When I was outside, I heard that certain medicines can sell for several times the profit inside prison compared to the outside. I don’t know if it’s true or not," Meiruki tentatively said.
But Fille was an experienced prisoner and immediately grasped the underlying message, "You want to become the ’drug boss’ here?"
"Making money isn’t something to be ashamed of," Meiruki laughed.
"Don’t look at me, just to let you know, I’m not short of money," Fille refused decisively, "Do what you want, but don’t drag me into it. Let’s keep to our own lanes!"
This cellmate, who called herself the wandering Alchemist Mary, seemed easygoing when she arrived, and Fille thought she was fairly easy to get along with, without any intention to further their relationship.
Firstly, she felt this prisoner appeared quite ordinary and didn’t have the same high utility value as her previous cellmate—the death row inmate Veronica. Secondly, this person’s sentence was only for six months.
But now it seemed she had underestimated her new cellmate. During that surprise search, Mary had managed to produce a bottle of contraband medicine, something Fille herself had not anticipated.
From her experience, someone with such means and resources could easily become a big shot in prison.
And indeed, it seemed that her cellmate also had that ambition.
But Fille had no interest in clinging to those coattails.
"Let me give you a piece of advice. You’ve only got six months. It’s better not to stir up trouble. The warden here is no fool," Fille earnestly advised Meiruki.
Despite her persistent nagging and stubborn behavior in front of Aiden, Fille actually knew all too well the keys to survival in this prison.
She could tell that Aiden throwing inmate 3340 into solitary confinement for five days was a warning. If inmate 3340 continued to commit offenses knowingly, it would undoubtedly be a provocation to Aiden, and she absolutely did not want to be implicated because of it.
Opposing the warden was definitely not a wise choice.
Meiruki slave fell silent for a moment before finally putting on a smile and nodding, "Alright, lesson learned."
She had thought this succubus was rather naive; it seemed she was not as easy to manipulate as imagined...
Originally, she had intended to push other inmates to the forefront, using their connections within the prison to spread and circulate channels for drug distribution, thereby building her power. But now it seemed more straightforward to handle it herself.
Well, the earlier seizure of drugs was a bit unexpected, but it turned out to be a good "advertisement" — soon inmates in need of drugs would actively seek her out.
However, she mustn’t act rashly now; any overambitious move might attract unwanted attention — the succubus was right about that, the warden did indeed seem difficult to deal with.
She needed to divert his attention with something else.
Fortunately, the pawn that could help her was about to arrive.
Meanwhile, in the warden’s office.
"...These are the applications submitted today." Flandre stood in front of the desk, holding the report respectfully.
"Mm, good," said Aiden, casually placing the documents he had finished with to one side and looking up at Flandre, "How’s our new recruit doing in the core area?"
"Quite well..." Flandre paused, then smiled and corrected herself, "I should say, the girl is really fantastic!"
"Oh?" Aiden leaned back in his chair with interest.
"During the last yard time, inmate 3319 provoked her and ended up being hung from a post by her single-handedly," said Flandre with a smile, "Now, whenever she’s patrolling and supervising, the inmates are especially well-behaved."
"Hmm, not bad," Aiden nodded approvingly.
Veronica was learning faster than he expected, and she had clearly begun to establish a degree of deterrence among the inmates.
As a pureblood werewolf who had undergone standard combat training, her fighting capabilities even compared to the core area inmates were elite, and just this alone gave her unique potential to manage the core area inmates.
To have such a promising new recruit was truly like finding a treasure.
"There’s another matter to report to you, two new inmates have been transferred into the core area," said Flandre, presenting two files.
Aiden frowned upon seeing the files — they bore the stamp of the Inquisitorial Bureau, indicating that the inmates had been directly captured and subjected to internal trials by the bureau before being sent here.
"What troublemakers now?" he glanced at Flandre.
"Both are juvenile offenders, with the same charges: attempted murder," Flandre spoke softly, "These two kids, seem to be professional assassins..."
Aiden immediately opened the file bags and skimmed through the two files, his eyes widening.
His gaze settled on the last paragraph of both inmates’ files, which ended with the same sentence:
"...According to the review results, it is surmised that they are members of ’Meiruki slave’s children.’"
