Chapter 64: Chapter 64: The Assassin Wants to Live a Peaceful Life_1
"Warden."
After handling Ophelia’s issue, Aiden heard Daili, from cell number twelve, call out to him from the doorway.
"What is it?" Aiden turned his head to look.
"This time, I assisted you in capturing the escaped convicts, I was wondering..." Daili paused with a meaningful undertone, smiling towards Aiden.
"Ah, rules are rules, you won’t miss out on the benefits you deserve. However..." Aiden also paused deliberately, with a significantly meaningful smile.
"Of course, the demonic contract that was dissolved by convict 3340, I will resign it with you," Daili nodded in understanding.
From a purely transactional point of view, Aiden was confident that Daili and Asenna would not easily betray him; this incident was proof of that.
But to each his own, making use of these dangerous convicts was akin to dancing with wolves; he would never easily loosen the collars around their necks.
However, the incident with Meiruki’s servant also revealed that demonic contracts have their flaws in front of criminals more adept in such matters, and Aiden realized he could not overly rely on the binding power of demonic contracts in the future.
"Warden Aiden! Warden Aiden!"
At that moment, Fille from cell thirteen also started calling out to him.
"What now?" Aiden looked over with some impatience.
Based on past experience, he anticipated that this one would surely have some bizarre requests for him.
Yet Fille’s next words took him by surprise: "Warden Aiden, do I get a reward too?"
"What?" For a moment, Aiden thought he misheard, "Hold on, you barely contributed to this incident, what face do you have to ask me for a reward?"
"When that woman broke out of the cell, I resisted temptation and stayed put in my own cell!"
Fille puffed out her ample chest with an inflated sense of pride.
After listening, Aiden could not help but laugh, and after a while, he nodded at Fille with a sense of "admiration": "You know, I’m truly impressed by your thick skin; I’m afraid you’ve cornered the market on thick skin for the entire prison. You only have a year in your sentence, and getting caught escaping adds at least five years, how deranged would you have to be to escape with them? Isn’t staying in your cell obediently the obvious thing to do?"
"But at least I followed your rules properly!" Fille persisted, "Shouldn’t you properly reward a model prisoner who abides by the law?"
"Reward your head, by that logic, prisoners also have a duty to report illegal activities in prison. This time convict 3340 caused such a mess, and you lived in the same room with her yet noticed nothing? " Aiden stared sharply at Fille, "I haven’t even started on your responsibility for failing to report."
"I knew nothing at all! I’m just a weak and helpless succubus who can only whimper..." Fille said, shifting her gaze away guiltily.
This was naturally a blatant lie. When Meiruki’s servant tried to use her connections in prison to spread drugs, although she refused to be corrupted, she didn’t voluntarily report to Aiden, her principle of survival in this prison was to be wise and stay out of trouble.
After dealing with her for so long, Aiden was of course well aware of her character. He couldn’t be bothered to expose her lie and turned with a snort, walking towards cell eleven.
Avansa, as usual, sat calmly with her legs hugged, curled up on the bed plank, as if the events of the previous day had nothing to do with her.
But when Aiden appeared at the doorway, she did show a slight reaction and glanced over.
Aiden gestured, and Veronica opened the cell door: "Convict 3201, Avansa, come out."
Avansa got out of bed unhurriedly, walked to the door, and spoke calmly, "Are you going to punish me?"
Having seen Ophelia’s recent state, she was mentally prepared.
"That’s why I asked you to come out for an investigation, come on out, to the interview room,"
Avansa nodded and left the cell.
In the interview room, sitting across an iron table, Avansa sat squarely on one end, like a student ready for a lesson.
Aiden sat on the other end, with Veronica, serving as a bodyguard, standing behind him.
Under normal circumstances, talking with Avansa wouldn’t require a bodyguard, but now, without the enhancement of the demon contract, he understood the wisdom of a gentleman not standing under a collapsing wall when facing a top assassin alone in a room.
He wasn’t the kind of person who believed that trust alone could reform criminals. Although he felt that Avansa wouldn’t harm him, he also wouldn’t easily let down his guard around her.
The trust between them was maintained by transactions and rules, not by intangible feelings.
After a while, Aiden broke the silence, "I do not intend to pursue your escape from yesterday."
Avansa looked up, her eyes showing a hint of confusion.
"Your escape was forced by prisoner 3340, Meiruki, and I can testify to that," Aiden explained the deal in detail, "As long as you’re willing to commit to identifying her true identity in the future, I can overlook your escape."
"Identify?" Avansa blinked.
"To prove the true identity of prisoner 3340 to the court and the heresy tribunal, your testimony is most effective. Now, with Meiruki under our strict supervision, she can’t erase your memory for the time being."
"So, this means I have to... betray her?" Avansa said, somewhat bewildered.
"It means you cut ties with her position," Aiden corrected, "You don’t owe her anything, so what’s this about betrayal?"
Avansa fell silent. The fear of Meiruki, which had taken root in her heart since her childhood, along with the so-called affections, made her hesitate about Aiden’s proposal.
Aiden watched her for a while, exhaling, "Avansa, have you thought about a peaceful life? Not in prison, but outside, a calm life where you don’t have to kill and just need to follow the rules to live securely."
"Outside? But you, you said before..." Avansa showed some astonishment.
"Yes, before, you could only stay in prison for life. But now that Meiruki is caught, you might have this opportunity," Aiden tapped the table with his knuckles, "But the prerequisite is, you have to cut off your past as an assassin. You have to identify Meiruki, and the decision must be yours to make. I can help fight for the rest, this is your only chance."
"I make the decision myself?" Avansa still seemed a bit lost.
"You’ve learned to make decisions on your own, haven’t you? Just like yesterday," Aiden said encouragingly.
Avansa recalled, at that moment yesterday, a sudden thought made her resist the "mother’s" order.
A peaceful life... that was her own desire.
After a long time, Avansa spoke, "I... am willing."
