Chapter 18 An Array of Talent_1

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The next morning, as the main gate to the core area opened, Warden Flandre led several prison guards and an entire riot squad into the prison corridor, shouting, "Core area, time for labor!"

No sooner had her voice faded than the cell doors in the core area were opened in succession, and inmates were coming out one after another, lining up in two columns on both sides of the corridor.

Inmates at Rose Iron Prison, as long as they were able-bodied, were expected to participate in labor reform on workdays, and that included the notoriously difficult witches in the core area.

This labor was mandatory, inmates received only a meager amount of spending money, and the prison took the rest for operational expenses.

Despite this, the leaders of the core area tended to be cooperative overall. Consistent cooperation in labor reform, and especially outstanding performance, helped reduce sentences and raise their treatment grade within the prison. Besides, they wouldn't want to fall afoul of a very resourceful warden over such trivial matters.

As Flandre walked down the corridor and counted heads, she suddenly frowned.

There was someone missing; cell number thirteen was unaccounted for.

Since Veronica, a death row inmate soon to be executed, was not required to participate in labor reform, her cellmate Fille was a different case.

Flandre came to the door of cell thirteen, her face darkened as she shouted, "Inmate 3307, what are you still doing in bed? Hurry up and get to work!"

Fille still lay on her iron bed fixed to the wall, wrapped like a caterpillar in her blanket, and waved at Flandre with bleary eyes, "No way, Warden, I still feel dizzy after the hit the other day, please allow me to take a sick leave."

"Are you kidding me? You got hit the day before yesterday, and you were fine yesterday, and now you're sick again?" Flandre laughed in exasperation at the exasperating inmate, "Without the prison doctor's approval, nobody can take sick leave! If you keep this up, I'll have the riot squad drag you to work! Move it!"

Veronica, who had just come out after washing up in the adjoining cell, glanced at Fille still in bed, shook her head, and indifferently returned to her bunk to read.

At that moment, Aiden's voice came from the other end of the corridor, "Let her be."

"Warden? How come you..." Surprised, Flandre turned her head to see Aiden walking briskly from the direction of the main gate, with the prison guards stationed near the gate saluting him.

Unlike usual when Aiden's inspections caused chaos, this time as he walked past, the inmates standing outside their cells behaved impeccably, the worst they did were glaring at him with resentment or quietly cursing under their breaths.

The ones who usually cursed Aiden the most also weren't foolish. They knew that whatever antics they pulled off while inside their cells could at most be considered disciplinary infractions, but in a situation where they could physically interact with the guards, any slight misconduct could immediately be deemed an assault on a guard, earning them a greeting from the riot squad's iron batons.

Aiden, without glancing at the inmates lined up, strolled to the front of cell thirteen, "Just let inmate 3307 stay in her room for now. I have something to discuss with her. Flandre, go ahead and take the rest to work."

"Understood!"

Without another word, Flandre obeyed the order, had the other guards get the inmates in line, and then led them to different labor areas.

"Hehe, as expected, Warden Aiden is soft on me, letting me sleep a bit longer!" Fille said to Aiden with a cheeky grin from her bed.

"Soft on you, my foot!" Aiden snapped back unceremoniously, "I just need to ask you something. Once you answer my questions, you're off to work!"

"Ehhhh—don't be like that!" Fille whined melodiously in protest.

"One more word and I'll assign you overtime," Aiden retorted without hesitation, immediately quieting Fille down.

"Warden." Veronica put down the book she was holding as soon as Aiden appeared at the door, "Is there... any news?"

She tried to keep her expression and voice calm, but her eyes revealed her eagerness.

Aiden couldn't help but sigh as he looked at her, "Although I understand where you're coming from, I need to warn you not to get your hopes up. After all, from a procedural standpoint, your case was closed when you were sentenced to death. Overturning it isn't going to be easy."

"This... I know," Veronica said, lowering her eyes.

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"We should gather some clues as much as possible first, and I also have something I need to confirm with you," Aiden segued into the heart of the matter, "Tell me, that kid named Bruce, does he have a girlfriend or is there a girl he's been chasing or something?"

"He doesn't have a lover, but he did try to pursue a girl. She's the billboard girl at a tavern in the lower city district, but it hasn't been going smoothly," Veronica recalled.

"Oh? What do you mean by 'not smoothly'?" Aiden perked up with interest.

"That girl, she's quite materialistic. I've seen her on dates with men who looked rather wealthy during my patrols, several times at least, with at least three different men. Every time Bruce tried to ask her out, she turned him down. I've advised him to give up, but I'm not sure he took it to heart," she said.

"I see, so the kid really did come into some unexpected fortune..." Aiden muttered, rubbing his chin, "But he's still a hopeless simp."

"May I ask, does this have anything to do with the case?" Veronica cautiously inquired.

"Yes, you've provided some very valuable information," Aiden replied with a smile, then turned to Fille, "Fille, I also have something to ask you. I remember you used to run a shop in Fireworks Alley, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Were you influential there?"

"Are you kidding? I used to be the Queen of the Night in Fireworks Alley, the call of the wind and the summon of the rain. If my shop dare say its business was only second to none, no one would dare claim to be the first!" Fille suddenly became animated, sat up, and bragged while slapping her thigh.

"You're actually proud of being an old procuress, huh?" Aiden was both amused and annoyed by her antics, "Alright, enough. Do you know of a place called 'Midnight Rose'?"

"Hold on a second! You'd rather go to that overpriced and trashy place than come to me?" Fille jumped up from the bed indignantly, "When I was doing business across the street from that lousy shop, they couldn't land a single customer all night. If it wasn't for my shop getting shut down, they would have gone bankrupt long ago!"

"Stop it, will you? Look, Veronica's gaze is turning icy," Aiden hurriedly cleared his name, "I was there for an investigation!"

This time, not only Veronica but also Fille looked at him with a touch of disillusionment, "Lord Aiden, that excuse... it doesn't really hold water."

"I'm, serious, about, this!" Aiden emphasized deliberately, tapping on the iron bars, "The two people I'm looking into went to that nightclub yesterday for a secret talk, so I want to snoop around a bit!"

"That's going to be tough, those kinds of places don't divulge their clients' privacy lightly, and Lord Aiden, you don't have investigation authority," Fille blinked twice.

"That's why I'm asking if you have any connections!"

"Oh, that's easy then." Fille suddenly declared with exceptional bravado, raising her hand, "Give me paper and a pen! I'll write you a letter of introduction, sign it, and I guarantee they'll follow your word as soon as they see it."

"You have that much clout?" Aiden was surprised.

"I'll threaten them that if they don't listen to you, once I'm out of prison, I'll have people specifically target their shop to squeeze them out, stealing all their clients, reducing them to begging in the streets of Fireworks Alley!" Fille grimaced with a sinister smile.

"Not bad, I never thought you'd come in handy one day," Aiden nodded approvingly.

"Then... can someone who comes in handy get a little reward?" Fille winked at Aiden.

"I can overlook your slacking off today," Aiden considered, "If that letter of introduction truly works, I can bump you up a treatment level when I get back."

"Yay, just leave it to me!" Fille suddenly clenched her fist, full of enthusiasm.

Veronica looked back and forth between the two in amazement, not sure what to say.

This Rose Iron Prison really was full of talent.