The Warden of The Witches

Banter and Confrontation

Aiden pushed open the door to the prison infirmary and locked eyes with Veronica, who was seated across from the door. restrained by handcuffs, shackles, and two loops of belts, securely fastened to the chair as a temporary control measure.

She had just been in a fight, and still in her transformed state, the sight of her gritting her teeth with a twisted expression was rather intimidating.

"Warden!"

The four guards watching over Veronica all saluted Aiden in unison – it was a necessary number for guarding a werewolf.

"Long time no see," Aiden greeted Veronica as he approached with his hands behind his back.

"At this rate, we could have a meal together every day before your execution."

Veronica turned her head away, seemingly disdainful of speaking to him.

"Oh, it hurts so much! This damn bitch broke my nose. Warden, why don't you hang this murderer already?" a sharp voice rang out from the other side of the room.

Aiden glanced in the direction of the voice and saw the thief Katherine, her face was bruised and swollen, angrily pointing in their direction.

Not far away sat the pirate Anna, her face also marked with injuries. the prison doctor was standing by, tending to them.

Aiden gave the doctor a questioning look, the doctor waved his hand. "They're fine, just external injuries."

"What about the other person?" Aiden inquired about Fei condition.

"Prisoner 3307 is lying inside, still unconscious, but it's nothing serious, just a mild concussion," the doctor gestured inside.

"Prisoner 3308, do you make it a point to cause trouble every day?" Franda stood before Veronica with a dark expression, tapping her own palm with an iron rod.

"You weren't even there, how can you be so sure it was me causing trouble?" Veronica lifted her face challengingly, as if taunting.

Franda took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and turned to Aiden to suggest in a low voice, "Warden, this person is a ticking time bomb. If we leave her unattended, she might end up killing someone again. While she's caused trouble this time, let's lock her up in solitary confinement and assign someone to watch over her. It's just for a month anyway."

Franda proposal was a rather experienced approach. Prisons always had troublesome inmates, and when they were housed with others, it was easy for conflicts to arise.

Generally, wardens would try to find ways to transfer such inmates elsewhere, either by separating them from others or providing special arrangements.

In Silver City, aside from here, there was no women's prison equipped to accommodate pure-blooded werewolves.

They couldn't transfer Veronica, so the most stable solution was to confine her in solitary before the execution – of course, there needed to be a valid reason for solitary confinement, and getting into a private fight was a convenient justification.

Veronica's two beast-like ears twitched. Although Franda voice was low, she still heard it clearly – werewolf's ears had far superior hearing compared to humans.

She sneered at the remark, but said nothing.

Although the pair with visible injuries On the other side unable to hear, they could still deduce from the warden's demeanor that a punishment was impending for Veronica. They both wore a sly grin, unconsciously.

However, Aiden shook his head upon hearing Franda suggestion. "No need to rush things. Let's first get the facts straight. Separate all four individuals involved and question them individually. Franda, you go talk to the two in cell six, and I'll speak with the two in cell thirteen."

It was basic interrogation technique to interrogating multiple suspects separately, scrutinizing every detail of the incident, and then cross-referencing testimonies to pinpoint lies. If the suspects hadn't coordinated their stories beforehand, it was easy to catch discrepancies.

Veronica looked at Aiden in surprise, and the pair from cell six also showed signs of concern.

Franda hesitated briefly but ultimately complied. "Alright, understood."

"Wait a moment, Warden! Why should we, who got beaten up, undergo interrogation?" Katherine protested loudly.

"Isn't this blatant favoritism? It's so great when having a pretty face, you can do whatever you want. After all, Warden, you're also a man, right!" Anna chimed in, tauntingly.

"Both of you—"

Franda was about to reprimand them sternly, but Aiden raised his hand to stop her, then addressed the two calmly, "Prisoner 3294, Prisoner 3295, are you planning to teach me how to do my job?"

The two were momentarily taken aback, but then shamelessly burst into laughter.

"Oh my, how frightening. Is the Warden going to punish us without any reason?"

"The Warden casually using his authority to trample on prisoners' rights, how dignified! If this were exposed to human organizations rights, I wonder what they would say."

They became even more brazen in their clamor. One used to be a bandit leader, the other a pirate captain, both were ruthless characters used to living on the edge, finding amusement in defying enforcers, and were unfazed by standard punitive measures.

Having spent time in numerous prisons, they were well-versed in the extent of a prison guard's authority. This insolent behavior was their specialty, and they can torture guards until they lose their temper.

This was their first time in this Rose Prison, and they intended to assert their dominance over the warden using this tactic.

However, Aiden showed no signs of anger, simply smiling at them,

"Rest assured, I'm a fair person. If there's no reason, I certainly won't punish you.

But I can still arrange for a room change.

On Cell no three, 'Mad Harlow,' is quite solitary. Since you're so eloquent, why not share a room with her?"

Upon hearing this, the color drained from the faces of the two.

"Mad Harlow" was a notorious troublemaker in the core area of this prison. She was a wildly erratic cult priestess, never exhibiting any signs of normalcy. she Often would burst into fits of laughter while dancing around as if no one was around.

Moreover, this individual was fond of sacrificial rituals for her cult. She would draw strange runes with blood in various places (including on other people's bodies and beds), and conduct ceremonies by herself.

At times, she even attempted to gouge out the eyes of others while they slept, intending to use them as offerings.

What's even more terrifying is that she was bestowed with some kind of "blessing" by the malevolent deity she worshipped.

Anyone who inflicted violence upon her would immediately suffer equivalent harm, and the madwoman herself seemed happy with the pain.

In other words, ordinary people couldn't touch her, they could only tolerate her.

No one could endure being roommates with this lunatic for more than a day. The last female prisoner assigned to share a room with her nearly hung herself.

"There's also Room Ten 'Rampaging Dragon Carmilla,' Room Eleven 'Tainted Blood Evangeline,' and Room Nineteen Corpse Witch Sylvain..."

Aiden casually recited a series of names that made most of the inmates in the core area shudder.

He looked back and forth at the two, "Which one would you like as your new roommate? I can let you choose."

Just a minute ago, the two were loudly defiant, but now they fell silent like a winter's night.

Seeing them cower in the face of adversity, Aiden smirked, "Don't compare Rose Prison with the 'hotels' you were in before.

The core area houses hardened criminals, and even picking one at random, their level will far exceeds yours.

I have no trouble getting along with them. I've tamed so many troublesome witches, and yet you think you can challenge me? If I need to make arrangements, I don't need your consent.

Cooperation with my work keeps everyone safe. If you insist on crossing swords with me..."

He deliberately paused here, glancing at the two, his eyes carrying a hint of coldness, "Beware of meeting your end at my hands!"

Katherine instinctively averted her gaze, while Anna clenched her lips and glared at him, but couldn't utter a word.

Aiden knew that dealing with these hardened criminals required a certain level of ruthlessness.

They saw the law as nothing, believing only in the rules of the jungle. The best way was to use even more ruthless criminals against them.

His main concern was finding a way to contain the most troublesome batch of inmates.

"Take them away!" Aiden turned back and commanded Franda behind him.