Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Hunch (2)
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For the internal management of the prison, guards and inmates inevitably form relationships.
Among them, the inmates known as wing bosses wield considerable influence within their respective wings and often hold meetings about internal matters.
Where there are people, a leader is always needed. Even in a prison, to maintain a certain level of order, the existence of wing bosses is essential.
"Correctional Officer, if things continue like this, there will definitely be casualties."
July 8th,
9:40 AM.
C Wing's wing boss, Scardi, begins her meeting with Correctional Officer Orca. Guards or correctional officers can refuse inmate meeting requests, but in the current situation, Scardi's input is crucial for Orca.
"She's already caused several incidents, so it wouldn't be surprising if she killed a few more right now. Especially the guards—they'll be in danger."
A few minutes earlier, Orca had received reports from the guards. Among them were updates on the handling of Crow and Creep, and when combined with Scardi's information, the situation seemed quite serious.
"I saw them being separated this morning, and while observing them during breakfast afterward, the atmosphere felt off. It seems like they're targeting the guards again."
Creep, who already had a history of murdering a guard.
Orca couldn't dismiss Scardi's words lightly.
"...So Creep is targeting guards who interfere with her relationship with Crow?"
"Creep made no secret of their relationship—she boasted about it loud enough for everyone in C Wing to hear. If the guards try to stop it, it'll hurt her pride. She has plenty of justification. And Creep kills on a whim, justification or not."
"Yes, I know. Enough. I get it..."
Orca's sigh was heavy. A chill seeped from her as emotions swayed her once more. Scardi noticed the air growing colder around them.
Her nose also picked up a familiar scent of alcohol. It wasn't hard to spot the whiskey bottle nearby. Seeing Orca drinking on duty, Scardi realized just how cornered she was.
"Correctional Officer, I know you have bad feelings toward Crow."
"What?"
So she added a few words.
Unlike Orca, whose eyebrows shot up in irritation, Scardi hid her true feelings as much as possible and spoke deliberately.
"I'm locked up here because of Crow too. Still, since we live together in C Wing, I've been looking out for him to some extent."
"What are you getting at all of a sudden? What do you want to say?"
Crow had said his relationship with Orca had soured,
and Orca had beaten him nearly to death in front of everyone to uphold her sense of justice,
but to Scardi,
their relationship was far from over.
"So shouldn't you intervene to some degree? That woman Creep drags Crow around like her personal slave, stirring up the whole C Wing."
"..."
Orca had always been cold and rational, but ever since Crow was imprisoned, she showed signs of wavering like this.
Scardi wouldn't miss this opportunity.
She was now certain.
The correctional officer was simply denying her own feelings.
So Scardi pretended ignorance of their relationship while emphasizing the roles of correctional officer and wing boss.
"Without Creep, managing C Wing would be much easier. I could keep Crow in check too."
Pretending to despise Crow,
Orca was pouring all her attention into him.
She treated him harshly,
but deep down, she wanted him to be even a little comfortable.
July 8th,
10:02 AM.
Crow, finished with his visit,
and Creep, done with her treatment, met up in C Wing.
The other inmates were spending the morning cleaning for Monday, but Creep ignored such boring routines.
"Honey, want to play cards in my room? Hmm?"
She grabbed Crow's hand and led him to her room. Crow followed her weakly without much resistance.
The pregnancy talk from the infirmary,
and Lily's words from the visiting room, made Crow's head spin.
"Th-that thing you said in the infirmary earlier..."
"Yeah?"
So Crow adjusted his attitude toward Creep a bit. He'd already ejaculated inside her multiple times, so maybe, just maybe, her womb already...
"No, setting that aside, why... why are you doing this? You hate me, right? Or not...? Why do you want a baby so badly? I threw you in here. Why would you want a child with someone like that..."
Crow's voice trembled. He clutched his face, barely forcing out the words, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hide his fear.
"If there's anything I need to apologize for, I'll apologize... Yeah, I lost. Let's stop this. I admit I lost..."
He would kneel and beg Creep if he had to. He had no choices left.
If this was the mind game Creep intended,
Crow had to admit defeat.
Pride,
his role as a hero,
in the face of the very real threat of pregnancy, Crow tasted an overwhelming anxiety he'd never felt before.
"I'll do whatever you say. I'll-I'll talk to the other guards to let me stay in this room."
Looking down at Crow like that,
Creep tilted her head.
"If you tell me to lick, I'll lick. If you tell me to thrust, I'll thrust. No matter what you do to me, I'll just stay quiet. Please..."
"Honey, what on earth are you talking about?"
Creep's pale hand wiped away Crow's tears. Then she hugged him tight, patting his back, adding a few words.
"It's okay. We'll raise it well for sure."
At those words, Crow's body trembled even more. Creep's sincere sentences, without a trace of deceit, were filled only with pure joy and anticipation for the future.
"That's normal, they say. Expectant dads and moms get scared sometimes, or worried. So they hug each other, comfort one another, and get through it together."
She and Crow just couldn't communicate.
Or maybe their way of conversing was the problem.
"I said I lost...? Please..."
So Crow slammed his head to the floor and began begging. If it could end like this, he could beg even more humiliatingly, over and over.
He would escape this place someday. Someday he'd prove his innocence, get out, and live freely in the world.
But,
if by any chance Creep really got pregnant with his child,
Crow would never be free from that child and its mother.
No matter if it was born from rape,
Crow could never abandon an innocent life.
"I-I'm not some upright, single-minded guy like you said back then. You can see it right now. Ugh...?"
So he degraded himself and pleaded desperately. He had to endure. Until Lily got him out, he had to hold on here somehow, shake it off, and leave.
So please,
just don't let a child form in her womb.
He didn't care what insults he took,
didn't care if everyone pointed fingers at him.
Right now, he had to let everything go.
"Please..."
"Honey."
Creep pitifully stroked the head of Crow, who had bowed so subserviently, offering comfort.
"It's okay. Everyone's like that."
Seeing that unbreakable will,
Crow fell into panic.
"No, nooo... Please... I-I'm sorry. I'll beg like this. Can't you rethink it just once more? Please!"
It felt less scary when she beat him nearly to death.
This woman now stroking his head while looking down at him had become the embodiment of indescribable terror, chaining an iron collar around Crow's neck.
"Honey, everyone has flaws. I love even those parts of you."
And with that,
Creep shared an old story.
"Once the baby comes, your mindset will change. Parents aren't perfect beings, after all. They're flawed. But when you have a little one who trusts and relies on you, everything changes."
She'd always rambled messily,
but
in this moment, her voice was utterly earnest as she spoke to Crow.
"That's the real you, Crow."
For the first time in a while,
calling him by his hero name,
hugging him tight as she spoke.
"People only speak their true hearts in their darkest, most painful moments. Like you right now."
In the cramped two-person cell, one more damp, nauseating story was added.
The two,
embracing each other,
stayed that way until the story ended.
"You know what people say right before they die? After days of begging to live, when they finally plead to be killed, that's when they start muttering to themselves through tears."
At 10:30 AM,
the guards planned an unannounced inspection of C Wing under the correctional officer's orders.
Current time: 10:16 AM.
Creep comforted Crow, sharing her story,
and Scardi returned to C Wing, instructing her underlings to prepare for the upcoming inspection.