Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Lie?
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The utterly ordinary daily routine in Wing C was shattered by Creep.
"Everyone, stop moving!"
The three guards who had been peering into the CCTV monitors rushed out in emergency response, shouting orders to bring the situation in Wing C under control.
But by then, the only thing filling that place was the inmates' utter defeat, trembling in fear after being overwhelmed by Creep.
"Get down! Everyone!"
"Open the cells!"
Tension was thick on the guards' faces as well. Until now, they'd enjoyed a relatively peaceful time thanks to Creep's fool act, but the intense figure of Creep they'd seen on the CCTV screens was once again giving them headaches.
"Open the cell, Creep!"
Two of them had even drawn their pistols from their holsters, preparing to fire. If things escalated beyond what they could handle, they wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
Click-!
It was Creep, of course, who broke that tension.
Just moments ago, she'd been hugging Crow like a child, giggling innocently. Now, she raised both arms high toward the sky, clearly showing she had no intention of resisting.
"Huh? What's up, aunties?"
"Get down, now!"
Creep dropped to the floor,
and a guard mounted her back, snapping handcuffs on her wrists.
"Ow! That hurts!"
Despite having fully regained her senses, Creep played the part of a child, sniffling dramatically. She seemed to take great pleasure in throwing everyone off balance like this.
"...It hurts, damn it."
Though she was dragged away by the guards like a prisoner,
Creep didn't seem worried at all about her punishment.
"Hmm hmm~ Since I've used it all up, that means I can draw now, right?"
In the statement form meant to clarify the incident's details, she'd scribbled some vaguely plausible account.
After that, she just passed the time idly doodling a rough sketch of Crow's face in the remaining blank space.
Her artistic talent wasn't anything special, but she captured Crow's features pretty well, in her own way.
"...Should we send her to the infirmary first? Make her get reevaluated for mental competency...?"
"That's for the Correctional Officer to decide once she returns. Reinstate her for now. And call in the injured inmates."
Of all days, this headache-inducing one happened to be when the Correctional Officer was out on other business.
No guard knew she was visiting places like the OB-GYN or labs. So they could only hope she'd return as soon as possible.
"No, no! It was just a prank. We don't want any punishment at all. We were just playing together..."
The inmates, whose right hands had been utterly wrecked by Creep, shook their heads with faces drained pale as ghosts. No one wanted Creep punished.
Quite the opposite—they stepped up to defend her themselves. Something about how it had been ages since she'd snapped out of it, so they were just thrilled and messing around.
The guards knew full well it was a lie born of fear of Creep, yet they couldn't press further and simply nodded.
What could they say when the inmates themselves insisted they didn't want punishment?
"...No need to separate them."
Even Scardi said nothing much. If anything, she seemed intrigued by the current situation, with Creep starting to shine again.
"Just leave them be. The Correctional Officer's eyeing Wing C because of Crow anyway, and Creep could never kill Crow. If she ever crosses that line, I'll stop her."
With that, she reassured the guards and provided some comforting information. They might not trust anyone else's words, but they believed Scardi's.
There was never any falsehood in what she said.
The problem was she only ever revealed parts of the truth.
"I'll talk to the Correctional Officer myself. Set up a meeting as soon as possible."
"Ah, well..."
"...Is there a problem?"
"She probably won't come back today. We tried contacting her to report on Creep, but she didn't pick up..."
In moments like this, when the Correctional Officer was wrestling with her own karma,
no one was more dangerous than Scardi.
"Ah, I see."
Everyone was fretting over Creep,
but in truth, the most dangerous elements in this situation were
Scardi, and...
"It's nothing serious."
Lily, her cheek split open and bruises covering her body.
Even she spoke up in Creep's defense.
"Just the bare minimum violence necessary to maintain order inside the prison."
The guards couldn't understand Lily. How could she speak so detachedly?
Even after Creep had gone all out and beaten her to a pulp, Lily kept her signature blank expression.
"Reporting to the Correctional Officer won't change anything anyway. Because she really hates me."
And yet, she made remarks that pierced right to the heart of the matter.
This little girl had already analyzed her own predicament thoroughly.
"Creep only beats up and torments me. There won't be any more incidents. So no need to exaggerate the report. Just state the facts exactly. That Creep tried to beat me to death and torment me, and that she follows Crow around doting on him like a puppy."
This was like a race of sorts.
An extreme racing showdown between Lily and Creep...
Both charging straight at each other,
neither willing to turn the wheel.
"Say she looked like she was going to kill me. Just the facts like that."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"..."
Orca finally returned to the prison well past 7 p.m.
Wing C had erupted in chaos because Creep had regained her sanity, but Orca was oblivious to it all, sunk deep in her own sorrow and anguish as she quietly took a seat in her chair.
"Uh, what should we do?"
The guards glanced nervously at Orca as they asked, right after finishing their report on Wing C.
"...Should we transfer Creep to another wing?"
"..."
Orca said nothing. Her sunken eyes and disheveled hair blocked any response.
The guards, standing at parade rest, must have been dying from the tension, stealing glances. The kind of pressure you'd feel in the military...
"...Everyone, dismissed. I'll handle it myself."
That pressure only eased once Orca finally spoke. The guards let out sighs of relief and fled the office like their lives depended on it.
Left alone, Orca propped her elbows on the desk and stared blankly for a long while.
Nothing registered in her eyes,
and her mind refused to think.
In that moment, only one thing occupied Orca's thoughts.
A certain man named Crow.
Beep-
The door to Wing C opened.
There were still a few hours until evening roll call, but Orca dragged her heavy footsteps toward Wing C anyway.
She passed the pathetic villains killing time with showers or card games. What Orca sought was Crow's cell, at the far left end of Wing C's wall.
After hesitating a moment in front, Orca clenched her index finger with effort and knocked.
Knock, knock-
Exactly twice.
Then she waited for Crow to emerge from inside.
Creeak-
The door opened,
and instead of Crow, Creep stepped out.
The deranged woman with her stark white hair tousled wildly.
"Oh, hi there!"
She smirked and waved. Behind her, the pitiful, unimpressive Crow cautiously peeked out, rising onto his tiptoes. He didn't even glance at Lily, huddled in the corner barely breathing.
"Orca...?"
Orca rushed toward Crow. She grabbed his shoulders, trembling violently.
Everyone watched. Everyone in Wing C, and even the guards monitoring via CCTV, stared at Orca's sudden outburst.
"C-Crow..."
The haughty woman who looked like a cold-blooded killer without a tear in sight
trembled anxiously before the near-dead man, pleading.
"U-Um...! W-Would you... maybe have a quick meeting with me...?"
It sounded absurd,
but Orca was already teary-eyed, shaking his shoulders back and forth.
"A meeting! M-Meeting! Everyone, make way!"
No, she'd made up her mind. Orca seized Crow's wrist and hurried out of Wing C.
There was only an hour and a half left until evening roll call.
Anyone would find a meeting at this hour suspicious.
"W-Wait...!"
Crow, whose legs hadn't fully regained strength, staggered trying to keep up, nearly falling.
So Orca didn't even ask his opinion—she just scooped him into a hug and crossed the prison corridor with him.
Even at night, the lights blazed harshly.
Under them, she brought Crow to her office,
sat him on the sofa, and trembled in front of him as she spoke.
"U-Um...! I'm pregnant? W-With your child, Crow. Got it...?"
A ridiculous lie no one would believe.
It was so blatantly false it was almost comical. Crow blinked in stunned silence as he heard Orca's words.
"So, like before... wanna get along nicely again...?"
Her quivering voice,
Orca's words were more like a scream or a wail.