Chapter 39:
You're Really Capable
The next day, Veronica arrived at the Rose Prison for work as usual.
After clocking in, she went straight to the locker room, put her personal items in the cabinet, and then started to take off her clothes to change into her uniform.
A young female prison guard who was changing clothes in the next locker glanced at her and suddenly widened her eyes, "Oh! Miss Veronica? Your locker is right next to mine."
"Ah, yes." The sudden conversation caught Veronica off guard for a moment.
She looked at her colleague beside her, feeling a sense of familiarity, but couldn't quite remember.
She had just started working at the prison yesterday, and following closely behind Aiden. She had seen a few core area guards in between, but couldn't be sure if she had crossed paths with this person.
Seeing the other's demeanor, it was clear they knew her. If they had introduced themselves to her and she couldn't remember, it would be quite embarrassing.
Fortunately, the female prison guard sensed her awkwardness in time and smiled at her, "You probably don't remember me. I'm Isabella, I work at the core area surveillance post. I'm in charge of letting the prisoners out for exercise and showers. I was the one who restrained you The day you got into a fight in the bathroom."
"Oh, haha, nice to meet you, senior." Veronica shook hands with her politely.
"No, no, just call me by my name! I've only been here for three months myself. You're different, coming in with your rank. Your position will definitely be higher than mine once you're assigned a post." Isabella nudged her with her elbow. "I'll have to rely on you later on."
"Haha, you're... too kind." Veronica nodded. She wasn't particularly adept at social interactions, but she didn't mind the warm greeting from a colleague.
Considering that the guards in the core area dealt with various dangerous criminals all the time, they probably wouldn't be too wary of her being a werewolf.
"I saw you were with Chief Warden all the time yesterday."
"Yes, he was giving me newbie training."
"I had that too." Isabella nodded, "Thank goodness for having such a big shot backing us up. Honestly, when I found out I was assigned to Rose Prison after passing the exams, I was in despair.
I heard this prison was a mess, and even the Chief Warden was killed by rioting prisoners before. But after coming here, I unexpectedly found it quite relaxed, and the food in the cafeteria is good too."
"Yes, I feel the same way." Veronica replied politely.
At this moment, an unpleasant voice came from behind them, "Of course, you find it easy now that you've just arrived. You don't know how troublesome it was during the reform."
Both turned around to see a female prison guard in her thirties with short-cropped hair standing behind them, putting on her uniform while giving them a sidelong glance.
"It's just a case of a new boss trying to make a name for himself. These young kids always want to show off, without considering whether the people below can adapt. Only you young girls might think he's doing alright."
Isabella didn't say anything. She felt a bit uncomfortable with the sudden interruption, but the other party was an older prison guard with much more experience than her. It would only cause trouble if she offended her.
However, Veronica completely disregarded the other's intentions. After staring at the old prison guard for a while, she retorted, "At least he's actually achieving results. If you think you're better, why haven't you been promoted?"
Veronica's direct confrontation left Isabella stunned on the side.
The old prison guard furrowed her brows slightly, "Why doesn't this new recruit understand the rules?"
"What, you want to teach me?" Veronica stared back directly. Her sharp eyes naturally gave off a somewhat fierce aura.
After a few seconds of staring, the old prison guard couldn't hold on any longer, but she didn't want to lose face just like that. She gave a cold chuckle and shifted her gaze away.
At this moment, someone peeked out from the other side of the locker - it was Franda, the supervisor of the core area. She had been changing clothes in front of the other locker and happened to hear the commotion.
"What are you all doing? Why are you arguing so early in the morning? Get to work!" She shouted towards them, then glanced at the old prison guard named Megan, "Megan, it's almost time for the shift change, why haven't you opened the factory yet?"
In terms of position, Franda outranked everyone here, and Megan, the old prison guard, didn't dare to challenge her. She fastened her uniform buttons, said nothing, and left the locker room.
Isabella looked at Veronica and gave her a thumbs-up without saying a word.
"What's this for?" Veronica was puzzled.
"When I give this gesture, it means you're really something!" Isabella said seriously, "Impressive, no wonder you stood up to even the chief warden!"
"I was just annoyed that she came at me out of nowhere..." Veronica felt a bit embarrassed by Isabella's praise.
"Don't mind it, Megan isn't targeting you. She's had issues with the chief warden since before," Franda walked over and talked to them.
"Supervisor." Isabella and Veronica saluted her at the same time.
"Supervisor, why does she have issues with the chief warden?" Veronica asked bluntly.
"Megan is competent in her job, but she's a bit greedy. Back when she managed the regular cell block, the prison administration was quite chaotic, and she had a lot of opportunities for personal gain.
When she was in charge of the factory, she would casually make the prisoners work overtime, then sell the materials from the factory on the side. And when she managed the cells, she once hinted to the prisoners to bribe their way out of issues,"
Franda explained slowly, "Now that the new chief warden has taken office and demands the transparency in the factory's finances, he also moved her to the core area. And now that she can't make extra money anymore, naturally, she's not happy with the chief warden."
"Why keep someone like that around?" Veronica frowned.
"There's No choice, the prison is short-staffed," Franda shrugged, "Besides, it's not easy to dismiss people in the department. She's also quite slippery, it's not easy to catch her red-handed."
Veronica didn't say much after hearing this. Workplace issues could be found anywhere, and compared to the Mounted Police, the atmosphere here was already much better.
She changed into her clothes and once again entered Aiden's office, ready for training.
"...Have you gone through the materials I gave you yesterday?" Aiden asked when he saw her.
"I've read them all. You can quiz me anytime." Veronica replied confidently.
"Oh, very diligent. I was expecting it to take you a couple of days," Aiden nodded approvingly, "Then take a look at these when you have time."
"Criminal profiles... and a list of contraband?" Veronica took the materials and glanced at them.
"Yes, although these aren't as crucial as the ones you received yesterday, they're still important to remember."
"Huh?" Veronica suddenly puzzled "playing card is also contraband?"
"Yes, it used to be allowed, but later on, the prisoners started using those things for private gambling, and it got bigger in scale, so we banned it," Aiden nodded,
"Now, prisoners are only allowed to play in the card room under the supervision of guards."
"But..." Veronica hesitated for a moment.
"Oh?" Aiden noticed something and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Ah." Veronica realized she had let something slip.
"Very well, it seems like it's time to organize a surprise inspection," Aiden revealed a sinister smile.