"I became a frontline inspector. That meant I could die at any moment... Given my foolishness, that sudden death might come the next day, or the day after, or any day after that. As long as I conscientiously completed every task, that day would come sooner or later.
"There was no inspector who could avoid handling dangerous affairs. If inspectors didn't do it, did they expect ordinary people to handle them themselves? Impossible. That was the duty of an inspector, and also our destiny.
"From that moment on, I had already regarded myself as a dead woman. I had prepared myself for death, and accepted that every time I stepped out of the dormitory, I might never return."
As Hai Na spoke, she recalled the fear and determination she had felt when she went to Moriarty Mansion.
She remembered fighting side by side with Iver, who was sitting in a wheelchair, at Pelican Bar.
Back then, she had not felt the slightest fear.
That was precisely why she had chosen a defense-oriented advanced class. She wanted to become her teammates' shield and withstand damage for them.
...But why had she instead grown more timid after that?
The stronger she became, the more timid she grew.
Could it have been the influence of the Path of Adaptation?
Had it turned her from a knight who obeyed orders and protected others into an adapter whose foremost goal was survival?
...That might have been part of the reason, but it wasn't the whole story.
It was probably because Hai Na had already found fulfillment.
No one gave her orders anymore, and no one placed expectations on her anymore.
Once, her parents had hoped she would distinguish herself, so she had fought with all her might, entered Avalon's highest academy beneath Amber's curse, and