Stella likewise only gave a very restrained smile. She let out a breath and slowly sat down, looking somewhat tired.
"Of course," she said softly. "No reason it wouldn't be. It was expected long ago."
"The reporters will be here soon, in an hour or two," Hesta said. "Why don't we meet them at the Heart-to-Heart Salon—"
"No, we need to go outside," Stella said at once. She fell briefly silent. "...To the racetrack."
The next day, the name Askia Supply Chain Safety and Processing Technology Association appeared across numerous news programs and newspapers, along with several photos of Hesta at the farm.
Even on the way to the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Hesta heard her own name on the radio. The host called her the most unconventional Quicksilver Needle to date—because what she was doing was so controversial that it had stirred up a great deal of discussion within the Quicksilver Needles.
Hesta could not help glancing toward the car radio, memorizing the frequency. "This host even specifically looked into AHgAs's internal reaction to me."
"That's not exactly a secret," Stella said with a yawn. "People who hold positions in both your workstation and the local system—like Silei, for example—can easily get access to some internal materials. After all, a lot of your documents are publicly available internally."
"I don't read those emails anymore. There's no use in reading them." Hesta drove the car. "It's all stale clichés. Very few people can actually point out the risks I might cause..."
"You even receive emails about that? What kind of emails?" Stella turned her head. "Are they summaries of the controversy sent to you by the superior office you belong to?"
"They wouldn't do something that boring," Hesta said softly. "My personal email is easy to find within