"Maybe there's another way to put an end to this?"
"Hmm? Like what?"
Hesta blinked. "...Maybe one day, when he isn't expecting it, I'll drag him out and beat him up. Tell him that if he dares come near me again, I'll blow his head off."
Liz froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"It's not impossible, right?" Hesta said softly. "Maybe I'll be able to do it next year."
Liz rubbed her eyes and nodded repeatedly. She braced herself against the bed and sat up. "If that's the case, then I should settle this before your Secondary Awakening, Jane."
"...Why?"
"Because a world where the weak are supposed to endure bullying is wrong. I hate that kind of world." Liz's expression turned serious. "And I don't want you to start thinking things like, 'The reason I'm stuck dealing with Shawn's harassment now is because I don't have enough strength yet...' In Askia, if someone throws their weight around just because they have hard fists, they'll always be taught a harsh lesson. Those who bully the weak should be ashamed of what they do.
"When I was little, there was an apothecary living across from my home. She was very weak—she couldn't even carry a sack filled with grain—but she knew all kinds of medicinal herbs. She knew which grasses and fruits in the woods could be eaten and which were poisonous. Whenever people cleared new land and found unfamiliar plants, they relied on her to determine whether they were edible.
"And my grandmother—she was tiny, but she knew how to find water. When she was young, she took my father and several of my aunts on long journeys that lasted months at a time, and she always brought back good news... Her knowledge, the experience she left behind, her fearless spirit—none of it could be matched by anyone stronger than her.
"My grandmother and that apothecary alike—if everyone else had simply allowed them to be bullied, allowed them to live in fear, and forced them to spend vast amounts of time and effort figuring out how to protect themselves, then they never could have realized their true value. At the end of the day, people depend on one another. It's wisdom and courage that lead us ever onward, not brute strength. Someone weak in one respect may be a giant in another—but all of that rests on the existence of a peaceful, stable order.
"If someone excels at a certain ability and then uses it without restraint to violate the interests of others, that is undoubtedly trampling on that order. I will never allow something like that to happen around me."
The soft light in the bedroom reflected in Liz's eyes, lending a gallant air to her stern features. "Sooner or later, you'll be able to knock Shawn flat. But I believe there has to be a better solution than that."
"...Is it worth it?" Hesta murmured. "For you to put so much effort into this?"
Liz suddenly broke into a smile.
"My father used to complain that Grandmother loved meddling in other people's affairs," she said, looking at Hesta. "But Grandmother said that people always take certain standards of public order and morality for granted, as if 'good people are rewarded and bad people are punished' were some ironclad law. The moment good people fall from grace and bad people prosper, they fly into a rage—but in truth, if no one rewards the good and no one punishes the wicked, then that order simply won't exist at all.
"One reason I like the base is that the ideals it promotes are very similar to Askia's. In Askia, justice is never late. And if she is late, it can only be because no one was willing to pave the way for her with sweat and blood."
Liz glanced sideways at Hesta. "So you don't need to feel guilty, Jane. I'm defending my own principles too."
Hesta was suddenly moved. An inexplicable courage rose from the depths of her heart.
Liz continued, "The reason we can't do anything about Shawn right now is, first, that his actions haven't caused you any tangible harm, and we haven't found new evidence yet. Second, Teacher Chiba insists on lifting the restrictions placed on Shawn, so we can't force him to stay away.
"But if he refuses to come to his senses and keeps doing strange things, I won't rule out teaching him a lesson through violence—but none of that is something you should be worried about. Don't be afraid, Jane."
"Mm. I'm not afraid."
Hesta gently placed a hand over her heart. She could feel it pounding in her chest, as though a warm tide were rising and overflowing within her.
"Even if Shawn showed up in front of me right now with his brother, I wouldn't tremble anymore."
On Saturday, Chiba arrived as scheduled.
She came in that familiar wine-red hatchback again, and Hesta took the passenger seat as she had the previous times.
Chiba rolled down the window and drove Hesta toward Tan Yi's downtown district.
This was Hesta's first time seeing the buildings of the civilized world. Every house here was as beautiful as Saint Anne Abbey. People had filled the gardens along the streets with roses and irises, already blooming one after another in the early summer.
"Are you getting used to life at the base?" Chiba asked.
"Mm."
"Which do you prefer, this or being a nun at the abbey?"
"I wasn't a nun. I never took the vows."
Chiba glanced at Hesta. "What vows?"
"Poverty forever, chastity forever, obedience forever," Hesta said softly. "Only those who have studied in the convent and taken the vows can become nuns."
Chiba immediately burst out laughing. "Good thing you didn't."
The car turned a corner, and Chiba handed over a hat with a pair of sunglasses tucked inside. "Put these on."
Hesta did as she was told, and soon realized why Chiba had done it—on the wire racks of a newsstand at a street corner, crowded with that day's newspapers and new magazines, she saw her own photograph printed everywhere.
In the photo, she had long flaxen hair. Like a startled deer, she stared into the camera with deep suspicion and distrust.
The car sped past in a rush of wind, but Hesta's gaze remained fixed on the newsstand receding behind them until Chiba turned another corner.
Hesta turned back around. "...What are those?"
"Your photographs. The Military Police found them in the abbey's municipal records," Chiba answered calmly. "What happened to your hair color? Why isn't it red in the photo?"
"At the time, the abbess and Miss Gerdin thought my red hair would draw too much criticism, so they gave me a wig for the photograph." Hesta could not help looking back toward the street corner again, though there was nothing there now. "That photo should be from three years ago, not long after I entered the abbey—but why did the Military Police print my picture everywhere?"
"People at the base may not have told you, but the United Government is currently fighting AHgAs for custody of you," Chiba replied. "The United Government in every district wants an anti-Chelated Being team under its own control, but most new Quicksilver Needles are found by us in the wilderness far from the Habitable Zone. From the time we bring them back to the time they join, there is basically nothing the United Government can interfere with."
"Now that they've finally found a promising candidate in the Habitable Zone, of course they have to fight over her."
Thanks to readers 20181209, The Man in the Case, and 20170709 for their monthly votes and tips~
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