Mrs. Dalia

A few days later, when Hesta was taken away from the base once again, Mr. Elu did not appear. Chiba was alone, waiting in the parking lot in her car as usual.

As Hesta drew near, Chiba waved casually at her from the driver's seat. Hesta froze for a moment, then her eyes widened into perfect circles—

The last time they met, Chiba's left sleeve had hung completely empty, but now a real, living arm had grown out of it.

Even more incredible was that this previously severed left arm was not a prosthetic of steel or wood. Hesta watched as Chiba flexibly fished a cigarette out of her pocket with nimble movements, then cupped her half-clenched fist around a lighter to shield the flame from the wind... It possessed all five fingers, just like an ordinary person's.

"What are you staring for? Get in the car." Chiba called out again.

Hesta snapped out of her daze, stepped forward, and opened the door. As she sat down, her gaze swept toward Chiba's right leg—sure enough, the right leg had grown back as well.

Hesta swallowed hard. "Miss... Chiba."

"Hm?"

"Can I... touch your hand?"

Chiba had no idea what she was getting at, but she offered her right hand anyway.

"No, the left hand."

Chiba switched hands. Frowning slightly, Hesta gently grasped this lifelike left hand.

Looking closely now, although this hand possessed faintly pale bones and slightly protruding bluish veins, making it seem just like anyone else's, with careful scrutiny it was not hard to perceive the difference between it and genuine flesh and blood.

Past events suddenly flashed through Hesta's mind. In truth, as early as the first time she met Chiba and shook her hand, she had already sensed that the texture of Chiba's hand was extremely unusual.

Only, the contact had been very brief then, and she hadn't dwelt on it.

Chiba pulled her hand back. "The old one broke, so I got a new one."

Hesta could not describe her shock. To her, this scene was nothing short of a miracle; she believed that if Sister Gurdin were present, she would surely let out a gasp and angrily point out that this was blasphemy.

Yet Chiba's tone was as casual as if she were talking about an umbrella, a clock, or a pair of glasses—perhaps in Miss Chiba's eyes, the human body was no different from such implements.

Hesta knitted her brows. "How on earth was this even done...?"

With the cigarette between her lips and both hands on the steering wheel, Chiba expertly threw the car into reverse. "Ancient tech."

"...Does Miss Chiba mean the Golden Age?"

"Uh-huh."

The car sped toward the City Center.

Today was Sunday, and the entire city was exceptionally quiet. Most shops were closed, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets, save for the church doors standing open, with people occasionally seen entering and leaving.

Hesta looked out the window. "No parades today."

"Weekends rarely have parades. Weekends are for resting," Chiba said lightly. "Unless it's to protest their own salary and benefits, you won't get a crowd to march on a Sunday."

As usual, Chiba parked the car on the street where the White Ship was located.

Aside from the White Ship, not a single storefront on the street was open. Rust-stained rolling shutters covered all those colorful wooden and glass doors, though the sheet metal was completely covered in various graffiti and spray paint, looking from a distance like an extended gallery wall.

"My favorite thing about the White Ship—it's open as usual on Sundays." Chiba unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's go, grab something to eat."

The two pushed open the door and entered. Hesta soon discovered that the person standing behind the cash register today was a plump woman she had never seen before. She was not tall, with a very full figure, and her age was probably on par with Mrs. Lavette.

"Chiba?" The plump woman recognized the newcomer at a glance. "You're back?"

"I've been back since last month," Chiba replied. "I've come by your place several times, but you were never around."

The other woman let out a burst of hearty laughter. "I'm planning to open a branch in New Aske down south. I've been looking at suitable storefronts over there lately, so I haven't been around much."

The plump woman walked out from behind the counter. She wore a green-and-white checkered dress, with a light green gauze scarf tied around her head. Her waist-length black hair was braided into a thick plait pinned up at the back of her head, making her look very capable.

At first glance, the plump woman's black hair and brown eyes immediately reminded Hesta of Boheng, and she couldn't help but wonder if this woman also came from District 14.

Yet her spoken accent bore a certain similarity to Liz's.

The plump woman exchanged pleasantries with Chiba. Chatting away, the three of them took a seat by the window.

Chiba leaned back in her chair, one hand reaching up to play with her ponytail. "Trust me, now is not a good time to open a branch."

The plump woman frowned. "I've got everything ready. Why isn't it?"

"Anyway, you'd better hold off for now." Chiba clearly had no desire to explain further. She turned to Hesta. "This is Mrs. Dalia, the proprietress of the White Ship."

With that, she pointed at Hesta and introduced her to Dalia. "This is a distant relative of Elu's. She's been staying with me for the past two months. Her name is—" Chiba paused slightly, "—Alice."

"Hello, Alice." Mrs. Dalia extended her hand toward Hesta. "Your hair is so pretty, it's just like ivory-white silk."

Upon realizing that Chiba had given a fake name, Hesta grew somewhat nervous. She instinctively shifted away from Mrs. Dalia to prevent the woman from getting too close and discovering she was wearing a wig.

"Thank you." Hesta shook the other's hand lightly. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Dalia."

"Where are you from, little girl? Are you from the same place as Mr. Elu?"

"Mm."

Hesta had no idea where Mr. Elu's hometown was, but right now, nodding was her only viable response.

Dalia smiled. "That's very close to where we're from. Have you ever been to Vilyuchinsk?"

"Where?"

"The Vilyuchinsk Wilds," Mrs. Dalia said. "I used to live there. Ever since I came to Thany, I haven't been back once in over a dozen years—it's simply too far, and traveling back isn't convenient."

Hesta did not know how to respond, so she looked at Chiba—who seemed to have no intention of taking over the conversation for her.

So Hesta thought for a moment. "I rarely had the chance to go outside before. It's not safe out there."

This answer seemed to convince Mrs. Dalia entirely. The gaze she cast at Hesta instantly grew a touch more affectionate. "That's true, living in the wilds isn't secure after all. Look back a few years—who would have thought Askia would meet with disaster, too? Such a bustling place... I almost settled down right there."

Hesta looked up. "You've been to Askia?"

"Of course I have. Most of the earliest settlers in the Vilyuchinsk Wilds migrated from Askia, you know."

Mrs. Dalia was extremely talkative, chattering endlessly about her life in Thany over the past dozen years, expressing the greatest astonishment at how unimaginably lazy the people of Thany were.

"When I first arrived, the old couple living across from me ran a tavern. I assumed Sunday would undoubtedly be their busiest time—only to wake up one Sunday morning and find the two of them out in the yard weeding together! I was utterly stunned. By noon, seeing they were still puttering around in the yard, I couldn't help walking over and asking, 'Good neighbors, why are you still at home right now?'

"At first, they thought I was reproaching them for not going to church and looked a bit embarrassed. When they realized I meant their tavern business, the two of them burst into laughter and told me, 'Sunday is a day of rest ordained by God; there's no such thing as working!'

"Well, I found that completely baffling. If the tavern doesn't open on Sunday, when are the drunkards of Thany supposed to come out and get sloshed? Guess how they answered me?"

"How did they answer?"

Imitating her friendly neighbor's tone, Mrs. Dalia said leisurely: "'From Monday through Saturday, you can come every single night!'"

With that, Mrs. Dalia slapped her thigh with a resounding smack.

"Can you imagine? If someone got dead drunk on a Monday night, wouldn't he have to go to work on Tuesday with a muddled, splitting head? Back when I was in Vilyuchinsk, I thought the people there were lazy enough, but I never imagined Thany could be even worse than us."

Hearing this, Chiba had already burst out laughing.

"I know, the women of Vilyuchinsk would never be tainted by District 3's laziness and dissolute ways." She raised her teacup and gently tapped Mrs. Dalia's cup. "You lot are forever industrious!"

Thanks to Heyao and Yuqi for the tips and monthly votes~