The White Ship

Chiba and Hesta arrived at the Bang Bang Club over half an hour later than planned, after leaving the White Ship.

Noticing a simplified world map on the wall, Hesta started searching for "Vilyuchinsk" while Chiba registered their information.

Initially, she scanned the area around the Askia Wilds with no success. Hesta then expanded her search to the entire Third District, still finding nothing.

She had no choice but to start from the left side of the map and look bit by bit. Finally, she found her target—on the far eastern edge of District 14, a piece of land jutted out into the sea, shaped like a sharp bird's beak pointing downwards. In the middle of the beak, the word "Vilyuchinsk" was marked.

The distance between Askia and Vilyuchinsk spanned an entire District 14 and half of District 3—nearly a thousand kilometers, which was almost a third of the entire map.

No wonder Mrs. Dalia said she hadn't been back in over a decade...

It was truly too far.

As night fell, Chiba escorted Hesta back to the base. On the way, Hesta recounted her confrontation with Shawn from a few days prior. To her surprise, Chiba didn't seem particularly pleased for her.

"What do you think of how I handled it, Miss Chiba?"

Chiba pursed her lips. "...It was good."

"I think I can stall for now," Hesta said softly. "Next, I plan to talk to Calvin. He doesn't seem as unreasonable as Shawn. If I can get his help, I believe things will get better."

"How can he help you?" Chiba asked indifferently.

"Give me some warnings?" Hesta replied. "Since the brothers are always together, he must be the person most familiar with Shawn's state. If I have Liz by my side and Calvin, who knows Shawn well, it would be better, wouldn't it?"

On the dimly lit road, another car approached. The headlights illuminated Chiba's face before quickly fading.

Hesta saw Chiba fall into thought, as if pondering a difficult problem.

"Is there something I haven't considered thoroughly enough?"

"No," Chiba said slowly. "It's just... it's made things more complicated."

Back at the apartment, Hesta pushed open the door to 403. The room was pitch black. Tulan and Liz weren't there at the moment.

Hesta guessed they might be in the gym or library on the second floor. She put the desserts she brought back from the White Ship into the refrigerator.

The warm, orange light from the refrigerator illuminated her face. She gazed absently at the strawberry tips on the fruit tart.

Even now, she couldn't quite grasp what Chiba meant by "complicated"—from any angle, her chosen approach was the one with the lower cost of resolution.

Perhaps Miss Chiba thought it would be better to teach Shawn a lesson directly?

But planning an intricate scheme and perfectly timing a gunshot to interrupt his Bullet Time would only increase the complexity.

Hesta closed the refrigerator door.

Maybe... Miss Chiba just had that kind of personality.

She had quietly sent a handgun before, and when they met again, she hadn't directly explained what to do. Only after Hesta had fired her first shots at the shooting range with live ammunition did Chiba slowly reveal her thoughts.

With Miss Chiba, there was likely a line between what was "communicable" and what was not. She would only voice her thoughts when she felt the other person had crossed into the "communicable" realm.

If that was the case, then Hesta could only wait.

About half an hour later, footsteps were heard outside the door. Liz and Tulan entered one after the other.

The two almost immediately caught the unusual scent of cream in the air. Tulan's eyes landed on the unfamiliar paper bag next to the refrigerator.

Hesta peeked her head out from her room. "I brought some pastries from downtown. Do you want some?"

In the living room, the three sat in a row around the large square white table. Liz sat in the middle. She carefully untied the red ribbon on the paper box, revealing four small square cakes arranged together.

Tulan and Liz let out a simultaneous sigh of amazement—they had almost forgotten the taste of cream cakes since coming to the base.

The two ate heartily, and when only a tiny bit was left, they seemed reluctant to finish.

"On our previous missions, we went straight to the destination. They never gave us reserves like us time to wander around," Liz said. "I've only been to the city center once—and that was looking through the dark tinted glass of the car."

"I wish I could go out and see too," Tulan sighed, biting on her metal fork. "I've almost forgotten what the outside looks like."

Hesta was genuinely surprised that the two had stayed at the base for two full years.

"Essentially, the base doesn't belong to Tanyi City, nor does it belong to District 3. Stepping out of the base is like walking from one administrative district to another—does that make sense?" Liz explained.

"Water-silver Needles who have been officially transferred enjoy a certain degree of regional freedom, so they can come and go freely in some major districts. But if we reserves want to go out, we need a valid reason," Tulan added from the side. "Like internships, or visiting family—"

"Let's not talk about that... I envy you," Liz looked at Hesta. "When is your next outing? I need to calculate it."

"That doesn't depend on me, it depends on Miss Chiba's schedule," Hesta replied. "It could be Monday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning, or any time on Saturday or Sunday."

Tulan leaned on the table, looking at the now empty cake box with lingering desire. "What's the name of this shop? I want to go there next time I have a chance."

"White Ship," Hesta replied.

Liz's eyes widened slightly. She repeated the word softly, her expression like that of meeting a long-lost, dear friend. "Where is the owner from?"

"The Vilyuchinsk Wilds, from the District 14 side," Hesta answered. "The owner is Mrs. Dalia, and she also mentioned Askia to me."

Liz let out a heartfelt sigh—a sigh filled with surprise and satisfaction. A smile bloomed on Liz's face. The coincidence brought by fate was like an unexpected gift that had suddenly landed upon her.

"You know each other?"

Liz shook her head. "Probably not."

Tulan looked at Liz's changing expression and couldn't help but ask curiously, "The White Ship... is that a reference?"

"It's from that song."

Liz began to hum softly – Hesta quickly recognized it as an Askia folk song that Liz had taught her when they were learning the Quicksilver Needles battle hymn a few weeks ago.

That day, Liz had played the accordion and softly sung in a language others couldn't understand, bathed in the gentle morning sun:

Are there any rivers wider than you, Enese?

Are there any lands kinder than you, Enese?

Are there any sufferings deeper than you, Enese?

Are there any wills freer than you, Enese? (1)

——

(1) Quoted from the epigraph of The White Ship. Enese means "Mother River."