Meaning

Yu Xuekun laughed. "Of course. The Habitable Zone has its own suffering too. There's nowhere in this world where life is entirely free of pain—"

"I understand that completely," Hesta said softly. "But the suffering here feels meaningless."

"...Meaning?" Yu Xuekun's expression grew more nuanced. "What meaning do you hope to get from suffering?"

Hesta thought for a while.

"I don't know whether I can explain this clearly, but back when I was at the base, I often had a feeling that whenever something came up and made things hard to bear, it meant I was about to learn something new—or already had." Hesta waved her right arm. "Take this, for example. The lesson it left me was never to use flashy but impractical combat techniques in front of a Chelated Being..."

"Would you be willing to elaborate," Yu Xuekun asked, setting down her pen, "on the suffering you experienced in the Habitable Zone?"

"Not really. Those were very private experiences..." Hesta said frankly. "In any case, I hope Office No. 2 will seriously consider the possibility of assigning me back to the combat roster. I'm only twenty this year. I'm still very young, and it will be a long time before I reach the age at which a Quicksilver Needle formally retires. I believe that after a period of rest and rehabilitation, I can quickly regain my form—I'm confident of that. I hope Office No. 2 can have confidence in me as well."

Yu Xuekun frowned and continued writing intermittently on the page.

"Next, I have several questions for you."

"Please."

"The first concerns a relatively dangerous organization on campus. You should know whom I mean."

"Yes, I do."

"You're very close to them."

"That's true. They're very charming."

"But you should already have a thorough understanding of how