The One

Chen Beiyi looked at the manuscript on the desk. "What kind of divination is this? It sounds like some sort of interview."

"You don't know what her divination is for?"

"All we do now is play chess. We don't talk about anything else."

"...Do you think the police will believe that?"

"What?"

"Although I've already finished my first statement, the police may still have many follow-up questions for me to confirm," Hesta said, glancing at the manuscript on the desk. "When the time comes, I'll hand all this over. You can explain the rest to the police yourself."

"What kind of person do you take me for, and what kind of person do you take her for?" Chen Beiyi shook her head. "She may be rather solitary by nature, but she would never do anything illegal... That boy's death may not necessarily have been caused by Kaja."

"Who knows?" Hesta said softly. "It'd be best if it wasn't. Otherwise, Teacher Chen, your position would be a little awkward—regardless of what her reputation used to be, it seems she's clearly not very kind to certain young people now."

"Then all I can do is cooperate with the investigation..." Chen Beiyi said with a bitter smile. "But it's true that she and I haven't talked like friends in a very long time. As for whether we can still be considered friends at all, sometimes I don't know either."

Chen Beiyi fell silent for a while. "Perhaps I can arrange another game of chess between you and her. If there's some misunderstanding between you two—"

"You can try, but she said she doesn't intend to play chess with me again until I find my own style," Hesta replied. "...She really talks a lot when she plays."

Neither of them spoke for a while.