Mine Shaft

Ligo drove south along the highway with Hesta in the passenger seat.

That afternoon, they grabbed a quick bite at a gas station before continuing on their way.

"So you submitted the request to review the reports last week?"

"I wrote it as soon as I arrived in Emangria," Hesta replied. "They told me to ask Kendall for details, so I took that response to Kendall."

"And then? What did Kendall say?"

"She said the casualties on the Fayalar Wasteland were still under investigation, and that the matter had nothing to do with my duties, so she refused to let me access the files."

The muscles in Ligo's cheek twitched.

"Then I applied to go to the Fayalar Wasteland—"

"They wouldn't approve it, right?" Ligo interrupted. "Because the site is still being cleared and investigated, and unrelated personnel aren't allowed in."

"Yes." Hesta lowered her voice. "Looks like you tried too."

"They're all excuses." Ligo's voice turned cold. "It's been months. Are they still not done collecting evidence?"

"Have you been to the site?"

"Once, but I only stayed at the outskirts for a few hours. I never entered the heart of it." Ligo spoke softly. "By the time I went, the identities of nearly all the deceased Quicksilver Needles had been confirmed. But even then, they wouldn't let me enter the actual death site... There's definitely something fishy going on."

Hesta stared ahead when her phone vibrated at her waist. She glanced at the screen, and her brow furrowed.

"...What is it?" Ligo glanced at her.

Hesta rested her hand against the window. "Eleven scratched up a teacher's face at school."

"What?"

Hesta put away her phone, then leaned back against the passenger seat with a weary tilt of her head.

"They said she sneaked into the Principal's Office