Chapter 972: Surgery
The dinner table fell silent for more than ten seconds.
"...So that means," Hesta said, looking at Ligo, "that old lady really wasn't lying. She really does have a daughter."
Victoria looked over as well. "What old lady?"
"Pakaer Bododale," Hesta replied. "We met her when we were in Saint Lom."
"What a coincidence!" Stella exclaimed. "District 12 is so huge, and you still ran into each other!"
Everyone raised their glasses again.
At this dinner, Eleven obediently made sure to ask what exactly the things she ordered were made of. Once the dishes arrived, the two children swept their plates clean like a whirlwind. By the time the adults finally remembered to pick up their knives and forks during a lull in the conversation, the girls were already rubbing their eyes. A restaurant server specially brought over a small rolling bed, and Eleven and Kiki lay down together beneath a blanket to rest.
At first, Kiki kept her ears pricked, trying to understand the adults' conversation at the table—she could now barely catch a few key words and infer the topic under discussion from them. But the adults spoke far too quickly. She listened intently for less than five minutes before falling asleep anyway.
"Next month, I still need to find a way to go back. I have an interview, and there are still a few people I haven't finished speaking with," Stella said. "I really don't have any other options. You're all important people here—can anyone help me figure out a way?"
"Where are you going this time?" Victoria asked.
"Tanyi."
"Can't you do the interviews online?" Ligo looked at her. "When you said you had to go back, I thought your interview subjects were somewhere deep in the wilderness. There shouldn't be a single