"Maybe there's another way to put an end to this?"
"Huh? What?"
Hesta blinked, "...Maybe one day, I will take advantage of him when he is not prepared, drag him out and beat him up, and tell him that if he dares to come near again, I will blow his head off."
Liz was stunned for a moment, then laughed.
"It's not impossible, right." Hesta said softly, "Maybe next year."
Liz rubbed her eyes and nodded repeatedly. She sat up on the bed and said, "If this is the case, then I should resolve this matter before you awaken for the second time, Jane."
"……Why?"
"It's not right for a world where weak people should endure bullying. I hate that kind of world." Liz's expression became serious, "I don't want you to have that kind of thinking, like 'The reason why you are trapped in a weak situation now'" "The harassment is because I don't have the strength yet..." and so on. In Askia, if anyone goes rampant in the countryside just because he has a hard fist, he will always be severely punished. Those who bully the weak should be punished for their own crimes. Shame on the behavior.
"For example, when I was a child, there was a herbalist living across the street from my house. She was very weak and couldn't even carry a bag full of grains, but she recognized all kinds of medicinal materials and knew what kinds of grass and herbs were in the forest. Which fruits are edible and which ones are poisonous? Every time we open up new wasteland and discover new grass plants, we have to rely on her to identify whether things are edible.
"And my grandmother, she was very small, but she knew how to find water. When she was young, she took my father and several aunts on long journeys for several months, and she always brought back good news... Her Her erudition, the experience she left behind, and her courageous spirit were unmatched by anyone stronger than her.
"Whether it's my grandmother or the pharmacist, if others let them be bullied, let them be frightened, and spend a lot of time and energy on how to protect themselves, then they won't be able to display their original value. ——In the final analysis, humans are interdependent animals. It is wisdom and courage that lead us forward, not brute force. On the one hand, a weak person may be enough to become a giant on the other hand, but the premise of all this is existence A peaceful order.
“If someone unscrupulously uses a certain talent to infringe on the interests of others because they are good at it, that is undoubtedly a violation of this order – I will never allow this to happen around me.”
The soft light in the bedroom reflected in Liz's eyes, making her serious eyebrows glow with heroism, "Sooner or later you can knock Sean down. But I believe there must be a better solution than this."
"...Is it worth it?" Hesta murmured in a low voice, "For you to spend so much effort on this matter?"
Liz suddenly smiled.
"My father used to complain that my grandmother liked to be nosy," she looked at Hesta, "but my grandmother said that people always take some public order and good customs for granted, as if 'good people get rewards and bad people get retribution'. It should be an iron rule. Once something happens where good people lose power and bad people are proud, they will become angry - but in fact, if no one rewards good people and no one punishes bad people, this kind of order will not exist at all.
"One of the reasons why I like the base very much is that the concepts promoted here are very similar to Askia. In Askia, justice is never late. If she is late, it must be because no one is willing to use sweat and blood to Go pave the way for her.”
Liz looked sideways at Hesta, "So you don't have to feel guilty, Jane, I'm also defending my own rules."
Hesta was suddenly moved, and an inexplicable courage rose from her heart.
Liz continued, "The reason why there is nothing we can do against Sean now is because his behavior did not cause any substantial harm to you, and we have not caught any new evidence for the time being. The second reason is that Teacher Chiba insists on canceling the investigation." Sean's restrictions require that we cannot force him to stay away.
"But if he persists and continues to do weird things, I won't rule out using violent means to teach him a lesson - but this shouldn't be something you should be anxious about. Don't be afraid, Jane."
"Well, I'm not afraid."
Hesta gently put her hand on her heart, and she felt her heart pounding in her chest, as if a warm tide was overflowing.
"Even now, when Sean appears in front of me with his brother, I won't tremble anymore."
…
On Saturday, Chiba arrived as scheduled.
She drove the familiar burgundy hatchback car again, and Hestad sat in the passenger seat as before.
Chiba opened the car window and drove Hesta towards Tan Yi's city.
This was the first time Hestad had seen the buildings of the civilized world. Every house here was as beautiful as the Abbey of St. Anne, and the gardens facing the streets were filled with roses and irises, which were already blooming in early summer.
"Are you still used to life in the base?" Chiba asked.
"Um."
"Which do you prefer to being a nun in a convent?"
"I'm not a nun, I didn't take any 'vows.'"
Chiba glanced at Hesta, "What vow?"
"Eternally poor, always chaste, always obedient." Hesta said softly, "Only those who have studied in a religious order and made vows can become a nun."
Chiba laughed loudly at the side, "Fortunately you didn't."
The car turned a corner and Chiba handed over a hat with a pair of sunglasses inside, "Put it on."
Hesta did so, and soon she realized the reason why Chiba did this - at a newsstand on a certain street corner, on the wire fence covered with newspapers and new periodicals of the day, she saw her photo being Posted everywhere.
In the photo, she has long flaxen hair, looking like a frightened deer, staring at the camera with deep suspicion and distrust.
The car passed by in a flurry, and Hesta's eyes were still following the newsstand behind him until Chiba turned again.
Hesta turned back: "...What are those?"
"The gendarmerie found your photo in the monastery's municipal archives." Chiba replied calmly, "What's wrong with the color of your hair? Why isn't it red in the photo?"
"At that time, the dean and Miss Gerding felt that my red hair was too easy to attract criticism, so they gave me a wig when taking pictures." Hestad couldn't help but look back at the street corner again, even though there was now There is nothing left. "That should be a photo from three years ago, taken not long after I entered the monastery - but why did the gendarmerie print my photo everywhere?"
"People in the base may not have told you that the coalition government is now competing with AHgAs for your custody rights." Chiba replied, "The coalition government in each region wants to have an anti-chelate team under its own control. But the current mercury needle newcomers are basically discovered by us in wastelands far away from habitable places. From bringing them back to joining them, the coalition government basically has nothing to interfere with."
"If they finally find a seedling in a habitable land, of course they have to snatch it."
