As soon as the two sat down, the mother took out her handkerchief and wiped the girl's face - the girl's bangs were completely wet and stuck to her forehead. The girl also asked for a fruit tart, but it was blueberry flavored.
The two have been chatting since they entered the house, but most of the time it was their daughter who did the talking. The little girl looked unhappy and kept complaining that her violin teacher was too strict, old and pedantic. She mentioned the names of several friends in succession, saying that they had recently hired another musician to teach him. He was handsome and funny, and she wanted to join them.
The mother was noncommittal and just listened to her daughter with a smile. Then she listed a series of awards and asked her daughter if the musician teacher invited by her friends had the same achievements. The daughter glared at her mother resentfully and did not answer.
At this moment, the waiter came over with another cup and a small plate.
"Hello, Canalei, here's a complimentary cup of hot cocoa."
Because Chiba had already placed coffee, the waiter placed the hot cocoa directly in Hesta's hand. She was just about to say that she didn't need it, but Chiba next to her had already answered "Thank you."
Chiba pushed the small plate with two Kanalei in front of Hesta, then pinched one whole with his bare hands and threw it into his mouth: "This Kanalei does not allow delivery, only dine-in, you try. "
Hesta did not refuse, and cut the little Kanale in half as before, and then ate with a fork.
Most of her attention was still on the conversation between mother and daughter. She heard that the little girl had begun to bargain with her mother, saying that she hoped to go to the theater to watch a musical with her father at the end of this year. Her father clearly agreed to her last year, but in the end She also said that she still regrets not getting a spot.
So my mother made a promise.
Suddenly, the burnt aroma of Kanalei spread in her mouth. Hesta briefly woke up from the conversation of others. She raised her head and said, "...this taste is so special."
Chiba smiled and said, "Is it delicious? I make a special trip here every time I pass through the old city."
Hesta nodded. She picked up the cup of hot cocoa nearby and took a sip, but suddenly froze.
"What's wrong?" Chiba saw that Hesta's expression was not right, "Is it too sweet?"
Hesta shook his head, "The taste is different from the one in the base...it's not bitter."
Chiba laughed, "The hot cocoa outside is made with cheap cocoa butter and sugar. It's not like the base where all the hot cocoa is genuine dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Of course it's not bitter."
Hesta put Kanale aside and concentrated on holding the cup of hot cocoa. The strong sweetness lingered in her mouth, making her forget everything for a while.
Looking at Hesta, who had been completely captured by the sugar industry, Chiba suddenly smiled and looked out the window again.
After a while, they got up and left at the same time as the mother and daughter next to them. After stepping out of the bakery door, the mother opened an umbrella and took her daughter into the hazy rain.
"Go this way." Chiba raised his hand and pointed in the opposite direction.
"Aren't we going back to the car?"
"No, our destination is nearby. It only takes five minutes to walk. We don't even need an umbrella."
Along the raised eaves along the road, Hesta walked silently behind Chiba. When turning to the underground passage, Hesta suddenly said: "Mercury Needle... Is it possible to live an ordinary life?"
Chiba did not look back: "How ordinary do you want it to be?"
"Like, the people who live here." Hesta replied.
"Theoretically, you can retire."
"Actually?"
"Of course, each has its own difficulties," Chiba replied. "If they really decide to leave AHgAs, Mercury Needles will usually choose to be re-employed by the coalition government - they will still have to deal with chelates."
"Then how long will it take to retire after re-employment?"
"Of course I will not retire if I am rehired. I will work until I die."
"Can I not accept the re-employment?"
Chiba finally noticed something unusual. She turned around and looked at Hesta, whose hair had been slightly dampened by the rain: "That's unlikely."
"I do not understand……"
"In this world, there are people who need mercury needles who will chase you to the ends of the earth. No matter you are in a livable place or a wilderness, they will not give you other choices." Qianye said softly, "If you really get to that point, It would be better not to leave AHgAs in the first place, or to go to the coalition government altogether, but these things are still too far away from you."
"...No other choice?"
Chiba smiled.
"We are like one of the few sharp blades in the world, Jane." She said softly, "The fate of a sharp blade is to be tempered, polished, and put into battle...and so on until it breaks."
…
Chiba took Hesta to an empty warehouse. After entering, there was a long staircase with a gentle slope. The stairs were made of metal and painted with dark red paint, but many places had fallen off and looked very mottled. .
After passing several thick doors wrapped in perforated leather, Hestad heard the faint sound of gunfire.
After walking through the last door, she saw an unlit neon light hanging on the wall of the entrance. There was a little dust on the curved white light tube. It twisted and twisted to spell out the words "Bang Bang Club".
This is an underground shooting range.
After putting on goggles and earmuffs, she followed Chiba to an open sub-field. Chiba randomly picked a shooting spot and looked back at Hesta, "Have you ever used a gun?"
"Yeah." Hesta nodded.
Chiba handed the gun to Hesta, "Let me see how many rounds you fire."
Hesta started shooting from the three-meter target, and all five bullets landed within the nine rings, and then five meters, seven meters, twelve meters, fifteen meters, seventeen meters... twenty-five meters, except for a few slight Offset, she has almost no hits beyond the ninth ring.
This is not the first time Hesta has held a gun. She had experience in using firearms in Short Ring Alley. Chiba seemed to understand this from the beginning and was not particularly surprised by Hesta's quick use. , but the surprise in her eyes was still beyond words.
"Who taught you all this? He taught you so well."
"……a friend."
"From Short Alley?"
"Um."
"You are so young, how dare they let you join the firefight?"
"...Not the Fire King."
Chiba didn't ask any questions. She stepped forward and demonstrated 15 rounds at a distance of 25 meters. The results were all between 10.3 and 10.9. Hesta was also stunned.
After that, Chiba very strictly corrected some of Hesta's incorrect habits, from breathing, posture, aiming vision to pulling the trigger... Deviations in these details will seriously reduce shooting accuracy and gun holding time.
During the interval of practice, the two of them sat on a chair to rest. Chiba and Hesta talked about the origin of this underground shooting range, and mentioned that during the recent period, she would try to come back every week. Tan Yi brought Hesta here to practice, but in addition to physical training, Hesta himself can also practice aiming and shooting movements in the base.
"You have always doubted whether a pistol can compete with a mercury needle," Chiba put down the gun, "My answer is that it depends on the person. If your opponent is Liz Fletcher, you are unlikely to succeed with a pistol; But if it were Sean, it would be different."
"Why?"
Chiba raised three fingers: "To answer this question, you must first understand three concepts: bullet time, restricted time, and Acheron moment."
