Suddenly, Calvin's footsteps stopped.
Sean took a few steps forward. After realizing that Calvin hadn't followed, he turned back and asked, "Why don't you leave?"
Calvin looked past Sean and towards the lawn in the distance - now they were standing on the semi-open corridor bridge on the third floor of the library, and they could see the greenery in the distance unobstructed.
Sean vaguely heard the sound of an accordion and looked in the direction of Calvin. Several girls were sitting on the green field.
The person holding the accordion in the middle of the crowd was Liz, but Sean also caught a glimpse of the red-haired Hesta, who was holding her knees with empty hands and sitting quietly next to Liz. Although he didn't recognize the remaining people at first, they were definitely not the other two girls from 403.
Liz was teaching them the war song of Mercury Needle.
Sean raised his lips slightly, leaned his elbows on the wall of the corridor and listened for a while, "No matter what it is, as long as you play the accordion, it smells like Askia... It's really strong."
Calvin did not speak. He also listened to the chorus of women's voices floating in the wind and looked at them.
After a while, Calvin suddenly said: "Why Hesta?"
Sean didn't respond, "Why?"
"I wanted to ask you this question that morning, but Liz rushed in at that time," Calvin's eyes turned to Sean from a distance, "Why have you been giving Hesta a hard time since she entered the base? You like her?"
Sean scrunched up his neck and revealed a double chin.
Calvin tilted his head, "No?"
"I like this," Sean gestured with two balls on his chest, "Is she?"
"Then why..."
"I don't know if you still have the impression," Sean said, holding his face and looking back at the girls in the distance. "In 2019, someone sent news to Hecla, saying that someone in the livable land was paying a high price. The red hair of a Hesta woman.”
Calvin's brows furrowed, "Is there such a thing?"
Sean shook his head: "You don't have such a memory... You also had long hair at the time. One day I bought hair dye and said we could try to dye the red hair they wanted. But I accidentally I bleached your hair orange...do you remember?"
"Oh, it seems so."
Sean smiled: "I was thinking at the time, what would a woman with flaming red hair look like?"
"So you stole her information some time ago?"
"Yes, it was because of this at the beginning," Sean looked into the distance, "but after seeing her basic information, I became more curious - from birth in 4612 to entering St. Anne's Monastery in 4620, she passed through the Short Alley. For eight whole years... How was this possible? She said that she had been living alone before entering the monastery. Do you believe it? "
There was a burst of laughter from girls in the distance, but Calvin remained silent.
"Besides, have you read the recent reports? From outside." Sean asked.
"Looked at it a little bit."
"Don't you think it's ironic?" Sean said warmly. "Everyone wants to blow Hesta up to the sky. I think it's almost as if she is the Second Coming of the Virgin. In order to snatch away a mercury needle reserve, these people would rather make it up." A saint who doesn’t exist.”
"How do you know that's a fabrication?"
"Isn't this exactly the same as when we came here?" Sean asked, "Anyway, as long as someone thinks a person is bad, he must be rotten to the core. If he thinks a person is good, then he will tend to be the same in all aspects. Perfect - how many rumors did those newspapers create about us back then? There is no difference between Short Ring Alley and Hecla. People who come from a place like ours can be such a fuel-efficient lamp."
“…People are different.”
"It just looks different." Sean laughed and tapped his temple lightly, "Karl, essentially, everyone is the same - as long as you see enough and deeply enough."
Calvin looked sideways at Sean. He had felt this way more than once: He couldn't tell when it started, but Sean seemed to have retreated behind a shell wall that no one could reach.
He stood there and looked at everyone quietly, keeping people out and isolating himself from them.
"So what do you want to do?" Calvin said calmly.
"It's nothing, I just think this person is quite interesting." Sean stretched out his arms, "Just wait, I will definitely reveal the truest side of Hesta..."
Sean turned sideways with a joking expression: "How do you think the citizens outside will react at that time?"
Liz in the distance began to sing again. Her voice was melodious and graceful, but she sang in a language that was unfamiliar to both Sean and Calvin. Sean heard a few words and recognized that it was Askian.
"Let's go, I'm tired of standing." Sean yawned, turned and walked forward, "Quickly find a place to sit down, I need to catch up on my sleep."
"Sean."
"Huh?" Sean turned his head and saw Calvin standing there with a complicated expression. Sean suddenly felt that something was wrong with his brother's state today, "What's wrong with you?"
"If you continue to behave like this, you may eventually be deprived of your combat qualifications," Calvin frowned, "Doesn't it matter?"
Sean smiled, and he deliberately lowered his voice, "I don't care, Carl, I never wanted to go into battle."
Calvin was stunned, then clenched his fists, "What?"
"I've also been looking for an opportunity to share my thoughts with you recently - in fact, after we finish learning what we need to learn here, there is no need to work hard for them."
"...How long has it been," Calvin said with a hint of anger, "You have already forgotten everything that happened in Hecla."
"No, Carl, I haven't forgotten." Sean's expression also became serious, "I will never--"
"Then what the hell are you talking about?"
"Okay, let me put it this way, Carl." Sean took a deep breath, thought for a while, and continued, "I just don't want to work hard for AHgAs, but we can still use these abilities to do other things - just There is no need to risk our lives, we should live for ourselves.”
Calvin's voice rose a little higher: "Like a coward?"
"No, like a person." Sean interrupted Calvin, "A real person."
"I don't want to hear your excuses—"
"You have to listen!" Sean's voice couldn't help but rise, but he calmed down and looked back and forth - fortunately, on Sunday morning, no one would pass by here.
"Karl, Karl..." Sean took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, and took a few steps closer to Calvin, "I may be a coward, a bastard, and a liar who talks nonsense, but I have never lied to you— —”
As soon as these words were spoken, Sean vaguely felt something was wrong. He immediately made up for it, "I mean, at least on all important things - I will always be honest with you."
