Like the previous times, Chiba drove Hesta to the old city. There was almost no one on the streets on a Sunday night, and all the shop lights were dim.
Hesta fell asleep directly in the passenger seat. When she arrived at her destination, she saw a completely unfamiliar street scene outside the car window.
Hesta unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car. She looked up and saw the dark green sign above her head that read "The Baron in the Trees" - it looked like a restaurant.
On the entire street, this is the only store that still has a business sign.
She followed Qianye and opened the store door. The lights were turned off in the hall, and everything was dark.
The decoration here has obviously shown its age, the space is cramped, all the chairs are on the table, and there is not a single customer.
For a while, the only sound in the entire store was the wind chime on the door.
"Is this really still open?" Hesta asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Chiba replied, "I specially made a reservation tonight."
A series of footsteps came from one aisle, and Hestad soon saw a waiter wearing a black tie, vest and shirt. He greeted the two of them and led them to sit down in the backyard.
Only then did Hesta realize that there was something special about this place - although the front hall of the restaurant was very low and narrow, it had a very warm and beautiful back garden. On a midsummer night, the wind sways the moonlight under the laurel trees, and the faint fragrance of unknown flowers and plants floats with it.
The waiter helped the two people pull out their chairs and lit the courtyard lamp hanging nearby.
"It's okay if you don't go out on Sunday night, so you don't have to wear a wig to disguise yourself." Chiba sat down, "This is another restaurant I often come to. Do you like it?"
Just as he was talking, the waiter came over to serve the tableware. After putting down the knife and fork on Hesta's side, he placed a pair of chopsticks and an iron spoon on Chiba's side.
The appetizers were onion soup and foie gras cold cuts, served with toasted bread slices and a cheese platter. The bowl of onion soup is covered with a thick layer of baked cheese, and the onions and beef in the soup underneath have been sautéed with minced garlic and butter.
After cracking the cheese crispy shell, the fragrant cheese fell into the beef soup underneath. Hesta stirred the spoon and smelled a faint aroma of wine - that was the brandy added at the end of cooking.
Hesta couldn't tell what these mixed aromas were, but with such a thick soup, she felt that she should be able to eat the bread slices for four people here.
Chiba had to remind Hesta to eat slower several times. He had eaten too much bread at the moment, and he would not be able to eat it when the main course came.
Hesta could only control his appetite with difficulty - people in District 3 could eat dinner for two to three hours or even longer, which also meant that the main course would not be served that quickly.
Looking at Hesta, Chiba suddenly remembered the stray cat that Valenti sneaked into the dormitory before. The kitten he had just picked up had knotted hair all over its body, and its eyes were tightly covered with eye droppings, mud and hard scabs from wounds. , looked like a rag when it was curled up in a ball. However, after being picked up by Valenti and taken good care of, the cat completely changed its appearance.
Chiba was suddenly curious and didn't know what happened to Valenti's kitten. It was forbidden to keep any pets in the dormitory. Even though Valenti carefully avoided other people, when the cat entered estrus, they I can't hide it anymore. All she knew was that the cat's photo was later posted at the stray animal rescue center in Tanyi City. It was said that it was too cute and was removed within an hour of being listed.
In Chiba's impression, Hesta was no better than a stray cat when she first met - her ribs could almost be clearly counted on her chest, and her shoulder bones could even be seen at the joints between her shoulders and arms. And the outline of the upper arm bones... It has been less than three months now. Although Hesta's body is still not strong enough, the skinny figure has completely disappeared, and he looks lively and energetic.
I don’t know, what will happen in a few years?
"I looked at the previous surveillance," Qianye suddenly remembered something and asked, "I found that outside the escape room, you stood there for a long time when you first encountered the chelate. What were you thinking at that time? Why don’t you run away quickly?”
Thinking of the situation at that time, Hesta frowned again: "Well... I want to run, but my hands and feet are frozen and I can't move."
Chiba didn't understand, "Why are you frozen?"
Hesta had no choice but to talk about her past experiences in the monastery, but she could only describe her feelings and could not explain the reasons. However, when she was halfway through her words, Chiba across from her suddenly laughed again.
Hesta waited for a while - Chiba's smile was so exaggerated that Hesta even saw a few tears from her laughter.
"...Miss Chiba?"
Chiba pressed the corners of her eyes and recovered for a while, "Have you...have you heard the story of the Tennessee sheep?"
Hesta shook her head.
Chiba continued: "This is a special kind of sheep. In order to protect the safety of the sheep, herdsmen sometimes put a few Tennessee sheep in their own flocks. This way, if a wolf pack attacks the herd, they will It can minimize the loss, do you know why?”
Hesta thought for a while, "...Is this kind of sheep very powerful in combat?"
Chiba laughed again, "No, this kind of sheep is just like you. When it encounters danger, its hands and feet will stiffen and fall to the ground motionless. In this way, the wolves that come to attack will prioritize these targets. Tennessee sheep, then the entire flock will not be completely scattered, and the herdsmen can quickly adjust the direction and drive the sheep to safety... Haha, I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh... But it's really funny—— "
Hesta leaned back slightly, with a complicated expression.
Chiba smiled and said, "Have you told the people at the training center about this?"
"No."
"Then I have to tell you something..." Chiba took out his notebook and jotted down a few notes on it with a pencil.
"But this state won't last long, maybe... half a minute?" Hesta blushed slightly, "After that, you can move freely——"
Chiba smiled and interrupted Hesta, "Do you know how long Turan's restriction time is?"
"……how long?"
"27 seconds." Chiba replied with a smile, "This is also the reason why she was able to survive the last serious injury. Compared with other people's restriction time of more than ten or twenty minutes, this is surprisingly short, right? But when it comes to chelates, sometimes victory or defeat is decided in milliseconds - except for the slightly abnormal chelate you met in the underground base, who else would reserve half a minute for you at the start? Preparation time?”
After recording, Chiba put the memo back into the inner pocket of his coat.
"If there are any other details - like the stiffness of the body you just mentioned, all the details that may affect your combat status, you can summarize it yourself and hand it over to the analysts at the training center, who can Are you here?"
"……Um."
“In the future, if you want, you can also choose to fight independently, but unless you have to, never fight alone, let other people with more experience come up with solutions with you – that’s what the training center does. "
Chiba said softly, "When you encounter problems, speak up and ask for help in time. The more shortcomings you expose in daily training, the fewer accidents you will encounter in official battles. Remember?"
