Rico pushed Hesta around the narrow space between tables and came to the aisle in the middle of the restaurant.
"Excuse me, Mr. Gobelin, where are you going?" Hesta asked.
"Rest," Gobelin replied.
"It's half past nine in the morning, less than four hours before one o'clock." Hestad leaned on the wheelchair. "Even if Bernhard needs to spend the whole morning looking for someone, you and all of us are in Bishop." There seems to be nothing wrong with waiting in the restaurant.”
"...It's not necessary."
Hesta ignored it. She looked at the general aside: "Mr. Bernhard, you can start collecting the absence list for this morning."
Bernhard narrowed his eyes.
"Is there any difficulty?" Hesta asked.
"Of course not." Bernhard raised his head and looked at Hesta's face from the tip of his nose, "I remember you, the girl who threw beans at me yesterday...a, injured mercury needle, are you ordering me? ?”
"Yes," Hesta looked back at the man and replied without changing his expression: "It's the legs and feet that were hurt, but it doesn't affect my brain."
Bernhard's expression became intriguing. He looked away and let out a few absurd laughs. At the same time, he walked casually to Hestad.
Compared with his tall and strong body, Hesta in the wheelchair suddenly looked a little pale and haggard.
"Please allow me to ask a question," Bernhard bowed slightly, "Sir, why are you giving orders to me? I know that you are very fond of that - what is it called, that arrogant mercury needle? Why, can you show her kindness and let us sail the ship back to the port of Havre?”
Hesta smiled slightly. She instinctively raised her elbows and clasped her hands. It was not until her left hand came up empty that she realized again that she didn't have her right hand. Hesta raised her eyebrows slightly and pressed her left hand flexibly on her chin. on, making a thoughtful gesture.
"With all due respect..." Hestad lowered his eyes slightly, and his expression gradually became serious, "Those who still have such illusions, it is better to give yourself a shot immediately - I promise, this may be The rest of the voyage will be the least painful... you will ever endure.”
"That's nonsense!" Bernhard no longer tried to hide anything. He spoke every word very forcefully and shouted at Hestad with strong distrust: "Why are you being alarmist here——"
"With the fact that I have been fighting chelates since I was eleven years old," Hestad said without any intention of retreating. "With the thousands of monsters I have annihilated on the battlefield over the years, and with the average vacation I have less than a week a year, I have directed rescue operations many times, allowing many civilians who have been trapped for many days to regain their lives...I would like to ask you, what is the basis for you to say that I am alarmist?"
Bernhard's throat moved. He looked at the surrounding passengers with his peripheral vision. The eyes of people looking at Hestad were changing - he suddenly felt that he had been fooled. The question just now did not dampen Hestad's arrogance. , but instead made her say a bunch of specious sophistry.
"You mean, you can come forward and fight the chelates? Can you guarantee that no one will die and everyone will arrive at the shore safely? Can you guarantee -"
"You have too many questions," Herstad interrupted Bernhard, "Ask them one by one."
"Can you guarantee the safety of everyone here!"
Bishop's restaurant became quiet again, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Hesta's back.
"Yes." Hesta replied in a low voice, "I can."
For a moment, Bernhard had an impulse - now, at this moment, he could immediately draw his gun and kill the young boy who belonged to the Thorn Monk next to him. It would be better to splash Hesta's face with blood and put this red-haired girl on the spot. Break your promise——
"Calm down, sir," Hesta looked at Bernhard, her eyes carrying a slightly cold menace, "Don't let anger get to your head."
Bernhard involuntarily took half a step back, his breathing accelerated suddenly, and he felt that this question made his hair stand on end.
"I believe General Bernhard is very calm now," Gobelin took over. "But, Miss Hesta, do you really know what you are talking about? You now have to rely on a wheelchair to even move freely. Is this such a rash promise to save the lives of the people on this boat—"
"Indeed, this voyage is a rest trip for me, because I have some...serious injuries, as you can see." Hesta spread his palms, "But doubts also need evidence, Before I give any further information, Mr. Gobelin, could you tell me if you have any previous experience combating chelates, even indirectly?"
"...Of course not," Gobelin tried to protest, "but -"
"Have you ever been seriously injured, relied on your knowledge of the habits of chelates, and directed everyone to cooperate with each other to lead everyone to escape...even if you were vulnerable at the time, even if the process was full of dangers?"
Gobelin had long been aware of the intention of the person in front of him, but now Hestatu had a hard time seeing it - at this moment, he suddenly started to show off his qualifications. There was only one possibility...
Hestad leaned on the wheelchair, "If any of you here have lived in the Third District for a long time, you may have heard my name. I am Jane Hestad, who survived St. Anne's Abbey. No matter whether I am in a wheelchair or a motorcycle, I , or bumper cars...I am a genuine mercury needle."
"Of course we know that you are a genuine mercury needle," Gobelin nodded slightly, "but with all due respect, what have you been doing the past few days? I was very impressed. On the first day at Grace Theater ,you--"
"So why don't you take out the Guide, Gobelin?"
Hesta raised her voice, her voice echoing through Bishop's Diner. At this moment, she gently tapped the armrest of her wheelchair, "I don't want to make any malicious speculations, but you'd better give a more convincing explanation than 'everyone is present'."
…
In another cabin, Anna watched everything happening in Bishop's restaurant on the screen.
"Has Hesta commanded the rescue operation?" Anna turned around and looked at Chiba, who was standing not far away with her arms folded. "How do I remember that she, like you, was an independent combatant who only participated in the chelate annihilation battle? ?”
Chiba didn't say a word, but still looked at the screen expressionlessly.
"And... is that possible - a severely injured mercury needle, commanding a group of ordinary people, to escape from the chelate? How did she do it?"
Chiba remained silent.
After a moment of silence, Anna's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Oh, I get it."
(End of chapter)
