Gobelin's deep voice came from outside the study, which sounded very stern. The sisters never said a word again, only Meyer's sobs could be heard from time to time.
Hesta studied the relationship diagram on the clue wall for a while. She turned around and walked straight to the desk filled with documents opposite the clue wall. "Rico, turn on the light."
"...Are you crazy?"
"You can't see anything clearly in the dark. Turn on the light and lock the door."
Rico's face was full of shock, but he still walked to the door and placed his left and right hands on the switch and door latch in the room respectively.
She looked at Hesta: "...I'll just assume you know what you're doing now."
Hesta gave a thumbs up - "Don't worry."
With a "click" sound, the metal lock bolt hit the groove of the door frame, and a white ceiling light came on, illuminating the entire study. Hestad overturned the mountain of documents on the table with one hand, spreading them out properly. On the table, her eyes followed her fingers and scanned the covers of each bound document.
"Who's inside?" Gobelin, who was outside the door, had already noticed the changes inside - the sound of the lock just now startled him, and when he turned around, he saw light coming from the crack in the door behind him.
"Open the door! Open the door!" There was a sound of punching and kicking. After banging the door four or five times in succession, Gobelin remembered that he had the key. The guards in the corridor also rushed into the study at this time. They were twisting the key in a panic, while Rico leaned against the wall and put his hand on the door latch to prevent it from turning in any direction.
"How long do you want?" Rico urged, "I think they are going to knock on the door——"
There was a violent impact, and a layer of white ash fell off the edge of the entire door frame. The middle part of the door panel had been deformed. Hesta did not raise her head, still browsing the titles of each document. Suddenly, her eyes changed slightly. , "...Top it again."
"I can't stand it." Rico listened carefully to the sounds outside. She could imagine many people pointing guns at the door. "How long do you want to take it?"
Hesta quickly re-stacked the documents he had looked through into a messy pile, then jumped over the big desk and stood in front of the wall of clues again.
"Bang--" The entire door was knocked open, and several heavily armed soldiers broke in. Their threats and yells were immediately heard in the narrow windowless room.
Gobelin coughed violently in the flying dust, and he also stepped in. When he saw the guests in front of him, he was stunned, "It's you..."
Both Rico and Hesta raised their hands symbolically to show that they were not hostile.
"Tell your men to put down their guns." Rico said softly.
Gobelin glanced at the wall of clues behind Hesta. His face suddenly turned pale and his pupils tightened.
"Did you hear that?" Rico looked at the muzzles of several guns aimed at him, "Otherwise, I won't be polite."
"...Put away your weapons." Gobelin forced himself to regain his composure, but the shock and anger in his eyes could not be concealed. He stared at Rico, "What are you doing here?"
Rico turned around and said, "Let me ask you, what did we do here?"
"Come to pick up Sister Agnes." Hesta raised her chin slightly and looked at Gobelin with a little arrogance. "We have talked about it before. How many more times do you want me to talk?"
"They won't go with you—"
"Then I'll trouble you to give the order personally." Hesta's words were loud and clear, "Let them obey."
"...You broke into my study, and you are still bossing me around here." Gobelin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Who do you think I am, what kind of place do you think this is, and what kind of place do you think I am?" You are just a mercury needle——"
Hesta smiled and patted the wall of clues behind him, "I'm really curious about who you are, Gobelin... What is this? Are you willing to talk about it?"
"...I don't know. This study was only temporarily assigned to me when I boarded the ship. I have almost never been in this inner room, and I know nothing about the things in it... You need to take the things here It doesn’t matter whether you show it to Si Lei or Qianye - but you have to give me an explanation! Why are you invading my personal space for no reason like this!? Is this what you do with mercury needles - "
"Since you don't know what these things are, our visit is not without reason," Hestad walked up to Gobelin in a few steps. "It is very likely that this place has been commandeered by the chelates on the ship, and Anna is it, or their next target."
"Indeed," Rico suddenly realized, "Anna did not go to the restaurant this morning, and she was not in her own room."
"Yes," Hesta continued, "This is a very important clue - after all, it is our duty to fight against chelates... Does this reason convince you, Gobelin? "
Gobelin gritted his teeth.
Herstaff was deep in her heart and thought of many ways to make fun of her. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Agnes not far away from the corner of her eye - the girl's eyes were full of anger and her eyes were filled with tears.
Hesta's eyebrows stretched, and she suddenly decided to say less.
"Two options, either give these sisters to me and let me take them away," Hesta whispered, "Or, Rico and I will stay here until Si Lei comes... What do you want to choose? which one?"
Gobelin's expression was stiff, "...Agnes, Meyer, you go with Hesta."
"Mr. Gobelin, we will never ask her—"
"Shut up!" Gobelin's eyes were stern, which made Agnes tremble.
Gobelin turned around and said, "...I have one more condition."
"explain."
"Before leaving, I need to let Meyer search your bodies." Gobelin whispered, "There is no room for this."
"make a deal."
Hesta's tone was brisk. She used her right arm to assist and took off the gloves on her left hand. Then she raised her arms and let Meyer come over for inspection.
After making sure that Hesta had not taken anything with him, Gobelin made way to leave.
"Then, keep the scene well," Hesta smiled. "I will go back here with Officer Si Lei later. I hope there will be nothing missing here by then."
"Of course," Gobelin looked at her coldly, "there will be nothing missing here, I promise."
…
When Rico pushed Agnes to the open deck, Hesta took out two white eye masks provided by the cabin from her pocket, and she gave them to Agnes and Meyer.
Meyer quickly understood the meaning and put on the blindfold himself.
"Where are you taking us?" Agnes stared at the person in front of her angrily and did not answer.
"Is that important?"
Hesta asked back, putting the blindfold crookedly on Agnes' head with one hand.
(End of chapter)
