When Hester saw Mason Chiba again, it was already Thursday evening.
Chiba had originally wanted to take Hester out for a ride, but Molly had directly refused.
"I protest, Molly," Chiba frowned. "Why can't I take Hester out? Am I not fulfilling my duties as her guardian? Does the base have to interfere?"
Molly replied calmly, "If you genuinely care about your duties as much as you claim, then you should familiarize yourself with the base regulations in advance: to take a student off base, you must make a reservation at least one day in advance—not just come casually and expect to take them away."
Chiba argued a bit longer, but seeing that Molly would not open this backdoor, she finally gave up.
"Fine then," Chiba shrugged lightly and looked at Hester. "Let's just walk around inside the base, then."
Hester said nothing, silently following Chiba out.
They walked near the training field, where small groups of young people were jogging in the golden sunset. Hester suddenly noticed a black tattoo around Chiba's neck. Last time she had seen her, it had been hidden by a sweater collar. Looking closely now, it was a string of letters stretched tall and thin, forming a dense black fence-like pattern.
The letters formed a sentence in a language Hester did not recognize.
Chiba pulled out a small silver key and waved it in front of Hester. "Here, take it."
The key dropped into Hester's palm. The girl looked puzzled. "What is this?"
"That clipping collection," Chiba replied. "I stored it in the Grayscale Bank under your name. When you need to retrieve it, just bring your ID and this key."
Hester was momentarily stunned. Her gaze dimmed slightly. "…Thank you."
"How have you felt lately?" Chiba asked.
"Huh?"
"You look spaced out," Chiba laughed. "Don't tell me that brat scared you."
Hester looked up at Chiba. "Miss Chiba, why did you cancel Shawn's restriction order?"
"Because it's useless," Chiba glanced at Hester. "Would it have helped?"
Hester did not answer immediately.
She quietly recounted the night when the lights went out in the academic building and how Shawn might have been watching her via the surveillance system for the past half month.
"I told you," Chiba snapped her fingers. "Relying on this system with unrealistic expectations, hoping it will perfectly protect you with complex rules, only motivates wrongdoers to bypass it. They prepare in the shadows until they see the right moment… and then, you face even greater trouble."
"But what about Miss Chiba's 'little gift'?" Hester asked. "Shawn has awakened his power twice now."
"So what if he's awakened twice?"
"If his power is enough to rival the chelates, then it doesn't matter whether I carry a gun," Hester lifted her head but deliberately lowered her voice. "Once he enters Bullet Time, he can easily catch bullets I fire, even take my gun and use it to threaten me."
Chiba smiled. "Since you're so afraid of Bullet Time, have you ever tried to understand its limitations?"
Hester paused. "…I asked Liz, but she didn't tell me."
Chiba looked ahead. "Liz has always been a rule-abiding child. It's normal that she didn't tell you. Other sources? Have you tried to find out elsewhere?"
"I went to the archives, but my access level was too low. Many reference materials related to mercury needle research were restricted. Then I checked all official base news for battle casualty reports, but the articles lacked details. So I tried a different approach: I went to the library and collected every memoir I could find written by survivors from the infected zone. I made a reading list—"
"That might not help either," Chiba interrupted. "All publications are reviewed before release. Any sensitive content about mercury needles is deleted."
"Alright… that saved me some time," Hester replied. "I haven't had the chance to read these books yet."
"Good, Hester," Chiba said, her tone slightly softer. "The things you fear most are exactly what you should take the initiative to understand."
"So… what's your answer, Miss Chiba?"
Chiba didn't answer immediately. Instead, she asked, "What about Shawn himself? How much do you know about him?"
"Nothing," Hester whispered. "If I request his files from the base, he'll know… I don't want him to even get a single glance from me right now."
"Isn't that too pessimistic?"
"…How so?"
Chiba raised an eyebrow. "Even if Shawn has the upper hand now, as long as he hasn't completely defeated you, he must worry about your counterattacks. He unilaterally declared the fight started, yet you think it's just a prank, even disdain to understand your opponent. Does that make sense?"
"Miss Chiba said it's just 'normal quarrels between students'—"
"Strategically, yes, it's just a normal quarrel," Chiba interrupted. "But that doesn't stop us from formulating a tight counter-strategy. Use that little brain of yours—what rules would you set for him?"
…Rules.
Hester pondered the word and looked at Chiba again.
"Shawn has intruded into your life with his methods. That's violence, Hester. Violence has no boundaries. Its limits depend only on the reactions of both sides."
"For example, if he punches you," Chiba clenched her fist and assumed a boxing stance, "and you don't fight back but run away, you're telling him: 'I can't hit back, come hit me again.' Or if you hide behind friends, you're telling him: 'Front assault is impossible, now find other loopholes.'
"The more you rely on hiding, the more you expose your weaknesses. Eventually, you'll either cry daily, clinging to Molly or Fletcher's sleeve saying Shawn bullied me, or live in constant fear. Then your peace depends entirely on when he gets bored or loses interest. Have you considered living like that, Hester?"
"…No. I don't want that."
Chiba nodded approvingly. "Then you must understand your enemy. Shawn is actually quite interesting. When he and Calvin were first transferred from Hekla, they caused several big incidents—front-page news every time."
"…Really?" Hester was puzzled. "I searched archived newspapers on Liz's computer, but found nothing about them."
"What keywords did you use?"
"Shawn, Calvin, Granqua… I tried them all."
"You should have used 'Hekla,'" Chiba replied. "Most mercenary operations use code names, not real names. Reserve members didn't even have code names before transfer. The public calls them the 'Hekla brothers.' Of course, you won't find them by name."
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(End of Chapter )