Chapter 7: Mercury Needles

Hesta reached out again, straining with all her might.

"All right," the woman said, looking at her. "About three minutes after you called the police, we arrived on the scene. The entire monastery was already engulfed in flames. We quickly located and neutralized Mother Alma, who had succumbed to the infection, but firefighting is not our specialty."

"Although the Tanyi City fire department was dispatched immediately, the mountain roads made it impossible to arrive in time to save the building. However, you don't need to worry too much; before the fire consumed the structure, my colleagues and I had already evacuated all the children from the living quarters. The casualties caused by the chelate creature this time were minimal."

Hesta’s breathing grew ragged. A fierce doubt gnawed at her—what about Boheng, who had been in the confinement room?

Did you find him? Did you save him?

Yet, she could neither speak nor express herself.

"I will come to see you again in a while." The woman reached out and patted Hesta's head. "My name is Chiba, Masaki Chiba. I am the team leader of Group 403 under the Chelate Creature Hunting and Epidemic Prevention Organization, AHgAs. It is a pleasure to meet you."

...

A month later, Hesta was discharged from the hospital.

During that month, she still woke up early every day, just as she had at St. Anne's Monastery, though this time she didn't need to dress quickly and rush to ring the morning bell.

Most of the time, she lay in her hospital bed with her eyes bandaged, feeling the pain in her body slowly fade away.

Hesta reflected on the past. At times, she had vague hallucinations that everything that happened that night wasn't real—that it was just a nightmare, and perhaps upon waking, everything would be as it had been.

It wasn't until two weeks later, when Chiba visited her for the second time, that Hesta could speak, though she still could not see.

That day, Chiba brought an invitation for Hesta to join her organization.

"A chelate creature hunter?" Hesta asked, taking the letter suspiciously. "Me?"

Chiba laughed heartily. "It's been so long since I've heard anyone call us 'chelate creature hunters.' Typical of a monastery devoted to asceticism... that’s a term from centuries ago."

"Then what should I call you?" Hesta's fingertips brushed over the letters "AHgAs" on the invitation. "...What is that an abbreviation for?"

"AHgA," Chiba explained quickly. "The full name is Anti-Homogenization Agent. It refers specifically to those individuals among humanity who, through their own innate talent, can autonomously resist the erosion of chelate disease. Because the name is such a mouthful, and it happens to contain 'Hg,' people mostly call us 'Mercury Needles' in informal settings. Perhaps you've heard that name somewhere before?"

"Mercury Needles..." Hesta repeated in a whisper.

The name felt somewhat familiar to the girl.

Chiba looked at Hesta and continued, "You can think of this identity as a kind of talent. There are 1.9 billion people living in this world, but there are only about 4,000 Mercury Needles. In other words, the probability of becoming one is about one in a million."

"On the night we killed that chelate creature, we suspected there might be a gifted child at St. Anne's Monastery because the creature showed slight signs of poisoning—most likely because it had touched or ingested the blood of a Mercury Needle."

"Although you were indeed severely injured, the chelate disease spores in your body were essentially metabolized within the first week. In other words, just like us, you are someone who will never be infected by the disease, Miss Hesta."

Hesta’s voice was calm. "...Is there some mistake?"

"Hahaha, that's impossible," Chiba rubbed her nose. "Although chelate disease isn't as active as it was a dozen years ago, we are still in desperate need of new recruits... Would you like to join us?"

At that time, Hesta, still blindfolded, frowned and said nothing.

"Of course, it’s a major decision... I should give you some time to think about it, right?" Chiba smiled. "It’s a high-risk profession, but the good news is that you can apply for retirement at twenty-five, although in most cases—"

"Miss Chiba?" Hesta turned her head toward where Chiba was standing. "May I ask you a few questions?"

"Go ahead."

"Behind the main chapel of St. Anne's Monastery, there is a row of old houses. On the second floor, at the northernmost end, there is a confinement room. On the night of the incident, a fourteen-year-old boy with black hair was locked inside—is he safe?"

"I don't recall. Let me ask."

Chiba stood up and went into the corridor to make a call. When she returned, Hesta immediately turned to face her. "Well?"

Chiba hesitated for a moment. "Two pieces of bad news and one piece of good news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Hesta’s face turned pale. "...The bad news."

"The team members in charge of the rescue did consider the possibility of missing someone, so they checked every building at St. Anne's Monastery one by one—even the basement. But other than you, they didn't find anyone else."

Hesta’s breathing grew rapid, and she suddenly felt a sting in her nose, the tip of which began to turn red.

"The good news is," Chiba continued, "according to reports from the security forces, only two sets of remains were found besides the chelate creature: an elderly woman and a child. I assume you know who they are."

Hesta froze—yes, she knew. It was poor Sister Gerdin and Flassant.

"No third person was found?"

"Correct, none."

"...Then what is the other piece of bad news?"

Chiba looked directly into Hesta’s bandaged eyes. "It’s not so much news as a speculation. When we arrived at the monastery, the chelate creature was lurking in the confessional behind the main chapel. That place... is very close to the confinement room you mentioned."

Through Chiba’s explanation, Hesta finally understood what she meant: during the three minutes the Mercury Needles were absent, it was highly likely that Boheng had been attacked. The fact that "no body was found" could be explained in many ways, the most likely being that he might have fallen into the rapids below the cliff where St. Anne's Monastery stood during the chaos, where it would be easy for a body to vanish without a trace.

"Don't lose hope. He might still be alive... If you can provide more information about the boy, we can help you search around the Cévennes area."

...

That was what Chiba had said at the time.

Now, more than half a month had passed since that night, and Hesta had received no further news of Boheng. The fire had burned away most of the traces from that night; no one knew his whereabouts.

Today, Hesta’s injuries had fully healed. She put on the clothes Chiba had prepared for her and sat alone in the hospital corridor, waiting for Chiba to pick her up.

Chiba had promised that she could take her back to the site today, and Hesta had promised to give her an answer—an answer regarding whether or not she would join the Mercury Needles.