Why it never ends

Chapter 1083 Guard

A subtle embarrassment appeared on Hesta's face. She stood up and said, "It just occurred to me and I mentioned it casually. I'm a little slow. Please forgive me if my words just now are offensive."

Pakat didn't ask any more questions. She looked at Hesta deeply, obviously not believing this explanation at all. But she was too lazy to pursue it. After a while, she called Stella to take her back. Hesta personally helped the old lady carry the wheelchair from the second floor to the first floor. Before leaving, she said goodbye to her very politely and stood at the door to watch Pakat leave.

In fact, the question just now did not arise out of thin air. It was caused by several reminders from Rico in the past few days. Rico has always been concerned about Pacat's firm advocacy of abolishing the death penalty.

Many times, Rico asked her if she really felt that Pacat was trustworthy: would a person who could not even accept the death penalty give up saving a large group of mountain children for the benefit of a few young people who had just met him? From all angles, it was impossible for the old woman to put Hesta's interests before her own moral feelings.

However, strangely enough, Hess came to a different conclusion about this matter: it did not seem to be absolute either.

Because on the afternoon when she wrote to Pacat about the strange illness in the orphanage, she witnessed Pacat withdrawing the reply he had written in anger - because the old man did not want his knowledge to be used for evil.

This incident made such a deep impression on Hesta that she could at least confirm one thing from it: in the old lady's psychological order, there is always a "moral judgment" that comes before "moral emotion": if Pacat believes that something may lead to greater evil, then she will decisively cut off her own emotions to prevent a greater tragedy.

However, this also means that for Pacat, the abolition of the death penalty not only conforms to her moral emotions, but also passes her moral judgment... What does the old lady think?

Hesta was curious, but there were a million things waiting for her to sort out, and she was in no mood to discuss the differences in political views between the two sides. Moreover, compared to this, she had another task that had to be done immediately: after Pakat went to the south to meet with the Devout Youth Front, she had to use a mercury needle to follow Pakat and protect the old man at any time. Hesta didn't know how many enemies Boheng and his men had, but she was very sure that once the news of Pakat helping the southern revolutionaries to establish the Kasyapa base spread, Deep Anchor would definitely react.

Therefore, a suitable candidate must be selected immediately.

……

In the room, Rico slapped Hesta on the forehead.

"Are you not fully recovered here?" She said angrily, "If you can't control your random thoughts, go find some medicine yourself and don't bother me."

A red mark appeared on Hesta's forehead, but she still sat there with her arms folded, motionless.

"Listen to me and tell you why," Hesta said softly, "If you want to know who is the most suitable candidate, it's Victoria. Not only does she have rich combat experience, but she also knows District 12 better. However, precisely because she is a relatively versatile person, once I am stuck with a problem, she is the only one who can take my place.

"Then there's Zoe. She's the second most suitable candidate. Although her combat experience isn't as good as Victoria's, it's more than enough for the mission of protecting Pakat. However, I don't think she's suitable for this mission right now for two reasons. First, she doesn't have a clear understanding of her role in District 12 at this stage. Second, she doesn't regard me as a trustworthy person. At a critical moment, she may ignore my instructions and prioritize doing what she thinks is necessary. These two points are what I observed during this trip to the south - if I have time later, I'll tell you the details.

"Next are Theresa and Susie. I don't know much about them. Although from previous experience, their individual combat capabilities are slightly inferior to Zoe, but I believe that any one of them is also capable of this task—"

"Then why did you come to me?" "The problem is that the two of them are already responsible for a lot of paperwork in the team. They are also responsible for daily communication and record keeping. Susie and Theresa's abilities can be maximized when they work together, but in terms of independent combat, both of them are slightly inferior to Zoe." Hesta said softly, "So I don't want to separate any of them and leave them alone with Pakat..."

"There is still one--"

"Ende is very agile, and can be said to be on par with Zoe, but she is a little naive." Hesta said, "But no matter which one of them, no one can surpass you in combat skills, combat awareness, and combat experience at the same time... I didn't decide to let you go casually, and it's not for any reason... Ah, I want you to get along well and create opportunities for you. I just need help..."

Hesta's voice softened and she let out a resigned sigh.

"Please, really."

Rico immediately looked away, refusing to look at Hesta's pleading eyes. She walked to the window alone and paced back and forth.

"How long are you going to protect this person?" Li Ge whispered, "You can't protect her until she dies—"

"We need to observe for three months first." Hesta said, "The first three months will definitely be the most dangerous, so I must entrust this to the person I trust the most - after that, the task of protecting Pakat can be divided up, or I can transfer someone from Office No. 2 to do it."

"...Okay." Rico said coldly, "But I'm telling you, the care I'm responsible for is only to defend against external attacks. If the old lady bumps into something and needs someone to serve her tea, pour water, or carry her wheelchair, I won't do any of that."

"You don't have to do it." Hesta clasped his hands together with gratitude on his face. "You don't even have to appear in front of her under normal circumstances. You don't need to let her see you - of course, we still need to go over and take care of her first, and tell her that you will provide her with some security assistance in the future..."

"Just go and tell her. It's not like she doesn't recognize me." Li Ge said, "Since when?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Okay, no problem, but don't forget that Office No. 2 has issued a ban on me--"

"This time the situation is different. Let me explain." Hesta stood up and walked forward to hug Rico's shoulders. "Thank you."

"...You owe me too much." Rico glanced sideways, "You have to pay it back."