Xia Yibing was amused. "Last time I heard you made a friend in the Knight Academy, and he's a guy?"
"Yes."
"How are things going with you two?"
"He is totally unable to beat me now. I don't play with him much anymore."
As expected of you.
Xia Yibing observed a moment of silence for that person.
After interrogating her for a long time, they finally found out another reason why Ashley came to the capital.
“They said I was progressing too fast.”
Ashley said hesitantly.
"They said... if I continue to stay in Blackwood City, it would be a waste of my talent. Only by coming to Wayne and receiving better training here can I bring out what I have... That's what they said."
"Potential, right?" Xia Yibing lifted one leg. "You do have terrifying potential."
So that's how it is. That makes sense.
Hitzfeld nodded, accepting the arrangement.
Whether from the perspective of knight training or from the perspective of cultural education, Kuroki City is definitely not comparable to Wayne.
Just like the educational resources and medical resources in the previous life, third-tier cities cannot compare with first-tier cities. It is indeed more convenient for Ashley to receive education in the capital.
After chatting for a while, Hitzfeld felt a little tired.
Cooking is also very tiring, not to mention that she also ran to several places to buy things during the day - advance purchases for the upcoming trip.
Anyway, Ashley and Daryl would be guarding No. 221 after he left, so he might as well arrange for them to live together. Hitzfeld washed up and went to bed.
A dreamless night.
The next day, both of them got up very early because Xia Yibing asked her subordinates to help buy morning tickets - they would leave at 8:10. If they didn't get up early, they would miss it if they encountered an accident.
Hitzfeld got up a little later. She was brushing her teeth in the bathroom when she heard Xia Yibing packing her boxes in the bedroom.
There are a lot of things to stuff in there, such as thick clothes, various tools that might be needed in extremely cold environments, and even tents, sleeping bags, professional non-slip boots, and climbing ropes.
Hitzfeld couldn't help laughing in the mirror. She ran back shouting "Foam" without even rinsing her mouth, and told the woman seriously that many of the things here could be bought on the road.
But Xia Yibing said she didn't trust the things in Binghu Town, especially the tents.
"This is our honeymoon love nest!"
she shouted.
“Usability and comfort…the difference is huge!”
It's getting more and more outrageous...
Hitzfeld couldn't do anything about her. Thinking that it would take two people to carry the boxes, no matter how many they there were, he just let her go.
Maybe Xia Yibing was right, the things in Binghu Town were very rough.
But the problem is that they don't go directly to Binghu Town by car.
They will have to pass through cities such as Trierred on the way. I don’t know if she will regret it when she realizes this.
After more than an hour of organizing it, I finally got it almost done.
Two big boxes and two big backpacks.
Both of them were wearing heavy coats and felt hats. Hitzfeld wrapped Lily's dog leash around his hand, said hello to the dazed Ashley, and officially got on the bus to the station.
"I'm so honored you took me with you."
Xia Yibing was driving, and the Blood Crystal Crow was jumping around on the operating console.
"Of course, I was even more surprised that the little guy actually acquiesced to your willfulness."
"Is it okay not to inform anyone?"
"The blessing has already been delivered."
Hitzfeld stroked Lily and said lightly.
“And this has always been my path.”
"Of course I have to go by myself."
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Why do I feel that two chapters are more suitable when there are two chapters?
Damn it, I don't want to become a beast!
Chapter 8 Polar Night (Two in One)
Before seven o'clock, the car stopped steadily near the northern railway station of Wayne. Xia Yibing turned her head and looked at Hitzfeld, feeling a little nervous for some reason.
It was not her first time to travel far away, nor was it her first time to travel with only one partner. But she had to admit that the previous trip was completely different from the one she was about to embark on. She had never had such an experience in her more than 20 years of life, where she could abandon her burdens and travel or explore a place with the person she loved.
In a way, this was indeed her first time. Although her previous trips to the Red Plains and Talignan were jokingly called honeymoons, and she had also taken the Elsa trip not long ago, it was indeed different to have official duties and this kind of freedom.
It felt very strange. If Xia Yibing were to describe it herself, she would say that she had a sense of nervousness mixed with excitement, which reminded her of when her father said he would take her to the street when she was very young. It was a very similar feeling.
"Has the work been handed over?" Hitzfeld was reading today's morning paper and asked her without raising his head.
"It has been handed over a long time ago." Xia Yibing exhaled, "It has been handed over to my deputy... that fat guy. Li Ang is in charge. Now he is about to be promoted to the director of a small department. I have to admit that he is the second most suitable candidate."
"The second in line is the deputy director."
"Yes."
"But I have the impression that the Security Bureau does not have a deputy director position."
"It didn't happen before, but times are changing. There are more and more messy things now, just like the last case... Now we can't just execute the victims at will, so we have to divide the manpower and energy to take care of it, right? We can't handle it without a deputy."
"That's not possible." Hitzfeld looked up at her, then turned to look out the window, saying, "I guess you'll have to expand again soon. The current division of duties in the Security Bureau seems a bit confusing to me and needs to be reorganized."
Sarah's Strategic Homeland Security Agency, the main responsibility of this department is to serve as a secret police and agent to prevent infiltration and invasion.
But from what he saw and heard during this period, Hitzfeld discovered that Sara's development after unlocking the alternating current was a bit too rapid. Coupled with the impact of the sailing fever, there was a shortage of manpower, and many people in black were forced to take on the work of gray.
Then what secrecy is there? We can't even call the secret police.
This would not work. When she woke up from the underground headquarters, she felt that it was getting more and more crowded and narrow, and it was hard to breathe. Now the alliance between the powerful officials and the nobles could be said to have been uprooted. It was time to restructure these large departments.
From this perspective, if I take advantage of this time to let Lasha go out and play, I am actually helping her avoid overtime?
As she thought about it, Hitzfeld became a little amused. She just stared out the window with a mischievous smile, while Xia Yibing stared at her in a daze.
"Aren't we going in?" Hitzfeld suddenly came to his senses and turned his head to meet her eyes.
"Ah... Oh... Yes you can go in..." The woman was stunned for a long while before she reacted. She forced a smile, and hurriedly opened the door and got out of the car.
Hitzfeld also came down. She opened the back door first, let Lily jump down, wrapped the dog leash around her hand and tightened it, then led the big dog to the trunk and helped Xia Yibing carry the luggage.
It’s really heavy…
The moving process was quite strenuous, and Hitzfeld almost used all her strength. She felt that if the boxes did not have wheels, she would not be able to move any of them by herself.
"What did you put in there?"
The tone was more of surprise than complaint.
"It's just normal preparation." Xia Yibing tapped the lid of the box seriously, "Water bottle, clothes, towel, shoes, sleeping bag, tools... I also stuffed a folding sled."
"Are you crazy? That last one was too much, wasn't it?"
"Aisun." Xia Yibing said confidently, "I know a lot of things can be bought locally, I understand, but listen to me... these are things that must be relied on in times of crisis, am I right?"
"Yes, but——"
"You don't want a low-quality sled to suddenly break during use, do you?" Xia Yibing exhaled a breath of white air, "What's wrong with checking this kind of thing personally? It's just a little troublesome. Anyway, most of the things will be left at the hotel by then."
Is that the truth?
Watching the blood crystal crow fly out and land on the woman's shoulder, Hitzfeld suddenly suspected that he had seen the wrong person.
Xia should be... very rational and smart.
Then she should not fail to understand this most obvious truth... It is hard to find a place where you can ski properly around your city of Wayne. How can you guarantee the performance of the sleds produced in such a place?
"Wang!"
The other hostess in front of her was gradually walking away. Lily became a little impatient and called out to the girl.
"Wang! Wang Wang!"
"I know, I know..." Hitzfeld patted its raised head, held its hat steady with his other hand, and jogged along quickly, carrying his backpack and pushing the box.
As for the car, there was no need to worry about it. She didn't even need to guess. After they left, someone would definitely come and drive the car back to the underground garage.
As he walked and looked around, Hitzfeld found that there were not many people around.
As it gradually gets into late autumn, or even towards the winter solstice, most people are reluctant to go out at this time because the train stations that are usually crowded due to the seafaring fever seem extremely quiet and deserted.
"With this temperature in autumn, this winter will definitely be very cold."
Xia Yibing sighed in front.
Hitzfeld moved his lower lip but didn't respond.
After checking their tickets and entering the station, at around 8 o'clock, they found an open lounge chair on the platform to sit down and rest. They took out the bread they brought with them and drank the water from the kettle to replenish their energy.
While eating, Xia Yibing suddenly laughed: "Do you remember the first time we met?"
"of course."
Hitzfeld nodded immediately, and then his expression became a little embarrassed.
The first time they met...it sounds romantic, but she didn't think so at all at the time. All she had in her mind was embarrassment.
Because she was buying something to eat at a snack stand near the platform, and when the train came into the station, she had a stomachache and stood there in a dilemma.
That was her first time riding a train in this world.
She didn't know whether there was a washroom or toilet on the train. If Xia Yibing hadn't appeared and told her there was, given her personality, she might have missed the train.
It is precisely because of this profound lesson that I only eat the food I bring with me when I go out now...
With his cheeks burning, Hitzfeld took a big bite of the frosted bread.
And I didn’t dare eat too much, for fear of getting stomach discomfort during the meal.
Xia Yibing had already moved on to the next topic. She put the last piece of bread in her mouth, freed her hands to open the map, and stared at the route drawn in bold black pen on it.
"Are we going to Trierred?"
"Yes."
"We'll pass by Kain on the way."
"Yes."
"Across the Caccia Mountains... they cut through the mountain, so they say this is a new road."
"That's what it says in the introduction."
"So do you still remember Phil Lawrence?" Xia Yibing lowered her voice, "the guy who projected nightmares into your head."①
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①: Phil Lawrence. The opening character of "Deadwood". Because the nightmare projection was shared with Hitzfeld, the plot of going to Elnak Town to investigate was triggered at the beginning.
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"Of course I remember." Hitzfeld nodded.
That kind of experience is not something that can be easily had, and she will never forget it.
"Lawrence is also a common surname. The further north you go, the more common it is. I happened to see someone named Lawrence when I was looking up information. He was a defected Shadow Lion agent."
Xia Yibing cleverly interrupted the girl and told her all the information she had found in the archives, and tentatively asked her "if you have any special ideas about this."
"Not at all." Hitzfeld felt like laughing. "If you want to ask me something, just ask it directly... You know, I can hide things from anyone, but I won't lie to you."
"Aisun..."
The girl's feelings were so straightforward, almost violently revealed. Xia Yibing couldn't help but hold her breath and quietly approached her.
