Beng Tie: What does it mean to broaden one's four destinies in one sentence?

"You're getting old."

"Hey!"

Hiluva's eyes widened, and her voice rose an octave.

"Can't you speak properly?"

Cocolia smiled slightly but didn't reply.

Hiluva looked at her smile, opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She hadn't seen that smile in a long time.

She turned around and pushed open the door to the mechanical room.

"Come in, it's cold outside."

A dim, yellow light streamed out from the doorway and fell on the snow, like a warm-colored path.

Cocolia stood at the doorway, staring at the light for a long time.

Then she stepped inside.

Behind us, the wind and snow continued to fall.

It was much warmer inside the mechanical house than outside.

Various parts and tools were piled up in the corner, several circuit diagrams were hanging on the wall, and a half-disassembled machine was on the workbench.

Hiluva moved the bar counter parts aside to make room for two seats.

"sit."

Cocolia sat down and looked around.

"It's still so chaotic."

"Chaos is where inspiration comes from."

Hiluva, feeling perfectly justified, turned around and went to pour tea.

Two women sat facing each other, with a steaming cup of tea between them.

There are still many things to say.

Many things no longer need to be said.

Hiluva leaned her guitar against the side, held her teacup, and looked at Cocolia.

"You sang that line off-key."

"No."

"Ran."

"No."

"Ran."

Cocolia was silent for a second.

"...Okay, they've run away."

Hiluva laughed, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

"Still the same as before, refusing to admit it to the death."

Cocolia looked down at the teacup in her hand, the steam blurring her features.

“Hiluva”.

"Ok?"

"sorry."

Hiluva stopped moving.

She looked at Cocolia, at this woman who never said "sorry," who was now bowing her head like a child who had done something wrong.

Her mouth opened and then closed.

There's so much I want to say.

I want to ask, "Why did you drive me out of the city builders?" I want to ask, "Why did you seal off the lower districts?" I want to ask, "What have you been thinking all these years?"

But seeing Cocolia with her head down, those words seemed unimportant.

She simply picked up her teacup and gently touched the rim of Cocolia's cup.

"Have some tea."

Cocolia looked up.

Hiluva smiled.

"Tea doesn't taste good when it gets cold."

Cocolia stared at her for a long time.

Then she smiled too.

The two men each held their teacups and remained silent for a while.

Outside the window, the wind and snow howled, while inside, only the steam from the tea rose slowly under the lamplight.

After hesitating for a moment, Hiluva finally spoke.

Did Bronya say anything to you when she went back today?

Cocolia smiled but did not answer.

She held the teacup, her fingertips slowly circling the rim.

After a long while, she said:

“Silva, soon I will step down as High Warden and let Bronya succeed me.”

Hiluva was stunned for a moment, and almost dropped her teacup.

Before she could ask anything, Cocolia continued:

"Bronya has been affirmed by the will of 'preservation'."

"She reactivated that lance that had been passed down for seven hundred years."

Hiluva's mouth dropped open.

She wanted to say something, but couldn't say anything.

She naturally knew about that lance as well.

The weapon passed down through generations of Great Guardians, but it was completely frozen starting from a certain generation, and no one can awaken it.

Seven hundred years.

Something no one has been able to do in seven hundred years.

Bronya did it.

After a long silence, Hiluva finally spoke:

"Bronya... has indeed changed a lot."

Her tone carried an indescribable emotion.

"I'm telling you..."

Hiluva started talking.

From the moment Bronya asked her to do something in the morning, to their journey to the lower districts, to Bronya persuading Swallow...

As she spoke, she gestured, and the more Cocolia listened, the wider her smile became.

She didn't interrupt, but listened quietly, occasionally taking a sip of tea and chuckling softly.

"This child..."

She said it in a low voice, so softly that it seemed as if she was afraid of being overheard.

The two chatted more and more happily, as if they had returned to many years ago when they could talk about anything.

The city besieged by wind and snow, the heavy burden on her shoulders, and the secret hidden in her heart were all temporarily put aside at this moment.

After a long while, Hiluva smiled and said:

"Would you like to come with me to find that Dr. Vah tomorrow? After all, your daughter commissioned me to make something like that, and I really don't have a clue what to do right now. If you, the Great Guardian, were to step in, things should go more smoothly."

Cocolia raised an eyebrow.

"it is good."

She did not hesitate.

Hiluva was taken aback, clearly not expecting her to agree so readily.

Then she laughed, a very happy laugh.

Then, the two fell silent for a while.