Big Sis Pe~la~
March 7th hefted the heavy money bag in her hand. The coins clinked together with a crisp, pleasant sound.
She froze for a moment, then her eyes lit up. Without another word, she took the bag and pulled Bai Luoming back the way they had come.
"Hey, slow down..."
Before Bai Luoming could finish, he had already been dragged back into the souvenir shop.
"Shopkeeper!" March 7th slapped the money bag onto the counter, undid the drawstring, and poured out a small pile of Shields with a clatter. "The one from before is still here, right? We'll take it!" she declared grandly.
The shopkeeper simply smiled at the display, counted out the correct amount from the pile, then packed the pink icicle charm in an elegant little box and handed it to March 7th.
March 7th solemnly accepted the box and put away the money bag. Unable to wait even a second, she unwrapped it as soon as she stepped out of the shop.
She carefully pinched the short cord and tied the charm to the side of her treasured camera. In Belobog's gray-white daylight, the translucent pink icicle refracted a soft glow, swaying gently as she moved.
Perfect.
She admired it for a moment, satisfied, then held the camera up in both hands before Bai Luoming as though presenting a treasure. Her chin tilted slightly upward, and her clear eyes sparkled with anticipation.
"Well? What do you think?"
Bai Luoming took a careful look. The little pink charm did indeed add a lively splash of color to the camera.
"It looks great," he said with a sincere nod. "It suits both you and the camera perfectly."
At his approval, March 7th gave a smug little hum and proudly raised her face. "Of course it does! My taste is the best in the whole universe!"
Seeing how pleased with herself she looked, the smile in Bai Luoming's eyes softened.
He raised a hand, intending to ruffle her hair, but it paused in midair. In the end, he merely made the gesture without touching her, then lowered it to his side.
"Yes, yes," he replied indulgently. "Our Little March has the best taste."
Though his hand never came down, March 7th still felt the air above her head grow warmer.
A flush quickly crept up her neck to her ears. Her fingers tightened unconsciously around the camera, and her gaze drifted aside.
"Ahem! Then, let's hurry to the next place!" She cleared her throat, pretending to be calm, and pulled Bai Luoming along. "The Golden Opera House! Let's go!"
The two hurried excitedly to the Golden Opera House, only to find its grand doors tightly shut.
Unwilling to give up, March 7th tried pushing the doors open.
A patrolling Silvermane Guard nearby kindly informed March 7th that the opera house had no performances scheduled that day, so it was closed to the public.
"Ah..." The excitement visibly drained from March 7th's face, and she sighed.
Her disappointment, however, lasted only a short while.
March 7th patted her cheeks, rallied her spirits, and clenched a fist to encourage herself. "It's okay! There's plenty more to see! We can go take pictures at the Everwinter Monument and leave absolutely no regrets on this Trailblaze!"
With that, March 7th led Bai Luoming toward the Everwinter Monument, following the directions Gepard had given them.
After passing through several streets, the two spotted the enormous monument in the center of the square from a distance.
It had a peculiar shape and did not look like a mere sculpture.
Enormous gears and angular ice crystals interlocked and bound one another. Beneath the overcast sky, they had a silent, resilient beauty, as though industry were pitted against nature.
"Look, that ice sculpture has such an unusual shape! Somehow, it feels like it really fits this city. Is that the Everwinter Monument Gepard was talking about?" March 7th exclaimed, looking up.
Only when they came closer did they notice a group of chattering children gathered around the monument, with a petite figure wearing round glasses and a Silvermane Guard uniform standing before them.
"Let me introduce myself," the girl said seriously, pushing up her glasses. "I'm Pelageya Sergeyevna, an intelligence officer with the Silvermane Guards and your temporary guide for the 'Belobog History Tour.' You can all call me Pela."
The children immediately called out in unison, drawing out the words in their childish voices:
"Big Sis Pe~la~"
Their clear young voices echoed across the square.
But amid those harmonious voices, an extremely jarring, piercing adult male voice, clearly pitched high on purpose, joined in.
"Big Sis Pe~la~"
The lively atmosphere in the square froze for a moment.
Pela, who had been wearing a serious expression and was about to continue her explanation, gave an involuntary twitch of her lips.
Her gaze passed over the children's little heads and locked onto Bai Luoming at the back of the crowd.
Looking at Bai Luoming, Pela clenched her back teeth and spoke one word at a time. "...Certain adults, please do not imitate the children as though nothing is wrong!"
March 7th swiftly covered her face with her hand, wishing she could dig a hole in the snow and bury herself on the spot.
She shuffled two steps away, quietly making it clear through her actions that she didn't know the "attention magnet" Bai Luoming.
Pela forcibly brought her attention back on track and pointed at the monument behind her, continuing her lesson for the children. "Please look. This is the 'Everwinter Monument.' It consists of two parts: the gears, which symbolize knowledge and the power of industry, and the enormous ice crystals, which symbolize the Eternal Freeze. The gears bind the frost, representing the Architects' spirit of refusing to submit to untamed nature..."
Bai Luoming stood to one side and listened, but he was thinking that it would have been nice if Stelle were here.
Given Stelle's personality, she would definitely have joined him in pitching her voice high and calling out without hesitation.
Besides, Stelle had only been born on the space station a few days ago. Strictly speaking, Pela's warning to "certain adults" couldn't have targeted her at all.
Unfortunately, Stelle had lately been unable to pull herself away from trash cans.
When the lesson ended, Pela led the children away, and the square grew somewhat quieter.
March 7th immediately rushed up to Bai Luoming and lowered her voice, both angry and on the verge of laughing. "What were you doing just now?! That was so embarrassing!"
"Livening up the atmosphere," Bai Luoming said with a perfectly sincere expression.
March 7th couldn't be bothered with him. She pulled him over to the Everwinter Monument and raised her camera.
"Come on, stand still! Let's take a picture together." She directed Bai Luoming to the spot she had chosen and set the camera's timer.
The countdown began.
At the last second, March 7th cheered, "Say cheese!" Then she spun around, grabbed Bai Luoming's arm, and pulled him hard toward her.
Click.
With that soft sound, the image was frozen in time.
In the photo, the pink-haired girl's smile was brighter than the sunlight, and the pink icicle charm on the side of the camera swayed gently in the wind. Beside her, the black-haired young man had been pulled off balance, his expression somewhat helpless.