A Token of Thanks

After leaving Nara, Russell remained calm the whole way, merely gazing out the window.

Huai Shi knew he was hurting inside and said nothing. Even when Russell occasionally made excessive demands like wanting eel rice in the middle of nowhere, he gritted his teeth and made it happen.

But he could sense the grief surging beneath the man's calm exterior like the tides...

"Don't be sad," Huai Shi consoled him. "There will always be regrets."

"It's nothing. I'm not sad."

Russell looked up and revealed a weary smile. "Look at how happy I am."

Huai Shi shook his head with a sigh and said no more.

He had never expected the death of an old friend to hit him this hard.

Perhaps even someone as infuriating as Russell had a soft spot deep down?

He stepped on the accelerator and continued onward.

"Ah, winter's here."

Russell stared at the snowflakes outside the car window and murmured softly, "How nice it would be if we could go skiing."

Huai Shi paused in the driver's seat without saying anything, then turned right at the next intersection and headed for the ski resort.

Fine.

He would let him relax for a while.

Four hours later, Russell stepped down from the sled, thoroughly satisfied. It was as though he had revisited old times, and his heart had found a little comfort.

Yet when he lowered his eyes, he still sighed wistfully. "It's so cold. It'd be nice if there were some kaiseki to eat."

An hour later, using Huai Shi's identity as a Culinary Demon to make a reservation, an exceptional kaiseki restaurant on Yingzhou's border opened its doors to the esteemed Mr. Russell.

"There's such good sake here."

Russell froze before the counter, as if lost in reminiscence. "Back then, everyone..."

Huai Shi