"Miss Topaz, you won't even come up with a high-sounding excuse to make me work overtime?"
Topaz burst out laughing. "Didn't you say it yourself? You're a five-year outstanding employee of the Company, one of the Astral Observatory's top ten moral role models, and a business pacesetter featured in the Interstellar Peace Weekly. Shouldn't you have a spirit of helping others?"
"Besides, take one gamble and your grandchildren will be rich. Want success? Go crazy first. Sleep on the floor today, sleep with the boss tomor—be the boss tomorrow."
Bai Heng raised his eyes, lightly tapping the edge of the wine-red table and chair with his fingers before sighing and standing up. "Compared to solving Miss Topaz's troubles, I'm actually better at cheering you on from the sidelines... But fine, I'll make an exception this time and do you a favor."
Topaz smiled knowingly, tossed a gold coin into the air, then caught Numby as it pounced after the coin. "We need to be efficient. There's still plenty of work to do."
Bai Heng left several Winter City Shields he had exchanged that morning on the counter, then unhurriedly followed behind Topaz and shut the door to The Tavern.
Because of the cold wave blanketing the planet, the four seasons of Jarilo-VI were nearly indistinguishable.
Even in a region like Belobog, blessed by Preservation, biting winds still blew at night, making the drifting snowflakes sway in the current.
The city's mechanical facilities ran without pause, converting Ground Marrow energy into heat to maintain heating in the central district.
Bai Heng pulled his collar tighter and walked alongside Topaz, passing through streets made especially lively by the approaching Aurum Alley Festival.
More than ten minutes later, the two arrived at the suite they had booked at Goethe Hotel.
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