"It seemed Mr. Bai Heng hadn't come to the Astral Express merely to sit around."
Himeko looked Bai Heng and Dan Heng over as she approached gracefully, carrying a tray with two rich cups of coffee.
They had clearly been prepared for them.
"That's not quite right. My purpose was always just to pay the Nameless a visit." Bai Heng instinctively raised the half-finished cup of coffee, but as it neared his lips, his fingers trembled again, and he gently set it down. "It just so happened that someone resembling an old friend was aboard the train, so I wanted to meet him."
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the composed middle-aged man beside Dan Heng. "You must be Mr. Welt Yang. Nice to meet you. Interastral Astronomical Society, Bai Heng."
Welt had already learned some things about the young man before him from Himeko.
He gave a slight nod. "Hello, envoy of the Company. Just call me Welt."
Welt's voice carried the magnetism of a mature man, exactly as March 7th had described him back in Belobog.
"Mm... Uncle Yang is a man who makes people feel safe."
At that moment, Himeko placed several cups of coffee on the coffee table before Bai Heng. At the same time, she invited Welt and Dan Heng to sit across from him, then said softly to Bai Heng, "If you don't mind, you can call Welt Uncle Yang too. Little March and Stelle call him that as well."
With that, Himeko elegantly turned away with the coffee tray and headed back toward the carriage where the coffee machine was set up.
For a time, Bai Heng, Welt, and Dan Heng remained silent. No one reached for the two steaming cups of coffee on the table.
"Please, help yourselves."
Bai Heng picked