Chapter 245

Once again, it vanished.

Topaz paid it no mind,

and continued to pursue Kakavasha's figure.

【Wow, it's so high up here—higher than the tallest stone in the desert—】

【And there are so many flowers—Sister, this purple one's for you—】

Topaz stepped into the labyrinth garden,

and faintly heard Kakavasha's voice.

【A dead end?】

【Did I take a wrong turn?】

【Hmm? What's this.......】

In a dead-end alley,

Topaz discovered a set of shackles.

【Remember something?】

Harmony Topaz emerged once more.

【None of your business.】

Topaz's head ached a little,

and she had no mood to speak with Harmony Topaz.

【Need a little hint?】

【This is a pair of shackles, meant for you.】

【The first job that man gave you, the first bucket of gold you earned......】

【I remember it all perfectly clearly.】

【You wrapped that bundle of iron chains around your fists—that was the only tool you could find.】

【And then, in that labyrinth, you.......】

Harmony Topaz revealed a playful smile.

【..... Shut up!】

Topaz snapped.

【Oh...... you don't want to face that past?】

【Don't want to admit your life is worth only sixty Tarenbamba?】

【In my view, neither is the correct answer.....】

Begging for flowers

【You refuse to face it only because it proves your weakness.】

Harmony Topaz began once more to wage her war on the mind.

【How could a weak person take such desperate risks?】

Topaz retorted.

【True, you do like taking desperate risks......】

【Yet you simply refuse to let go of certain unnecessary things.】

【Even in this beautiful dream, you only dare to try "death" on yourself.】

【Those attendants could have become ghost cards in your hand, serving far greater use.】

【The family's stains are countless—only a few small sacrifices were needed..... swap them for Opal, and it would have been resolved long ago.】

【Too bad, you're not like him.】

【Had you done it, you wouldn't have fallen to such a state.....】

【Why didn't you do it?】

【Surely not out of some professional ethics?】

Harmony Topaz tried to breach Topaz's psychological defenses.

【The tricks you mention are efficient, sure, but it's not that I can't use them—I simply disdain to. Understand?】

【If the game isn't fair, where's the fun?】

Topaz countered coolly.

【Fair...... heh, as if your opponents have ever been fair to you.】

【The situation is clearly against you—why can you still handle it so effortlessly?】

【What exactly did that Masked Fool's words awaken in you?】

Harmony Topaz asked.

【She gave me an answer capable of overturning everything.】

Topaz replied.

【Hmph, overturn everything?】

【You mean—making everything on the card table disappear?】

Harmony Topaz vanished once more.

【.....】

【That's cheating.....】

Ying: "Uh..... here it comes."

Ying: "Topaz's deeply affectionate and righteous character has been proven."

Stelle: "As a merchant who seems to stop at nothing, Topaz actually still has a bottom line."

Stelle: "And he still keeps a kind heart."

Stelle: "From this, one can see that Topaz is essentially a good person."

Kamisato Ayaka: "This actually isn't all that surprising."

Kamisato Ayaka: "Because from Kakavasha, one can already tell that Topaz has always kept goodwill toward the world in his heart."

Kamisato Ayaka: "Even though this world, for him, may not have been fair....."

Hu Tao: "Seeing it now, all I can say is, Topaz really has it too rough......."

Hu Tao: "If those childhood experiences hadn't been so tragic."

Hu Tao: "Topaz wouldn't have had to put on such a strong layer of disguise over his outward appearance."

Hu Tao: "The current Topaz, from the outside, is a one-of-a-kind successful person, a dragon among men!"

Hu Tao: "But his heart has always been lonely."

Nahida: "No one understands him, and no one truly knows him."

Nahida: "The one who understands him best... is even the current Harmony Topaz, the one fighting him for ownership of his body."

Nahida: "Have to say, this really is a kind of irony."

Dr. Ratio: "Being a gambler and still keeping a bottom line."

Dr. Ratio: "Have to say, you've failed at being a gambler to some degree."

Dr. Ratio: "But, undeniably, this has also made you much more pleasant to look at."

Topaz: "Heh, Professor, hearing you say I look pleasant to you, that really is my good fortune."

Dr. Ratio: "Heh, don't get happy too early, it's only a little bit!"

Miss Qingque: "Hey, that cold tone really does fit Dr. Ratio's character setting."

Robin: "Mr. Topaz is also an upright person. If possible, I truly don't wish to become your enemy."

Topaz: "Enemy?"

Topaz: "Ha, can't really say we're enemies."

Topaz: "At most, just rivals, that's all!"

Sunday: "It's just a pity, Mr. Topaz, I have never regarded you as a rival."

Hu Tao: "Goodness, is Mr. Sunday blatantly insulting Topaz here?"

Sunday: "That's not it, what I mean is."

Sunday: "I have never regarded anyone as a rival, including Mr. Topaz."

Sunday: "Everything I have done is only to practice the ideals in my heart."

Sunday: "Not to scheme against anyone."