—Bear~ So where are you going in next?

Isabella's voice on the other end of the line was softer than usual.

Had the comradeship of facing an enemy together grown deeper? No, I could feel something warmer than that.

I knew her question wasn't simple curiosity.

Crude oil and natural gas, the pound, and the hottest of all, the Dongmyeong affair.

All this time, Isabella had followed my moves, sweeping the markets with me and sniffing out the same scents.

"From now on, I'm going to save."

—……Save?

For a moment there was a flustered silence. She clearly hadn't expected that answer.

But my long-term investments really were a kind of saving.

"Yes."

I leafed through the investment plan spread out on my desk, one page at a time.

"The stormy season is over."

—…… "I caught a few big waves at the right time."

I went on calmly. For a while, there wouldn't be a market where I could put big money on the table and play for real stakes.

"And I've harvested as much as I need to."

—And? You're going to retire now, like Cincinnatus of Rome?

"This is a time for saving rather than investing. The fall harvest is in, down to the last grain, so it's time to rest a while. If you keep getting greedy after the harvest is over, you get into trouble."

Now people outside Korea, not just inside it, were watching me closely.

If I kept swinging a regressor's privileges around, something was bound to blow up sooner or later.

It was a time to know my place and be content with it.

Winter was close.

This was the season to set greed aside, guard what I'd stored in the granary, and wait for the next spring's sowing and the next harvest.

—I can't believe it…… but I'll have to, won't I? Heh heh.

Isabella laughed on the other end of the line. It wasn't the reaction of someone who believed a word I'd said.

—The saving Bear's talking about is different from the saving I know, isn't it? ……Am I…