After finishing the message input, a list popped up asking me to choose who to transfer it to. Since hornets can only send 1:1 messages like the Between app with their matched recipient, the initial send seemed to allow choosing the transfer target.

All the names on the list were druids I had sent diamond carts to. Wow, this is more detailed than I thought.

When I found Kalong’s name and touched it, my phone vibrated. The image of a hornet appeared like a hologram above the screen. Then it quickly buzzed its wings and disappeared.

Wow, that’s awesome! When sending an iMessage, it makes a ‘whoosh’ sound, but this one was a ‘buzz’. There’s probably no one using iPhones in this world, so I wish someone could relate to this. I suddenly felt lonely.

But when my little dryads saw the hornet fly away and gasped in awe, that feeling quickly vanished.

“My master, Jae. What will you do now?”

Mesquite asked as I inserted the queen bee’s chip back where the drone’s chip had been. Mesquite’s calm voice, resonating quietly in my ears, was like ASMR helping me organize my thoughts.

“Kalong said it would be dangerous to leave this terrarium right away, so… I plan to stay for a while.”

I could feel my dryads tense up.

“It’s okay because inside the terrarium is safe! Mesquite might not know, but the situation here can be seen at a glance through the administrative manager’s wallet. The administrative manager of the 18th terrarium we met today is a very calculative person, so they won’t let molecules harmful to their terrarium go unpunished.”

I recalled that in the 28th terrarium, I could banish Siedlings with the press of a single button.

“The people who tried to target my 28th terrarium, (Dia) wasn’t on my level, but they were quite remarkable. So I’m thinking of meeting them to see how they could be of help to me. Maybe meeting them might give me a clue to solving the traffic problem in the 28th terrarium.”

But I can’t just go meet them right away, so there’s something I need to do first! And that’s to visit the artifact workshop here in the 18th terrarium!

Let’s head to the shopping district! It’s a lower number than the 26th terrarium, so the shopping district must be no joke in size too! The workshop will be big, and there will be plenty of pretty artifact furniture!

Elder was the one who welcomed my thoughts the most.

***

Finding the shopping district wasn’t difficult. Partly because it was on a much larger scale than the 26th terrarium, but a big reason was that the administrative manager of the 18th terrarium was a very sharp-minded individual.

He was someone who desperately gathered diamonds to maintain this massive terrarium without ‘infinite diamonds’ like me. Not only were the paths designed so that wherever you went, you’d end up at the shopping district, but the signboards were also extremely user-friendly.

Anyone visiting the 18th terrarium would likely be drawn in by the dazzling shopping district, like being pulled into an antlion pit while letting their guard down, lured by the hawking. I could tell they put tremendous effort into opening up the druids’ wallets.

The shopping district of the 18th terrarium was no ordinary market alley. It featured a huge, circular building resembling a Greek temple, with shops packed tightly inside.

The structure allowed access to a second floor via stairs, making it look just like a two-story department store open on all sides.

The orchard in the 26th terrarium was already huge, but with one digit lower, all the landmarks are on a whole different scale. Now I understand why people want to go to a lower-numbered terrarium as much as possible. It’s not just about safety—the infrastructure is like night and day!

As I loitered around about to enter the shopping district, people who were handing out something at the entrance gently stopped me.

“Ma’am, we’re very sorry. Since it’s crowded inside, for the smooth passage and safety of other customers, we recommend that you revert large dryads back into artifacts! This applies to all tree-flower types. Small grass-flower type dryads are limited to a maximum of two for entry. We kindly ask for your understanding!”

He looked at the Mesquite and elder, both the size of mountains, with an awkward expression. After hearing that, I looked around and indeed, it was hard to find people accompanied by dryads inside. I occasionally spotted a few small dryads, but they were few and far between.

The dryads that rarely leave my side were becoming a concern. Moreover, the elder, who could spend my diamonds like water, was the one paying at the mall, leaving me feeling troubled because if I had to return to the artifact, I’d only be left to lick my lips. It was a rare chance to bring a bright smile to the elder’s face.

“Isn’t there a way around this?”

“Sir, I’m truly sorry. This is the policy of the terrarium, and I must ask for your understanding that it’s difficult to make exceptions. Other guests are also following this rule without issue, so there’s no help for it. You’re free to resummon the dryads as soon as you leave the mall area, so I kindly ask you to oblige, even if it’s a bit inconvenient.”

It wasn’t like they were telling me to put my characters away due to lag… Anyway, since this was the rule of the terrarium and others were complying without complaint, it didn’t feel right for me to act out alone. I couldn’t even buy up the entire mall area like some high-ranking gardener, say the 26th one.

“Uh… then would bringing just these two be okay?”

I asked, pointing at Daisy and Wolfsbane. Though Daisy had grown quite a bit and fared a little better, these were my dryads that had consistently been treated as saplings. The guide said that would be fine.

As I looked up at Mesquite like a chick parting from its mother, she smiled and pointed at my wrist.

“My master, Jae. It doesn’t look particularly dangerous, and more than that, Daisy will be with you, so don’t worry about us and enjoy yourself comfortably.”

It seemed Mesquite still didn’t consider Wolfsbane a reliable dryad for me. Unlike Mesquite’s attempt to soothe me, the Elder’s handsome face twisted. It was an unspoken cry, clearly expressing his reluctance to return to the artifact. I had to calm the Elder down, just as Mesquite had reassured me.

“I can’t promise I’ll be back soon, but instead, I’ll buy you lots and lots of things you want.”

He started throwing a tantrum, asking how those sapling-sized kids could help me and saying he should just stay put without causing trouble. It was a mistake. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve blindfolded the Elder before coming to the mall.

Everywhere around were things that tempted the Elder. All sorts of dazzling items, whose uses I didn’t even know, were flashing as if to say “buy me,” putting the Elder in a situation like a sparrow visiting a rice mill.

It was like a sparrow coming for an inspection at a modern rice mill, only to find the spinning grain grinder blocked by reinforced glass, unable to touch a single grain no matter how hard it pecked with its beak. Wide-eyed, it couldn’t even get the tip of its beak to those tempting grains of rice…

“Saplings?! They’re all grown up too! The policy here says dryads built like you can’t come in, and we have to follow that. That’s human society! Who told you to grow so big! Pretty face and a huge build! You’ve got it all, everything!”

Somehow, it ended up being a compliment disguised as a scolding. I can never say no to that face.

I shouted, gesturing with my hands to show the size of Elder, who was a whole head taller than me, and Mesquite smiled faintly at us. To Mesquite, who was two heads taller than me, we must have looked like chicks peeping.

“So, you like it, right! You like my face.”

“Right! I totally love it!”

“Then isn’t it better to keep me around?”

“No, it’s not like we’re parting forever! You just sit quietly on my artifact and pester me to buy this or that. Then I’ll take care of it and buy everything you ask for. You’re big but act like a child. Look at our well-behaved Daisy and Wolfsbane. They listen well and don’t throw tantrums like you.”

“I’m stronger than them.”

“Hey! Did you raise them? I raised them all! You came out of the World Tree all grown up, but Daisy—I fed her nutrient-packed fruits, put rings on her, threw diamonds to level her up! The kids I raised with my own hands are all strong too, you jerk!”

I was huffing after a pointless quarrel with Elder when I noticed the surroundings suddenly getting noisy as Elder fell silent for a moment.

What’s this, what’s this. Looks like a fight over there. What, arguing about raising kids—isn’t that a marital spat? People around started whispering. Geez… It’s not a marital spat; my face flushed.

“Little Elder, stop it. You’re embarrassing Jae.”

Watching our antics, Mesquite saw me covering my face in shame and stepped in to mediate. In a calm voice, Mesquite brought up Elder’s tiny sapling days inside the World Tree, calming down the stubbornness. It was like verbal spanking for Elder.

They said she was raised from a seedling… I see… Listening nearby, it was a brutally sharp dig that made me want to hang a certification necklace on them. Pui pui pui, I’ll remember that and use it next time.

In the end, Elder wore a thoroughly sulky face and went into the terrarium artifact with Mesquite.

Just as I was about to step into the mall with Wolfsbane, who was eyeing the crowd uneasily, and Daisy, who was looking at me all bright and cheerful.

“You’re Jae, right?”

“Whoa, you startled me. Who are you?”

A woman dressed impeccably in a suit approached and bowed to me. What now?

“I was sent by the administrative manager who confirmed that Master Jae has entered the commercial district. I am a personal shopper who will assist Master Jae with her shopping here from now on. This commercial district is vast and complex, so I will do my utmost to help you find the items you desire comfortably.”

So they even sent someone to zero in on me, determined to empty my wallet, huh? This person is really terrifying. By the way, a personal shopper? I’ve never seen one of those before! Isn’t this the top-tier service that follows department store VVIPs around? Still, it’s a bit overwhelming…

When I looked at her with a slightly reluctant expression, she said not to worry, as she would follow along as unobtrusively as possible, trying not to be noticed.

I couldn’t bring myself to say that I’d pay her for today’s wages and ask if she could just lie to the administrative manager that she had worked and go rest somewhere else. She had such a look of pride in her job that I felt it would be a great rudeness to say such a thing.

“What kind of shopping would you like to enjoy first? I can guide you to the desired area.”

On second thought… having a guide to personally explain this complicated area seemed nice. What’s good is good, right?

“Ah, then I’ll leave it to you! Thanks to that administrative manager’s support, I’m going to spend a ton on diamonds.”

“That’s not what the administrative manager of our 18th Terrarium meant…”

“Oh, I know, I know it all. Then please guide me to the artifact workshop first! Do they have random boxes here too?”

Of course they did. There was no way they wouldn’t. Nothing opens users’ wallets like gacha items.