The shopkeeper pushed my shoulder with his thick hand, guiding me toward a display case that filled one side of the store.

I glanced at the personal shopper standing behind me. She looked conflicted, as if debating whether to stop the shopkeeper or welcome him introducing products that piqued my interest.

Originally, personal shoppers—used by department store VVIPs—are meant for customers who spend an insane amount of money at that store, right?

If that’s the case, they’d have big data on the customer’s preferences. The one the administrative officer forcibly assigned to me, honestly, lacked enough info to work properly as a ‘personal shopper,’ so her hesitation made sense.

VVIP Jae, wielding infinite diamonds like blank checks. One who, under the blessing of the dwarves, buys everything interesting until the inventory is full.

I even bought a parasite with money—why wouldn’t I buy anything? Soon enough, big data might pile up labeling me a sucker who’ll shell out four-digit diamonds for a pebble if it’s pitched as a limited edition….

On one side of where we moved, four druids who appeared to be a party were gathered. Across the corner, they were at a regular potion display, while I stood before a gleaming display full of special something, wiped clean of dust every minute.

They huddled together in serious whispers, and I unintentionally overheard their conversation.

“Looks like we’re short on diamonds…”

“Then should we refund this, fill the count with that, and stack up coupons? If we play it right, we might get another potion for free. Plus, buying more mini potions seems better value, don’t you think?”

“There haven’t been big battles before, so we’ve been using potions sparingly… but since the split potions can only be used on local areas… if a crisis suddenly hits…”

“Sigh… How long are we going to stay holed up in this potion shop? We’ve still got mountains of stuff to buy.”

It was a mundane conversation among ordinary druids without infinite diamonds. Just as I tried to ignore it, a thud of furious stomping sounded. The shopkeeper gasped, grabbing the display case full of special something.

“It’s all because your kid blew the travel money on inn fees! I told you not to take out the burrs in the inn, didn’t I? They poked holes all over the bedsheet, so I had to buy a new one!”

“Hey, you know our kid gets lonely easily. I just wanted to say goodnight and send it back to the artifact right away.”

“Don’t lie! You think your dryad only wrecked the bed? It poked holes in the carpet and curtains too. If we’d gotten caught for that, we’d have had to go to the next terrarium naked!”

Just as the commotion was about to escalate, the shopkeeper swiftly approached them. When he said they’d have to buy all the items if the disturbance damaged the merchandise, the druid party quickly quieted down.

“Hehe, sorry for the trouble, guests. So, shall we look at these special things now? Oh my, your druid’s dryads have such lovely and beautiful petals.”

“Hehe… right? My dryads are really adorable and pretty.”

Keep it coming, more. So I wasn’t the only one who thought my kids were adorable! Others see them as beautiful too! My pride felt like it could pierce the sky. The shopkeeper skillfully praised my dryads, lifting me high up to the heavens.

“What these growing dryads absolutely need is this plant nutrient! …right here!”

The shopkeeper showed me a sign stuck in one part of the display shelf, saying the plant nutrients were prepared to suit various field dryads. For desert-field dryads, it facilitates better moisture storage…

“Oh! I know what that is!”

I had fed the nutrient evenly to all my dryads except Wolfsbane in the 26th terrarium. I got it as a prize from a lottery draw and shared it evenly. I think it gave a defense stat boost. But back then, I think its name was ‘Dryad Special Nutrient,’ not ‘Plant Nutrient.’

“This is different from regular dryad nutrients, you know. It supplies ample nutrition to the parent bodies and helps their petals become more vibrant…!”

“That’s just water with a little medicine mixed in. It’s expensive, and you need to feed a ton to see effects. Instead of buying that, you might as well go to the orchard and get proper nutrients or nutrient fruits to feed them…”

The woman who had been angry in the druid party whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Oh… is that so? As I placed the product sign back in its original spot, the shopkeeper’s face changed completely.

So they sell nutrients at the orchard too, huh? Why didn’t anyone tell me this? If I’d known, I could have bought several boxes. The ‘special something’ no longer seemed so special, and my interest waned. I started to lead my kids out.

“H-hey…! Customer! If you touch that, you have to buy it! This is a specially crafted bottle, so once it gets finger marks, it loses its commercial value!”

The shopkeeper suddenly shouted urgently. Startled, the personal shopper nearly bumped into the display shelf behind, but deftly caught it.

Huh? But what did I touch? I didn’t touch anything except the sign…. Seeing his trembling fingertips, Wolfsbane was holding a small glass vial smaller than my fist, his face pale.

Since leaving the swamp, Wolfsbane had been curious and unfamiliar with everything in the world. He would gaze endlessly at floating duckweed, so everything in sight must be new to him.

To such a child, the pretty bottles filled with sparkling liquid on the display must have seemed quite fascinating. Without realizing it, she seemed to have mimicked me picking out items and grabbed one….

“Don’t talk nonsense! I’ve never heard of a nutrient bottle losing its commercial value just because of a little finger smudge!”

Suddenly, the woman from the druid party who had feigned giving me advice earlier stepped in to defend me.

“T-this is different! This is a bottle made through a special commission from the Alchemy Tower!”

“You must have touched them while moving the goods too, right?”

“I-I naturally wear gloves! And specially crafted ones at that, handling the items with great care!”

I glanced at my personal shopper. She had a strong poker face, but even a complete stranger like me could tell she wore a very sour expression. In other words, the shopkeeper was talking nonsense. Bark bark.

So, this nutrient display is packed with items for suckers, and since I didn’t buy anything thanks to that party’s advice, he’s using Wolfsbane as a pretext to rip me off…?

Honestly, even with that druid party’s advice, if the shopkeeper had praised my kids to the high heavens, I would’ve been inclined to buy out of good spirits.

Thinking he had done something wrong in the sudden turn of events, Wolfsbane looked on the verge of tears. With the Staff Fragment embedded, he wouldn’t unleash disaster-level crying, but it was absurd for my Dryad to be cowed by a mere little bottle. I knelt down to meet Wolfsbane’s eye level.

“Our Wolfsbane, how commendable. Did you want to drink it to grow even bigger? Thinking of growing up quickly to protect me, how thoughtful. There there, since our Wolfsbane picked it, shall we give it a try?”

The nutrient bottle’s cap was as luxurious as a liquor bottle cap. Since the contents were different, it seemed like a desperate attempt to boost its value with fancy packaging. I casually pried the cap off with my thumb, and it rolled on the floor with a pop.

“Oh, you’re so good. As my dryads, it’s the right attitude to be greedy for everything that makes us grow strong and fast like this. You truly are my dryad.”

I stroked Wolfsbane’s head and held a bottle, the size of two of my thumbs, to his lips. The bottle was so thick that the liquid inside was less than half a finger’s width. Wolfsbane, who had been on the verge of tears, quickly swallowed them back, looking bewildered.

When I pressed the bottle to his lower lip, he gulped it down in one go. If any change occurred in my dryad, I would feel it immediately through my body. I mean changes like stat increases or level-ups, given our soul connection. But I didn’t feel anything special.

“Daisy, would you like to try some?”

I swept the neatly arranged bottles on the display shelf—spaced at regular intervals—with one hand and handed them to Daisy.

“Uh… Customer!”

The shop owner’s facial features all scrunched back toward the center.

“I can’t feel any change. Wolfsbane, drink some more.”

I swept the row above what I had given Daisy and handed it to Wolfsbane. The surroundings fell silent in an instant, and only the sound of nutrition bottle caps rolling on the floor could be heard. I only started to feel something when the kids had downed about five or six bottles.

“Just as you said! To see any effect, you’d have to feed them a ton! Honestly, I’d be better off buying and feeding them nutrient fruits.”

“Th-then, right?”

I said this to the woman who had advised me, and she nodded in agreement with a flustered face.

“Druid… this tastes bad… sorry…”

Daisy, who was drinking diligently at my behest, wore a glum face before even finishing the bottle she was holding.

“Our Daisy, don’t apologize! The problem is this store selling such nasty-tasting stuff! They say medicine that’s good for you is bitter, but this is bitter and not even good for you—what’s it even for? Don’t drink it, don’t drink it. Stop now.”

I gathered all the bottles Daisy and Wolfsbane were holding and threw them into the trash bin beside the display shelf.

“Customer, all of that…”

“I don’t know how much it costs, but please ring everything up! Consider the diamonds thrown away! This place is so bad I don’t ever want to come back! You said I can rate the store after purchasing, right? I’m going to rate it the worst!”

I didn’t even look at the shop owner. Instead, I stared at my personal shopper, who had returned to a poker face. She pulled out a wallet from her pocket and spoke.

“I’ll reflect that immediately. The diamonds you spent on the purchase add weight to the rating…”

Suddenly, a loud noise rang out. It was the shop owner’s bell sound. He pulled out his own wallet from his pocket, his face turning deathly pale. Even paler than Wolfsbane’s face just earlier.

“Above all, since this is an evaluation made by the administrative manager of the 28th World Tree terrarium, who is a very valued customer of our terrarium, its importance cannot be overstated.”

I thought it was just a simple star rating attack… But it felt like the value of a five-star hotel had been reduced to zero stars.