I quickly glanced at the personal shopper stationed behind me, lowered my waist, and put my arm around the kid’s shoulder.

“Just between us, could you tell me which box is the one with the good stuff? Can’t you secretly pick one out for me? I feel like if I open it, I’ll get the lowest tier.”

We were still in the store zone. I’d love to summon an Elder, the top tier of luck, to choose directly, but to summon one, I’d have to leave this area. As a second best, I could try asking Daisy, but even though our girl has some luck, it’s fairly minor.

“Um, I don’t really know either…”

The kid lowered her voice in turn and whispered to me.

“You seem to like snacks, so I’ll let you eat whatever you want from the snack corner there.”

The kid’s shoulder flinched up. Curious about what I was doing, Daisy and Wolfsbane pressed their bodies close.

“All the boxes look the same…”

The child seemed genuinely drawn to my suggestion but frustrated by the limits of their own ability.

“I’ll let you eat today and tomorrow too. You can eat as much as you want for as long as you’re here in this terrarium.”

“Wait a moment!”

The child scurried over to the table where they had taken out the jewelry box. Then they subtly gestured to me. Under the tablecloth the child was lifting, small black boxes were stacked layer upon layer.

I crouched down following the child. Daisy and Wolfsbane stood blocking the direction of the personal shopper, making this a spot perfect for a crime.

“Actually, even though they look the same, the weight is a bit different.”

With that, they shook the boxes one by one and then handed two to me. Oh, really? All the random boxes had the same weight.

“All the things inside are rings, and even though the gems are different, the weight is almost the same. But sometimes there’s a box that feels different like this. And when I gave the box that felt slightly heavier, the druids who opened it had bright expressions!”

“Oooh…”

“I guess it’s because expensive jewelry needs to be stored more carefully…”

“Clever!”

With the child’s help, I picked out the two heaviest boxes. In principle, I could only open one, so I had to choose between these two.

The first had to be top-tier, and the second was a combat bonus gem for my dryad! My targets were the April gem for Mesquite and Daisy, the June or July gem for Elder, and the September gem for Wolfsbane.

“Daisy, want to pick one?”

Still, I’ll play it safe. I’ll add a bit of Daisy’s luck to it!

Daisy thought for a moment and then picked the box in my left hand. Alright, you’re the one!

“If it doesn’t turn out to be something good…”

“Hey, even if it doesn’t, I’ll buy it for you. You’re so endearing, I’ll clean out the snack corner for you!”

I saw the child clasp their hands together and tightly shut their eyes. Please let something good come out so I can eat snacks in peace! They muttered quietly, but I heard it all.

Carefully unlocking it, I opened the box. The lid opened heavily, as if something good was inside. I had a good feeling. I saw the white cloth wrapping the jewelry. I carefully pulled the cloth away.

“Huh?”

The first thing that caught my eye was the gleam of the gem, and there, an unexpected color sat in that spot.

“Green…?”

There was only one green gem I knew. Emerald. Wait, what month gem is emerald? It was definitely not my kids’ gem. Or maybe since Elder encompasses June and July, June could be…?

“Wow, it’s the Emerald of Happiness!”

“The emerald carries the sun of May, Master Jae.”

A child who had been praying fervently was now standing on tiptoe, staring at my box. The personal shopper immediately answered what I had been curious about. Unlike the child, who was fussing to see the ring, she, with her tall stature, caught a glimpse of the gem just by glancing over.

Looking closely, her field of vision took us in at a glance. Daisy and Wolfsbane were too short to form a barrier. She seemed to turn a blind eye to my conniving with the child, knowing full well what we were up to.

Thank you. Respect. As I bowed my head slightly, she said casually, “It’s for Master Jae, that’s my job.” Cool!

I took the ring out of the box. It looked like a silver bird’s claw gripping the edges of a square emerald. The shiny pentagon sparkled refreshingly, as if it had carved a piece of a tropical sea. The gem seemed quite high-quality, and the silverwork surrounding it was astonishingly intricate.

This beautiful ring, from its color combination to many other aspects, reminded me of Elder. Moreover, Elder’s eyes were exactly like emeralds. But what’s the use of resemblance? Elder was obviously out of the question, and none of my dryads received a battle bonus in May. It was such a pity.

“Wow! Looking closely, it’s a high-grade accessory! Not top-grade, but… still good…”

I wonder if the other one of the two I picked earlier had a top-grade?

Or maybe there’s no top-grade at all, only high-grade, and she was bluffing. She could claim no one drew it because of the low probability. Even 0.0001% is still a probability.

If I didn’t think like this, my stomach would churn and I couldn’t stand it.

“Well, anyway, high-grade is still good, right! If I had opened the first one, I would have gotten the lowest-quality ring! As promised, I’ll let you eat as many snacks as you want.”

The child bounced happily in her seat. She was as cute as Daisy, but a bit more cheerful. I slipped some prepaid credit into the snack corner she seemed to visit often. Of course, only with the diamonds that came out of my pocket.

It turned out the child was the daughter of the snack corner owner. She often helped with quests like this, and when bored, she would go to her parents to play and get free food.

But she used to spend only the money she received as a reward on snacks too often, so now that I slipped in dozens of times the reward, she could visit and eat anytime from now on.

The snack corner owner kept trying to refuse, but I praised the child heavily and handed over the diamonds. What parent can resist praise for their child? The owner sighed with a helpless expression and accepted my diamonds.

After saying goodbye, I left the shopping store. The superior emerald ring wasn’t needed immediately, but since I might recruit another dryad later, I carefully tucked it away in my pocket.

My body was too exhausted to even think about wandering around anymore.

The personal shopper escorted me to the VIP inn arranged by the administrative officer and then said goodbye. Having catered to me all day at the shopping store and recommended plenty of artifact furniture for the Elder, I wanted to offer something extra, but they firmly refused.

Instead, they said they were satisfied with having done their duty since I seemed to have enjoyed my shopping, claimed that the salary was more than enough compensation, and disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived.

I wish a service satisfaction survey would come by text. I’d give them a perfect 5-star rating….

The inn had an antique atmosphere starting from the lobby. The room I was guided to was no exception for a VIP-only inn—the ceiling was very high and the room was extremely spacious. When told they could prepare meals in the room like hotel room service if desired, I gladly requested it.

Originally, I planned to summon the dryads as soon as I left the shopping district, but as dusk fell, even more people were walking the streets, so I gave up on that idea.

Only after entering my room did I summon Mesquite and Elder. As soon as Elder came out, he showed great interest in the artifact furniture that had been delivered to the inn right on time.

When she asked why I hadn’t delivered it via artifact earlier, I turned my head. Unless I filled my head with random thoughts and suppressed the dwarves’ ideas, it was impossible.

They offered to bring me food too, and since there was no need to go outside anymore, I decided to relax. Stripping off my robe and equipment, I ended up in the sweatshirt I had been wearing before entering the game.

Although I couldn’t put on pants over them and had to wear leather leggings since I had abandoned my original pair in the 26th terrarium, it had been a long time since I was in such casual attire.

I let my hair down and ran my fingers through it roughly. Having kept it tied all day made my scalp ache. As I flopped onto the bed with my now lighter body, I faintly heard Mesquite’s laughter.

“My master, Jae. Did you have a good time?”

“The shopping store here was amazing. If Elder had come along, I might have had to leave him there. It was spacious, had lots of shops, I saw a lot, and went through a lot of work, so I’m a bit tired.”

Elder, who had been absorbed in the artifact furniture, glanced over at me. With a slightly sullen expression, he sat down on the edge of the bed where I was lying.

“There’s no way I’d ever be separated from you.”

Perhaps it was because I said I was tired that Elder’s large, white-glowing hand touched my forehead. The sweet scent of elderflower lingered at the tip of my nose.

“No… it’s because you really didn’t see it. If you had, you would’ve insisted on leaving it behind…”

The soft bed settled my body, and a good energy spread through my head, making me drowsy. My eyelids began to feel heavy.

“Oh, and… I said I’d look for something with the druid party…”

“Alright, you’ll hear that story after Jae wakes up. Both eyes are already closed.”

Mesquite laughed and pulled the blanket over me, tucking it in snugly. I could feel Mesquite sitting on the edge of the bed too.

The bed dipped and sagged under the weight of her armor. With that motion, my body tilted toward her. A careful, patting touch met my forearm.

“I’ve ordered a meal…”

“I’ll wake you when it comes. Sleep until then.”

“What if you can’t wake me?”

“Hehe, I can’t let Jae skip a meal, so I’ll try my best to wake you.”

Ah, then I’ll just sleep a little and get up. I have to meet Iris’s party tomorrow, so I need to talk to them beforehand. And I still haven’t seen Mesquite walking in the Sun Temple.

Since I took Elder out of the artifact, I should be able to see it now. “What, why is there only Mesquite House? Where’s mine?” With Elder’s voice as the last thing, my eyes closed.