“No way!” Tereza screams, reacting to the news. “It has to be Rishi! What is that psychotic idiot doing?!”
Alex, equally shocked, can’t help but question the situation. “It’s been what… less than a day? Did he imdiately use the Death Note? That can’t be…! Maybe he did so research and found an opportunity right away. Still, why is he being this aggressive? I can’t really condone this. If this causes a market crash, it’s going to ruin a lot of lives. People will lose their jobs, families will get dragged into hardship. I couldn’t care less about the rich shareholders—but this is getting crazy.”
“When I told him my thoughts about it, I could see it in his eyes,” nchi says with a serious expression. “He has zero hesitation. Zero doubts. This was inevitable.”
Alex, now even more confused, frowns. “I just don’t get his motivation. Isn’t he already filthy rich? And at so point, money stops being useful—especially in the Realm!”
“Wouldn’t surprise if that madman wants to cook up so crazy plan to control Fiction—and through it, the Realm itself!” Tereza theorizes wildly.
“Not impossible…” Alex murmurs, disturbed by the fact that her wild theory might contain a sliver of truth.
“I… just want to live in peace,” Alex says honestly. “Sure, endless money wouldn’t hurt, but I don’t see much of a difference between 20 million and 2 billion. Either way, I can enjoy my life to the fullest.”
“I agree. Money’s nice, but after a certain point, it doesn’t matter anymore,” Tereza says, hugging him warmly. “I’m glad we’re on the sa page, Alex.”
As the group discusses the recent events, Jewel remains quiet, still looking thoughtful and a little dejected.
“Jewel, I promised you a visit to the zoo! Are you up for it?” Alex asks, hoping to cheer her up.
Despite her internal conflict about the future, Jewel imdiately climbs onto Alex’s chest and stares into his eyes.
Yes, Dearest Soulmate. Jewel wants to go!
Want to go alone? I promised it to you. It’s your decision if we should ask the others to join us.
…Princess Jewel wants to go with her Dearest Soulmate. However… Head-Ch—no… nchi and Tereza are Jewel’s important family as well. Jewel wants to share this mory with them.
Alex gently pats her head. “I’m proud of you. Girls, Jewel wants you to join us. Let’s all go together, okay?”
Both Tereza and nchi look visibly surprised, aware of Jewel’s obsession with Alex. They smile lovingly and begin gently petting the slightly embarrassed spider.
Alex, grinning, adds, “You know what… let’s all go together. Also, let’s take lots of pictures. You look a little different now, nchi, since the Realm hides your identity, but you’re still you. Jewel, I’ll wear a big hoodie, and you can ride inside it, using Zetsu to stay hidden. Plus, it’s a weekday, so there shouldn’t be many people at the zoo.”
“Before we go, though…” Alex says, pulling out his phone, “might as well shoot that crazy guy a ssage.”
He quickly types:
“Done anything interesting lately? Shoot a ssage once you’re back where you have the required connection.”
A subtle hint for Rishi to respond via Realm ssage and tell him the truth.
The group gets dressed in casual, comfortable clothes—not bothering to dress up too much.
Deciding to let Tereza drive, they all pile into Alex’s small but reliable car, more than enough for the short 15-minute trip to the local zoo.
Alex, phone in hand, still looking at all kinds of news articles, from ti to ti directing Tereza to change directions as she swiftly, but securely drives them to the Zoo. As they arrive, they notice the parking lot is nearly empty.
“Looking good,” Tereza says with a grin, clearly happy they won’t be bothered.
“Haven’t been here in nearly two decades… Why?” Alex wonders aloud as they approach the entrance. “I used to love coming here as a kid. This feels so nostalgic.”
They quickly buy three tickets and step inside.
The group begins casually strolling through the zoo.
Alex, with Jewel comfortably resting in his hoodie, shows his friends all the animals the zoo has to offer. From ti to ti, he finds a spot to set down his phone to take a picture—or even asks so older visitors to snap a photo—thankfully, none of them seem to notice Jewel, who stealthily moves to his head or shoulders for a variety of different pictures.
From apes to hippos, rare bugs, exotic fish, and even dolphins, Alex leads the group around until they eventually reach the elephants.
“These are elephants, probably one of the more interesting animals,” Alex explains.
They have large ears… and a trunk! They look very tasty! Princess Jewel would love to eat one!
“You can’t eat them, Jewel,” Tereza says, picking up on Jewel’s thoughts. “These poor animals are peaceful and quite rare. If we eat them, there won’t be many left.”
nchi, realizing what Jewel must have said, jokes: “I’d love to cook one up for you. They do look quite tasty.”
“Let’s settle for normal food, okay?” Alex suggests, steering the conversation away from dining on endangered animals.
No longer concerned with money—or calories, for that matter—Alex, Tereza, Jewel, and nchi stuff their bellies with all kinds of tasty, albeit unhealthy, fast food.
“This is great,” nchi says. “I love cooking healthy als, but this kind of stuff is delicious too from ti to ti. I love this sausage with the slightly spicy sauce.”
Alex smiles. “It’s one of Germany’s traditional and famous dishes—Currywurst, or sausage with curry sauce. Oh, and now that I see it—that special ice cream that looks like pasta is another one. The ‘noodles’ are actually made out of vanilla ice cream, pressed through a machine until they look like spaghetti. The sauce is strawberry sauce, and the topping is white chocolate, made to resemble parsan cheese. There’s quite a bit of cream at the bottom, so it’s easy to eat. It’s really good—I recomnd it.”
Jewel, sticking to at dishes, is the only one who passes on the spaghetti ice cream.
After a few hours of lighthearted fun and peaceful wandering, the group leaves. On the drive back, they continue chatting about their experiences.
“That was fun,” Tereza says with a lancholic smile. “This is only my second ti visiting a zoo… I went once with my parents, before they died…”
Let’s go again, Tereza, okay?Jewel wants to see even more different animals.
As Jewel climbs into Tereza’s lap, she softly strokes her while driving them ho.
I’m proud of Jewel. She even knows when to comfort others. She’s grown quite a bit. Her haughtiness is also mostly gone. I guess we all had that nihilistic phase, huh?
“It really was fun,” nchi agrees. “A few of those animals were completely new to . Our worlds really are different.”
“So cultures actually eat rare animal ats in my world too,” Alex says. “You can order things like alligator, kangaroo, or even snake at. We have more than enough money now—and I already explained online shopping to you, nchi. Feel free to experint as much as you want.”
nchi grins. “I think I’ll do just that. Thanks, Alex!”
The group continues to enjoy a relaxing, lighthearted day.
Later that night—for so inexplicable reason—all three humans and one spider end up in Alex’s bed again. Of course, nothing unusual happens. They simply lie down, cuddle a bit, and fall asleep together.
Alex can’t help but get a little emotional, even shedding a quiet tear.
This… I hope I won’t get used to it. It feels almost too wholeso. I guess, in a sense, we are a family now.
The next morning, the group wakes up, enjoys another delicious breakfast courtesy of nchi, and sits down to plan the day.
“Let’s take care of business before we get too deep into lazy mode, okay?” Alex suggests. “Let’s finish our tasks, and then we can take it easy. I need to upgrade my skills, check out the market, and learn how to upgrade my items. Also, I’ve still got that [Pluto’s Ceremonial Blessing] I’ve been eager to use.”
“Sounds good. I’ll do the sa, so I’ll accompany you,” Tereza replies.
“I’ll join you too,” nchi adds. “I’m especially interested in the markets.”
Jewel just wants to be with her Soulmate and family.
The three humans and one spider quickly teleport back to Realm, a lot of tasks ahead of them.
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