As Jewel's fiery debate with the Administrator ends, Alex looks at Tereza with a slightly worried face and asks, "I'm okay with it... to tell you the truth, I wasn't too keen on killing those giants in the first place. We're after rewards—if we can avoid bloodshed, I'm all for it. Since it's an Administrator, the reward should be decent. However... I'll leave it to you."
Please say yes... please say yes...
Tereza shakes her head, looking a little guilty. "I couldn't have done this without you anyway, so I'll go along with you."
Fine... honestly, I'd hate to reject an Administrator. If he gets pissed, who knows what can happen? I don't want to risk anything, especially if the reward is equal! That Administrator is rather... reasonable, but he's clearly bending the rules—going against the Realm and the setting. What would he be capable of doing to us if he can manipulate things like that?
Alex looks around, still sensing the monstrous pressure in the air—yet he sees nothing. Finally, he speaks up.
"Administrator, we'll gladly accept your quest... however, you're not lying about Jewel's compensation, right?"
[Administrator 71 reminds the player that he will never go back on his word and will provide something interesting to the audacious spider.]
"And our rewards are equal to what we would've gotten if we had killed them?" Alex presses, still not fully convinced.
[Administrator 71 confirms the player's point of view. Rewards won't be equal—but equal in value.]
Good enough!
"Fine then," Alex says. "I'll accept."
Tereza echoes, "I'll accept as well."
Princess Jewel reluctantly accepts the offer.
"..."
[Administrator 71 didn't ask the rude spider. Deal accepted, the player's rewards will be distributed when they leave the island.]
This spider... my heart is thumping like crazy! Why the fuck would we piss off an Administrator? Is this spider a genius or is she a moron? I really can't tell anymore! Lately, I feel like her ingenuity and skill are rapidly increasing, along with her craziness and recklessness.
[Administrator 71 suggests that the player should never put the audacious spider into a position of power. The consequences for the Realm would be dire.]
With that final message, the Administrator's eerie presence vanishes, and the quest automatically updates.
What a rude administrator! Princess Jewel will lodge a complaint once she's back in the Realm!
My arachnophobia is slowly returning... no, it's just limited to this one spider, I think.
[Secret Quest updated
Mission: Spare Dorry and Brogy and leave Little Garden within 24 hours.
Reward: ???, ???, Administrator 71's gratefulness
Time Limit: —
Failure: Administrator 71's anger]
"I guess we need to leave within 24 hours to get the rewards? Should we stay a bit longer and hunt some more?" Alex asks, his hand pressed against his chest, breathing calmly.
Benezia nods. "We might as well stay a while longer, since we haven't been issued a mission yet. Also... calm down. The situation is under control now. However, the little one's shamelessness truly surprised me. I didn't want to argue—but I clenched my fist for the first time in a few centuries when she blackmailed the Administrator. That's quite surprising."
Her constant reminders that she hasn't done things in decades or centuries really aren't valid arguments anymore... but I guess even Benezia panicked a little.
Princess Jewel had the situation completely under control! Even if he had rejected his quest, nothing would've happened to Soulmate, Benezia, Tereza or Jewel!
"How do you know that?" Alex asks.
Benezia also turns toward Jewel, who's relaxing on Alex's head, with a confused look.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Little one, don't keep us waiting," Benezia says, clearly annoyed.
"She's doing it on purpose again!" Tereza groans. "It'll be another stupid and silly response after a long pause—I'm certain of it! This spider is a damn schemer! She constantly pulls this kind of thing just for fun! She's crazy!"
Alex feels a drop of sweat sliding down his cheek as he agrees with her, "I can't say... Tereza is outright wrong... Jewel, you really are taking it a little too far. This is way too risky. I'm worried, not only about me, but about you as well."
Princess Jewel has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why she dared to act confidently!
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Yes?" Alex asks, his face twitching in growing annoyance. "Go on...."
Princess Jewel's reason is simple. Administrators are supposed to be fair! Taking revenge on players would be going against the Realm!
"See! I knew the answer would be something like that," Tereza huffs, reaching up to grab Jewel from Alex's head—only for the spider to dodge easily. She skitters up Tereza's arm, climbs onto her shoulder, and in a blink, webs her mouth shut, before climbing on her head.
Tereza's eyes flare up in rage as she tries to scream, the web gagging her.
"...Okay, let's drop it," Alex says, rubbing his forehead. "Jewel's answer isn't necessarily wrong. According to the rules, administrators really aren't supposed to threaten or interfere with players."
"However..." Benezia cuts in, "You don't sound convinced."
"I mean... just offering us a quest like that and listing 'Administrator's anger' as a punishment for failure... that already feels like a line's been crossed, right?" Alex says.
"Indeed... however, the little one might be right," Benezia says slowly, thinking the situation over. "This might be the absolute limit of what administrators are allowed to do—and still get away with. We also have Glimmerwhisk and the Goblin Union backing us. She'd likely escalate things if he went further. And from what you've told me, she's helped you multiple times, but always within certain limits, bound by the rules. Her help was useful, but never overpowered or balance-destroying, right? Why would it be different with another administrator?"
See? Princess Jewel figured it out faster than Soulmate, Benezia, and Tereza. You should be in awe of her instead of criticizing her genius decisions.
Tereza, still gagged, now has Jewel jumping gleefully on her head. She fights to remove the web from her mouth—only for her expression to turn red with effort. After a moment of pathetic flailing, she finally gives up and flops forward.
Alex sighs, pulls out his [Butchering Knife], and carefully slices through the sticky threads, freeing her mouth. Before she can scream, Jewel jumps back onto Alex's head and resumes her dance.
As soon as she can speak, Tereza mutters through gritted teeth, "One day I'll ask Menchi to grill me some fresh spider sausages..."
Princess Jewel will ignore the Peasant's delusions. After all, who would ever dream of going against royalty? All a Peasant can do is dream.
"There've been peasant revolts that end—" Alex begins to say, then stops mid-sentence, realizing the whole conversation is an utter waste of time.
"Let's move on," Alex calls, already stepping into the jungle. We don't have all day. "Tereza, you'll need to be able to fly later, so you'd better hold back and leave it to me, Jewel, and Benezia."
As they move deeper into the trees, Alex glances back one last time at the fallen giants.
Both are still alive—barely. Their limbs twitch weakly, their massive bodies bloodied and still struggling to recover.
They're durable... they literally ate enough explosive material to wipe out a small village... and they lived!
As the group moves on, Alex carefully looks around. Now with the sun rising higher, the once-dark and dangerous jungle is starting to look deceptively calm and peaceful.
As they continue walking through the forest, something massive comes into view, towering above the trees.
"That's a Brontosaurus!" Alex exclaims. "They shouldn't be hostile... they don't even eat meat, as far as I know. But this is One Piece—logic doesn't always work here."
As the group approaches, they see the Brontosaurus leaning down, stripping leaves off a nearby tree. Alex's eyes linger on its jagged, almost savage-looking teeth, giving it the appearance of a predator rather than a harmless plant-eater.
That thing is nightmarish! It looks dangerous as fuck! Still, if we work together, we can do it... I need to come up with a strategy!
"We're taking it down," Benezia says flatly. "I don't see any others nearby. This is a chance we can't afford to pass up—Brontosaurus usually move in herds."
Soulmate! Please hand over a few grenades. Princess Jewel has another ingenious plan!
"Your last plan turned out well, so I'm gonna trust you," Alex says, conjuring the first grenade into his hand. "Just... be careful, alright?"
Don't worry. Princess Jewel has the ultimate advantage against this type of Peasant foe!
"She's right," Benezia says. "The Brontosaurus probably won't even notice the little one if she climbs onto its head without alerting it."
Alex finishes conjuring the second grenade and passes both to Jewel. She takes them and secures them to her back using a thick layer of web.
Without wasting time, she rushes forward, disappearing into the tall grass.
I hope this works out....
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