“And that’s about it. I spared that young goblin, used their fireplace, and here I am,” Alex sighs, finishing his story.


    “Looks like the goblins indeed had a way to mind control you to some degree. Even your own narration makes no sense—why did you randomly decide to join a so-called debt collection crew targeting a castle full of vampires? Just because the side quest mentioned there was a chance you’d get kicked out of the city? Even then, you could have simply had the bow delivered to you. Also, how could they justify sending ten lone wizards as the vanguard, to assault a castle full of vampires? Surely, anyone with half a brain cell would question that approach,” Rishi carefully analyzes Alex’s story.


    “As I said, it felt weird, but somehow, I felt like there was no way out! As soon as I left that hall, using the Portkey, I regained my clarity,” Alex explains.


    “Anyway, I’m such a skillful navigator, of course, I made it out without encountering too many problems,” Alex brags, slightly ashamed as he was panicking during the entire event and relied mostly on cheap tactics and his LUK to survive.


    “Sure you are!” Menchi laughs with a big smile. “Though I can’t deny that you always manage to pull through, so I guess it’s not wrong. You are indeed someone special, and I’ll always be grateful for what you did for me. Also, I’m sticking by your side, so I’m more than interested in our future adventures. I trust you with my life.”


    “It seems to me you literally just threw grenades at every problem! I’m extremely relieved you made it out, but that sounded even a tad too easy! I can’t imagine how anyone else would have made it out, just like that,” Tereza says. “I guess I have to agree with Menchi. I picked the right man; I’m glad you’re mine,” she adds, slightly blushing.


    Menchi clicks her tongue, saying, “He’s not your—” but she can’t finish her sentence because Jewel suddenly jumps from Alex’s head to Tereza and begins to spray web at her body, wildly jumping on her.


    “STOP IT, YOU DUMB SPIDER!” Tereza screams in panic.


    “Jewel, please stop,” Alex says, trying hard to sound concerned while suppressing his laugh.


    “...”


    “...”


    “...” S~ea??h the N??elFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    “I’m sorry for that. Jewel overreacted a little. She says she’ll begin negotiations in a few months. I seriously don’t get it because Jewel is an important partner, but… well, I’ll leave it up to her,” Alex explains, a bit embarrassed by Jewel’s clingy behavior.


    “Anyway, Tereza, going back to the situation at the castle—you would have made it out even easier than me. You could have transformed into your bat form, and they would have probably knelt down and worshipped you. Even if that didn’t work, you could have simply flown away,” Alex responds, holding back his laughter.


    Tereza just looks annoyed while still removing webs from her face and clothes, staring at Jewel with an unhappy expression.


    “Yeah, flying is really quite useful—however, your Nen jumps along with the ability to glide are nearly as good. Without that, you’d never have made it out of that castle so easily. Teaching you that was a great decision; I have to really praise myself,” Menchi says with a smug grin.


    Jewel, still nervously tapping her legs against Alex’s head, listens, acting a bit worried after comprehending what Alex went through.


    “Don’t worry… this won’t happen again. I hope so, at least. Anyway, congratulations on your level-up. I saw the notification,” Alex says, remembering Jewel’s progress.


    “We did some light hunting in the forest. We, of course, forbade Jewel from participating and told her to stay inside our home, but she came along anyway. It turns out she was more than fine. To tell you the truth, she is surprisingly strong,” Tereza explains.


    “After today I’d have worked her really hard,” she mumbles silently.


    “It’s fine. She’s quite smart and can judge most situations for herself,” Alex says, knowing Jewel’s strengths best.


    Alex yawns loudly.


    “I’m quite tired. I’m heading to bed. Let’s talk some more tomorrow; I want to know about your shopping trips as well,” he adds, already standing up and heading up the stairs.


    “Good night. I’ll tell you tomorrow—you’ll be surprised!” Tereza says with a huge grin.


    Jewel sits on top of the magic white chests and smells them.


    Alex opens all five white chests and is surprised, as Jewel’s intuition is indeed true.


    Finally, Alex takes out the Golden chest, his heart beating like crazy.


    “Fuck, I’m excited too!” Alex admits, his eyes glued to the chest.


    “Please… don’t get into the habit of cursing. It’s not good for you, Jewel. I’m sorry,” Alex laments, still not used to keeping himself in check. He feels so comfortable around Jewel that he doesn’t filter his thoughts or personality at all.


    Alex sighs again as he finally opens the chest.


    [Drakul’s Vitality]


    [Blood Quintessence]


    Jewel takes the necklace and tries to wear it but immediately removes it.


    Alex strokes Jewel’s cold, smooth body.


    Alex closely looks at his new necklace.


    “...”


    “This will be quite difficult,” Alex sighs, determined to work on himself and try to teach Jewel not to acquire a curse-ridden vocabulary like he has.