Alex continues to read through the two quests, his eyes moving line by line through the Quest text the system shows him.

“Not bad... a lot of mission rating, I almost forgot that this mission is not so much about obtaining loot, but achieving a high rank so we get a nice reward, most importantly, a lot of stats,” Alex says.

“Yeah, you are right,” Tereza replies. “Stats are the most important thing.... Levels as well! Don’t forget the next one will be a big level, after which we can finally increase our skills to level 6.”

“That is true,” Alex says, already anticipating the excitement of increasing his skills. “I’ve got the funds and the Soul Crystals ready. I’m extremely hyped about it.”

Princess Jewel is hyped as well!

I’ll never use that word again....

“Now, don’t get ahead of yourselves, Children,” Benezia chastizes them. “First, we need to finish this mission. This quest seems rather redundant to me. I’m extremely confident that we’ll never be able to even attempt it. There is no need to worry about it extensively.”

“Hmmm... I don’t think we will or even should complete that new quest either. Crocodile will probably try to silence us as well after he obtains that information, but we’ll never know. It all depends on the Main Quest. If we change factions, or at least quit Baroque works... it probably won’t be possible to continue this quest,” Alex says, rubbing his head.

“We most likely can’t, you are right,” Benezia states. “The only way we could do so would be if Crocodile and Baroque Works were unaware of our betrayal. In my opinion, as soon as we openly defect from Baroque Works, this quest will fail automatically. All faction quests, like this one, will disappear, at least judging by the information I’ve obtained from countless other players, though there are exceptions. Even if the quest remains, the reward might as well be a swift death, should Crocodile decide that he wants to silence us for good after obtaining the information. We should ignore it.”

“I don’t trust Crocodile. He would kill us without hesitation,” Tereza mutters.

Menchi nods along, agreeing with her.

“Let’s talk about our plans. We’ll spend the next few days hiding here and recovering,” Benezia continues. “It’s best you enjoy the calm while it lasts. That includes you as well, Menchi.”

“Really, but why?!” Menchi asks, her whole body suddenly slumping.

“You are connected to us—it’s an unnecessary risk, and you have enough ingredients by now,” Benezia replies. “Though you can’t die, you can get removed from the mission or be imprisoned, a situation which we probably can’t solve by teleporting you. The system will limit that function in that situation.”

“No, I don’t have enough ingredients! I need just a little more time!” Menchi argues, looking desperate.

She’s addicted...

Tereza nods. “She is right, and you know it. Let’s just play it safe for once. To tell you the truth, I think we have taken enough risks so far! You can relax because we’ll return to Alubarna. You will have one more opportunity to improve your craft, but food is useless if you have no one to feed it to....”

“You are right,” Menchi says, looking a little embarrassed. “Thank you, Tereza.”

“I know you only want the best for me, Mommy Benezia,” she says, teasing the Asari Matriarch. Benezia reacts by simply ignoring her, showing no reaction.

She should be careful, or she’ll get spanked... nah, she might enjoy that if it’s Benezia. Even I would probably...

Alex shakes his head, snapping himself out of it.

No time for that bullshit.

Soulmate and his teammates should relax! Princess Jewel will spend the next few days fishing and having fun. She’ll provide more ingredients for Menchi as well.

“When I said that we’ll spend the next few days hiding, I obviously included you as well, little one. No fishing and especially no explosions. Your antics are the last thing we need.” Benezia states, her face growing cold.

No, Princess Jewel won’t be detected. Not a chance.

“You will stay here!” Benezia commands, not angry, just firm.

No, Princess Jewel won’t. Princess Jewel suggests Benezia mind her own business and maybe worry about herself for once.

Benezia now glares at Alex, seemingly urging him to react.

“Why are you looking at me?” Alex asks, rubbing his head. “Please leave me out of it!”

“Tell your pet to behave!” Benezia says, her voice low, but icy cold.

Soulmate obviously agrees with Princess Jewel! Right Soulmate?

“Have I already told you about my [Cage of Hattori (Pet]?” Alex suddenly asks. “I wonder what that pet is capable of. Do you want it, by the way, Tereza? You don’t have a pet yet, and it seems to be a relatively tame pet, so personality-wise it shouldn’t cause many issues... like... others.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Your distraction couldn’t be more blatant,” Menchi says, snickering.

Tereza also laughs. “Yeah, it’s a little funny, but you can’t avoid this situation. Also, no, I don’t want it. It seems to be a pet suitable for scouting, and that would be redundant for me. Now, back on topic, make a decision. Honestly, I think Jewel could probably get away with sneaking around the city. You can go either way. Just decide already.”

Hell no, I’m not getting involved. They are both arguably right. If I pick one the other will be angry at me.

“Let’s vote...” Alex finally says. “Since Benezia’s and Jewel’s positions are clear, what do you two think?”

“Let Jewel move around,” Tereza says, seemingly not caring too much.

“If I can’t go out, her going out is even riskier. She needs to stay inside!” Menchi argues in a forceful tone.

“...”

“...”

“Now your ploy is at an equilibrium again, just make a decision,” Benezia says, her patience wearing thin.

Yes, Soulmate! Please back up Princess Jewel.

“I vote...” Alex says, his face unsure.

“I vote to abstain!”

“...”

“Good night!” Alex says, quickly leaving, grabbing a full plate of food, and walking back to his room, opening the door.

However, Benezia lifts her hand, forcefully slamming the door shut again using her biotics.

“Decide!” Benezia yells, her usual calm demeanor gone.

This sucks! What should I do? How about...

Alex takes out a 500 Belly coin and throws it into the air. “Heads, Benezia, Tails, Jewel!”

Everyone’s eyes are glued to the coin, which lands on the table, spinning a couple of times and then magically stopping on its side.

“You have to be fucking kidding me!” Alex curses, staring at the coin.

“...”

He sighs. “I think this will be a long night....”

“...”

“...”

“...”

A few days later, the Group gathers to leave.

“Since we recovered, we might as well leave early. Let me check the Main Quest,” Alex announces.

[Main Quest Phase 2:

Mission: Complete missions for your chosen faction. Disobeying orders or failing missions can lead to expulsion and mission failure. Targeting members of your own faction can lead to immediate expulsion, if discovered.

Reward: ???, ???, ???, Increased Mission Rating

Time Limit: 2 days, 5 hours, 51 minutes, 38 seconds

Failure: Player is evicted from his faction

Penalties: Forced expulsions from the Mission, Reduced Mission Rating.]

“We don’t have much time,” Tereza says, appearing slightly nervous. “I’ll hurry up back to Sandy Island, with a little help of Menchi’s Stamina food, I should be fine, no, I will be fine.”

Princess Jewel wants to leave already! She felt like a prisoner for the last few days, stuck inside that tiny house and lazing around all day. Though she enjoyed cuddling with her Soulmate.

“You felt like one, little one?” Benezia asks, her confusion obvious. “You were the only one who went outside.”

Soulmate only allowed Princess Jewel to go out at night! Princess Jewel wants to go out during the day as well.

“Well, Alex, it wasn’t so hard, was it?” Menchi says, nudging him from the side. “You actually managed to wriggle yourself out of the decision by suggesting a compromise. Just decide next time and don’t screw around that long, alright?”

“I hate disappointing either one of the two, especially if both sides have merit. This compromise was actually the fairest way to handle such a situation,” Alex explains, sounding more defensive than he wants to.

“It also paid off, didn’t it?” Alex asks, lifting a stack of papers. “Aside from the few Gray Quality fish, she at least brought back the new bounties, so it wasn’t for nothing.”

Tereza’s mouth curls downwards, her anger showing. “Iceburg lied to us! Obviously, he leaked our information! After all we did for him. If the Marines didn’t know about us killing CP9, they wouldn’t have increased our bounty like that.”

“No,” Benezia denies her accusation. “He may have leaked some information, but not our location, and the most important facts about us should still remain unknown. His hand was probably forced, and he had to tell them something. He values integrity, but his citizens’ security takes precedence. This is another compromise, a much more meaningful one than yours, Alex.”

Alex stares at the bounty posters in his hand, blatantly ignoring Benezia’s criticism.

“Butcher—Alex Kerber: 169 Million Belly”

“Night Demon—Benezia: 156 Million Belly”

“Demon Spider—Jewel (Pet): 100 Million Belly”

“Cook—Green Haired brat (Servant): 100,000 Belly”

“Vampire-Witch—Tereza: 85 Million Belly”

Snickering at the sight of Menchi’s new nickname—and the fact that her bounty actually decreased—he can’t help but glance at her.

She returns his glance with an awkward smile, trying hard to suppress her rage, but ultimately failing.

Princess Jewel is worth more than a thousand Menchi’s. At least two thousand Menchi’s.

“Shut up,” Alex yells. “You’re overdoing it, like always!”

“Let’s move on already!” Tereza screams, slapping the papers out of Alex’s hand.

“Hey!” Alex yells, catching the papers in an expert fashion, using his SNS and AGI. “These make nice souvenirs, you know.”

“I’ll leave you behind...” Tereza threatens, already leaving the apartment.

“Fine...” Alex says, following her outside along with Benezia, not wanting to push it.

“Menchi...” Benezia says in a silent voice as she leaves their hideout. “I expect you to stay inside and lie low. No shopping.”

“I get it... just leave already,” Menchi mutters, clearly pouting.

Saying their goodbyes to each other, Tereza, now in her full bat form, swiftly lifts off, Alex staring back at the gorgeous sight of Water 7.

As much as he enjoys it, the city grows smaller and smaller until it finally disappears.

Probably the last time I’ll ever see that city. If you think about things like that, it’s quite depressing. No matter... we’re moving on.

Exactly 2 days and 4 hours later, with just over an hour before the timer of the second mission runs out, Sandy Island comes into view at last.

We made it! Barely in time.