Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

"You say some… worrying things," Madam said, raising her eyes as she looked directly at my face. "As in, if what you are saying is true, then my understanding of how aura users came to be in my own world…"

Madam didn't need to finish. And it didn't take a genius to figure out that with my words slowly starting to uproot the founding beliefs she had regarding her own world, her feelings towards that news would be, at the very best, ambiguous.

"Ah, I'm sorry," I muttered in a low voice, finally growing aware of the consequences my words had on the woman.

I argued not for the sake of it, but because I wanted to iron out all the impurities of our guesses and beliefs and find out proper answers. Now that I found myself in a position where I could start answering the questions that continued to stack into infinity in my memories…

I've got too heated with how I went about it.

"Again, I'm sorry," I repeated myself once taking a proper look back at how I was, what made me like it, and how my actions would be taken by those around me. "I didn't mean to say you are wrong. And while I still do not agree with that one point I raised, I don't think we are in a position to solve this inconsistency."

Madam's face changed, her internal confusion giving way to a renewed focus.

"Then what are you going to do with it?" she asked, a hint of curiosity flashing in the corner of her eye.

"The exact same thing that I do with all the questions that I don't have answers for," I shrugged my shoulders. "I will drop it and hope I will find some clues to figure out the answer later."

Madam's face twitched a little… Only for the woman's chest to start shaking as she lowered her face and hid her mouth, yet failed to stop the sounds of laughter from sneaking out.

Soon, Madam no longer bothered hiding her mood, lowering her hand and revealing the two rows of pear-like white teeth of hers.

"Well, that's certainly one way to go about it, I will give you that!" she exclaimed, struggling to contain her laughter, even though it had been going on for quite some time by now.

"Is it really that funny?" I asked, slightly irked by Madam's unexpected response to my moment of honesty.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just…" Madam hesitated through her tears of joy, wiping the moisture from her face while trying to avert her eyes. "Do you remember back when you told us about the misty valley and starlight plain being the same thing? With one affecting one of our tribes while the other affected… well, the other tribe?"

Madam's lips trembled a little, momentarily forming an annoyed grin when she struggled to find the right words to describe what she meant.

"Yeah," I nodded my head while pretending not to notice her momentary struggle, "what about it?"

The smile on Madam's face only grew wider.

"Compared to how you were back then and how you are right now… Do you really see no difference?"

As if pulling out a knife and stabbing me over and over in the back, Fay started to giggle a little too!

"How is it any different? Both back then and right now, most of what I know about this world came from assumptions, guesses and just applying general logic to what I found out so far," I shook my shoulders.

"That's why," I raised my voice a little, not to shout but to put more emphasis on what I was going to say next, "I can't thank you enough for this opportunity to learn more about the stuff I could only form random guesses about."

I basically nudged the conversation back towards its initial track.

"That's also why I don't want to waste time contesting any of your answers in particular. Thinking about it too hard will lead to no good. And what do I even have to contrast your immense experience?" I added with a slightly unhappy smirk.

It was one thing to concede in a discussion and something I didn't particularly mind doing… But the feeling of having Fay giggle at me…

"Oh, come on," Fay spoke cheerfully as she jumped two steps forward and threw herself at my side, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she pressed her chest against the side of my arm while resting her chin at the joint between said arm and shoulder. "I only laughed a little! And rather than laughing at you, I was amused by how much your presentation changed!"

Hugging me from the side with all her might, Fay also made sure to saturate our link with all the warm affection she had towards me, hugging not only my body but also my soul.

"I'm sorry, dear, there's no need for you to worry about it," I muttered as I gave up and responded to Fay's intimacy by wrapping my own hands around her and pulling her into an even closer embrace. "It's just that whenever something has to do with you… I might be overreacting a bit…"

Was that true… Or was my sense of betrayal connected to my lack of self-worth?

'Am I still struggling with confidence?' I suddenly asked myself.

A question that could bear an even greater weight than all the answers Madam could give me regarding the usage of the aura or the story behind it. A question that touched the very core of my soul, something that I really struggled to unveil.

Did Fay's giggle get on my nerves because she actually acted out, or was it because something deep within my core made me believe there was more to her giggle than there was in reality?

'AH…' I stifled a silent cry that nearly escaped from my throat in response to all the frustration this question gave birth to in my mind.

Was my entire approach to life ever since I decided to change nothing more but an act of grandstanding and impersonating someone who I wasn't?

'No, that can't be right. I have no right lacking confidence when I have someone as beautiful as Fay by my side!'

As primitive and socially ugly as it could be, there was no way I wouldn't take pride in Fay. In her beauty, her coziness, the comfort she offered me with every bit of her presence…

Continue your adventure with empire

I wanted to flaunt all of those to the world around, to make the whole world acknowledge just how great of a woman Fay was…

While, at the same time, I continued to desire to keep Fay exclusively to myself, so that I could be the only one to ever bear witness to her great qualities.

And with such a conflict of opinions within my own soul… the effects of her giggle ended up greatly amplified, making it seem like a lot more than it actually was.

"Okay, I think I've calmed down now," I whispered, relaxing my hand over Fay's body. Yet, as soon as I sensed her muscles shift so that she could pull back and part from our hug, I reverted my actions, reaching out and grabbing Fay by her waist only to turn sideways, pull her closer, and plant a deep, sloppy kiss right on top of her delicious lips.

'What does aura even matter?' I thought, savoring the taste of Fay's saliva, enjoying the wet warmth of her mouth, and playing along with the probing of her tongue.

Somehow, despite my attempts at bringing the discussion back to the topic of what I wanted to learn, I ended up making out with Fay.

And before I could even notice, her body pressed forth on me, soon causing me to trip on the soft grass and fall down on my ass.

Pulling the girl along, my upper body ended up falling to the back too, striking the ground mere moments after my ass did.

Still, for what was worth, Fay didn't seem to be affected by the fall at all, given how she was already back on the task of finding my lips with her mouth.

Joining in the kiss once more, I now allowed my hands to slowly, carefully wander around Fay's shapes. And as my fingers sank into her flesh…

"Okay then, it seems that we won't be able to talk much more," Madam sighed and claimed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes… but with a lenient smile on her face.

Was she recalling her own moments with Loraz from before the rift appeared and pulled them apart? Or maybe she simply liked the idea of her daughter being with someone she loved?

"Don't overdo it, kids."

Either way, with those words in her mouth, Madam turned around and left for the edge of the clearing.

"Oh, Peter, two more things," Madam stopped right as she was about to go between the trees. "First, don't take too long for I can tell your friend was in quite a hurry. And lastly…"

Madam turned her head away, refusing to let me see her face as she continued.

"If you have any questions, feel free to come to me to discuss them. Regardless of if those questions will shake my understanding of the world."

Madam left before I could as much as say a single word in response. And while I initially wanted to stand up and chase after Fay's mom to keep talking instead…

A single, disgruntled noise that came out from Fay's throat was enough to convince me otherwise.

'I guess it's not a bad idea to remind myself of what I'm fighting for,' I thought as my hands tightened over Fay's body, keeping her in place as I pushed my upper body up. Still holding Fay by her waist, I then seated her down on my lap before leaning in and pressing my lips against hers.

"Madam told us to hurry," I mentioned once our mouths parted ways a few moments later.

"If something happens, they will call us," Fay retorted, before pushing me right back down to the ground and nearly instantly depriving me of any care for whether we would be late or not.