500th Time Reborn, A World Only Known By Women: The Karma System

"No, I only go there to do my shifts, but only the less wealthy stay in the Barracks. I have a bit more refined tastes, and the rooms there are so dreary," Breya explained, and I nodded with an impressed face.

"I am very interested to see where my Angel puts her head to rest. I will talk to Listenia later, but I think that she will want to have the night to ourselves today. I do need to deal with her mother at some point," I said and then intentionally thought of Tallia.

She had left after the race, but Tallia appeared the moment I thought of her; the golden portal appeared beside my chair.

"You rang?" Tallia asked, crossing her arms.

"I have a meeting with Elfinia, right? When is that supposed to be?" I asked, but I heard growling coming from the portal that was still open.

"As you can hear, the one in question is ready whenever you are," Tallia sighed.

"Sorry, do you think you can keep her entertained for a while longer?" I asked.

"What?! I am not going to wait around here for this stupid creature to decide when it chooses to speak with me!" Elfinia snapped from the other side and tried to march through the portal but walked into an invisible wall.

"Do you mind if I join you all for lunch?" Tallia asked. "Something about my place doesn't feel very welcoming right now."

"What?! You can't just leave me here! I can't leave if you aren't here!" Elfinia snapped, but Tallia shrugged.

"There is always a place for you at my table, my Goddess! Come sit down and relax! I was going to feel bad if you had to deal with that witch!" I laughed, and the portal snapped closed, cutting off the screaming Goddess.

"Do you mind if I… sit with you?" Tallia asked, and both girls jumped off my lap.

"Sure! You can sit down, my Goddess!" Eliza exclaimed. "Chili and I got enough time!"

"Wait, you want to sit with me? Are you not feeling well?" I asked in surprise, and Tallia shook her head.

"I am just exhausted from that woman. She won't leave me alone until she gets to talk to you," Tallia sighed as she sat down on my lap, leaning into my chest. "This doesn't change things; I just felt like this would make me feel better. Nothing more!"

I shrugged and put one arm around her as I grabbed a sandwich. I wasn't going to say anything. I was not going to do anything to ruin this small moment.

This kind of reminded me of when a songbird comes to land on your shoulder. The creature is so beautiful, but you know if you move, you will scare it away. That still doesn't stop the yearning for more than just the brief touch, but I would just enjoy the moment that was presented to me.

"I have lots of the things that you wanted me to make," Gwenth spoke up from her place beside Wispy.

"That is right! I am going to teach you alchemy, but that is going to have to wait. I thought that I would need the guns right away, but weapons aren't my problem right now," I said, remembering the shell casings that I had asked her to make.

"Alchemy?" Gwenth asked in confusion, and I nodded.

"Yeah, since you deal with making things and putting them together, alchemy would be a great skill for you to learn. Some things that I will show you can only be made this way. This is kind of a cheating way to do things, but this isn't a competition. I want you to be able to make things on the go," I explained, and Gwenths eyes lit up with excitement.

"Do you think I could learn too?" Wispy asked from beside Gwenth, then the Dwarf gave her a stern look.

"You are Galio's to do with as he pleases. You don't get to ask for things anymore," Gwenth said with narrowed eyes, but I put up a hand to stop her.

"Now, Now, Gwenth, there is no need for that. Wispy, I will not be teaching you alchemy, but I will be teaching you some things in private. Your skills are going to be valuable to me in the future," I explained.

I was hoping that I could help patch things up between the girls. Unfortunately, that was a task that was going to have to be taken care of after the Riftwalker was defeated. There were a bunch of things that were going to have to be put off, but I would have more time after.

"What can you teach me?" Tallia asked without looking up, and I resisted the urge to kiss the top of her head.

"I don't think manners are the right answer," I chuckled and then groaned as I was elbowed. "How about you tell me what you want to learn about, or tell me what you are best at?"

"I am fast and strong, and I can use water magic adeptly. I specialize in healing magic. What can you teach me?" Tallia asked again.

"Do you want to spar?" I asked, and Tallia looked up at me with a frown. "It is the best way for me to gauge your talents and where I can help you."

"If you want, but I will not go easy on you," Tallia warned, and I grinned.

"I would be pretty upset if you did, and you don't want to end up on your ass in front of all these women, right?" I asked, and Tallia growled at me and jumped from my lap.

"Get up. I can see why Listenia must have wanted to hit you," Tallia snapped, and I grinned.

"And we all know how that turned out!" I laughed, but Eliza jumped up.

"Wait, Wait, Wait! You two aren't going to destroy the city, are you?" Eliza asked with a panicked look.

"Nope, we are gonna use the hole Claire made! I will fill it back in after," I said as I got up and started to stretch.