The rest of the week progressed at light-speed by comparison to the ones leading up to it. Rieka conveyed everything she could in a more in-depth report that I delivered to the queen after playing telephone for them, so that Rieka could get the high points of what her mother really needed to know to get things handled properly.

  After a bit of practice, I was able to relay the messages back and forth to them without much conscious effort. Something that I attributed to my increased mental scores still ‘settling in’ as I got acclimated to them in the way that Cariad had said.

  I’d spent a good ten minutes hugging Cariad that night by the creek until my mana ran low. She’d been watching me on the sly through one of her special eyes, and as soon as my internal mana supply hit ten percent, she pushed me away.

  We didn’t talk about the hug or just how comfortable Cariad had felt against me—or the fact I’d been hugging her shirtless and the natural physiological reactions that occur for men when they are in extremely close proximity to beautiful women. Instead, she made some small talk about how she was glad for the extra help I’d given the DSR in checking that ruin. I’d filled her in on our plans to check on a few more and promised I’d keep her in the loop if anything suspicious showed up before she’d bid me farewell and vanished while I was pulling my boots on.

  The very next day I got word from Queen Gemma that she had special orders for me as well as for Rieka. Apparently, Rieka had included in her message to the queen that they had suspicions of another facility like the first one we had turned over to her already. With that admittance, she’d basically demanded Rieka go and inspect it.

  That had led to a bit of back and forth from the queen and the princess which I dutifully relayed before the queen stated that she would be detailing orders specifically for ‘her daughter and companions’ to act as her agents in chasing down information.

  I hadn’t known exactly what it meant until a day later when Kassandra had messaged me that the queen had sent a fast courier with a message that basically got my four girls excused from classes for a few weeks to immediately go check this place out.

  Kassandra had been excited, as that meant me coming for an extended stay with them. Rieka had been irritated at first with her mother’s presumption over this, but had admitted that she would much rather be doing this as a project than the early term classes. Shayla was excited outright as it was more chance for her to travel and paint new vistas. Only Jane really seemed to be upset at missing the beginning of the new semester. I couldn’t really fault the mouse kin woman, as she was the most studious of the four girls, but given the terms the queen had included in her orders Jane didn’t stay upset for long.

  The queen wanted the assignment to be kept on the quiet, so even the girls’ instructors only knew that they had been requested to report to the Queen and would be gone for a few weeks.

  The implication of the message was that the girls would be traveling to the capital to be rewarded for their exemplary work in the previous semester’s competition. Only the headmistress of Juneau knew that the real reason the quartet of girls would be leaving was to handle some business on the express orders of Queen Gemma.

  As part of the orders, Queen Gemma had stated that the crown would claim thirty percent of the value for anything turned up in the investigation, while the other seventy would be divided amongst the four girls equally. Rieka explained to me later that this was likely due to her finally revealing the presence of the palladium coins that we had found in the research facility. The queen had, apparently, immediately purchased them from Rieka for an extremely fair price in order to secure the potential of the mana-infused palladium for the crown. That meant that the coins had been liquidated and my girls could finally put some of that value to use.

  A fact that both Rieka and Kassandra found ways to thank me for, as if it’d been my doing somehow. I wouldn’t complain.

  For my part, I busted my butt getting as much material up on Bitsy to tide the store over while I was gone. I’d planned to spend a few weeks slowly ramping up the production, but since we only had a handful of days to prepare for this trip I couldn’t spend too much time slacking off.

  I didn’t hear back from Cariad regarding more of the jewelry for herself, but she did drop off a small, three-ounce bar of neutral aligned silver along with a note that she had a friend she wanted to surprise. So I made sure to whip up a set of pearl drop-earrings with the silver and a five-drop necklace first for her friend, then used the rest of the silver to make several sets of earrings and a pair of necklaces for Cariad.

  They vanished off my table overnight and I got a brief message of thanks that was more emoji than words really. I couldn’t figure out how in the world the daemon managed to get emoji into our System-lead conversations, but she did it. I was just glad that she was happy and left it at that.

  Jameson finally stopped by and we went to the pub for a few drinks, which was good because otherwise I’d have forgotten to actually get some sun besides going to the stream to ‘pan’ for more gold.

  He initially said he’d cover the tab, but when I told him how well the online shop was doing, he rapidly backpedaled that.

  “Hell dude, if you are making that much profit then you should seriously look at upgrading from that shithole you are living in,” the bawdy Irishman said while gesturing wildly with his martini glass.

  The bartender, a mid-thirties woman with a brusque attitude and dual sleeve tattoos named Gloria glowered at Jameson, as if daring the man to drip gin all over the counter, but my pain in the ass friend managed to avoid it for now.

  “Soon as I can get around to doing some touring. I’d hate to move from one shithole into another because I didn’t research it properly.” I said, patting the air with my free hand while the other held a pint of dark red beer. I didn’t know what type it was, it just happened to be the same color as Kassandra’s hair and I was missing my cuddle-noodle, though I couldn’t tell Jameson that.

  “That is fair. Rent is going absolutely crazy right now in the metro area. If you think the income is stable and isn’t going to flake off in a fad, then definitely upgrade.” Jameson, as he was wont to do, shifted gears rapidly. He went from encouraging me to cut and run and instead switched over to a more down-to-earth and thoughtful tact.

  “Hard to say. I also worry how I’m going to qualify for the rental agreement without a normal day job. I’ve never done the whole application process without having paystubs to show my income.”

  “Bank statement,” Gloria cut in, setting another beer on the counter next to me that shimmered with the same dark ruby color as my first, which I’d just finished off. “Specifically a deposit statement should do it. My cousin does SimplyFans and that is how she got her lease agreement.”

  “Your cousin does SimplyFans?” Jameson perked up at that and turned to waggle his eyebrows up at the tatted bartender who went from smiling at me to scowling down at my shorter companion.

  “Yes, and no I’m not telling you what her username is, Jameson. Don’t even ask!” she snapped waspishly and the Irishman just grinned up at her, waggling his eyebrows rapidly as if that would somehow overcome her annoyance with him.

  “You know, it might work better if you finally took a hint and stopped flirting with Gloria,” I drawled, sliding my empty to the other side of the bar for Gloria before claiming the new drink and taking a sip. This was my sixth beer and I didn’t feel a thing at the moment.

  Downside of that vastly boosted fortitude stat I guess. I’d probably have to drink hard liquor straight in these size glasses at this point, I thought while enjoying the fizzing flavor of the carbonated beer. I should bring some sweet drinks with me for the girls… I think they’ll like those.

  The mental image of the sort of chaos Jane might get up to if she were to hit a caffeine high made me snort into my beer. A gesture that Jameson immediately seized on and the smaller man proceeded to firmly wack my back several times.

  “Don’t choke now, Liam! A big fella like you should be enjoying your beer, not gagging on it.”

  “Knock it off you grimy little wanker,” I growled back, smacking his hand away. Despite Jameson’s best efforts, he hadn’t even jostled me with his blows and he was now shaking his hand like he’d hurt himself.

  “Jaysus, what have you been eating, Liam? Rocks? I knew you were a hardass but damn!”

  “Oh? Are you intimately familiar with his ass? I always assumed you were the receiver rather than the pitcher, Jameson,” Gloria snarked, getting an offended look from the shorter man.

  “I have no interest in either of those positions, thank you very much,” Jameson shot back primly. “But even if I did, I guarantee that I’d be able to draw someone a lot more attractive than this giant tool!”

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  “Don’t go bringing my tool into this if you want Gloria to believe you don’t smoke dick, Jameson,” I interjected with a smirk, taking another sip from my beer. “And as pretty as your lips are, I’m taken right now. You know that, so you’ll have to quell your unholy lust for all this beef somewhere else.” I made it a point to flex while carefully prodding with my Shape-Shifting to ensure that my biceps puffed up threateningly.

  I didn’t need to do a whole lot with the power. Between eating better, the amount of exercise I’d been getting—both in the bedroom and out of it—, and the raw stat bonuses, I was pretty stacked with muscle. I still had the same barrel chest as before, but rather than carrying a spare tire around the keg, it was more ‘iron banded’ instead.

  “Sure you got a girl, Liam. I’ll believe it when you finally let me meet her to confirm she’s not just a creation of your overheated imagination. I’m surprised you don’t have smoke coming out of your ears when you talk about them.” Jameson downed the rest of his martini and set it down on the bartop. “Can I get an Old-Fashioned for the next one, Gloria? I have got to get used to drinking these fancy cocktails for work but I’d much prefer a beer…”

  “I can’t fault Liam for not wanting to introduce his girl to you, Jameson,” Gloria drawled, reclaiming his empty before snagging a squat glass to start mixing up the cocktail he’d asked for. “I’m sure that if they knew he hung out with a knuckle-dragger like you, that’d scare them away if they are smart. And I doubt Liam would be with a dumb gal, no matter how big her tits are.”

  The way that Gloria shifted and bounced behind the bar while she prepared the drink was enthralling. I knew that she didn’t need to make such large movements since this was Jameson’s second Old-Fashioned of the night and they were stirred drinks, but it still made the dusky-skinned Latina’s breasts shake in a fascinating way from where they sat inside her white tank-top.

  “My girls are brilliant,” I said proudly, getting another amused snort from Jameson as he accepted the glass from Gloria.

  “Girls? As in plural? You aren’t picking up this degenerate’s habits, are you Liam?” Gloria asked while she strode over to note down the drink on Jameson’s tab.

  “No, I don’t need to pick up Jameson’s habits. I have my own that are far better,” I shot back before Jameson could pipe up. “Before you worry Gloria, no I’m not running around on anyone. My girls know about each other and honestly are chill with sharing.”

  Gloria gave me another long look, her olive eyes scanning me from the top of my head to my waist, which was as far as she could see over the bar, before she shrugged.

  “Well, as long as they are aware and no one is being lied to, who am I to judge? Is this one of those kinky things like BDSM? Do they tie you up and take turns edging you?”

  I was glad that I had swallowed my gulp of beer already as Gloria’s wicked question would have made me cough at that thought.

  Kass probably would have fun doing that, the little troublemaker, I thought while shaking my head at Gloria. Rieka’s too much of a sweetheart to join in though. She’s also very much a sub to me… I wouldn’t be surprised if Shayla went along with it though, she’s shy enough that Kass might railroad her into it.

  “He’s being too quiet, I think you hit the nail on the head there Gloria,” Jameson cackled and wacked me on the shoulder with his left hand.

  Deciding that I couldn’t let that one fly, I snatched Jameson’s hand with my right and then my pint glass with my left. Holding Jameson’s left hand over the bartop, I poured beer over his hand and he yelped in surprise, finally yanking it free of me.

  “What the hell was that, Liam? I thought you knew better than to waste booze in my bar,” Gloria growled and I held up one hand placatingly while I dropped a handful of napkins over the spill for her.

  “Just doing Jameson a favor and getting his girlfriend drunk so he can get lucky tonight.”

  My comment made both of them freeze up and stare at me for a moment. Gloria broke first though, bursting into a fit of laughter that again drew attention to her full chest as it bounced within the tight white tanktop she wore.

  Jameson just sputtered, trying to formulate a comeback but at a loss for words in the wake of that well-placed barb. He finally just threw his hands up in surrender and turned to grumble into his glass, fishing out the little plastic fork that had a maraschino cherry impaled on it to eat.

  “That was a good one, Liam. I’ll forgive you for the waste this one time,” Gloria said before scooping the soaked pile of napkins up and tossing them into a bin behind the bar. “You two degenerates keep each other company for a bit, I need to check on my other beer-sponges.”

  Gloria didn’t wait for them to respond, instead sashaying away down the length of the bar with her hips popping back and forth in the skintight jeans she wore. Jameson pretended not to stare, but blatantly ogled the fit Latina’s bottom after she had passed him.

  “You know, if you really want her to take you seriously in the flirting then you are going to have to actually be serious for once,” I said, nudging my friend with my elbow.

  “The day I take relationship advice from you is the day that I finally get to meet these mysterious ladies of yours, Liam,” Jameson groused, flourishing the now-empty plastic fork like it was a trident.

  “Maybe you will one day, when I think I can trust you to not send them running for the hills,” I shot right back.

  “Fair, I’d hate to steal my boy’s ladies after all. Not all of us can look this good for free,” Jameson said while preening and I just rolled my eyes at him.

  Silence descended between us again as we nursed our drinks and just watched Gloria work as she quickly pulled pints, mixed drinks, and took care of the other people propping her bar up on a weeknight.

  “So, Liam,” Gloria drawled as she strode back to us and set several glasses in the sink to begin washing them. “When are you going to bring me some of these fancy earrings you said you were selling?”

  “I didn’t realize you liked pearls, Gloria,” I said with an offhanded shrug. Which was true. While Jameson and I had been drinking at this same hole-in-the-wall bar for years now when we could get time, and usually with Gloria or one of her sisters slinging the suds for us, I’d never seen her wearing any jewelry besides the eyebrow studs she had in currently.

  “I sometimes like to look pretty,” Gloria replied offhandedly, eying first Jameson and then me to see if we would say something snarky. But both of us knew better than to rise to that obvious of bait and Gloria just shook her head before setting the now cleaned glasses on the rack to dry.

  “You got a preference for sterling silver or gold?” I asked, remembering that I still had some of my materials in my Dimensional Pocket right now. I hoped that she said gold, oddly enough, because I had a fair bit more of that than the silver I’d bought. The gold set off the rosy color of the pearls better too in my opinion.

  “Honey, I take whatever I can get,” Gloria laughed while gesturing to the bar. “My abuelo pays us well to manage his bar for him, but not so much that I can afford fancy shit.”

  I’d met Gloria’s grandfather a few times actually. The old man had skin the color and texture of a sunburnt boot, and about a million smile wrinkles to soften that image as well. He usually worked back in the kitchen as a chef when he had time, but I remembered Gloria mentioning his arthritis was making it hard to grip a knife anymore.

  Doing it subtly under the bar top, I drew out a small nugget of gold and spread my Manipulate Element ability through it. Two of the drop pearls that I’d not had a chance to work on came out of the ability next and I was able to quickly craft a set of earrings that I thought would look good on Gloria. She was a friend after all and now that I had something to share and extra to give, it just felt right.

  Jameson watched me with narrowed eyes, a smirk hiding behind his glass as he held it to his lips. He couldn’t see what I was doing, but knew my hands had dropped under the bartop for a reason. The two of us flirted with Gloria off and on all the time, but Jameson was more serious about it than I was. To me, she was just a good friend and my bartender.

  “Well, I hope these go well with your outfit the next time you have an occasion to dress up,” I said as I finished molding the gold like it was a thick paste and returned it to a metal once more. The two fat, pearl drop earrings clacked quietly as they landed on the ancient and battered bartop in front of me.

  Gloria’s eyes went wide at the sight of the iridescent pink pearl drops set on the end of tiny gold chains with little hooks for her ears.

  “Liam!” Gloria hissed and quickly threw a napkin over the earrings. “You can’t just throw shit like that on my bar! What the hell, pendejo?!”

  Jameson burst into laughter, drawing more than a few eyes our way and making Gloria blush even more but I just shrugged.

  My short Irish friend was the thing people stared at before looking back to their drinks, so it didn’t draw attention to the gift I’d thrown on the counter like it was a few bills for a tip.

  “Take them, Gloria. A gift from a friend for putting up with me and Jameson this long and not siccing your brothers on us when Jameson gets too lippy.”

  “Hey!” Jameson protested suddenly, his laughter cutting off.

  Seeing that it was just another verbal sparring match from us, the regulars turned back to their drinks finally. So I nudged the napkin-covered bundle towards Gloria with one finger.

  “I can’t take those, Liam! I know what the real thing looks like, and those are worth—”

  “Enough to keep my favorite bartender happy and pouring drinks in our glasses rather than on top of Jameson’s head,” I said, cutting her off. “Seriously, Gloria. I’d have given you a set sooner if I knew that you wanted them.”

  Gloria bit her lip for a moment before lifting the corner of the napkin to stare at the glimmering pearl earrings. After several silent seconds, she picked them up using the folded napkin and the whole bundle vanished into the front of her shirt.

  “You are an idiot, but you are one of my favorite idiots, Liam,” Gloria said with a bright smile and a small, excited bounce. “You know this is going to drive my sisters crazy, right?”

  “Let it. They are the ones skipping out on the bar during the weeknight to go clubbing.” I replied with a shrug and a smile, picking up my glass to take another drink.

  It’s nice to be able to spread some happiness around, I thought with a smile while Gloria glanced around quickly before hurrying through the door that led to the back of the establishment, pulling the napkin out to stare at the earrings.

  When she returned and the pearl drops glittered in her ears, it added a level of refinement to her tatted biker-girl look that made the Latina even cuter. Something that Jameson immediately seized on. He took the opportunity to compliment her on the new look, and got flicked with the bar towel for his trouble.

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