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

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'This is rather… unexpected,' I thought when we finally reached the general surroundings of Makary's headquarters.

To the best of my knowledge, it was still the same adult bar that I'd meet him at for the very first time. Yet, even though it was relatively early in the morning, the worst time for this kind of business…

The bar was actually swarmed by people.

'Danger?' I thought, tensing up a little and squeezing Fay's hand.

Given all the unknown factors of my situation, I dared not to assume Makary would always act rationally. We still didn't know the effects of that awful aura on people, so if whoever was behind it were to affect Makary with it…

"Here he is!" one of the men I vaguely recognized as one of the thugs that accompanied Makary to his visit at my shed pointed out his hand towards me.

'Danger!' my instincts screamed out. By my side, Fay gritted her teeth while sensing the change in my emotions, ready to transform…

"Thank God you are alright!" the same man who pointed me out was now rushing towards me with a look of immense relief on his face. "Why didn't you pick up the call?! Makary nearly lost his mind! He was about to send us knocking all over the city to find you!"

'Wait, what?'

Baffled by the sudden accusation and story behind it, I took a step back.

'A trap?' I thought, preparing myself for the enemy assault… or rather, to jump back and run the moment it would begin.

I've already seen what a simple hand-gun could do to people with an average of attributes actually higher than my own. And I dared not to test whether my maxed-out endurance would triumph against a bullet shot from a high-powered rifle!

The rushing man came to a stop merely two meters away, most likely noticing the look of extreme wariness on my face.

"Why didn't you answer your damn phone?!" he screamed out, as agitated as a man could be.

"Because I didn't get any calls?" I replied in a slightly shaken voice, reaching out to my pocket and pulling out the phone to prove my words…

Yet, when I lowered my eyes to its screen… there was a list of seven calls, five from Makary's number I knew about and two more from the number I didn't recognize.

"Ugh… I guess I put it on silent and forgot to check it?" I attempted to explain myself somehow… While finally starting to believe that the current mess wasn't a set-up but a result of Makary's legitimate worry.

And knowing the value my herbs had in this world, I couldn't really blame him. Not when he was likely to slowly start sharing the news with his colleagues that could help him get the most out of what this herb was worth.

For a moment, I could stare at what had to be the look of perfect disbelief. Then, Makary's soldier heaved a deep sigh before turning around and waving his hand to the crowd gathered outside of the pub.

"It's a good thing nothing happened to you, but please, next time, make sure to pick up the phone," the soldier requested before sighing again and leading me and Fay toward the pub.

"Will do. I'm sorry, it's been a while since I last used a new model of a phone so I'm not really used to its default settings yet," I gave out a poor excuse, before directing my thoughts and attention to the topic that actually interested me. "As for what I requested, is everything prepared?"

The soldier looked over his shoulder and then shook his head.

"Not here. But that request of yours is one of the reasons why the boss freaked out so much."

I didn't get a single word of further explanation, forcing me to try to piece the puzzle together.

Yesterday, I requested Makary to organize a few proper guns for me while making a huge point of not wanting to be seen or heard while in the privacy of my phone. And the very morning next day, he suddenly couldn't reach me.

Why did he call me, didn't really matter. Maybe he wanted to ask when to expect me, or maybe he wanted to know what exact guns he should put on display. But once he couldn't reach me…

'He started to ask himself, why would I need those guns for.'

I took a deep breath before slowly, slowly breathing it out. Thankfully, no one else came to bother us, proving that having one of them as a guide was the right choice. And with no further obstacles, we made our way inside the bar and then through the familiar corridor, all the way to Makary's personal office.

"So you are safe…" Makary muttered once we stepped inside as he gave me a short but intense look.

'He really was stressed out…'

Makary's face was exactly as stoic as usual. There was no hint of anxiety or anger in it… And yet, I could somehow tell that it was merely a front, a facade he was showing to the outside world.

'So this use of the aura isn't limited to Fay and Fay alone,' I took note of the fact before letting go of Fay's hand and taking a step forward.

"Yeah, I'm safe. I had my phone on silent and simply didn't notice your calls," I spoke the truth only to lean my head to the side and squint my eyes a little. "The question is, what was so important for you to call me so many times?"

For the first time, I saw Makary's face change. It was only a small movement of his eyebrow moving up… but it was something nonetheless.

"At first, I called you to inform you that everything's ready," Makary spoke after a short moment. "I then tried again some time later and again. And by the time you didn't answer a total of seven calls, I called up my men to mount up a rescue."

So, just like I thought, this man was fully aware of the value behind this herb of mine. What I didn't know before, though, was the extent of that herb's value. And given how he was willing to mobilize his men and potentially get some bad blood with the cops of the area I was now living in…

A small smile crept up on my lips.

"It was a small mistake, a silly misunderstanding born from lack of communication," I summed the situation up before shaking my head and resting my hands on my hips. "So how about we just let the past stay in the past and move on to the actual topic?" I asked, keeping my hands on my hips as I took a look around the room. "Where are my weapons?"