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

Chapter 435 Cross us, and...

The pressure that kept Isera's chest… No, her entire body suppressed, didn't just vanish.

First, right as the ungodly beauty reached out towards Isera's chest, she heard an already familiar click before the pressure split into four parts, all pulling towards a different corner of a square one could pain over her upper body.

'Are those… belts?'

Startled, Isera raised her head only to see four, black and strangely flat ropes fall off to the sides only to then hand off the edges of the very same seat that she saw that pale-faced man sitting in.

'So those weren't restraints but rather… ropes used to keep one firmly seated?'

A flurry of thoughts later, Isera recalled the few times when the strange vessel she was in rapidly changed directions. And upon connecting the dots, she quickly came to realize what fate would have in store for her if not for those precious belts.

'If not for them…' Isera gulped her saliva as she imagined what would happen if those restraints didn't stop her body from flying off whenever this sky-faring vehicle rapidly changed its direction.

'An ordeal that even a supreme would've found hard to survive…'

Isera blinked her eyes a few times, refusing to shake her head and give away the turmoil within her soul.

"First thing first," that beautiful goddess spoke again as soon as she somehow figured out Isera managed to rein her thoughts and calm down a bit. "That white smoke you inhaled. It wasn't a trick to kidnap you, but a trick necessary to bring you abroad."

The goddess moved, positioning herself so that Isera could easily see her without moving her head around.

"Do you understand that much?"

'Are they…' Isera hesitated for a second, 'trying to show their lack of hostility?'

It was extremely easy to assume so. From the things Isera heard while still pretending to be asleep, through all their actions so far, or the massive fact that the ever-present aura of the plain was now much weaker than before she fell unconscious…

All of those things only served to confirm the lack of hostility of those strangers towards her. But…

'The simpler things are, the more likely they are to be merely a straightforward front crafted with the intention of making it believable.'

The long and arduous training Isera went through in order to become a patriarchate's ear wasn't focused on anything in particular. She didn't only train with swords or spears like line soldiers. She didn't need to grow strong enough to bear the heaviest of the armor like the patriarch's guards. She didn't need to master the art of hiding like spies or the art of manipulation and scheming like agents.

In a sense, she had to master all of the abilities that could ever come in handy in her line of work, yet she was never expected to excel in them.

She had to be good enough with a sword to pass for a soldier or to simply defend herself. She needed enough muscles to wear the heaviest armor for a limited amount of time, just long enough to pretend to be a patriarch's guard. She had to be capable of hiding well enough to evade detection and craft schemes devious enough to pass for a dissatisfied and ambitious noble.

Isera wasn't expected to excel in any of those fields, for she had to be good enough in all of them at the same time.

There was one ability that the patriarch's ears had to be the absolute masters at, though. An ability to observe without hasty judgment.

And right now, given the best efforts of those strangers to make it appear as if everything was really simple, Isera quickly grew more sure than ever that their real goal was far deeper and more complex than what they would claim if she dared to actually ask about it.

"Y-yes…" Hastily picking up one of the many masks she perfected, Isera pretended to hesitate as she slowly, cautiously raised her eyes to that goddess of beauty.

'So far, what they say does make sense, though.'

Despite her vigilance, Isera couldn't find any fault in what this beautiful woman said.

If just throwing someone a rope was enough to break the hold of the trap, this place wouldn't be able to keep countless supremes prisoner. And while the purpose of whatever she was made to inhale could be questionable… Ultimately, it led to one simple thing - making her fall asleep.

'Was it the secret to this trap all along?' Isera thought, struggling to put her own curiosity and desire to find the answer to this years-long question of hers aside. 'Was it all… that simple?'

"Secondly, we strapped you to this chair not to make you a prisoner or conduct some vile experiments on you. We did…" the beautiful woman hesitated, her face covered in a slight, awkward blush. "No, he strapped you to this chair for your own safety. And if my assumption for when you woke up is correct, you should be able to figure out why doing so was necessary."

This time, Isera didn't respond with her voice but slowly, lightly nodded her head to imply she still followed the explanation.

'She knew that I was awake… That means I cannot trust anything they said while I still pretended to be asleep.'

Without even realizing it, this beautiful goddess forced Isera to disregard quite a lot of what was supposed to be the foundation of mutual trust.

For how was Isera to believe their good intentions if they were all likely an equivalent to her pretending to be asleep - a ploy aimed to gain some sort of benefit?

'And it doesn't take a genius to figure out what benefits those guys could seek by saying the things they did…'

With the utmost effort of her mind, Isera managed to stop her face from contorting.

"Then, for the third and last point," the goddess has now smiled, bringing up the level of adorableness of her perfectly innocent face up a whole level and to the point that Isera not only started to question her hots for Jay but also her own sexuality.

Yet, once the smile on that woman's face ripened to its full form, the warmth that it started with has turned into oppressive heat unlike anything Isera ever seen before, all the supremes locked within that damned trap of the plains included.

"Just like this vehicle, we do have means that cross far beyond your level of understanding. The best example is how we found a way to cross this accursed plain while you were helplessly stuck on it."

'Is she now revealing her true colors?' Isera asked herself, only with the utmost pull of her mind stopping herself from closing her hands into fists in an instinctive and futile attempt at preparing for the assault of the wild beast that had now taken the place of this beautiful goddess.

'Wait, cross the plain? Not escape from it?'

"For the last part, I want you to remember."

The face of the blue-eyes and white-haired goddess returned to its formerly kind and soft phase.

"We are not your enemies. We don't know you nor do we have anything against you. And as long as you answer our broad and simple questions, we will consider your debt for saving you from this accursed plain to be paid in full." Your journey continues with empire

The woman continued, not paying even the slightest attention to whatever tiny changes Isera couldn't stop from appearing on her face and in her eyes.

"But if you try to cross us, use us, or scheme against us…"

The wild side of the woman returned as soon as it vanished before, revealing the fury that only a mother could nestle.

And quite noticeably, that beautiful woman's hand moved over to her lower abdomen, caressing it as she bellowed upon the poor girl.

"Fay, I think she gets the point," the serious yet relaxed voice from before returned as the man from the front of the ship pulled on the reins of that beautiful yet wrathful goddess. As Isera looked over, she caught him patting his head against some sort of flashing device full of tiny, moving parts before unlocking the very same type of straps that held Isera at her chair before and standing up.

"I'm a simple man and I don't have the time, will, or interest in playing mind games or trying to sound each other off by flexing our muscles or aura," he said as he approached Isera's seat with a somewhat tired expression on his face.

Quite notably, even with no one at the vehicle's helm, it continued to move forward in a now much calmer, predictable rate and direction.

"We are here to find and buy all the Chai that you guys have. If things work out nicely between us and whoever lives on this side of the plain, we might consider opening up a stable and safe passage over the barrier," the man smiled at his own thoughts only to move over to the goddess, only to reach out and grab onto the woman's further shoulder before pulling her closer into a side-embrace.

"But just like my dearest said, cross us," the smile on the man's face now gained a new undertone of a strangely excited amusement. "Cross us and…"

Instead of openly revealing the consequences of going against them, the man's smile grew deeper and more insidious before he suddenly shook his head and relaxed his smile, allowing it to return to its former, lighter version.

"I would advise you don't."