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

"Are you sure you are okay?" Fay whimpered, her hands moving all over my body in search of even the tiniest wound or a single speck of dust or mud I have failed to clean so far.

With the raid done and resulting in an astounding success, there was no further reason for anyone to hurry.

With their supplies standing in flames reaching for the sky, the humans couldn't possibly launch any offensive. Not through the same mud that my small unit struggled to traverse, not with neugarand showering them with explosive shots and both the celestials and divines unleashing their spells on them.

No.

The wetland created by humans most likely to make any charge against their camp impossible, now served as a muddy moat for the forest, stopping anyone from reaching the forest unnoticed.

And at least in regard to threat detection, I was pretty sure locals were a class better than humans.

For this reason, I didn't hurry to ask my questions the moment I could. No, instead, I took my time to first calm Fay down, then wash myself off with some spring water, removing most of the mud. Then, I calmed Fay down again, changed my clothes, and cheered anxious Fay on before drying myself with some rugs.

And after the final round of hugging Fay and assuring her I was alright, I was finally ready to go and learn what this conflict was all about, to begin with.

"In the end, this was quite the sight, to watch you waltz right into the camp…" Fay whispered, ending up in the familiar position of having her forehead pressed against my chest as she hugged herself into me. "I don't think anyone ever did something like that in all the battles for the forest before."

I reached out and patted Fay's head, enjoying the soft feeling of her hair bending under my touch.

"So now, it happened for the first time," I replied, struggling to come up with anything sensible.

With Fay hugging herself tight to my chest, I struggled to keep my thoughts off the encompassing softness of her body. Endlessly falling into her soothing embrace, I could hardly think of proper words to respond.

But now wasn't the time to indulge myself in this kind of luxurious, affectionate rest.

As much as I believed there was no reason to hurry… to find out if I was right, I still had to go through the interrogation. And according to my wishes that I hoped Madam would uphold, those wouldn't start without me.

"Let's get going," I awkwardly suggested, pulling my arms back and escaping from Fay's embrace.

If I were to stay cuddled to her any longer… I would most likely forget about my duties and just keep hugging this extremely huggable piece of a fox.

And at times like this, I couldn't help but wonder… When Madam mentioned Fay assumed a form I would most desire… Was that about what I would consider sexy, or what I would be happy just to hug and whisper sweet nothings to?

Either way, with my desires shoved to the back of my head, I pulled Fay down the hill, to where Madam, Loraz, and other high-ranking locals of the forest gathered. As soon as I saw both of our prisoners stuck in the middle of a circle the divines and celestials made, I felt like heaving a long, heavy sigh.

"Why are they still together?" I asked out loud, forcing everyone's attention to move to me. "Are you that eager to let them figure out a shared story?"

The main advantage of having two people to interrogate was the ability to cross-check whether their stories matched. And for some reason, I didn't really expect those guys to keep the two soldiers silent at all times.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Loraz asked while throwing me an annoyed glance. "I've blocked their ability to hear or speak," he announced while raising his chin and looking down at me along the bridge of his nose.

I, on the other hand, only rolled my eyes.

"And what about signs? They don't have their hands bound from what I can see. Nothing is stopping them from talking with signs as we speak."

In all honesty, I didn't expect our prisoners of war to know anything about sign language or whatever substitute of it existed in this world. And while they were bound to have some gestures of obvious meaning… They were more likely to be combat and hunting signs rather than something they could use to have a proper discussion.

We grabbed random guards, after all, not the absolute elite and potential leaders of the human army.

"You say they can't hear anything. Still, just for a moment, bring the guy away," I ordered before moving in front of the still-shocked girl and squatting down just two steps away from her face.

"Now then," I spoke. And the girl raising her head in response to my world proved that whatever spell held her mute has now dispersed… Or maybe it never worked, to begin with?

With a sigh, I cast all those doubts to the back of my head as I focused on the girl's surprisingly fresh face and the shine of intelligence in the back of her eyes.

Right as the celestials rushed to grab the man by his shoulders and drag him away, I turned my eyes back to the girl's face before smiling lightly.

For but a second, I remained silent, simply staring down her eyes, as if trying to find some answers by peering through her flesh into her soul. And then, seeing the combative sparks flashing on her determination-filled expression…

I simply sighed before rising up on my knees.

"This one won't be that easy to break," I announced with a tired hint in my voice… to the equal surprise of the celestials, divines… and the girl herself. "Keep her here. I will deal with that guy first," I added, patting my thighs to dust my pants off.

"Wait!" Before I could as much as take a single step, the girl called out.

Whoever was responsible for putting the spell of silence on her did a sloppy… or actually, looking at the extremely weirded-out look on the girl's face, a perfect job.

"Why would I wait?" I asked, turning my head over my shoulder as I cast a curious glance at the girl.

"I will talk!" she shouted, her voice trembling under the barrage of complex and contrasting emotions that rocked her soul. "I will talk! Just… Just don't hurt him!"