BXBX NOVEL Chapter 126: They weren't here for revenge. They were scouts
After Makary provided me with a nice hauler and a group of three of his men to help me out… I pulled all the stops and went on the first and excessive shopping spree.
And I held back nothing.
Fuel-based power generator, a year-worth supply of chocolate bars from three different companies, three bikes, a set of three parachutes…
The things I bought with Makary\'s card ranged from the tiniest nuts and bolts, through huge logistical boxes of foods, all the way to huge machinery like solar panels, a huge box containing a portable transformer station, and the shop-style freezer ending.
Turning around, I took a quick glance at the doors that the trio of Makary\'s men used to escape as soon as they brought the last of the packages up.
What they clearly expected to be a light assignment turned into a two-days-long endeavor, with how just one day turned out not to be enough.
\'Buy everything you see and leave it to Makary to try to figure out what I actually wanted from this massive mess,\' I thought, shaking my head lightly before, after two days, actually moving in to do some work myself.
Save for the weapons hidden in the unplugged freezer, there were quite a lot of items that I hoped to bring over to Fay\'s world as soon as possible.
My idea started with the desire to install a freezer so that the food I would bring over wouldn\'t spoil in a matter of few days at most. And since I had no desire to research the ancient ways of preserving foods… I decided to simply install a freezer.
But to install this huge and powerful fridge, I had to supply it with electricity. And that\'s where the solar panel, a set of five, human-sized wind turbines, and a fuel generator came for. But as I delved deeper into the insides of the massive shop I brought Makary\'s men to, I found other necessary items like wind and rain protectors, a transformer station, a portable set of batteries…
"There\'s no way we will be able to bring all of those anytime soon," I muttered as I came to this somber realization.
Powering up just a simple freezer was a much harder task than I anticipated. And while I didn\'t need to bother with the cost of all the necessary equipment to introduce electricity, even if within an extremely limited range… Just how many trips would it take for me to bring all of the necessary machines over to Fay\'s world?
"I guess we will have to give up on the idea of a freezer for now," I muttered to myself as I continued to sort through the smaller packages, loading them inside of the freezer whenever I found one of the things I actually wanted to bring over.
"What are the things that we absolutely need to bring?" Fay asked as she walked out from the bath, refreshed from her morning look and with a few hints of make-up here and there.
It was another thing that I decided to pay fat stacks for during our shopping spree. And while Fay was already one hell of an unbearable beauty just by the way she was and I had no desire to see her accent her charms even further…
How could I deny her, when I saw her eyes lit up as I explained what all those small bottles were? An interest that sparked by the faint smell of alcohol she detected… And weirdly enough, even once we got back last night while saving the last part of the shipping trip for this morning, rather than enjoying ourselves in a carnal way…
It would suffice to say that after some hours spent cuddling in the bed and watching make-up tutorials, we then ended up spending several hours locked in the bath, playing with all sorts of tonics and cremes I couldn\'t even properly name as Fay slowly learned the intricacies of self-painting.
Applying makeup was a skill that Fay learned pretty quickly. Yet, when compared to the raw genius on display when she first meddled with drinks or when she later enjoyed a few hours of learning at Makary\'s bar, the rate of her growth was much slower… more realistic.
Nonetheless, when she walked out of the bathroom… I felt the airlock up in my throat, stopping me from uttering a single sound… or breathing, for that matter.
Fay didn\'t look any different. She easily resisted the urge to paint an entirely different face on top of her natural beauty and opted to use various specifics sparingly, putting a slight accent to her eyes, fixing the slight imperfections in the lines of her eyebrows…
\'Breathtaking,\' I thought, an image of the certain beloved actor from the times before the void war appearing in my head. Even though I never really got what made him the face of the popular meme, after long hours spent on the web, his face has long been associated with the funny picture in my brain.
"Are you okay?" Fay asked, leaning her now perfected face to the side and giving me a curious look that only served to put further emphasis on her beautiful, greyish-blue eyes.
"Breathtaking…" Too shocked to regain my senses on the spot, I\'ve now voiced the only word that could exist within my brain currently overtaken by Fay\'s new, refreshed looks.
Fay\'s lips lightly curved up… Only for Fay\'s makeup to nearly come alive as her facial muscles shifted, revealing now accented dimples.
This alone made her faint smile that much brighter and cheerful, filling my soul with a raw sense of relaxation as I basked in the glory of this small, restrained smirk.
"Ah…"
Suddenly strapped for air, I felt my knees turn weak and give way to my weight, causing me to stumble forward.
"Hon!" Fay cried out in surprise, rushing forth to grab and support me before I could fall down on the sharp edges of the nearby machine.
\'Wait, when did I buy a table saw?\' I thought as my weight rested on Fay\'s arm for a second. I then shook my head, forcefully bringing myself back to my senses before standing up straight with my own strength.
"I\'m sorry, your new look…" I whispered, struggling to properly breathe and even starting to strike my fist against my chest as if to kickstart my heart.
It really should do a better job in moments like that!
"Oh, stop it!" Fay\'s cheeks were covered in a slight blush, a testament to how delicate and thin was the layer of her make-up.
"Yeah, I should stop…" I muttered, still struggling to fully overcome my momentary weakness. "Because if I don\'t, it won\'t be the portal we will end up at," I added, infusing a hint of a playful threat in my voice.
The blush on Fay\'s cheeks deepened. Yet, rather than following the usual trope of an embarrassed girl from any anime or manga, one could find… Fay grinned uneasily while attempting to reforge the shyness caused by the memory of how our make-up adventure in the bath ended in mischief.
"Oh, damn you," unable to resist Fay\'s expression, I reached out and brought her face to my chest. Then, I gave her shoulders a tight squeeze, holding her close for the time I needed to numb my brain to her adorableness.
"Anyway," letting go of the girl, I averted my eyes and focused on all the baggage I\'ve now stored in the freezer. "I think it\'s high time for us to get going. The longer we linger, the less time Madam will have to enjoy all of the treats!"
Giving up on setting up a small, electric station meant that the freezer I used as a temporary storage… was just that, a mundane box with the added weight of its internal mechanisms weighing it down even further.
But for a pair of two, with nearly six points for me and above four points in Fay\'s case of strength, lifting it up would be a breeze.
"Yeah, as weird as it feels, I kind of miss my mom a bit," Fay spoke as she pushed herself out of my chest, her expression speaking the world about how baffled the girl was with her own feelings.
\'I guess dreaming of independence hardly includes the sense of separation one would feel after spending their entire life at someone else\'s side,\' I thought, going back with my thoughts to the day when I ended up all alone in this world.
And with this memory in mind, I found a new resolve blossoming at the very core of my soul. A resolve to never let Fay long after me, by forever staying by her side.
Knowing the pain of separation, and even seeing its hints right now was not something I was willing to subject Fay to.
"I guess we should get this over with, then," I spoke, grabbing the freezer by its huge, tempered-steel handle from one side before waiting for Fay to do the same on the other end. Then, without straining myself in the least, we picked the freezer up a bit before heading to where I waved my portal into existence.
Just a few more steps and we stepped through the violet border between the worlds.
[Entry point A for the stable portal [1] registered]
In the momentary state of disorientation, while crossing from one place to another with but a single step, I saw the system message flash before my eyes. And as I shook my head and saw the familiar forest appear before my eyes…
"Huh?"
A small moan of surprise escaped from my lips when I saw Madam, in her human form, sitting cross-legged just a few steps away from where we appeared.
"You are late, guys," the mature fox gave us a long look before greeting us in a strangely unwelcoming manner. "Too late, in fact," Madam added with a long sigh before standing up and looking straight into my eyes.
"The humans have invaded the forest. So it\'s best for you to stay here and wait for your portal to open again. Then, you need to leave as soon as possible."
Madam spoke what she wanted and turned on her heel, already heading in what had to be east.
"Mom! Wait! Isn\'t not the first time they attacked, so…"
"Those two parties we killed recently weren\'t friends with each other. The second party wasn\'t here to take revenge on their fallen friends as I believed," Madam finally spoke some words that I could actually understand. "They were scouts. And now, a massive army of humans is heading this way, dead-set on putting our forest to the torch."
I gulped my saliva down, struggling to digest all the news that slammed me right in the face as soon as we crossed over.
The freezer I held up suddenly started to weigh a lot harder on my grip.
"We won\'t lose, but we can\'t stop them from overrunning the forest. So, for the foreseeable future, it would be for the best if you could leave and hide in the safety of Peter\'s world."