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

Reaching the southern edge of the forest took us quite a while longer than I expected. But with how I only had Madam's hand-drawn map to get a sense of the size and directions in the forest, I only had myself to blame for expecting a shorter journey.

'At this rate, the portal will reopen by the late afternoon,' I thought, recalling the moment when I summoned the portal for a short moment to check the time. 'In other words, I only have a short window of time to check this place out!'

Jumping down Madam's fox-form's back, I dropped to the ground and took a deep breath, raising my eyes at the misty wonderland stretching out from the edge of the forest.

Just like the light of the stairs at the plain to the north, the mist kept away from the shadow cast by the trees. And as I looked up…

Well, the mist blocked my line of sight, making it impossible to see beyond a fewteen meters at best. Despite that, though, I could somehow tell that just like on the starlight plain, the deeper I would go, the greater burden would befall me.

Still, even when traveling on Madam's back, a wonder all in its own right, it took us nearly two hours to reach the southern edge of the forest. Adding up another two hours to return to Leinei's hut and then some more to reach Madam's lair…

'I better hurry up,' I thought, picking up the pace and fearlessly approaching the edge of the trees' shadow.

"Are you really sure you want to go out?" Leinei asked when she saw me approach the edge of the safe zone. Her tone was visibly shaken, just like when she realized it was the simple weeds I was after.

'Is she still struggling to believe I actually mean what I say?' I thought, not sure whether I should be baffled at the level of her distrust or amused by it.

"I need to grow just a tiny bit stronger," I answered the question in my own way. "And as easy as it might be, I have no plans to actively set out on a hunt for fellow humans," I added, an ugly grimace taking over my lips.

Slightly shaken by the discomfort of just thinking and considering such a selfish genocide, I raised my hand and rubbed the itch behind my ear.

"The humans I've killed only have themselves to blame for attacking us first. But still… Even if I don't actually have anything to do with humans of this world, it still feels wrong to just go out and actively search to kill them on sight, just for my own, personal benefit."

'And there's is no telling whether I could even kill them,' I thought, not allowing that one victory in the past to cloud my thinking.

Sure, guns proved surprisingly effective when facing locals… but how far could guns take me? Sure, they offered firepower like no spell I saw in this world… But I didn't really have much experience watching mages fight either, did I?

What's more, if the shields that repelled the first shoot I aimed at those attackers were even a tiny bit stronger, would the outcome of the fight remain the same?

As confident as I wanted to be about my chances of winning fights in this world, sensing just how insanely tough I became by maxing out my endurance… I would have to be freaking stupid to underestimate those who achieved similar results in other attributes!

'Thinking about this, would I even be able to properly aim at someone with high agility?' I thought, pressing my lips into a thin line as I imagined the brutal outcome of a fight with someone too quick for me to shoot.

'Any fight I have with humans raises the odds of at least one survivor escaping. And the moment the world learns about the guns, they will either try to replicate them or at the very least, find countermeasures against them.'

The firearms were my absolute ace card. As such, the longer I kept them hidden, the greater use I could get out of them!

"Isn't that exactly what the humans who invade this forest do?" the Dryad countered my words, forcing me to shake my head and get my attention back to the conversation we were having. "They enter this forest and kill anything they encounter, all for the sake of their personal benefit," Leinei shrugged her shoulder. "That's just how this world works."

I took a deep breath and stared at the dryad for a bit.

'Maybe that's true. But that's not how a modern world works,' I thought, rolling my eyes before turning away and facing the mist just ahead. 'And you can't expect a modern person to suddenly turn into a genocidal maniac, just because it suits their goals!'

Taking a deep breath again, I prepared myself to push forth… Only to have Fay reach out from behind me and grab my hand.

"Hon…" she muttered, her eyes lowered. Yet, rather than avoiding my sight as I turned, Fay actually moved her chin up and looked directly into my eyes. "I won't tell you not to go… But please, be careful and return safely."

The look in Fay's eyes was truly intense. And despite being a social newborn, I could read just how worried she was about me from those huge eyes of hers.

"Don't worry, dear," I smiled while reaching out and patting Fay's head. "I'm only going out for a tiny little bit, nothing like back at the plains," my smile grew even wider, "so I will be back in just a jiffy."

I winked at the girl before letting go of her hand and turning towards the mist again. Then, without any further hesitation, I took a step forward.

Now that my woman was watching me, how could I ever hesitate? With this thought in mind, I stepped into the mist, allowing the moist air to coat my entire body…

Only to freeze the moment I properly stepped out from the shadow of the forest.

My eyes moved to the extreme side before turning right back to the middle of my vision, tracking just a few lines of text of the notification that appeared. And as I read it, my eyebrows moved up my forehead.

'Interesting…'