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

The crude rope weaved from strands of some strange, extremely durable twig held Namidia's hands together, stuck on the top of her lap. And with another set of the same kind of rope binding her to the trunk of a huge tree, she was completely immobilized.

And even with the relatively nice range of movement the bounds didn't stop her from performing, there was absolutely zero sense in trying to leave.

First, there was nothing for Nam to cut those ropes with. And after just a few tests, she grew pretty damn sure she would first tear her hands apart before she would manage to actually forcefully break free from those relatively loose bonds.

'And even if I did get to free myself somehow…' Namidia thought, taking a quick glance at the darkness that surrounded her from every possible angle.

She wasn't all that deep into the forest, the locals never brought her away all that far. And yet, while she was sure they were different kinds of devices and spells to illuminate their surroundings near the edge of the forest, there were no such tools here.

And even with all of her experience as a mercenary, Nam couldn't peer through the thick darkness of the night with her human eyes alone.

'If they are able to move freely through this darkness, then…'

The girl thought, picturing a scenario in her head for what would happen if everything happened as it was supposed to.

They would set up the camp by the edge of the forest and await reinforcements without a single bother from the monsters of the forest. Once the bulk of their forces would gather, the imperial legion would lead them into the forest, cutting and burning everything that stood in their path while the legion scouts accurately pinpointed every trap and ambush that could obstruct their progress.

'That's how we were told it would look,' Nam thought, recalling the few times when her superior officer came to deliberate over the tactics her unit needed to follow. 'And, for how it would actually play out…'

There were some within humankind who could break free from the limits imposed by the lack of light. And for how big the expeditionary force was, their sheer number denied any chance of having enough of people with such talent to guide all the troops.

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In other words, after stepping into the forest, this endless and somewhat ancient darkness, not disturbed by the artificial source of light since it came to be… It would swallow the entire army, held back by the mere, flickering light of some punny torches.

And in this ancient and lethal darkness, countless monsters would swarm, ready to pounce on anyone who lowered their guard even a little.

Or, even more likely, they would use different baits and provocations to strike the cohesion of each separate unit of the army, silently dealing with them under the cover of the darkness only to move on and keep repeating the process until the entire expeditionary force would find what it came to serve - death.

In the end, the tense wait that started when most of the celestials vacated the area only for some sort of a show to start… didn't last all that long. And as unnerving as it was for the girl to listen to all the rallying clearly foretelling the battle that was about to happen…

Namidia was out of the picture of said battle. And as weird as it might be, becoming the captive of this strange human that aligned with the monsters of the forest… ended up with Nam ending up in one of the safest places to be in the entire area.

Away from the battle at the camp the noises of which the girl soon started to hear… And a bit too deep into the forest for any raid of humans to ever reach.

Yet, as it turned out mere minutes after the first noises of the battle filled the air, one of the forest monsters actually appeared before the girl.

'Is it the time?' she thought, watching how a dagger appeared in the humanized monster's hand, gulping her saliva down as she rushed to make peace with what was going to happen next.

Yet, instead of tearing her flesh and artery open, the dagger bit into the rope that bound the girl to the tree. And a solid pull on the rope binding her wrist later, Namidia found herself standing up and then silently following the monster…

'Wait, back to the edge?' Nam thought, gulping her saliva down again as a thousand possible scenarios played out in her head, all of them ending with her corpse on display for all to see what happened to those stupid enough to approach the forest.

In the end, though, rather than her execution, the humanized monster simply brought the girl all the way up to a small hill, still some distance away where the forest gave way to the plain.

Brought all the way up to the top of the hill, Nam looked down only to see another monster, the one she had earlier seen heavily clinging to that strange human.

She was lying down on some sort of nest at the top of the hill, with an elaborate and extremely detailed stick…?

Unable to tell whatever it was that this strange, female monster held in such a loving caress, Nam's eyes moved over to the girl's face…

Only to realize that she either didn't notice or outright ignored their steps, her eyes too focused on the sight of Namidia's camp in the distance.

"Lady Fay," the monster that brought Nam up to the hill spoke up. "I've brought her."

"Good," the female monster's melodic voice filled the air, her face and body in general hardly moving at all as she spoke.

But then, Fay suddenly twitched, only to bring one of her eyes closer to a strange tube mounted at the top of her distinctive stick.

Swish!

Boom!

Once again, Namidia heard the two noises she had grown to fear so much in recent days. This time, however… the sounds appeared in the wrong order.

The difference was extremely small… But the swishing sound came just a fraction of a second before a red cone of fires appeared all the way in the camp, carrying the familiar sound of discharge with it.

'Wait, is this how they produced those attacks?!' Namida freaked out, feeling the cold touch of the grim reaper's dagger on the back of her neck.

'If they are willing to let me see it…'

In a single instant, the girl understood the simple fact.

She was going to get out of this forest alive. Not after seeing the human that aligned with the monsters of the forest… and definitely not after stumbling upon such a massive secret!

A weapon capable of easily slaying the strongest of humans… And from the looks of things, after just a few, short swings of her wrist as she operated the leaver at the side of her strange weapon… this female monster was now ready to shoot again!

"First thing first," Fay muttered, moving her eye away from her stick of wonders for the very first time… and all to throw Namidia a tense stare. "We do not wish to kill you. But if you want to live, you have to cooperate with us."

Fay's eyes locked on Namidia's face, right as the girl struggled to figure out what Fay's words could possibly mean.

'Not killing me? Yeah, as if…' Nam rolled her eyes at the motion.

She saw too much. And she was fully aware of that fact herself. There was no saving her at this point, not unless every last of those monsters were to fall prey to the approaching imperial legions…

"I think it's starting," Fay suddenly announced, turning her eyes back to Namidia's camp while the corners of her lips twitched slightly and formed a small smirk.

'What's starting?' Too terrified to use her voice, Nam opted to remain silent regardless of how curious she was. Yet, as soon as she followed the female monster's eyes and looked over at the camp…

'Of gods…' Nam sighed, an overwhelming sense of powerlessness filling her entire body. For now when she took a closer look… the camp was nowhere like she remembered it. A huge chunk of it was burned down, while the majority of what was left appeared to be fully deserted.

Only in one part of the camp could she see any movement, indicating a great number of warriors gathered there. And as Nam strained her eyes even further…

She saw the first unit of mercenaries lay their weapons down before leaving their stronghold at the edge of the camp with the assist of just a few forest monsters, unbothered by the rest.

"Just what did he tell them, I wonder," Fay muttered, lightly shaking her head in silent amazement.

'Wait, tell them what? What's happening? I don't believe they…'

"As you can see, what's left of your army is surrendering," Fay rose up from her lying, relaxed position and moved up to sit down on her heels. Her eyes were still trained on the forest, proving that regardless of what was happening, there was still some sort of danger lurking far in the darkness of the night.

Then, the female monster finally stood up, allowing Nam to once again appreciate just how insane beauty she could boast about. And as she turned to look at the girl with those full, sparkling blue eyes…

"We might end up holding your friends and companions hostage for a few days, so I need your help to prepare a place for them to stay."