A massive pile of all sorts of packages, boxes, and parcels filled nearly half of all the floor space of the main, living room of the penthouse. Each parcel contained a different type of items, resources, supplies, toys, and other stuff, making for quite a plethora of messy shopping.
'I wonder what face Makary will make when he sees the bill,' I thought, grinning at my own thoughts while inspecting the end result of my hard work.
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.
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."