Watching how Fay's father's eyes widened in powerless fury and how Fay herself happily twitched in my arms, knowing full well I antagonized her father just to do her a solid...
It felt pretty fucking great!
"Don't you feel too good about yourself now," Madam sighed, finally sparing some of her focus to the situation at hand over the threat looming in the distance of the field beyond the forest. "I still think it will be best for you two to go back."
I took a deep breath before glancing over at the nearby freezer Leinei and Fay brought to the bottom of the hill.
"It will still take roughly two days before we can," I replied with the solid and unforgiving number. "So it is in our best interest to keep those invaders at bay until then."
In roughly two days, I would be able to take Fay and step through the portal back to Earth. But at the same time, it would conclude the process of establishing a stable gate.
It was the one ace in the sleeve that I kept generally silent about, because...
Because of the various drawbacks of going through with the desperation-level contingency, I had in case I had to put the stable gate to actual use.
"Still, that weapon of yours helped," Madam continued as I struggled to keep Fay hanging on my chest while using my other hand to look for a very specific bag within the freezer.
I knew I wouldn't be able to bring all the comforts of the modern world to this place with just one or two trips. As the case with actually connecting the freezer, it would take at least several trips to bring over everything necessary to get a stable source of electricity.
But when it came to relative comfort and privacy, there were some things I could do... or rather, buy.
"With this done..." I mumbled to myself while taking a look back into the freezer. After a short deliberation, I grabbed a huge package of raw meat covered in gentle spices and a case of good wines.
"Those drinks I've brought for you, Madam," I announced, offering the case at Fay's mom's feet before placing the sealed chunk of meat to the side. "Of course, a small smack on the side comes with it," I explained before stealing a glance at the golden figure by the side.
Then, with a heavy sigh, I placed my finger on my mouth before moving back to the freezer and shuffling through the contents inside for a while.
In the end, I pulled out two bottles of the finest scotch that I'd bought before silently bringing them over to the golden figure of Fay's dad.
Standing before the man, I ended up with a complicated expression on my face. Yet, regardless of my hesitation, I simply sighed again before placing the two fancy bottles down in front of the man.
"So, how will it be, Mada... Mom?"
Stealing one last glance, I changed how I referred to the mature fox, which only got me a furious stare... That quickly mellowed down into a look of amusement when Madam's ex rapidly turned his face and threw me a furious look.
"I can keep you out of everyone's view," Madam offered while ignoring her former husband only to turn to me and offer me a slightly troubled smile. "The thing is... Setting that kind of barrier is only possible from the inside..."
'Meaning, it won't work on her...' I thought.
For a moment, I hesitated. But sensing Fay's reaction to my own doubt that she felt through our bond... I was pretty much left with my hands bound.
"It doesn't look like Fay will mind that much," I sighed heavily before turning around and heading back towards the tent. "Also, if we end up falling asleep, make sure to wake me up at least twice before the darkest hour of the night. It's better if those invaders won't get any real rest before the time for our sortie will come."