Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!-Chapter 263: A trick only a smart person can fall for

Our return to the forest was even less eventful than our way to the unscheduled meeting with the princess.

Despite the rude way in which I left, Etaria opted not to pursue it. And while I couldn't tell what she thought about my threat, I knew better than to remain anywhere near her for the time being.

As we walked past the crowd of the defeated imperial soldiers, we didn't even need to tell them to open the path again, for they dared not to close it ever since I left.

Maybe it was because the entire meeting only took a few moments in total? Or maybe, stuck between the forest where all the death came from and my small group that already showcased our ability to serve the same kind of death, they tried not to do anything to make me forget they even existed?

Either way, our return back to the forest was as uneventful as it could get. And it was only once we dove deep between the trees that both Madam and Chris started to talk.

"Did you forget the forest will consume all the corpses anyway?" Madam asked while giving me a side-eye with a poorly concealed amusement on her face.

"We don't have any chemical or biological weapons. And getting them would be about as hard as buying neu weapons off the free market, meaning, impossible."

As they both spoke at the same time, Chris and Madam raised their eyes and looked at each other, both equally as surprised as the other.

"The forest consumes bodies?" Chris asked, his eyebrows moving up his forehead as he stared at Madam in mild shock.

"You guys use poisons in warfare?" Madam asked back, once again speaking out right as Chris did.

"Okay guys, calm down," I spoke out, stopping them before this slapstick-comedy routine could continue any further. "Yes, the forest will, or already did consume most of the corpses left from all the fighting. I saw it happen myself," I answered Chris's question before moving my eyes over to Madam. "And no, I did not forget about that.

But yes, our ancestors used all sorts of toxic compounds and things far worse than just that during times of war. But as the best of… let's call them poisons, reached the point where a single leak could spell the end of all life on our planet, we went with the sane route and locked or destroyed them all away."

This time, I didn't bother delving into the way in which chemical and biological warfare ended up simplified to just poisons somewhere within the translation. And I definitely had no desire to spend the next few days teaching biology to Madam just so she could understand the concept of super viruses and race-ending, manufactured bacteria.

"Judging by your questions, though, I can't help but notice one thing," I reached near the conclusion of my response to all the topics that arose the moment we could talk more or less freely. And while sensing a small smirk appearing on Fay's lips, I raised my eyes and looked first at Chris and then Madam.

"Do you guys even have a single clue what this short exchange with that golden princess was all about?"

On one side of things, I wanted to flex the scheme I came up with. But on the other hand, a thought dawned on me when I heard what the two of them were confused about… They really didn't seem to have a clue.

"So it wasn't about removing the hazard of the corpses rotting around?" Chris asked his shock from before now thawing to merely a mild surprise.

"Right, you weren't here when I talked with Makary… But yeah, it was never about those. I don't think anyone in the forest would ever worry about the corpses outside of it, while those inside…"

I rolled my eyes and spread out my arms before shrugging my shoulders.

"Those insides the forest will consume all on its own, yeah," Chris muttered, proving he was actively listening to me rather than just letting my words enter through one of his ears only to leave through the other.

"It was all about buying time, wasn't it?" Madam asked, even though just like Chris, she wasn't here when the topic of stalling came up between me and Makary.

"That's right. I needed to achieve two things," I admitted before finding the nearest tree and resting my back against it. Heaving a sigh, I closed my eyes and took a moment to gather my thoughts.

"First, we need about two more days before we will be able to bring out the big guns and enough manpower to get a real fighting chance. Or rather…" I cut my words short and looked over at Chris.

"It won't be as much as a fighting chance. More of instant victory with genocide in the making," Chris grumpily barked back, his forehead suddenly wrinkling up as an unpleasant expression appeared on his face.

One way or the other, this topic apparently struck a note that resonated really well with the man's past. Or maybe he simply dreaded the moment when he would become a tool for mass slaughter?

"Either way, our one and only goal is to stall for two more days," I summed the main point up. "But the one and only thing that we need to ensure, is for the princess not to learn about the fact. For if she does…"

The rest of the explanation I didn't need to voice out.

Regardless of what Makary's men thought about the powers of this world, they already knew we simply didn't have enough bullets to kill all of the imperial soldiers… Or, to be more precise, to put any serious dent in their numbers were Etaria sound a general charge.

On the other hand, while I had no doubt Madam could win against Etaria if such a fight were to come, or at least drag their private battle to a tie… We would once again be left with an overwhelming disadvantage of manpower, weapons, and supplies.

"Back before we saw the commotion at the princess tent, I wanted to complicate the process of turning the soldiers stuck in the mud over the next few days… But when I saw a head roll, I realized that focusing the entire debate on corpses would be a better idea."

"Why, exactly?" Fay asked, climbing up on my arm to rest the side of her head on my shoulder as she lazily looked up my face. "What is so important about the corpses for you to bring it up so much, back then?"

Right.

While we could already feel the hints of each other emotions even with our bond in a suppressed state, directly listening to each other thoughts was still something we had to master.

And with only my emotion to base her understanding of the situation on, Fay had no right to know the viciously simple trick I used.

A trick that could only work on people who were too smart for me to fool in any other, more straightforward way.

"That's the fun part," I smiled, squeezing Fay's hand with my right only to reach out with my left and pat her head. "There was no meaning behind me bringing up the corpses so much whatsoever."

Seeing the three shocked faces appear all around me, I no longer held back and released a chuckle.

"All I wanted is for the princess to ask the same question and spend the next two days trying to figure it out."