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

Chapter 434 Foggy awakening

'where the hell am i?'

isera's thoughts lazily coursed through her mind, obstructed by the strange exhaustion, and tiredness that was clearly born out of the sleep she was slowly waking up from.

sleep-induced exhaustion was not something the girl ever expected to experience, yet there it was, a half-tangible barrier that stopped her mind from working at its usual speed.

"she's waking up."

'what?'

just by hearing someone's voice, isera's entire switched to a battle mode.

but this oppressive mist of exhaustion was still there, not only blocking her thoughts but now, also her body.

'where the hell am i? what the hell is going on?!'

unable to move and struggling to think, isera opted not to let whoever captured her know that she was alive and kicking.

even if they pointed out between each other she was waking up, as long as she...

"oh shit, hang on!"

'huh?'

this sentence made no sense.

was the danger of stepping into a piece of turd enough to cause such a ruckus? but why else would the unknown voice sound so concerned about...

isera's world suddenly faded, when her body powerlessly hung in the air, pulled by some great force to the side.

it was at this moment that isera managed to feel the exact shape and location of all of her restraints now that they dug into her skin, refusing to let her body go in the moment of great change of inertia.

'again, what the hell...'

whatever vessel she was on, moved at speeds much greater than anything the ear of the patriarchate was used to. speeds that she could never hope to reach, even if she were to push her supreme body to its absolute limits!

'wait, this direction...'

it was just a single thought, a single idea that managed to get past the fog of the woman's brain, that forced her to open her eyes...

only to see an unfamiliar ceiling outfitted with a dozen or so candles emitting strangely perfect, still light.

with her eyes now open, isera cast a hurried look around, turning her head as far as she could within her bounds...

first, she saw a white-faced man, clutching with his hands at some kind of restraint that kept him pressed down to a huge, luxurious chair. his hands were squeezing at the black belts so hard, isera could see the whites of his bones showing underneath the skin of his knuckles.

"wouldn't claudy do just fine?" a feminine voice replied to the suggestion.

'a leader's woman, i bet,' isera made a mental note, not missing the way in which the leader referred to the woman.

"i think it would be a good way for him to take his mind off... well, you know..." the feminine voice grew slightly awkward as if she wasn't sure whether to laugh, cry, or feel pity for the white-faced man.

'so his name is claudy...' isera thought, only now realizing that for a while already, she was casting curious glances all over the place. yet, the very moment she turned her eyes back towards the man she noticed at the very beginning...

"i don't want to scare our guest with his dignified mug," the leader of the ship sighed. "i think it would be better if what she is to see first was cute rather than... oppressively handsome."

'why do i sense spite in the last of that man's words?' isera thought, easily resisting the desire to turn her head over to cast another look to the front of the ship. 'wait, no, that's not it...'

there was something weird in the way in which this conversation flowed.

it had all the traits of a normal conversation that could easily happen within the bounds of the situation isera found herself in...

and yet, there was something unnatural in it, a weird, odd element that the woman couldn't really put her finger on yet couldn't ignore either.

"fine by me," the woman replied to the leader before a slight, clicking sound reached isera's ears right before the sounds of steps followed.

"oh right, fay, before you start," the leader called out again with a voice so perfectly natural, it had to be acted out. "since she still tries her best to pretend she's asleep and can't understand us..."

isera gulped her saliva down, realizing that her attempts at staying unnoticed all fell through.

"try not to kill her if she attacks. for better or worse," the leader sighed in a tired manner, "she's the only source of the information we have about the other side."

this time, it wasn't the leader but the woman who sighed, a fact isera reasoned out from the much softer nature of the sound.

"don't underestimate women, dear," the woman replied to the leader after releasing her equally as exhausted sigh.

"if she was smart enough to try pretending to be still asleep, she won't be stupid enough to attack those who saved her from that damned trap," she stated, only for the sound of her steps to stop right as a beauty of ungodly grace suddenly appeared within isera's vision with a light, relaxed smile on her gloriously and perfectly red, full lips that adorned her otherwise youthful, innocent and unblemished face.

"am i right, sister?"

the smile of this goddess was simply entrancing as if inviting isera to simply lose herself in its natural beauty and somewhat motherly warmth.

'it's a smile of someone truly kind,' she thought, before gulping down her saliva, 'or a wretched psychopath.'

and so, after gulping her salvia again, isera took a short breath and opened up her mouth... only to find herself unable to actually speak out.

there was a great tightness on her chest as if the weight of the entire world was pressing her solar plexus down, pushing her lungs so hard she could no longer squeeze a single bit of air out of them.

"oh, that's my bad," the beautiful goddess's smile wavered before taking on a slightly awkward undertone. "those safety belts are not really comfortable, especially when tensed up like that," she spoke and reached out towards isera's chest...

only to stop her hand just before reaching something and glancing over at isera's face with those perfectly blue, vivid eyes of hers.

"can i trust that you will not snap at me the moment i set you free?"