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

"Is it really okay for you to drive?" Fay asked, leaning over the control panel of the massive buggy with a slightly worried expression. "Wouldn't it be better for me to drive while you are on the lookout for those dangerous spots?"

The starlight plain stood exactly as it was when I last visited it.

Despite how much the world changed just a fewteen hundred meters away with an entire city sprouting up within mere weeks from seemingly nothingness…

The starlight plain was as empty, as silent, and as tranquil as it was before.

No change came to this place. No animal dared to enter either.

And yet, here we were, speeding down the relatively flattest part of the plain, while I did my best to avoid the diagonal shots of the intense, star's light falling upon some rare points of the plain.

For even now, after going from mere mortal to the peak rank that I knew off if I were to exclude Irene's existence… Those spots of concentrated, unadulterated light of the stairs still appeared as threatening as they were to me as a weak, useless mortal.

Thankfully, as instantly as any of our trio would die if we stepped even an inch into this intense light, they were so rare, that it would be actually quite a challenge for me not to notice them in time to make the few turns and avoid going anywhere near those.

"Fay…" I took a deep breath before stealing one last glance at the path ahead before turning my head and looking at the girl with a conflicted look in my eyes. "Do you actually know how to drive it?"

This question wasn't exactly fair on my end.

For what kind of knowledge or experience I had that Fay didn't?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Well, there was the cultural difference, something that Fay couldn't overcome so quickly, even with all the intellect and ability to remember that she had.

After all, not even if she could understand twice as much about the earth's culture from binge-watching all sorts of entertainment movies or documentaries… then still, even if she binged movies from the moment we met to right now, she would still be outclassed by my knowledge I've gained by the mere benefit of living on earth my entire life.

How did it relate to driving the car, though, one might ask.

And it was all about references.

I knew that if I took too sharp of a turn, the wheels of the buggy might lose traction, and sway and could even lead to the vehicle flipping, something that the three supremes like us would struggle a bit to get back up.

I knew that if I decelerated too rapidly, Fay and Claudy could end up thrown out through the windshield, I knew this and that… And all sorts of other things that I've observed sometime in the past, be it in real life, in games, or in videos.

Those references, Fay, for the most part, simply lacked. And while she was both skilled enough to drive how she could and smart enough to learn the parts she didn't know about in a jiffy. But all sorts of the small details that could come in crutch in a moment of need…

'Am I overreacting or is this a legitimate point?' I suddenly thought, taken aback by this self-realization.

And the more I thought about it, the more on-the-point Fay's suggestion became.

'The only reason why I don't want her to drive is because of how worried about her I am,' I thought, gritting my teeth for a bit before putting down the brakes and bringing our massive vehicle to a stop.

A massive waste of momentum and thus fuel, as any engineer or mechanic would scream if they were to see it. Such a sudden stop was definitely not advised during a trip that could easily outlast our fuel reserves.

And yet, it was still a better idea than to switch the driver while the buggy was still moving!

"Here, sit down," I patted myself down on my knee, inviting Fay over to my lap.

"You are not going to miss a single opportunity to cuddle, are you?" Fay pointed out with a small smile, moving forward before she even stopped playfully scolding me.

And as I felt Fay's warm and soft ass press down upon my lap and her back rest against my chest, I suddenly felt reinvigorated - a great feat given what I went through the night before, during my last clash with Fay over her coming on the trip or not, and then later in the morning, where I refilled the gate with all the aura I could summon as a supreme.

Ten days.

A disappointing result given how Madam exhausted nearly all of the aura and with me bringing myself just a step away from total exhaustion.

For ten days, the stable gate would operate as designed, needing not my influence or presence to keep going. Or, in other words, for the next ten days, I could forget about the new camp, about Makary, about Etaria… And just focus on having a pleasant trip with Fay.

"Do you seriously need to flirt out in the open so damn early into the morning?" A loud groan came from one of the sleeping pods welded to the back of the buggy's massive frame.

A small, hatch-type lid opened up on the long side of the capsule, allowing Claudy's head to peek through, revealing just how bloodshot his eyes were.

"Still suffering the yesterday's farewell party?" I asked with a small smile lingering on my lips, sparing the man only a momentary glance before turning my eyes back to their post of looking out for the dangerous rays of starlight.

"Piss off, brat."

Claudy dropped all of the pretense of culture and courtesy the very moment he was left alone with just the two of us.

According to his own words, 'now that there were no secretaries around him, he no longer needs to care for his image or what others will think about the mercenary guild just by looking at him, the guild's leader and thus the personification of the entire organization.'

And as free as Claudy's smile was back when he stated that… The brightness of that free smile of his from yesterday evening pretty much matched the torture written all over his face right now.

'Maybe bringing over earthly drinks was a bad idea,' I thought, throwing a genuinely worried look at the man's messy head.

"Correct slightly to the left, there's a pillar of light coming up around two… no, three clicks ahead," I cut the 'morning' conversation with Claudy, focusing back on the road when I noticed the first signs of potential disaster.

As we got closer, the total area covered by the intense ray of starlight was no bigger than merely half of our buggy… Yet, just to be sure, when passing by, we made sure to keep at least half of a click of distance.

This was still a wild and mostly unexplored land. Here, there was no such thing as being overly cautious.

"I knew I'd heard about it before, but this thing really moves fast," Claudy commented once he managed to chase his hangover away and regain at least a shadow of his usual presence.

He sat down before strapping himself into his designated seat, giving him a wide view of the pretty much empty grassland of the plain.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, trying not to tighten my grasp over Fay's waist so as to not reveal it was her state that I was actually worried about.

"I will live," Claudy muttered begrudgingly before throwing me a nasty stare. "It's not the first time I drank too hard, brat."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the slight provocation.

"That's not what I'm asking about. It's more about your… hmm…" I hesitated for a second, "thoughts? Mood?" I struggled to find the right words to pin the point I had in my mind. "I can help us avoid the pillars of starlight that would fry our minds upon contact… but the plain itself does have an effect of wearing down one's mind.

And that's what I'm worried about," I revealed, only to straighten out the forefinger of my right hand and poke it into Fay's soft abdomen.

"Which is all the more true when it comes to you, you know?"

"I don't have any suicidal thoughts nor do I feel the life becoming bleak. I have yet to spot a single flash of embarrassing or unpleasant memories surfacing before my eyes if that's what you are asking about," Claudy muttered while rolling his eyes.

"I, on the other hand, I'm super excited!" Fay exclaimed, rustling around within my lap as she wiggled her ass to find a more comfortable spot right above my crotch. And not even for a single instant, she looked away from the path ahead, well advised over how dangerous flipping this buggy could be.

"That's good," I muttered, more to myself than to anyone else. Then, I raised my eyes onto the plain again. "And let's hope it will stay this way."