William let out a deep breath. The trees swaying in the wind, the afternoon light going through the leaves, the shadows on the ground, it all felt peaceful, no demons in sight. The truck let out a light hum as it followed the road. He kept the truck at a mere forty kilometers per hour, enjoying the sights.

“We really should move, you know?” Lily let out a complaint.

“If I may, I do not think that is necessary,” Feodora said from the middle seat. Lily had moved back front, and they returned to their original seating arrangement.

“Yeah, relax a bit. We almost died, after all.”

“Isn’t that more reason to get up and leave?”

“We’re already outside their territory.”

“Sigh… and to think you’re the one going full speed back there.”

“The speed for entering the demon territory and leaving the demon territory is different.”

“Whatever you say.” Lily shrugged. She lowered the window and rested her left hand on the door frame, leaning toward the outside.

“Just like a real trucker,” William said as he lowered his side of the window.

“Is this what the people of your world do when they drive these things?”

“Usually, yeah.” William rested his right hand on the door. “Back in my world, demons aren’t physical things, so you can’t fight them like this.”

“Must be a better place there, then.”

William shook his head.

“What a naive thought.”

“Is your world not peaceful, then?” Feodora asked.

“I’m not sure if it’s as bad as yours, but far from peaceful.”

Wars, conflicts, poverty, pandemics, global warming, expensive chocolate. A world full of suffering. He was one of the luckier ones.

“I wonder if my world has achieved peace by now.”

“Weren’t you only here for a month?”

“Yes, that is the case.”

“I still remember the day you waltz into the adventurer’s guild looking like someone lost. I was so confused on how to handle you.” Lily chuckled.

“I was lost, unfortunately. I had been going for three days before I arrived at the guild.”

“Eh, how did you two meet anyway?”

“I just thought she looked interesting. Bored of my job behind the desk so why not?”

“... That won’t fly in my world.”

“Huh, is it that bad?”

“Sometimes, yeah.”

A group of people appeared in the distance. Even from this far William could recognize them. He slammed the gas, the truck jumping forward.

“Woah!”

“Ah! Please tell us when you do that!”

He ignored the complaints and drove straight for the group of knights. The knights jumped out of the way, even when the truck was still far.

“What are they doing?”

“Frightened by a carriage tumbling uncontrollably toward them. Probably.” William pressed the brakes, the truck coming to a stop next to the knights.

“See, no reason to be worried.”

“Well, neither the knights nor us had ever been in your world.”

The knights got back up. One of them approached William. William lost count of how many times a knight approached them like this.

“Are you alright?” the knight asked.

“We’re alright. How about you?”

“We’ve made it out alive, I guess.”

“Follow us, then.” The knights turned around. They got back on their horses and headed for the rest of the army.

* ••

“William, Feodora, Lily.”

The knights brought them to Ktala. The army was resting next to an open field. They looked exhausted yet relieved to see them come out alive. The three of them got off the truck.

“A spy deep in Domozia reported that the attack on Xika fortress is proceeding smoothly. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope it succeeded.”

“An enemy of the enemy is an ally.” Lily leaned back in front of the truck’s grill, William and Feodora standing right next to her.

“Indeed. I could only hope that our relations won’t worsen after this war.”

“What now?” William asked. He felt uncomfortable under the gaze of so many knights. It gave him a weird sense of superiority, knowing that one way or another he saved their lives. Thinking about it, the Goddess definitely made the right choice in limiting his powers.

A man whose weapon could only be useful against one, massive target, quite the tale.

“How long before you can fire your cannon again?”

William turned toward Feodora, the only one keeping track of the railgun’s fire.

“Twenty minutes.”

“Please prepare for another attack. We believe that the attack on Xika fortress must have severely weakened the enemy defenses on the fortress right before us. We have sent a force of scouts earlier, and once we receive confirmation, we will follow the road north toward the fortress.”

“So we’ll standby to fire the cannon again?”

“Correct. You should be able to fire at it from here.”

William looked back. Indeed, the fortress before them was quite clearly visible, standing high above the mountains. The building that once housed the powerful ballista was ruined, but it was still a strategic point. One the humans needed to capture.

“Sure.” William nodded. This time, he would be using the railgun the way it was supposed to be used. Far deep inside ally territory, sitting comfortably from a distance.

“Leave that to us.”

* ••

William let out a yawn, standing next to his truck.

The railgun aimed upward, setting its sights on the already burning fortress. It had been more than two hours since the railgun destroyed the ballista, and the fortress’ flames showed no signs of receding.

“This will be the last attack,” William murmured.

“So we’ll be heading back after this?” Feodora asked. She, too, had decided to leave the truck to watch the spectacle.

“Yeah. To think we can reach Pakihana before the evening.” Lily murmured.

“Hooray technology,” William cheered flatly. Lily then looked down at the magic paper she was holding.

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“It’s time,” she said, handing over the magic paper to Feodora and heading to the rear of the truck. She climbed the metal box and disappeared behind it.

“Warn them for the impact.”

“Yes.” Feodora wrote the message.

“They’re ready,” she said.

William approached the opened driver’s door and yelled inside, “Lily, fire!”

Sparks appeared from the railgun’s side, a light zing following them. A loud roar traveled through the air, not as loud as William hoped, but still loud enough. A single projectile cut through the air, leaving a red trail as it flew through the afternoon skies.

It slammed into the side of the fortress, tearing straight into it. Thunderous explosions followed in the distance.

“I hope the attack went smoothly.” Feodora wrote another message confirming the attack. “She said thank you. Oh, and we can go back.”

“Alright, let’s go.” William went to the rear of the truck. He waited for Lily to hop off before shutting the cargo door tight. The three got in the cabin and headed back for Pakihana.

* ••

“I promise this is just some coincidence! I will fix it immediately. Please, give me a second chance!” the lower demon prostrated in front of the higher demon.

“Please don’t send me back there! I promise I’ll fix every-” The lower demon hadn’t finished speaking when a sword stabbed through his head.

“Ark- akh.”

The demon’s body fell limply to the ground, life drained out of the empty shell. The higher demon pulled the sword out, its dark red blade shining.

“Quite unfortunate you no longer have your blood. This will be much more interesting with it,” the demon muttered. He lifted his head, looking toward another demon that waited in the corner of the room. The lower demon in question shivered as their eyes met.

“You lead the troops to recapture the fortresses we lost.”

“Yes, Sir.” The lower demon turned around, heading toward the door.

“Oh, before you go, there’s one thing I need to tell you.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Watch that magic carriage.”

“Understood!” the demon left. The higher demon let out a sigh.

“It took them this long to finally strike back.”

He looked toward the lower demon’s remains that lay on the ground. He put his foot on the demon’s head.

“Dumb humans. So fearsome in their previous life, nothing but trash in this one.”

Worthless pieces of trash.

* ••

“Pakihana!” Lily yelled as the city came into view. The skies above the city had gotten dark, with light rain sweeping over the world. The wipers let out a squeak as they cleared the windshield of water drops.

“Having a roof above us sure is nice,” she commented.

“Didn’t carriages normally have a roof?”

“Some didn’t have them for the driver’s part. I got stuck in the rain once. It had been years since I last drove a carriage, though.”

The truck pulled into the gate. The knights gave them a quick check before allowing them into the city. The usually crowded roads of Pakihana saw little road traffic, with the ones that did go out covered with raincoats.

“I’m hungry,” Lily said after her stomach growled. She turned to Feodora.

“You hungry too?”

“It had been a while since I last ate.”

“We ended up not using the rations the knights provided.” William let out a chuckle. The knights expected them to spend most of their time on the road, considering the six hours required for a one-way trip between Haleo Berena and Pakihana. People kept saying that the old times were better, William definitely disagreed.

They took thirty-five minutes from Haleo Berena to Pakihana, faster than before because both Feodora and Lily were used to the truck speeding at this point. William had also acquired the experience of speeding inside a truck. Safe to say he had no intention of slowing down.

“Where do you want to eat?”

“A simple toast in the adventurers’ guild’s tavern should be enough.”

“As long as there’s no alcohol, I don’t mind.”

“What’s wrong with alcohol? It’s great!”

“Oh no…”

“We also need to claim our rewards.” Feodora turned toward William, a smile on her face. It was the sweetest smile he saw she made so far.

“Congratulations. You have successfully defeated the ballista.”

“Ah, right. Thank you.” He averted his gaze, his cheeks reddened.

“Hmm?” Lily leaned forward. “Sheesh. You must have been a loner or something in your previous life.”

“Well, for one, you don’t need to stay together to survive in my previous life,” William replied. “Being alone also has some benefits.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” She shrugged.

Once they arrived at the adventurers’ guild, Feodora deployed a windshield that protected all three of them from the rain. She also applied a shield on the truck, before heading inside.

Upon arriving, they went straight for the receptionist.

“Hello, we completed the knight’s quest.” Lily brought out the magic paper. She had requested confirmation from Ktala, and Ktala sent a statement with her signature.

‘This is a confirmation that William Ari, Feodora Atores Ari, and Lily Atores had been successful in completing their mission - Brigadier General Ktala Zarez of the Kingdom of Piloto Northern Sector Knights Defense Brigade’

Lily then collected all their adventurers’ documents and showed them to the receptionist.

“Alright. We still need to wait for confirmation and payment from the knights, so I hope you mind waiting.”

“No problem.” Lily accepted the documents and magic paper back from the receptionist.

“Thank you for your patience.”

They stepped away. Lily handed the documents back to the others.

“They always take a while to process payments, huh?”

“Well, this world doesn’t have instant messaging outside magic papers.”

Yeah, technology definitely rocks.

“Should we?”

“Yeah.”

The three then headed for the tavern to celebrate. Located behind the main adventurers’ guild building, connected through a bridge on the guild’s second floor, the tavern acted as a way to support guild business. Many adventurers spent their hard-earned money in this place. A common staple of adventurers’ guilds in fiction.

The three sat down on an empty table.

“How do we check the menu?” William asked. Most of the food he ate so far were gifts, after all. He was sure Feodora still had the fish the goblins gifted them. He should remind her of it, so that it didn’t go to waste.

“It’s there.” Lily pointed toward a space behind the chef. It listed all the food they could order.

“Do you have any preferences?” Feodora asked.

“I think I’ll take what you eat. I haven’t gotten used to this world yet.”

“Alright. If that is the case, I recommend the seastick steak, with rice and gronwun beer as a compliment.”

“I’ll take Feo’s menu. That’s delicious.”

“What happened to the toast?”

“Changed my mind.”

“Alright, I’ll take that as well, but without the beer.”

“Okay.” Feodora stood up and went to the chef, placing their order. Not long after, the food came and the three enjoyed their meals.

* ••

“That was awesome!”

“I must agree. That was surprisingly delicious.”

Feodora walked while supporting Lily who had fallen asleep after their dinner. She had ended up drinking a bit of beer, but William managed to stop her before she got drunk.

“She’s really tired, isn’t she?”

“I myself am quite tired. I do not know about your past life, but the distance we traveled today is ridiculous by my standards.”

“Yeah. I do have long runs, but not with my own life on the line.”

They arrived at the truck. Feodora set Lily inside on the passenger seat and gave her a blanket before entering through the driver’s seat. One of the receptionists gave them a message from the knights, saying that they could park in front of the knights’ headquarters for the night. William got on the truck and drove the short distance.

The streets were empty. The rain had stopped, the roads wet with puddles. The truck let out a little hum as it passed through the empty roads, street lamps lit up their surroundings.

“It is so calm.”

“It’s peaceful.”

“I really like this.”

“Same.”

They pulled up in front of the headquarters. William lowered the window and reported to the knight guarding the front door.

“Have a good night, Sir.”

“You too.”

The knight returned to his post. William turned off the engine, the truck turning dark and silent. It didn’t have reclining seats, but William was used to sleeping like this. He relaxed his body, resting himself on the seat. Feodora seemed to be used to this as well, not complaining as she leaned backward.

“Lily’s too tired to complain.” William chuckled, leaning forward to take a peek at the peacefully sleeping Lily.

“Whoaaam…”

“You should go to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.” William let out a follow-up yawn, prompting a chuckle from Feodora.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not something worth thanking for. It’s something normal. You don’t have to worry about every single thing.”

“No.” Feodora shook her head. “Not for that.” She let out a smile, looking at the stars that decorated the now-clear skies.

“I have experienced a lot of things ever since I came to this world. Meeting the Goddess, meeting you and Lily, adventuring with you, fighting with you. I am happy.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

He looked up at the sky. It was full of stars, countless sparkling dots decorating the world beyond. A beautiful sight, one he hardly gets back on Earth. His journey had only begun, and he had a lot to expect.

“I hope we can keep traveling together.”

“We have a mission, remember?”

Not just the demons, but also the other thing. He had a lot to look for in the future.

“Yes. I shall do my best.”

William brought his left hand and patted her head. Feodora leaned closer to him, closing her eyes.

“You really like this, huh?”

“Did you not?”

“I enjoy it as well.”

“Good to know.”

He let go, resting his hands behind his head.

“Good night, Feodora.”

“Good night, William.”

END