The general’s story was pretty straightforward. It seemed both sides were made up of various races. They were fighting over a certain border that happened to have a large mine of magic crystals located near it. The kingdom Alexis was part of had never gotten along with the empire and it finally led to war. The empire had the technological edge and used golems, magical cannons, and of course had air ships. They also seemed to have the numerical advantage. The mine was across the border on the kingdom’s land so the empire attacked to take it for themselves.
That was fine by Gavin since there was no talk of a demon king or demon lord and he preferred the underdog anyway. If they could get the Talon back to fighting shape, they might be able to turn the tables. First they had to find somewhere safe to lay low and repair. As he maneuvered the mech out of the water on the other side of the lake, Alexis spoke up again. “They will send troops through the passage looking for us. It will take them some time to find our tracks again on this side of the lake though. In the meantime we need to head for the crossroads outside the forest.”
Evidently there was a road through the forest that he had missed by going to the lake. Following the road was too obvious anyway and they would have been spotted by the air ship. Alexis guided them through the forest toward the crossroads. She said she had left a small force there who would be able to help. Gavin chatted with the girls while they traveled but Ivy didn’t join in. She never said much and concentrated on the displays.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Gavin chewed on another ration bar as the sun went down. It was soon dark but they didn’t turn any exterior lights on. Instead, the cockpit display was set to night vision. It was the first time he’d used it outside of video games so it took a little getting used to. They finally exited the forest and started walking through grassy plains with gently rolling hills. Gavin was a little concerned since the mech would stand out like a sore thumb.
It didn’t take long before they found the road which they followed for a short distance before reaching the crossroads. There was a campfire going and it seemed they noticed the mech approaching as the camp was in a state of alert. Gavin stopped a safe distance away and had Alexis speak into the microphone so her people could hear her over the external speakers. She told them to stand down and Gavin escorted Alexis and Margaret to the lift.
A couple representatives cautiously approached as they rode the lift to the ground. Upon seeing Alexis, they rushed over to her side. They must have better eyesight than him, because Gavin couldn’t see much in the darkness. Luckily one of them had a lantern so he was able to see who he was meeting. It looked like another demon type person and a few beast people. His jaw dropped as he realized one of them was a cat girl. He stammered a greeting as Alexis introduced him.
He couldn’t believe there was an actual cat girl. Gavin had watched his fair share of anime and cat girls appeared quite often so he was a big fan. Alexis explained how he had helped rescue her and the cat girl gave him a hug. After she noticed him blushing, she also winked at him. Her name was Tara and she had short black hair and a long black tail. Her yellow cat eyes shined in the dark. Gavin thought maybe this world wasn’t so bad after all.