The group of us left Titan Fall’s boat without incident. The girls immediately pushed off from the shore and began heading down the river, leaving into the Ost Republic. As for us, we had about an hour of walking to do so that we could rendezvous with Lord Tibult.

The sun was just starting to set, and soon we’d have to head into enemy territory with the hopes of rescuing Otto’s brother. Having the Tibult family owe me a favor seemed like a good idea, but more than that, I was doing it because I didn’t trust in Otto to be able to do it himself. The guy seemed to have a track record of failure. One could argue that the connecting component in all of his failures was me, but I wasn’t going to point that out at this moment.

By the time we met with Tibult outside the city, night had already fallen. Insects sung in the grass and the nearly cloudless sky was filled with starlight. The sky of this world did not match the sky of Earth. I was never that good at astronomy, but I knew that much at least. I might not know of any specific constellations, but one had a familiarity with their own sky that made an alien world instantly recognizable.

Among the biggest differences was how vast and beautiful it was. This wasn’t a world filled with light pollution and smog. The sky was extremely clear, and I could see more stars now at dusk then I’d ever see in a city in my old world during the best viewing times.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“What took you so long?” Tibult demanded angrily, but then lowered his head and blushed. “I’m sorry, I was just worried you wouldn’t come.”

Lord Tibult hadn’t stopped being the arrogant noble he always was, but he was also a man who understood his place. He was asking me for help, and I outranked him as a noble. I wasn’t angry at his slip. In some ways, I pitied him. Believe it or not, he and I had a lot in common. At least, when we’re talking about the me from before I came to this world.

However, where I was poor and didn’t have the background to act lazy and arrogant, Lord Tibult had grown up under a rich family. The one benefit was that no one had ever expected anything from me. Mother wouldn’t have cared if I lived with her until I was forty. The only one who ever pushed me to do anything was a certain cousin, but she was away at college, and thus she only came over once or twice a year to nag me about how I’m not more active. Ironically, she was just as fat as I was, but she insisted that she could lose weight any time she wanted, so I humored her.

“Did your soldiers manage to get the outfits?” I asked, ignoring his slight.

He let out a breath of relief and nodded excitedly, then gestured to the soldier to hand us a bag. I opened and began to go through it as he spoke.

“Those are enemy armors and weapons. With that, we should be able to sneak in. I brought ten of my most trusted men. They’ve been with me the longest since I’ve been here.”

I nodded as I found six outfits. How well they’d fit me and the girls, we’d find out in a moment.

“Then, the plan has begun,” I said. “We’ll sneak into the fort where your brother is being held, and then we’ll get out of there!”