That Time I Got Isekai’d To Another World With My Truck!!

"NO! Ganojo!" Shift cried out. He was suddenly very anxious, and he started backing up.     

"NO! Beautiful moth girl!" Briggo exclaimed. "Chad Lass, how could you?! Punching that angelic face is a CRIME. I am very disappointed in you."     

Chad Lass walked up to Briggo, her face stern. She then proceeded to smack him right across the face.     

Small sparks flew as Briggo's head turned sideways from the force of the slap. He just stood there for a moment, silent and motionless. Then he shook his head and rubbed his temples with his fingertips.     

"Thank you, Chad Lass. I… I don't know what came over me." Chad Lass nodded. She turned to me and bowed her head in gratitude. The next thing I knew, Chad Lass dissolved into a bright golden aura, and moments later that aura was once again absorbed by Briggo's body.     

"Pheromones," I said as I opened Truck-chan's door and rushed over to Briggo. "Ganojo used some sort of pheromone-laden gas to make you obsessed with her."     

"What… really? It never crossed my mind that a Kink could possess such an ability."     

"It's a common component of an insect's mating ritual. This must have been some jacked up version that works on humans."     

Briggo nodded. "You're right, Birito. And I'm sorry. I've failed you… all of you."     

"It was a powerful chemical reaction, Briggo. You weren't yourself."     

Briggo shook his head. "I never should have let myself walk into that trap. I should have known better." He sighed. "There you have it, Birito. Learn from my mistakes. An enemy Kink user is extremely dangerous if you don't have prior knowledge of the Kink's abilities."     

"Is everyone all right?" Blair asked. She had picked Sophia up from the ground and carried her over to us. Sophia was conscious now, but it was clear that she was still injured.     

"Yes, we're fine," Briggo said. "How about you? Sophia, are you hurt?!" He walked up to Blair and helped her with Sophia.     

"I'll be fine," Sophia said and forced a smile. "I just need some rest, and a couple of my potions."     

"Birito," Blair said, "what was that back there?"     

"What?"     

"When that tall guy was about to slap you. Didn't you see what happened?"     

"Well, no, I had my eyes closed, but I think I punched him in the nuts."     

Blair shook her head. "No, Birito. You didn't even touch him. Just as he was about to hit you, I saw a bright green aura swirl around you."     

"WHAT?! What are you talking about, Blair?"     

"I'm being serious," Blair said, and her face certainly looked serious. "A green aura appeared around you, and just for an instant something seemed to emerge out of the aura and it punched that guy right on the chin. Then the aura disappeared, like it was never there."     

"No way," I said." Does this mean…"     

"YES, BIRITO!" Briggo shouted. "Your Kink is awakening!"     

"Wow! I didn't even… I didn't feel anything!" A million thoughts were racing through my mind. Could it be true? Was I really about to unlock a Kink power?! These powers were so cool, and just thinking about all the things that I could do with a Kink made me giddy. The possibilities were endless! But at the same time, this just seemed too good to be true. I mean, I didn't actually see or feel anything myself, and part of me refused to accept that this was even possible.     

But my excitement was interrupted by a commotion further up the platform. Several of the officers who had been electrocuted by Terra earlier were now back on their feet, and they managed to corner Shift near the middle of the platform.     

"BACK OFF!" Shift screamed. "I mean it!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glowing red ball.     

"Whoa!" one of the officers shouted. "He's got a hell egg!"     

"Back up!" another officer exclaimed, and suddenly the officers were moving away from Shift instead of advancing on him.     

"What's going on?" I asked.     

Briggo's face was grave. "A hell egg. It's a magic-infused bomb. That thing could blow us out of the sky, dragon and all."     

"Really?!" Truck-chan asked. "But it's so small."     

Truck-chan was right. The hell egg was no bigger than a tennis ball, but judging by everyone's reaction, this bomb had a lot of destructive potential.     

"That weapon is illegal," Briggo explained, "and it is also extremely rare. It's not something that a petty criminal would be able to acquire."     

"That's right, keep backing away," Shift said, waving the bomb in the air. "One wrong move and I'll blow us all to bits. Got it?!"     

Nervous screams rang out across the platform as all the passengers did their best to get as far away from Shift as possible. The officers formed a wide circle around Shift in an attempt to protect the passengers, but judging from everyone's reactions, if this bomb were to go off no one would be safe.     

"Terra, come on!" Shift said. The female criminal was slowly getting back on her feet. She was still reeling from the kick to the face that she had received from Blair.     

"Goddamn it," Terra said in a nasal tone. "I'm coming."     

"Let her through!" Shift screamed at the officers, and they complied. Terra slowly stumbled over to where Shift was standing.     

"Where's the hostage?" she asked Shift.     

"I don't know. It's too late now. We gotta get out of here… NOW."     

"And the other guy… Davie?"     

"He's just a henchman, who cares. Without the lifeboat it's just us. Ganojo can't carry more than two, especially in her current condition."     

"Damn it," Terra spat. "Just our luck. A Tier 3 Kink user and a bunch of catgirl soldiers had to be here, on this nuxing train at this nuxing time."     

"Blair," Sophia whispered as Terra and Shift continued their conversation. "If you get my bow, maybe I can shoot the hell egg out of his hand."     

But Blair shook her head. "You're not fully recovered. We can't risk it."     

"GANOJO!" Shift cried. "Get up and come over here. RIGHT NOW!"     

Ganojo was still sprawled out on the ground, but she was trying to stand up.     

"I agree with Blair," Briggo said quietly. "I thought about using Chad Lass to knock the bomb out of his hand, but the risk is too great. The hell egg is infused with powerful and highly concentrated magic. Even the slightest jolt could set it off. With this many innocent people on board, we simply can't take that chance."     

The officers were forced to allow Ganojo to pass through their perimeter, and she wobbled over to where Terra and Shift were standing. "HEY!" Shift called out, shaking the bomb in the air again. "You stood in our way this time, but mark my words: This isn't over! The Demon Lord is coming, and with him comes the AGE OF CHAOS!"     

In the next moment, Ganojo grabbed Shift under one arm and Terra under the other. She walked up to the railing, spread out her mothlike wings, and jumped overboard.     

The officers ran over to the railing and so did the rest of us. We looked down and saw Ganojo using her wings to steer through the wind as she descended slowly and carefully. Her descent was shaky, but it looked like she was going to make it. The land below was flat ─ farms and fields as far as the eye could see.     

We soon lost sight of them as the Dragon Train continued on its flightpath.     

Briggo sighed. "I can't believe it. We let them get away."     

"Not all of them," I said and pointed to the back of the platform. There, several officers had grabbed the still unconscious Davie and placed him in handcuffs before carrying him into one of the train cars.     

"You're right, Birito," Briggo said. "Hopefully they can get some useful information out of him. Any criminal group with access to hell eggs is a major threat to the public."     

"Hello there," someone said. We turned and saw the hostage, an elderly gentleman known as Lu D. Crisfunds. He walked up to us and bowed. "Thank you so much for your help. If you weren't here, God knows what would have happened to me."     

I signaled for Truck-chan to be quiet as the elderly gentleman approached each one of us and thanked us individually.     

"Don't mention it," Briggo said. "I wish I could have done more, but the rest of my friends here did a great job."     

"Ah, Sir Lor D. Briggo," Lu said. "It is an honor to finally meet you. I know who you are, of course. Again, thank you for everything. All of you."     

We nodded and smiled as one of the officers escorted the elderly man back to the train cars.     

"On behalf of the Dragon Train Crew, I would like to thank you for your assistance."     

"Huh, who said that?" Briggo asked. He turned around but he didn't seem to see anyone, so he turned back     

"It was me, sir. Right here." We turned and looked down. An extremely short person with a feminine voice was standing before us. "My name is Malta Gatari, and I am the Assistant Conductor on this Dragon Train." She was dressed in a dark blue uniform, and she had a pair of curved horns growing out of her head. The blue cap that she was wearing had holes cut into it on each side in order to accommodate the horns.     

Briggo laughed. "That's a good one, young lady, but children can't be train conductors."     

Malta cleared her throat. "Pardon me, but I am not a child. I am 23-years-old, and I happen to be the first female Assistant Conductor on this particular route."     

Briggo looked at me doubtfully, and I just shrugged. "Are you really an adult?" he asked.     

"Yes, I really am."     

"But you're so small and adorable. I just want to give you a head pat." Briggo paused. "Seriously, can I pat your head?"     

"What, uhm, no… wait, it's not that I don't like head pats, it's just that, I'm on duty and…."     

"Are you sure?!"     

Malta's face turned red, and the result was adorable. "Yes… uhm, yes. Definitely sure. Maybe?" She cleared her throat again. "Anyway, as I was saying, thank you for your assistance. The criminals got the jump on our officers inside the train, and then they took the hostage and neutralized the rest of our security team. If it weren't for you, we would have lost a valued passenger."     

"Just doing our duty as men and women of honor," Briggo said.     

"And trucks," Truck-chan added.     

Briggo nodded. "Yes, and trucks. Wait…."     

"Pardon me?" Malta said.     

"Oh nothing, nothing," Briggo replied. "Let us know if you need anything else, Conductor Lady."     

Malta bowed. "Please enjoy the rest of your ride. We will be landing within the hour." As she turned around and walked away, it was clear that she was blushing.     

The rest of the flight was largely uneventful compared to what came before. There were a few strong wind gusts, so we secured Truck-chan to the platform again, and then we just took in the majestic scenery.     

After some time, the platform tilted to the left as the dragon began its descent, and as we approached the Capital of Animakistan, I saw something curious down on the ground below.     

"Hey Briggo, what's that?" I asked. "It looks like a map of our own world, but it seems to be painted on the ground."     

"That's Conquerors."     

"What?"     

"Conquerors is the national sport of Animakistan. It's like a giant version of that board game from our world called Risk, but instead of military figurines and dice they use teams of real Kink users and other powerful magicians. The teams compete for dominance over the map. It's a pretty big deal here."     

Briggo was right. On closer inspection, I could see that large spectator stands surrounded the entire map. Each continent was painted a different color and divided into separate territories, and the blue areas of the map were not actually paint – they were real bodies of water.     

"That's fascinating. How does it work?"     

"I'll explain later," Briggo said. "We're about to land."     

We were approaching a mountain that was equipped with a landing platform for the Dragon Train, just like the one from which we had departed. Out in the distance, I could see a vast valley, and within that valley a sprawling medieval metropolis.     

This was Slavograd.