Path to Destination

For the past two days, Jack, Lupus, and Frain had been actively scouting the metropolitan area of southern Germund, hoping to find a suitable arcanite engine to replace the one in the one-armed Armatus he had hijacked — along with two puny bots.

Occasional signs of war efforts could be seen in the summer sky as cruisers flew overhead. Yet, none paid any attention to Jack's party. He believed the Armatus fleet had likely been rallied and concentrated in the major parts of the country, such as the industrialised cities. As a result, they had yet to encounter any Armatus knights during their search.

On the first day, finding an intact arcanite engine proved difficult since most of the wreckage had been reduced to charred composites. They covered approximately 20 kilometres that day. However, while scouting near a national park, Frain managed to detect an Armatus mobile suit amidst the broken tree line. Upon closer inspection, they found it had sustained a puncture in the lower torso, narrowly missing its vital components.

Working together, Lupus and Frain's Wildren strength allowed them to pry open the protective carapace of the arcanite engine. Using a makeshift sledge fashioned from ropes and logs, they hauled it back to their rendezvous point.

Once they reached the spot where they had left the Armatus suit, Jack decided to install the arcanite engine in one of the puny bots first. This was to minimise the risk of drawing unnecessary hostility from mages, just as he had when first encountering Lupus. With a fully functional bot, he expected it would be easier to navigate the ruins.

That night, they found shelter in a two-storey abandoned house. Judging by the family photos still hanging on the walls, it had once been a home filled with warmth and joy. Lupus and Frain busied themselves cooking instant noodles they had found on the stove. Surprisingly, the electricity was still functional. Meanwhile, Jack worked on the puny bot, configuring a sentry protocol to serve as a security measure, providing surveillance in case any enemies attempted to sneak in.

Later, they all huddled together in the large bedroom, with Jack lying on the floor atop a makeshift mattress. The girls seemed to be in high spirits, whispering and giggling before eventually dozing off. Jack, too, drifted into sleep once their cheerful murmurs subsided.

On the second day, Jack woke before sunrise while the others were still curled up together. Sticking to his routine, he checked his bot's system, ensuring everything was ready for takeoff. Today, he planned to cover a much larger area using the Finder Keeper protocol, which would significantly speed up their search for the remaining two engines.

"It's cramped in here…" Jack grumbled as the three of them squeezed inside the cockpit. With two beautiful women sandwiching him, he could barely breathe. But there was no helping it — leaving one of them behind at the house was too risky. Leaving them both would expose him to threats. After all, there was still an ongoing war.

"Hehehe! I can shrink down really small with arcane magic!" Lupus teased, winking at him as her chest brushed against his shoulder. The engine roared to life, and the puny bot lifted off, hovering five metres above the ground as it scanned the wreckage for arcanite signatures.

Raising a brow, Jack asked, "You can?"

"Pffft! Of course not! Are you crazy?" Lupus burst out laughing, her amusement contagious enough to make Frain chuckle along with her. "Old people really are so gullible! No wonder they get scammed so often!" She said, clearly entertained by his reaction.

"Uncle Jack isn't that old! Hehehehe!" Frain chimed in, though her loud giggle suggested otherwise. She wasn't as quiet as she first seemed, her life as a slave had simply taught her to be reserved. But once Lupus started treating her like a sister, her bright personality began to shine through. While not as overly cheerful as Lupus, she had a warmth of her own.

Jack sighed. "You cheeky little rabbit," He muttered, his red eyes focused on the data updating on his HUD. Sometimes, the Finder Keeper revealed grim discoveries — like charred corpses. That part was always daunting, he thought bitterly.

Before half the day had passed, they managed to locate one functional arcanite engine. Jack returned and installed it into another puny bot. Suddenly, the cockpit felt lonelier without the girls beside him, they were now seated in the other bot. He hadn't let them control it since they lacked training with mechanical glove controllers, but he had taught them to use the comms system so they could stay in contact.

That afternoon, the comms light blinked green, and the HUD screen lit up in front of Jack.

"I think it found another one! Yippie!" Lupus cheered. She sat comfortably in the pilot's seat, with Frain sitting on her lap, Lupus' arms wrapped around her torso. It was an oddly adorable sight, and Jack couldn't help but grin like an idiot.

"Yippie?" Frain repeated, tilting her head as her lion ears twitched.

"I can monitor that from here, but thanks for letting me know. I'll regroup with you two soon," Jack replied, steering his bot through the air towards them.