As it turns out, she does most of the talking

“So what was being a soldier like?” Nina asks, the excitement clear in her voice, “how many battles did you fight in?”

“Ah, two” you reply. If you count the time when you were running away from an Imperial scouting ****, then yes, you’ve fought in two battles. “It’s nasty stuff, couple of men I knew died.”

“I see” the catgirl looks at you sympathetically, “you lost, then?”

“Yup”

“Who were you fighting?”

“The Numeserios Empire” you reply, surprised as Nina just cocks her head in confusion. “You’ve never heard of them?”

“Never” Nina shrugs. “Not much news comes in from outside, you’re the first outsider I’ve ever seen.” Huh. “They’re an empire though, right?” she says before you can respond, “that means they must have been pretty powerful.”

“Yeah, they had a lot more men than we did” you say, “we put up a good fight though, held them off at a pass in the road. Most of us got to our home towns, but I had to bolt into the woods.”

“Wow!” Nina’s eyes sparkle as she sits down a log by the side of the road. “Go on, tell me more.”

“Well, I was one of the volunteers who held them off, but I was at the back” you say, sitting down as well. “They got right into our lines, so everyone was screaming as we were hacking away.”

“Did you kill anybody?” Nina says a bit too excitedly.

“Uhh, well” you scratch the back of your neck, “while I was flailing I might have, um, cut a guy’s balls off, but I’m decently sure he made it out alive. As I said, I was at the back.”

“Ah well” Nina says, her eyes still glowing, “I’m sure you’ll get your first kill eventually.”

“Uh yeah” you say, wondering if Nina’s crazy or just really naive, “I hope so.”

“Cool” she replies, stretching her arms as she stands up. She’s showing off her toned, lithe body as she does so, and you eye up her bare belly, her muscles clearly defined. “So, do you want some sparring practice? I’d be happy to face you.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be checking up on the village?” you ask. You wouldn’t mind getting some practice in to stop your skills from getting rusty, but you don’t want to shirk your duties.

Nina gives you a guilty smile. “Actually, I was already done” she says, “I was just trying to get Xana off my back.”

You chuckle at her admission; you can definitely see why Xana might be a bit overbearing. “Alright, sure” you reply, “I haven’t sparred in a while, it would be good to get some practice in.”

“Great!” Nina cheerfully replies, “Come on over to my barracks, I have some spare training swords you can use.”

********

To your surprise, Nina’s weaponry is actually in good condition. You’re not sure where she’s getting the metal from, since the village doesn’t seem to have a blacksmith, but that’s one of the less weird things about this place so you don’t give it much thought. Nina keeps hold of the longsword she’s holding, while you take a simple-looking spear.

“Alright!” Nina declares as she takes you outside, getting into a stance as she stares you down. “Are you ready to spar?”

“Let’s do it” you grin, infected by her display of bravado. Without saying another word, Nina charges you, her sword held out in front of her as she yells.