And while borders were arbitrarily drawn by people. While there was no real distinction between the Free Lands and Laxis. I still saw some kind of a difference between the two.
Was it something that was tangible, or was it a purely psychological thing? I did not know.
But now, everything that happened in the Free Lands was all behind me; my time as a slave was long gone.
My fingers twitched, as I instinctively wanted to reach for my face. But there was nothing there. Not since the night I killed Victor.
My slave mark was gone.
It had been a few months since then; I did not know what magic that was. I thought it could have been a miracle, but it became something else. All I knew was that it healed me completely, and it made me stronger.
It was some kind of physical enhancement spell. Like in Shamanism. But those kinds of magic should not have been so quick to cast. Regardless, I now felt stronger than I’d ever been— even in my past life. I was as strong as any regular adult. That was how I had been surviving.
Plus, I had been using all the gold Victor had on him to pay for all my expenses. I felt for the pouch on my belt, as I looked up at the wagon driver.
"How much longer?" I asked.
"We’ll be reaching the nearest town soon," he said. "You sure you want to just stop there? I could bring you further into Laxis, if you’d like."
"I’m fine." I waved a hand reassuringly; I sat up, and spoke softly. "I’m just taking things at a slow, relaxed pace."
I had bid the family farewell once we crossed the border, and proceeded to hitch a ride on a passing wagon. It was not far to the closest border town, but it was still a few hours walk. And just over an hour by wagon.
So I had lain back down, next to some grain sacks, and stared at the rolling, tall hills stretching across the horizon.
This was the Incen Mountain Range which also made the border between Rem and the Free Lands; it cut across the continent covering thousands of miles. And while the peaks here were far shorter than the ones I had seen back in Villamcreek, they still rose high up into the sky. Far above the clouds.
It made me feel small. Tiny, in a sense. But that put me at ease too.
All my struggles— all that I had been through that put me through so much pain seemed so… minor, relative to everything else that was going on in the world. Like if I was compared to a mountain, my problems were trivial.
That was not to say, what happened was insignificant. It was important to me. It mattered specifically because it happened to me.
What Victor did was wrong. I had hoped he could have changed, but he did not. So I killed him. Even though I thought he was a good guy.
And retrospectively speaking, he never was one; I did not realize it then because I was starved of any affection after my mom's death and becoming a slave, but he was narcissistic, manipulative, and a pathological liar. All the signs were there and I even knew what they were supposed to be, but I failed to see it in the moment.
I did not believe for one second that he adhered to the restrictions the Infernalis set for him. He was a terrible person. So I killed him, even though he saved my life.
I did not regret my actions— what I did— but I was still sad that things did not work out in the end.
However, I did not dwell on it now.
"We’re here, little Miss," the wagon driver called back. He turned around, and raised an eyebrow at me. "You sure you don’t wanna go any further? I could take you to—"
"Thank you," I said as I smiled politely. I grabbed a few coins, and handed it to him. "I appreciate your help. But I’m stopping here."
The man blinked at the coins as they glimmered in his hand. His eyes widened, and he tried to protest. "Little Miss, I can’t take this from you. These are silver coins!"
But I just waved back at him.
I hefted my bag around my shoulders, and clasped the wooden staff on one hand. Victor’s staff. I held it to my side, as I walked into the town alongside numerous other travelers.
Maybe I was being too liberal in my spending today. I barely had 25 gold left. It would probably only last me another two months if I continued spending it like I had for the last few hours. What I had left was probably what the average household in the Rem Republic made in a year.
But I did not come from an average household; I was from some rural village with only my mom working to make money. This was a lot more gold than I’d ever seen back then. So I was definitely not good at being economical with it currently.
Not like it mattered to me right now. To me, this was like a vacation; it was a holiday where I no longer had to worry about being kidnapped into slavery while I was asleep, or get attacked by the ground number of criminals in the Free Lands.
Since I had no job, money was going to be a problem in the future. And since I was only going to spend it like a moron for today, I could stave off my worries about the lack of gold until it started to become an issue half a year from now.
I took a deep breath and cast my gaze heavenward.
The air
