This, however, was one of the times I was unable to sleep while Gennady was driving. I could not toss and turn since there was not enough space for that, but I did fidget uncomfortably where I lay: I was thinking. Thoughts filled my mind in an endless stream of consciousness, keeping me awake despite what my closed eyes might seem to indicate.
I could not stop thinking about all the different tools I would be able to craft once I had fully mastered how to tinker; the nebulous idea of the various machines and weapons I could create to both protect myself and make my life a lot easier was an entrancing thing to imagine. I felt my lips curl up to a smile before a voice broke me out from the thoughts in my head.
"Oi lass, wake up," Gennady spoke, his rough voice perking up my ears. "You probably want to see this," he said.
I forced my eyelids open, blinking away my tiredness and sitting up. I rubbed at my eyes for a second as it tried to adjust to having vision after seeing nothing for so long. "What is it?" I asked, yawning.
"Look to your left." The Dwarf did not twist his head to face me. He had his eyes on the road, but he did gesture his head in the direction he wanted me to face.
Slowly, I sat up and turned my neck to the side. My eyes widened and I gasped as I took on the marvelous sight before me: I was faced with a palette of sharp, contrasting colors in the canvas before me.
A beach stretched out for a few hundred feet, turning from a dull gray gravel into a neat brown blanket of sand, wrinkled by the waves rolling in and out of the ocean. The endless deep blue expanse of the sea morphed into the azure blue of the sky, but at the line where the two met, the sun rested there, muddling the pure colors with a bright orange. The water shimmered as the brilliant sunset shone down upon the world, bringing with it the last semblance of light for the day at this moment of twilight.
There was not a cloud in the sky, but it was going to be a dark night; the lunar cycle brought with it the new moon, and travelers would only have their paths illuminated by the specks of light that came in the stars.
"That’s a beautiful sunset," I breathed. I had not seen a sight like this in over a decade: the sparkling sand and the glistening ocean was a spectacular view to behold. The empty serenity of the beach was only accentuated by the setting sun, which gave the dark brown surface an amber tint that was rarely ever seen in the crowded beaches of Earth.
"‘Course," Gennady said, still not facing me. "I knew you’d like it. This is your first time seeing the ocean, eh? Most people never get the chance since not everyone travels to port cities."
"It is." In this world, I added in my head. I took a moment longer to gaze into the nostalgic scene of a beach, then turned back to the Dwarf. "Shouldn’t we be stopping soon? It’s late."
"We’re a tiny bit ahead of schedule. So I think we should keep going for a bit longer."
"Are you sure we should be traveling when it’s dark?" I asked. "I don’t want us to get lost or attacked by bandits."
"Don’t worry, lass," he said reassuringly. "As long as we’re not out there"— he pointed at the ocean— "we ain’t running into any trouble."
"But—"
"And," the Dwarf cut me off. "We won’t be out when it’s night."
I cocked my head, not sure what to make of what he was saying. Then, I saw it.
In the distance, a few miles ahead, a sprawling city came into view. There was a tall wall surrounding the perimeter of the city, which opened up at the side where the harbor was; streetlights and lamps were visible even from where we were, giving the city a sense of life with its light, in sharp contrast to the darkness of the wilderness to my right. I saw a small line of caravans, carriages, and a single car queuing up to enter the city gates as night slowly descended upon us.
"This is… Luke?" I guessed.
That was the Capital city of Laxis, and our final destination in this country; we were not supposed to arrive here until tomorrow, but…
"We’re more than just a bit ahead of schedule, are we?"
"Yes," Gennady chortled, leaning back in his seat slightly. "We’re very ahead of schedule."
We reached the city half an hour later. The sun had just finished setting, but the gates were still open. Apparently the threat of Monster attacks was less of a problem here in the Capital, which made sense, but did not put me at ease; after what happened in Bys, I did not feel safe even behind the walls of a big city— and Luke was not nearly as large as the Free City of Slaves was.
In fact, I was pretty sure this city was not as big as Boleria, and neither was it as big as the Rem Republic’s Capital city of Remheart. I had never been to the latter, but I knew that my home country was one of the richer nations in this world, whereas Laxis was undergoing an economic crisis that was only exacerbated by the influx of refugees from the Free Lands.
We were momentarily stopped at the entrance of the city— the guards
