Lament of the Slave

Chapter 92: Nostalgia

Leaving the library behind and heading back to Broken Mug, I mused about what I had gathered from Mr. Sandoval. I couldn't help it. There was so much I learned, yet so much more I didn't know. The more I found out about this strange world, full of beasts, monsters, and people with powers hard to imagine, the more questions I had.

What was it up there in the north? What made the beasts and monsters flee in fear? Was it coming south? It seemed that the countries bordering the former terran Federation were preparing for that eventuality, or at least on the monster wave that was approaching despite the best efforts of the Terran tribes to stop it. A futile struggle, and everyone knew it.

Sighing aloud at the thought of their inevitable downfall, I scared away a few pigeon-like birds who, for the night that fell upon the city, took refuge on the windowsill by which I passed. It was a damn shame the terrans couldn't keep it together. As a result, only less than a third of the tribes along the former south Federation borders were left from the nation that could rival in size the Empire just a few years ago.

There were countries like Arda that took advantage of their misfortune to replenish their supply of slaves. Countries east of Sahanal I didn't even know about who took in refugees just like the Empire. Grand Duchy of Numun took the same approach to slaves as Sahal, and the Khabaramese Union went so far as to ban the slave trade entirely.

Unlike Sahal, I did not know their motivation for accepting refugees. The Empire? It was recovering from the Mind Wars and needed people to jumpstart the economy to replace those who died during those dark times.

But as they say, enough is enough.

Having experienced firsthand what the number of terrans caused in Castiana, I didn't want to imagine what the situation might have been like in the border towns with the former Federation?

What could I say, though? I may not have been a terran, but it didn't make me any less of a refugee than they were.

Scratching the back of my neck, I stifled my urge to turn around and find Sah in the darkness. The man was doing his job, and although it rubbed me the wrong way, if it weren't for my weird sensitivity, I wouldn't have even known about him.

I was a little worried, though. No doubt Agent Sah will bother Mr. Sandoval. He will ask questions, questions about me. That's why I told the librarian before I left not to hide anything if it came down to that. It would piss me off if I got the book-loving old man who grew on me a bit in trouble.

Lost in my thoughts, without really knowing how I made it to the door of Broken Mug. It was busy inside. The hubbub of laughter and shouting could be heard all the way out on the street. In the inn, it was even worse. The noise made my ears ring. Quite a change compared to the library.

If I wasn't so hungry, I'd head straight to my room. Instead, I found an empty seat and had dinner. It was delicious, Byron was a good cook, I gave him that. But...there was a difference. Deckard's food was better, no doubt about that. Byron, the innkeeper, simply could not compare to a chef after evolution, quality of ingredients aside.

When I went up the stairs to the long narrow room on the first floor, with just a bed in it, I couldn't help feeling nostalgic. I mean, it was what? Three nights? No, just two since I'd last slept in this bed. One spent training in the Esulmor Woods, the other in the barracks. However, so much has happened in these three days that it felt like weeks.

Being back here felt like everything was the way it should be, even though I knew that was far from the truth. I was no longer just a human slave, a mutant, but a beast, a pup, an apprentice, a seeker, and a woman of interest for the Empire.

Lying down on the bed with a sense of nostalgia, I just checked the moss in my hair and the ever-blooming flower before drifting off to poisoned sleep, hugging Sage.