Carrying the pots and utensils used, I bring Lusaia down towards the river through a side road. It is a good time for her to test the brace and crutches I made last night and she seems to fit comfortably in them. Her walking is awkward but she will smoothen it out over time.

In the open area, I feel Lusaia slowly lagging behind. Turning around, she looks distraught. I remember there being humanoid, I mean, demi human corpses here in this clearing as I cleaned it up. Lusaia and her father must be here when the minotaurs attacked them.

I corrected myself earlier because I finally understand that Lusaia and these humans with animal features are not the humanoids I know.

There were journals and diaries belonging to the soldiers in the third carriage. I was surprised to find the journals containing Serlusian words which makes it all the more convenient for me to understand. Even if they weren’t, it’ll take some time for me to understand the language eventually.

Within their items, a few of them stood out to me.

Firstly, there was the map pinned to the carriage walls. I’ve taken a look at it so many times but I still can’t believe that it really was true. This place that I am in, it is definitely not my world. That much I do know but the map was the evidence I needed to confirm my theory.

A large continent in the shape of a rough diamond. An extensive mountain range split it diagonally forming 2 parallelograms on both sides. They’re labelled “East” and “West” respectively with various country borders drawn across it.

Twine tied to pins are likely put up by the mercenaries indicating their future routes or past endeavours. Circles and cross marks indicate something but there is no legend for me to know their meaning.

Secondly, there was a dairy belonging to a mercenary named Pol. Among the other books written by the mercenaries, Pol’s dairy gave the most insight into this world’s history, culture, and general knowledge.

In this world, there exist 2 predominant races, Humans and demi humans. Demi humans are a collective band of multiple humanoidal races. No matter the appearance of a race, so long as they are capable of sentience, they will be considered a demi human.

Those who do not fall into this category are either monsters or legendary beings. Spirits seems to be one of them given how much Pol admired a Guardian Spirit in the East.

As for humans, it is self explanatory.

No matter where I go, it is human nature to be prejudice against things or people different from us. As expected, humans and demi humans do not get along well. As such, their population are divided among the continent. The humans are dominant in the East, while the demi humans are dominant in the West.

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As someone born in a poor village in the Eastern continent, Pol do not know much of the West except from the demi human village members his family was close to.

It seems that not everyone is discriminant towards each other at least.

The demi humans I saw earlier, they’re all slaves and so is Lusaia. The treatment they received from what is recounted by Pol… I do not want to imagine but I can.

Looking at Lusaia who’s sitting beside me as I wash the utensils, it’s no small wonder she could wolf down all that soup. Her limbs are so thin and her body is so light even a small breeze could topple Lusaia over.

The grime and dirt cover her skin and the same can be said for her hair. It wouldn’t be hygienic leaving her dirty like this.

“Lusaia, come here.”

Lusaia obediently come towards me.

Filling the pot with water, I use the rag in hand I wipe off the dirt on her body. Every time I soak the rag into the water within the pot, it quickly turns a mirky brown. I’ve had to change the water several times but at least Lusaia is all clean now.

“Ehehe… Lusaia feels refresh.”

Lusaia gives me a bright smile. Her puffy red cheeks glows vibrant and her skin returns to its natural milk white. I didn’t notice from before but her white hair has streaks of ocean blue in between.

Save for the bruises, this kid looks exactly like a porcelain doll. Looking at her like this, Lusaia truly resembles her…

I shake the thought away.

Returning back to the carriage, I make Lusaia rest inside ignoring her complaints and refusals. Reason being, I had to check the food stock that I manage to salvage earlier.

There were many jars of preserved and dried food that I could find from the second carriage. While it seems to be a lot, through my years of experience, I know that it doesn’t amount to much.

Counting through and envisioning future ration plans, as expected, we have at best 2 months’ worth of food. Well, that doesn’t seem to be a problem since we will be escaping this place anyways.

I return to the carriage and sit beside her.

“Is your leg doing alright?”

“Mhmm.”

I nod.

“Tomorrow, we’ll be leaving here due to food problems. Before that, I want to know more about that cat eared demi human that was with you.”

“Ah, that’s Aunt Marianne!”

“Hoh? You seem to like this Aunt Marianne very much.”

“Mhmm! Aunt Marianne is the best…”

When talking about Aunt Marianne, Lusaia’s eyes light up like a spark. From her words, Aunt Marianne is a really kind person. She’s been helping Lusaia and her father when they “left their home”. They’ve gotten into trouble a lot of times with the merchant and other slaves but Marianne always comes to assist them.

From what I can tell, she seems trustworthy enough for me to entrust Lusaia to. And besides, it’s best if she’s someone Lusaia can be more attach to.

“Then it’s settled, we’re going to find your Aunt Marianne.”

“Yay! Lusaia can tell Aunt Marianne about Papa!”

Lusaia is so overjoyed that her shark tail is wagging happily like a dog.

Seeing her like this, I don’t really want to pour cold water on her but I must.

“That’s good but I think it’s best that you don’t. I’ll be leaving anyways.”

“Eh?” Lusaia’s face immediately turns to confusion. “Papa won’t come?”

I shake my head.

Her eyes moisten and her lips quiver.

“Papa needs to come! Lusaia wants to be with Papa and Aunt Marianne!”

“Lusaia… Let me remind you again, I’m not your father.”

With this, it was enough to shut her down.

Lusaia’s head hung low and solemnly, she replies, “Ok…”.

The mood in the air got silent as she stares mindlessly into the floorboard of the carriage.

After some time, I ruffle her hair and got up to leave the carriage.

Glancing back, her mind still seems to be clinging onto the thought that I will never come back.

Hopefully, you’ll get over it soon.