Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) V.A. Lewis (feel good books to read .TXT) 📖

try and get some food since I was literally starving. But once again, my efforts had been in vain, and my hard work has produced nothing. Or in other words: there were no fruits to my labor… literally.

It took me about half an hour before I even saw the gravel path that I had departed from; I emerged from the trees, and faces turned to stare at me. There were a lot of people.

Many refugees from Bys had fled the fallen city, and were now trying to enter the neighboring towns and cities for shelter and protection. But people did not like refugees; the last few towns and cities I passed by had already closed their borders. They were only letting in a few hundred to a few thousand people at most, and I had been one of the latecomers, alongside the other people in the road. We were all refugees.

But I was not like them; I was branded as a slave, and the mark on my face was still there. Anyone looking to make some quick gold could just yank me off the streets and sell me to the highest bidder. Obviously, that would be a problem for me, so I had wrapped a piece of cloth around my head, covering the mark— partially obscuring my vision— and tied it tightly.

The best description I had for it was that it was… a headscarf. Like the ones used for religious purposes even until the 21st century; definitely not like the kind of headscarves you saw on workers tilling the fields on a hot and sunny day. So it was safe to say, I stood out a little bit.

This kind of fashion did not exist in this world, or if it did, it was not something you saw around the Free Lands. So in addition to coming off the beaten path like I was Little Red Riding Hood herself, I was dressed like a beaten version of her too. Suffice to say, people stared at me.

I kept my head down, and trudged along the gravel road. Or maybe I was limping. I didn’t know. The pain from my sprained ankle had disappeared, and a numb feeling had taken its place.

I just continued walking down the road until the city appeared in the distance; I blinked and looked up, relief overcoming me as I saw the open gates.

They’re letting people in! They’ll let me in!

I wanted to jump and throw my hands in the air, then sprint straight through the gates and into the city. But I did not. I had no energy to do that; so I had to make do with just imagining it.

There was quite a long queue to enter the city, which I joined and proceeded to make myself as small as possible once again.

I fished into my pockets, and counted the coins I had picked up off the ground in the last week and a half. I had 2 silver and 21 bronze coins, which was quite a lot, but also expected, considering the rush everyone fleeing Bys had been in just after its fall. I could only imagine all the delicious food I could buy with this.

I felt my mouth drooling as I slowly floated my way to the front of the line. Mm, I can finally eat proper food! I didn’t care if the cooking here is incomparable to the refinement of modern earth delicacies— food is food, and I’m hungry.

I let out a sigh of relief as I reached the front of the line; I adjusted my headscarf, and prepared some coins to pay for the entrance fee. Alright, it shouldn’t be more than a single silver coin, so I’ll still have 41 bronze left—

"Three silver."

I blinked.

"What?"

"You heard me, kid. Three silver to enter."

"But— but that’s…"

That’s very expensive. That was probably what the average person in this world made in a month! Well, maybe that was not true for people in richer countries like the Rem Republic or the Xan Empire or the Taw Kingdom; but that was certainly true here in the Free Lands! That’s expensive!

The guard was tapping his fingers impatiently by now, and looked like he was about to yell at me. I quickly spoke up before he could send me away.

"Wait, but I’m a child! Shouldn’t I get a lower price or something?" I sputtered. I desperately looked up at the guard with my best attempt at puppy dog eyes, but the man was unfazed.

"Listen, kid. That is the cost of entry for children. Three silver for kids, and five silver for adults. You don’t like it? Too bad. It’s only there to keep refugees like you from overflowing the city. Now pay up, or get lost." The guard slammed one hand on his desk, and pointed away from the city with his other.

I felt the coins in my fingers, and hesitated. But only for a moment. I looked up at the city before me; it was a place of civilization, and a safe haven from the dangers of nature. And I sighed.

I really hate this world.

Then I forked up the entrance fee, and felt my delicious dinner disappearing from my grasps.

This city… was not big.

It did not have any grand landmarks to define it, nor did it have any impressive fortifications to protect it; its tallest buildings did not come close to a hundred feet, while the city walls stood only 15 foot tall, with only a handful of watch towers littered along its perimeter. Suffice to say, this was a fairly regular city.

I entered the city, and stared around. The first thing I saw was an argument between a man and some guards.

"Are you sure you haven't seen her? She’s a young woman, brown hair, about this tall. She said she would wait here for me."

"I’m sorry,