Colden Town was located at the border of the neighboring Micara country, which was about a three to four-hour drive from Freisa City, the nearest city from the borders.

Once again, Naia took the window seat, taking in as much of the scenery as she could. This time, the view was mostly urbanized at first, slowly reducing to suburban, and then it was rural and mostly forest areas and farms.

Country borders were generally like this, according to Nadia’s memories. The farming areas were like bufferzones and having cities right next to the borders was extremely rare unless it predated the border or it was a major trade crossing.

Micara country and their Danian Republic were in a peaceful relationship, so the borders weren’t too strict. She considered heading there as an illegal visitor (unless she recovered her ID or something) to get her guns. She was already at the borders, anyway.

Unlike Danian, which had strict gun laws, Micara allowed anyone who met the criteria to hold a gun to have one. So even the border towns should have a decent amount of hot weapon stores requiring minimal identification.

Sadly, the minimum ID was in the form of a passport. Not to mention, the criteria were only easy for most of their citizens, not foreigners, as the paperwork required proof of residency and being 21 years of age.

Neither of which she had yet. She might have to resort to stealing.

Illegal entry and stealing. Heh.

If grandma knew, would she have a heart attack?

That said, if the guns were easily obtainable in various shops, then there should also be plenty of underground sources that only needed money.

She pondered on this while on the trip. Unlike the jade mine up North, she was more open to sneaking around in the West because she was already in the borders and might not need a local’s assistance to find her way.

She neared the destination before she knew it. The fields thinned into scrub, then to low buildings that spread outwards. Upon entry, they saw some commercial and utility lots, like gas stations, convenience stores, and so on, running parallel to the highway.

The bus station seemed to be in this development, too. She—along with about a dozen others—disembarked. This was the final stop for this bus route, and was also the last bus terminal in this area.

There was a motel here that most visitors checked in. It didn’t look very nice, but it was enough.

She had checked Doogle Maps, and the lot was in an undeveloped area at the edge of town. To head there, she’d have to use her motorcycle. For now, she went to walk along the streets and observe the place a bit more, and then find a hidden place to summon her motorcycle.

To most people, walking along a rural town was boring and thankless. There was nothing to see for them. However, to Naia, it was all novel. No matter how banal, every trip was akin to sightseeing for her.

She wished she were transported a few years earlier. Maybe she could’ve traveled the world...

She had access to the internet and had seen a lot of content related to other countries. But, right now, she didn’t even have a passport. She hoped that Houser’s case would reach the next stage.

This way, even if he didn’t get the final sentence yet (that could take months to years), the charges were still solid against him, and that his punishment wouldn’t be reduced just because she was alive.

She’d have to act like a proper victim, though. Should she break a few of her bones when the time came?

As she mused, she passed through rows of workshops and warehouses that abutted the roads. She soon passed one of the residential areas as well.

The town did not have special resources, and its economy was fueled by people traveling from either country. After all, the nearest City (Freisa) was a few hours away from their side, while on Micara’s side it was even farther away.

She soon found a street without proper CCTV coverage, walked around a few more times, and only then did she take out her motorcycle.

She drove around for a while before heading to her destination. She headed out under the sunny skies. She peacefully exited the town, and she had to admit her run was a bit leisurely.

She was literally going around like she was in a tourist attraction.

Whenever she saw something she didn’t think she had in her space, like a cute shrub with tiny flowers, or a pretty bougainvillea vine, she’d take some of it to plant in her space.

Soon, the houses became sparser and sparser, and the road lost a few lanes, with a few potholes that seemed to be a few years old. Soon, the road ended, and she knew she’d have to go on foot from this point on.

For the most part.

She practiced her ’blink’ skills here and there. Her space wasn’t that big yet, so she just used it when there were big obstructions like large tree trunks or stones.

She also had a machete on hand. This was to clear paths for herself as well as a weapon against wild animals, which she hadn’t encountered so far.

True to the documentaries, most animals were afraid of humans and tended to avoid them. Even if they weren’t, she wasn’t afraid. The current her had no problem dealing with big men and medium-sized predators. For the big ones, with her blink skills and her space, she should be able to outrun them at least.

After some time, she looked at her phone map and calculated the remaining distance she had to walk on foot in. She had less than a kilometer left to walk in, which was good enough for her.

"I should be nearby now..." she muttered. She stopped talking at some point, and then she heard some rustles.

The first thought that came to mind was wild animals. She lifted her machete, prepared for a fight. Unexpectedly, the rustles grew more intense, and she realized there were many smaller animals passing through, as if avoiding something.

She soon realized what they had been running away from.

Broooom!

Her eyebrows rose. There were people here?