Liberation of The Slaves

Chapter 74 – Beyond the Reincarnators’ Memories

— Freed’s POV —

I woke up... feeling soft and warm on my back.

I blinked and stared up at the ceiling. It wasn’t cracked. It wasn’t stained. It didn’t leak water or dust onto my face. The wooden beams above me looked sturdy, clean, and well-maintained—like someone had actually cared when they built it.

Not like the shack I used to sleep in. The ceiling back there had more holes than solid wood, and the wind always whistled through like it was mocking us.

My brows furrowed.

Why was the ceiling... neat?

I turned my head to the side, expecting to see the usual rows of exhausted, dirty kids and men crammed onto the floor like cattle—just like every other morning.

But what I saw was...

Silver.

A cascade of silver hair, softly glowing in the early morning light. Smooth skin. Delicate features. Long eyelashes. Slightly parted lips. A peaceful expression that looked like it belonged in a painting—not in reality.

She was sleeping.

Right next to me.

I stared at her.

She didn’t have bruises. Or scars. Or filth smeared across her skin. She looked... clean. Almost unreal—like a princess from a fairytale. Like the embodiment of innocence wrapped in a pair of soft white pajamas.

For a long second, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.

I looked back up at the ceiling.

Back at her.

Back at the ceiling.

<“...Huh?”>

It didn’t make sense.

It made less than sense.

I blinked hard.

Rubbed my eyes.

She was still there.

Still sleeping.

Still princess-like.

“Whoaaa—!”

*THUNK!*

I tried to escape the bed, but in my panic, I flung myself backward and slammed into the wooden wall. My spine cried out in protest.

“Guuuh—!!”

I flopped onto the bed like a stunned fish, clutching my head in agony.

“Mmm…?” Her soft voice drifted up as she stirred.

No. No no no. Please don’t wake up. Please let this be a dream—

“Oh, you’ve woken up?” she said groggily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

I froze.

My eyes shot open.

She was looking at me now.

Golden eyes. Bright. Gentle. Curious.

Also, pajama top slipping off one shoulder.

My heart stopped.

Her white pajamas were cute and modest, but the way she had slept made the fabric droop—revealing her smooth collarbone and just a peek of her cleavage.

My soul tried to eject from my body.

Wait—WAIT WAIT WAIT.

I was in bed with a beautiful girl.

I didn’t know her.

She was wearing pajamas.

I was in my old ragged clothes.

She said “you’ve woken up” like this was normal.

I looked like a criminal.

What happened!?

“W-Where am I!?” I blurted, pressing myself against the wall like it could absorb me.

She tilted her head, golden eyes half-lidded. “Hmm? You don’t remember?”

Why are you saying it like that!? That makes it sound even worse!

I shook my head wildly. “N-No!”

She blinked at me. “Well... that’s understandable. You’ve been sleeping for three days.”

“THREE DAYS!?” I screeched.

“Un. What’s the last thing you remember?”

I furrowed my brow, putting a hand to my forehead as I tried to reboot my memories.

“Ugh... it’s when a Red Wolf tried to eat me alive, and then a beautiful knight saved me... That’s all I remember.”

She smiled, raising a hand lightly to her mouth.

“Oh my, am I that beautiful?”

My thoughts collapsed.

HUH!?

Her expression was calm, graceful, and... just a little too proud.

I stared at her in disbelief.

No way. That knight was cool and gallant and amazing... But she—she’s like a dainty princess!

I looked again.

Silver hair.

Golden eyes.

Delicate features.

My mouth fell open. “A-Are you... the one who saved me?”

She nodded lightly. “Un.”

I stared at her as the pieces slowly clicked together. That knight and this girl... were the same person.

“Hmm…” She pondered, tapped her cheek and muttered. “So you forgot the rest, huh…”

W-What exactly did I forget!?

“Maybe it’s the side effect of using teleportation for the first time.” She continued her mutters. “I remember my first time using teleportation made me feel dizzy too.”

My face flushed when our gazes met.

“Well, after I saved you, I used a teleportation scroll. We came here and I cleaned you up. And then you ate so vigorously.”

My entire body tensed.

Cleaned me up...? Ate... vigorously?

I looked down at my body.

Still in my tattered clothes... but—

I looked up.

Her pajama sleeve slipped slightly again.

Oh no.

It looked like she’d just barely thrown it on.

Oh no oh no oh no.

Wait, hold on! Let’s try to think it over again.

She cleaned me.

We shared a bed.

Her clothes are kind of messed up.

And she said I “ate vigorously!?”

OH NO.

My brain launched every alarm it had. My face flushed crimson. Steam might’ve been coming out of my ears.

Did I do something in my sleep?!

“U-U-Umm... C-Could you clarify what you meant by ‘cleaned up’ and ‘ate vigorously’!?” I stammered, backing up into the headboard like a cornered animal.

“Hm?” She looked at me, blinking innocently, clearly having no idea what kind of thoughts were whirling in my head. “Oh, you were all covered in blood and dirt, so I cleaned you up with clean magic. Then you ate the food I made like a starving beast. You were like ‘om nom nom nom nom!’”

She even mimicked my eating with both hands like a squirrel gnawing on nuts.

But her sleeve slid even lower in the process, and I—

“A-A-A-AHHH!! Y-Y-Your CLOTHES!!” I turned my whole body away and slapped both hands over my eyes.

“Eh?” She looked down. “Ah—whoops.” She casually pulled her pajama sleeve back up.

“There’s nothing to panic over. It’s not like I sleep naked or anything,” she added.

D-Don’t say it like that!! That makes it worse!!

I screamed internally.

“S-S-So nothing weird happened!? You didn’t—you didn’t undress me or anything, right!?” I asked as I turned my body again to look at her.

She stared at me, baffled. “Huh? No. Why would I do that?”

I slapped a hand over my eyes and groaned into my palm.

Why does everything sound worse when she says it so innocently!?

Then she leaned in, eyes twinkling. “Oh~ I get it now. You’re an Otherworlder, right? So even though your body’s a kid, your brain is like, what, twenty-something?”

I flinched.

“You were totally thinking something perverted, weren’t you?”

She grinned like a cat catching a canary.

“I—I mean—No! Well—Yes! But not like that!!”

I scrambled back again, grabbing the blanket and yanking it over my head like a shield.

She laughed, thoroughly entertained. “Fufu~ You’re fun.”

“I’m traumatized,” I muttered from under the blanket.

She leaned forward again, her eyes sparkling with mischievous amusement. “Aww, are you embarrassed?”

I froze, my face turning bright red. I pushed her shoulder gently to put some distance between us, trying to calm the panic rising within me.

“And besides…” I muttered, barely audible, “If I really did something to you, I’d rather die than face someone who saved my life…”

“Oh, relax,” she said with a smirk. “If you’d tried anything, I would’ve roasted you like a festival pig and stuck a sign on you that says ‘Extra Crispy Pervert.’”

I flinched. “Not that I was going to—but that’s oddly specific!?”

“Don’t worry,” she said with a wink. “You were cute so I won’t burn you.”

She’s doing this on purpose now!

“W-Well, if you already know I’m an adult... why did you let me sleep on your bed...?” I stammered, half-expecting to be smacked across the face for thinking such thoughts.

She blinked at me with a completely innocent expression.

“Oh, well... there's only one bedroom in my house. I wasn’t going to let a kid sleep on the floor. But I’m not the kind of person who’d sacrifice my comfort for others either... And this bed is large enough for both of us, so... I slept on the bed too.” She shrugged and then coughed, a soft but very audible “Cough... cough…”

She covered her mouth with her hand quickly, but a drop hit my cheek.

I wiped it off with my hand.

<“Huh…?”>

It’s warm and sticky.

When I checked my hand…

It’s red.

That wasn’t saliva, it was blood!

“B-Blood!?” I lunged forward. “Hey! Hey, are you okay!?”

She waved me off with her usual carefree attitude, getting up and walking toward the small desk nearby. She fished a handkerchief from a drawer and wiped her mouth with practiced ease.

When she turned back, her expression softened.

“Haha. You just saw something unsightly.”

Unsightly, she says. As if bleeding internally is just... a minor aesthetic issue.

I stared at her, heart thudding. “That’s not unsightly, that’s worrying! What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She waved her hand casually. “I’m just so excited to meet an Otherworlder, I guess I got a bit carried away.”

I wasn’t convinced, but she wasn’t willing to elaborate. The awkwardness hung in the air, and she quickly changed the topic. Without even bothering to turn the chair around, she sat down on it, resting her chin on the backrest and looking at me.

She clapped her hands lightly, breaking the lingering awkwardness. “Anyway! We haven’t even introduced ourselves properly. What’s your name?”

“Uh... Freed,” I replied, still mentally catching up from the chaos earlier.

She shook her head, amused. “No, no. I already know that. I meant your real name—your name from your past life. How old were you? Where are you from?”

That caught me off guard.

No one had ever asked me that before. I’d never brought it up, and no one ever pushed. But... maybe it was okay to say it now. Aza hadn’t warned me against it, so it should be fine.

I took a breath. “My name was Bintang Sentosa. I lived on a world called Earth. My country was Indonesia, on the continent of Asia. I died in a car accident... when I was 25.”

That should be enough, right?

Her eyes lit up. “Oooh! So your world had cars too!?”

“U-Uhh, yeah...” I scratched the back of my head. “Wait. Too? Don’t tell me you…”

“Yep.” She grinned. “I’m a reincarnator too. My past world was called Zela.”

As expected, she’s an Otherworlder too. If I remember correctly, the Otherworlder title remains concealed during appraisal by native inhabitants but is revealed when appraised by fellow otherworlders.

But still… Zela… That’s a name I’ve never heard before.

<”Aza?”>

【Searching for the information...】

【Partial result obtained.】

【Zela is a world similar to Earth. No concept of mana. Technological level is comparable to Earth, though their military development is slightly more advanced. However, unlike Earth, which has achieved some peace, Zela has been embroiled in continuous global warfare for over a thousand years. The last known major war was nine years ago, and it’s unlikely the world has stabilized since then.】

<“A world still stuck in endless war…”> I thought, frowning.

Honestly, I was lucky. Earth had its own problems, sure—but I’d lived in relative peace. No constant war. No villages or cities burned for resources.

...Unlike this world.

Just like my own village, raided—villagers kidnapped, lives destroyed. And now I was here, in this quiet house, still trying to wrap my head around how all these worlds connected.

As I mulled over it, she suddenly said, “By the way, my name in Zela was Helen Calytrix.”

I looked up at her.

She gave a soft smile—bittersweet.

“I was a princess back home,” she said, her voice gentle. “Also a vice-commander during the last major war. At 23 years old, I... died in battle, fighting beside my husband. He was a commander.”

Her tone had shifted—no longer playful or teasing.

Just quiet.

Her eyes turned toward the ceiling, lost in something far away. “I had a son... he was about two years old when I died.” Her smile faded as her voice dropped to a whisper. “Seeing you brings him to mind. I wonder if he’d look like you now... grown up.”

There was a long pause. She closed her eyes, maybe trying to remember his face. Maybe afraid she'd already forgotten.

I swallowed. My chest felt heavy.

“I’m... sorry if my presence reminds you of him. Umm… Sister Calytrix?”

That snapped her out of it. She turned to me and scowled like I’d just insulted her tea.

“Oi. What’s with the formal tone? In this world, sure, there’s an age gap—but in our past lives, you were older than me. Just call me by my name.”

Her past clearly meant a lot to her. I could feel the weight in her voice, even when she tried to cover it up with casualness.

But I understood.

I missed my past life too.

My family back on Earth. My parents. My sister.

And here… in this world, I had Sissy. Sis Celes. And my new parents.

Had.

I lowered my gaze.

They were gone now. I couldn’t see them anymore.

All of them.

Just like her husband and child.

Now, it was just the two of us. Two people from different worlds. Different lives. Brought together by fate, or chance, or whatever twisted logic this world followed.