Chapter 1028: Rirenal’s Version Of Orakha’s Checkpoint
"Where...am I?" Moihala muttered as she flinched in shock to hear a blazing horn resound near her as something strange, probably a carriage, sped past in a blur.
"Watch where you’re going, loser!" Stretching his head out of a carriage was a man with a strange tattoo covering one side of his face. As he peeked out, his spiky hair fluttered with the wind. He flashed a middle finger at Moihala, honked loudly a few more times, and went his way.
"A carriage? What’s that?" She stared at the car that had sped past her. She didn’t know what the tattooed man’s actions meant. However, she felt offended somehow and raised her hand, causing it to turn a shade of black.
She stopped herself upon noticing someone standing behind her. She turned around and gasped in surprise, "You...I know you."
Standing before her now was a middle-aged man with hair trimmed at the sides, and slightly greased along the top. He had a slightly wider face, with some baby fat along the cheeks and a thinner chin.
He had loose muscles in his arms, a result of a lack of exercise and proper diet. However, he didn’t have a pot belly, so that meant he was at least fit. Dressed from head to toe in a blazer, he adjusted his coat and smiled at Moihala, "Hello, you know me?"
"Yes...grandfather?" Moihala stated with hesitation, since she had never seen the individual before him in a conscious state, "Where are we?"
"I don’t think there’s a city like this in the Brimgan Empire."
Seeing her address him as grandfather, a complicated expression flashed in his eyes for an instant before curling up into a gentle demeanour, "Right, I am your grandfather."
"And," He patted Moihala on the head gently, "Welcome to Earth."
"This is Earth?" She looked around before coughing, "It’s...polluted."
"Well..." Orakha smiled wryly and pointed behind her, "We are on the road during the morning rush hour."
"What is a morning rush hour?" Moihala asked as she was pulled away from the road by Orakha. She observed the clothes worn by the people and eyed many workers in short skirts, "Does Earth have a lot of poor people?"
"They aren’t poor." Orakha chuckled, "That’s just the dressing fashion here."
"Oh..." She didn’t seem interested in clothes beyond that. She was raised in the Brimgan Empire, in the palace at that. Her common sense was completely different, and even though Orakha said otherwise, seeing most of the populace wear casual, simple clothes, she pitied them for not having enough.
"How am I here, Grandfather?" She asked next.
"You’re in my mind," Orakha smiled as he snapped his finger. A luxurious car stopped next to him immediately, as a chauffeur walked out to open the door for him.
"Your mind? How?" Moihala tilted her head, "Also, how are you fine, Grandfather? Mother always struggled to cure you, but you always remained unresponsive."
"I apologise for that." Orakha led Moihala into the luxurious car and closed the door. He sat next to her and nodded at the chauffeur as the car began to ply the road.
"I...don’t see him using Prana." Moihala commented upon observing for a few seconds, "How is he driving this carriage then?"
"The principle is different. It’ll take me a while to explain everything." Orakha relaxed and picked up a cigar. A second later, he placed it back in a nearby tray upon seeing Moihala stared at him curiously.
"You...look different than from my memory of you." Moihala stared at Orakha from top to bottom, "Your hair is dark brown now, not ivory. Your skin tone is pale, you’re chubbier, you seem a lot older, and most of all..."
A moment’s hesitation later, she commented, "You look weak."
The Orakha before her seemed weaker than the Orakha in a vegetative state she had seen all these years.
"So, I still look somewhat like the Orakha you know?" Orakha’s eyes lit up at her words as he traced his face with his fingers, "That’s...good."
"That’s...good."
"Where are we going now? And most of all," Moihala asked, "How and why am I here?"
"I will explain," Orakha said and grew silent. For hours, the interior of the car was silent. Moihala distracted herself with the scenery outside, mentally thinking about how there were too many people cramped in a small area.
Soon, the car began to head to the outskirts of the city, which is where Moihala started to notice something strange. The city began to grow thin, as sections of it seemed to have gotten lost.
Like a game map where only the explored places were visible while the rest was immersed in darkness, the city stretched before her.
As the car moved farther, the only visible part was the road and a portion of the land alongside the road. Rest was fully immersed in darkness, and as they got to this part, Orakha began to speak, "Only the parts in my memories have been constructed here. The rest are just darkness."
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