It turns out everyone lives in different parts of Prague; Ingri actually lives in a village twenty kilometres away. We first stop by Erik's place and wait for him to pack. I feel uneasy without him—do I crave him that badly or is it because I feel so vulnerable right now?—but he's really quick about it. Unlike me, he knows perfectly well where his things are.
"What about your work?" I realise.
"I have lots of unused holiday," he says. "I've never had a reason to take it. Now I do."
"You're sacrificing your precious off days for me."
"Don't be ridiculous, you're the best reason."
Fefnir takes much longer. We wait for him in the car outside of his university dormitory. When he comes back with two camping bags, he looks pissed.
"My flat-mates are jerks," he grunts. "They know that I play Draconia so they treated me as if I was infectious or something. If that's how they treat me now, how is the world going to react to us when people find out the whole truth?"
At last, we arrive at Ingri's place. Her parents have a traditional rural house with a huge garden. They greet their daughter on the porch; Ingri's luggage is already prepared because she called her mom in advance. They keep hugging her and talking for several minutes. They must really love her. At least someone has a nice family.
The trunk is overstuffed now. It's fortunate that Liana chose such a spacious model or five people with baggage wouldn't be able to fit.
"Are your parents gardeners?" Liana asks.
"My Dad is a botanist, my Mom designs gardens," Ingri says and keeps my cactus on her lap. "I love plants too, obviously. That's why I chose to play as an Earthborn in the first place."
"Makes sense. Scared of becoming a plant yourself?" Fefnir asks bluntly.
"Fefnir, don't be a prick," Liana reproaches him.
"What? I just prefer direct questions," he shrugs.
"Actually, I'm not," Ingri replies calmly. "There was an initial shock but when I felt Aefener's cactus, something in me moved. I look forward to being able to connect to nature even if it means my body is going to change significantly. And we're not plants, geez! We just overtake certain vegetal characteristics that are beneficial for us. Why is it so difficult for other races to comprehend?"
"The Earthborn are quite peculiar," I explain to Erik. "The simplest definition would describe them as genetic engineers. They can analyze genetic information and alter their bodies."
We finally depart. I'd prefer to clinch to Erik and not push my hurting back unnecessarily but Liana insists on seat belts again. This time for a different reason.
"I don't want to be stopped by the police for some nonsense," she says. "The world is panicking and the EU government might want to control the movement between states."
She has a point so I stop arguing with her. The pain in my back is getting worse and worse but I take another painkiller and the cushion helps too.
When we finally leave the extended Prague district and hit the highway to Germany, I fall asleep on Erik's shoulder, comfortable under a warm blanket.
*****
"Ryuu, wake up," Erik gently shakes me.
"W-what?" I blink, perplexed where we are.
"We're here. You've been sleeping the whole journey," he explains.
"C-cold," I shiver. "Oooh, I need the bathroom!"
YOU ARE READING
Draconia Offline vol. 1
FantasyHave you ever loved a videogame so much that you wished you were somehow magically transported into it? Tough luck, this isn't your typical isekai story where the protagonist ends up in a different world. The videogame becomes the new reality in thi...
