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"Look at this, Espresso ! This is marvelous, simply marvelous ... All of this, the buildings, the decorations, the plants ... It's all so close to our dear home, yet it so different... Unique ! Ah, how wonderful it is to witness the roots of our own culture by our own two eyes ! What do you think ?"
"... I don't care"
The paladin frowned as he looked back at his friend right before looking down the airship once more.
"Can't you smile a little for once ? We are direct witnesses of the rebirth of an antique kingdom, one that is the root of the civilisation we grew in ! Doesn't that make you even slightly interested ?"
"No, it doesn't. Everything here is outdated and ancient. Plus, we are here for political business, not as tourists."
This mission was of the highest importance, and both of them knew it. The fate of the entire world was in their hands, perhaps that their presence might become a decisive aspect of the relationship between the republic and the vanilla kingdom. Madeleine was absolutely astounded to see how much this kingdom had to bring. The population was happy despite all of the things they went through, magic was everywhere and obviously, the man couldn't help but admire everything about this place. It touched him to the deepest point. As for Espresso ... Well, sadly, the Wizard wasn't as enthusiastic about it. Madeleine tried to help him cheer up but with little to no results.
During their entire day together, the paladin has tried to cheer him up. While he gasped at every single new thing he saw, he could feel that the wizard was just getting even more tense and angry. It was as if he wasn't even happy to be here. He should've been at least proud to be the one chosen to help everyone in his country ! But ... It didn't feel like it.
When the day finally ended, the two of them got back in their room. The crow's den wasn't especially spacious and they had to share a same place to sleep. Madeleine was a little excited about it, but ... He at least wished he could see his friend smile while he was here.
"Hey Espresso ... What's wrong ?"
"Tch. It's not like you could even care about that. You just spent the entire day talking to yourself and yourself only about how much you loved this Kingdom."
"Can't you even try to see the bright side of things, just this once ? Look, it's-"
"Shut up Madeleine."
"..."
"No, I don't want to hear about this place. It's here that the war started, and we're currently trying to prevent another one from happening. I don't want to see outdated technologies simply because they look nice. We need concrete weapons and allies. You're thinking about yourself, and yourself only. Like always."
"I was trying to show you things I thought you might appreciate ... This kingdom ... Is a part of us too !"
"Of course it is to YOU. You're a direct descendant of the Pure Vanilla kingdom. You can see what your ancestors built and feel happy about it. But guess what ? I can't. The coffee tribe has been eradicated from this earth by Dark Enchantress. THAT was MY culture. The things I liked. I've struggled to find descendants like me, to find any kind of art, runes, no, any kind of item made by the ones that were supposed to teach me. It was all burned to the ground, and the last few survivors just scattered around the world to find places to survive. But it's easier to say that the world is bright because this kingdom somehow managed to survive. I'm trying to fight against another tragedy that might come sooner than we think. You're just being childish and full of yourself. Like always."
"You wanted to like it too, don't you ?"
The two froze for a bit. Espresso sighed to hide a sob before hugging his knees. Madeleine shook his head, sat down next to his friends and gently held his hand.
"I just found it weird that you don't like this place. You always tell everyone about how pretty our Republic is."
"... It's difficult to think of this place as anything but a painful reminder that we could've had the same luck as this stupid kingdom. And now, with the war coming, we're probably going to face the same thing with our own home. What are we going to do if it gets destroyed ..?"
"It won't. Because I will be here to protect us !! The light is on our side, Espresso ! Nothing can stop us, I know it !"
Espresso smiled as he rolled his eyes watching the man already taking his sword and Shields and posing as if he was already in battle.