The chants did not seem to be dying down at all. He had expected it to soon, but, of course that was short cited. He had not expected the people to be so sullen by the affairs of their nation like this. Upon the big crowd, he could see families crying, hugging each other, dancing, and many of them shouting with glee.

It almost could have brought a tear to his eye. For too long, he had assumed just him and the other four were the only ones that were aware of the frail state of their nation. He had believed them to be the only ones truly thinking and pondering its future. He could easily end this speech here, but Alas…. His speech was not done yet.

With a voice that overpowered even that of the crowd, thanks to his magic, everyone heard. “I’d like to introduce to you our new king! His Majesty, KING AZER!!!”

“KING AZER!!!!”

“ALL HAIL KING AZZEERRR!!!!”

“LONG MAY HE REIGN!!!”

“OUR HOPES AND SPIRITS UP TO THE KING!!”

An indiscriminate mount of shouts continued the entire night.

“And now… with this speech… WE GIVE THANKS TO OUR HEROES!!”

Everyone cheered yet again. Lusha was overwhelmed by this display. It wasn’t like war. You see, after the strongest shouts and cheers, this would usually tire soldiers and warriors out. The way this was going it seemed as if the people had unlimited energy.

That’s when she became first amazed. “.... what is this…”

Several projectiles flew into the sky, and from their height in the clouds, they exploded. Colors of all kinds pour from them, dotting the skies with their beauty. She was so captivated, that the cheers, which turned louder, simply faded out of existence.

“It’s… not magic… there’s no signature... . yet…- it’s beautiful.”

Every so often has she been completely enamored by the advancements of the new world. In fact, at that moment… there was a thought that resonated deep within her. “This world…. Is beautiful.”

Multiple torrents of projectiles flew into the sky, shaping the world in all different colors. She merely remained stuck observing them, disassociating with the world around her. Every now and then, they would change the projectiles to different colors. The skies would be dotted with words, with poems, with literature and culture, and even imagery. 

All of it was made by very calculated science and technology. Not a single trace of magic guiding them. For the first time in many centuries, the smile on her face was truly genuine. Perhaps she’d even cry if she had it in her anymore.

She broke away from her illusion and looked over to her allies. Grodd was completely captivated by the view. For sure, he had never seen anything like this. There’s a doubt any goblin has even remotely seen anything like this.

Her eyes trailed to Rinn, who was enjoying the ambience whole heartedly. As she smiled, it was the first time one could say she was genuinely happy. Rinn… at this moment, encountered the true meaning of the world’s beauty for the first time.

Her teary eyes met Lusha’s and she smiled, looking back at the thousands of lights they launched into the sky. 

This festival and its show went on for hours. They were to launch around 450,000 fire works. Each one for every soldier that had died within the civil war. At some point Lusha had lost interest in remaining watching the show, but for sure, Rinn and Grodd were completely enamored. They stood in the same spot like idiots, just staring at the skies while everyone around them moved and conversed.

Lusha yawned. There were many stores out displaying their wares and food. “Maybe I should surprise them with a bit of food as well.” 

Something particularly caught her eye. It appeared during this era, food had advanced greatly. They even managed to capture clouds in place. She pondered on how that was even possible and walked over to the stand selling it.

“Hey there, child, what kind of cotton candy will you be getting today?”

Lusha resisted, yet again, the urge to slap the man for treating him like a child. Though, to be fair, she had to wait by quite the line of children before it was her turn. She clicked her tongue. “

“Give me three of whatever that thing is.”

“Eh?? Is there a flavor you’d prefer?”

“Any flavor would do. I’ve never seen them before… so I don’t actually know how they taste.”

“Y-you’re not from around here kid are you?”

Lusha glared daggers at the man. “What does that matter. I want my clouds.”

“Of course right away, kid.” The man turned around and grabbed several of the clouds on a stick. “Youth these days.” He sighed.

“That’ll be 9.15”

“Um… how do I pay with one of these?” she handed the man her adventurers tag. This took him aback by quite a bit. A child with an adventurers tag…. A steel one nonetheless.

“I-...I’ll just take that here real quick.” He took the tag, dipped it in some sort of ink and stamped a sheet of paper with her signature tag on it.

“Ahhh… I get it. So it's like a check system. They must bill these forms to the adventurers guild periodically to collect the amount owed.”

“Thank you, sir.” She took a bite of the weird candy and instantly stopped a couple steps after she turned away. “W-...what is this?” 

“IT'S SO GOOD!!!!”  The excitement one must get when discovering a new color, had nothing on this. This was a taste that she never thought possible. The flavor, the taste, the texture, the way it melts from solid to liquid in your mouth. She was absolutely enamored.

She quickly made her way back to Grodd and Rinn, who were still completely entranced by the clouds. They ignored everything she was saying. She had to practically shove the candy in front of Grodd's face to have him react.

“Hmm? Why do you carry the sky?”

“Just try it… trust me.”

The maddening look in her eye was unsettling, but Grodd eventually took it and bit onto it. Only to quickly begin devouring the whole thing. “This… where did you humans learn this?”

He was about to snatch the other one in Lusha’s hand before she quickly evaded the maneuver. “Nehhh, this one’s for Rinn.”

She nudged Rinn’s shoulders. “Heyy, Rinn… try this.” 

“Hmm? Rinn?”

“Hey, Rinn.”

Rinn finally turned to look down on her. “....Y-yeah?”

Tears filled her face, as streams rolled down her cheeks. The eyes she had were that of her old self. Not that of one that was shocked by the beauties of the world. Even that was apparent in Lusha’s face.

“.... why…. Are you- crying?”

She sniffled and tried to wipe her eyes, only for new, fresh tears to continue obscuring her vision. “I-..”

“What is it… spit it out Rinn?”

“Just… its just that… that child… he’s very scared.”

She pointed at the newly anointed king. The child was drowned in cheers and praise…. Yet, he had not moved from the spot where he was originally introduced. In fact, he had not moved at all. One could easily have mistaken him for a statue.

The eyes were that of someone that had seen shock and stress for years. She would definitely know, she had performed certain acts on people for quite a while. Why would someone be so horrified?

It was unsettling, yes. “Perhaps… he’s just nervous about becoming the king?” Lusha still held the cloud candy in front of her face.

“N-no… it’s a terror I’ve never seen before…. I’ve been scared this whole time… from what he’s scared of.”

She knew her perception ability into emotions was a great mountain stretch away from normal people, but she wasn’t sure exactly what the child meant. 

“What do you mean?”

“He’s scared…. His eyes tell me….-” Her voice caught in her throat.

“E..veryone.. Is going to…. D-die.”