章 154: Date... Of another War.

"Mmm! This is good, try some!" Tiffania says while holding out the kebab stick to Michael as they slowly walk down the street.

Michael smiles, leaning over and biting some meat from the skewer, "Man, that is good! Maybe I should've bought some while we were at the stall?"

"Why? Is yours not good?" Tiffania asks, glancing down at the toasted sandwich he was eating.

He shrugs, "It's alright but, it just reminds me of a shitty attempt at a pizza..." he mutters. The bread was like cooked pizza dough but lacked any flavour, and was so dry that it fell apart in his hands. Not only that, but the tomato sauce was almost raw, the cheese was some incredibly strong goat type, and the pork chunks didn't suit it at all! It was like the most terrible, undercooked calzone you've ever experienced... Yet, it was still better than most of the food he'd had since coming to this world.

"Pizza?" Tiffania asks, curious as Michael never seemed to talk about himself much. She can't help but smile though as his face lights up at the question.

He smirks at her question, "Oh, you've not lived until you've had pizza. One of the most popular foods back... Back from where I lived. You could get them in all sorts of varieties, pepperoni, vegetable, chicken, man, some weirdo's even used mayonnaise as sauce." he quickly explains, his enthusiasm on the subject surprising his companion.

Tiffania nods as she listens, smiling as she takes the occasional bite from her snack, "What other foods were there, have you found any since you left? Maybe in Albion?" she questions.

...

He shakes his head, "Food around here is a bit weird, you've got the ingredients but no one seems to bother importing things. Back in Albion people lacked the spices Germania makes, over here they have spice but lack the vegetables to pair them with... It's like people just want to keep to their own shit and not anything else..." he lets out a sigh.

"As for food back home? Burgers, chocolate, noodles, fried chicken, hell, I'd even go for some fish and chips at this point." he says, finding himself unconsciously salivating at the thought of the food he'd just listed

"Your home sounds nice... Maybe we could visit someday?" she says, causing Michael to laugh due to the absurdity of his situation.

"Ha, I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon." he mutters, having thought about this before. Then again, even if he had to return to an alternate earth, at least he'd still 'technically' be home. "Plus, we'd have to find a way to keep your ears hidden. There aren't any Elves in my home, they're like myths actually, things you'd only read about in stories."

Tiffania glances at him with interest, "Is that so? Am I what you thought an Elf would be like?"

He smirks, "Well, Elves are supposed to be incredibly beautiful, long-lived, powerful, and morally good. So, yeah, you're an elf to me." he says, causing her to blush bright red as she turns away and looks at the ground.

"O-oh... Thank you." she murmurs as she tries to keep herself busy by eating her kebab.

The duo continues to walk through the city in comfortable silence until they reach their destination, a run down building without owners at the edge of town. The city they were currently in was actually called Yumar, the closest Germanian port to Albion.

There were more troops currently stationed here than Michale had ever seen before, so it was obvious they were preparing something... Though, he didn't really mind it as he didn't care about Albion right now... In fact, he'd be happy to have Albion conquered, since they wanted him, Tiffania, and Ralf captured or dead.

They enter the run-down building and spot Ralf sitting in the corner with a serious look on his face. "Good, you two are here. Sit."

"Something up, Ralf? You seem worried." Michael says he sits opposite the man, wondering if they'd have to flee this country like he'd done all the others he'd visited until now.

Ralf just nods, "A civil war has broken out in Tristain, from what I've heard, most Germanian's think they should either help the rebels against the royal family, while others think they should just conquer the place."

"Why are they against the royal family?" Tiffania questions, not having heard much about international news while hiding in her forest cabin.

"It's that letter isn't it? The one that ruined Princess Henrietta's marriage with the Germanian emperor?" Michael asks.

Ralf nods, "The Germanian people take it as an insult that the Tristain Princess would rather pine after Prince Wales instead of her soon-to-be husband, the Emperor. The man himself has not said anything about it, but I cannot imagine he feels anything positive towards the Tristain royal family."

Michael just crosses his arms and shrugs, "So? How does this affect us?" he asks, sure, Louise might get caught up in all of that but she was her own person. She could take care of herself... Probably.

Ralf gestures at him with his thumb, "Did you not plan to go to Tristain's capital? If so, this concerns all of us. Venturing into a city during a civil war will be dangerous. Every visitor will be considered a spy and heavily watched, like how Londinium was, remember?"

Michael shrugs, "We'll manage somehow... I'm more interested in your thoughts on this place, Ralf. Don't you want to go help Albion fight off the Germanian invasion?" he asks, knowing that while the man had denounced Prince Wales and the government, he was still fond of his homeland, even as a wanted criminal.

Ralf shakes his head, "I did what I could for my country, they will survive if it is Brimir's will. For now, my only goal is making sure you two don't die and are strong enough to stay that way after I leave."

"You're leaving?" Tiffania asks, surprised as she thought he'd remain a permanent companion to them.

Ralf nods, "Eventually. Once I'm done teaching you and Michael what you need to know.