An Extra’s POV

Esme ended up building strongholds for the people in those settlements and teaching them a few things they could use to develop their lands.

She aided in their agriculture, helped to defeat the Monsters that terrorized them, and solved a lot of their crisis; both internal and external.

The process was long and arduous—hence the reason for her late arrival.

"You should have seen them, Rey. They looked so miserable…"

To say his heart ached upon hearing all about what Esme witnessed would be an understatement.

"I… always thought I was helping all of humanity by siding with the Alliance. But, I guess I was wrong." He mumbled.

"I was only helping some."

"Yeah. From what I heard, the Alliance doesn't even bother with these small regions. I find that to be very distasteful." Esme's face darkened even further as she frowned.

"The people in charge here… I despise them."

"Is that why you barged in and caused such a commotion? You didn't care about them?" Rey chuckled as he sat on the bed, right beside her.

"It's not funny, Rey. The people out there were suffering greatly, yet the Alliance that's meant to be aiding humanity sat by and did nothing!"

"No, Esme. You're being a little too shortsighted." Rey sighed, finally settling in on the bed, crossing his legs as he sat up.

"What?"

"We still have insufficient information to blame the Alliance for the suffering of those people."

"Did you not hear a word that I said? Those people were—!"

"I did. I heard you quite well. And I understand that those people have been through rather unfortunate times."

"Then—!"

"It, in no way, means the United Human Alliance is at fault here." Rey sighed.

The United Human Alliance was—at its core—an amalgamation of different countries and cultures. When the war of the Dragons came, they gathered their strength together to fight.

"So it only follows that the Nations you saw were excluded from the amalgamation—either of their own accord, or due to their inability to reach the standards of an alliance."

you

said the United Human Alliance is doing nothing to help them, but is that

"Y-yeah. I mean…"

is currently fighting in the war against the Dragons?" Rey asked, his

"…"

question. Perhaps because she already

war, and to do that they need all the help they can get. It makes no logical sense that they would ignore potential fighting

twisted the moment she heard Rey refer to the very people she saved—the ones who suffered before her eyes—as the

"Re, you—"

how they were helpless against the might of the Dragons, while the Alliance was better off. They said all those things, presenting themselves to

story that suited their narrative. As long as Ingroup bias existed, the way their perspective would be shoved into a potentially neutral scenario would often

those people unless, for some reason, they

few

possible that

the ultimate power they had as the ruler of

it was better to rule in

to me? I don't think so, Rey. I can see their Alignments,

they refused. The people were perhaps fed another narrative,

leaders

crisis, it's possible that the previous leaders who were approached with the deal and refused are

silent

yet to disappear, but she was also not

that the victims she rescued were perhaps not as innocent as she thought. And even if some were, if the narrative they fed her was wrong, then the Alliance

hidden motives I am unaware of. There's also the fact that they hid the information about those other Nations from us as Otherworlders—which

other Nations were uncooperative, and the Alliance itself was in

group that was actively fighting

bad taste in my mouth…' His eye narrowed

Alliance in front of Esme, he didn't like the fact that he

logic clashed with his

great evil that is the Dragon Scourge. I'm not saying the framework is perfect. No, it's far from that. There are many unsavory parts about them. Still… we can't blame

Rey, the solution I offered

these people for over a decade could not

week in each settlement, so it wasn't like she

the fault of their leaders that they weren't able to join the Alliance and enjoy its benefits, I don't want to sit by and

both hands on Esme's shoulders and

don't want

met once again—a mix of red and blue, reflecting in

They both smiled.