"You wish to be granted the knowledge of this world? Fret not! Yours truly shall enlighten you upon the facts which lay buried in history!"
Eirlys stood dramatically on a small stool with her fist in the air. She then flamboyantly spun around and pointed at me and Aylin.
"What is it that you wish to bring to light? Yes! You! Salmon!"
Confused, I pointed my index finger towards myself, asking if she was speaking to me.
"Who else am I directing my finger at?" she said, a bit frustrated.
I looked behind me to see if anyone was sitting there.
"THERE IS NO ONE BEHIND YOU! Gosh, younglings these days have no respect for their elders."
"Psst… says the one who is only two years older."
"HEY! I'M STILL OLDER, I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT!" She put her hands onto her hips and then declared that she wouldn't enlighten us if we didn't respect her time.
Lilith tried to calm her down, and that's when she finally sat down on the opposite side of the sofa with her arms crossed and legs on the table.
I finally asked her a question, and that's when her expression stopped being so tense. I inquired about the revolution in Wien, and to my surprise, the person I thought was an airhead started to actually talk a lot of sense.
"A few hundred years ago, the country of Wien was ruled by this very big, mean stonefish. It was a kingdom fueled by riches and gems. Far to the east lay the ever-growing Luvian kingdom, and the country we live in currently, Fukviyu. Fukviyu had been a military powerhouse for centuries and threatened the sovereignty of Wien. The reason they wanted to seize Wien was due to those resources that the world needed so badly. But the eastern kingdom couldn't just accept Fukviyu growing in authority. The Wienian king at that time feared an invasion by the Fukviyu king and signed an alliance with the Luvian kingdom. With Luvian military presence in Wien, the Fukviyu king was obviously enraged. It was as if your greatest enemy had just set up base in your backyard. He saw this alliance as an escalation, and historians say that the Fukviyu kingdom staged an incident that killed a few civilians. With that, Fukviyu declared war on the Luvian Empire on the premise of liberating Wien.
But in that chaos, the king was secretly assassinated by a Fukviyu sympathizer. Thinking quickly, the Luvian Empire set up a temporary government for Wien, and it became a democratic republic. But then, due to public opinion on the war in the east and a famine, the Luvian Empire had to pull back and let Wien fall under the control of Fukviyu. For quite a long time, Wien retained its sovereignty, but at the cost of exporting most of its resources to Fukviyu for cheap.
Due to the poor living standards, terrible twelve-hour shifts, and high inflation rates, the country split into two factions. A nationalistic Wien that wished for the old Wien to be brought back before all the wars, and a socialistic Wien that wished to remain under the protection of Fukviyu as a vassal state.
The Umstürzlers, or the nationalists, argued that decades of political instability and exploitation by the Royal family had crushed the Wienian economy and caused thousands to starve and perish. Meanwhile, the socialist Königsteuers argued that it was due to not fully incorporating into Fukviyu that they were in such a predicament. They wanted their currency to change to the livis, and with them being a part of the kingdom, the royals would have no option but to lend them aid to recover.
Due to such a divided government, and with the backing of the Royal family, the Königsteuers retook power. But to the Umstürzlers' surprise, they crowned a king. The Königsteuers saw this as a win due to the king being a part of the royal family, which would help them integrate into Fukviyu even faster. But since the Königsteuers had completely won the majority in parliament, the Umstürzlers were ousted from power, leading to the conflict we see today as the Wienian revolution."
Eirlys picked up her cup of tea and started to sip slowly, enjoying the aroma.
"And then…"
"Okay, okay! I think I get the gist of it," I interrupted her before she could continue.
I looked over at Aylin, who was completely dead on the sofa. But Lilith sat there with a pensive expression, as if she was actually thinking things through.
"Oh right, my apologies, I forgot to mention that yours truly shall henceforth be your guide," Eirlys said, pointing at Aylin, who immediately sat up after a few pokes to her cheek.
She put down her cup of tea and called Aylin a koi fish before reconfirming with Lilith if that was per the contract. Lilith nodded and reassured her that Eirlys hadn't misunderstood anything.
"What contract did you make with Eirlys, Lilith?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Yours truly shall meet with the greatest generals of today!"
I gave a quick glance at Lilith, who started to chuckle a bit.
"Fu Fu Fu… a promise is a promise, I will see it happen."
"And how are you going to fulfill that promise to her? Don't tell me you're going to drag us to Wien…"
Lilith stuck out her tongue and winked at me. It would only be for a week. And the Umstürzlers had a strict civilian safety policy which ensured the safety of civilians and bystanders.
"But isn't the conflict at its peak right now? With the siege ongoing and everything?" I asked, a bit worried.
"It isn't like we are going to join the war or anything. We will only be bystanders, watching the battle from afar."
Eirlys nodded and reassured us that she wouldn't involve herself in any way. She would just watch and study Erich von Stapel's amazing military leadership and strategy. They say that his tactics were among the most effective during the war between the Luvian Empire and Fukviyu. Report logs say that when commanding for the Luvian army, he managed to capture over 120,000 soldiers from Fukviyu. She added that had the Luvian Empire and Wien just given Erich von Stapel full military control, they would have most likely won the war. There is only so much a single general can do, he alone cannot bear the burden of all the failures of the other generals.
She called Erich von Stapel a lionfish and said that she had to witness his military prowess with her own eyes. She then thanked the "squid," who was Lilith, for the opportunity.