"He has gotten worse since you last saw him. And I doubt he would have believed me if I told him later."

"...You said he was holding it together."

"He was holding it together in the sense I was not having this conversation with him in the ocean, say. In sense of his trust in L'Manberg, in you-- He had every reason to side with Dream, given time, and not with us."

"He doesn't-- That's ridiculous. He's been siding against Dream since before L'Manberg existed, over the discs. As long as Dream is trying to get the discs, he won't side with Dream. If he leaves the country--" Swallow. "...If he leaves the country then he can't be a liability to it anymore."

"--You want him to leave the country."

"He already left the country. He's exiled. He's exiled because he refused to stop antagonizing Dream to the point of repeatedly disobeying my direct orders. That does not sound like a strategic asset right now.

I think that tactically speaking, it--isn't an advantage, to have him with L'Manberg instead of just against Dream. Not enough to justify the risk."

"He talked about how Dream was the only one who visited. He talked about how Dream messes with his head. Assuming he would stay on our side is not a safe assumption."

"So he told you things that made you think he might side with Dream, and you responded by telling him our plans, is that--is that what you're telling me here. Because I'm gonna be honest, that's really not helping your case."

"--You have fought with Tommy, correct? Not as in been in conflict with, but fought in battles together, yes?"

"We have, yes."

"And you are quite happy to leave someone you fought with behind?"

"...You do realize there are-- there are other people, not just Tommy and I, who live here, whose lives I am risking. Not all of them are skilled soldiers. I would be putting them in danger. I'm not selfish enough to do that just because I'm unhappy."

"--It's not about being unhappy."

"You literally just asked if I was happy."

"Are you willing to. Are you willing to abandon Tommy, someone you fought with, because he's inconvenient."

"And if Dream finds out and decides he has to wall us in again, we'll be less able to help him. That's the worst case scenario, here. If L'Manberg was going to make a stand about not abandoning Tommy, we had our chance to do that."

"There's a difference between strategically sending someone away, and letting them think they are alone out there."

"And we already let him think that for a week. Our situation hasn't changed, we're not ready for a war yet."

"You haven't spoken with him."

“The logic doesn’t change when I speak to him. It—it shouldn’t matter.”

"You did not see what he was like-- morale matters. You cannot ignore it in favour of everything else." 

"...I'll see what he's like tomorrow."

"You will. He's feeling better now that he knows he has not been abandoned-- but-- you'll see."

"Thank you for--updating me on his status. You are dismissed."

"Of course." He leaves.

...

The arena needs to be bigger. And unrelatedly it does not contain people.