Tyranny of Steel

Several days had passed since Itami first received Gerhard's taunts, and now she was sitting across from the man within the confines of the German Embassy. The woman was not dressed in her usual militant attire, rather she wore the traditional Jūnihitoe as a sign of her civil intentions. A confident smirk emerged on the German Ambassador's face as he closely examined every inch of the young Empress before complimenting the woman on her pristine appearance.

"I must say, I did not expect you to be so beautiful. The Kaiser would be very pleased with your appearance were he here to speak with you himself..."

A slight frown emerged on Itami's luscious lips as she furrowed her brows in discontent. Though these words sounded like a compliment, she could tell that the man was simply mocking her as just another foreign beauty. As a result, she was forced to suppress her internal fury before asking the man to be serious in this exchange of dialogue.

"Let's not sit here and waste our time with empty pleasantries. I came here to deliver my demands to your Kaiser. The lands south of the Majapahit Empire are Asian, and because of this, your people have no claim to them. Abandon your military outposts in the Pacific and hand them over to me. I will only ask once!"

Despite the frightening tone which Itami spoke in, Gerhard was not the least bit intimidated. There was a rather carefree expression on his face as he responded to these demands with a smile.

"And if we don't? What will you do? If military action was a viable option, you would have used it from the start. I have studied you extensively over these past few years. It would not be an exaggeration to say that at every given opportunity you have used violence as a means to get what you want. How has that worked out for you so far?"

Upon hearing this question, a slight scoff emerged from Itami's lips as she rolled her eyes and folded her arms before giving voice to her discontent.

"It was working fine before you started supplying my enemies."

The moment she said these words, the confident smirk disappeared from Gerhard's face, and was instead replaced with a stoic expression. He picked up his teacup once more and drank from it before giving the young Japanese Empress a piece of his mind.

"If you did not wish for such an outcome, then you should have stayed out of India, my dear Empress. The Kaiser is just returning the favor you have shown us. You should know that sooner or later, we Germans always settle our debts, more often than not, with a substantial interest."

If looks could kill, Itami's glare would have claimed the life of the German ambassador. She sneered in disdain before voicing her words with every bit of intimidation she could muster.

"Two can play that game..."

As a response to this threat, Gerhard raised his finger and wagged it in the woman's face as he lectured her on the foolishness of such a statement.

"Tsk tsk tsk... You ought to be more careful with your words. At the moment, the Kaiser has not deemed you an enemy. If anything, he thinks of you as a common nuisance. A capable one at that, but nothing more.

I give you this advice as a man who has once enraged the man during my younger years. There is nothing in this world that is more frightening than his majesty when he is infuriated. If you truly wish to go down that route, he will bury your islands beneath the waves of the Pacific ocean.

We can overlook the situation with the Bengal Empire, as at the time of your interference, we had not yet had a presence in Asia. However, if you supply any other group which we consider to be hostile, it will be an outright declaration of war..."

Itami scoffed once more while she leaned back into her chair with a face filled with disdain. If Gerhard thought she was intimidated by his statement, then he was dead wrong, and she was quick to give voice to this misplaced bravery.

"You think I am afraid?"

Despite calling the German ambassador's bluff, the man merely grinned and leaned back in his chair. The only people he had met in his life who had such a disregard for Berengar's name were those who knew nothing of the man or his capabilities, thus he could only scold the woman for her ignorance.

"You should be. His majesty is not the kind of man one should take lightly. If you want to see what he is capable of, you should investigate the fate of the Catholic church. In their arrogance, they thought they could crush a simple Baron. In the end, the foundations that their power was built upon, one that existed for over a thousand years, were torn to the ground in a single decade.

Unlike you, the Kaiser is not a man who is easily incited to violence. However, continue to disrupt his plans, and you will see just how cruel the man can be when he has no other option but force to achieve his goals. It would appear that the ease with which you have conquered Japan has made you complacent. I pity you..."

Itami had a mocking expression on her face as she rested her chin on her dainty hand and dismissed Gerhard's warning as if it were the ravings of a madman. There was a hint of disdain in her voice as she uttered her thoughts on the matter.

"Berengar von Kufstein... I have heard far too many ludicrous rumors about the man to take anything you say seriously."

Until this moment Gerhard had not shown any serious sign of hostility with his words, but upon hearing Itami reject his warning as if the Kaiser was some farcical character, it had truly gotten on his nerves. Thus, he narrowed his gaze before responding to the Japanese empress with a hint of venom on his tongue.

"Perhaps, rather than spending your time listening to rumors, you should instead develop a competent intelligence agency. Then you could verify the truth, rather than listening to the whispers of the envious."

Itami continued to have a lighthearted expression as she heard these words. In fact, there was a faint smile on her pretty face as she joked with the German Ambassador as if his words were laughable.

"Who says I don't have one already?"

Rather than burst into anger like Itami had expected, a cold smile existed on Gerhard's lips. His retort was a single word, but the moment he spoke it, the atmosphere became heavy, and Itami felt a chill go down her spine.

"Thirty-two..."

When Itami heard this word, it was as if a bucket of ice water was poured over her head. However she quickly managed to calm her nerves as she thought to herself that perhaps she was over thinking things. However, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of her mind that ultimately forced her to ask for clarification.

"What do you mean by that?"

Despite her acting ignorant, Gerhard refused to show Itami any mercy, and was quick to reveal just what he had meant by his previous response.

"There are thirty-two Japanese Agents embedded across the city of Beijing. Do you want me to speak their names and locations as of this moment?"

After hearing this, Itami realized her fears had been accurate. Thirty-two was the exact number of agents she had embedded in Beijing at this very moment. The fact that the Germans knew this meant their counter intelligence capabilities were well beyond her means. Before she could question what the man was going to do with this information, he broke the silence with a rather unexpected suggestion.

"Shall we play a game? I suggest we ask each other some straightforward questions, and we answer the ones that we feel the desire to. Simple enough, right?"

This suggestion caught Itami off guard, but she did not outright reject, and instead she slowly and silently nodded her head, resulting in a rather peculiar smile to emerge on Gerhard's lips.

"Alright, ladies first. Go ahead and ask me any question you desire. That's why you're here, isn't it? To gain information about the Reich and its Kaiser?"

Though Itami was stunned by these words, she did not let it affect her mind. She quickly thought of a basic question to ask, one that Gerhard would not shy away from. After several moments of awkward silence, she finally came up with a response, which she immediately gave voice to.

"What does Germany think of Japan?"

Gerhard took a deep breath as he folded his fingers in contemplation. It was clear that he was formulating a response, but Itami was on the edge of her seat waiting to hear it. After several moments, the man exhaled before giving voice to his thoughts.

"I suppose you could say that we view Japan as a valuable lesson, one that needs to be remembered. In the eyes of the Reich, Japan is living proof that even a modern state can become a failure. Especially if those at the top of society refuse to use their power and privilege to help those less fortunate than themselves.

The Kaiser has led by example, his sense of righteousness, and noblesse oblige has caused the nobility and wealth elites to use their lofty positions not for their own greed, but as a way to help the common man.

Sure, those at the top of German society have unimaginable wealth, but they also give away more money to charity than anybody else. Compared to the dystopian state that you have created, I would say that the Reich is a bastion of mankind's inherent virtue, even if not everyone is as good-hearted as his Majesty.

Now that I have answered your question, it is my turn..."

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