Tyranny of Steel

Little Kyoto wa a mall but thriving part of the German capital. Though it wa afe, clean, and eotic, it wa anything but a paradie. In reality, thi mall ection of town wa a glorified internment camp for the Japanee refugee who ought afety within the border of the Reich.

Depite the fact that all refugee were thoroughly vetted before permitted entry into the German Empire, they lived under contant urveillance by German Intelligence. After all, it wa unwie to leave a population which defected from a hotile Empire to themelve.

In fact, Little Kyoto acted a an eperiment in both counter-intelligence and crime prevention. Camera were around every treet corner, which fed their video and audio recording to a remote viewing tation within the headquarter of Imperial Intelligence, where a team of oberver kept cloe watch for any ign of crime or rebelliou intent.

Thu, depite being it own little enclave in a foreign nation, there wa not the lightet hint of organized crime developing within Little Kyoto. Depite the fact that the uburb enclave acted a a free range prion, the people who dwelled within were friendly to thoe German who viited for a tate of the eotic.

Thu, when Berengar and Linde entered the retaurant, all eye were on the royal couple, a even the mot recent aylum eeker were aware of who the Kaier wa. Min-Ah wa tunned into ilence when he aw Berengar approach her podium. She had completely forgotten to ak about whether her guet had a reervation and intead gawked ilently for ome time.

Thi awkward meeting allowed Berengar to activate hi eye of Horu and gaze upon the woman' hidden intention. A black miama hrouded the Korean beauty, though it wa not thick enough to ignify murderou intent. The reult wa obviou. Thi woman had come to the Reich with maliciou intent.

Depite the fact that Berengar jut confirmed Min-Ah a a hotile agent. It did not how on hi face, intead an amued mile formed on the man' lip a he made a joke to the enemy py.

"What i it? Am I o handome that I tunned you into ilence? It happen all the time."

Linde merely pouted when he heard thi and nudged her man in the rib with her elbow with jut enough force to garner hi attention. In repone to thi, Berengar chuckled before addreing Min-Ah once more.

"I have a reervation for two, under the name Berengar."

It wa only after oberving thi calm facade that Min-Ah napped out of her daze and realized that her target had not come to her place of employment in earch of her. Intead, he wa jut looking to take hi woman out for a nice meal.

The Korean Prince wa not a trained py, and becaue of thi, he truggled to do anything other than glare at Berengar with a eriou epreion on her face. After taking a moment to calm her nerve, he forced a mile before pulling out two menu and leading the couple to their eat.

"Of coure, right thi way."

Berengar grabbed hold of Linde' hand, and led the redheaded beauty to the table, where he pulled out her eat like a proper gentleman. Linde miled and thanked her man before itting down. Once he wa properly eated, Berengar took hi own before looking at the menu. He knew immediately what he wanted to eat. Wherea Linde hadn't the lightet idea. To her, the entire menu wa alien, and he could not eaily decipher what it wa that he craved.

After eating Berengar and Linde, Min-Ah bade them farewell and returned to her podium, where he gazed upon the royal couple from the corner of her eye. Linde immediately noticed thi, and then quetioned Berengar on what he had een, depite already being keenly aware of the woman' intention after one brief interaction with her.

"So? What did you ee?"

Berengar did not lower hi menu and continued to eye it content with a perfect facade of toicim. He did not reveal the lightet facial epreion a he whipered in a voice o low only the two of them could hear it.

"A epected, the woman i a py, and a rather poor one at that. To end a hotile agent, one that i adept in the art of poioning into my own hometown. Itami ha truly underetimated me. Have the woman arreted and taken to a black ite for interrogation. I want to hear everything he know from her own lip."

Linde merely miled and nodded her pretty head before quetioning her huband about a matter that wa far more important to her.

"Of coure, it won't be a problem. Now that we have gotten that troubleome buine out of the way, I have a far more important quetion to ak. What the hell am I uppoed to eat? I have no idea what any of thi mean, even if it i tranlated into our eteemed tongue."

With a wift move of the hand, Berengar placed hi menu down on the table while mirking at the woman. He knew what he wanted and wa quick to voice hi uggetion.

"For an appetizer we will have Tokoyaki. They're fried octopu dumpling, and they are incredible. I would order five plate of thoe damn thing and jut have that a a meal if I could. However, it' merely an appetizer, o we will get two order, one for each of u. A for the entrée, I ugget the pork tonkatu ramen. Trut me, you won't regret it."

Though Linde had no idea what Tonkatu wa, and had never tried octoupu before. She miled and nodded her head, completely truting her man to elect an enjoyable meal for her. Shortly after deciding, the erver approached. For the ake of ecurity, Berengar gazed upon the young man with hi eye of Horu, and aw a poitive aura.

At the very leat, there were no hotile intention in thi man' heart. The man wore a broad mile, and it wa not the typical forced mile that one wore in the ervice indutry. Intead, it eemed to have a deep ene of repect.

Whatever the man wa thinking, he wa a true profeional, and did not mention once the fact that he wa erving the Kaier, intead he imply requeted the order.

"What hall I get tarted for the two of you on thi fine evening?"

Linde hot Berengar a gaze, implying that he wanted him to order for the two of them, and a a reult, the man immediately took charge while he miled in repone to the erver' poitive attitude.

"A bottle of your finet ake will do. A for the appetizer, the mie and I would each like an order of the takoyaki. I hear it i the bet in town. For the main coure, he and I will both have the pork ramen tonkatu, and if you could add an additional cutlet, and egg into mine, that would be mot appreciated."

The man imply miled in repone a he wrote down the order to perfection on hi notepad. After doing o, he aked one more quetion before departing.

"I aure you that won't be a problem at all. Will that be all for the night? Or i there omething ele I can get for you?"

Berengar hook hi head with a polite mile on hi handome face before reponding to the man in with an equally poitive energy.

"That will do for now, whether or not we chooe to have deert will depend on how we are feeling after we eat what we have already ordered."

Upon aying thi, Berengar grabbed the two menu and handed them back to the man, who promptly went back to the kitchen to give the cook their order. He did not mention to the taff that the guet were the kaier and hi wife.

A long a they were unaware of the identitie of their guet, there would be no funny buine, and a a man who owed hi life and that of hi family' to the Kaier, he would be remi if he created an opportunity for hotile action againt hi benefactor.

While Berengar at back in hi eat with a comfortable epreion, he decided to break the ilence and poed a quetion to hi favorite wife, one regarding one of her cloet ubordinate.

"So, now that we have a moment to ourelve, I have a quetion that' been lingering in the back of my mind for ome time. I jut haven't found the right moment to give voice to it. I'm curiou. Did your ubordinate Hemma ever find a proper man to marry, or i he till overwhelmed with work?"

Linde wore a michievou mile a he reponded with a whiper in her man' ear, one that ent chill down hi pine.

"Oh? You're on a date, alone with me, and you're thinking of other women? Bold... very bold..."

When Berengar heard thi, he immediately took hi tatement back. If there wa one thing in thi entire world he wa afraid of, it wa getting on Linde' bad ide. He knew the woman well enough that if he were to ever turn againt him, it would be hi undoing.

"I'm orry, that wa rather inappropriate of me to ak. I'm jut curiou, i all. She eem like he i overburdened with the workload you give her."

When Berengar aid thi, the bottle of ake arrived, along with two crytal glae where the erver poured them to the brim before handing them off to hi guet. After doing o, he departed, leaving Linde to ip on her rice wine while glaring at her man with a curiou glint in her eye. After taking everal ip, the woman reponded to hi quetion in a mocking tone.

"It' not like it' a ecret or anything. If you're that curiou, I won't hide it from you."

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