Tyranny of Steel

Adelbrand stepped foot onto the fatherland for the first time in a long time. After years of being deployed to Iberia, the Kaiser had commanded him to return to the Reich. The official reasoning for this visit was to personally inform the man of recent developments in Iberia. Of course, Adelbrand suspected that Berengar simply wanted to show off all that he had accomplished over the past few years. 

Though Adelbrand had heard about the national railway project, and the use of trains. He was amazed to see them in person. He could hardly fathom how different Trieste was now, from the moment he departed for Iberia years ago. Unlike the rest of the German citizens, Adelbrand had a tanned complexion from the years of being under the Andalusian sun. 

If it weren't for his golden hair, it would be likely that the people of Germany would view him as a foreigner. Luckily for him, Berengar had dispatched a military train for his transit to the Capital of Kufstein. As the train passed by at high speeds, Adelbrand witnessed the complex mechanized agriculture that persisted throughout the Austrian landscape. 

The train stopped in several stations along the way, and Adelbrand was able to witness the previously feudal Austrian cities, turned into industrial powerhouses. Each city was carefully laid out with dedicated sectors to industry.

The blend of architectural styles displayed the overwhelming prosperity that the German Empire was currently facing. He had only been gone for a few years, acting as the Supreme Commander of the Iberian Theatre, and yet the fatherland had changed so much during this time. 

Eventually, the train pulled into Kufstein, where Adelbrand gazed in awe at the capital of the Empire. What was once a small agricultural town was now a thriving metropolis. The cobblestone streets were clean, and people walked throughout the city in semi-modern fashion, sitting on benches, and partaking of coffee and cookies. 

There were dedicated sectors in the city to entertainment, with a large arena being constructed to display prominent sporting events. Such as Mixed Martial Arts, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, submission grappling, etc. However these were not the only sports that had become popular in Germany, but also weightlifting, swimming, track and field, and other competitions that focused on strength and agility. 

Aside from the sporting arena, there were other entertainment areas, such as bars, art galleries, concert halls, theaters, and plenty of other activities to engage in. Outside of the entertainment district was the trade district, where small shops and large shopping malls existed to sell their products to everyone within the city. 

Farmers hauled in their fresh produce on wagons and sold them to large grocery outlets, which not only contained fresh food but also canned and pickled goods. Anything that anyone could possibly desire was sold in the trade district, with trade from regions as far east as India making its way to Kufstein. 

The area that Adelbrand would have to meet the Kaiser was actually in a public setting. Rather than visiting the Palace District, where Berengar and the heads of the German Government lived, a group of soldiers escorted Adelbrand to a large bar in the center of the entertainment district. After approaching the area, these men informed the Field Marshal that he would be on his own from here on out. 

This bar served beer, wine, and distilled spirits, but also had its own dedicated team of chefs where they served food to its customers. It was a popular destination for people in the city, where commoners and nobility alike could get together and speak about recent events.

When Adelbrand step foot into the bar, he saw Berengar seated alone, dressed in rather simple attire. Berengar was not garbed in his usual imperial regalia, but rather in a white silk dress shirt whose sleeves were rolled up, and whose collar was loosened. 

As for everything else, Berengar was dressed in a pair of grey dress slacks, with black leather oxford style shoes. He wore an elegant wristwatch that was obviously made of white gold, and for the first time in a long time, did not wear his eyepatch which normally concealed his wound. 

Rather than wear his signature slicked back hair, Berengar had styled his golden locks in a side-parted style. At first glance, he did not appear to be the German Emperor. Thus, the crowds of people left him be. Instead, he sat alone and drank from a pitcher of beer.

When the Kaiser noticed his Field Marshal approach, he waved towards him, signalling for Adelbrand to sit down. The veteran commander was a bit shocked to see the Kaiser in such an informal appearance and immediately commented on it.

"My Kaiser, I did not notice you at first, you look so different..."

Berengar merely raised one finger to his lips, signalling for the man to be quiet before whispering in response to Adelbrand's statement.

"Adelbrand, when I am among the public like this, simply refer to me by my name. You could say that I am incognito right now..."

Such a response surprised Adelbrand. He did not know why Berengar would do such a thing and quickly inquired about it.

"Can you tell me the reason?"

Berengar simply chuckled in response before taking another swig of his beer. After wiping his lips with his forearm, he explained why he was not in his formal attire.

"I like to mingle with the people and see what they really think about the Empire. They would never dare reveal the truth to me if they knew I was the emperor. Here they just think I'm an old veteran who has made a decent living.

You would be surprised how disbelief prevents people from connecting two and two together. In their eyes, it is more reasonable for me to be someone who looks like the Kaiser than the kaiser himself. After all, why would the Kaiser trouble himself with going out into public and enjoying his time in a bar?"

Adelbrand looked around for a few moments and sighed before asking Berengar the question most pertinent to his mind. 

"So, this is what you do in your spare time?"

A slight chuckle erupted from Berengar as he revealed how little spare time he had to do things like this.

"Very rarely. Once every few months, I'm able to escape from the palace long enough to share a few drinks with my people. Since you were coming back today, I thought I'd show you a good time. After all, it has been a while since you last step foot in your homeland. So tell me, what do you think of the Empire that I have forged in your absence?"

Adelbrand looked around and saw a bunch of young women casually mingling with men. These were not noble ladies, but they were dressed in what appeared to be silk cocktail dresses. They were speaking to men that were obviously older than them, who were dressed in suits. Those more casual were dressed similar to Berengar. He could hardly believe what he was seeing, and quickly spoke his mind.

"I'm a little shocked to see all the changes that have occurred since I was last here. It is overwhelming, to say the least."

While Adelbrand was saying this, a waitress walked by the table where the two men were sitting. Berengar immediately flagged her down and made a request with a charming smile on his face.

"Ma'am, can you please get a few pitchers of beer for a couple of old combat veterans?" 

The young woman was at most sixteen years old and simply smiled at the two men. Though Berengar was handsome, she was more interested in the man sitting next to him, who was wearing a Field Marshal's uniform. She never would have guessed that Berengar was actually the Kaiser, thus she paid extra attention to Adelbrand as she responded to him instead.

"Certainly! What would you boys like to drink?"

Adelbrand was slightly perplexed by the attention the waitress was giving him, and did not immediately respond. Because of this, Berengar answered on his behalf. 

"How about two more of these to get us started?" 

The girl smiled and nodded before walking off to the tap, where she poured two liters of doppelbock beer for Berengar and Adelbrand. She returned and handed off the drinks, deliberately exposing her cleavage to the young Field Marshal before asking about their order.

"Can I get you two anything else?"

Berengar was smirking as the waitress flirted with Adelbrand. Until today, the young Field Marshal never would have believed that women in Germany had become more aggressive in pursuit of a man to marry. With men now being able to have five wives, women had to compete among each other fiercely to obtain the favor of a man in an influential position, like Adelbrand.

He did not know it, but since he was an unmarried man of substantial rank in society, he was now seen as a rare commodity within the Empire. Women from all walks of life would kill to become one of his wives, especially with so many foreign beauties flooding into the Empire in pursuit of marriage. 

Ultimately, in his confusion, Adelbrand remained silent, and Berengar ordered a meal for each of them. After receiving the order, the women went back to the kitchen to deliver it to the chefs. Adelbrand was in disbelief for several seconds before asking Berengar what had happened.

"What the hell was that?"

In response to this, Berengar merely chuckled before making a joke to his Field Marshal.

"Welcome to the new age. It's your own damn fault. You're not even wearing a wedding ring, and yet you are dressed in a Field Marshal uniform, with several orders of chivalry on your breast. You are basically asking for every single woman within five hundred meters to pursue you. Why do you think I wear this damn thing?"

After saying this, Berengar revealed the wedding ring on his finger, which was made of white gold, and had five diamonds that wrapped around the ring. Such a thing symbolized he had five wives and could not legally marry another one.

Though Berengar had four wives at the moment, he wore the ring encrusted with five diamonds to deter women from flirting with him. Knowing the petty jealousy of his women, it would not surprise Berengar if a poor common girl went missing after trying to seduce him. After seeing the astonished expression on Adelbrand's face, Berengar shifted the topic to one the man was more comfortable discussing.

"So tell me about Hasan. I want to hear in person what madness has compelled that idiot to invade Morocco..."