Tyranny of Steel

For the First time since the cold war began between Germany and Japan, a representative of the Reich had sailed to the island nation with diplomatic intent. What was his purpose in this visit? Well, it was certainly not about ceasing hostilities. 

The man in question was a German Lawyer by the name of Tilicke Schauffhusen who was from the Kingdom of Austria, and he had a briefcase in his hands, as the passenger ship made its way to the port of Heian-kyō. 

This was not a German ship, as such vessels were not allowed to dock on the Japanese mainland. Instead, it was a Ming Junk. Tilicke had sailed from the Borders of the Reich to the Ming Dynasty before taking a merchant vessel to the Island of Japan. 

Upon docking in Heian-kyō, Japanese authorities boarded the vessel in search of contraband or any other illegal content. When they witnessed the blonde-haired, and blue eyed Austrian man sitting on the vessel, they began to yell at him in their native tongue. The interpreter that Tilicke had hired in the Ming Dynasty quickly translated their words into the German Language. 

"You there? What is your business here? Speak quickly!"

The law enforcement officers had their hands on the pistol grips of their revolvers. They were clearly showing hostility to the European man. As for Tilicke, he smiled peacefully before stating his business in his native tongue. 

"I am Tilicke Schauffhusen. I represent the interests of the Kufstein Royal Armory and am here to present a letter to your Empress."

The Law Enforcement officers gazed at each other with confusion for several moments before they decided to ask for support from their superior. Ultimately, Tilicke was detained for several hours, where he and his belongings were thoroughly searched.

It was not until Itami had personally granted him an audience, was he allowed to depart from the police station, and enter the Royal Palace, where he saw the beautiful young albino woman sitting on her throne with a rather intimidating expression on her pretty face. Before he could introduce himself, Itami spoke in an authoritative tone. 

"I must say, your Kaiser has some audacity to send a legal representative here to my Empire. Tell me, just what reason do you have to visit the Empire of Japan? What were you hoping to accomplish by coming here?"

Tilicke bowed respectfully towards the foreign monarch before pulling out his briefcase and unlocking it. Where he handed a document over to Itami with a stoic expression on his face. The words were written in the Japanese Script. 

The beautiful young empress took one look at the title of the document and felt an intense fury in her heart. Despite her anger, she quickly skimmed through the rest of the document before asking the question on her mind.

"Is this some kind of joke? Because I am not amused..."

The lawyer raised his head with a confident smirk on his face as he began to outline just what the document entailed.

"I am afraid not... The Kaiser demands that you immediately cease and desist the production and sale of your unlawful domestic copy of our Mk2 Schmidt Guns. As you can see in the documents which I have provided, the patents for this weapon were filed and approved as early as 1422, which was years before you copied our design. 

If you do not comply, we will be forced to seek legal reparations. Which we will obtain one way or another. I suggest you agree to our demands, or else you might be facing a blockade within the Indian ocean. Something I'm sure your Bengal allies would heavily disapprove of. The choice is up to you, but I suggest you think of your position before making a permanent decision..."

Itami's scarlet eyes fiercely gazed upon the smug bastard from the western world. She could hardly believe this man was threatening her with military action in the safety of her own domain. She was so baffled by this behavior that she was forced to ask the man for clarification.

"Are you threatening me?"

The words the two exchanged were translated by the interpreter that Tilicke had brought with him. However, he did not feel the slightest bit of fear as he responded to the Japanese Empress's words.

"It is not a threat, but a promise. If you do not cease the production and sale of these weapons, which originate in the Reich and are still under patent by the Royal Kufstein Armory, then we will be forced to take matters into our own hands and blockade the Indian ocean. 

That is all I have to say on the matter. If there are no further matters of importance that you wish to discuss, then I will be taking the next ship to the Ming Dynasty. As nice as your Empire is, I do not feel safe within your borders, and thus will be taking my leave.

You have thirty days to respond with your answer, which you can deliver to the German Embassy in Beijing via your own representative. Goodbye Empress Itami Riyo, and good luck in your endeavors..."

After saying this, Tilicke Schauffhusen left the Imperial Palace of Japan with a confident stride, leaving Itami completely speechless. Obviously, the German Empire could not force her to pay them for violating the patent, but they could very easily prevent her ships from delivering future aid to the Bengal Empire.

After gazing at the cease and desist letter and reading its contents thoroughly, Itami spotted a coded message, which was hidden in the script by the first letter of every paragraph. After writing it down on a piece of paper, a single word followed by an emoticon appeared, which filled her heart with overwhelming rage.

Trolololol XD

Immediately upon reading this, Itami ripped the legal document in half and cursed as loud as she could manage in the modern English tongue.

"That fucking bastard!"

She could not believe that Berengar had the audacity to send a representative to her lands solely to troll her. She could tell by the hidden message that the Kaiser did not care in the slightest if she continued to supply the Bengals with Gatling Guns. He simply used the coincidence that they managed to develop the same weapons as a means to antagonize her. 

It took everything Itami had not to order the beheading of the German Lawyer who had just left her presence. Ultimately, she took a deep breath and sighed in distress as she leaned back into her chair and voiced her thoughts aloud. 

"Julian? How do I get back at this cunning bastard?"

Unfortunately for her, Itami did not receive an answer, which simply caused her to pull at her snow white hair in annoyance. One way or another, she would find a way to return this insult in kind, without provoking an armed conflict. After all, she knew deep in her heart that she could not yet afford a war with the Reich. 

After tossing the documents aside for the maids to clean up, Itami rose from her seat and departed for her hot spring. After being stressed out by the whims of the Kaiser, she needed a good soak. She would stay in the bath for another hour before returning to her room. Where she would crawl into bed and lie with her Julian body pillow until she fell into a deep sleep. 

Perhaps tomorrow she would have the mental energy to deal with this mess. But for now, she wanted nothing more than to get some rest. After all, she had been using the divine mirror a lot lately, and it consumed a sufficient amount of her focus. 

Itami would ultimately fall asleep, while having dreams of a peaceful life with Julian as her husband. By the time she awoke early in the morning on the next day, she would be fully energized and prepared for another day's work. Where she would eventually agree to Berengar's demands and cease the production and sale of Gatling guns. 

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