9 Showing off (1/2)

Ciels P.O.V.

I am right now in front of my desk. I have a pile of information about the Six Houses of Kyoto and a psychological profile of what to expect from the people I will be meeting today.

Originally I wanted to meet only the Sarutobi and Sumeragi family heads but the Senju family head decided he wanted in as well. Honestly, I am not sure what to do when I meet them as their personalities will not be easy to deal with.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was an old man that was capable of keeping secrets well but his 'weakness' towards children for being gentler towards them makes me somewhat expectant in meeting him. Amongst those I will meet he is likely the one I can least expect violence from.

Sumeragi Oonoki was a hard-headed old man who many wonder how old he really is. No one knows how old that guy is exactly but he is likely one of the most stubborn ones in the Six Heads. He is, however, capable of being cunning and is experienced enough to know when to advance and force his way and when to fold, someone who is able to survive regardless of what happened.

But it is the last one that is giving me a headache. Senju Tobirama is the younger brother of Senju Hashirama who was a rival to Uchiha Madara and who died being murdered by the Mercenary Kakuzu. It was long suspected that it was Madara who hired Kakuzu but the lack of evidence prevented him from being prosecuted, though if I ever got the chance I would try to capture the old Mercenary and make him confess. Anyway Tobirama is someone who would not hesitate to sacrifice anything for Japan and the betterment of its people. Unlike Madara and Danzo he cares more about keeping the people safe and continuing the Japanese spirit than the nation itself but he still is a cunning and capable General being considered by most as the best fighter of Japan after Madara.

Sighing I massaged my temples, this meeting took months to happen and I bet that it was in part to annoy me and in part to find information about me personally. It is not going as I wanted as the meeting took much longer to happen than I wanted to and I still have no intel on Lelouch's conditions. I want to meet him but the longer it takes the harder it will be to actually get through that hard skull of his.

God was he hard to listen when he didn't want to.

”Young master, it is time for the meeting.” Kirumi said as she entered the room. I nodded and stood up, this would be quite an intense meeting. I can only hope everything goes alright.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Entering the room I looked at the three man at the other side of the table. They all looked mildly annoyed as they had to come to this place in secret but considering we were on a ship in international waters near the coast of Japan they couldn't complain much.

It was a big risk, they only agreed to this because they want to know exactly what I intend on telling them and wanting to ignore my request would not be seen as that smart of an idea since I am quickly approaching influence enough to join the top 10 most influential people inside Britannia thanks in no small part to the political influence Pariston is developing, the weapons I produced, the new tech to improve the life of the citizens, and the Emperor's favor to the point of giving me two of his daughters. I wasn't someone they could easily ignore, and considering I was only eight bordering nine years old and already had all that I wouldn't doubt they think I am already on the race for the position of next emperor.

I was unsure if I wanted the post. On one hand, I knew that I was smart and influential enough to have a pretty good shot on obtaining the post and be successful in my rule as it would be quite different than the shit it is right now, I also wanted to complete the Empires conquest of the World as I firmly believed that if given enough time a fully unified world would be far more peaceful then a World divided by petty squabbling over land and influence. A balanced world controled by one suppreme leader and strict but fair laws seems much better than what we have now.

The main-problem though was that aside from me not really wnting to have all this work there weren´t many other candidates in the running that I could even consider.

Most Princes and Princesses were incompetent and arrogant, I would not trust them to control anything of any importance. Those who weren't as bad in comparison had some rather glaring problems.

-Odysseus as Crown-prince was promising as Puppet-ruler through me if I could eliminate Schneizel beforehand. The man was a very pleasant and gentle person who would allow me to defend the Empire how I wished and I think we could make good allies, but he is far too weak minded and would likely not be manipulated by me alone but also anyone who knew how to talk. He is feeble-minded, and likely a pedophile as in CANON he accepted marrying a girl that was 13 when he was 34, it is disgusting.

- Schneizel? Hell no! He'd burn the world in war just for the heck of it.

- Guinevere? She was as arrogant as she was stupid. While she was good at Politics she would quickly run the Empire into the ground with excessive expenses on fancy parties and absurd dresses that no sane person would ever even consider using.

- Clovis? Potential was there, he was after Guinevere the most suited for Politics and if I could make him a better person then it might be worth a try and I, of course, knew that he desired the position of Emperor. The only question was if he would be able to not screw everything up.

- Cornelia? No chance. She was not only a Racist and arrogant like hell but she also had no interest in Politics at all. She probably would turn the Empire into a fullblown Military Dictatorship and turn half the Empire into a sea of corpses in her constant need to put down rebellions. She is not a bad person and military leader, but she'd be the ruin of this nation.

- Euphemia? The potential was again there just like with Clovis but she was painfully naive and she had absolutely NO support at all due to Cornelia keeping a tight leash on her. Even with me supporting her claim she would be very unlikely to be respected by the nobles and the fact she is a woman would mean she has to marry someone and that someone would be the Emperor, I can't help but shiver with the thought of Emperor Suzaku Kururugi. I would rebel just to make this nightmare end, and screw sacrifices I would not waver on my holly call.

- Nunnally and Marrybell were out of the running given that I would marry them and therefore them ascending would automatically make me Emperor by default.

- Lelouch? Same as Schneizel, no chance in hell. He only knows how to fight but his ability to rule is a pure dictatorship that would be either mind slaves to his Geass or masses controlled by the media to be docile.

- Castor and Pollux? They were already on my Kill-list for when I went after the Directorate.

- Laila and Carine were pretty blank but I could see neither of them in the Emperor position given that they were followers. They'd make possible allies on whoever is put on the throne but they aren't able to make that big of a difference.

Overall, my choices were Odysseus, Euphemia, Clovis or taking the Throne myself. I still needed to think about my options about what I wanted to do and which was less awful.

Anyway as I sat there I looked at the three men in silence as Kirumi finished serving us tea.

Hiruzen took it with a smile and thanked Kirumi for it, but the other two didn't. Oonoki simply smirked seeing the cup and did nothing to it while Tobirama directly pushed the cup away.

Seeing this I raised an eyebrow.

”I am sorry, I thought as Japanese you would like the tea I set for this meeting.” I said.

”Yes, it is very delicious.” Hiruzen said.

”I already saw friends being poisoned by tea under much less troublesome situations, I wouldn't risk it now.” Oonoki said.

”As if I would want something like this.” Tobirama grumbled.

Well, listening to the three of them I can see that it was somewhat as I expected. They are mostly similar to how they were in the anime, Hiruzen is gentle but definetly cunning as while he was drinking the actual amount he put in his mouth at first was minimum and not swallowed only after a while to see if he felt anything did he continue drinking, Oonoki is experienced and doesn't like taking unnecessary risks but isn't outright rude or show his displeasure but does enjoy looking down a bit on the inexperienced, meanwhile Tobirama is hard headed and paranoid.

If anything this poses a complex situation for me, my objective here is not one that will be easy and can easily escalate but it is the best option for me considering everything.

”Let's not bother with useless pleasantries, I wish to know why exactly you asked for this meeting. According to the official stance of the government of Britannia we are neutral so why go out of your way to have a secret talk with us?” Tobirama said pointedly. I noticed that neither Oonoki nor Hiruzen were against his words all that much so I guess I might as well just tell them.

”Fine, it is simple really. I am here for two reasons, first is that I wish to know the guarding procedure that my cousin has.” I said.

”Humph, so it wasn't that unfounded the theory of the brat.” Oonoki said while stroking his long pointer beard.

”Hoh, and which brat and what theory would you mean? If it regards me personally I should be allowed to know.” I said with a slight smile.

”Humph, if you wish to know your cousin, Lelouch, has started spreading word about you to us. He said that your city is an amoral place that commits human experiments,” Not inaccurate, I suppose. ”has more military might than anyone realizes,” okay, that doesn't even count as a secret. Anyone with two brain cells should be able to tell that one. ”and that you are likely wanting to eliminate him to take over the Vi Britannia's influence by marrying lady Nunnally and eliminating anyone else that could contest the claim.”

”Okay, that is ridiculous.” I said, a tick mark on my forehead at that one. ”Seriously, I understand my cousin can be a self-centered prick when he wants to, and reaching his own 'genius' conclusions with the evidence at hand and refuse to listen, but this one is just plain wrong.” I blurted out. Before I could continue ranting a piece of chocolate with nuts was shoved in my mouth and it helped calm me down a bit. ”Thanks, Kirumi. I needed that.” I said to the maid who bowed slightly as she took out a piece of fabric to clean the table as in my outburst I ended up leaving some drops of the tea fall in it. ”The first point of Lelouch is correct though we use only spies, High-level Criminals like Rapists and Serial-killers and of course Volunteers. The second point is wellknown to everyone in the entire Empire and most likely the entire world. Finally the third point is not only completely wrong given that I have no interest in going after Lelouchs life but also the assets of House vi Britannia were already seized by the Emperor himself and aside from a quarter which Nunnally got the rest went to the Royal Treasury or in case of Land will slowly be awarded to other Nobles so I certainly received nothing from it. Even the Ganymede who is in my City is merely loaned to me by the Ashfords in exchange for Milly not needing to pay Tuition at my Schools.

The room was silent for a while before Tobirama said.

”... And what of the second reason for this meeting?”

”I need you to stop provoking Britannia.” I said and before they could act dumb I continued. ”We know that some of the members of the Six Houses of Kyoto, the true leaders of the nation, together with the Towa Conglomerate have been giving financial and technical support to some of the terrorist and dissident groups within the Empire, not to mention the assassination of the Princes Zanac and Barbro. We ignore it because of the war fronts we already have going on and because of the Sakuradite you sell at an affordable price, but if this continues much longer the Emperor will likely lose the patience he has and send an attack to your nation regardless of everything else. Also, I noticed that the prices of Sakuradite that you control have started raising, you should stop that or war might truly be unavoidable.” I explained. Of course, the war will happen regardless but if they listen to me I might be able to make the war happen years from now instead of months.

”Humph, we have one of your princes, there is no way you would attack suddenly.” Oonoki said.

”Yes, we wouldn't unless sufficiently provoked. For the Emperor any of the princes are expendable, he would hesitate but it wouldn't stop him from following through if needed. But, I don't wish for that. I rather like your nation, the culture fascinates me, the anime you produce is a work of art as far as I am concerned with any possible death of a mangaka being a crime against humanity, and there are plenty of talented individuals in your nation that I wish could come and join my city. Besides, if a war does break out my cousin would be in danger and even if he doesn't believe it I do want him to be safe.” I said.

The three kept staring at me, but the first one to talk this time was Hiruzen.

”Even if you say so, it is not like we are doing what you say we are. We are not sending assassins to your nation and-”

”Yeah, yeah, we are innocent and you can't stop what isn't related to you, but you will stop it regardless.” I said.

”Humph, I know that it isn't like we should fear the power of Britannia. Thanks to the advancements of the Towa Conglomerate we now have our own Knightmares, we also can ally with the other powers and our marine prowess doesn't lose out to Britannia. There is a limit to how much manpower you all can deploy, after all.” Oonoki said, but it was clear he wasn't enjoying this talk much.

”That might have been true once, but you must understand that thanks to the weaponry I developed Britannia's Knightmares can win four to one even if the pilot isn't that good. Besides, I and my knights would enter the field and we can conquer your nation easily.” I said, the eyes of the others look at me as if I am a cocky kid. I am, but right now I am not lying at all.

”Humph, as if we would believe the words of a brat with no hair down there.” Tobirama said. ”But, I must admit that your words have some merit, while I can't say much about most matters I can tell that your worry over your stupid family member who is naive about the word and tries to bullhead things is something I understand deeply. My brother, rest his soul, was an idiot who had grand and stupid ideals and would get himself into trouble almost every time I took my eyes off him, he'd ignore everything else sometimes and it gave me more trouble than I ever wish to remember.”

”Young Lelouch, while much darker than my brother, does have his unwavering capacity to infuriate his family by simply being too focused on his own belief. He lacks his desire for peace and union of all by dialogues and the least amount of bloodshed, well, I must still thank you for these talks, prince Ciel. It was, enlightening.” Tobirama said before falling quiet.

”About your words of the Sakuradite,” Oonoki said, turning my attention to him. ”My family is owner of 40% of the mines and rights for it, but I can't decide on the prices by myself. I can't help you there.”

”Then you will most likely have your nation burning within the year and Britannia will be having to rename it.” I said flatly. No point in munching my words, they either listen to me now or their nation will burn much worse and the chance of Lelouch's death increases. I still need to become much stronger and gain enough merits to get to be part of the invasion forces, otherwise, there is no way to find Lelouch.

I still want to start a new era of science, but now I want something else just as much. I want my family and friends to be safe in a world they can walk freely without a care on the world about violence, that we can all enjoy ourselves without fear of enemies and that the war ends properly.

Oonoki looked at me for a while and chuckled.

”That seems rather unlikely, but if you really say so I will put some effort to follow your suggestion.” Oonoki said.

”Young prince, if I may,” Hiruzen said. ”I must say that I think that you are jumping to conclusions here. After all there is no proof that we are even related to any of the things you accuse my nation and that you vastly underestimate us. We might not win a war against the full power of Britannia but we certainly will not lose so easily or ultimately as you seem to predict.”

”You are not wrong when you say I don't know exactly all there is to know about your country's military, but my personal powers alone should suffice regardless.” I said, and I am not joking. While I am not sure my few knights right now would suffice but after I finish my Knightmare it would be more than enough. Let alone Japan I wouldn't fear even fighting and obtaining one of the countries of EU, maybe I will even do just that to obtain Leila Macal before she fully enlists into the military as her Geass is just priceless if I can study it properly for my creation, but that is only in a few years from now.

Unfortunately none of the three older man trusted my words and all thought of me as a kid speaking nonsense. My words were dismissed and they left with nothing to really show for.

Sigh, I truly will need to speed up things. I can't stay passive forever and if I don't make a move now the war with Japan will begin shortly after.

”Kirumi, please fetch me my phone.” I said to my trusted maid. She nodded and went out and before long she was back with my phone in her hands. Giving her a short thanks I took the phone and dialed.

”Majesty, I have a request to make. Would it be possible to let me-”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three days later

”Young master, is this really alright? I mean, we shouldn't need to do this for now am I correct?” Kirumi asked as she finished serving me a cup of tea with plenty of sugar.

”No, Kirumi, now is a good time to act. I have been quiet about my military advancements for too long and it is one of the reasons why the number of spies has been steadily increasing and why others take me lightly. To rectify that I need a demonstration of power, if others feared me enough the talk with the three heads would have gone smoother and I am sure that the advancements of the city would also be faster. I just never did this before due to fear of the emperor starting to order me to move before I was ready. Now, we already have at least a few units ready for combat and they should be plenty enough for this operation. I already asked the emperor and he authorized the operation with the condition that I don't disappoint. I also have to film the entire thing and release it to the press to help showcase that actions are being made to end the terrorism as my forces would work as a stronger deterrent for them.”

As I finished explaining that I took a sip of my cup, and yep I should have asked for chocolate milk. Or a good cup of coffee, both are good options.

Anyway, I am now in the middle of a small military base, a total of three White Fang bases locations are on display that I obtained from the General in charge here.

I am in South America, also known as Area 6. It is an area with too strong of a presence of the White Fang extremists and it is one of the main production sights of grain and food products for the entire empire. With the rebels and terrorists acting against the unfairness of Britannia the grain and food stock has lessened which led to hunger in many areas and the worsening of the quality of life of the same Numbers they fight for, truly the actions of a mad dog. I moved here to try and stop this before the problem gets any worse as it could lead to mass hunger across the Empire if the situation continued, not like the other Royals or high nobles would notice anything as they are too worried about petty disputes or the battlefront to win glory. Besides, they had their own Agriculture on their own lands in the Mainland consisting of Area 1 (USA) and Area 2 (Canada) so unlike the Britannians living in the other Areas of the homeland as well as the Numbers that already are starving and the Honorary Britanians that are not far behind they would not be affected.

Turning to the side I looked at the commander of this base. I decided on using this base for two reasons, the first is that its communication equipment was sufficient for me to mobilize my knights in real time and the second was because the commander here is someone who seems good enough to be my backing while on this area. The historic of the commander was impressive, he has shown great talent and capacity since young, but what I took special notice of is that he was not as hot-blooded as most commanders of the Imperial Army, being able to retreat promptly when the objective was completed or if the situation was unfavorable his results were not as shocking when compared to a lucky few but the results he had overall were much better in the end. The man´s ancestry was also interesting given that he was a former Russian who immigrated into the Empire after the breakdown of Communism. His knowledge of Russias doctrine and Military had been extremely useful in the ongoing conquest of Russia, though of course, the War was still slow going due to its size. Still, thanks to my new Weaponry and the genius Tactics of Schneizel Russia would probably fall in the next two years completely and the Euro-Britannian Empire would rise with the Britain islands joining with Russia.