Rising Sun above the Land of Pearls (Ashigawa-Franerre)

[aimway921]

"I do believe it would be best if you were to deliver such a message in person. Our only telegraph connection to Franerre goes through Elenria, and Kumo must not find out. Should Franerre agree to help us - and I hope you do - we shall provide the best equipment that would be nessesarry for such an operation."

[callmedelta]

“That makes sense, but it will take us some time to fly to Pareau and back with your answer, unless you or some member of your staff wishes to join us,” Seth said. “As of time is the essence to the mission, it would be best for us to be going as soon as possible.”

[aimway921]

"I will send my adjutant with you," Kondo said, as she picked up the black telephone at entered 2 numbers. "Nakimoro o watashi no ofisu ni okutte kudasai," she said into the phone with a stern voice before putting it down. "She shall come here in just a minute so you could meet her," she looked at Seth again. "I hope," she began, as she reached into her pocket. From it she took a silver cigarette case, took one for herself, and offered some for Seth and Ewan. "that this will go off without a hitch. I myself am, just like you, am in no position to make guarantees that would normally be made by people above us, but I believe it's safe to say, my administration would be deeply grateful to yours should this succeed."

[callmedelta]

Seth muttered a quick, “No thank you,” while Ewan took the offered cigarette. “There is one thing I would like to request, General,” Seth continued, “I feel I have properly explained the gravity of the situation to you from our perspective, and gratitude only means so much compared to that gravity. The government back in Pareau would be much more accommodating if you could send someone with the power to make an agreement, so that Franerre would get something more out of this operation than gratitude.”

[aimway921]

"Very well," Kondo said, as she lighted her cigarette, before passing her lighter to Ewan. "I shall request that a diplomat to represent Ashigawa and the will of the Tennō. on your homeland to join the trip. We shall schedule the trip for two days from now, if that's alright with you."

[callmedelta]

Ewan took the lighter, lighting his own cigarette, before handing it back. "That is alright with me," Seth said, "Is there anything else you wish to discuss with us that may be relevant to this situation?"

[aimway921]

Seth's question was cut short by a knock on the door. It then opened and a young woman in a uniform similar to Kondo's stepped in.

"Ah," Kondo said, standing up, and motioning towards the newcomer. "Gentlemen, meet Lieutenant Nakimoro-San, my adjutant. She will be joining you for this mission."

"Pleased to meet you," Nakimoro said, as she bowed to Seth and Ewan.

"I suggest only one of you travels back to Franerre for this matter, while the other remains to attend to embassy." As she was saying that, Kondo came up to Seth and offered a handshake. When he accepted it, she gripped his hand slightly tighter than expected for a woman of her stature, while looking Seth directly in the eyes.
"Please bring our agent home. Not only she's a highly experienced operative and a loyal subject of the Empire... She's also a very close friend to me."

[callmedelta]

"That's not a decision I have the authority to make," Seth said, meeting her gaze, "But if it's any consolation, I don't think we should be abandoning anyone to Kumosenkan. If you're caught by them, well, it sounds like a fate worse than a proper death." Seth broke off the handshake, turning to Ewan. "I will be staying here in Ashigawa." Ewan let the sadness on his face show for just a moment, before covering it up with a nice diplomat's smile. Seth was impressed, it hardly looked forced. He turned his gaze back to the General, bowing. "Thank you for your time today, General." Ewan copied, before the two made their exit.

---

As the two diplomats sat down in the back of the car, Seth spoke up. "Chin up, Ewan," he said in Franch, "You did good on your first mission, even with this unexpected turn of events." Ewan dropped his diplomat's smile, replacing it with a smaller, but real one. Seth gave a real smile in return. "Who knows, if you're lucky, Jacques might send you back here to continue your observation of my work. If not, there are plenty of other diplomatic opportunities. If you keep doing good work in the FA, I'll tell Jacques that you should replace me as Ashigawan ambassador when I retire."

Upon hearing that news, Ewan was beaming. "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Now, you've got a flight home to prepare for. And most importantly, just because I'm gone, it doesn't mean that you have the authority to sign anything. You don't, that will be for Jacques to decide back home."

[aimway921]

Two days later, everything was ready for the trip. Nakimoro was the first to arrive to the airport, followed by Sinaru Tori, a middle-aged man assigned as ambassador to Franerre. As they were waiting for Ewan to arrive, Nakimoro filled him in on the information he needed to know - after all, the existence of an Ashigawan agent in Elenria was highly classified, even many in the Ashigawan government didn't know about it.

[callmedelta]

Ewan was the last to arrive, Seth accompanying to see him off. The pair stepped out of the car, looking at the airstrip. “Ready, Ewan?” Seth asked.

“I’m ready,” Ewan answered, hauling his luggage from the trunk of the car. Seth handed the man a file, the report back to the FA. Ewan nodded, taking the file and nodding, before walking off towards the Ashigawan representatives.

[aimway921]

Nakimoro was visibly excited. She was the second Ashigawan in recent history to step foot on Touli, preceeded only by the agent they are being sent to retrieve. What's more, she was one of the first Ashigawan women to leave the homeland on government business.

"... Ashigawa is very traditionalist," she explained. She was uncharacteristically talkative for a person in a military position. At the same time, she was uncharacteristically young for someone holding as high a rank as hers. So she was pretty easy to make conversation with Ewan to shorten the hours of the flight. Unlike the ambassador, who kept to himself, either reading a book or looking through some files through the entire trip.
"Typically women aren't allowed to serve in the military or the government," she continued. So much so that in a noble family, even if the daughter is the eldest child, the inheritance of the title would still go to next in line male child. This started changing however, as the Crown Princess is the only child to Tennō, she would be the first female Empress Ashigawa had in probably 12 centuries now. As part of her growing responsibility - after all, she'll inherit the throne soon - she recently passed a reform to allow select positions for women to serve in. Me, Kondo, Yakazawa... We all serve in the Intelligence Department of the Army..."

[callmedelta]

"Hm," Ewan nodded, "Franch women have been allowed to serve in almost every position since all the way back to Queen Elincia the Lawmaker. In fact, one of the High Mandats has always been a woman since her reign. Let's see..." Ewan trailed off as he remembered back to history class, "...if she took her reign in 1345, that would place it 600 years exactly later this year. I wonder if your Crown Princess will be similar to Queen Elincia."

[aimway921]

"Oh, she's extremely popular with the younger generations, both in the common populus and in the nobility. Many already gave her a popular title - The Reformer. For one... She's the first member of the current dynasty to show her face in public. I don't even know what the Tennō looks like, aside from official painted portraits...

"But what I know for sure is she's planning to decentralize power. Give more autonomy to our colonies and the likes. Many in the current ruling class of the nobility aren't happy about that, but hey - such is the will of the future Tennō. And she's definitely going to get rid of that stupid law that anyone who isn't an Ashigawan native arriving on the Home Islands must be detained and questioned about their reason of arrival."

[callmedelta]

"I can see the reason for her popularity, and she sounds like she will shake quite a few things up in Ashigawa, too," Ewan said, "The Reformer sounds like an apt title. I'm sure everyone will be watching what she'll do..."

---

A few hours of conversation later, the plane touched down at the airstrip, a car already waiting for the three. It was a newer vehicle, one made in Nevarra and imported to Franerre. Ewan took the front seat, leaving the Ashigawans in the back. Even though the flight had taken a few hours, it was still only the early afternoon when they touched down due to the time change. "Pourquoi ne nous emmenez-vous pas un peu sur la route panoramique? Nous avons de nouveaux invités," Ewan said to the driver, the man nodding as he pulled out of the airstrip.

The airstrip was a little bit outside the city, allowing the Asigawans to get a view of the Peaceful Marsh side of the convergence of the Bromsoll and Peaceful Marsh Bays. Soon, buildings would begin to disrupt the view, first a few at a time, but soon blocking the entire marsh from view. Most of the buildings were short, newer residential buildings, almost none of them with a second floor, interspersed with the occasional shop. "The eastern side of the city is mostly residential," Ewan explained, "If you kept going this way, you would get to the industrial district of the city, before going onto the wharfs." As the car continued on, the buildings began to get older and taller, more Nevarran in style, before the residential buildings died off. In their place stood factories, but soon the car turned towards the center of Pareau, leaving behind the industrial district. "Now, we'll be getting to the heart of the city. This is where most of the government offices are held. If you kept going, you would reach the Royal District, with some buildings reaching back to the 14th century." Factories were replaced by much taller office buildings, the tallest reaching up to 10 stories, though those were the outliers among them, most reaching only five or six. Soon, the car turned into a newer building with a large parking lot, a sign out front reading "Administration Franerre des Affaires Etrangères." 

Inside, the first floor of the building was rather busy, suited men and skirted, more uncommonly suited, women walked to and fro. The building was modern, at least by Franch standards, a half-decade behind what the Ashigawans might consider up to date. "Wait here for just a moment," Ewan said, quickly walking towards the front desk. A few moments later, he returned to the two. "We're pretty lucky, we caught the Director while he wasn't in a meeting. His office is on the top floor," Ewan explained, as he led the pair to the elevators. A quick elevator ride up and a short walk later, the three stood in front of a door, the sign on it reading "Jacques Poirot, Director of the French Foreign Affairs Administration."

[aimway921]

Nakimoro couldn't tear her eyes from the window throughout the drive. She has never seen a Touli nation before. Despite Franerre being obviously poorer than Ashigawa - although not by much - it was still fascinating. She hoped she would be assigned for a mission here in the future. Eventually though her sightseeing was cut short by the arrival at their destination.

Nakimoro probably stood out of the crowd and caught a lot of attention among the Franchmen in the building. For one, she was an Ashigawan - her fluffy white-tipped orange tail certainly stood out among the humans. But unlike her colleague, Sinaru - the ambassador - who also had a tail, and not wearing a hat, also fox ears - Nakimoro was probably the only one in the building wearing a military uniform. Wearing her full dress uniform, she was wearing a black double-breasted tunic with ornate red and gold cuffs, collar and epaulets, adorned with several medals, black trousers with red piping on the sides, shiny black dress shoes, a black kepi with a golden sakura flower in place of a cockade, and pearly white gloves. Sinaru, on the contrary, was wearing a simple business suit.

They had followed Ewan through the elevator and to the office, waiting for Ewan to do the introduction.