The Brewing Storm

[callmedelta]

Fraraignée clenched his fist in rage. He would not leave Kumosenkan until he had results or until he was recalled. “Before you leave, Kyou-Kama, let me ask one final question. What is the make of the Greatfern equipment? Everything I have told you today is the truth: Franerre only produces Nevarran equipment. If it truly is Franerre who arms the Greatferns, then you know what equipment to look for. If Kumosenkan truly knows what goes on inside Elenria’s borders so well, then the knowledge of what equipment the Greatferns use should be no issue for you to find.”

[Sophie]

"The equipment that has been captured is currently being investigated by our weapon factories." Kyou lied, she had only read reports of Elenrian terrorists having new equipment during engagement with royalists. They had yet to capture enough to definitively say where the weapons had come from. "We will have a definitive answer of where the weapons are coming from very soon. Have a good evening. Fraraignée-kas."

[callmedelta]

“Good evening to you too.” Takoni closes his suitcase, walking down the steps of the palace. ‘I did my best, did I not?’ the Kumo thought, ‘I attacked Kumosenkan’s cover from every possible angle with the resources I was given. Kyou-Kama must know that this is a cover for something, or else she couldn’t not have simply dismissed the intelligence report. Even if the report were false, it would not be logical to dismiss new evidence so easily. But if the Greatferns are not the true reason for the border closure, then what is?’ Fraraignée arrived at his room in the hotel booked for him. ‘Think, Fraraignée. The closure happened a few days after Franerre’s entry into the Commonwealth if Granuras. Considering the amount of time it would take Kumosenkan to redeploy troops from Kumosenkan proper, it seems likely that could be the reason. I must press Kyou-Kama on this tomorrow.’

[Sophie]

As soon as the Franch diplomat had left, Kyou turned to her secretary. "Get in contact with the Ministry of Order and have that man followed. I promised the Empress I'd have this handled and we can't have this turning into a quagmire. Have them make sure he leaves the Empire by the end of the week. They have my authority and the authority of the Empress to get this done." The secretary nodded and quickly left the building. Under normal circumstances, she could've simply spoken with Rikka Takanashi in the same building, but she was out of town so the Secretary had to go to the actual ministry building.

It was a very short drive from the capitol to the ministry of order, and with her authorization, she was able to quickly procure a meeting with the acting minister. "Good afternoon ma'am and thank you for meeting with me. I have orders from emissary Kyou and by proxy, the Empress. You're aware of the Franch diplomat visiting yes? Orders are to have him followed and ensure that he leaves the empire by week's end."

The minister nodded. "Of course. We've had cursory surveillance on him since he arrived in Fuyonouso. I am happy to set up a dedicated team to follow him immediately. As far as getting him to leave, I have a few ideas to make him want to leave. We can throw a party in the room neighboring his every night and make sure he never gets any sleep. We can also inflate the price of and food he buys and make it far too expensive for him to stay here. If that doesn't work we'll figure something out. If in four days he hasn't left, we can hire someone to pickpocket him. If by some miracle for him none of this works we will re-evaluate the situation in six days. Rest assured we will get this done."

[callmedelta]

Fraraignée's night had gone imperfectly. His sleep, which was supposed to begin at 9:00 p.m. had been delayed all the way to 10:30 pm due to the incessant noise of a party in the room across from him, and the ambassador had only been able to fall asleep after trying all manor of techniques to attempt to block out that wretched noise, only able to achieve that with a partial amount of success. It was not perfect, but it would have to due. Fraraignée had an assignment, and it was not yet complete.

[Sophie]

Kyou's schedule was completely packed for the foreseeable future and had passed off the responsibility to the ministry of foreign affairs. The case had been assigned to Haru Okita. One of the newer diplomats who was gunning for a promotion to a dedicated diplomat position. She had been fully briefed on the Franerre situation and was even granted top-secret security clearance so she could be shown all the documents regarding the border incident. She was incessantly studying all the documents and audio recordings that had been given to her to ensure she wouldn't make any mistakes. She continued to study, locked away in her office and had ordered her secretary to only bother her if the Franch diplomat resurfaced.

[callmedelta]

Ambassador Takoni was sitting in the same waiting spot as he did yesterday when the clock struck precisely one p.m., yet no one came to get him as they did yesterday. Resolving to wait five minutes, Fraraignée sat there until his watch struck 1:05 p.m., yet still there was no one. He Kumo sighed, walked to the secretary's desk he had passed on his way in. After asking, it turned out that his case had been reassigned to another woman by the name of Haru Okita. At first, this struck Fraraignée as a slight against him, before Takoni realized that another ambassador may work in his favor, if they were more open to compromise than Kyou-Kama had been.

[Sophie]

Haru Okita's assistant led the ambassador into Okita's office. The room was much smaller than the meeting room previously. It was clearly just this woman's office. "Good afternoon, Fraraignée-kas. My name is Haru Okita, the diplomat assigned to your case. Please sit down and say your piece."

[callmedelta]

"Thank you," Fraraignée said, taking his seat, "Before we begin, could you perhaps tell me what happened to Kyou-Kama? I find it odd that diplomats would be changed during the middle of negotiations."

[Sophie]

"Kyou-Kama is both the minister of state and the emissary to the Empress. She simply does not have the time to dedicate to this situation. She is a very busy woman. However, I have been fully informed of the situation as well as I have been given a full audio recording of the meeting yesterday. I am more than prepared to handle this meeting." She cleared some documents off of her desk and quickly stuffed them into a filing cabinet behind her.

[callmedelta]

"I suppose I should be glad to have any of Kyou-Kama's time, then," Fraraignée said, "But if you have a full transcript, then you should know the question I left with Kyou-Kama last time. Have your experts deduced where the Greatfern equipment came from? Kyou-Kama said that it would be finished very soon."

[Sophie]

Okita shook her head. "It is an ongoing investigation. The proceedings and results of which are highly classified. This is not something that can be taken lightly. If we were to wrongly accuse a nation of supplying these weapons it would take years of diplomatic effort to undo the damages. That is of course if it doesn't start a war."

[callmedelta]

"Of course, of course," the Ambassador said. 'Shutting down a border could start a war, or take years of diplomatic damage to undo,' Takoni thought behind his smile, 'but that did not stop you.' "What of the information I gave Kyou-Kama yesterday?" Takoni asked, "Surely the knowledge of a Greatfern cell would give enough reason for Franch intelligence to help resolve the Greatfern issue?"

[Sophie]

"Ah yes." Okita turned back to her filing cabinet and pulled out a full dossier. She began reading from it directly. "The information gifted to the Web of Logistics by the Franch ambassador fully conflicts with the known territories of the Greatferns. At best, Franch intelligence is faulty, and at worst, it is a malicious attempt to divert Kumosenkan forces to an empty bog." She closed the dossier and lethargically looked up at the Ambassador. "Personally, I choose to believe that the intel was not malicious. However, that does mean I believe your intel is faulty and cannot be relied upon. I'm afraid Franerre will not be invited to aid in the destruction of the greatferns. There is already far too much to handle without adding the complications involved in turning this into a multi-national effort.

[callmedelta]

"That is...odd," Fraraignée muttered. He tapped his foot on the ground in thought. "Especially odd, considering the source of the information. As part of Franerre's entry into the Commonwealth of Granuras, we asked for information related to Elenria, as Elenrian issues always seem to spill over the border in one form or another and cause Franerre issues, as it has now. The document was extremely sparse, and that was the only information that was present that was knew to Franch intelligence. Perhaps the Commonwealth does not know Touli as well as it thinks it does, and should stay out of Touli's affairs. Thankfully enough, His Majesty saw fit to provide me with a statement on such matters." The Kumo opened up his briefcase, retrieving a single piece of stationary paper, on it the same handwritten message written once in Franch, once in Kumosenkan, and once in Commons.

"I, His Royal Highness King Dante Emmanuel Marchégia IV, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Franerre, hereby declare,

No soldiers from the Imperium of Rombarda, the Ashigawa Empire, nor the Crowned Republic of Nevarra shall reside in Franerre's land, except for the purpose of transit to other nations, in which case they shall be transported with all haste to their destination, and the number of soldiers from the Kingdom of Franerre be limited to 25,000. In exchange for this, H.R.H. King Dante Emmanuel Marchégia IV ask of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Reitō Doku Kumo that the border between the Kingdom of Franerre and the Grand Republic of the Elenrian Crown, territory of the Kumosenkan Empire, be reopened to trade from both nations, and that the count of soldiers from the Kumosenkan Empire currently on the border between the Grand Republic of the Elenrian Crown and the Kingdom of Franerre be reduced to 25,000.

-H.R.H. King Dante Emmanuel Marchégia IV"

At the bottom of the letter was the Franch Seal.