Tyranny of Steel

Itami went to bed at night in utter silence. She was feeling fairly conflicted after seeing how exceptional her greatest rival's life was. There appeared to be no trace of stress that she could detect, and yet her entire life was stressful. 

However, she utterly refused to believe that life in the Reich was all it was cracked out to be. Surely there were faults in Berengar's tales about how great his empire had become. Luckily for her, she was to be given a tour of the capital city the next day, and Itami knew that she would be able to find something that was out of place. 

Thus, Itami slept rather soundly that night, dreaming about how she would finally be able to call out Berengar for his misdeeds. However, the next morning she was surprised to find that it was not Berengar himself who would be guiding her through his capital city, but instead his young son, Kristoffer. 

Hans was too busy at the moment, with every spare second of his time being occupied either by his mother or four of his fiancees. While Berengar himself had a country to run, and decided that was more important than entertaining his esteemed guest from a rival nation. 

Thus, when Itami and her family arrived at the front door of the palace, they were shocked to see an adolescent boy, who looked very much like his father, standing there with a pleasant smile on his face, while dressed in a fancy suit. Kristoffer had a trio of white roses in his hand, which he gave to the three Japanese women as a gesture of good faith, before introducing himself, shockingly, to Itami. He spoke fluent Japanese. 

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Empress Itami Riyo, Princess Itami Momo, and Queen-Mother Mibu Saya. I am Prince Kristoffer von Kufstein, the second son of Kaiser Berengar von Kufstein and the eldest child of his wife, Kaiserin Adela von Kufstein. It is my honor to be your guide throughout the city today. Is there any place in particular you would like to visit? Or shall I lead the way?" 

Itami examined the boy for quite some time, noticing that there were no flaws whatsoever in his appearance or his manners. Despite this, she did not seem pleased. Momo and Mibu were entirely different. They perceived the boy to be the perfect example of a young gentleman and were both quick to pamper him as they accepted his gift. 

"Oh my, isn't he so cute onee-chan? Okaa-san, can we keep him?"

Mibu was practically pinching the boy's cheeks as she nodded her head in agreement with her youngest daughter's sentiment.

"I would very much like to do so. Alas, he already has a family..." 

These unexpected responses caused Kristoffer to blush as he gazed up at the two beautiful older women who were pampering him as if he were their most prized pet. Despite this treatment, he did not shoo them away, and instead cleared his throat in an attempt to get things back on track.

"Well, if none of you have any preferences, then perhaps we will start in the old district. Though it is where our city's poorest citizens reside, and with some of the oldest buildings in Kufstein, I assure you, it is perfectly safe to travel its streets, even without an escort."

Itami found this hard to believe: where there was poverty, there was crime, this was no secret, and had been the case for every major civilization in human history. Thus, when she stepped out of the Palace and into the car, she was expecting to see some human suffering. 

However, when the car finally arrived in the old district. Itami realized that she had misunderstood just what the Germans considered being poor. Kufstein had no slums or ghettos. The old district was considered poor, but it was by no means unkempt or unsafe. Women walked through the streets alone, or with their children, and they had smiles on their faces. 

In fact, the buildings themselves might be a bit older, but they were well maintained, without the slightest hazards sticking out. Old and impoverished were far from what Itami would use to describe the old district. In fact, there was a word for what she was witnessing: quaint. 

While stepping out of the car, and escorting the three foreign ladies, Kristoffer noticed a nearby cart which was selling hot dogs. However, these were not the typical American hotdogs from Itami's past life, but instead were grilled beer bratwursts served on buns, with sauerkraut, and brown mustard. 

With a wide smile on his face, the German prince led the three Japanese beauties over to the cart, where a middle-aged man with gray hair, blue eyes, and a mustache was currently serving a few brats to a group of customers.

The man was dressed in a fine cotton dress shirt, tailored trousers, and leather oxford shoes. Over his torso, he wore an apron. Despite living in the old district, the man had a joyous smile on his face, as if he was happy just serving food on the streets to the city's residents.  When Kristoffer approached, the man broke out into a fit of joy and introduced himself to the Imperial Prince.

"Prince Kristoffer?!?! It is my greatest honor to see you on this day. What can I do for you? I'm sorry I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Paul Brauer. It is a pleasure to meet you!" 

Kristoffer smiled and accepted the man's praise graciously before getting straight to the point. 

"Mr. Brauer, the honor is all mine. It is good to see the people of Germany working hard to provide for themselves and their families. These three ladies and I are in the mood for something tasty, and I was wondering if I could purchase four of your brats."

Paul looked over at Empress Itami and her family, and noticed that they were foreign women, similar to those in Little Kyoto, he did not know what status they must have for Kristoffer to be their guide, but he was quick to greet them as well.

Although it became abundantly clear that they did not speak a lick of German, thus he turned his attention back to Kristoffer, as he smiled and shook the boy's hand before carefully preparing four brats for his customers. When Kristoffer reached into his wallet and pulled out a thousand mark bill, Paul's eyes nearly shot out of their sockets. He was quick to dismiss the need to pay, let alone in such a high amount. 

"Your highness, you do not need to pay for my product. If not for your father, then I would not be living such a comfortable life, doing what it is that I love to do. Please, they're in the house!"

However, Hans rejected this notion immediately, and forced the hefty sum of money into the man's hands, assuring him that it was perfectly acceptable for him to pay for the services provided.

"I assure you, Mr. Brauer, your labor is worth the price you charge. As I only carry thousand mark bills on me, consider this my treat for all you do for Kufstein and the Reich as a whole. Some people may say that you do not provide an essential service to the people of this city, but I disagree, without street vendors like yours we Germans would not be able to enjoy such a fine treat on wonderful days like this, and is that not the essence of what makes a society prosperous?" 

Itami watched the display, and though she could not understand what the two germans were saying, she could tell that Hans was vastly overpaying for the product. This was further proven when Paul wiped a tear from his eye and gratefully accepted the substantial sum of money that Kristoffer had used to pay for the product. 

After which, the man threw up a proper salute to the prince and continued to maintain the pose even after Kristoffer returned his gesture. Paul would continue to salute Kristoffer until the boy was out of sight. Where he and the three Japanese beauties enjoyed the brats to their heart's content. It was only after they had all finished their treats did Momo exclaim in excitement at what she had just witnessed. 

These were no small sausages. In fact, a single brat contained about a third of a pound of meat in the bun, which was thoroughly covered in its toppings. Momo found it simply unbelievable that such a massive amount of food was being sold in the streets of the poorest section of the city, and she was quick to voice this disbelief. 

"You're telling me that even your poorest citizens can afford this much meat for a single meal? How is that even possible?"

Kristoffer wore a proud smile on his face as he explained the agricultural system of the Reich to his father's guests. 

"Unlike other societies, we see our agriculture and medicine as a means to feed and heal our citizens, and not as a means of profit. Because of this, everything is grown sufficient quantities, while medicine is stockpiled here in the fatherland, and abroad in our colonies across the globe. They are then sold in the markets for the minimum price that still allows the companies to profit in a way that they can continue their business. 

As a result, even our poorest citizens have a healthy diet, which enables our people to have proper nutrition in every meal they eat. While our medical industries invent products that maintain a happy and healthy populace and are provided free of charge, at the government's expense."

It was not only Momo and her mother who were blown away by this news. But Itami herself was completely astonished by this. Even more so than her family. According to this boy, the Reich had Universal healthcare that was actually high quality, and an agricultural system that was not driven by profit, but rather the need to feed every citizen of the reich. Such a thing was simply astonishing, if true. 

What kind of utopian ideas was this little boy spouting? As a ruler of an Empire herself, Itami found the very notion of what he had said to be unobtainable. Thus, she suspected Kristoffer was merely speaking propaganda points, and ignored everything else he had to say on the matter. 

Of course, Kristoffer was speaking the truth, and thus he continued on with the tour of Kufstein without paying heed to Itami's skeptical attitude. 

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