Tyranny of Steel

Itami sat naked in her personal hot spring. Her large breasts, that were usually under wraps, were now hanging freely as she washed the sweat and grime from her body. It had been a month since she slayed the Imperial Family, and things went as exactly as she had predicted. 

Those Daimyos who were on the fence of whom to support had joined the rebels, out of all the major Daimyo clans in Japan, only a handful embraced Itami as the Empress. Those who did were fiercely loyal to the War Goddess and believed that she simply could not be defeated. 

Itami gazed upon her beautiful reflection in the pool of steamy water as she thought about everything had occurred since she first was reborn in this world. In her past life, she had served in the United States Army as an engineering officer for several years. In fact, she was even deployed to the land of her ancestors, where she lived a peaceful and enjoyable life.

However, before she could even reach her thirtieth birthday, a stalker murdered her. The man in question was jealous that she had developed a relationship with a high-ranking officer. After passing away, she had awoken in this world in the body of a fourteen-year-old girl who was the sole successor of a declining samurai clan.

For her first year in this world, Itami had used her knowledge of basic agricultural practices and industrial techniques to increase the wealth and power of her clan. Unlike Berengar, Itami pre-reincarnation was not a sickly fool, but was trained from birth to become the master of the Itami Clan. 

It was not until she was fifteen when the Shogun's forces came to claim the wealth of the Itami Clan for themselves, in the ensuing battle her father was slain, and she was forced to take up the sword in the defense of her family's lands. By introducing simple matchlocks, Itami repelled the Shogun's forces and declared open rebellion against the Ashikaga Shogunate. 

Like Berengar, much of her life since reincarnating into this world was filled with conflict. However, that did not mean she did not take the time to develop her territory. Every region she conquered, she ensured it was brought to the peak of a pre-industrial society, and several of the major cities that were beneath her rule had already reached an early industrialized state, with steam engines, and small-scale factories under way. 

Still, she was lagging behind Germany. Without her knowledge, an old friend from her past life had reincarnated into this world a few years in advance of herself and went through a similar situation on the other side of the planet. While Itami was just now producing the weapons of the early Meiji Era, Berengar would soon be advancing into the age of the Great War. 

Of course, Itami had a no way of knowing what was happening in Germany. However, as she soaked in the heated water of the hot spring, she thought about a certain someone from her past life. In her previous incarnation, the girl had to deal with an emotionally distant Julian. She had later learned about the young man's circumstances after he got himself fragged in Afghanistan and pitied herself for not reaching out to him while he was still alive. 

Because of Julian's childhood trauma, he had a difficult time forming emotional bonds with people. This was the reason that he considered no one to be an actual friend. In his mind, he only had acquaintances. However, Itami thought differently. The two of them spent so much time together that they had to have been friends.

She remembered crying her eyes out when she learned the fool had gotten himself killed in the last days of the war. If he had survived another month, he would have been able to pull out of Afghanistan and live a peaceful life. With his talents, he would have made something of himself. 

Even now, thinking about such a thing brought tears to Itami's blood-red eyes, which shocked her. She did not know why she was suddenly thinking about that dimwit, but these days she was thinking about that foolish bastard more and more. If, by any chance, Julian had reincarnated into this world, she would never leave him alone. After everything he put her through in her past life. Itami would make sure his life was a living hell. 

After thinking about that, Itami giggled like a schoolgirl. Was that anyway to treat an old friend? Absolutely, he deserved to be harassed for breaking her heart. What was the old saying? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She highly doubted that Julian would be reincarnated into this world, but if he was, she would hound him to the ends of the Earth.

If Itami had known that the object of her quarrel had not only reincarnated prior to her, but made himself the Emperor of Germany with a harem of five beautiful women, she would probably cut her own heart out. She was having such a difficult time finding a competent man to take as her husband, and that bastard had four wives and a mistress. Where was the justice in the world? 

Of course, Itami wouldn't even dream of this being a possibility. For the entire time that she knew him, Julian was as dense as a rock, and she suspected he had died a virgin. There was no way she would ever believe that he had become a real ladies' man in this new life. If someone were to tell her such a thing, she would laugh it off as the biggest joke on the planet. 

After thinking about this for some time, Itami got out of the hot spring. She had much to do, and little time to do it in. Itami quickly dressed herself in a kimono before walking through the confines of the Palace with a confident stride. The servants in the Palace did not dare to lay their gaze upon the Empress's seductive appearance in fear that she might claim their heads in retaliation. 

Itami eventually reached her personal quarters, where she sat down at her desk and sprawled out a map with a bottle of sake in her hands. She took a giant swig from the alcoholic beverage before shifting her gaze towards the contents on the map. It was a map of Asia which proudly displayed her imperial ambitions. 

Much like the Empire of Japan in her past life, Itami's imperial ambitions were not small in the slightest. The first target on her list of regions was Hokkaido. After she had dealt with the rebellion against her rule in the Japanese mainland, she planned on seizing the northernmost island of Japan. From there, she would make her way to the Ryukyu Kingdom and conquer it. After she had established a staging point in Okinawa, she would set sail for Korea and display the Dominance of her Army on the peninsula. 

However, this is where Itami's imperial ambitions in Northeast Asia ended. Despite what one might think, she had no desire to invade China. The bad blood that had existed between her people and the Chinese would not repeat itself in this world. This was not from the goodness of the young woman's heart, but rather a solemn recognition that she could not take China even if she tried. If she were truly dedicated to invading the Ming Dynasty, it would become her Afghanistan. The territory was too vast, and the people were too many for her to properly contend with.

Because of this, the regions once claimed by China in her past life were left out of her Imperial Ambitions, instead she would spread from Korea to Southeast Asia, conquering the lands that were known in her previous life as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Finally Australasia. 

If her teenage years were spent uniting Japan under her banner, then her twenties would be a time of global expansion. Of course, she did not know that Berengar also had planned to one day take the region of Australasia for himself. If fate were cruel, the two of them would meet in the region and battle for supremacy. 

Itami knew that if her future conquests went as planned, then the Japanese Empire would become the supreme overlord of the Pacific. Perhaps she might even stretch into the west coast of North America and colonize the lands for the Japanese. With such a vast Empire under her control, she believed nobody would ever be able to contend with her power. 

Thus, she had a devilish smirk on her face as she gazed upon the map of her future Empire, and spoke in a soft tone.

"Soon... Soon it will all be mine!"

The young Empress did not know that her German Counterpart had already united the German-speaking regions into a single Empire, and had begun colonial expansion into the Americas. Berengar was one step ahead of Itami on the game of Global Hegemony. By the time the two monarchs became aware of each other's existence, their empires would stretch far and wide.