Official Diplomatic Affairs

(Erika's Perspective)

The next day, everyone in the palace seemed quite adamant that I was prepared for today's performance. They put me in a really uncomfortable set of blue and pink robes and a bunch of old guys coached me on etiquette, which I kind of zoned out during.

As I waited inside my bedroom, Shiina entered.

"Your 'performance' today is very important. There are some 'actors' coming who are playing diplomats from the Kingdom of Southan. Make sure you put on your most convincing performance yet."

"I'll make sure I give it one hundred and ten percent Shiina! By the time I'm done they'll think I'm the real Shogun." I said.

"I'm sure you will... They should already be waiting in the palace's conference room. I think it's time you go down and introduce yourself." She said as she waived for me to follow her.

We made our way across the palace. Waiting just outside the conference room was Mr. Hondo. He bowed to me.

"Purrr.....our guests are waiting in this room. Are you prepared to greet them, Erika-sama?...Meow."

"Yep, I'm really looking forward to meeting these doormat people." I said.

Shiina chimed in,

"Um, I think the word you're looking for is diplomat."

"Oh... Well whoever they are, I think this meeting is going to be a lot of fun." I replied.

Mr. Hondo, for whatever reason, looked a bit nervous. I wondered if maybe he wasn't confident with his script or something. Shiina just smirked at him, as she opened the door to the conference room. As we entered, we were greeted by three bearded men, decked out in colorful robes and gold jewelry.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen...Meow" Mr. Hondo said.

"Hondo, my friend, it's nice to see you again. Is Takashi going to be arriving soon?" One of the bearded men asked.

Mr. Hondo looked at me.

"Takashi is no longer Shogun. He lost in a duel and stepped down...purrrrr."

The bearded man looked confused.

"If Takashi is no longer the shogun, then who is?... And what's with the cat ears and the strange noises you're making."

I spoke up,

"Um, I'm actually the shogun. My name is Erika. As for Mr. Hondo, those cat ears are part of his new uniform and the noises are part of the new code of conduct I've implemented."

All three of the men had surprised looks on their faces.

"I mean no disrespect, but you're telling us that this girl defeated Takashi, the once fiercest warrior in the entire East Kingdom?"

"She certainly may not look it, but Erika-same is quite the warrior herself." Shiina said.

"We apologize if we came across rude, Shogun Erika. None of us would have expected someone so young to be the supreme leader of the East Kingdom. Please allow us to introduce ourselves... I'm Arash. To the right of me is Farhad and to my left is Bahram. We are diplomats from the Nation of Southan."

All of them gave me a bow.

"It's very nice to meet all of you. So from what I'm aware you guys are here to sell us some kind of mats, right?"

"Uh... Mats?... I mean we did bring this hand made rug as a gift, but the reason we're here is to discuss matters relating to the pirates that have been pillaging both our countries easternmost coastal towns." Mr. Arash said.

"Pirates, Huh... That sounds like fun." I said.

"I wouldn't exactly use the word "fun". They're destroying innocent people's livelihoods." Bahram responded, seeming offended.

"Er... I mean... not fun."

I quickly corrected my lines.

Mr. Farhad was next to speak,

"The whole purpose of this meeting was to try and figure out a solution. Do you have any ideas on how we can solve this."

I thought for a moment.

"Hmmm... Pirates sail around in big ships, right? What if we somehow enlisted the help of some friendly dolphins to stop them."

All three of them looked intrigued.

"Dolphins... Hmm. That plan is pretty out of the box I have to admit, but it actually might work. If we were to equip these dolphins with some kind of cannons, we could train them to patrol our coasts and sink pirate ships on sight." Mr. Arash suggested.

I nodded.

"That sounds pretty neat to me. We'll probably have to get some dolphin trainers to help us."

"I like the way you think, Madam Shogun. Both our nations will conscript our best dolphin trainers for this cause." Mr. Farhad added.

Mr. Hondo kneeled in front of me. For some reason, he pulled a short sword from his belt.

"Erika-sama, I think you may be the greatest tactician of this generation! As one of your generals, I feel as though I'm not worthy to serve you and I must commit seppuku to atone!... Meow."

"I'm not really sure what playing sudoku is going to accomplish, but I think you've been doing a pretty good job at... Uh... generaling."

I knew his role was being some kind of general, but I wasn't exactly sure what that was.

"You truly are a compassionate leader, Erika-sama. Thank you."

His eyes were tearing up as he got back on his feet. He must have really admired me because it seemed like what I said meant a lot to him.

For the next few hours those doormat guys from Southan and I played out a scene where we put together a plan to train those dolphins. Part of me wished this was real life because those pirate hunting dolphins would be funny to watch in action.