Spoils of Victory

Chapter 2 - Coffee of Reunion

Akitsushima is effectively just like the Japan of my world around this time, Imperialist and wanting to expand, primarily into China, or in this world's case, Qin. Their first war with Qin in this world however, went much better than in my own, with Japan holding territory and puppets throughout northeastern Qin as well as all of Mangalia, this world's Mongolia as well as its outer territories. However much like in my world, they want more and are going to get it.

In truth, the Empire isn't sure where it stands. The major benefit we would aim to gain is both securing our holdings in East Asia, especially Qingdao from both the Qin who want the treaty ports, and the Akitsushimans who want to seize them. Not much to gain from supporting either side, however if we can use this war to bolster our relations with Albion and the Unified States, it could be worth it to oppose the Akitsushimans, although their Imperial-Militarist type government is a bit too aligned with ours for us to go too strongly against them for the hypocrisy that would be. Supporting them isn't really an option either since it would only sour our relations with the Unified States and especially Albion, who we've spent the last few decades trying to improve relations with.

Either way you could tell there wasn't much for the General Staff to discuss because that's about where they ended the official meeting. There were still frequent discussions, sure, but some days like today the General Staff just didn't have anything to discuss. It's these days I cherish most, however. Knowing the stress and complexities that await me in the coming years, being able to effectively have some days off is relaxing. On days like these, I tend to spend a good bit of my time at the cafe I always spent my free time at during my period at the academy. Its quality has improved greatly too, not just because of the end of the war, but it seems the Empire's economic status has allowed for shops like these to afford more luxurious coffee, and I'm certainly not complaining.

By this point, I come here so frequently that the shop has its own stash of my favorite coffee in stock year-round, and most of the workers there understand just how I like it. Strangely though, it's still not as good as Visha's, although that's just what you have to deal with. After just a few short minutes of sitting down, they delivered me my coffee. If I had to guess, they had taken to prioritizing my order more frequently now, however I wasn't going to complain. Today however, the coffee was phenomenal, yet oddly familiar. It's as if Visha had made it, albeit it was slightly different, though that could be contributed to the coffee actually being a high quality import. It seems after all these years, this shop has finally perfected my coffee... Unless...

I called for a waiter, and asked to see the person who made the coffee, if I was wrong about this, well at the very least I should tell them they did a good job, maybe it'll encourage them to make it this way more often. If I was right–

"Lieutenant General!"

And that I was.

"Visha? What are you doing working here?" As I looked up, there she was, Visha, working at this relatively random, albeit successful cafe in the middle of Berun. I wondered what she was doing after the war, in the final months of it I didn't have as much direct combat as I led the push towards Josefgrad and the 203rd was only a single part of that. After the war she left the army, though I haven't heard much of her since then.

"Well I was looking for a Job and I heard you visited here often so I thought I'd put my coffee-making skills to good use!" Visha exclaimed proudly, she was certainly more mature than I remembered, though she was relatively mature before, I suppose war does that to you. Although in my case, the war only hindered my growth and maturity and now I'm probably stuck at this size for the rest of my life. At least I've grown somewhat, though the difference in our heights is still very much noticeable.

"That's going a bit out of your way just to talk to me, wouldn't you think?"

"Maybe, but I don't mind! When they found out I was the one who made your coffee during the war they hired me instantly, so to be honest it was arguably the easiest job to get."

Do I have that much of an impact on the profits of this cafe?! Maybe I do come here too often...

"Is it really that widely known that I frequent here?"

"Of course it is! You're basically a war hero among war heroes. You coming here so much has been a sort of silent advertising for the cafe."

I mean I did notice that the cafe gradually got more populated and crowded, the building even expanded a few times to add more seating, but I just contributed that to a stronger economy. Maybe I need to reevaluate just how popular I am...

"Alright then. Glad to see you're doing well, Visha."

"Thank you! How are you doing, Lieutenant General? How's being part of the General Staff?"

"You can call me Tanya, Visha, we're not at war anymore and you're not technically a soldier. And it's good, though most of it is confidential as you can probably guess. I'm not entirely surprised to see you've quit the army after the war. You were a good soldier, though I always saw you as someone who would probably thrive well off outside of it."

"Thank you, Lieu– uh, Tanya! Though it did take some debating on whether I should stay and rise up the ranks like you or leave it. Since I was an elite mage, I wasn't immediately forced out when the demobilization occured, however I decided it would be nicer to take a break. Though if war comes up again you can be sure that I'll take up arms to serve the Empire again, Ma'am!"

"You know, Visha, if you ever wanted, I can easily secure you a position as my assistant or something along those lines. You did well with paperwork back when we were creating the 203rd, and being in the General Staff in peacetime is a lot of it, so I can easily twist some hands and get you a decent position."

"Thank you, Ma'am, I'll definitely consider it, if you had offered me before I got this job I would have certainly taken you up on it immediately, though for now I'm content just working here.

"Alright then, though the offer stands, I wouldn't mind being able to have some good coffee back in my General Staff office."

"Of course, Ma'am, though I have to get back to work, not that I think they would stop me from talking to you more considering your standing."

"Of course, don't let me hinder your new job."

Having Visha back as a subordinate would be perfect. Not only is she competent with paperwork, but she's an Elite mage, not to mention she makes the best coffee. She's someone who I built up to be a competent, efficient, and loyal subordinate since she was put under my command, so having her back as my assistant would certainly be beneficial. Course there's no way I can force her, it does seem like she's certainly open to it, it's really only a matter of time anyhow. For now I'll have to be satisfied with just having her great coffee at this Cafe.