Chapter 11: What Is An Empress?
She first led me to where the baths were. And since they were made like a public bath they had it cleared out before I even got there.
Once I had finished guessing what to use for shampoo the guard had me follow her again. While I only had a towel on since she apparently disposed of my clothes already. Making it so I had to walk through the halls practically naked as the others watched as I walked past them.
Though once we arrived to where I was supposed to be dressed. Things turned into such a hectic mess that I was starting to worry.
Since I was the only male on the ship they had a tailor come in and take my measurement. That she then put into some sort of terminal that then displayed holographic mock clothing. To adjust sizing and even style to what she thought would suit me best. I could even see it in her eyes as she ran through all the designs that she was having a blast.
"Alright I think this looks the best on you." The tailor said looking very proud with her creation.
I had put on the clothes that she designed and practically printed out of thin air. Which seemed to fit perfectly to where it wouldn't even restrict my movements. Luckily she stuck with a more plain design. That almost resembled a mix between their clothing designs and something I'm used to wearing in the military.
It was an all black suit that comfortable compressed my entire body. That had a silver logo on the center of my chest. That almost resembled the front of a dragon's head. With four silvers streaks coming out of it going towards my arms and legs.
"Simple, yet comfortable. I like it." I said making the tailors eyes light up.
"If you ever need more clothes or a more, accurate measurement, feel free to find me. You can just ask for Cezilia." She said putting her face really close to mine.
I smiled and nodded my head before following my chaperone around the ship again. This time leading me into a room that looked like a traditional classroom that I was used to seeing. Though with only one desk and a chalkboard in the room.
Empress Zu was already sat in the desk and was eagerly awaiting for my arrival. Even giving me a thumbs up with a gleam in her eyes after seeing my new clothes.
The woman who was supposed to watch over me stopped and stood by the door. As I continued to walk further into the room standing by the chalkboard. I picked up the chalk and wrote Professor Mishiki on the board. Which gave me a look that said don't push your luck from the guard. While I could hear the Empress squeal in excitement.
"If I'm going to be asked to imitate a classroom environment then I would like you to refer to me as Professor. Though you'll only need to call me that whenever I'm teaching you. Now, what is it exactly do you want me to teach you?" I asked.
"If at all possible I would like you to teach me about how to be a good Empress for my people. But if you can't then I can settle for just some human history." Zu responded swinging her legs as she spoke.
I took a deep breath to try and rationalize just how big of an ask she made.
"Is there an issue?" Asked the guard.
"Just trying to figure out how I should go about this. I'm a soldier from my planet not a teacher."
"Didn't you home planet have some sort of education system? Just teach her what you were taught." The guard said shrugging her shoulders.
This woman has no idea just how bad that is for a teacher to do. A teacher should never just regurgitate information at the student. Expecting them to learn anything from that.
I turned around and wrote Empress on the chalkboard and circled it.
"Alright. So you want to be the Empress that your people deserve right?" I asked with Zu nodding her head vigorously. "Then you need to understand just how important of a role that is."
"Pfft, of course I know how important being a ruler is. You are the protector that all the people look up to." Zu said gleaming with pride.
"I'm glad that you view being a ruler as a protector of the people. Though it's something more simple and ugly than that." I said as I walked up to Zu. Removing her sword from her hilt that was attached to her hip. Placing it in her hand and pointing her blade at my neck.
"W-w-what are you doing." Zu asked trying to pull her sword away.
"This is what being a ruler really is." I said grabbing her hand. Keeping the blade next to my neck. "My life is in your hands. You are the dictator of my life. You decide to start a war, I die. You decide to ruin the economy and I can no longer buy food or shelter, I die. You decide not to invest in police force and I have no way to protect myself, I die. If you mess up at any point I didn't just die. You killed me."
"What are you trying to do!?" The guard asked as she pushed me away from Zu.
I looked over the guard at Zu and saw a horrified look on her face. Shaking as she returned her sword to her hilt.
"I-is there no way to prevent that?" She asked staring at her desk.
"No."
Zu's eyes jolted back up at me. Staring at me like I had just declared her to become a murderer.
"There will almost never be a death that you won't feel responsible for. However, no life will be as important as yours. As long as you truly strive to serve the people of your planet. Then at the very least you can minimize the amount of deaths as much as possible." I said as I moved the guard's hand off of me.
"T-thank you.. I think I just need some time right now to let that sink in." Zu said as she got out of her desk.
"That's a smart decision. Let me know whenever you're ready to continue your first lesson."
Zu smiled and left the room.