'Why does everyone assume that just because I was in the navy, I know how to sail a ship?' Eijirō thought, privately, as he considered what Asuna had said. First Uncle Etsuji during the holidays back in '18, then his Father-in-Law in '20, and the Empress of Rokkenjima herself? Sure, he'd taken enough lessons to get his license since becoming Emperor, having generally had the time to do so whenever he wasn't handling the weekly paperwork, but nobody ever asked if he had his boating license. They just assumed. Okay, maybe he wasn't as bothered by this as he thought. Besides, though it certainly wasn't the Mutsu, Shinkyō Bay certainly had much to offer.
"Worry not, she shall be returned to your hands unharmed." The Emperor said, privately wishing that he had been given command of a smaller vessel. "Now then, let us make ready to depart." He added, signaling for his host of aides and followers to join before he, alongside the Rokkenjiman delegation, went aboard the vessel.
A few minutes later...
As the old vessel steamed along, the various members of both delegations made themselves busy talking about recent events; the World Cup, for one, seemed to dominate many of the conversations held, though it was a subject with interested Eijirō little. He'd never been one for the sport, instead preferring baseball to it, though his interest had been at an all time low after the Emperors' Cup had come to a close not a month prior. Besides, what kind of a tour-guide would he be if he didn't focus more on the tour? And besides, they'd be passing their first landmark soon enough, so he needed to be prepared to speak at just the right moment. He would glance out on the city which he called home, upon the many skyscrapers which dominated its skyline, yet those were not what he was looking for. Not that it would be easy to miss, seeing as they would be passing underneath it, but it nonetheless marked the de-facto start of the tour.
"Up ahead, you'll see the Odaiba bridge, which connects our fair city to a series of artificial islands out in Shinkyō Bay." Eijirō said, almost as though he had rehearsed the line—because he did—as the ship began to pass underneath. "Built in 1979, it originally helped to facilitate the port here before the district was redeveloped for commercial use back in, oh, '94-95? Of course, I've never actually been to the islands out here, but I've sailed past them more times than I can count. That said, they used to be defensive fortifications that were built by the shogunate around the start of the 19th century, mostly to dissuade the Ardians from trying to attack the city. It worked well enough in that role, I figure, since neither they nor Imperial forces during the Boshin War attacked it by sea, unless you want to count the Grand Canal as part of the ocean." He continued to rattle off. "Look at me, going on about some island I've never cared enough to visit. I've travelled to the corners of the world, and yet I haven't gone to somewhere practically in my backyard? It feels... silly, almost, but I'm sure you can relate. Is there anywhere back home you've never visited despite being so close?"