It was the same bloody meeting. Same topics. Same discussion. Same nobles. Same pretence of being assured by the Emperor and letting the Prime Minister lie to him with a smile. 

Every.

Single.

Time.
 
Sir Julian August walked down the halls of the Imperial Palace, having just left a meeting concerning the growing rebellion and how more and more of the nobles had defected. More funding for the Jaegers, more funding for the Imperial Army, more funding for the Prime Minister's salary. Really, with all of these allegations of massive corruption it's honestly a wonder that this empire hadn't fallen to rebellion yet. 

On the other hand, it was precisely because the Imperial Army still held a great number of Teigu that they had held out against the rebellion. The young noble could not help but appreciate the irony of how it was exactly because of the weapons created in order to uphold the glory of the empire that the root of the corruption within said empire was able to survive. The Teigu had done their job - too well. 

Well, he was trying to fix that, wasn't he? It was exactly to alleviate the problem - to attempt to tip the scales in their favour - that Julian utilized his Teigu, Alexandria - more commonly known to him as "Cloe" now - in order to locate the remaining Teigu. The Teigu was more than a weapon to him at this point - she was his friend, his advisor, his trusted confidante, his older sister. In the past nine years, he had grown closer to her than he had ever grown with anyone else he knew; not even his own parents - who, in his mind, were corrupt filth who he was glad to be rid of. 

Looking out the window and staring impassively into the capital city, Julian thought about where Cloe was at the moment. 

XXXXX

The Biological Teigu known as the Divine Armoury Encyclopedia was currently strolling through the town. She had gotten bored of waiting for Julian to leave the meeting and had informed him that she would be going on her "daily walkabout of the area".

She was eyeing an ice cream vendor when she heard what sounded like argument from a Blacksmith shop. Setting aside what promised to be another hit on Julian's fortune in order to investigate, Cloe stepped out of the way just in time to avoid bumping into an armoured man and his retinue of guards. Realizing that it must have been a potential customer/store argument, Cloe poked her head inside the blacksmith shop. 

"...trouble?" she asked the young boy at the counter, gesturing to the departing group with her head.