So now we have reached a tempo of one chapter a month. Barely.

UNACCEPTABLE!

The next chapter WILL be released on 22/06. I promise!

Resilience.

Leone walked through the dusty corridor at a relaxed pace. Carrying a bag filled with bread over one of her shoulders.

She passed several old doors as she walked through the large house. Some of them had partly fallen from their hinges and some of them were just open door frames. Lacking a door at all. The whole house was very run down. Some of the wallpaper and tapestries had started falling off the walls and the few paintings that were remaining on them were faded and tilted. When Leone passed through some of the doors she shouted a heads up to those sitting in it. When she got a respond, she reached into her bag and threw a loaf of bread to those in the room.

Every room was filled with different people. Some soldiers, some civilians and some mercenaries. But right now they were all sitting at desks or around tables. Sorting through papers and letters.

The remains of the revolutionary army.

Leone walked up the stairs to the highest level of the house. This was an old and abandoned hotel in one of the small towns to the west of the capital. What had once been a rather lively small community was now nothing more than a ghost town. All its citizens and members had since long fled to the capital. Or towards the borders. In the hope of fleeing from the raiding and battles that were ravaging the nation.

Now not a single person lived in the town. So it had been easy for Night raid and the few followers they had left to find refuge amongst the abandoned houses and businesses.

Leone walked through the final door and entered what seemed to have been the main office of the hotel. The room filled with old but expensive looking furniture. Armchairs, an extravagant desk, and chandeliers. The walls were occupied by large windows and old bookshelves. The setting sun was shining in through the windows. Marking that the day was coming to an end.

"Sorry for being late!" Leone said loudly as she entered the room. Saluting those in the room in her usual carefree way. Waving one of her hands at them.

Akame was sitting behind the main desk in the room. Isamu was occupying one of the chairs on the opposite side of it. His feet resting on the desk. One of the leaders of the revolutionary army was sitting in one of the two couches in the room. A bit away from the other. Slouched forward slightly.

"No problem, Leone." Isamu said without turning around. Cleaning his nails with a knife. "I arrived here just some seconds ago as well."

Isamu still had his entire throat wrapped up in bandages. It was a small wonder that he had survived his fight against Kurome. Everyone knew that if her sword had hit him just a little bit to the side, he would have been dead. Luckily for him, her cut through his throat hadn't killed him immediately. And as such he had been able to survive.

Even if the blood loss should have killed him in less than a minute or two. But the young man had once again shown his insane proficiency with his teigu and had used its power to keep his blood moving around as normally. None of it leaving his pierced neck. Even so, it had been a tough time for him after the battle. Since he had been forced to stay awake as the medics fixed up his throat. Not able to afford any anesthetics. Afraid that he would lose his control over the teigu and die. Having to stay awake for almost thirty hours after the exhausting fight.

But he had survived. Though he still hadn't healed fully. Still being very slow and careful when he moved his head around.

Leone sat down in the other armchair that was placed in front of the desk. Smiling at Akame who calmly nodded at her. "Found some bread that was about to turn bad in our reserves, so I distributed it." Leone said and took up the last piece of bread in her bag and took a bite of it.

"No visitors or new arrivals?" Akame asked.

"Nope." Leone said with her mouth full. "None of those placed around the city has seen any sign of human life for three days straight now. This entire region seems to be deserted."

Akame leaned back a bit. "I guess it is a good thing that neither Makeias or the empire are in these parts. But it is also discouraging that no new survivors have come to us during these days."

"More might still come." the officer that was sitting on the couch said in a tired voice. "It is too early to give up yet."

Akame gave the man a kind but doubtful look. "Have we gotten any more responses?"

"No." the man said. "But we are still sending out messages."

Akame leaned forward a bit and looked away from him. "That is kind of the reason as to why I have gathered you here today. We need to start moving down a new path."

"Hmm?" Leone said. Her interest peaked. She was already so very bored of this small and dead town.

"We have avoided this long enough but now it is impossible to ignore what we must do." Akame said in an empty voice. "And the first step to that is to dissolve the revolutionary army."

"What?" the leader of the revolutionary army exclaimed and rose up from the couch. "You can't be serious?"

Akame looked at him. "As serious as I have ever been. I mean no offense with my words and you know that, officer. But keeping this organization alive serves no purpose."

"We can still make a difference." the man insisted.

Akame looked at him for a little while before she continued. "How many people do we have left?"

The man hesitated for some moments before he answered. "About two hundred."

"And how many of those can fight?"

"Maybe a little more than half."

Akame closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "So a hundred warriors strong." she opened her eyes and looked at Isamu. "How large have we estimated Makeias' force to be?"

Isamu scratched his head. "It is said that he took about an eight of the imperial military with him when he betrayed them. So say about four hundred thousand men."

"Four hundred thousand." Akame said slowly. "Makeias is the smaller one of out opponents here. And he would hardly notice his casualties if every one of our warriors took down a hundred of his." she said and looked over to the officer. "It is over. We cannot win through the strength of arms anymore."

"More might still come." the officer tried but Akame was determined.

"We have waited here for four months. And yes, during these months a few people have reunited with us. But they have been few and far between. It is time that we face the hard fact. The revolutionary army did not survive the betrayal of the Path of Peace."

Leone nodded somberly. It was not an encouraging reality but it was none the less the reality.

They had learned just how grave the religious organizations betrayal had been shortly after their battle with Makeias. They had learned that all their different hideouts and bases had been attacked simultaneously while they were fighting. Their positions all revealed to Makeias' forces. There had not been much fighting to speak of in most of these cases. The revolutionary army relying on their secrecy as a defense. Most of them not being able to handle a fully informed and planned out attack.

Night raid and what remained of their small party had moved to this abandoned town. Sending out messages for any survivors. But few had responded. They had been forced to convert all the people they had left to just handle their information network. All the warriors and mercenaries forced to work in these areas unfamiliar to them. Simply because they no longer had the manpower to stay in contact with all their spies and hidden agents without them.

And so their time in this small town had passed. But with every day, the hope of any more survivors showing up had grown slimmer and slimmer.

"We can assume that we are the bulk of what remains of the army." Leone agreed.

Akame nodded again. "To keep these people fighting for this cause is a cruelty I will no longer encourage. They are risking all their lives without any real chance of causing a change or affecting the future of this nation."

The officer stood there for some moments. Opening and closing his mouth. Then he finally sat back down on the couch with a light thump. "So what will we do now?" he asked to no one in particular. "We got no homes to return. No resources to fall back on. Many of us are wanted criminals."

"I don't have the right to tell you where to go." Akame said. "I would suggest that most of you separate and go into hiding. It will be easier to catch you if you stay together. Though I would beg of you to keep fighting cruelty whenever you meet it."

"How can we just give up our hope to see the empire change as a whole?"

Akame looked at him and smiled. "Who said anything about giving up?"

Leone nodded again and Isamu looked up from his nails and smiled.

"I am telling you to separate and spread out simply because your contributions to our fight have been rendered so small that it is not worth risking your lives for it. Night raid will not stop because of this."

I cannot stop. Even if I wanted to, Akame thought. Her thoughts traveling to Najenda's letter and the last request her friend had made of her.

"We will abandon parts of our information network but not all of it. We will keep as many spies as we can stay in contact with. And I will request that a handful of people from the revolutionary army stay with us in order to handle all that information."

A bit of hope had returned to the voice of the officer when he spoke again. "So what will you do now?"

"What we always should have done." Akame said. Her red eyes intense. "We will infiltrate the capital ourselves."

"Finally!" Leone exclaimed. While Isamu just sighed.

"I had hoped that killing Makeias would make the people rally to us again. Like they had done before. Since his forces has been terrorizing them so. But it backfired horribly on us. So now we have to focus on our main goal entirely. We can no longer afford any detours."

"But what is that, more precisely. I mean it has been hard to find out anything more reliable about what is happening with the leadership of the empire right now." Isamu said questioningly. "One day they say that a new emperor is in the capital but is kept hidden. The next day they say that Esdese has taken the throne for herself and intend to make her children into the new royal lineage. Just the other day I read a message from a spy who thinks that there actually is no imperial court at all. That no one is ruling at all."

"It has been hard to find out exactly what has been going on." Akame admitted. "We lost many of the spies we had placed within the palace after the emperor's death. When they were searching for his killer. But I got some information from a rather reliable source this morning."

"And?" Leone said and leaned forward.

"It is true that Esdese rules over the empire right now. The entire empire, not just the military. I do not know if it is permanent or just a temporary solution for them. However, I do know, that she is not doing it alone. There is another one working together with her. One who is keeping tabs from behind the scenes. A certain former assassin." Akame said somberly.

Now it was Leone's turn to sigh. Leaning back into her own armchair. "Are you sure that this is reliable information." she asked tiredly.

"Positive." Akame said. "There is no mistake about who Esdese is ruling together with."

Leone reached up with a hand and massaged her eyes.

No one had really known much of what had happened after the death of the prime minister. It had been so hard to get any reliable source from inside the higher levels of the palace. It had taken some time before they had even managed to verify that he was dead.

"So much for my theory." she said in a sad voice.

Leone had not forgotten about what Tatsumi had done the night she was freed from the torture chambers. Nor had any of them missed his fight against Makeias. Leone suspected that that was the reason why Akame had tried to prioritize taking out Makeias first. Because she was still unsure of where Tatsumi was standing. Wanting to give him time to make them understand where he stood. Leone herself had theorized that it must have been Tatsumi that had killed the emperor. That he had somehow fooled them all.

But this was the nail in the coffin for that theory. The empire had not changed much after the prime minister's death. And if this information was correct, Tatsumi was now one of the main pillars supporting it.

"But why did he try and save Najenda then?" Leone asked after some moments of silence.

"Maybe that wasn't his main objective." Isamu said. Quick to try and discredit Tatsumi. "Maybe he just had his own reasons for wanting to see the pillager dead and found that to be the best opportunity to make that happen."

"His allegiance should have been clear to us after he gave Mine to the ice queen." Akame said lowly. "We don't know what exactly happened in Garu, but we know that Mine is dead because of him. And now we know for a fact that he is one of the two persons that are at the top of the empire. I don't see that we have any other choice now."

Isamu nodded. Leone remained silent.

"We will infiltrate the capital and stay hidden. I don't think that we stand any chance of getting into the palace. We will have to bide our time and wait for an opportunity to strike."

Isamu straightened up in his armchair. "So we will try to go directly for the great general?"

"No." Akame said. "We can never secure a high certainty of victory against Esdese. We will need to take care of the smaller targets first."

"So Tatsumi the traitor is first on our to-do-list?" Isamu asked with a smile.

Akame nodded. Unsmiling. Leone spoke up from her silence at the gesture.

"So we will begin this by killing our old comrade." she said. Half a statement and half a question.

"Not you. I will." Akame said. "I know that circumstances might not allow for this. But for as far as it is possible, I would like the two of you to leave Tatsumi to me."

Leone looked at her for a little while. Staring into Akame's red eyes. Akame did not shy away from her gaze. After some moments, Leone started to smile.

She could still see it in Akame. See could see that she felt the same. At least to some extent. She had not given up fully yet. Not completely. There was a bit of hope left in her. A small as it might be, but it was definitely there. "Well then, when the time comes, I will leave Tatsumi to you."

Isamu shook his head. "One suicide quest after another. Anyway, will we just leave Makeias as he is?"

"For now, yes." Akame said. "Makeias will not just sit idly by as time passes. We know that he want to see Esdese dead as well. He will make his own attempt to bring her down. And when the imperial power reacts to whatever plan he might have, then that might give us the right moments to strike."

"If you say so." Isamu said and shrugged.

"Besides," Akame continued. "I think that Kurome will stab Makeias in the back in the end. And she will hopefully have Wave on her side by then."

Leone looked a bit skeptical. "You sure?"

Akame nodded. "Yeah. She will. I am convinced of it. Based on our interactions while she was in our care. And what transpired during our fight with Makeias. I gave her the offer to join us. And she made it clear that she wanted to take us up on that offer."

Leone stuffed her mouth full with the last of the bread. "Well, you know best. When will we start moving?"

"Tomorrow we will start evaluating which potential hideouts in the capital that might serve us best. That will determine when we move out."

"You know what." Leone said. Some crumbs flying out of her mouth as she spoke. "I don't think this sounds all that bad. It might still be a chance for us here."

"Yeah. Maybe." Akame said. "Maybe."

It was already dark outside when Tom-Tom and his men entered Makeias tent. It was a clear and starry sky that they left behind them as they walked in under the tent flap but the wind was still rather strong this night. Making their robes and clothes dance in the wind as they entered.

The large room the walked into was filled with ornate furniture. A large table standing in the middle of it. Maps, papers, and books spread out over it. The room was well lit but there was no one in it except for Makeias. He was leaning against the armrest of a couch to their side. His back turned against them.

"General, we have arrived as you ordered." Tom-Tom said and started to walk up towards the table. The four men behind him following. "How can we serve you?"

Makeias didn't turn around as he spoke. "How is the transition going?"

"Ten percent have moved in. Thirty percent are preparing and the rest is waiting for the signal." Tom-Tom said as he reached the edge of the table.

"How long will it take until everyone is in position?"

Tom-Tom scratched his head. "Hard to say. At least a month more or so. I think that we ourselves should probably move in before that. But we have not met with any troubles yet."

Makeias nodded. "As long as they don't catch Jack, we have nothing to worry about."

"So why did you call us here, general?" Tom-Tom asked and looked at Makeias' back.

Makeias slowly turned around and walked up to the other side of the table. Looking down at an apple he was holding in one of his hands. His expression empty. When he reached the table he opened his hand and let the fruit roll out of it. It fell down on the table and rolled a bit across it. As it did, Tom-Tom and his men could see that a third of the surface of the fruit was completely black. Rotten.

"No one in the world would call this fruit healthy, right?" Makeias said and looked at the apple. It stopped in the middle of the table. On the top of a large map of the empire.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tom-Tom asked.

"Two-thirds of this apple is healthy and good. But if you were to sort it as either good or bad, you would sort it as bad. Since you know that the corruption would soon make all of it inedible."

Tom-Tom looked at Makeias. He understood the obvious parallel but he was still uncertain where he was going with this. "The good part can still be separated from the bad."

"Maybe." Makeias said and scratched his midsection. "Do we have any news concerning Yatsufusa? What is its status?"

"It has reached the production camps as you ordered. It is being tested out but we have yet to find anyone who has a good compatibility with it."

"That might be just as well. I am not sure that it is worth the effort. It might be better to destroy it. We eventually will anyway."

"I think the teigu can be a good asset to us if we just find someone who can use it well, general."

"Probably. But if we do, we will only be able to use it as far away from admiral Wave as possible."

Tom-Tom gave him a questioning look. "Why so?"

"Because Wave believes that Akame took it after she killed Kurome. He believes that Night raid stole that teigu." Makeias said lowly.

"Why would he think that?"

"Because I told him so." Makeias said bluntly and looked up at Tom-Tom. "It wouldn't make sense for Akame to slay Kurome and then leave the teigu behind. She would have taken Yatsufusa with her.

Tom-Tom seemed slightly confused. "Would have? Wait, so Akame did not kill Kurome?"

"No." Makeias said and looked Tom-Tom in the eyes. "I did."

Tom-Tom face remained still for some moments. Taking some time to process what he had just heard. After a little while, he found his voice. "Did she betray us in the end?"

"No. Though she was rather close to." Makeias said and looked down at the apple again. "But I don't think she could leave Wave behind. As long as we had him, we had her."

"Then why?" Tom-Tom asked. Sadness finding its way into his voice. "Why was it necessary to kill her?"

"It wasn't." Makeias said grimly. "I didn't mean to kill her. Morbus reacted on its own. Somehow the disease that I put in her arm activated on its own. I couldn't even reach it. Much less suppress it. And with her weak physique, it was a quick process. I tried to stab myself with my spear in order for the teigu to have to focus its energy on me. Trying to divert its attention away from her. But it didn't help in the end."

"Damn it all." Tom-Tom said slowly as he reached up and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "So you are losing more control over Morbus?"

"I am starting to doubt that I ever had any control, my old friend." Makeias said silently.

"What do you mean?"

"Morbus has acted out before. This wasn't the first time. Just like when it infected Wave without me intending for it." Makeias said. "But I am starting to see a pattern to it."

Tom-Tom remained silent as he waited for him to continue. Leaning heavily on his staff.

"Morbus has never reacted on its own so aggressively. But if you think back to the meeting when Wave showed us Night raid's letter, Kurome was the only one who clearly stated that we should seal Morbus away. And later on, it kills her on its own accord."

Silent followed in the wake of his words.

The men behind Tom-Tom looked at each other. A strong gust blew against the tent. Making the flaps in it move around and causing the candles in the room momentarily flicker. No one said anything. To Tom-Tom and his men, it suddenly felt like they weren't alone with Makeias in the large tent. It suddenly felt like someone else was listening to them. Or something else.

"Do you mean that it killed Kurome as a conscious choice?" Tom-Tom said after a long while. "That it had a reason for why just Kurome was the one."

"It is too early to tell. There is also the question as to why it only killed her then and not earlier. Maybe it needs me to be near the target?" Makeias said and rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. There are too many unknowns right now. But we need to take some precautions. And soon."

"Like what?" Tom-Tom asked.

Makeias smiled at him. "That will be up to you, Tom-Tom. I can't know about it, for obvious reasons. And we should probably avoid any physical contact from now on."

Tom-Tom kept his expression stern but the pain was visible in his eyes. "Suppose that I would find the strength to do this, how would know when?"

"You will just have to watch me closely. If you see signs that I am acting strangely, or my decisions go against what we set out to do, then that might be a warning sign."

Tom-Tom sighed deeply. His breath shaking slightly. "And how would we do it, if everything goes as ill as you say?"

"I had hoped that we would have Murasame in our possession by now. Then it would have been an easy thing to do. But somehow, Akame survived the trap that we had made for her in that garden. So now it is a little bit more tricky."

Tom-Tom looked down at the apple. This whole discussion was tearing him down.

"One way would be to team me up against the ice queen. That would seal the deal. But it is a hard thing to do without risking all of your lives as well."

"Have you given up on finding a way for you to survive Morbus?"

"Given up? No. Far from it. But Morbus must be destroyed before this is over. No matter the cost. And I am starting to wonder how we will kill it. In exchange for its power, we have allowed it to grow too strong for our own good."

Tom-Tom nodded. "Aye. That we have. But we do know one thing for sure."

Makeias nodded back. "Yeah. It needs me to survive. At least in some form. It has been fighting furiously to keep me alive through all of this. I would guess that I am still its host body in some way."

"So you are telling me to kill you if you lose control?" Tom-Tom said. His voice empty.

"Unless we have found a way to separate this all-corrupting infection from me. But we can not allow Morbus to survive this. No matter what." Makeias said. Keeping his voice as steady as he could. "And you already know of one way to kill this disease."

Tom-Tom looked at Makeias for some moments before he spoke. "Fire."

Makeias nodded again. "You will need to find a way to make it's liquid flammable. To make my blood flammable. And probably to a rather extreme degree. But we do know that it cannot survive against fire."

Tom-Tom took a deep breath. "I will figure something out."

"I know you will." Makeias said with trust. "But as I said, it seems like I can not know the details. I might be sharing my knowledge with something else."

Tom-Tom bent down and took up the apple from the table. Resting his staff in his arm as he brought it in under his coat for a moment. "Besides," he said, "I, for one, still thinks it is a bit too early to give up hope here."

With those words, he turned around and started to leave the tent. "I will go and see these preparations done. You better get everything ready on your part as well. We need to be ready when our turn to move out finally comes."

He threw the apple back over his shoulder as he left the tent. His men following him. Makeias caught it with a hand.

He couldn't help but smile as he looked down on it. Its corrupted part had been cut away from it with a knife.

"I expected you to be here an hour ago." Tatsumi said as Esdese walked through one of the double doors that led into her apartment. He was lying on one of the couches in the entry hall. On the opposite side of the doors she had walked through. Holding a small folder of papers above his head. Not leaving the numbers on the papers with his eyes.

"Yeah. I took a little detour down to the torture chambers." Esdese said and unfastened her sword from her back. She threw it to the side nonchalantly. The sword landing perfectly in the elegant weapon rack that adorned the wall. Without either Esdese or Tatsumi looking at it.

"Lovely." Tatsumi said sarcastically. "By the way, the new imperial guard has still not received Absordex, I heard. So I guess that you still have Dorothea down there."

"Yeah. It was time to brand her today." Esdese said as she walked over to where he was. Moving her head around a bit as she did. One of her hands massaging her neck.

"Brand her?" Tatsumi said and looked at her.

"I brand all my pets. In one way or another." Esdese said and sat down on the couch. Beside his stomach. Her back turned towards him.

Tatsumi gave her a skeptical look. "Don't t tell me that you did her like they do the cattle? An iron brand heated in a fire."

"Do you take me for a savage? I am far more delicate than that." Esdese said. Looking over at him. Pretending to be insulted. "I actually heat up a nail shaped tool. And then I carve the proof of their submission directly into their skin in a far more elegant way than an iron brand could. Usually somewhere visible, like the forehead. But sometimes it is more entertaining to go for sensitivity instead. Like the inner thigh or-"

"Okay, okay." Tatsumi interrupted her. "That is already far more than I wanted to know."

Esdese gave him a complacent smile and then turned forward. Starting to undo the laces on her thigh high boots as Tatsumi continued.

"Still I am surprised that you would put your insignia on someone such as Dorothea. I thought you despised her."

"Ohh I have never put my own name or insignia on any of them. Nor the mark of the Partas clan. None of my pets are that remarkable."

"Then what do you carve into them?" Tatsumi asked. Looking at the side of her head.

"Usually just some drivel. Like, "I can't have children anymore." or if I got information from them it would be something like "I sold out my friends to save myself."."

Tatsumi let the folder fall down over his face with a light sigh. He needed to close the torture chambers. Sooner rather than later. Not that he had even started thinking about how he would make Esdese allow it. To her, torture chambers were a completely normal thing for a ruling government to have.

"Though there is one person that I would like to carve my insignia into." Esdese said in a voice that was both sweet and threatening at the same time. Tatsumi slightly pulled down the folder from his face. So that he could see over its edge. And just as he had expected, Esdese's eyes were staring at him. Her expression filled with that unyielding obsession that was equal part welcoming and horrifying.

"Nope." Tatsumi said in a muffled voice through the folder. "We have been through this countless times already."

"Aww, come on." Esdese pleaded with her most charming smile. Putting three of her fingers where his collarbones met. Just under his throat. "Let me put it right here. Just like my own mark. It would be perfect."

"You know, most people don't find the act of carving symbols into others bodies that romantic." Tatsumi said and moved the folder away from his face.

Esdese's fingers were slowly stroking the place where she wanted to mark him. "A tattoo or a scar wouldn't do. They would fade over time." Esdese said thoughtfully. "Maybe burning it in would be the best choice. With a bit of nice hot iron."

Tatsumi gave her a slightly annoyed look. They had talked about this many times before. Tatsumi had clearly stated that he refused several times and Esdese had always backed off. Not wanting his resentment. But she still brought it up every now and then.

"I would need to take my time with you." she said. Absorbed in her own fantasy. "It would need to be flawless. I would probably have to restrict your movements so that your body couldn't jerk away by instinct and ruin it."

"Not happening." Tatsumi said and swatted her hand away with the folder. "Besides, isn't that the symbol of the demon blood? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to put the mark of the Partas clan on me."

Esdese straightened up a bit. Still smiling. "You don't belong to the Partas clan. You belong to me and I am the new form of the ice demon. Its blood is a part of me now."

"Yeah but you are also the only remaining member of the Partas clan. That clan is basically your identity as well. It doesn't exist outside of you."

"Well, you are right." Esdese said and started to pull off one of her boots. "For now."

"Do you actually think that Dorothea is going to make it as one of your pets?"

"Ohh I doubt that." Esdese said. And threw her boot over the end of the couch. Starting with the next one. "She will probably die moments after I remove Absordex from her body."

"Then why go through the trouble of branding her?"

"Well, the process itself is quite fun. And there is a certain satisfaction in the hopelessness that fills someone's eyes when they realize that the rest of their lives will be spent in their current pathetic state. Branding someone often cements the fact that they are never going to escape this last part of their life. Seeing that last hope desperately struggle and then realize that it is going to die is quite... exquisite."

"Ok, you know what? Let's talk about something else." Tatsumi said and hit her shoulder with the folder he had been reading through. "You should check this."

Esdese looked at him for a moment and then grabbed the folder. Putting it down in her lap as she opened it up and started to read through it. After some moments, she put it down on the side of her as she removed her other boot. "So the number of refugees arriving at the capital has increased. What of it?"

"Increased threefold."

Esdese shrugged as she bent forward to pull off the last of the boot from her foot. "War creates refugees. Makeias forces are pillaging the countryside for food and supplies. It is only natural that people should flee towards the center of the imperial power in order to stay safe."

"And how will they provide for themselves here. Many of them were already poor. Most of them will starve when they come here."

"If you don't want them here, then simply stop them from entering. We can easily just keep them out of the city."

"And what do you think that will lead to, huh?" Tatsumi's asked and stared up at the ceiling. "How long do you think it will take until the common folk starts thinking that it might be better to plead loyalty to Makeias instead of us. Since we won't protect them from him they might as well hope that he will protect them from us."

"Gallus is running his hate campaign against Makeias. He will soon have convinced most of the people that Makeias is the devil." Esdese said nonchalantly as she threw her boot over the other one. "And even if we have some more deserters to the other side, what does it matter? People will pick their sides. And we will simply have to crush the side that opposes us in the end. It is as simple as that."

Tatsumi had, during these months, started to realize the problems the prime minister might have had when he worked with Esdese. She was so welcoming to conflict that she almost created it. Making it hard to withhold stability. "We need to welcome them into the city. But we will need to dedicate some of our military power to see over this process. The institutions we have now are seriously undermanned."

"I have distributed all the military power as I have seen fit. They are needed where they are now. I will not move them to take care of a civic issue."

Tatsumi sighed. "I don't like this idea, but it seems like we need to expand the military a little. At least in the form administration."

"Hmm?" Esdese said and gave him a wondering look.

"Esdese, the best solution to this problem might be for you to appoint a new general. One that is dedicated to just overwatch the civic business and not really engage in our external conflicts."

Esdese looked up at the ceiling as she thought about it. Flexing her now freed toes a bit back and forth as she did. "I think it might be a bit redundant. But I agree that it is important that we keep some sort of order. Or at least a minimum of it. Otherwise, it might hinder us."

Tatsumi nodded. "Do you have anyone that would be suited for this position?"

Esdese grabbed her chin. Remaining silent for a while as she thought about it.

After a little while, Tatsumi started to look around a bit as Esdese sank deeper into her thoughts. She didn't even pay any attention to the small tucking at her hair.

"Your hair is long enough to form a cape." Tatsumi said behind her.

"Mmm" Esdese said dismissively. Not paying attention to him. But after some moments, she turned her head around and looked at him. "What are you doing?"

Tatsumi had rolled around two times behind her. Wrapping himself up in her long hair from head to toe. He looked up at her with a smile. "Your hair is really long." he said.

"I thought we were trying to be serious here." Esdese said and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? Don't I look serious right now?" Tatsumi said and rolled around one more time. Wrapping up his lower face in her hair. Covering his mouth and nose. "Do you have anybody suited for this job?"

"Yeah. I do." Esdese said and rose up and took a quick step away from the couch. Bending her head forward as she did. Smiling. Causing Tatsumi to spin around a couple of times as her hair was unwinded around him. Like a yo-yo and its string. When he finally stopped spinning around he was laying on his stomach. As he was about to dizzily turn around, Esdese sat down again. Right on top of him. Just over his sway-back.

Tatsumi let our a silent "Ohhf" as Esdese landed on his back. But she just picked up the folder and shifted through it once more. Nudging a bit back and forth on top of him until she was comfortable. Placing one of her legs on top of her other one as she sat on her Tatsumi-cushion. Resting her back against the couch.

"I have one that would be suited for this. But I don't like the idea of promoting her."

"Huh? Why not?" Tatsumi said as he squirmed under her.

"She is a bit too.. cocky. If I make her into a general, she might overstep her boundaries sooner or later. In which case I will need to punish her. Which will give off the impression that I have no idea of who the people that I am promoting are."

"Isn't that a risk no matter who you promote. I mean, even Wave betrayed us." Tatsumi said into the couch.

"Wave's matter was a case of clean cut betrayal. That is different. I might have to punish this one simply because she might refuse to call me great general or something like that. Or kill her because she won't follow orders. Because of no other apparent reason than laziness."

"Well... that does sound very different. Why would you even consider her then?"

"She is rather strong, even if she hides it very well. She was a general during Budo's rule but never appeared to reinstate into my military. Saying that she found the whole ordeal too troublesome. Returning her troops to the capital but stepping down herself."

"Sounds like she just doesn't like the idea of following your rule."

Esdese closed the folder in her lap. "Well, she always was one of those that were for the people of the empire and not its leaders. Kinda like Gallus. But it doesn't matter, she has no real choice anymore. I am the head of state. I can call upon her to serve and she will have little choice but to obey."

That line about her being for the people had awoken Tatsumi's interest. This might be a potential ally "Let's put her to work then."

Esdese thought about it for some more moments before she spoke up. "Fine. But if she becomes to troublesome, I will leave it to the new imperial guard to deal with her."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Tatsumi said in an enthusiastic tone. "We will play it by ear."

Esdese nodded as Tatsumi continued. "By the way, have you gotten fatter? You are quite heavy."

"How rude." Esdese said with a smile down at him. He had turned his head around enough to meet her gaze. Even if he still was on his stomach. "I was never just muscles and skin, Tatsumi. I have always had a bit of fat on my bones." she said and ground her butt on his back a bit more. Pressing him down further. "In some places more than others." she said and grabbed one of her breasts with a hand as she met his gaze. As if to taunt him.

"Well, you know, just thought that all those hours of sitting still and writing might have put some more pounds on you." Tatsumi tried to tease back as he tried to squirm around so that he was lying on his back instead.

"If my weight changed in any considerable way, I would notice it immediately." Esdese said and put the folder down on the couch again. "I would be able to sense the difference in strength I would have to apply to move around. Which has not been the case."

"I should have guessed something like that. Still, you do feel heavier than usual." Tatsumi said.

"When I am on top of you I am usually lying lengthwise over you. Now my weight is focused on just your back."

"It feels like your ass is going to be imprinted on my spine."

Esdese giggled. "You know, some of my pets have beaten each other bloody over a chance to act as my chair. You should feel lucky."

"Mmmmm.. nope. Don't feel lucky at all."

Esdese let out an exaggerated sigh. Still smiling. "You are so hard to please, Tatsumi." she said and rose up. Tatsumi turning around on the couch as he breathed out.

He looked at her as she walked over towards the study in her apartments. Probably intending to check how many letters that were waiting for her there on the desks. He started to sit up himself.

Esdese stopped in the doorway that lead into the study. Standing still in it for some moments. Then she froze up completely. Drawing Tatsumi's attention to her in a heartbeat.

She quickly turned her head to the side so that she could look at him. A deadly serious expression on her face.

Tatsumi immediately tensed up at the sight of it. Something was going on.

"What?" he asked quickly.

"Can you feel it?" she asked. Her voice quick and hard.

Tatsumi waited for some seconds. Trying to take in everything he could from his surroundings. But he could not tell that anything was out of the ordinary. "No. I can't feel anything."

Esdese turned around fully. Slightly hunched. Her eyes slowly scanning the room they were in. "We are being observed."

Tatsumi slowly stood up. "Is someone eavesdropping on us?"

"I don't know." Esdese said. "I can't detect anyone in the vicinity of my chambers." She slowly walked to the center of the room. Her naked feet gently touching the floor. Keeping herself completely quiet. Moving as if she was hunting.

Tatsumi just watched her for some seconds. He looked around but this specific room didn't have any windows in it. "Did you just detect it now or did they just start observing us now?" he asked in a whisper.

"I am not sure." Esdese said. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on her instincts.

Tatsumi looked at her as she listened to her instincts. They stood there silently for a long while. Both of them on absolute edge.

Then thirty seconds passed. Then forty. Then a minute. When two minutes had passed, Esdese finally eased up. Her body relaxing slightly as she straightened up.

"It is gone now. It was just very faint and subtle but my instincts definitely reacted to something."

"You sure it's gone?" Tatsumi asked.

Esdese straightened up and shrugged. "It might just have been something else. I just felt like I was being monitored for some moments there. But it disappeared almost as quickly as I felt it. So I am not sure. It was probably something else. It is sometimes hard to tell what my insinuation is warning me about."

"Let's call the guards." Tatsumi said immediately and started walking towards the doors. We need to search through this floor and the ones around it immediately."

Esdese just looked at him as he briskly walked through the room. "You are exaggerating, Tatsumi. It might have been anything. And whatever it was is gone now. I can already tell you that there is no one close to these rooms right now. It was probably something else that I reacted to."

"Tell me the last time your instincts were incorrect and I will admit that I am exaggerating." Tatsumi said as he got close to the door.

"Fine." Esdese said with a sigh. "have your little hunt. But I can already tell you that there wasn't anyone eavesdropping on us."

"Better safe than sorry." he said as he opened the door. Looking back at her.

She shook her head at him and turned around. Walking back towards the study. A bit annoyed at herself for overreacting to such a small premonition. "I will go and read through the letters. You can come by later and tell me how unfruitful your search was."

"Hopefully not." he said and walked out of their chambers.

He quickly moved towards the nearest guard post. He understood why Esdese didn't think that her premonition was caused by someone spying on them.

He hadn't told her yet. Because doing so would raise a lot of questions about how he knew about it. And that would lead to follow-up questions that might reveal some of his lies. He needed to thoroughly fabricate a story before he told her.

But he knew. He was certain that he was still hiding in the palace. A small boy that he himself had allowed into it. One capable of knowing what they were doing and thinking, without having to either hear or see them.

Author's note:

Ok, so a long fucking wait for what is ultimately a set-up/transitional chapter.

I have been swamped with my studies these last weeks. The finals looming large over my back. But that will all be over in about a weeks time. Then I will have some vacation, and during that time, I will try to return this to its original pace. Do you remember those times? When there was a chapter released every 10-14 days. Good times.

The manga is also moving forward rather quickly. Though I haven't quite given up on beating it to the finish line. Admittedly, this story has a shitload more things to get done in the same time. So I will really have to crank up my release tempo to accomplish that. We will see.

Another thing that the most recent chapter showed us was that the prime minister had something up his sleeve. I always expected something. Maybe not exactly like the anime but something along those lines. One of the reasons why I let Tatsumi hit him in the neck with the fully evolved Incursio before he could react. In case we would later learn that he actually could fight to some degree in the manga. Which this is supposed to be based on. Not that the manga can't still turn around and fuck that up for Bent but not Broken. But maybe less likely now.

Many of you have been writing and asking me about the release date. It warms my heart as always. I apologize for not responding to you. These days have been hectic. I will write a release date on the top of this chapter. But it will be preliminary and I will most likely change it. But then you can at least see that things are happening.

As always, thanks a lot for reading and staying with this story for so long. All the feedback that I get from this is what keeps it going.

Until next time, take care of each other.