[There's something like a choked laugh at Nero's assessment of the XIVth, half-bitter and almost devoid of mirth. He knows all too well the sort of losses that might prompt such a comment, especially given that the Ist hasn't exactly fared much better, for all that their losses have been less a decisive defeat and more a slow bleeding thing. Men lost to cold or injuries, in the desperate struggle to survive in a place that had already been hostile before Anima had wreaked havoc across the populace. Still, he doesn't ask for more information. He knows what's in the public record and that's enough for him. That and he's willing to offer a favor for a favor, and not drag either of them into a conversation they won't much like.
Instead, he leaves it be, turning instead to Nero's request.]
I know how to take care of it.
[It comes out sharp and still vaguely grumbly, but he holds it out for inspection all the same. Regardless of the fate of the XIVth, Nero does yet outrank him, and he's not gotten to where he is by not following orders. Or things that very nearly as good as, given that he owes no real allegiance to either Nero or the XIVth.
Still, the gunblade proves the truth of his words - it's obviously been well-cared for, despite having been put through significant use of late. It's been decently well-maintained too, though that hadn't always been easy or particularly feasible in the only mostly not-freezing temperatures of Tertium. And, of course, it hasn't taken the best to the suddenness of his arrival even despite having ended up in a strange box, but Jullus can't imagine that wouldn't also be the case for Nero's. If not worse, given how much larger - and presumably, more fiddly - it is than his own.]
no subject
Instead, he leaves it be, turning instead to Nero's request.]
I know how to take care of it.
[It comes out sharp and still vaguely grumbly, but he holds it out for inspection all the same. Regardless of the fate of the XIVth, Nero does yet outrank him, and he's not gotten to where he is by not following orders. Or things that very nearly as good as, given that he owes no real allegiance to either Nero or the XIVth.
Still, the gunblade proves the truth of his words - it's obviously been well-cared for, despite having been put through significant use of late. It's been decently well-maintained too, though that hadn't always been easy or particularly feasible in the only mostly not-freezing temperatures of Tertium. And, of course, it hasn't taken the best to the suddenness of his arrival even despite having ended up in a strange box, but Jullus can't imagine that wouldn't also be the case for Nero's. If not worse, given how much larger - and presumably, more fiddly - it is than his own.]