Princess Louise and the Dog Cerebrate

Korhal IV, the Empire's capital planet. Augustgrad, the imperial capital.

Though Augustgrad had a short history, this great city had already conquered the hearts of every Imperial citizen who had ever visited.

Augustgrad's mountain-like, undulating borders expanded outward every day as though breathing. The rushing river that cut through the Radiated Wastes had now become part of the city, its banks lined with skyscrapers piercing the clouds and magnificent silver towers. At night, the lights blazed brilliantly, casting shimmering reflections across the river.

Unlike Tarsonis City, whose splendor and elegance concealed filth and corruption, Augustgrad had been the undisputed capital of the Terran Empire from the day it was founded. It was not a city of warmth and soft colors; Augustgrad exuded the composed charm of a monarch, along with the cold majesty and authority of a ruler.

Korhal was the heart of the Terran Empire, and Augustgrad was the heart of Korhal. Korhal was seen as a symbol of the Terran race rising once more from charred ruins, even gradually becoming a kind of faith. Augustgrad, meanwhile, embodied humanity's wisdom and limitless strength, representing a race that had endured suffering and war yet found its confidence again.

From the air, Augustgrad's web-like railway tracks resembled the city's fine veins. Each day, countless office workers took trains from one end of Augustgrad to the other.

To Imperial citizens of different eras, Korhal and Augustgrad held entirely different meanings.

But to children born and raised in Augustgrad, the city was simply a familiar yet unfamiliar hometown.

"Aha! Augustgrad! I'm home!"

The palace's golden dome glittered beneath the sunlight like a pyramid cast from gold. Its spire, ruling over the skyline, seemed to hold up the entire gray sky. Augustgrad might well have been Emperor Augustus's ideal imperial capital: a modern metropolis