Editing City Series:Volume5a Chapter8 (section)

===Rosetta’s Journal: Today's 1st Entry===

I will write today’s events in multiple entries because I feel like a lot is going to happen.

Lady Beretta was angry with me just now. She warned me instead of just lashing out at me. But it was still disappointing. My focus was apparently slipping.

But Lady Beretta is part of the reason why. There are times when she definitely looks my way while Recréa-ing. I am not entirely sure why I am so certain of that though. Perhaps there is a sort of resonance because we are both machines – she counts as a machine while Recréa-ing into a Lourd de Marionnette. And it makes me very happy when she looks my way. That makes me want to respond in some way. So I waved back and dropped her underwear. That is why she was angry.

I will try to restrain myself from now on. I think I will still end up waving though. I seem unable to control myself when I feel happy. Why is that, when I am a machine?

Anyway, Lady Beretta is strong.

She has already fought two matches today and she won them both in an instant. Everyone in the stands – what I thought were stairs are officially known as stands – was surprised and that made me realize how incredible Lady Beretta is. I asked the old man sitting next to me and he said that Lady Beretta is not normal. That means she is abnormal.

But I am worried. She will lose herself in thought while walking or fighting in the Lourd de Marionnette. I do not think anyone else noticed. But I sometimes feel a chill while watching her. There is a calm stillness as she thinks about something.

Lady Beretta is still Recréa-ing while sitting in the place known as a hangar. She ate the lunch I brought for her – she was almost entirely naked while she did so – and then she Recréa-ed again.

She says she is going to take a nap. But I think that is a lie.

She is thinking about something.

This has happened before on occasion. But this seems to be a gathering of all those thoughts. I think she will tell me what it is once she has an answer. So I will not ask.

That is why I am leaving her alone while I write this in a corner of the dining hall located next to the mock battleground.

Earlier I saw Sir Phillip on his own. He made sure Lady Beretta was not with me and then sat in the seat across from me.

Everyone in the dining hall kept their distance after that. They moved away.

Sir Phillip’s expression was very serious.

“I will win.”

He told me that and I asked a question in reply.

“Why do you want to defeat Lady Beretta?”

He thought for a moment and gave a simple answer.

“I want to get her to quit being a Lourd de Écrivain. Even when that idiot tries to restrain herself she ends up fighting just like this. Because she has the makings of a true Lourd de Écrivain.”

He smiled a little then.

“But it’s too dangerous. And a guy doesn’t want to see a girl in danger.”

“Lady Beretta feels the same. She does not to see you or the rest of us in danger.”

“That’s what makes her such an idiot. She has a habit of rushing in on her own. She doesn’t give a thought to whether she has someone by her side or who will come and save her if she fails.”

“She can indeed be somewhat forceful. But.”

“But nothing. And even if there is a ‘but’ she has a tendency to rush into danger before anyone else. She’s too naïve. I don’t know if this will make her happy or unhappy. But I do know I’ve never seen someone like that end up happy. Especially with the world the way it is these days.”

“Because of the war you mean?”

“More or less. France had Joan of Arc. But she too charged in on her own and ended up getting burned at the stake. Act like a hero during a war and you generally get killed for the trouble.”

“…She does like to have her way in such things.”

“In everything you mean.”

I smiled a bit at that.

He was right. I understood what he was saying. Lady Beretta tended to take action before anyone could say anything to her. Although that did make her quite reliable.

But. She said she does not want to get us involved in the war. Meanwhile, her unilateral actions are bringing her ever closer to that war herself.

War means bloodshed. I know from cooking that dead things have very little blood. And Lady Beretta will lose her blood if she joins the war.

That means she will die.

What am I supposed to do about that?

I (or should I say we?) do not want to see Lady Beretta in danger.

So should I try to restrict her actions like Sir Phillip?

I think this is a difficult question.

She said we would be safe if she puts herself in danger.

But is that really true? When I felt happy I think she did as well. That is certain. It is the same when she looks my way from the Lourd de Marionnette.

Lady Beretta would not be displeased when I am happy.

So is there no way to similarly make both of us safe?

I do not know. But I feel like there has to be a better solution.

I plan to ponder this some more without settling on a definitive conclusion.

It is almost 1 PM. That is when the final match begins. I am about to return to the hangar.