Editing City Series:Volume2 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 1===

As soon as he left the Yard, Amon was overrun by work to get his life in order.

It would not have been so bad if he only had to move, but he had also been asked to deal with Jonathan’s brewery.

By the time he closed the shop, got the inventory in order, cancelled the wharf warehouse rental, and brought all the paperwork to the municipal office’s late night service window, it was morning.

Just like the day before, he returned home far too late.

Out of habit, he started toward the brewery he had lived in with Jonathan, so he had to change direction.

“My room’s this way now.”

The morning was still dark as he walked through the residential Soho Square. The stone-paved road, brick-paved sidewalk, and gas lights all looked oddly faded.

…''I must be tired.

His thoughts were answered by the deep, sinking bell and music indicating the top of the hour. The strangely clear sound resembled the colors of the sky as dawn arrived.

The bell rang five times.

He stopped to count the number and applied Verbal Self Control as the ringing reverberated through his body. Once he began walking again, his pace was quicker and he looked in the windows of the shopping district. The stores run by nocturnal races were about to close.

“Maybe I should eat something now.”

Only then did he realize someone was staring at him.

Without a doubt, a weakly murderous gaze was focused on the back of his neck.

“Did the Yard send out someone to monitor me?”

He frowned and slowed his pace a little.

He looked over his shoulder a bit, but he did not look with his eyes. He used Overriding to instead read his surroundings.

…''Oh?

He found someone who worked for the Yard almost too easily.

They were quite close by. He recognized their presence at the boutique across the road.

It was a terribly defenseless presence that did not even hide its location. In other words, it was not the presence of an observer.

“…”

Confused, Amon stopped walking and looked over at the large show window of the boutique.

He saw a girl that he recognized.

She was the blind girl named Klausl.

She held some modest clothing that ignored the latest trends and faced the half-fishwoman with beautiful scales who worked at the boutique.

Klausl was chatting with the boutique worker and was clearly not monitoring Amon.

…''Is she out shopping on her way home from the Yard? How lovely.

He gave a bitter smile of self-deprecation and looked around again.

He could not sense anyone other than the girl in the boutique, but he still felt a gaze on the back of his neck.

It was not a pleasant feeling.

“…”

He began walking again and sped up to draw out whoever it was. He hurried as he sidestepped the signs that had been standing there for several years now and slipped between them and the gas lights.

“Kyah!”

Suddenly, he just about ran into someone leaving a nearby bakery. They did not actually collide, but he must have frightened the other person. Her blue skirt spread out like a flower and she fell on her butt.

He reflexively looked down at her.

“That was close. Watch where you’re going, you idiot.”

But then he gasped.

The person sitting before him with a dazed look was Klausl who had been in the boutique just a second before.

She sat on the brick sidewalk and looked up at him in confusion.

“Eh?” he muttered.

He turned back toward the boutique, but he could not see inside it from this angle.

…''?

A grim look covered his brow and he looked back at Klausl who held a paper bag of bread and nodded.

“Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, Amon.”

“Eh? O-oh, yeah. It was your fault.”

Amon gave that terribly awkward response and thought about the situation.

It had taken him a few dozen seconds to walk from the boutique to here, so it would have taken Klausl about the same amount of time. However, she would not have had enough time to end her conversation with the boutique worker, arrive here ahead of him, and leave the store holding a bag of bread.

…''?

He must have strongly Tasked and Opened his confusion because Klausl tilted her head as she stood up.

“What is it?”

“Oh, nothing.”

He suddenly noticed a difference between the girl in the boutique and this one holding the paper bag.

Their clothes were different.

The previous one had been wearing the uniform of a Yard office worker.

This Klausl’s clothes were similar, but the decorations were slightly different.

“I see.”

He nodded and applied Verbal Self Control. It was not uncommon to think a stranger was someone you knew.

…''That’s right. And right now I need to find whoever’s observing me.

“Observing you?” asked Klausl.

“Don’t read my Open Words.”

“Oh, sorry. B-but, um… Excuse me.”

“What?” he asked without bothering to hide his annoyance.

“Do you like bread?”

The question was so sudden and thoughtless that his mouth simply hung open for a bit.

“…Eh?”

“Um, there are some people in London who can’t eat certain things. …For example, there are those who have to eat carrots or can’t eat garlic or salt. So I just wanted to ask.”

…''That’s right.

He just about answered, but quickly realized he was being an idiot.

“W-wait just a second.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Why on earth are you asking this out of the blue in the middle of the city?”

With her eyes still closed, Klausl thought for a moment.

“I suppose you’re right. …Okay, I would like to ask a question. May I?”

Amon just about collapsed right then and there.

“I wasn’t asking you to go through some kind of official procedure!”

“But you said my question was too sudden…”

…''Someone help me.

Amon let out a defeated sigh which was rare for him.

“I may not be one to talk, but do you have screw loose in your head or something?”

“Oh, my. That sounds serious. I need to ask father about that.”

“Are you messing with me?”

His shoulders drooped and Klausl must have picked up on his frustration because she seemed to give up on asking her strange question. Something akin to sadness reached him much like Open Words.

“It seems I caught you at a bad time. …Sorry.”

“…”

He remained silent, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately turned his back.

He walked off at a quick pace and scratched his head.

“What a strange girl.”

As he rushed away, he once more felt the gaze of the observer he had nearly forgotten about.

It seemed they were sticking with him no matter what.

…''They sure are persistent.

He checked the road and saw a stagecoach rushing down the stone pavement. Amon waved toward it and the skeleton driver brought the two headless horses known as Nightmares to a stop.

The dry voice produced by the skeleton man’s cheap artificial vocal cords spoke cheerfully.

“Keh keh keh. Where to? Ee hee hee hee.”

“How far can you go?”

“With me driving, you could go as far as hell. How about it?”

“Just take me wherever.”

Amon pulled a ten pence coin from his jacket and tossed it over. The skeleton man caught it with a dry sound from his palm.

“Keh keh keh. Good, good! I’ll take you around for fifteen minutes. I’m also carrying a cute young lady, so don’t try anything. Ee hee hee hee!”

“Keep up that nonsense and I’ll break some of those bones of yours.”

With that, Amon climbed inside the enclosed passenger car. It had room for six with two three-person sofas facing each other. It was a common layout.

“Now, then.”

He took a breath just as the stagecoach began to move.

The observer would be unable to keep up on foot, so they would have to react in some way.

“Oh, right.”

Just as he started to look out the window, he remembered the other passenger the skeleton man had mentioned.

He Overrode the inside of the passenger car and saw a girl in the opposite seat.

The person the driver had called a “cute young lady” had her head resting on the windowsill and her eyes closed in sleep. The happy look on her face suggested she was having a good dream.

However, Amon was dumbfounded when he saw her.

“What…the hell?”

He stared at her.

The girl in front of him was clearly Klausl.

“Wah!”

His scream did not come out properly. He frantically half-rolled and half-jumped off of the accelerating stagecoach. He gently hopped on the stone pavement and landed.

His breathing showed how panicked he was, but he did not have time for Verbal Self Control. However, he did manage to Close his thoughts so no one could see into his confused mind.

“What is going on?”

He returned to the sidewalk and turned to the leaving stagecoach.

“…”

It must have turned a corner because it had vanished from the road.

He frowned and saw his face reflected in a nearby store show window.

He was amazingly pale.

“What the hell is this?”

He stared into the show window and saw a smiling girl reaching toward him with her eyes closed on the other side. Or at least, he thought he did.

He quickly looked away and checked his surroundings for the observer’s presence, but he could no longer find it due to his panic.

“This isn’t like me at all.”

He gently shook his head Overrode his appearance, and began walking down the sidewalk.

But suddenly…

“Oh, it’s Amon.”

As soon as he saw the smile peering at him from the side, he began to run.

“Waaaahhh!”

He shouted almost at the top of his lungs.

After all, he had seen the exact same expression but in another different outfit. This time it was a light apron skirt, the kind of coat worn on a trip, and a travel bag.

This was creepy.

He shuddered at the thought that everyone in London looked like that now.

He ran and ran.

He suddenly realized he was going the wrong way. He had fallen into old habits and run to his previous home in Jonathan’s brewery.

But he did not care. He was gasping for breath as he trudged up to the store that had a half-closed garage and sat down. Even he could tell all the color had left his face.

“I-I’m going to die…”

He took a deep breath and let it out.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded at the voice.

“Just tired.”

“You must have had a rough time. …Here, have some water.”

“Oh, thanks.”

He took the glass and quickly drank the water.

…''Isn’t there something odd about this?

He did not want to realize anything more, but the cause of that feeling approached him.

A shadow fell over his face and he detected a faint scent of perfume.

“You should get some rest.”

When her face came into view, he stopped breathing altogether.

…''Why are you here!?

Klausl smiled when she read his Open Words.

“I acted as a witness to the word investigation held here this morning.”

And yet Amon had been running all over trying to get away from her.

…''You’re kidding!

He stood up.

“Ah! Where are you going!?”

He ignored her cry and dashed away. He tried to cut across the road and escape.

On his second or third step, she called out to him.

“Amon!”

He turned toward her on reflex and he saw her pointing in the direction he was moving.

“There’s a car coming!”

“What?”

The instant he faced forward, he saw exactly what she had warned him of.

Consciousness was an easy thing to lose.

And just before he did, he saw two or three Klausls inside the car plowing into him.