Editing City Series:Volume6a Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

When Hazel saw that, she stood up and turned her back on him.

“Dog Berger mentioned the name Eryngium and nothing else. Who is she and what does she do? He said she thought the same thing I do and he mentioned a promise made to her.”

She walked the four steps needed to reach the window, placed her hand on the condensation-wet sill, and opened the window.

The wind blew in.

The chilly air flowed into the room, eliminating the warmth from the air conditioning.

But she opened her eyes and stared into the distance. Tempelhof Airport had been converted into an airbase, so several transport planes were stopped on the wide airfield to quickly bring in and send out materiel.

She could only hear the blowing of the wind and the rumble of engines.

She narrowed her eyes.

…''Why?

“Um…why is everyone so fixated on the fact that I don’t want to run away?”

The wind blew in, causing her hair to dance and flutter in the room behind her.

She turned around as if pulled back by her hair.

There she saw Schweitzer had stood from his seat and was starting to leave the room.

She started to say something, but he turned just his head toward her and looked her in the eye.

The strength in his gaze was enough to silence her.

Her shoulders drooped in the wind as he spoke.

“The woman named Eryngium is no more.” He paused slightly but did not look away from her. “Because I hunted her down as part of the Heidengeist suppression following the Armored Hammer of God Incident in ’35.”

“…!”

“We each made a promise to her 3 years ago over drinks. I promised to protect the country, Marsch promised to develop the country, Alfred promised to strengthen the country, and…”

“Dog Berger?”

Schweitzer responded to her question by ignoring it.

He opened the door without saying a word more. The wooden door creaked and the wind whirling through the room escaped into the hallway. As did the man whose prosthetic right arm bore the name Der Held.

“Um.”

She started to run over, but before she could ask him to wait, the door slammed shut in her face.

“…”

She fell silent with a weight in her heart and she placed her hands on the table and looked outside with a frown.

As if in response to her gaze, a sudden change occurred in the cedar forest surrounding the airport.

Black smoke rose into the sky with fire in the center.

“––––!?”

At the same time, screams rose from the airport. All the loudspeakers on the Tempelhof Airport buildings began playing deep, long, and carrying alarms.

“The second alarm? They’re going on alert.”

Hazel suddenly held her body when she saw the black smoke vanishing into the sky. She seemed to be covering up her shoulder.

She smiled bitterly, but that smile gradually faded away. All that remained was a complete lack of expression.

Her eyes calmly turned toward a point on the table. A knife used for breakfast remained there.

She reached for and grabbed that silver-gleaming knife.

“I don’t want to run away…but what does that mean? What does it mean to run away?”

She looked around.

The large room was very neat and tidy. People had brought her food here and said they would protect her while she was here.

…''Am I running away if I stay here?

She looked around again and then pressed her left index finger against the tip of the knife.

The tip was not all that sharp, but when she stabbed it into her fingertip with a bit of a twisting motion, a drop of blood welled up.

She felt pain. That was not something to be done out of curiosity, so she frowned.

“Do I have to be hurt if I don’t want to run away?”

She licked her finger. It tasted of iron.

Then she approached the window and sat with her back against the wall.

She held her own body and curled up as if holding the small blade to herself.

The blaring alarms pierced and permeated her body.