Editing City Series:Volume5b Chapter19 (section)

===Beretta’s Write Bring: Entry in Heavy Barrel Sourire’s Memory Bank===

Continuation of combat? Don’t be dumb. I can see a bit of the night sky and forest, but I still can’t move. Where am I? Based on the moon’s location, I’m guessing near Herlde’s entrance.

Damn, I can’t move. Does that mean I’m a poor match for this girl? Yes, it feels like I’m some fool who keeps saying I’ll do stuff but can’t actually bring myself to do it.

Ha ha ha. But maybe I should have expected this. I’m an idiot and I can never make up my mind.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> hear something. They’re large footsteps. The ground shakes as something slowly, slowly approaches.>

It’s the black dragon.

I can’t believe this. That thing sure is persistent. Guess that means I can’t just stay here on the ground. He has enough of a grudge against this girl to come back and pick a fight with her while she’s weakened, so this is going to be bad.

<The bottom of my vision sees a truck’s headlights moving in the forest.>

At that distance, the truck must be over toward Autun. If that’s the last one, they’ll reach Autun and begin the evacuation in three minutes or so. I need to keep fighting that long. But unfortunately, I can’t move.

Damn, is this what it’s like to die? How was it for Phillip? Did the fear overpower his willpower like when I screamed during the earthquake?

None of this feels remotely real. Is this what people mean when they say death happens far too suddenly? Was this what it felt like to die for the 4000 Allied soldiers who lost their lives at Normandy?

<The footsteps stop. I hear the deep roar of some great beast rumbling from below my feet.>

The damn thing is rejoicing in his triumph. Meanwhile, I’m half buried in the dirt at a horizontal angle, so-

<“Lady Beretta!? Can you hear me!?”>

What!?

<“Lady Beretta! This is Rosetta. I am inside the small room on your back, but can you hear me? If you can hear this, then stand up. Please!”>

Hold on, wait, what are you doing? And I can’t get up when my body won’t mo-

<“Oh, no. Lady Beretta isn’t answering. Does that mean she has gone crazy again?”>

“What do you mean again!? Don’t just make stuff up!”

Oh, my vocal device is working. I should limit this to just the secondary cockpit.

“What are you doing, Rosetta? Didn’t you evacuate?”

<“I was certain you would defeat the dragon, so I was waiting at the village’s entrance for you to return. Then I saw you flying through the sky toward me. Thinking you were finally returning, I brought our luggage with me.”>

I wasn’t flying; I was ''sent'' flying! Huh, this is weirdly relax- wait, now is not the time!!

<The dragon’s face moves into view.>

“You need to get out of there, Rosetta! This girl takes more than three minutes to cancel the Write Bring! If you wait for that, you’ll be killed along with me!”

<The dragon crouches down a bit and then extends his head.

A face far larger than the Heavy Barrel approaches and tilts somewhat.

His yellow eye fills my vision.

His damp breaths are the only thing my auditory devices can hear.

“I will not die, Lady Beretta. Because I know you will protect me.”>

Agh, she’s not listening. Do I need to get after her over this?

“You idiot! Sometimes there are things I just can’t do!! So forget about me and run away!!”

<“Is sacrificing yourself to save me really the most satisfying answer?”

The giant pupil at the center of the yellow eye narrows down to focus on me.

He is determining what exactly his prey is.

After a breath, a clear nictitating membrane blinks to help observe me.

“Don’t you think it is wrong that someone must become sad for someone else to be happy?”>

“…”

<“This is…something that you taught me.”

The dragon takes a single deeper breath. He has apparently finished observing his prey. The muscles around the eye move and the scaly skin bends to narrow the eye and place an expression on the great beast’s face.

Then he slowly raises his head.

He prepares to deliver the finishing blow.>

“Hey, Rosetta. Can I ask one thing?”

<“What is it?”>

“What if…what if seeing this dragon right in front of me makes me scream and give up fighting?”

<“That will not happen.”>

“How can you be so sure?”

<“Because you have always been a true Lourd de Écrivain.”

The dragon quietly opens his jaws and slaver drips from his mouth and fangs like rain and lands all around me. This must have stimulated his hunger.

He rapidly lowers his head. He’s fast.

His fangs move in close, but I hear a voice just beforehand.

“No matter what you might think, that is what I will Ajouter.”>