Editing City Series:Volume6b Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

The Geheimnis Agency HQ’s mess hall was located on Building 2 Floor 1.

Most Geheimnis Agents were the former nobility known as Neue Kavalier, so the mess hall that served them quality food was a large place with nice furniture. All of the tables were round and meant for only four people.

But all of those tables had been shoved over toward the walls and the people were also backed toward the walls, forming a large circle.

The large clock on the wall rang seven times.

As it did, everyone’s eyes slowly moved up and down. Their rising and falling gazes were directed toward a girl. The skinny girl was dressed like a male waiter plus an apron.

She worked as a waitress in the mess hall.

Her face showed she was approaching adulthood, her brown hair was worn in a long braid that swayed down at the back of her knees, and that swaying came from the movement of her body as she set a tempo.

[[Image:City_v06b_067.jpg|thumb]]

That tempo displayed the elation and spirit of combat.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to her movements.

Her sweaty face was somewhat pale but stared straight forward.

A young man stood there. The young Geheimnis Agent had removed his jacket to reveal a muscular body with no excess fat. He remained motionless as he brushed a hand through his short black hair and returned her gaze.

“You might make our food, but that doesn’t mean you can get away with just anything, Lowenzahn.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. It’s the cooks who make it. I only carry it out. For my tuition.”

The girl named Lowenzahn smiled. The powerful smile looked out of place on her pale face.

“Now, how about you apologize for that rather colorful commentary on my body when you don’t even have any first-hand experience with it? Or do Neue Kavaliers make a habit of demeaning women these days?” She took a breath. “Your two friends seem to have learned their lesson, but what about you?”

“Not a chance.”

“Then bring it on. I have plenty more food to bring out, so if I spend too much time with you…” She smiled bitterly. “It’ll get cold.”

After that quip, she gestured him toward her and he complied.

They were approximately 6 yards apart. That space was filled with the sound of a single footstep. The man did not hold back.

Lowenzahn swung her body to jump backwards. That dodged his attack but kept her within striking distance, so her white apron fluttered in front of her as she moved about 2 yards back.

She landed with just the toes of her left foot on the carpet.

Then her opponent took his second step.

In that moment, she twisted her toes forcefully to the left and similarly rotated her hips to create a spiraling movement from her toes to her hips.

That doubled her speed, moving her body like a whip and swinging her right leg around.

A strike as sharp as a blade struck her opponent’s jaw just as he moved forward with his second step.

The direct hit made a sound of something breaking instead of just an impact.

The man’s body floated up and to the left for a brief moment.

But it did not end there. she leaned her body over while spinning to the left. It took her less than a second to lay her body face down with just her left leg supporting her to form a large T with her body.

She slightly pulled in her swinging right leg and unleashed a straight kick behind her.

As she did, a voice rang through the air.

<The Fatherland has not forsaken me.>

It was an Erklärung.

An Erklärung textually rewrote reality to fulfill the will behind it.

As a result, Lowenzahn’s kick missed. The Erklärung had come from the man, not from her. His body was now just to the left of her kick.

He let out a roar while bleeding from the mouth.

“This land is being used to test out the Panzerpolis Project’s Ton alterations, remember?”

“You’ll activate Vaterland to win a fight against a girl? Sounds pretty sad to me!”

He ignored her protests.

She clicked her tongue, straightened up, and lowered her kicking leg just as the man rushed in.

He was moving much faster than before and his tackle caught her slender hips.

She was lifted from the floor. Once she was slammed against the floor and pinned down, her defeat was guaranteed.

A mixture of anticipation and disappointment ran through the Neue Kavaliers and cooks watching the fight.

Smiling at their voices, Lowenzahn took a breath. Once strength returned to her gaze, she reached for her back and untied her apron.

She removed herself from it like she was peeling a fruit and letting the fruit flesh burst from within.

“!”

One beat later, the man held only the apron in his arms.

She raised a hand in front of his face to flip up the end of the apron.

As soon as the white cloth covered his face, she slammed her right knee into his jaw at close range.

The impact rang loud and the man was knocked back, where he collapsed.

Lowenzahn lowered her leg, took a few steps away, and let her shoulders droop. Her face was pale and she was out of breath. The swaying of her body was gone now.

But her opponent did not let it end there.

<The Fatherland will not lose.>

Supported by his Erklärung-modified Ton, he stood back up. His knees were shaking, but there was strength in his eyes and expression.

In response…

“You sure are persist- oh.”

A sudden shadow fell over her face just as she was preparing herself.

Her voice caught in her throat, she stopped breathing, and she sat down on the spot. She wrapped her left hand around herself and held the left side of her chest with her right hand.

Just as the blood fully drained from her face, she collapsed forward.

“Oh, no.”

She somehow got those words out and lifted her face just enough to see her opponent standing in front of her.

He no longer said a word.

She frantically tried and failed to get up and she saw his right foot moving in fast. That sharp kick from below was aimed for her gut – an attack one should never make against a woman.

A crash of impact rang through the mess hall, but not of a boot against flesh.

It was a loud sound of breaking bone.

Some metal had stopped the kick and broken the foot. A massive prosthetic arm made of steel was pressed down against the floor.

Everyone there muttered the name of the arm and its owner.

“Der Held…‘Schallmauer Zerstörer’ Hellard Schweitzer.”

Those names held great meaning, so Lowenzahn looked up. A bright expression appeared on her pale and sweaty face when she saw the large figure positioned between her and her opponent.

She called his name in a scratchy voice.

“Lieutenant Hellard!”

Her call was answered by a different voice than the one she had hoped for. This one was a scratchy voice produced by artificial vocal cords.

“I thought to stop by on the way to Base #8 for adjustments to my new Panzer and this is what I find? Never a dull moment in our HQ.”

A man entered through an outward-facing window. He was a long-haired man who wore his coat over his shoulders and carried a long sword at his hip. Everyone spoke his name as well.

“ ‘Kaiser Schwert’ Alfred Maldrick.”

Lowenzahn accepted Schweitzer’s outstretched left hand. She firmly grasped it while crouched down.

He somewhat forcefully pulled her up to her feet.

Once upright, she could see her opponent down on one knee and holding his broken foot past the prosthetic arm.

“…”

She breathed a sigh of relief and clutched the hem of Schweitzer’s coat.

Alfred smiled bitterly when he noticed and he glanced around the mess hall.

“Since when does the Geheimnis Agency cause so much trouble for a girl!? From what I heard on the way here, the radicals of Lady Jeanne’s army division are actually arguing they should kidnap the Messiah girl now that she’s in Berlin.”

Schweitzer nodded at the other man’s comment.

“Yes, this is not proper conduct for a Neue Kavalier.” He slowly frowned and looked around while lowering his voice. “So as soon as General Graham is out due to his illness, the Neue Kavaliers of the Geheimnis Agency begin standing idly by and watching a one-sided attack on a girl?”

Lowenzahn immediately looked up and responded to that.

“Sorry, but I actually picked this fight with them.”