Editing City Series:Volume5a Chapter5 (section)

===Beretta’s Journal===

I’m in the library today.

I secretly handed the librarian the letter and package, but she chuckled when she saw who it was addressed to. M. Schrier is apparently well known for going around with his assistant and doing crazy things against the Germans. It was a good reminder that this is back when he was doing that in real time. It felt like finding myself inside a book.

(Well, you could kind of say this city is inside the book of the Format Rondeau.)

This was the first time the librarian asked me what I’ve been investigating all this time. Well, I actually Pointed and realized she’s been asking me that this entire time. We always had such a simple conversation during the checkout process that I never even thought she might be asking that.

When I said I was investigating the Attesor Project, it was the library director next to her who reacted first. That chicken-like old man smiled bitterly and mentioned a commotion in the Bourgogne region 25 years ago where a giant appeared and devoured some German troops, but then he said this:

“But if that project had succeeded, France wouldn’t be like this now.”

While looking through all the documents, I’ve realized two things: some powerful military commander definitely carried out the project in extreme secrecy (so that they would not lose any status if it failed) and the results of the experiments were only seen in the Bourgogne region.

The majority of the witnesses were in the Bourgogne region’s Herlde village in the Morvan mountains. 25 years ago, the German army apparently passed through that mountain corridor in an attempt to take the shortest route west. Because that corridor is the only way to pass through those central French mountains without taking any damage from the black dragon there. The journey takes six days through there, but more than two weeks if you go around.

But the records say the people of Herlde didn’t know there was an Attesor Project lab deep in the mountains there. Then what cover story did Jack McWild and the others use when they visited the village?

I solved that mystery today. One of the documents was a newspaper article based on independent research of the French army at the time and it contained what appears to be the answer. (I actually found this article last year, but I didn’t realize it was so important until now. I’m so pathetic.)

<The French army has announced it will begin mining rare materials in the Morvan mountains.>

There was more to the article saying that a survey team would be sent in first to perform a few geological surveys, so that team would be entering the Morvan mountains a few different times.

A deeper inspection of the military records revealed that survey team to be the Weapons Development Office’s 781st Unit, but their budget was not listed and the people on the unit were never specified. Nor did it ever mention a length of their survey or that they had ever completed it. It sounded a lot like personal troops or a ghost unit.

The timing matched perfectly with when Jack McWild and his group had been holed up in the Morvan mountains and occasionally descending to Herlde for either a break or to resupply. So I Signed that the unit was in fact the cover story they used in the Bourgogne region.

When the villagers asked them what soldiers were doing there, they would have responded that they were performing a geological survey. They had probably known what the “giant that ate the German troops” was, but they may have feigned fear and tried to build up the commotion further.

The outlines of Jack McWild’s character were coming into view. He must have loved excitement, just like a real American.

I’m understanding more and more. But even if this tells me that the Attesor Project really did exist, I still don’t know what kind of project it was. What was it for?

<The current time is 3:00 PM.>

Oh, I should probably get going. The documents I searched last night told me what room my grandma used to live in, so I think I’ll visit there. I haven’t found any change of address info yet, but I have a starting point.

Then I’ll write a letter for Rosetta. When I’ve been focused on the Attesor Project all day, I end up zoning out and growing curious how he’s doing.

But I am starting to wonder one thing.

I want her to evolve, but is that what she wants?

I might find the answer to that soon and this may be a crossroads.

Is she willing to become human, worry about so many things, and evolve in exchange for the joy of gaining emotions? It isn’t wrong to worry about things as my grandma always said, but I haven’t figured things out quite that far. So I kind of want to see for myself.

Does she or does she not truly want to become human? That must be connected to what I’m worrying about.

If she wants to become human as her Sein Frau destiny, then I think I’ll take a serious step forward too. I will face the unavoidable fact that I am a Knight Striker and I must protect people.

<The current time is 3:02 PM.>

Oh, I need to hurry out of here.

Come to think of it, the anniversary of Jack McWild’s death is coming up. I need to think of something to do for that.