Editing City Series:Volume6b Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

There were no restful nights in the Geheimnis Agency headquarters. Only nights of preparation.

The night shift had just taken over and the HQ was entering the quietest part of the night.

The mess hall was just as quiet.

The only active lights were the fluorescent ones in the kitchen and the large sunlamp at the center of the ceiling. The place had a cold and dim atmosphere, but there was activity there.

The kitchen was empty, but someone was wiping down the tables.

Lowenzahn had rolled her sleeves up to her elbows, revealing awfully white and thin arms. They could even be called delicate as she used one to wipe down the tables with a rag.

“Phew.”

Without wiping the sweat from her brow, she peered down at the table to see her face reflected in it.

She nodded in satisfaction and observed her reflected face.

She wrinkled her brow and smiled to see the same in the diagonally-reflected face.

She glanced over at the reflection from the side, altered the angle of her face, and gave it another glance.

And just as she found an angle she liked, a large figure appeared in the table mirror.

“What are you doing?”

“…!?”

She gasped and stepped back from the table. She ended up bumping into the person behind her, but…

“Be careful,” he warned as he caught her in a giant metal arm.

She looked back to find the familiar face of Hellard Schweitzer.

“Lieutenant? What brings you here at this hour?” she asked while stepping away from his arm and turning to face him. She smiled and tilted her head. “To visit me perhaps?”

She had to laugh at that. “That isn’t like you at all, is it?” she said before another quiet laugh.

He only tilted his head in confusion.

“I was thinking about some things and I thought some alcohol might help me gather my thoughts.”

“Oh? So even you drink.”

“I doubt there is a German alive who doesn’t drink.”

She pointed back at her left chest with her thumb.

When he realized what she meant, his face clouded over a little.

“Don’t let it bother you.” She smiled bitterly. “I’m doing a lot better than when you saved me 3 years ago.”

“Your father, Air Force Division Chief Muller, said you should rely on him more.”

“Did he? But an adopted daughter can’t rely on him too much. You saving me from the Neuschwanstein Dragon Attack 3 years ago was enough for me.”

“You did well at the hospital.”

“Only because you pushed me way too hard. Who tells a girl to run immediately after heart surgery?” She glared at him but with a smile. “I did manage to run, though.”

He gave her an earnest nod.

“We control Neuschwanstein Castle, so unlike Munich’s central hospital, Neuschwanstein’s hospital receives support from the Geheimnis Agency. We healed you, so we can ask you to run for us.”

“Yeah, until you learned about my illness,” she said while giving him some side-eye. His calm expression gave no indication as to whether or not he understood what she meant.

She sighed with the look of disgust intact.

“But that was when the real ‘fun’ began. You got your arm blown off and Lieutenant Alfred nearly destroyed the city with a single shout.”

“And for some reason, I found you treating my wound after we defeated the dragon.”

“You should really thank me because you were a bloody mess. …But since I didn’t have any family left afterwards, here I am now. I live with General Muller and I’ve become a bottom-level noble.”

“Destiny…hm?”

Schweitzer smiled as he uttered that word. And…

“I will have a dark beer.”

“Coming right up.”

She walked quickly over to the kitchen counter, placed her hand on it, and hopped on over.

Once behind the counter decorated with flowers, she was in a battlefield known as a kitchen.

It was a large space. Stovetops and ovens were placed along the 20-yard walls and the central 4-yard countertop was large enough to butcher an entire cow’s head. A total of four smaller countertops were place around the large one and the aisles between them contained orderly shelves covered in cooking supplies and spices.

She carefully avoided the hoses and trays strewn haphazardly through the aisles to reach the back wall where several large taps stuck out.

“Do you run this place alone at night?” asked Schweitzer from behind her.

“Tonight is special. The chef is out getting supplies for the big party tomorrow.”

“Party?”

“The top brass are coming, right? I heard earlier that Lieutenant General Heiliger has arrived, so they’re definitely going to have a secret party just like last year and the year before that. Since he’s here, I assume all the Geheimnis Agency founders will be gathering for the usual.”

She smiled and noted Schweitzer’s silence.

“Do you know something I don’t?” she asked.

“On the way here, Lieutenant General Heiliger hinted that there is some further purpose to this year’s gathering. There are so many mysteries of late. Including that prophecy sent out to everyone 2 weeks ago.”

“The prophecy? What don’t you understand about it?”

“Everyone worked so hard to fulfill the one from two years ago, but while we were told this one would resurrect the Messiah if fulfilled, no one was ordered to work toward that end. Because we do not understand what it means. And with nothing to do, people start to lose trust in the higher ups.”

“God, you athletic types. You found who would become the Messiah two years ago, didn’t you? Then it’ll be fine. She will fulfill the prophecy and eventually become the Messiah. Everything is on track.”

“Is it?”

“The fuse was lit two years ago, wasn’t it? So why add more fire now? You don’t have to do anything until the prophecy tells you to. I’m sure that’s what the higher ups have decided. …But based on the rumors in the mess hall, it sounds like the army is on the move.”

“Yes,” he said. “Sorry.”

She waved a hand without looking back.

“All you ever do is apologize to me. Isn’t that what I said to you when you lifted your head from my lap three years ago? You overthink everything. You never even lie, do you?”

“I have never heard of any virtue or truth found in lies.”

“And if you haven’t heard of it, it can’t exist? Have you ever tried to create those things among the lies? You’re hopeless.”

She came to a stop with the wall right in front of her.

Two rows of ten large taps were lined up along the wall.

They all produced different kinds of beer. There was a simple trough below to catch any that might spill.

“Men take everything so seriously but always ignore the details,” she said too quietly for him to overhear.

She grabbed an empty wooden mug from the nearby sink where it had been washed and checked the color of the cooling emblems embedded on the sides of the taps.

“Um, do you prefer it chilled? That is the latest trend.”

“I don’t care as long as I can drink it.”

“Yup, always ignore the details,” she said with mock cheer as she twisted the tap.

She filled the mug with a bit of foam at the top. After turning off the tap, she sighed, wiped the sweat from her brow, and looked back.

“Oh?”

She saw someone new in the mess hall.

Past the enormous man with a prosthetic arm was an even more enormous man.

They had just been discussing a man larger than Schweitzer.

“Lieutenant General Heiliger…”

But she trailed off when Schweitzer looked back and called the man’s name.

“Sir Graham!?”