Editing City Series:Volume6b Chapter5 (section)

===Part 2===

Hazel awoke to a voice.

“Hey.”

It was deep but not too deep. A depth with a hint of something higher. It was a woman’s voice.

…''Do I know any women who sound like that?

She did not. Wondering if she was imagining things in her sleep, her sleepy mind began to drift off once more. Her cracked eyes told her it was still dark out. She could sense a nice warmth on her skin. Her mind was wrapped in the veil of a light doze.

If she shut her eyes again, sleep would take her once more. But…

“Hey.”

She heard the voice again. And she sensed light too.

The light reaching her retinas through her eyelids was not the sunrise. It was unpleasantly bright. She opened her eyes just enough to tell the circle of light was pointing down at her from above.

“?”

She tilted her drowsy head.

“Spending the night with a naked girl, Dog Berger?”

“––––!?”

She opened her eyes in a hurry to see the chest of a black shirt in the perfect nuzzling position. And she saw Berger’s face.

And since her Flektieren had worn off in her sleep…

…''I’m naked.

The burst of air had not woken either of them, so he must have been tired and she must have been…

…''Um…

The thought made her want to hide, so she stopped thinking about it. She also tried to move away from Berger, but…

“Eh?”

Her arms were folded up and pressed against his chest and she could not extend them. The sleeping bag was taut against her back, leaving only a limited space to move around in.

“It’s so tight.”

She struggled a bit but then looked up.

“Ugh…”

Berger was waking up.

She looked up at him to see his blue eyes slowly open and focus.

“Huh?” He looked her in the eye for a few seconds. “Wait, what the hell are you doing, Hazel!?”

“What am ''I'' doing!? You’re the one that pulled me into your arms!”

“Don’t lie. Anyway, get out, Hazel! You’re twisting my arm all weird.”

“D-d-don’t touch me- ah…no, e-especially not there…”

While they struggled inside the packed sleeping bag, the female voice from before reached them.

“Shut up the both of you.”

A small shape moved into the range of the light shining on them.

It was an army boot. It swiftly moved to the center of the light and grazed Hazel’s ear.

“Huh?”

That was all Berger got out before it slammed into his jaw. After the clack of teeth against teeth, someone grabbed the sleeping bag from behind, lifted it up, and pulled it back.

The zipper was undone behind Hazel.

The chilly air reached her back and someone lifted her up from behind.

She was roughly tossed to the ground like someone peeling a fruit. After noticing her skin glowing with a pale light in the darkness, she crouched down and wrapped her arms around herself.

She looked up to see someone in a flight jacket. Their back was turned. They were far from tall – 5 feet at the most – but even from behind, they radiated a strange intensity.

A flashlight shined out from their face, so they must have been holding it in their mouth.

They were crouched down and holding the end of the sleeping bag.

“Ah, hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

Berger’s protests were silenced as the sleeping bag was zipped up.

The flashlight light moved, a muffled voice said something, and the person pointed at the squirming sleeping bag. They skillfully tied up the open end of the sleeping bag with a strap and sent a solid kick into the center of the shouting bag.

“What do I think I’m doing? Demonstrating the principles of democracy with some nice, democratic vigilante justice.”

The flashlight shut off and Hazel panicked at the darkness that suddenly surrounded her.

“Um,” she called, but the only response was the sound of another kick.

The powerful blow was of a type she had never heard before.

By the time she questioned it, it was already too late.

She heard humming. It was a jazz song with a nice tempo. It was a chart topper she had often heard on the radio while in the US.

The kicking started back up in time with the song. The light humming took the place of the trumpet, the sax, and the drums, while a kick sounded with each and every note.

It was a nice tune and Hazel could not help but nod her head to the beat.

…''Isn’t there someone inside the sleeping bag being kicked?

The kicks came so quickly it was hard to believe.

“Um.”

“What is it? Use English.”

“Um…what are you doing?”

[[Image:City_v06b_187.jpg|thumb]]

Kicking like this tenderizes the meat by breaking the fibers.”

The kicking continued.

So did the humming. Then they asked Hazel something.

“More importantly, are you okay? I would recommend against selling your body when you’re still so young.”

“Eh? No, um, that isn’t what this was.”

“Yeah, I was young once. You’re drawn to these men who live in the moment and decide to put out. But I’d recommend against that too.”

Hazel was unsure how to respond. She could still hear the kicking and the humming, but then she panicked.

…''N-now is not the time to be enjoying the music!

She could tell this person had misunderstood the situation. And given the circumstances, she knew where that misunderstanding had come from, so she spoke up.

“U-um, I’m fine. Please don’t worry. He didn’t do anything to me!”

The kicking stopped and the somewhat airborne sleeping bag plopped down onto the ground and rolled once to the side. Once all was silent, Hazel sighed in relief and continued.

“I-I’m fine. So please stop that. Because…because…” She hung her head a little. “Mr. Berger is used to seeing me naked.”

After a pause, the kicking resumed with double the intensity and the sleeping bag burst open.

“What the hell have you been doing, you scumbag!?”

A voice called from further off in the forest.

“Captain Sevan! It’s almost time for the meeting!”

“Got it! Hey, you all stay away from here! It ain’t a pretty sight!!”

“Understood! Thanks!”

The other voice faded into the distance.

After a few seconds, the humming made one final and extra-hard hit before stopping.

“Hmph.” The figure stopped moving, wiped the sweat from their brow, and turned around.

“You okay, girl? Staying far away from men like this is the real secret to happiness, if you ask me.”

“I see,” was all Hazel could think to say.

The person removed their flight jacket and tossed it her way.

She caught the still-warm leather garment and draped it over her shoulders like a stole.

She noticed an unfamiliar perfume on the collar.

The figure stood before her and she could see the Ton light emanating from their body. A mighty red light was pulsating from them.

The person standing within that light was a woman.

She looked to be in her mid-thirties and her wavy brown hair was cut to shoulder length.

She looked Hazel in the eye and smiled.

“Don’t worry. I’m Corelle Sevan. I have some business here, so I’m sorry, but I can’t immediately send you back to the village.”

“U-um, I’m Hazel Mirildorf. …Does that mean anything to you?”

Corelle’s expression changed when she heard that. Her eyebrows rose and the tone color of her Tons grew orange.

“Oh? Are you the daughter of the Oscar Mirildorf the higher ups are trying to bring onboard?” She crossed her arms and frowned. “God, M. Schrier and those other bastards are using Berger to win him over through his daughter, aren’t they? Listen, girl.” She crouched down to Hazel’s eye level. “I’m sure a lot has happened, but I hate it when people do it for such calculated reasons.”

“Um, I think you’re misunderstanding this.”

“It’s all right. You often don’t realize what they did to you until later. I understand the urge to defend your first, but we can discuss this all more on the way back to America.”

She smiled and rubbed Hazel’s head.

…''What do I do now? She’s not listening to me at all.

“You know what? Forget it,” said Hazel. “Just go on believing whatever you think happened here.”

“Absolutely not, you moron!” shouted the sleeping bag.

It loudly tore open behind Corelle.

The stuffing scattered through the air and a figure in a black coat stood up. He held Gelegenheit with a black blade thrusting from it.

“Corelle! Do you have any idea how hard it was getting her here from Berlin!?”

“Captain Sevan, General Pale is demanding you get to the meeting right this instant! He says he’ll punch me if you don’t!”

The distant voice wholly ignored Berger’s protests.

Corelle placed a hand on Hazel’s shoulder before standing up and shouting into the distance.

“Got it! I’m sure I already missed my part, so tell him to wait another three minutes!!”

“Understood!” called back the voice, followed by footsteps fading into the distance.

Afterwards, Berger adjusted his grip on Gelegenheit.

“What, you think three minutes is enough for my anger to fade?”

The answer was extremely simple.

“Don’t be dumb. The three minutes are to get this girl dressed.” Corelle sighed down toward the ground and inhaled. “I’m not gonna spare even a second of my time listening to a sex criminal’s excuses. Now turn around, idiot.”