Editing City Series:Volume6c Chapter3 (section)

===Part 4===

The light of late morning fell on Cologne.

The industrial city was lined with factories. Their smokestacks were constantly spewing smoke that could not be fully eliminated with filters.

The newer part of the city stretching north and south from the city center was almost entirely made up of factories and concentrated housing. That military city had been built along the western bank of the Rhine.

Across from Cologne, on the eastern side of the Rhine, were four white towers and a mountain of black metal.

The white towers had to be 150 yards tall and they formed the corners of a square.

Their slopes gave them a volcanic shape and the shimmering heat blowing from their peaks proved they were currently running.

They were Vaterland ley line acceleration reactors.

The vast mountain next to them was colored a pitch black that contrasted with the Vaterlands.

It was more than 300 yards tall, 200 yards wide, and more than half a mile long.

That was the Requiem, an Eingeweide aerial warship equipped with a Babel Kanone.

Its impressive and massive form was contained in a large dock built on the land originally set aside for an airport. It was facing north, which placed Cologne on its left and a mountain range on its right. It received a Phlogiston supply from the four Vaterlands.

The large aerial warship was stopped and unmoving, yet it still altered the atmospheric currents around it. All of its windows used polarized glass, so no one could see inside.

Some uniformed soldiers would occasionally move around on the deck of the aerial aircraft carriers forming the front of its port and starboard sides and some crafts would take off and land, but other than that, there was no sign of life.

Now, however, there were three people standing on the port flight deck overlooking the city.

Rose wore a white dress, Graham wore a black coat, and Lillie stood behind Rose with the wind whipping at the hem of her azure dress.

They looked down at the city of Cologne.

Smoke rose from the factories, cars drove along the roads, and people were everywhere.

The white things they could see all over the city were laundry. Because today’s weather…

“It’s sunny,” said Rose, viewing the city. “The Messiah has arrived just as prophesied, bigger brother. Bermark Vier sounded ecstatic, but that seems strange to me. Shouldn’t the Messiah girl inspire awe in people?”

“We have no way of knowing how the Messiah will lead the Geheimnis Agency.”

Graham’s response caused a slight change in Lillie’s expression. She frowned and lowered her head.

“The Tons of the North Sea’s currents are telling me of an unknown presence in the North Sea. I think it must be an Allied warship.”

“That is none of our concern as long as they remain outside of Germany’s seas. …Our duty is to protect this country. None of the Neue Kavalier are among the fools invading other lands.”

“Is that why you sent Sir Alfred to protect the north?” asked Rose, turning around as Lillie watched. She turned her back on the city below and spread her skinny arms. “When the Allies attack this city, they will come from the north. There have been a lot of people giving me lewd looks from the west for the past few days, but none of them are taking it seriously. If something is waiting in the North Sea like Lillie suggests, then I bet their bomber unit will attack from the north along with whatever’s out there.”

“How very wise, Rose.”

“Big brother said so, so I know it must be true. I doubt there are many people other than him with as thorough a grasp of this country’s military might – including the Kavaliers and civilian fighters – and can so rationally analyze the Allies’ actions.” Rose crossed her arms and held her own body. “Isn’t that why you left Sir Alfred with him, bigger brother? Because this place is in danger?”

Her piercing gaze turned to the side – toward Lillie.

“Lillie, you will be returning to defend the North Sea soon too, won’t you? The Allies will be here soon – either tonight or tomorrow – so we need to be ready.”

“But…”

Lillie could not find the words, looked away from Rose, and finally looked to Graham.

Her expression was the same as before, but she let her hair blow in the wind as she asked a question.

“Why?”

“I am not sure what you are asking, Lillie Telmetz. Why what?”

“Why rush this?”

Graham gave a simple answer to that.

He ignored it.

With his Psyche Outer device, he could not provide answers based on emotion.

So Lillie’s gaze dropped and she sucked in a deep breath. It came out heavy.

Rose stepped up next to her and placed her hand on Lillie’s.

“Don’t worry. We too hope this will work out for the best.”

“…”

“Besides, while the Allies are after Cologne too, in a way they’re after me. Because they’re lewd. I don’t know what methods they will use, but – but my bigger brother will join the fight in his Silber Löwe and I have a lot of escape boats installed on me. So…I think it will be fine.”

Lillie hung her head further.

“I…”

She tried to get her lips moving.

“I…”

She could not get the words out. Her lip movements fell apart midway. Instead…

<The Emperor leaves his castle.>

[[Image:City_v06c_155.jpg|thumb]]

An Erklärung rang out.

A hatch used to raise aircraft onto the deck opened and a giant white Grösse Panzer emerged.

A tall figure stood at its feet.

His long brown hair was tied back and his skinny but fit body was contained in a Geheimnis Agency army uniform. He was a sharp-eyed young man, but he nodded a bit when he spotted Lillie and the others.

“Sorry. I got delayed getting a tour of the ship from this guy.”

Graham coughed deeply before turning toward the voice.

Rose followed her brother’s gaze and smiled.

“I saw that, Sir Alfred. The ship’s interior is designed to allow Grösse Panzers to walk through it, but that still surprised everyone. None of them have been in the depths of the ship since the materials were carried in and assembled during construction.”

Alfred gave a quick bow and then quickly raised his head.

His hair whipped in the wind, he placed a hand on Rein König at his hip, and he turned just his head to the right. Lillie and the others looked that way too.

A hatch opened on the Requiem’s starboard flight deck and a large elevator raised two Grösse Panzers from below.

One was blue and held a rifle in its right hand. The other was red and held a shield in its left hand.

They were Bermark Nein’s Neue Blau and Neue Zinnober.

Once the elevator had finished its rise, the crew riding it hurried out onto the deck. Alfred and Bermark Nein belonged to an independent mobile unit. The Kaiser used autonomous flight to take off and Bermark Nein needed to fully activate the Ober Emblem that barely anyone could use anymore.

But things worked somewhat differently when taking off from a ship.

After the soldiers visually confirmed the deck’s landing equipment was not active, they circled in front of the two Panzers along with signalers carrying red and blue signal lights.

The thrust produced by a Grösse Panzer’s Ober Emblem wings was far greater than with aircraft. They created an instantaneous explosion of air, so anyone behind them on the deck could be blown away.

The wind blew through and the blue and red Panzers prepared for takeoff.

Lillie had fully raised her head again.

“Oh?” said Rose.

She turned back from starboard to view the city. Lillie did the same.

At some point, currents of color had appeared across the Rhine in the city.

The people in their homes, factories, schools, hospitals, and shopping districts came to a stop, took a break from their work, and emerged onto the streets to look up this way.

Lillie knew what they were looking at: the Kaiser to port and the Neue Blau and Neue Zinnober to starboard.

“They must be surprised to see not just Grösse Panzers but one bearing the Maldrick emblem.” Rose took a breath. “The government and military both know that if we make our presence known, it will drag this supposedly civilian-run country back to what it was before the previous war.”

“But there are military reports from all over Germany about a mystery unit or fighter saving them in a tight spot or a seemingly unstoppable aerial enemy fleet suddenly vanishing. The Allies are calling it the Foo Team or Foo Fighters.”

Lillie’s response led Rose to turn toward the two Grösse Panzers on the starboard side and then to Alfred and the Kaiser further away.

“But it is about time we showed them what we can do.”

Just then, a gust of wind blew in.

The clouds were somewhat stretched and swept away. The wind came from the west and pushed the clouds to the east.

<The Emperor travels the path of conquest.>

The Kaiser began to walk.

Instead of walking out ahead of it, Alfred walked alongside it, borrowing its majesty.

“Alfred Maldrick and two more from Geheimnis Agency Army Division 1st Division 1st Independent Mobile Grösse Panzer Unit reporting in. We are leaving to defend the northern coast.”

“Fight hard.”

On Graham’s response, the Panzer and man stopped, straightened, and bowed.

“I will do my duty as a Neue Kavalier.”

He raised his head and Rose spoke to him.

“This is goodbye then, Sir Alfred.”

“Yes, for a while anyway.”

He gave her a small, innocent smile and Rose smiled back.

Lillie alone bit her lower lip.

But Alfred looked to Rose and then into the sky.

“Such a beautiful sky.”

“Sir Alfred, if you have time before traveling to the North Sea, why not visit the Village of Pardons to express your congratulations? On a beautiful day like this, I am sure they will be throwing a wonderful party for their wedding.”

Alfred responded with some surprise but then smiled bitterly.

“The bride is an old friend of mine, Lady Rose. However…” His smile grew even more bitter. “I have no right to attend her wedding. That is why I sent Schweitzer in my stead.”

“You don’t want to see the groom? Shouldn’t you at least see who she is marrying?”

“According to the letter, the two of them are already living together and the wedding is more something they tacked onto a festival being held in the village.”

“I see,” said Rose and his bitter smile vanished. He also looked up into the sky.

“So I know the man must be a good person.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“She is scarred.” Alfred placed his left hand on Rein König at his hip and his right at the base of his neck. “She has a permanent scar from here on her neck, down the center of her chest, and to her left side. …And she has no memory of her time living in Berlin – not of her family and not of her friends. But someone out there is still willing to share his life with her.” The ring on his left hand caught the sunlight and glinted red. “I think that is a good thing.”

When he looked her in the eye and smiled a little, Rose’s expression changed somewhat. Her slight smile changed to a full smile colored by relief.

“You truly are an adorable person,” she told Alfred.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[City_Series:Volume6c_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[City_Series|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[City_Series:Volume6c_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>