City Series Volume 5 -a Chapter 1

02/21/1944

We aren't like the people in this world.

I performed a Write Bring.

That is, I completely broke down the Lives of my body and combined them with the Lives of the 8-yard-tall Heavy Barrel.

It was to grow stronger.

Everyone knew that a Knight Striker's duty was to use that strength to protect people.

Doing so required stripping naked, entering the conversion device known as the Study, and to hold a powerful desire to combine with this thing.

You couldn't find this sense of actual battle in Heavy Barrel class at college and I hadn't felt it since arriving as an "exchange student".

Just a few seconds before, my body was broken down into nothingness inside the Study and it was now passing through the intricate conductive panels and tubes to spread through the machine's cylinders, frames, and sense devices for sight and hearing.

I felt like I had mechanical flesh and blood.

Borrowing the machine body brought an incredible high of objectivity. I "Signed" what my will was doing by writing it to the Heavy Barrel's memory bank.

I had to use powerful thoughts to write down everything that happened. Yes, this city was a textual world where things would disappear if not written down, making it a contrast to Aerial City - London.

To use London's terminology, things only existed once they were Opened.

Sound, taste, and everything else only existed once they were written down.

That was why I focused on the fact that I had performed a Write Bring.

I used that awareness to Sign that fact, which allowed me to continue to exist.

I wrote that my feet could feel the cold floor.

And once I wrote it, my feet really did feel the cold.

At the same time, the Heavy Barrel's armored will directly sent a system message to my will.

"Write Bring complete."

I had interfered in my own Lives to combine with the 8-yard Heavy Barrel that had a will of its own.

The memory bank was currently in Continuous Complete Sign Mode. That was normally only used during military action, but in this city, nothing I did would happen unless I wrote it down.

In this textual world, you had to constantly express yourself or you would disappear.

For the time being, I wanted to remain in the high of having my thoughts leaking out.

"Sight Devices: Sign."

I opened my eyes.

In this textual world that existed on paper, the Heavy Barrel's visual receptors viewed things using printed drawings or text. But I wasn't skilled enough to express myself using drawings, so I had to write down what I saw in text to see this world.

I could create my own reality in this city by Signing a "1st person narration". Even if I didn't find a certain document, I could Sign that I did find it and that would mean I had found it.

But there was also an "actual reality" separate from my own opinion of whether or not I found the document.

To "Point" was to insert that objective "actual reality" into my own narration.

In battle, what I and my opponent wanted to do were the competing Signs and the actual result was the Point. If all I did was Sign my own actions, my and my opponent's actions would fall out of sync.

And what happened then?

The one with more accurate information would win.

That was why you would think you had won and all of a sudden find yourself defeated.

On the other hand, while you were Pointing the surrounding information in this world, where being written was to exist, you couldn't do anything yourself.

If you spent a line Pointing, that was a line in which you couldn't Sign. So you couldn't just sit around Pointing the reality around you. You had to Sign if you were to do anything yourself.

So I made a quick Point of the current situation.

I see. Then this time I'll Sign that I'm inside there.

Umm, I'm on my knees, but my gaze is really high up. The bottom of the warehouse's sheet iron roof is just barely above my head…I think.

Before I did the Write Bring, the pile of wooden containers had looked like a wall, but from this viewpoint it looked surprising small. The warehouse was large enough for a small ship to fit inside, but it was no more than a backyard shed for an 8-yard giant.

But this wasn't the time for that.

I was so focused on the Write Bring that I had forgotten what I needed to do: escape the warehouse with the Heavy Barrel.

The current situation was, um…

Oh, right. Wasn't there a searchlight shining on me from outside?

The light lit up my metal skin…oh, no. I'm naked. This girl isn't wearing an armor dress. But there was no point in acting tough and telling people not to stare, so I just looked away.

I looked down.

I knew the 5 corpses of the Resistance members I had been working with were down there. There was a lot of blood.

Wait…oops. They might have still been alive, but after what happened, I carelessly Signed them as corpses…

I might have been wrong, so I tried Pointing.

<just>There is a lot of blood.>

Ugh.

Oh, no. The Heavy Barrel itself is probably reacting and working with the Write Bring to give me an emotional high. Both the Lives of my body and my will had completely synched, so if my emotions got worked up…

Emphasis of Write Bring user's thoughts confirmed. Beginning mind sympathy preparations for the body.

——Dammit!!

I just remembered.

Three days before in the library, the Resistance man known as Bluebeard had scouted me out and asked if I could test out the Heavy Barrel they had snuck in from outside.

I can't believe it.

And I was told so many times during the exchange student testing that I wasn't to get involved in anything deadly.

We aren't like the people in this world.

I was too naïve.

And this was the result.

Just as we finished the initial preparations for this girl, the German Army had surrounded us like they were waiting for that moment. A firefight had broken out all at once. The Resistance crew I had known for only a few hours had shoved me into the Study to keep this girl alive. Since they were all spies and Resistance members, none of them had given their real names.

There was the man known as Bluebeard, Spirit who treated me like a kid, the unwomanly Calamity, Napoleon who had seemed like a little brother, and Emperor who always seemed to be looking for a fight, but they were all collapsed on the floor now.

Bluebeard's team had probably been wiped out.

The only survivor was the anachronistic Knight Striker girl who was not even an official part of the Resistance.

I can't believe it.

Why did I survive? They were the ones working so hard to liberate France, so they should have been the ones to survive. …So why?

I wanted to Sign something more convenient, but I decided against it.

I had to move.

"Hearing Devices: Sign."

Oh, gunfire. They must think we still have some soldiers left.

Did that mean they weren't going to enter the warehouse quite yet? This was my chance to get moving.

They had briefly shined their light on it, but they wouldn't think the Heavy Barrel could move right away.

Sorry, everyone.

Farewell. I'll bring some flowers and come see you some time.

But first I had to help them out by hiding this girl where the German Army couldn't reach her and then make sure I survived myself.

And then I would never again Write Bring into a Heavy Barrel for no good reason.

I had to remember why I had come to this city as an exchange student and get serious about that. I had to focus on reading the letters my grandma had given me and pursue the identity of the Attesor Project that my great-grandfather Jack McWild had left behind.

I can't believe it.

Luck simply had not been on my side recently. Mallette had grown more distant after getting a guy and that idiot Phillip had been made an honorary officer in the German Army despite being from the Chevalier de Paris family line. Why did the people living in this era insist on doing the exact same thing as in the records we had made?

<more>

</more>

Sorry, everyone.

I'm going to fully activate my body. HLF087 13-LL Protected Empress, can you hear me?

"Spirit Engine - Direct Link Complete."

Good, good. Now my heart is active and not just my mind and senses.

I'll run out and hide you in a handy spot. Then I'll leave the Study.

Let's go with that.

I stood up.

The sheet iron roof could not contain the power of the curved cylinders that moved me.

My head and the backpack I wore pushed on the roof to crash right through it.

Crash.

…Maybe I Signed too light a sound there.

But the roof had to have been blown away. The ceiling only had its framework left and my upper body stuck out into the night air. Umm, how were things outside? Was it raining? Yeah, it was.

Then I'll write that.

It was raining.

When I stood up, my view widened considerably. To the left was an art museum's large warehouse, identical to the one that had been hiding me. To the right was the Seine, wet with the night rain.

This was a sandbank of the Seine. It was near the city hall.

How was I supposed to escape?

While I asked myself that, I shuddered from the rain dripping down my metal skin.

Why did I have such poor focus anyway? I really only needed to Sign what was absolutely necessary, but I was getting more and more carried away with it. I was waking up.

I looked forward.

I Signed.

I thought the searchlight would be shining directly on me through the rain, so I half-closed my ground-directed sight devices to bear with the brightness.

And I Pointed.

<there>

</there>

Despite it being night and raining, they were bustling around and looking up at me.

Can I hear their voices?

"It's a Grösse Panzer!"

Let's just say they were shouting something like that.

You can tell it's a Heavy Barrel just by looking at it, can't you? If you've got a problem with the Heavy Barrel, then I'm heading out there to show you what's what, you bastard.

The 1st step.

This was my first time Write Bringing into a curved cylinder style of Heavy Barrel. You could say this girl was the first one I'd used for real, so I couldn't get the pace quite right. The legs weren't anywhere near as heavy as I'd expected and I was surprised at how well they moved.

The 2nd step.

I'm guessing this Heavy Barrel was meant for my grandma to use. She was in Paris 55 years ago. She had been young, but after demonstrating her skill as a Knight Striker, she had become an American spy and infiltrated the city as an exchange student.

The 3rd step.

But she became one of the First Erased, so Paris continued its Format without her information included and I was thus able to Write Bring into this girl now.

The 4th step.

I checked my footing a little. I moved forward while making sure not to step on the others. I had already reached the warehouse's entrance, so I destroyed the roof's frame with my left fist.

Ow, ow. The hand structure is surprisingly delicate.

And…

<the>

</the>

That ain't good. My current skin was a Pearl Coat with detailed emblems. It was strong against wide-range weapons, but it was weak against actual bullets. I think the armor dress was still inside its container.

Hmm.

I didn't have time to put it on, so I had to keep on going.

The 5th step.

My legs' curved cylinders sank low as I continued forward.

I used that to shift into a run for the 6th step.

I leaned forward and dashed.

There were about 17 yards between the warehouse and the enemy formation. Since I was 8 yards tall at the moment, that was only 3 steps. But I didn't get careless and Pointed for just a moment.

<the>

</the>

Whoops. Now that was good timing.

I held up my right hand.

The lower arm was a large shield with a Valkyrie Strike pile bunker contained inside. The giant metal shield was hit by a Lanze that could probably destroy a light tank, but it was deflected.

I'll write here that the sound reminded me of the glass instrument I had heard at the modern art museum.

It was actually an awfully unpleasant noise, though. Wait, there's no point in lying if I also write that here.

Well, whatever.

The armored trucks fired more, but it was no use. No use at all. I had a shield. It would just be a repeat of last time. …And while they were doing that, I arrived!!

It was only the size of a puppy from my point of view. And if a puppy tried to bite you, it needed to be punished.

I decided to send it flying with a kick I'd learned from my former Knight Striker of a grandma. Let's do this like I'm playing soccer.

I got it good using the curved cylinders of the ankle.

It felt nice.

This girl was pretty sturdy. Wondering how it had turned out, I Pointed.

<the>

</the>

OK, OK. Let's say it caused a nice splash when it fell right into the Seine.

And that there are screams all around.

Oh, shut up. Men aren't supposed to shriek like that. I don't think my comrades screamed.

Then I Pointed to the side.

<the>

</the>

Don't run, you fool.

I stuck my toes below it and cheaply flipped it over. It wasn't even worth checking with a Point. I knew it had flipped over.

But the heavy armored truck had felt awfully light. This girl had a lot of power. She was the best and the strongest of any I'd piloted before.

<the>

</the>

Damn, she's sturdy. I see. I guess I should've expected that from a special order F-number.

I could see why she had been worth bringing even just one of them into the city. Just as Bluebeard had said, she might have been a great asset toward liberating Paris. Heavy Barrels had always been more about being a symbol and raising morale than about their pure strength. I was sure her Over Emblem was powerful too.

To put it another way, things would be bad indeed if she was taken away.

Germany and Europe as a whole had yet to develop curved cylinder tech and I didn't want history to take that turn, even if it was just for this one loop.

Now, then. Time to run away.

Some guys were probably shooting submachineguns my way down below, but they couldn't even scratch me at that caliber.

If you wanna fight me, get some real equipment first.

But for now, toodeloo.

The bridges weren't blockaded and the moon wasn't out, so it was time to escape Paris real quick!!

It is very noisy outside the mansion

But despite that I am writing my journal entry for the day just as the master told me to

It is eight in the evening which is when I always write my journal entry

The master ate dinner and went to the second floor

While eating he said something about the German Army occupying Paris but I did not understand since I seldom leave the mansion

He sometimes talks about this city and he said something odd today

It had to do with August 6

He said he learned a lot from a Correcteur friend of his but I did not understand any of it

After talking about that or about the German Army or about his own past the master always goes up to the second floor

He has ordered me not to go up there

I am only allowed on the first floor rooms and hallways and kitchen and the mansion cellar and the mansion yard and the storehouse and the backyard and the yard cellar and the water well

I always use an Ajouter to watch him climb the stairs with only one leg

He lost a leg doing something or other long before I was made

Everything was normal today so I am writing my journal entry like normal

I am writing all the normal things

The master left in the morning like normal and returned in the evening like normal

Just like yesterday I predict this entry will end at 35 lines

I will write about the weather I watched with Ajouters throughout the day

It was raining since the morning today

I will write what I see with an Ajouter now

A loud sound much like the noon bell is repeating too many times to count

I see some red light outside on occasion>

That is not fire because the red is more like the color of my tie

He is saying to close the shutters because this is dangerous>

The master uses the word dangerous a lot but I do not know what it means

It apparently refers to a situation that requires closing the shutters but I have never seen a dangerous situation since I seldom leave the mansion

<two>Another sound can be heard within the pouring rain out the window>

Some food delivery men brought some corn over three days ago and this sounds a lot like when that was cooked over the fire

The master smiled for once when he saw the white result of the corn swelling out even larger than it already was

He said a dead friend of his had liked that food

I remember that because he normally looks frightening me when he talks about that person but three days ago was an exception

I will close the shutters before writing the rest but I do wonder what is happening outside

Urgent.

1 unidentified American-made Grösse Panzer of model HFF Unknown is fleeing west at 30 mph from a warehouse near the Théâtre du Châtelet. Use the above information to Verbesserung its form onto the document as soon as possible. Send the Special Police 8th Platoon to the scene and send the 6th Platoon to western Paris. The combat number is 431021-18P. The 6th Platoon must confirm its equipment and has permission to fire. We look forward to your results. There was some firing at the scene. Enemy casualties: 5 killed (all of them). Own casualties: 2 killed, 18 wounded. Provide aid and confirm the status of the scene. Pursue the fleeing enemy. Over.

I felt so cold with the rain directly hitting my body.

Running around naked doesn't feel so great, so I shut down my senses.

"Sense resonance system: lowest setting."

Good, good. Now it's just the sexy feeling of water droplets dripping down my skin.

Anyway, I needed to run as far away as I could get through the streets of Paris. I was pretty tall, but the appartements around here were tall enough to hide me if they were a street away.

But after shining their light on me before, they might have Pointed my detailed appearance. If so, this girl would be wanted for the rest of her life. Written descriptions were everything in this city, so you could fix something's existence in place by accurately describing it. Even if they didn't know this girl's model number, it would be bad if they completely Pointed its form.

This is no fun at all~

But anyway, um, what's this? It couldn't be fun for them either. When I Pointed earlier, there were sirens blaring all over, so good luck, I guess. I wanted to say something too, but I couldn't.

"Voice device: Sign impossible."

She didn't seem to have a voice component installed. Well, we were attacked in the middle of putting her together.

But that didn't affect my performance, so it was all good. My thoughts were written to the memory bank plenty fast and there was no echoing. If I had to point to a fault, it was a good body, but it was a little too honest. If I started up the Full Drive, I suspected it would respond too much and my mind wouldn't be able to keep up with the body's movements.

But really, I'm sorry, everyone. I was right to Write Bring. If I hadn't combined my Lives with this body…no, with this girl, I would've died and then we really would've been wiped out.

So I had to escape. As long as I wasn't caught, this girl's origin would remain a mystery to the Germans.

I was a little worried about the fact that the knowledge of Paris I had memorized before arriving as an exchange student had included nothing about an incident on this night. That meant this was a change to history.

It was a temporary change that would be erased by the Format on August 6, 1944.

I had made a few changes already.

I took part in a Heavy Barrel battle at the year-end festival. I was the neighbor of Mallette Harculia, the prodigal daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant. And I had a bit of a personal relationship with Phillip Missel, who infiltrates the German Army as a part of the Resistance and meets an untimely death. I even kissed him.

But this was the biggest change. After all, people had died. And I was on the run.

I couldn't forget that I absolutely had to survive this.

The problem was that I only had two pieces of equipment: the Valkyrie Strike on my right arm and the Over Emblem activated with the emblem on the body's surface. The gun barrel from which the Heavy Barrel got its name was still in its box back in the warehouse.

But oddly enough, I wasn't afraid. My grandma had trained me, so I had experience with battle from a young age. Back in '98, I had enjoyed messing with our vigilante Heavy Barrel just as much as maintaining Sein Fraus for the family business.

Oh, where's the enemy? I had a bad feeling.

I only had the lower sight devices open, so I opened the compound eyes as well.

"Primary sight devices: Sign."

My vision widened and I shuddered. I loved this view.

And I saw it.

Sorry, but you're too close, so I've gotta charge right in. I'll kick you out of the way without killing you, so don't move!!

I raced forward.

I crashed into them and passed right on through.

I said "crash" myself, but my hearing picked up a much worse sound. Yeah, I really am sorry. I just can't seem to hold back.

Why is that? Well, when I Write Bring into a Barrel, the conversion device breaks down the Lives of my original body and combines them with those of the Barrel's body, so, um, how should I put it? I'm not wearing an armor dress or anything else right now. I feel like I'm naked and I'd love to cover my chest, but my right arm has the Valkyrie Strike and I can't allow you to capture me. Ha ha ha.

Laughing seemed to help calm me down a little.

And I needed to escape somewhere.

I was headed west, so I decided to turn left and head toward the Boulogne Park. If I could cross the river there, I was pretty sure I could lose them. Not that I wanted to swim through that dirty

river naked.

Meanwhile, the Arc de Triomphe came into view in the distance.

This was a rainy night, but they had it lit up. It was pretty. It was strange how the German Army understood its charm.

It was about time for the enemy to be showing up, so I made a Point.

Hey, wait!! I was way too late on that dangerous Point!

This isn't good! If they're ready to attack-…!!

Due to an impact, the Write Bring user's thought connection has been shut down for 0.00000002 seconds.

Restarting.

Urgent.

Report on 431021-18P. We have intercepted the unidentified American-made Grösse Panzer of model HFF Unknown. By our Lernen, 15 T-Gew anti-tank rifles fired three Lanze which did medium damage to its right femur. The target has changed course and has entered the Boulogne Forest to the southwest. Its speed is mid-level. The area has cultural value, so we await instructions on whether or not to send the armored trucks in. The road at the interception point received minor damage, so we have called in a Stimmer Unit. Over.

I somehow managed to get into the forest of Boulogne Park.

The pursuing sirens were really annoying, so I really wished I had the gun barrel on the shoulder to fire back at them, but I just didn't have the proper equipment this time and I had no backup. I could never destroy the stationed German troops with one incomplete Heavy Barrel. What a pain.

But my right thigh really hurt where they had shot me. Write Bringing into a Heavy Barrel meant to fully combine with it, so any damage to it would remain with me when I released the Write Bring.

When I left the Study, I'd have a full-on bullet wound in my right thigh, goddammit. Those guys really don't know how to treat a girl's skin.

Inside a forest taller than I was, I ran down a stone path only meant for carriages.

The rain was cold and my wound hurt.

I had stopped shutting down my senses, so the cold, the exhaustion, and the pain all violated my Lives.

If I cut off my senses, I wouldn't be able to tell how bad the wound was. There was currently a bullet hole in the right thigh made of an American curved cylinder frame. I could feel the lubricant oil gradually leaking out, so it felt like I was bleeding.

The leg would stop moving after a while. I belonged to a family of Sein Frau technicians and my Knight Striker grandma had taught me everything she knows, so I could tell. If I shut down the senses here, I was done for. I wouldn't be able to tell how far the damage would grow.

I had to use my pain to consider how far I could run.

I Pointed to see if the enemy was around.

<your>

</your>

Oh, ow, ow. Was that stone there for decoration? Don't leave those things in the middle of the walkway. I don't know if it's supposed to be art or what, but I'm gonna destroy it if it's in my way. Or rather, it was right in front of me, so I destroyed it. It only took an instant. Man, that's a really dangerous ideology I've got going there. But it isn't quite as cool when I'm on the run.

I ran.

My injury, the chill of the air, the sound of the rain, the rustling of the forest. They all came together into a single sensation... Am I a poet or what? But really my thoughts just happened to flow together pretty well there.

Anyway, time to Point the upcoming intersection!!

It is an MMP055 07-LC Jagdhund. It is the German Army's average Barrel with a black coloration and large shoulders.>

That was close, but I caught it in time. A Middle Barrel showed up, but it was a cheap one. If you're gonna send it to Paris, get yourself a higher quality Barrel. Do you really think that mass produced P-number stands a chance against my special-ordered F-number?

Well, I will admit a Middle Male (MM) model has a bigger frame than a Heavy Lady (HL) model like mine.

And as I wrote that, I reached the enemy.

Your mistake was not knowing the movable range of your own head.

The Jagdhund have a heavy frame to support their own weight, so the neck vertebrae can barely turn to the side at all. So at an intersection like this, you needed to face your enemy and walk out sideways, but you didn't, did you!?

I Signed that you didn't!

If you think otherwise, then prove it by dodging this!!

I stepped forward.

I charged toward my opponent's left side.

I used the ram at the end of my right arm's Valkyrie Strike to hit their side.

And right as I made the attack, I Pointed their movements!!