Chapter 3 - Berlin
The male receptionist has a mustache that looks like it’s been drawn on with a brush, his black hair combed immaculately backwards, while his face shines as though it’s been covered with clear glue.
“I want to change hotels, please help me carry my luggage.”
“Very well, may I ask where you want to send it to?”
Even though the customer names a hotel that’s completely different in style, he’s not at all surprised.
“I hope you won’t misunderstand, I’m not unsatisfied with the service here, it’s just that I… don’t like that.”
Straight up the front of the large hall decorated with yellow flowers and lighting, there’s a huge ‘卐’ hanging there. Soldiers that ruin her mood are walking all over as though they own the place, and that irritates her to no end.
“And this hotel is so beautiful too, what a pity.”
The other person just smiles silently, but deep in his heart he agrees with her opinion.
“Will you be attending the auction?”
“Of course I will, it’s for that reason I’m here in Berlin.”
Revisiting Germany after three years, it feels like the atmosphere is filled with tension. There’s nothing on the road but green military vehicles, and pedestrians skirt around them. The soldiers on the road are exceptionally many, even children are wearing similarly colored clothes.
And, the ‘卐’ badge is hanging everywhere she goes.
“Actually, isn’t it okay if you just treat it as the Buddhist sign?”
“You really are very easygoing.”
“…What, by that do you mean you’re looking on me, an adult? You’re really very uncute!”
“Just standing and watching as the mastermind escape from right in front of you, does that count as an adult?”
DT’s expression looks like he’s choking on a dumpling, while his mouth repeats excuses. The chin that was beaten up four days ago still has a huge Sa***pas[1] on it.
After Edith rested for two days, and recovered her health, the whole party followed her on a flight back to France, and then sent her back to her daughter and son-in-law’s side before taking the land route into Germany. Of course, the single person rooms on the trains are more comfortable than the seats on a plane, and the baggage check isn’t so stringent either.
But that’s not the only reason they chose the land route. Because she needs time to slowly think, without being disturbed by the neighboring passengers and the airplane crew.
They want to snatch a wooden box with great power that does not belong in this world from enemy hands, and of all the chances, their enemy is Germany, the country with the dictator. Although Bob said there would be some locals helping, but with so few people, how can they go against the Nazis?
Her dark brown fringe is plastered to the glass window, and she sighs without the other two hearing. There’s no way she will let DT and Regent see such a discouraged April Graves.
The European spring scenery outside the window is really beautiful, just like in the movies and albums, and not dull in the slightest. Especially those old castles surrounded by greenery such as mountain forests, that’s something you’ll never see in America.
But they have to complete the mission before they can enjoy the pleasure of a vacation, and experience the foreign atmosphere.
Since the picture is in black and white, she can’t see the actual color, but the patterns on the side and the decorations that seem to have been added on later, look very similar to something she saw before.
That’s the box that spewed blue flames on the day Grandmother died.
“I say, DT, do you think Grandmother is really dead?”
She is careful not to let the coffee spill, then she asks her partner, who’s falling asleep.
“…Mn? You mean Hazel? Why would you ask so suddenly?”
Asking him is a waste of breath.
As for Henry Regent, reading the German papers, his head is bowed as he says,
“Although I didn’t attend the funeral, I did hear that the old mansion caught on fire.”
“That’s right, it was bought just last year. Seems like a building from the Civil War area, Grandmother really liked it.”
“I heard Bob mention that… It’s such a pity, that her body was never found.”
“That’s right, because everything was burnt down completely, and I mean everything. Put that with the too-high temperature, and the house, furniture and body were all melted into one clump, maybe even with the box that I saw. But can this sort of thing really happen? It wasn’t a black powder warehouse, or a factory, it was just a very normal fire! How can it burn until even the hair and bones disappeared?”
April moves her gaze away from the photograph, and looks at the green scenery and goatherds flying past.
“Do you think such a thing can happen?”
“Stop that, when you say it like that, Hazel won’t be able to gain enlightenment in peace--”
“…That’s true, maybe.”
Although she never mentions her grandmother’s cause of death again, but whenever she looks at her black-and-white photo, April will remember that nightmarish scene.
“What are these words and patterns carved into the decorative part here?”
“Mn—When I saw it there weren’t these decorations, they were probably added on afterwards. Forgetting the words for now, this beast looks a lot like Mr Bapu’s investigation target, Ishtar’s lion[2]!”
“Isn’t that from BC?”
“That’s right.”
“How is that possible! There’s no way a wooden box from BC can stay intact until now, but if it was stone or bronze, then that’s another matter, of course.”
Regent folds the paper into four, and tosses it onto the empty seat beside him. There are only the three of them in the train coach at night, so there’s still some space to spare.
“If there were preservation measures taken, then it’s not impossible, though it’s eighty per cent likely that it was copied on later. Only those words carved on the edges, it looks a lot like Greek. Even if it’s not exactly the same, at the very least it’s related.”
“And Mr Bapu had deciphered this too… The door shall open for pure water, only that can open… When they say ‘pure water’, it shouldn’t mean holy water, right? Or maybe some special seawater from somewhere? Or some secret river or lake…”
“That’s not important.”
Regent uses a rare tone of forcefulness, cutting her off. April stares at him, feeling a bit weird, and she ends up attracted to the black iris behind those lenses. A shudder runs down her spine.
That’s her first time noticing that this man’s eyes are not like most people’s. There are plenty of people of Earth with black hair and eyes, such as Asians like DT and Kou Li and almost all Africans are like that, but though they’re called black, upon closer inspection they’re actually mixed with dark brown and grey.
But his are different, they’re completely and utterly black.
“W-why… Sorry, my throat’s a little uncomfortable.”
Trying to hide the shock in her heart, April clears her throat before asking,
“‘That’s not important’? Why would you say that? The rights to the Box belong to me now, right, and isn’t it natural for the owner to know what it is?”
The French doctor immediately returns to him calm and composed tone, continuing as though preaching,
“The person who found it was indeed Hazel, and her heir is April, yes. As long as no country or organization insist that it’s their cultural heritage, then on paper, you’re the owner. The problem now is there’s no way to determine if you having it is the best option. Think about it, even the person who discovered ruins, may not necessarily be the rightful owner.”
“Are you saying Grandmother is nothing but a robber?”
“How could I! Hazel was an impressive woman, she never planned on using the Box for anything unscrupulous. Back then there were quite a few people who wanted it, they were probably more than willing to pay for it. But Hazel Graves didn’t use it to earn a fortune. She refused to hand such strength over to any one country or organization, and she didn’t even reveal her contributions to the world, instead she secretly handed the Box over to Mr Bapu, in the hopes of discovering its secrets.”
The sleeping DT’s head is sure shaking violently, and his mouth is wide open in an unseemly manner.
“I wish to do that too.”
“No.”
Regent shakes his head dejectedly, and then pushes his glasses upwards with his pointer finger.
“Since ambitious people already know of its existence, then this time we can’t handle it that way anymore, no matter what we must prevent this from happening. We have to grab the Box and Key from the Nazis before they put it to use, and bury it somewhere safe as soon as possible, to prevent it from falling into any ambitious hands… Please promise me, April. If we successfully get ‘The Mirror’s Depth’, I hope you will bury it where no one can find it.”
“But Regent…”
“That’s something humans must never touch.”
That line is exactly like Grandmother’s dying words.
Persuaded by the agitated French doctor, April can only nod her head in agreement. Even it was her normally, she would surely fight back fiercely. Her personality just happens to be the type that if someone forces her to go east, she would go west for the hell of it. But today she turned into an obedient April Graves, something even she can’t imagine.
But—
“Why do I feel that your words make sense?”
“You think I make sense? Maybe it’s because I’m desperately trying to convince you?”
The train slowly approaches the tall roof made of metal wires woven into a web.
“Because I’m desperately trying to convince you to believe me, no, I have no other choice but to make you believe me, because this is all real, all of it is the truth. Deep inside, you’re suspecting why I have this knowledge, right? Maybe you won’t believe me… But actually, I… April, I…”
Just then, the train starts braking, the brakes and the rails rubbing against each other. Following the screeching sounds, the train slides into the station. Regent smiles cynically at himself, and pulls apart the bright curtains on the glass window.
When the party is getting into the cab sent there by the hotel, they see a black car forcing the white car backwards, and stopping in front of them. DT mumbles happily,
“Whoaa—We’re pretty welcomed here, it’s a white Benz fighting a black Benz!”
“Actually it doesn’t matter what type of car the cab is.”
At that moment the door to the black Benz is opened, and another man in a black army uniform steps out, while some of the people who were originally on the sidewalk lower their heads and avoid his gaze. He readjusts the skull badge on his hat, and curls his lips upwards as he says to April,
“Young miss, where are you headed?”
“…We plan to change hotels.”
“Oh~ Why is that?”
The soldier who shrugs exaggeratedly has a red arm badge with the ‘卐’ sign on his left arm, and that golden hair tucked behind his ear shines in the sunlight. From the way he smiles superficially, it's obvious to see he’s happily taunting these foreigners.
“That is Berlin’s highest quality hotel. Even the President believes that it can satisfy a noble lady from the USA, like you. Ah, however…”
Those blue eyes, filled with a sense of superiority, glance once at the Asian American.
“…Your comrade might have a less comfortable time staying there.”
“That should have nothing to do with you, right?”
“How can you say so, Frau Graves. After all, for the extent of your stay in Germany, I am under orders to take care of your daily needs. Right, please get onto the car! Wherever you want to go, I’ll send you there. Goodness, what’s wrong with that Frenchman? His movements are just like our local soccer scene, with no absolutely laws to speak of.”
“According to Regent, the soccer in this country knows only how to defend, and is no fun to watch at all, even boring sometimes. He even said, although German soccer is really not that good, but unless you’ve reincarnated a couple times, you won’t understand it.”
Feeling impatient with the words that sound respectful but are in fact really rude, April ducks past the Benz and continues walking forward.
“If you like invigilating us so much, then go ahead, so it turns out the infamous SS are pretty free in the daytime too.”
“There’s no such thing!”
The car keeps up to her speed, following from behind, while the man strides around April to face her head-on, blocking her way.
“Ensuring that the auctions runs smoothly, is an important mission for us officers of the Cultural Division, and so honorable guests from far away like Young Miss must be treated as perfectly as we possibly can…”
“If you still won’t get out of my way, I’ll make all your male characteristics disappear, you know! Oh, dear! So sorry, were my words just now too low-class? It’s just that my German isn’t that good.”
“Please don’t say so. Your German is impeccable! Only you have some uneducated commoner’s accent, perhaps because you chose the wrong teacher.”
Don’t tell me this type of person can only talk cynically?
This man who followed them from the moment they got off the train, is an SS lieutenant around thirty-years-old. To April, he doesn’t deserve to stand on top of the crowds yet, but if you just look at his appearance, it’s not hard to understand how he climbed to so high a position despite his youth.
Herm Coruna is a classic German, and he has Hitler’s favorite superior genes. There’s probably no one more suited to a SS uniform than him! When he stood on the train platform and smiled confidently, April immediately despised him.
The three of them became VIPs at the art auction held in Berlin. This auction, meant for auctioning off the paintings and other things the Nazis have been collecting, has already been held several times this year. There are many guests from abroad, too, so this is the most logical excuse to enter the borders. Truth is, Regent has some documents from Bob too, who hopes to save some other exploited works.
When the party walked down the train stairs holding their lightest luggage, this blonde-haired green-eyed young man was already waiting for them with a smile. He says Bob’s rare surname, and then holds out his right hand, saying, “You are the representatives, yes?” But he only shook Regent and April’s hands, while he arrogantly pretended not to notice DT, the easterner.
“Glad to meet you, Frau Graves. I am Lieutenant Herm Coruna from the Cultural Division. It may a little late to say this, but we deeply regret your grandmother’s passing. Please do not be too sorrowful, she once sponsored the building of the large church…”
“Heavens, that’s ancient history from two years ago, thank you for remembering it.
Coruna’s brow creases slightly, but he immediately reverts to his relaxed smile. Apparently his job was to greet the foreign guests over the course of the auction, but the truth is his main duty is to watch them. Looks like the three of them are the last set of guests joining tonight’s party.
“Frau Graves, this way please, we have prepared a car for you.”
DT says in a small voice, uneasily,
“Hey, did you use an alias?”
“No.”
“Then why does that guy keep calling you ‘Frau, Frau’[3]?”
DT doesn’t speak a word of German.
“But Chinese letters don’t trouble me!”
That’s nothing to be proud of.
But from this they can tell that the annoying watchman has, to some extent, some understanding of English. Although he can understand perfectly pronounced English, he can’t keep up when it comes to dialects or if they speak too fast, especially some Chinese- or French-mixed whispers. From the moment they were brought to a hotel near Bradenburg, they had the feeling of being watched.
Regent said he wanted to look for his friends to get some intel, and he seems to have eluded the watchman, but April and the others, who felt uncomfortable there and decided to change locations, were unfortunately caught in the act by Coruna.
When they push past the crowd ahead and move forward, the SS lieutenant chats to them as he catches up. As for the passersby who bump against him, all of them lower their heads and frown, never meeting his gaze.
“Oh, dear~ I didn’t think your companion would be an Asian, how special, the more I see him the harder it is to believe that he’s in the same species as us! We plan to open a large-scale cultural museum in Dahlem, maybe we should have him tie his hair into knot and stand there as an exhibit, so everyone else can enjoy the sight.”
DT, who doesn’t understand German, looks at Coruna sideways, asking in a small voice. The aura the other man is giving him makes him feel slightly uncomfortable.
“What’s that guy saying? And he’s looking at me all deviously too.”
“He says you’re very mesmerizing, and keeps praising you too.”
“Walei—W-w-w-w-what is that! So disgusting~”
“Looks like he’s finally found his dream lover, I think he prefers men over women, y’know.”
“Damn--!”
DT’s expression looks like he’s drunk vinegar, and then he puts his palms together, pleading solemnly.
“April, I beg you, please explain it clearly to him for me! Tell him I have a beautiful wife at home, and I’m lucky enough to be becoming a father soon.”
The man who mistook DT for a Japanese, seems even more interested after seeing him in a pleading pose.
“What is he saying?”
“He’s begging me to never tell you that he’s better with the ladies than you are, because he doesn’t want you to feel unhappy.”
“What?”
“Maybe you German can’t imagine it, but in New York there was once a shootout between the gangs over him. Because the mob boss’ daughter and mistress fell head over heels in love with him at the same time. Oh, yeah, they just happened to look just like you, they had shiny blonde hair and buff bodies too. Truth be told, it’s really very weird, ladies like that often automatically chase after him.”
“…Ladies like that…”
The lieutenant holds his chin as he contemplates, but before long he’s back to his cheerful mood.
There’s no way they can do anything with a stalker on their tails, so they must quickly get rid of him, and collect more intel.
“DT, you be the bait and lead him away!”
“I don’t wanna, why must it be me?”
“Because he thinks you’re mesmerizing, and he really admires you! As long as I’m with you, he’ll definitely stick to me like glue.”
“Stop kidding! If that happens, one wrong move and I’ll fall into his clutches! And then who knows what’ll happen to my modesty?”
“If that happens, then you might as well give up, and wait to be put up on display at a cultural museum, so that the people can enjoy you.”
And he has to tie his hair into a knot, too.
“Also, you force me to the Nazis, then where are you going, and to do what? If you’re running away on your own to eat some delicacy, this time I’ll definitely break with you!”
“I want to go see the lions, sheesh!”
“Lions? Ah—That’s right! There seems to be a zoo near the station.”
Her partner sighs in defeat, and walks over the Benz approaching slowly. He puts his hand on the passenger seat door handle, using the tone of an elementary school teacher to say,
“How are you? Thank you, I’m fine. I’m getting onto the car, do you want to get on too?”
“Yes, I do.”
Coruna understands these words, and he hurriedly helps April open the car door. After making sure she’s in the back seat, he enters from the other end. Just as he closes the car door, DT in front immediately gives the driver a kick, and takes the chance to kick him onto the road.
“Mister Customer—Where to--?”
April looks sideways at the panicked lieutenant and then quickly gets out of the car, while DT slams onto the Benz’ accelerator. In the backseat, Coruna seems to have done a front flip.
“Didn’t I tell you, Lietunant Herm Coruna. My partner really likes beautiful buff blonde ladies.”
At the very least, she will let him, in that certain period of time, experience communication between different cultures.
As for April, she jumps into the white Benz before the driver who was kicked down can get back onto his feet. This time she really did jump onto a taxi.
“To the museum!”
“Which museum?”
“Eh? The one with the lion!”
“Oh~ The lion, is it? That’s the oldest place in Germany. Did you know? That place was built by Friedrich Wilhelm IV.”
And then, the white Benz changes direction for an unknown reason.
There are indeed lions here. No, there are probably tigers and gorillas too.
Having been taken to the entrance of the zoo, April gets back into the back seat, she must tell the driver once again, that she wants to go to the opposite direction.
“…When did I say I wanted to go to the zoo?”
“But miss, weren’t you saying ‘lion, lion’ really agitatedly? I thought that you were a lion enthusiast, so I hit the gas and flew here.”
“I wanted to see the carvings on the Ishtar door! And then confirm the Babylonian writings!”
The gentle-faced driver says, “Then let’s get to the large church first.” Saying that, he passes by under the large door. Although it’s daytime on an average day, there’s no sense of liveliness on the streets at all. Not because the doors and windows on the buildings are closed, neither is it because there are no passersby on the street, but still there’s none of that atmosphere, of people enjoying their daily lives.
“It just feels like this country is even colder than before.”
“There’s no such thing. Not only are all the people united as one, whenever it comes to the parade every Sunday, the roads are filled with passionate citizens! Compared to not long ago when the economy was bad, everyone is filled with hope!”
“…Is that so?”
“That’s right, the paper flowers and petals people toss during the parades gather into mountains!”
Perhaps all she can say is that their values are different. In the eyes of an American, the women wearing dark clothes and walking on the roads with stiff expressions, as well as the children wearing small SIZE army uniforms with a ‘卐’ badge pinned somewhere or another on their bodies, these are all very strange sights.
And those soldiers, who are either enjoying their rare days off or simply walking on the road expressionlessly, she can’t tell which, they make her feel indescribably uneasy.
“Maybe I’m overthinking things… Wait a sec!”
Seeing the face of the person walking past the taxi, April moves her body on the seat in surprise. She desperately shirks her head under the window, looks like she wasn’t seen by the other party. He’s a soldier wearing a uniform, not expressionless but looking furious as he walks. He should be over 25 years old, right? If it weren’t for the wrinkles between his brows, he should look even younger.
Like Coruna, he is also a member of the SS. The full-black officer uniform and the contrasting white gloves, are especially piercing to the eyes. But compared to those two colors, there’s something that’s making April’s heart feel even tighter.
It’s that brown color.
“What’s the matter? Miss.”
If they suddenly slowed down, he might get suspicious, so the driver keeps his foot on the accelerator as he talks to his passenger at the back,
“No matter how cold-hearted the SS are, they still wouldn’t simply apprehend a foreign tourist, so you don’t have to hide your head so low! Or is he your long-lost lover?”
“No way!”
That is indeed the exact same pale brown.
That hair color is the same too, it changes to golden brown under the sunlight, but the most important thing is those eyes. Although all she got is a shocked glance both back then and just now, but that pale brown, and those unique, eye-catching silver-shining irises, have left a deep impression on her. There shouldn’t be a lot of people with those eyes.
It’s him.
She’s sure of it, it’s that man.
It’s that German, who paid that Asian trio and asked them to destroy Kou Li’s restaurant; it’s the man who attacked us to threaten Madam Bapu. Although there was an entire street between them, she would never mistake those eyes.
April bit her lips lightly. So he’s a Nazi, and an officer in the SS, too.
“Oh—He really is handsome, though he gives off an unapproachable aura. That sir over there is really popular in the nightclubs, but if he always has that look on his face, no woman will dare approach him… Eh? How rare!”
The talkative driver looks at the SS soldier walking into the distance from the rearview mirror, and then says in surprise.
“What?”
“Ah! Actually it’s nothing, I just felt that soldier is a bit different, like there’s something weird somewhere…”
He grabs the rearview mirror with his right hand, forcefully turning it to an angle where the customer can see, too.
“See that? You see, his hair is brown, isn’t it? Although it’s a bit far, but his eyes aren’t blue, are they? I thought that was a bit rare. After all, the SS directly under His Excellency the President are all blonde-haired and blue-eyed.”
“Since you mentioned it… It’s true.”
Although she really hates Herm Coruna, but his appearance as a German is really very perfect, with white skin, blue eyes, a straight nose and blonde hair that sparkles under the sun.
She’d brushed past some soldiers at the station and the hotel, too, but people without these characteristics were always wearing grey or green uniforms. The ones who could wear the black uniform and walk proudly on the street, were only a small portion of carefully chosen people.
If they were to follow that ridiculous, stupid rule, the in the whole Graves family only Dianne would qualify. Compared to the girl with honey-blonde hair, be it Papa, Mama, April, or even her amazing grandmother, Hazel Graves, all of them lose to her.
“Being able to get the acknowledgement of those older, more experienced superiors at his age, that’s really very rare, surely he must have some shocking special ability, or maybe he comes from some distinguished family.”
“That’s right, and he’s an idiotic young master too.”
Although her words are calm, April’s heart is beating especially fast. It was that man who defaced the restaurant, and forced us to hide under the table. All because he didn’t want Edith to get back the box, and didn’t want her to have a chance to discuss with Bob.
And he took the chance to scare DT and me too, so we would reject this case.
At that moment she suddenly feels all the blood rushing to her head, her face and ears reddening in fury.
Too bad for him, of all the people he had to mess with me! How dare he threaten me, April Graves.
April thinks, and even her ear lobes have probably gone scarlet. To make sure the driver doesn’t notice, when she feels the taxi shaking a bit as it turns left, she forces herself to ask calmly,
“Just wondering, where do you think that man is headed?”
“Uh—Since he’s walking in the same direction as us, perhaps he’s headed to the Bergammon Museum like you? If he didn’t turn here from that corner just now, then maybe he’s going to the large church to pray.”
“I just didn’t think that SS officers would be so interested in the arts.”
“If only he was really interested…”
Finally, before she can ask what he means by that, the taxi has already stopped on the gravel road. Right in front of her is a stern-looking building.
Seems like the lion is probably some treasure for the northern archeological museum, but apparently the Nazis changed its direction starting from this year, moving and getting rid of many art pieces, so no one has any idea what’s left.
April gets off the car slowly, turning around to look at the dusty road.
She considers what she should do now, and has already counted to five deep in her throat.
She had agreed to rendezvous with Regent at the auction that starts at eight, so she must investigate more clues about the Box’ decorative parts’ words and symbols before that.
Past the pillars spreading outwards like a pair of wings, she walks into the inner main hall illuminated by rays of light shining through the high window. It could be because the air conditioning isn’t working, because even though it’s spring, the air feels cold.
Coming to a large hall with a domed ceiling, there are many types of carvings arranged between the many upright pillars, but upon scrutinizing them one by one, anyone will notice that they’re mostly reproductions. Why on earth would they display reproductions? April is starting to get confused, so she hurriedly shakes her head.
Now is not the time to think of these things.
Technically she should head for the archeological museum in the north wing, and investigate the words carved on the side of the box, so why is she in the old museum in the south wing, holding her breath as she listens carefully to a certain man’s footsteps?
About twenty meters ahead, the man in the military uniform walks across the hall, heading for a path to the right. Although the other routes have Ancient Roman, Greek, Western Asia or similarly simple-to-understand signs in order, that path is the only one without an eye-catching sign. Which area does that exhibit belong to, then?
Seeing as the man’s silhouette will soon vanish, April immediately rums to the entrance. And she had long since taken off those high heels, which would not only make loud, alerting footsteps, but were also so high they made her very uncomfortable. Thankfully there aren’t any visitors here, if someone reported a tourist running around in silk stockings, she would definitely be thrown out of the museum.
She passes by the dark tunnel where the light from the ceiling window doesn’t reach. The exhibition room is bigger than April imagined, but right now she has no choice but to hide beside the stone statue. Because the target she is following is just standing before the glass cabinet in the middle of the room.
From where April is hiding, she can’t determine what’s displayed inside the cylindrical glass cabinet, but she can see the military man taking out a piece of paper that looks like his ID, trying to take away the thing in the glass case.
He has his hands on his hips, ordering the young staff member something. Maybe he can’t quite hide the impatience in his heart, because his tone has become more rough and violent too.
“I told you to get me the key now!”
“I just said, the professor passed away at the end of last year. That’s why the mayor ordered that the rights to all the collections were to be handed over to the vice curator, so I can’t hand it to you!”
The staff juts won’t give in no matter what, bravely facing the armed SS soldier.
“I heard that that’s the party’s principle, if I simply let you take away something precious, it will cause us a lot of trouble. Just like last time there was a large-scale moving of over a hundred pieces of art, that was forced on us without getting our consent… To this day, the government has yet to tell us what that batch of art was for and where they went. Although we can’t confirm that our research can bring any sort of benefit to the party…”
Looks like it’s not just works of art like drawings and carvings, the Nazis have collected all the research information in one place too. Although speaking of that, what on earth does that man want to take away? April carefully moves her body, trying to see what’s inside the glass case.
“Since you are Professor Baldwin’s student, you should at least know that that belongs to the Deuter family. I am Rikhiart[4] Deuter, I have all the legal rights to it, so technically I have the right to take it back.”
Now she finally knows the name of the man in the SS officer uniform… the suspect who destroyed Kou Li’s restaurant in Chinatown. Rikhiart Deuter is the man with pale brown eyes shining silver.
She repeats the name in her mouth, feeling pissed off, and there’s some contempt mixed in there too. German names are still so hard to pronounce, although they are easier than Dutch names, she’ll admit that much.
The bespectacled young staff member stammers,
“I did hear about that… I just didn’t think that Deuter’s descendants… would actually join the SS…”
“Even if I gave up on it, the main squad will still come for it, by then it’ll be too late if you panic. It’s all over if that falls into those people’s hands, you should be very clear how it’ll be used in that case! Alright, quickly hand the key over, open the door to the cabinet. If the main squad comes enquiring, you just have to say that you returned it to the owner and you’ll be fine. No, even if you tell them I snatched it away, it’s okay.”
“I can’t do it!”
The staff member stubbornly shakes his head in refusal. He raises his head to look at the man who calls himself Deuter, and even glances at the short sword and pistol attached to his waist, then he grips his hands tightly and withstands the pressure before him. He may be thinking that for daring to disobey an SS officer’s orders, it’s only natural even if he were shot to death right now.
April quietly reaches her hand into her shirt. The silver talisman that she got from Grandmother has the same temperature as her skin.
That staff member is a professional researcher. Disregarding his personal safety, he determinedly protects the historical artifacts. People who don’t respect art have no right to touch works of art.
April holds the silver weapon lightly and waits for the chance to strike. The exhibit must never fall into Nazi hands! If Grandmother were here, she would probably help that staff member too. Besides, Rikhiart Deuter turned her favorite Chinese restaurant into a wreck, she still has that score to settle with him.
“The German over there…”
She pops out from behind the stone statue, but only takes one step before she stops in spite of herself. Because Rikhiart Deuter is just grabbing a chair and smashing it with all his strength into the old cabinet.
The sounds of glass shattering, echoes throughout the previously silent museum.
“T-that… man…”
After cleaning off the remaining glass shards, Deuter swings the chair again.
April rushes over to him. Although her strides aren’t big, she has never hated a person so much. And it just so happens that in this emergency situation, she’s wearing a very feminine, but very inconvenient outfit. The long tight skirt that reaches beyond her knees forces her to run with little steps like a lady. If she doesn’t stop him as soon as possible, the exhibit will get damaged.
“Stop that right now!”
“Who’s there?”
Just as she raises the mini handgun, the man’s right hand slides to his waist, and with a speed that comes with practice he puts the black muzzle between her eyes.
The difference in height between the two is too big, April’s hand can’t even reach his forehead.
Those memorable brown eyes, are staring at her without hesitance. The will hidden in those irises, shines with a light different from the skull pinned on the middle of his hat.
“…So it’s just a brat?”
“Eighteen years old counts as a brat in Berlin, huh? I’ve seen children even younger than that, pretending to be you sad, idiotic soldiers and marching.”
A cold sweat has broken out on April’s back. If his pointer finger just twitches a little, she will immediately tell the world sayonara. Even so, she doesn’t stop spouting big words, so much so that even she feels she’s brave.
“Eighteen years old counts as a brat in whichever country.”
“But then who’s the one holding a dangerous item at the brat?”
His expression not changing in the slightest, Deuter decisively lowers his gun. It’s just that as soon as his previously stretched straight arm and shoulder relax, there’s immediately the deafening sound of an alarm going off. However, his left arm is still holding the chair leg. His cold and distant gaze moves away from April, and to the display cabinet he’s so concerned about.
April’s finger is still on the trigger.
“Stop! Or I’ll shoot! People who don’t understand the value of art have no right to touch them!”
But Deuter just ignores her warning, determinedly pulling the long exhibit out of the cabinet. It’s about 60 centimeters long, and at first she thought it was some thick stick or cylinder, but the front end seems to be a flattened sphere.
Turns out they’re half-curled up fingers. Looking at it, it should be the arm of a plaster statue.
Its color is very white, to be accurate, it’s a disgusting pale white.
“If you want to shoot then fore ahead, I won’t mind!”
“Don’t say that, I mind a lot. Listen carefully! Put that plaster statue back into the case now, things should always go back to where they belong. Trying to take away a work of art in broad daylight, people will say you’ve brave but brainless, you know!”
“Work of art?”
Deuter laughs for the first time, and it feels like he’s laughing at her.
“You said this is a work of art?”
“That’s right, otherwise what do you say it is? Don’t tell me you’re going to say it’s a giant white asparagus?”
“This is an arm.”
“That’s what I said! It’s part of a plaster statue…”
“Oh, this is not plaster, little miss. This is a bona fide human arm.”
The officer returns to his previous expressionlessness, and hands the pale ‘arm’ to her. The fingers just happen to be facing her, and it feels like they’re waving at her.
“You can feel it for yourself.”
April then assumes that he’s trying to distract her, in order to create a chance to escape, but then he doesn’t look nervous at all, as though he doesn’t mind being held at gunpoint.
“What is this, using an arm to trick children like this…”
“Since you’re an ambassador of justice who believes in protecting art, you should be able to tell right away if it’s plaster or not, right? Or are you so disgusted that you don’t dare to touch it?”
Feeling the blood rush right to her temples, April throws caution to the winds and reaches out her left hand, using her finger to touch that arm’s fingers. On one end is her own clammy finger, on the other is the supposedly man-made pure white fingers.
“Ah!”
Not just the front end, she even slides her hand to the half-hidden palm, and the wrist with even the veins simulated.
It’s smooth and hard, but it still has a bit of springiness, so she can be sure that it’s neither wood nor stone, and this cold feeling is like fat without blood circulation, so it’s hard to imagine that it’s made of rubber.
“…It’s wax?”
“Didn’t I already tell you? This isn’t man-made, it’s the arm of a human who died more than a hundred years ago.”
She instinctively pulls her hand back, but not out of fear upon finding out that it’s a body. She’s seen that kind of thing countless times before, be it smugglers who were shot full of holes and died on the spot, or colleagues who were blinded by their greed and fell into traps. She’s even seen grave robbers who were cursed and rotted until they were unrecognizable in front of everybody, though no one can be sure if it was really because of the curse anyway.
If it’s a body long since dead, then she’s seen countless mummies or skeletons lying in their coffins too.
It’s just that this part of the body has just been preserved too perfectly. Unless it was frozen in the south pole, otherwise a human body over a hundred years old can never survive in this form until now…
“How is this possible? Unless this is a preserved specimen?! But no, if it’s a specimen, the surface should be dry.”
“That’s why I wanted to borrow it from this museum, so I can solve this mystery!”
The staff member who was shocked into sitting on the floor helplessly by the duo’s rough behavior, says in a trembling voice,
“We were researching… exactly what kind of preservation it had been through, to survive so perfectly like this for several hundred years. Oh, God! Miss, please don’t shoot! It’s still okay if we’re lucky and you hit someone, but just thinking that the stray bullet might harm this precious specimen…”
She didn’t think that he considered the exhibit more important than his life, as expected of a scholar, worthy of her respect.
“I don’t care if you want to unravel whatever shocking secrets, but the most important thing is that it’s not misused.”
“That’s why! I’ll never hand it to you, an SS officer…!”
“It’s not like I voluntarily wear this uniform!”
Deuter immediately takes off his black uniform jacket, and wraps the pure white arm in it roughly. He glances at the staff member, sitting on the floor, and then turns around to head towards the entrance, completely ignoring April.
“Listen up, you, the army squadron who call themselves the Cultural Department will come any time now, the fastest if not today then tomorrow, you just tell them this arm was stolen, and if possible you will report to the police now so they can handle it.”
“What do you want it for?”
The bespectacled staff member interrupts him. But Rikhiart Deuter ignores his question, putting on his army hat properly and then preparing to leave.
“If by then the professor’s family, or you are suspected of hiding this arm, then you just say I did it, it’s okay.”
“How are you going to deal with it? Are you going to hand it over to the Nazis?”
“Me, hand it to them?”
The lieutenant again laughs self-condescendingly,
“The president might be very happy, but first I might die by my ancestor’s curse.”
“If you say that, then that is the treasure your ancestor left… Wait, what’s that sound?”
April is distracted mid-sentence by the sudden sound.
Over ten different sets of footsteps are coming from the other end of the hall. Deuter ‘tsk’s lightly, his hand also moving to the handgun on his waist.
“Why are they even earlier than I expected.”
He lightly raises his chin, signaling everyone to leave. The ‘main squad’ he was talking about is now jogging through the pillars in the large hall, coming their way. Seeing that the enemy will soon show up on the other end of the tunnel, the staff member makes an important decision, and stands up.
“Come with me.”
“You guys should leave quickly, there’s no need to get caught up in this meaningless conflict.”
“Lieutenant, no, Mr Deuter, please come over here. You two can leave through the back door.”
Those words take the man holding the arm completely by surprise, and in that split second he reveals his emotions on his face. The staff member goes around to the back of the glass case, stumbling, and there’s a little door the same color as the wall.
“This is a secret door, and you can take that with you. I’ll say it was stolen, taken away in the night, but I hope you will never hand the Key and the Box over to those people with bad intentions.”
Deuter nods his head in agreement, and then pushes open the door heading for the control room.
“Listen up, I’ll say it again. If you are suspected, tell them my name…”
“I won’t sell you out.”
The eyes behind those round and thick lenses narrow.
“Leave, quickly.”
There’s another door in the control room, which looks like it leads to the backyard. If they go past the office tables, they can use a crack a few centimeters large to peek outside.
“Relax, come on!”
Soldiers don’t seem to have this exit surrounded yet. The two give the budding grassy ground a sideways glance, and then go past the uneven backyard. Deuter holds the arm, wrapped up in his uniform, underneath his arm, and his right hand lingers around his waist, so he can draw his gun at any moment. As for his left hand, it’s holding April’s, pulling her along without hesitation according to his own speed. Since she doesn’t seem to be out of breath trying to keep up, Deuter forgot about that special bit of attention he should give to ladies.
“I think there’s no need for a gunfight, right?”
“It should be… Get down! Be careful not to get discovered!”
At the front entrance to the old museum, there are so many cars they’ve almost completely blocked the wide door out of sight, around a dozen of them. Soldiers in green uniforms scatter in all directions, looking bored, so though the scale is big, there’s not much of a sense of tension. Deuter mutters in a low voice,
“Looks like we need a car.”
“What?! Ah, sorry!”
Getting a glare from those unique eyes, April, who is crouching down, quickly covers her mouth. It’d be all over if they were discovered by those twenty-over soldiers, so their conversation naturally goes lower in volume.
“Y-you really planned on walking here and back?”
“I feel that was is more inconspicuous.”
“…How is that inconspicuous?! That’s more conspicuous, I didn’t think you operate without any plans~”
Though if he was someone who planned things before carrying them out, then he wouldn’t have grabbed the chair and destroyed the exhibit case, and he definitely wouldn’t have lost to a woman and a kid back when he attacked the restaurant.
“Geesh, you’re hopeless. Over here, come with me, I’ll let you hop into my car. Though you have to be mentally prepared for my sarcasm!”
The duo keep their bodies low and cross the tress, coming to a deserted gravel road connecting two buildings. The taxi is waiting on the side on April’s orders, slightly slanted on the side of the road, but there are two legs stretching out of the open car door.
In that second, April holds her breath.
“Surely not?”
Deuter comes up to her really quickly, and then gives the driver a slap without holding back.
“Ouch, ouch, that hurts like hell… What was that for, aren’t you going too far?”
“Thank goodness, you’re still alive! Since you’re still alive, send us back to Hotel Adlon.”
He gets into the car as he says that, and before the groggy driver has even started the engine, he has already closed the car door with a loud ‘pa’. The white Benz makes a reverse quite unlike a high class car would make, and drives away from the museum.
The two of them are plastered against the car windows, staring behind them in case someone comes chasing. Luckily, the one following closely behind them is a private vehicle, and there aren’t any military vehicles in sight. All the way until the moment they pass the university hostel, only then do the two passengers turn around, heave a deep sigh of relief, and sink deep into their seats.
If she wants to confirm it, she has to do it now.
“Hey, that pale arm…”
Deuter, who didn’t show much emotion at first, suddenly starts yelling nervously when his gaze goes downwards,
“What are you doing?!”
“Eh?! What?”
“I’m talking about your feet, your feet! Put on your shoes, quickly!”
She lowers her head and follows his pointed finger, looking at her feet, covered only with silk stockings and bleeding in several places. She had completely forgotten that she had taken off her shoes to hide her footsteps.
“Ah! God! What was I thinking! How could I step on crushed glass without wearing shoes, but then I don’t like wearing high heels… Y-you there, don’t misunderstand! This is my first time making this mistake.”
“Stop talking, just put on your shoes already! Don’t tell me you lose your shoes along the way?”
He mumbles, ‘Why do women like running bare-footed so much,’ as he gets ready to take off his own army boots.
But at that moment April quickly reaches her hand into her jacket, pulling out the high heels she’s so ill-used to wearing.
“You’re really naggy, you know! I don’t need you to be a busybody, I got my shoes with me! Ah—Really, it’s all because you force me to put on my shoes, my feet hurt even more now!”
“I was just wondering why the shape of your chest was so weird.”
“What—I didn’t think that someone who looks as scary as you is actually a pervert, I’ve really misjudged you. Why are men’s eyes always looking over there?”
“…Who asked it to be shoe-sole shaped, I think everyone would notice that. Ah, wait a sec! It’d be bad if there were still glass shards there.”
Having taken off the white gloves, his hands unhesitatingly grab her feet and lift them up.
“Stop! The friend that came with me is a doctor, I’ll just get him to help me treat it in a while!”
“But this way you can’t walk, can you?”
It seems like her joints have cramped up, April makes a short scream of pain.
“Hey, it’s all your fault for smashing the glass before getting to understand the situation! Otherwise I wouldn’t need to have stepped on it either!”
“That is indeed my fault.”
“It was all your fault. Wa—Stop, don’t touch it! I can’t stand you, you really like smashing glass, don’t you! And you’re not a little kid anymore, but you’re still so rash. If you really are dumb enough to think that you just have to break a few windows to make everyone listen to your every order, then you’re making a big mistake! Even I, April Graves, have a principle to not do something as petty as breaking win…Ow, ow.”
“April Graves?”
Her right foot is resting on Deuter’s knee, the handkerchief and white gloves used to bandage it are slowly being dyed red.
“You’re that Graves? The one the Jew called Bapu contacted to get back the Box…”
“That’s right, Ri… Ow, I bit my tongue. Richard Deuter, don’t tell me you never realized who I was all this time?!”
“How could I have realized, and my name isn’t Richard either.”
“What do you mean, ‘How could I have realized.’ No way, I don’t believe you! Didn’t we meet once before in Kou Li’s restaurant?”
“Although you say we met, but that was across an entire street. I didn’t have the luxury of looking closely at someone’s face, now, did I.”
“But I remember you clearly! Richard Deuter.”
“If so, then remember my name correctly! Don’t keep getting it wrong, it feels like you’re doing it on purpose. I’m not called Richard!”
The driver, who finally managed to clear his brain a little, looks into the rearview mirror as usual, and says casually,
“My two customers back there, can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“What now?!”
When the impatient duo replies at the same time suddenly, the man is shocked into shrinking into his shoulders.
“…So he really is your long lost lover, after all?”
Deuter let April hold on to his shoulder as they get off the taxi, looking at the front of the hotel with a frown,
“So you’re that guy’s guests?”
“That invigilator keeps sticking to us like a stalker, just looking at him is annoying. Do you know him?”
The shiny blonde-haired, black-uniformed man, Herm Coruna keeps repeating a strange action. One moment “he” would be climbing up and down the stone steps, and the next moment he would stick out his body and stare at the distance. There’s a black Benz waiting at the pick-up spot in front of the entrance, and DT is sitting on top of the bonnet.
The misunderstanding between the two seems to have been resolved.
“Hi, April!”
When DT sees his partner, he immediately starts waving happily and dragging out his sentence, “And I went all the way to the zoo, too~”
Coruna, on his way to confirm that his guest is safe and sound, nearly falls in his haste to get down the stairs. “That’s right, I was worried sick! Young Miss. I got your companion to tell me that you seem to have gone to the zoo… No, I asked him to tell me, and then I immediately rushed there by car, but…”
And the moment he recognizes the person standing next to her, his tone instantly takes on an obvious sense of superiority.
“Oh, dear, what a rare guest. Isn’t this Lieutenant Rikhiart Deuter?”
The two men are of equal rank, and similar age, but Coruna doesn’t seem to think much of the other man. This is the proper attitude towards the driver’s so-called ‘rare person’?
How pointless, what does hair color represent? Besides, men’s hair will all fall off eventually.
“Colonel Hughes is looking for you right now, Lieutenant… Did something happen to your uniform?”
His gaze moves to the shirt held under his arm. If the thing hidden inside is discovered, it’ll be bad.
“Because it got dir…”
“It was me, I splashed him with beer!”
Deuter, looking displeased, hasn’t even finished his sentence before April, leaning on the taxi, decides to butt in and give him an excuse.
“Who asked him to be so rude to me, so I just took a large mug of beer and poured it all over him.”
The blonde SS officer nods hugely three times, showing his absolute approval of this.
Although that being said, there’s another problem there, too.
“This young miss got lost, so I took her to the venue of the auction. After I asked her, she mentioned your honorable name, and I was even more certain this is the right place.”
“Oh~ Young Miss, it’s an honor that you still remember my name… Oh, dear, did you sprain your leg, perchance? How can this be, I’ll find you a doctor right away.”
“It was perhaps because she wore unsuitable shoes, so she got blisters. As for a doctor, it seems that her companion happens to be one, so you don’t have to waste your time. On that note, Coruna, it must be tough babysitting tourists.”
“She’s not a tourist, this young lady here is a VIP at the auction tonight. I am under orders to take care of them until they leave these borders.”
“So that they don’t get a chance to escape, is it?”
“I’m different front Lieutenant Deuter, who can’t go on any important missions.”
Oh, dear! These two don’t seem to get along at all. After all they’re wearing the uniform, even if it’s only on the surface, they should still pretend to be great friends.
Although the truth is she and DT are more or less the same, April is still thinking that secretly in her heart. Her companion, on the other hand, continues to sit on the bonnet, shaking his short legs,
“I say, April, did you see the gorilla? Did you? And who’s that man? Is it lover candidate number one you met on the road?”
The shoulder she’s holding onto twitches a little, it seems like Deuter can understand colloquial English very well too.
“Let me introduce you, DT, this here is Richard Deuter, a man who likes to smash glass more than he likes his three meals a day. The repair fees for the glass windows in Kou Li’s restaurant, you can get them from this SS lieutenant.”
“I accept your billing, but I’m not called Richard.”
The Asian, happy that he got to enjoy the sights at the zoo, shrugs as he says, “Anyway, that’s my wife’s shop.”
“April! Where on earth did you disappear to?!”
“Things got a bit complicated, Regent, and I got a lot of things I want to say and a lot of questions to ask, too.”
“Me too. Who was that officer talking to you just now?”
“Ah, yeah, yeah. This rude soldier here is…”
She sways left and right as she tries to look backwards, only to see the taxi carrying Deuter just about to leave. Holding the arm wrapped in the jacket tightly, he turns back for a glance from the passenger seat. The corners of his lips seem to lift a little as he smiles, it’ll probably be too late for her to catch him now.
“Did he send you back here?”
“No, I was the one who let him tag along.”
Henry Regent, who had rushed out of the hall, politely takes off his panama and holds it under his arm. As for his suit, you can’t quite say it has a gentlemanly feel to it, just looking at those wrinkles anyone can tell he just got off the train, and goodness knows where he walked here from, because even his leather shoes are covered with dust.
“I went to the coffee shop scholars and artists always gather in, gathering all sorts of info on the current situation. But those more mainstream artists were all either captured or escaped out of the country, even the paintings and poems on the walls were confiscated. What on earth is going on with this country?”
The French doctor heaves a lonely sigh, looking forlorn.
“That’s right, Regent, where’s the pivotal Box?”
“About that, according to the local black market traders, all that’s being shown here at the auction are a few sculptures, and everything else is paintings. I guess that the confiscated things are all temporarily gathered here, and their next destination will be determined after the auction… Considering that, the Box may have already been moved to somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else? Where could it be?”
“I think I know where, let’s leave first thing tomorrow morning, then. Eh, what happened to your foot?”
On the way up the stone steps, Regent helps support her as he continues talking to the two of them. April, on the other hand, feels rather guilty, because she wasn’t listening to half of the things he said.
“Since we’re only moving tomorrow morning, then let’s enjoy the experience of the auction tonight. Did you hear? There seems to be a Lucas Cranach piece on auction tonight! We should help Bob spend some of that money once in a while… April?”
“Eh? Sorry. What did you say we should make Bob do?”
Regent switches his doctor’s voice, asking the young patient concernedly,
“Look at your expression, does your foot hurt a lot?”
“Are you talking about me? Regent, what expression do I have now?”
“The expression of a stormy sky about to rain buckets.”
Perhaps.
What on earth has she accomplished today? Her companion was helping her collect intel at a celebrity gathering place, her partner even helped throw off the Nazi invigilator, and bought precious time. But she completely ignored what she was supposed to investigate, and instead she helped the man who should be their enemy. As a result, a precious collection piece was taken away, into the hands of the military with absolutely no appreciation for its artistic value.
And yet—
Taking a deep breath of the fresh air in the large hall; looking up at the red drapes with the ‘卐’ word; avoiding the busy at work, uniformed soldiers, April remembers that touch again.
What on earth is that arm?
Why is the person who took the arm, Rikhiart Deuter, the same man who threatened everybody in Boston?
“Did something happen to make you feel down? April, I can go to the auction myself! Tonight you just get some proper rest in the hotel room.”
April considers it seriously in her heart for five seconds, the she shakes her head and smiles helplessly. That gentle, friendly gentleman’s words, are only suited for a cute girl like Dianne.
“Thank you, Regent, but I think I’ll attend anyway. I want to see for myself, what atrocious acts that so-called Cultural Division will be up to.”
Right now there’s only enough time for her to make up for her failure.
References
1. ‘Salonpas’, a famous Japanese band-aid brand.
2. Ishtar is a famous Babylonian goddess, and her sign is the lion.
3. ‘Frau’ means ‘Miss’ in German.
4. His name is actually ‘Richard’, but pronounced in the German way. I’m using the pronunciation for his name whenever he uses it or it’s stated officially, to differentiate from the way April pronounces it.
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