The adventures of the young engineer and Prinz Eugen Volume 2.

No. 8 Chapter 9

The engineer felt a lot better already. The painkillers did their job and his headache and pain had been erased by a numbness that made him feel as if he had drunk a bit. Freshly showered and dressed in a new uniform dress shirt, pants and with carefully groomed hair he looked almost normal again except for the bruise on his left temple. He ensured that his shirt was buttoned up properly before leaving the bathroom. Entering the large dorm room the engineer was surprised to find someone other than Prinz Eugen there. The destroyer Akatsuki sat on one of the chairs and stared at the engineer with her uncovered eye. "May I help you?" The engineer asked the offputting destroyer, preparing himself to fight for his life. "You know why I am here. Give me the files right now and things won't escalate." The destroyer stated bluntly and cut straight to the point. "You were not supposed to have them or be reading them." She explained. The engineer had to think for a bit to understand what the destroyer meant. "Do you mean the files Amagi gave to me?" He asked. "Precisely. You were not supposed to steal them. Return them now." Akatsuki demanded once more. The engineer's facial expressions were visibly saddened. "I am sorry, I would like to return them, but I was asked in a letter that was handed to me together with the papers, to destroy them to ensure that no one else would get them." He explained honestly in the hope of not getting into a fight with the destroyer. "You disposed of them?" The destroyer asked. "And who ordered you to do so?" She continued while slowly closing the distance to the engineer. The latter became more nervous as the weird looking little girls closed in on him. "It was Amagi that asked me to do so." He explained. "And where's your proof?" She asked further. "I have none since I destroyed it all." He explained while estimating how quickly he could reach the door to the room. "You want me to take the word of a thief and believe you then?" Akatsuki asked. "I am not a thief." The engineer quickly replied as he felt the attack on his pride.
The destroyer had closed in to less than half a meter to the engineer and now stared intently up into the eyes of the latter. The engineer stared back into the dark brown eye and the seemingly empty eye socket of the destroyer. He was sure the second he would break this staring contest the destroyer would lunge forward and break every bone she could get a hold of.
After what felt like eternity and the destroyer blinked and stopped her stare. The engineer was thankful that this finally stopped and he quickly brinked multiple times to help the itching sensation of his dry eyes. "I can't find dishonesty in your eyes. I will have to ask and inform my superiors about your claims." She informed him. "Be sure to watch your back, not for me but them." She warned the engineer before turning and leaving the dorm room through the entrance door the engineer had seen as his only way of escape.

The engineer sat down on the floor and again had an expression of the proverbial hoofed ruminant mammal in headlights on his face. He guessed he just dodged a major bullet. But what made him even more uncomfortable was the warning the destroyer gave him. Her superiors were coming for him. He wondered what she meant with that. Perhaps the sakuran Admiralty was after him for supposedly stealing the blueprints of Amagi. No matter what it was he was sure to tell Prinz Eugen about it the second he saw her again. Taking a couple of deep breaths he scrambled back up from the floor and continued to dress himself in his dress uniform in preparation for the evening's festivities. He thought that he was going to be just fine attending the celebrations as long as he did not drink any alcohol and the painkillers kept the headache from his injury away and he kept close Eugen. He continued to get ready and while he did so, he checked if the destroyer had found his notebook. To his surprise it was still in the inner pocket of his uniform tunic. He grabbed it and saw through it, all pages were still there and apparently nothing was missing. He sighed a breath of relief before he tucked the notebook into the inner pocket of his dress uniform. Afterwards he got back into the bathroom to tie his bowtie in front of the mirror. While doing so he heard the lock of the dorm room door being opened and Prinz Eugen walking in. "I am back from the communications department." She announced.