by SOW
Oh no!!
Silently, Sven bitterly cursed her own carelessness.
After finishing deliveries, she had spotted a couple of customers and noticed immediately that one of them was Hildegard, whom she and Lud had encountered during a previous incident in the mine.
The reason she recognized Hilde was simple. It was the girl’s voice. A human being wouldn’t have noticed, but Sven had registered Hilde’s voice patterns in her database. The girl’s voice had been audible through the Hunter Unit speaker when Hilde piloted it that night in the mine as she mercilessly pursued Sven and Lud. There was no mistake about it.
So Sven had spurred Jacob and Milly to hide behind the counter, and tried to capture the girl. However, the calm, composed, and skillful waitress had failed in her plan. She had acted without saying anything to Lud, who was working in the oven room.
She didn’t simply forget. Sven was driven by an inability to forgive. By coming here, Hilde had broken her promise to Sven’s beloved master Lud, who had spared Hilde in a remarkable act of mercy. Moreover, she had stepped inside Tockerbrot, which was Lud’s holy ground. Sven attempted to catch Hilde quickly before Lud noticed so she could terminate her in the cruelest way possible. However, that plan had backfired.
“Don’t move. I have no idea how fast you are, but you’re definitely slower than I am when pulling a trigger.”
Heidrig’s gun was pointed at Lud’s head. Even from this distance, it would cause a critical injury.
“Urgh! Why you...! Don’t you get it?! I have a hostage, too!”
Sven seized Hilde and twisted her arms behind her back. Sven’s fingers were around Hilde’s neck. The strength of her grip would easily break Hilde’s neck.
“D-Don’t worry about me! J-Just kill him!”
As Hilde shouted, her voice and body were shaking. She had a lot of pride, but apparently she wasn’t ready to die yet.
“If you can’t hide your fear, then at least keep quiet!”
Sven yelled at the girl, who had interrupted.
“...............”
Lud was the only one who was still calm.
“Why aren’t you upset?”
Heidrig, who was pointing his gun at Lud, was so surprised he blurted out the question.
“You’re not scared by my face, so you must be a soldier.”
“How could you know that?!”
Only veterans wouldn’t cringe seeing Lud’s face for the first time.
“Does that mean... Oh, I see...”
Lud looked a bit disappointed.
A soldier had to recognize and assess a situation quickly, or chances were high that the soldier would die.
So Lud had immediately grasped the situation in the moment between poking his face out and having a gun pointed at him.
“Master...”
Sven stared at Lud. She had hoped for some way to escape.
Lud was considered a heroic Hunter Unit pilot. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t also specialized in fighting with his body.
With the support of the installed AI, maneuvering a Hunter Unit was possible alone. If the machine had operational failure, however, the pilot must return to friendly territory from a battleground all by himself. Therefore, Hunter Unit pilots were trained in firearms, martial arts, and other survival skills. Since they didn’t wear armor, many were strong and highly skilled in fighting with their bare hands.
“Lemme go! I said, lemme go, you foul woman!”
But there were also many soldiers like Hilde, who was flopping around and fussing as she tried to break free of Sven’s grip.
“Hrngh...”
Lud groaned uncertainly.
“Well, what should I do?”
“Tch! What a mess!”
Neither Heidrig nor Sven could make a move since they held each other’s king hostage.
“Lemme go!!”
Only Hilde continued to scream.
They were deadlocked. They could release each other’s hostages at the same moment, but without a barrier between them, Lud and Sven were far stronger in combat in such circumstances. Heidrig probably knew that, because he wasn’t making any careless moves.
“Damn it, Heidrig! What are you doing? And you call yourself the Wolf Man?! Just kill him already!”
Sven’s face froze hearing Hilde’s words.
Oh, that’s... He’s younger than I expected. What kind of a monster did this little snot bring here?!
The legend of the Wolf Man had been in her database when she was an active Hunter Unit. He was a man hated in both Filbarneu and Wiltia as the most brutal special forces soldier.
“You’re... the Wolf Man?”
Lud’s face also registered surprise, but in a slightly different way.
“Heidrig... Wolf Man... Oh... I see.”
It was as if he remembered something, or saw someone unexpectedly.
Master...?
No sooner could Sven wonder at the slight change in her master’s expression than Lud made his move.
“—?!”
He tried to seize Heidrig’s arm with a movement so swift and bold that he appeared oblivious to the unlocked safety on Heidrig’s gun, with its hammer cocked, and bullets loaded.
“Agh!”
However, Lud wasn’t able to seize his arm.
Heidrig immediately spun his body halfway around and tried to place the muzzle of his gun against the back of Lud’s head, but Lud crouched and tried to break free. Before Lud could do that, Heidrig jumped to avoid a foot sweep and then unleashed a kick from that unstable position.
“......!!”
Instead of evading the kick, Lud used his thick arm as a shield. Simultaneously, he rose and threw a backfist, but Heidrig leaned back, narrowly avoiding the blow.
“Ooh! Agh... Huh? Whoa! Whah?!”
Forgetting about her pinned arms, Hilde gawked at the fierce exchange. Her eyes couldn’t follow the battle between these two men, both so skilled in fighting.
“Master, what are you—”
Sven’s eyes, however, observed their battle with precision.
Heidrig’s hand still held the gun, but Lud moved as if this was inconsequential. After they each landed a few blows, Heidrig pointed his gun once more, but he was a little too slow and Lud’s palm struck his stomach.
“Oof!!”
Heidrig’s body slammed against the door and flew out the front of the shop. The gun he had been holding fell to the floor. Lud stomped on it and kicked it to the other side of the shop.
“...............”
Heidrig raised his upper body and looked at Lud in silence.
“Why... didn’t you use it yourself?”
Lud pointed at Heidrig’s sleeve.
A hidden knife was barely visible inside the man’s sleeve.
“And that’s not all. You must have more inside your coat.”
“How do you know that?!”
“I could tell by the way you carried yourself and from the sound of your footsteps, which were too heavy for your weight.”
Heidrig swayed and stood. He grasped his coat with both hands and showed what was inside. A few grenades were hanging there.
“.........?!”
Sven’s eyes widened at the sight.
If he threw just one of those inside the shop, there would be an inescapable explosion. Even if Sven used all her strength, there was no guarantee she could protect even Lud. And Jacob and Milly were still hiding behind the counter.
“Well done, Heidrig! Use them! Kill them all!”
“I said shut up! Get that through your head, you dumb brat!”
In a rage, Sven yelled at the ranting Hilde, as if she might bite her.
“Heidrig, was it? I have your friend! If you try anything foolish...”
She was threatening him with the death of his comrade.
But after saying that, she stopped. The Wolf Man was a serious criminal, a former special forces agent of Wiltia who had eventually betrayed his own nation. If ne
cessary, he certainly wouldn’t hesitate to abandon his cohort.
“Sh-She’s right... It’s okay... So just do it!”
Perhaps Hilde had finally realized the danger, or perhaps her pride was forcing her to bluff, because she was pale and trembling as she ordered Heidrig to attack.
Uh-oh... This is bad...
The way he had flown toward the door had been unfortunate. There was no way for them to escape.
“I’ve lost.”
There was no way Heidrig would declare defeat.
“Please, just spare my life.”
Even less likely was that he would beg for his life.
“You see me begging...”
And there was no chance he would bow before them, but...
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
Oddly, Sven and Hilde made the same sound.
Heidrig cast aside his hidden knives, grenades and a few bottles of some kind of chemical. Then he kneeled where he was and lowered his head toward Lud.
“What are you doing, Heidrig? Are you nuts?! There’s no way this will persuade them to let us go!”
Hilde raised her voice in panic.
“No, Master! Stay cautious! He may still be planning something!”
Thinking this could be some kind of trap, Sven didn’t let down her guard.
“Okay, you can raise your head now.”
Lud, however, simply forgave him.
“Whaaat?!”
“Whaaat?!”
Again, Sven and Hilde raised their voices together.
“Master, what’re you thinking?! Th-They’re—!!”
Sven, who thought she thoroughly understood the depths of Lud’s good soul, was utterly amazed at this.
“I can’t understand this!”
Hilde was trying to kill them. No good could come from forgiving someone who had been pardoned once but didn’t honor the kindness she had received.
“Yes... You’re right. They must take responsibility for their actions.”
“I understand.”
At Lud’s words, Heidrig reached out his arm as if expecting something.
“Do as you like. Break an arm or two. Cut them off if you wish.”
“Wh...”
“What are you saying?!”
He was so compliant that Hilde and Sven were at a loss for words.
“Very well. In that case...”
And then Lud gave them his decision.
“Can you bake bread?”
No one expected this.
“Huh?”
Heidrig looked befuddled.
“What?!”
Hilde’s jaw dropped.
“WhhaaaAAAT?!”
Sven couldn’t make any sense of her master’s mind.
So all three raised their voices in surprise.
Chapter 3: Recruit Training
Thirty minutes later, the security corps had not announced their disarmament and surrender to the Schutzstaffel, still surrounding the development bureau. Far from it, they had gathered wood, blocks, and even tables and chairs to erect barricades at the front gate. They were ready for firm resistance.
“The fool! And she’s the Devil’s Black Spear?!”
Sophia was a hero who had served admirably in the recent Great European War, and her nickname was the Devil’s Black Spear. She had, however, achieved her glorious victories while piloting a Hunter Unit.
Captain Delz, the commanding officer of the Schutzstaffel force, underestimated Sophia, and treated her like a little girl without her armor.
“Bring the armored vehicles, followed by infantry! Trample them! Grind those rebels to dust!”
The Schutzstaffel had a devastating force, while the bureau’s guards were only armed with firearms the size of machine guns. With armored vehicles as shields, they pushed through with overwhelming numbers, and it appeared that everything would be over in a matter of seconds. That’s what Delz thought, anyway.
PTONK!
“Huh?”
There was the sound of a heavy dent, and the lead armored vehicle rose into the air as if in slow motion.
“What the...?!”
A swirling explosion immediately followed. An armored vehicle exploded in flames with a loud boom, and burnt up without a trace.
“W-What just—?!”
Delz gaped in confusion as a flaming tire from the armored vehicle rolled past his feet.
PTONK! PTONK!
Strange sounds rang out.
One after another, Schutzstaffel armored vehicles exploded in swirling fire and smoke with each sound.
“What is this?! Some kind of magic?!”
“W-Wow...”
On the rooftop of the development bureau, Private First Class Sariya quietly marveled at the spectacle.
“What kind of monster is that?”
Standing next to her, Sophia gawked at the absurd sight before her.
“What do you think? It’s a heavy anti-tank gun called a Gerlich.”
Only Daian was laughing with relish.
In front of them was an anti-tank weapon like a giant’s pistol. The barrel alone was two meters long.
“You call this thing a gun?!”
Sophia was incredulous.
The anti-tank weapon didn’t have wheels. It served as a fixed battery and weighed over one hundred kilograms. To call that a gun defied common sense, at least when compared with existing firearms.
“No, this is indeed a gun. It’s a handgun... for a Hunter Unit!”
“Oh, I see!”
Although Sophia herself was a Hunter Unit pilot, she hadn’t made the connection. The size of this weapon was perfect for an Iron Giant over eight meters tall.
“Not only is the gun itself unique, but its projectiles are special armor-piercing, high-explosive shells.”
Armor-piercing shells are cannonballs made with heavy mass for penetrating enemy armor. High explosives are cannonballs that contain explosives, all the more powerful because they detonate on impact.
“Armor-piercing high-explosive shells are unbeatable weapons that explode as they break through enemy armor and blow targets open from the inside! Furthermore, the Gerlich fires them at four times the speed of sound!”
The weight of a shell wrapped in tungsten alloy was over two hundred grams. Against this weight, strength, and speed, an armored vehicle was no more than paper.
“As you hear the sound of the discharge, you see a burst of flame. From the target’s point of view, there’s a massive explosion nearby, simultaneous with the sound.”
Daian explained this with the joy of a child showing off his toys.
“For the target, it’s like having a nightmare.”
Sophia felt a chill standing near the Gerlich.
“But it’s still in preproduction, so I only have this one.”
When Daian heard that the Schutzstaffel would invade, he offered Sophia his weapons in preproduction at the development bureau. Each one was a new weapon that they were deploying for the first time in actual combat. They used the Gerlich in hopes of surprising their opponent, and it worked well.
“Hmm... The explosions come more quickly than I expected. It’ll blow up armored vehicles, but tanks could be difficult. So there’s room for improvement.”
Daian laughed delightedly and wrote down the results of this “test drive” in his notebook.
“You look like you’re having fun.”
Sophia observed this coldly to Daian.
“Of course. Test operations aren’t easy. There’s no point if I can’t test new weapons in a situation as close as possible to actual combat.”
There was no point to spinning theory at a desk if it didn’t match conditions in battle. But weapons couldn’t be introduced directly into battle, and testing on human beings raised humanitarian issues.
“But they showed up uninvited! This is the first time I’ve ever appreciated Genitz! Ha ha ha!”
Sophia recoiled before Daian’s glee.
“
You’d be frightening as an enemy, but you’re disgusting as an ally. You’re the type I would never want to be friends with!”
“Aha! So I’m the type to be your boyfriend?”
“Your ears must be as impaired as your head!”
This quarrel was going nowhere.
“Captain! We have a problem. The Schutzstaffel is...”
“What’s wrong?”
Sariya screamed as though she could take no more.
“They’ve abandoned their tanks and are marching toward the front gate!”
“Tch! Deploying a force without consideration for the danger is reprehensible!”
The Gerlich was indeed powerful, but it could only be used against a single target. Since they only had one, it didn’t matter how many times they fired. If the opponent was marching in large numbers, it was beyond the weapon’s ability.
“Oh, their fighting methods are so despicable! Hey, bring me that.”
Daian still sounded relaxed as he issued the order.
“What’s that?”
A mobile battery with six tubes was brought out. It looked more like a pipe instrument’s ghost than a weapon.
“Aim wherever you want and fire at random.”
Daian’s order was vague.
Guards pointed the tubes at the sky and fired shells accordingly. The sound of the discharge was flat—Poom! Poom! Poom!—and then six shells were falling in arcs toward the Schutzstaffel below.
The swirls of explosion after explosion followed. The blast wave blew the Schutzstaffel back.
“A multiple rocket launcher?”
Sophia was flabbergasted.
A rocket launcher fired shells across a long distance to destroy an entire area rather than a single spot. However, it couldn’t fire quickly, and it only covered a limited area.
“This is called a Nebelwerfer.”
And yet, by dropping high explosives in many spots, this weapon could cover far more ground than a regular rocket launcher.
This too was a nightmare for the soldiers.
“Originally, this was developed as a smoke mortar for installation in Hunter Units.”
A smoke mortar released a smokescreen to impede enemy attacks.
“It’s impressive!”
As she listened to Daian’s explanation, Sophia was astounded.
“But its actual purpose is to release poisonous gas.”