Chapter 2: An Ominous Second Day
Chapter 2: An Ominous Second Day
Mornings start early at Tockerbrot. As they generally do at bakeries. Bakers must begin preparing before dawn.
“Hey, um...”
After the sun rose, Lud, Sven and Milly—the bakery apprentice from the church atop the hill—were running around busily in front of Blitzdonner, who was staying at the shop.
“Oh, are you Jacob’s father?” Milly spoke to Blitzdonner.
“Y-Yes... But how do you know that?”
“Jacob came to the church last night and was talking about you.”
“R-Really?”
It was the day after the disastrous first meeting with his son. What Jacob said about him was more important to Blitzdonner than international conflicts.
“W-What did he say?”
“Let’s see...” Milly hadn’t been paying much attention to what Jacob said. She had only heard bits and pieces as she took care of the children. “They said something about how you didn’t come sooner because you chased after a pretty woman from an enemy nation.”
“That’s a misunderstanding!!” What Milly thought she heard wasn’t accurate, but it was enough to make the strongest man in the Wiltian military give a shout of despair. “That’s not true, Miss. That was...”
“Sorry, Mister, but I’ve got work to do.”
Blitzdonner was trying to clear himself of suspicion, but Milly had no time to listen and hurried to the oven room.
“Oh dear. The poor major...” From the shadows, Rebecca was watching Blitzdonner with tears in her eyes.
“Anyway, the shop is a wreck, so why are you working?” Blitzdonner turned to ask Sven, who was working nearby.
“The shop front is a disaster, but we can still do business.”
Walls had fallen, glass had shattered, and chairs and shelves were in a sorry state. However, they had removed the debris and picked up the broken glass. And, while half the chairs and shelves were broken, that left half untouched.
“Today is a regular business day. Customers who don’t know our circumstances will come, and we can’t disappoint them.”
They had erected a simple tent, ordered the day before, in front of the shop to serve as a roof.
“Besides, we deliver bread to the mine cafeteria and to the schools for lunch. We can’t halt business just because half the shop got trashed, Major.”
Sven wasn’t a soldier, a former soldier or a member of the military. However, she was a military weapon. Whether she respected Blitzdonner or not, her tone of voice was respectful since he was a major.
“Phew... You guys are hard workers.”
“If you don’t work, you don’t eat.”
“I see. How very Wiltian of you. But I’m only half Wiltian.” Blitzdonner spoke with a brazen smile.
Straightforwardness, sincerity and diligence were Wiltian characteristics. However, while Blitzdonner himself was born and raised in Wiltia, his father was a descendant of the immigrant Degas Clan.
“By the way, um... Svelgen, was it?” Blitzdonner knew about Daian’s humanoid Hunter Units—Sven and Rebecca—and he was aware of the circumstances of their creation. “I like a big breakfast.” He hinted that he wanted her to give him breakfast.
“Understood. In that case, why don’t you move this shelf over there? And cover the damaged walls and bullet holes with cloth so they won’t unsettle our customers.”
“Hey now... what?” Blitzdonner spluttered at Sven, who had understood his request but gave an unexpected reply. “Weren’t you listening to me?”
“The same goes for you, Major. Weren’t you listening to me?” Sven had declared that if you don’t work, you don’t eat. “I’ll serve breakfast after you’ve finished your chores.”
“You... Huuuh?!”
Sven was still using the appropriate tone of voice for addressing a major, but now she didn’t sound so respectful.
“That’s enough, Svelgen!!” Unable to stand it any longer, Rebecca raised her voice. “I’ve been listening, and you were way too rude to the major!”
“I don’t care. We’re not at a military base or on a battlefield. Or rather, we’re on my master’s battlefield! You came here without permission, so unless you accept my leadership, you can leave!”
The red and white humanoid Hunter Units glared at each other.
“Wait, Sharlahart. Stop.” When the disagreement was on the verge of a physical clash, Blitzdonner reined in his servant.
“But... Major!”
“It’s all right. Svelgen is right.” Blitzdonner’s face suggested he had made up his mind. “Fair enough. I accept your offer. So let me show you my way of life!”
A new battle began for this veteran war hero.
A few hours later...
“Welcome, ladies! They’re fresh-baked and this is your only chance to buy them!” At the stand under the simple tent in front of the shop, Blitzdonner was wearing an apron and buoyantly selling bread.
“Hm? Where is the handsome gentleman who was here until yesterday?”
“Oh, he’s gone. He had some business in his home country.” Blitzdonner was making cheerful conversation with a middle-aged woman visiting the shop. She was asking about Meitzer, who had been helping at Tockerbrot.
“Aw... what a pity.”
“Am I not good enough for you, Ma’am?”
“Oh dear! Of course you are! You’re handsome, too!”
“How kind of you.”
Blitzdonner appeared so young and good looking, no one would know he had an eleven-year-old son. Nothing could be more pleasant to the women customers than for such a man to cheerfully serve them. His customer service and sales chatter were brilliant, as if he’d been doing business for over ten years.
“Major, you seem accustomed to this.” Sven was truly impressed at the sight.
“It’s no surprise. After all, he is my master.” Rebecca thrust out her chest as if to say her master’s honor was her honor.
Yeah... I guess that makes sense.
Sven was surprised, but she also understood.
Blitzdonner’s son and father have the same qualities, so it isn’t strange he does too.
Blitzdonner’s father was Joseph Shylock, who was well known in Wiltia and was the biggest of the powerful businessmen. Since the same blood flowed through Jacob’s veins, he also had an excellent disposition for sales, even though he was only eleven years old.
“Anyway, Svelgen, where did your master go?” asked Rebecca.
Lud wasn’t inside the shop or in the oven room.
“Today is the day for traveling sales in the next town, so he left before noon.”
Lud’s attitude hadn’t changed since the incident yesterday.
“Did he... find out your true identity?”
“Yes.”
On orders from Daian, Rebecca had been observing Sven and the others in Organbaelz for weeks. She knew a great deal about Sven and Lud’s situation.
“He hasn’t asked me anything, and he hasn’t changed. But...” There was no way for Sven to ask Lud his feelings about her being a humanoid Hunter Unit.
“Maybe that means he wants to continue as before. Maybe he doesn’t mind, so he plans to pretend he didn’t see anything.”
“Yes, maybe so.” Sven replied to Rebecca’s words as if in pain. Maybe Rebecca was right. Sven’s chest tightened at the thought of that possibility.
“Um, I heard the shop was destroyed, but it looks better than I imagined.” Another voice joined theirs. Marlene had arrived.
“Oh...” Sven was about to reply, but Blitzdonner spoke to Marlene first.
“Ooh... What a beautiful nun! You almost make me want to change my religion!”
“Hardly, but you’re a skilled flatterer.”
“No, I cannot lie. Teach me another expression to describe such a knockout.” Blitzdonner had his arm around Marlene’s shoulders and had pulled her to him.
“Your master is quite the smooth charmer!”
“The major always impresses! His moves haven’t changed in ten years!”
“Huh? What? He’s been this way for a decade?! He isn’t Sparian, is he?!”
Sparia was a peninsular nation on the continent of Europea. The people living there were characteristically spirited lovers of pasta and wine. The people there held the questionable conviction that it was rude not to flirt with women.
“Huh?” Blitzdonner was flirting with Marlene with enough force to make even a Sparian blanch. Then he felt another pair of eyes on him.
“You’re sure enjoying yourself!” It was Blitzdonner’s son Jacob.
“Jacob... What are you doing here?”
“I have friends in this shop, so I wondered if there was any way I could help.” Jacob stared at Blitzdonner with a look so cold it was hard to believe he was looking at his own father.
“.....................”
“.....................”
They stared at each other in silence.
“Well...” After a long pause, Jacob opened his mouth. “It seems like they have plenty of help, so I’ll go home.”
“W-Wait, Jacob! Um... why don’t you stay so we can talk? Your da—”
“My...?” Blitzdonner tried to prevent Jacob from leaving, but before he could finish his sentence, Jacob glared at him.
“My what?”
“No, um...”
“Your dad.” Are you calling yourself my father? Are you the kind of person who can call yourself a father? You left me alone at birth.
And you even flirt with my friend!
The boy’s eyes conveyed his thoughts with a force equal to a million words.
“Good-bye.” As if there was nothing else to talk about, Jacob walked away without looking back.
“Oh...” Blitzdonner’s hand had stretched out toward Jacob but now hung empty in the air.
“Uh-oh...”
“Major, you poor thing!”
It was a sight of such alienation between father and son that even Sven and Rebecca together couldn’t help.
“By any chance... did I cause trouble?” Marlene also lost her smile at the sad sight.
“No, it wasn’t your fault. You just came at the wrong time.” Sven shook her head helplessly. “By the way, did you want something?”
Marlene also helped at Tockerbrot, but she didn’t work today.
“Yes, I heard from Hilde. It sounds like you had a hard time.” Marlene was looking at the half-demolished shop, which no amount of cloth could completely cover. “I stopped by on business and to express my sympathies.”
“Ugh... My head hurts just thinking about the cost of repairs.”
Since Sven’s arrival at Tockerbrot, business had increased, but because it had run at a loss until then, along with the troublesome incidents that happened, its debt had risen and fallen.
“If there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll help however I can. I just can’t lend money.”
“Your honesty is refreshing.” Sven knew about the church’s financial straits, so she smiled wryly.
“Lud isn’t here? I’ll stop by again later.” The nun exited the shop.
“Huh?” After a moment, Sven realized something.
Some business? What did she want from my master?
Sven wondered but then thought, “Oh, well.”
Since the townsfolk often consulted Marlene, she had been put in charge of such events as the Thanksgiving Festival and Holy Festival. Sven guessed Marlene had come about something like that. Or that was how it seemed then...
Meanwhile in Saupunkt, a town neighboring Organbaelz...
“So that’s how...” Sophia was phoning the Royal Weapons Development Bureau in Berun from the telephone room at the hotel. “The situation has become very complicated. I need more firepower before I can return to the royal capital. Contact Marshal Elvin and request the dispatch of that man.”
The subordinate Sophia was speaking with reported the chaos caused by Sophia’s absence. However, all Sophia could offer in reply was, “Hang in there a little longer. I’m sorry. I think I can be back in a few days. I’m counting on you.” Sophia abruptly ended the conversation and hung up.
“Phew...” She sighed once. “I wish I hadn’t heard that.” She mumbled to herself as she recalled the night before.
The previous night in Daian’s room...
“Have you heard the story of the Saint and the Devil?” Although Daian had said he would just talk to himself, he began by throwing this question at Sophia.
“It’s a legend from the Dark Age. It’s a kind of children’s story that became the origin of the Holy Festival.”
“That’s exactly right.”
A thousand years ago, the vast European Empire, which had ruled the continent, suddenly collapsed. The reason was still a mystery. The chaos that occurred after its disappearance was too devastating for history to record, so it was called the Dark Age.
“A woman appeared out of nowhere, saved the people, and became a powerful force in restoring civilization during that chaotic time. People called her the Saint, but...”
“But?” Sophia looked quizzically at Daian, who seemed to be suggesting the woman actually wasn’t the Saint.
“The Devil also appeared and inflicted great suffering. We don’t know, however, the details of what those two did. It’s a story from a millennium ago, so people have embellished it countless times.”
The existing oral tradition had been embroidered with rumors that the Devil had spread contagious disease and the Saint had cured it, that the Saint had halted the passage of a raging river, that the Devil had caused a landslide, and that the Saint had stopped a volcanic eruption caused by the Devil. But these stories had little credibility.
“All the oral traditions have something in common. Do you know what it is?”
“The Saint defeating the Devil?”
“Yes.” Like a teacher, Daian praised Sophia for her correct answer.
“Are you looking down on me?” Daian’s tone of voice made Sophia think he was mocking her.
“No, not at all. Smart people are to blame. They believe they have to give difficult answers to difficult questions. And that causes complications.” Daian seemed to have experienced this often, so he smiled ironically.
“You’re right. Many nations on the continent of Europea—like Wiltia, Filbarneu, Greyten, Haugen and August—have children’s stories about the Saint and the Devil. There are differences in detail, but they all end with the Saint defeating the Devil.”
“Which is relevant why?”
“I already told you. A woman calling herself the Saint attacked Blitzdonner and me in a rural area of Haradin.”
“Hold on a second.” At that point, Sophia interrupted Daian. “Surely you’re not saying the Saint from the children’s stories actually exists.” Daian was famous for his eccentricity, but Sophia couldn’t believe this had come from his mouth.
“Sophia, oral tradition usually contains a grain of truth.”
“But that’s impossible. She existed one thousand years ago.”
“Yeah... there is that complication.” Daian sounded doubtful himself.
However, he was a scientist. And scientists are, for the most part, realistic. What happened in front of his eyes was what mattered, and if it didn’t make sense, he would examine it again.
“In myths and oral tradition, the positions of the characters often change.”
For example, consider a legend about a hero defeating a monster that was terrorizing a village. Many such stories turn out to be metaphors for real events, such as a general slaughtering the local forces that held the village in its grip.
“This is just a theory, but what if the Saint was actually the Devil?”
Setting aside the premise of a good and an evil being, suppose there were people with paranormal powers. Suppose one behaved in a way that was beneficial to human society and the other behaved harmfully. The people would treat the helpful being as holy because it had defeated the being who was destructive.
“But then, over time, their positions switched, or someone purposely juxtaposed them. It’s possible. Someone could, conceivably, benefit from that.”
“Still, it’s odd. And if true, then the Saint was defeated, right? And even if she survived, why would she appear now? What has she been doing all this time?”
In reply to Sophia’s sensible question, Daian explained the hypothesis he had formulated in Haradin. “What if she wasn’t defeated but sealed?”
“Sealed... for a whole millennium? Where exactly could she be kept for such a long time?”
A millennium is a very, very long time. Human beings would rot, turn to bone and wither away to dust.
“There is something that has existed for a thousand years.”
There were things in the world that defied common sense.
“Do you mean the Door?!” Sophia gasped as she asked.
A leftover from an ancient empire, a relic that had endured the passage of a thousand years...
“That’s right. The Saint was not fully vanquished. They sealed her within a Door. Why didn’t they kill her? Or couldn’t they kill her? I don’t know.”
Daian had been thinking about this for a long time. Before dying, the previous Daian—the mother who raised him—told Daian that the Saint and Devil destroyed Europea. And she said he must flee with his full strength if those two appeared. Her statements were proof that the beings that destroyed a great empire with superior technology were still alive and well.
“I speculated that she was imprisoned within the Door in Haradin. But that theory was incorrect—after a fashion. She had been there, but she wasn’t any longer.”
The Door was opened over one hundred years ago.
“So the seal imprisoning the Saint dissolved? And now she’s cooperating with August toward some end?”
“No, that isn’t correct.” Daian had lost his smile as he answered Sophia, who was gradually turning pale. “She came back long ago. As many as 150 years may have passed.”
“What?!” Sophia raised her voice in shock. “If she came back that long ago, wouldn’t she have made more of an impact in that time?”
Sophia thought it would be impossible for the Saint to recreate the annihilation of the European Empire through something like the destruction of the current international order.
“Hey, Sophia? What happened 150 years ago?”
“Huh?” Sophia put her hand to her mouth as she thought. She was born into a famous noble family and received higher education in the military. So she had a fair grasp of modern history.
“That was before the establishment of Wiltia, about the time of the Luftzand Domain. Luftzand and Greyten fought together against the Holy Empire, which was then ruling Europea.”
This was when the continent entered a tempestuous period. Filbarneu rejected royal authority and changed from a monarchy to a republic. Greyten continued its invasion of the continental mainland in a succession of skirmishes.
On the new continent, the longstanding subjugation of colonies was stopped and the continental nation of Noa was founded. In Aesia, the great empire of Kuhron began to weaken and Yamato restricted relations with foreign countries. Furthermore, the Lion Emperor arose, generating turmoil and seizing control of 70 percent of the continent of Europea.
“From that time on, the European continent was in turmoil. Unlike any time before, large wars broke out frequently.”
“Surely you don’t think the Saint caused that, do you?” Sophia thought Daian was taking his theory too far. Even if the Saint had paranormal powers, it was hard to believe she could control events on a continental scale.
“Sophia, you’re a military woman. So, like a soldier, you think from the perspective of the battlefield. However, you must understand that war is not the only form world events can take.”
Why do wars occur? Many would answer philosophically that conflict is human nature, but that wasn’t Daian’s point.
Why is it possible to instigate wars? And on such a large scale?
Massive resources are necessary to dispatch soldiers across mountains, valleys and even oceans, to take the lives of the enemy in the hundreds and thousands. Manufacturing weapons requires metal. Feeding an army requires provisions. And raising a vast army demands a growing population.
“It was called the Industrial Revolution, and that’s exactly when it occurred. Ever since that time, the world—and especially the nations on the continent of Europea—have experienced a dramatic increase in production capacity.”
Beginning with steel and textiles, an industrial revolution occurred. There was also a revolution in the transportation industry, involving sea vessels and rail. And that’s not all. Drastic increases in food production created a new epoch in agriculture.
“A rise in production leads directly to a rise in population. Do you know what happens when the surplus population climbs and food production keeps pace with it?”
“Um... the formation of standing armies?”
“Bingo.”
Based on world history, a standing army—in other words, a military force capable of engaging in war at any time—is only possible for wealthy nations. And even wealthy nations don’t commit such waste. It is extremely illogical to maintain an army in the absence of war. The minimum force necessary for preserving borders and maintaining order in urban areas would be enough.
It was routine to conscript soldiers and hire mercenaries after the outbreak of hostilities. This had been true for centuries. But that order crumbled 150 years ago.
“The Saint interfered and used the vast wisdom and knowledge of people from the ancient empire to accelerate the progress of human civilization.”
In a little over a century, the world’s population, and the population of the European continent, had doubled. And as the number of people increased, so did the scale of war.
War is humanity’s largest consumer activity. In war, scientific and technological progress speeds up, leading to even larger wars. And the result was...
“You could say the Saint caused the Great European War, which embroiled the continent and the whole world for ten years.”
“What?!” Sophia was stunned by Daian’s words.
The Saint was the cause of an unprecedented Great War involving tens—even hundreds—of millions of lives. And Daian had just told her that the Saint had also been behind the battlefields on which Sophia had fought and risked her life.
“Is that... even possible?” If anyone else had told her this, she would have been less shocked. But this unparalleled genius scientist and the world’s foremost weirdo was dead serious.
“Right now, the Saint is cooperating with August, which has vast national territory, enormous resources and a huge population.”
“What is her goal?” Sophia couldn’t imagine what an ancient being sought to accomplish by manipulating human history from behind the scenes for over one hundred years.
“I still don’t know her objective, but she wants human civilization to advance. And the fastest path to that end is war. In other words, she wants to instigate another one.”
“Another war?!” Sophia didn’t even want to think about what this suggested.
“A Second Great European War.” Daian said it anyway.
Sophia thought as she walked along the hotel hallway.
This situation may already be beyond anything a single military officer can handle.
Everything Daian said was still just a theory. Nonetheless, it chilled her to the core.
“The more I think about it, that guy may have known about this.” Unthinkingly, she muttered out loud. She was thinking about Genitz, who had instigated a rebellion in Berun, the royal capital, as recently as six months ago.
If you know a being with mind-blowing abilities has been secretly manipulating history and is about to start another Great War, then the options are limited.
Wiltia currently placed an emphasis on international relations and was pursuing policies of cooperation and disarmament. If another war arose, it was doubtful Wiltia could defeat the Saint, who was working with August. One course of action would be to seize power through a coup d’état and switch to a hard-line policy of military expansion.
“What he did was unforgivable, but at least he was on the side of human beings.”
Daian and Genitz were both inhuman monsters and aberrations. At least, that’s what Sophia thought. But, faced with someone unfathomable who wasn’t human gave Sophia chills.
She walked along the hall and soon stood outside Daian’s room. Usually, she would just open the door, but today she knocked a few times. There was no answer.
“Hey... I’m coming in, okay?” She turned the knob with a rattle and stepped into the room. “Hm?!”
Daian wasn’t there. She searched the bedroom, bathroom and sink area, but he was nowhere to be found. “That dingbat... What is he thinking?!”
Since before the establishment of Wiltia, the Saint had secretly been manipulating events around the world. So her operatives could be anywhere. Sophia and Daian had stayed at a hotel instead of military barracks because of this. And Sophia had requested trustworthy backup from Berun.
“He can’t just go gallivanting around!”
Daian knew this better than anyone, but he had disappeared anyway.
Saupunkt was the town next to Organbaelz. It had a larger population than Organbaelz and flourishing commerce. Tockerbrot staff came here to sell bread several times each week.
“Sven didn’t come today?”
Jacob’s mother Charlotte was an enormous help.
“No, she’s watching the shop.” Lud did his best to answer as usual.
“I heard something happened at the shop yesterday. Is everything all right?” But perhaps he was thinking too much. His features looked tense and troubled, so Charlotte spoke to him with concern.
“Yes... no... well, it’s no big deal. There was just a little incident.”
The details regarding the attack by special ops agents from another country hadn’t been revealed to the public. Apparently, the military wanted it kept secret. Lud didn’t want it to get around either.
Just recently, a thief had hidden in his shop and Jacob was taken hostage. Charlotte had been so upset that she fainted. Lud didn’t want to do anything that would cause her further strain.
“Um, Mr. Langart? Are you all right?” But Charlotte had something else on her mind. She was more worried about Lud than about her son. “It’s not just that you look after my boy. You always help us. If there’s anything I can do... I don’t know if there is, but please don’t carry the burden all by yourself, okay?”
“Uh, sure... all right.” Lud was taken aback. He looked her in the eyes again.
We’re not that far apart in age...
Charlotte was married and had a child, but she was still in her twenties. Lud wasn’t much younger.
She’s been through a lot...
Charlotte had carried and given birth to Jacob when she was in her mid-teens. Jacob had told him that people once shunned her. But recently her mood had been brighter.
“It’s all right. There’s no problem. Oh... right. What time is it?”
The hours Lud was allowed to sell on the street were restricted.
“Um... there’s only about three minutes to go, so it’s all right if you start now.”
Permission was needed, but it wasn’t strictly enforced. If they started selling five minutes early, neither the police nor city hall would mind.
“Um, Charlotte?” Lud sensed something unusual about Charlotte’s behavior. She made a point of looking around and checking the clock tower. “Uh, is yours broken?”
Charlotte always wore a pocket watch around her neck. But she hadn’t looked at it.
“Huh? Oh... you mean this?” Slightly embarrassed, Charlotte laughed. “It isn’t wound. It didn’t break. I just stopped it.” As she spoke, Charlotte opened her pocket watch. The watch’s hands—for seconds, minutes and the hour—were unmoving.
“That’s a military watch.” Lud only just now noticed.
The design was different from the watch he had received as a soldier, but it was one of the types the Wiltian military supplied to soldiers. The watch was made in Wiltia, which was proud of its technology. It was made to be durable and precise, so it should accurately keep the time.
After the war, surplus watches had flooded the market and were sold cheaply. Many people cherished them. But the watch Charlotte had was different from those supplied to low-ranking soldiers. It was a luxury model for commissioned officers.
“Erich gave me this.”
“What?!”
She meant Erich Blitzdonner.
“I think it was a little over ten years ago. Before Jacob was born, I returned to Organbaelz from Berun. Erich came to see me off as I boarded the train bound for home.”
He had sent her home alone—the woman carrying his child. It was during the war, so even if he had wanted to live with her, it wouldn’t be allowed.
“He gave me this watch. He said I could sell it for a fair amount. But I’ve kept it all this time.” Charlotte laughed in embarrassment, but she didn’t take the matter lightly.
Her household was by no means prosperous. She lived with her aging father and young son. Selling the pocket watch would have eased her burden. But she hadn’t done that.
“Um... the time you’ve stopped it is...”
“Yes, and I know it’s sentimental of me.” Charlotte nodded sadly to Lud’s question.
She had stopped the watch at the time she parted from Blitzdonner. For ten years, time had stopped for her and she held that moment inside.
“When we parted, he said he would come for me.”
Looking at her distant gaze, Lud felt heavy.
Should I tell her about the major?
Charlotte didn’t know Blitzdonner was alive. Apparently, Jacob hadn’t told her last night. He hadn’t told her that her husband was here.
What should I do?
Jacob hadn’t told Lud not to tell her. But if Jacob hadn’t told her, it wouldn’t be right for someone else to.
Every family has its own circumstances. Butting into their troubles often makes them worse.
“Hmm...”
“Mr. Langart?”
“Oh, um, it’s nothing!”
People thought Lud’s face looked scary no matter what he was feeling. When he thought about something difficult, he gave off a particularly fierce aura.
“Well, I’ll be waiting over there. Otherwise, um... I’ll hinder sales.”
“Yeah. Uh... sorry.”
People in Organbaelz had grown accustomed to Lud’s frightening features, but that wasn’t true in the neighboring town of Saupunkt. Charlotte was an enormous help because she possessed the calm of a mature woman, unlike Sven and Jacob. Another reason was her beauty.
“Pardon me, are you open?”
“Yes.”
However, before Lud could move away, a customer appeared, perhaps having heard about Tockerbrot’s reputation.
“Uh-oh...” Lud hurried to get away, but the customer called out to him, almost as if in pursuit.
“No running away! Captain Lud Langart... am I right?”
“Huh?” Lud instinctively turned around when the man addressed him by name and even knew his rank.
“How have you been? I didn’t get a chance to say hi yesterday. Sorry about that.” Daian Fortuner, the Monster of the Royal Capital, also known as the Sorcerer, stood before him.
A few minutes later, Lud and Daian were sitting on a bench in a park near the main street. One was dressed like a clown and the other was large and radiated strong feelings. People naturally kept their distance.
“You know, I was hoping to meet you sooner. But I rarely leave the capital.” As Daian gestured broadly, his hand held a paper bag containing bread Lud had baked. He picked out one piece of bread and put it in his mouth.
“Hey, this is good. Your bakery lives up to its reputation!”
Daian had dutifully paid for the bread. And he even refused his change. But Lud made sure to give it to him anyway. He had a vague feeling that he needed to be careful around this man.
“If your bread is this tasty, you could be a success in Berun! Actually, this is far better than the bread from that shop on Court Way with the huge sign.”
Court Way was in central Berun, the royal capital, and was the main street that led to the palace. To hang a shop sign on Court Way required a hundred gold coins, so its shops were among the finest of first-class locations.
“But I suppose you have no intention of returning to Berun. It seems a lot has happened.”
“Do you want something with me, Director Fortuner?” Daian was beating around the bush, so Lud was blunt.
“Oh, do you know me?”
“I’ve met you a few times.”
Lud was once an ace pilot in the military. Becoming an ace required more than just fighting on the field of battle.
Lud was chosen to investigate the effects that adjustments to detailed specifications of the weapons had on pilots. He had spoken to Daian on a few occasions when he visited the Weapons Development Bureau and its test sites.
“Is that so? Oh dear. I beg your pardon. I don’t remember.” Daian casually blew it off. But he had an excellent memory. He could boldly recite from memory a complicated formula equivalent to a magic spell. If he didn’t remember Lud, it meant that Lud’s existence had not been worth remembering.
“........................”
Lud didn’t respond angrily or admonish him. It was well known throughout the military that Daian Fortuner didn’t change his attitude, even in the presence of upper-ranking military officers like the now deceased Genitz, or Marshal Elvin, who was the top director of the military. And it probably wouldn’t change even around the monarch himself. His treatment of Sophia—while she didn’t like it—was special, an exception to the exception.
“I created Svelgen Avei, the one you call Sven.” Daian broke the silence to blurt this revelation.
“............?!”
“You’d like to hear about it, no? I’ll tell you. A long preamble would be a waste of time.” Lud was stunned, but Daian spoke lightly—as if making small talk—and chewed on one of Tockerbrot’s famous bean-jam buns.
“She isn’t human. Blood doesn’t flow through her veins. All her internal parts that correspond to muscle, bone and organs are artificial. She’s called a humanoid Hunter Unit. Simply put, she’s a Hunter Unit shrunk to human size.” Daian related all this matter-of-factly. From the distant look in his eyes, he looked as if he were explaining the botany of nearby flowers.
“Her personality is derived from the artificial intelligence in the Hunter Unit you piloted. You named her Avei. Got it?”
Hearing the truth about Sven presented so dryly, Lud was momentarily speechless.
“There’s also the red girl infatuated with Blitzdonner and... Oh yes, that girl clinging to the dark-haired girl who was with Sophia. I also made them.”
He meant Rebecca and Lillie.
“It would be hard to say, by any standard, that I succeeded with the other girl. For some reason, she has a surplus of emotion. Rebecca’s another matter.” Daian talked about the two girls as if evaluating new weapons—which he literally was.
“I should explain that their thoughts are spontaneous and autonomous. I’m not involved.” Daian spoke as if he anticipated Lud’s thoughts.
Lud was astonished.
“I’m not their birth father. I delivered them, like a midwife.”
Daian just brought what already exists into the light.
“I do have some feeling for them as their creator, but I have no further attachment. I’m interested in how they grow up, but I’ve never given a thought to how I want them to grow up.”
Daian’s words might sound cold or indifferent. And while it was difficult to understand, what it all boiled down to was...
“I’m trying to say that I have nothing to do with how she feels about you.” Daian only wanted to convey one thing. “Sven’s love for you comes from inside her... I guess that’s what I wanted to tell you.”
When he finished speaking, Daian popped the lid off a bottle of milk and began drinking. “It’s strange. This bean-jam bun, I mean. It’s got sweet bean paste made with produce from the East, but it goes well with milk!” He seemed intensely interested in the difference between the milk and the bean-jam bun.
“You don’t want to... you know... take Sven back?” Lud asked.
Regardless of the reasons behind her creation, Sven was a prototype of a military weapon made at the Weapons Development Bureau. The military had poured in more money, time and labor than usual for a new weapon.
“Did you hear what I said?” Daian answered as if troubled. Or with exasperation as if speaking to a dull student. “I’m interested in how she lives—her choices and how they turn out—but I don’t want to interfere. If I influence the results, they are no longer pure.”
His perspective was strictly that of a scientist. Nothing was important to him but observing the performance of his creations.
“I had a reason for creating the three girls initially. But it was just an excuse to secure a budget. You were in the military, so you understand, right? It’s loose about money.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
The military sometimes uses objects, money, and people on a different scale than in the outside world.
Future historians might claim that there was no way the military would put such an inefficient plan into effect, and that it must have been camouflage for some kind of subterfuge. They would develop conspiracy theories to explain it, but—as surprising as it sounds—the military had no ulterior motive.
“It would be someone else’s head on the chopping block, so I didn’t really care.”
Daian’s brain was so valuable that he influenced national policy and the Wiltian military’s strategic decisions. If a problem arose, it was likely that someone other than him would be punished. But those who would be punished approached him because they believed that if Daian achieved results, it would count among their own accomplishments. So he had no need to feel guilty.
“Anyway, don’t worry about that. You two should do as you like.” Daian threw the empty paper bag and bottle of milk into a nearby trash bin and stood up unsteadily.
“Did you come to tell me this?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Lud didn’t know that Daian could fall under attack at any time. Despite this, when Daian saw Tockerbrot’s truck pass by, earlier, he had left the hotel without telling Sophia.
“Why?”
“I wonder that myself.” Daian thought over Lud’s question.
During Lud’s army days, he was just a tester for Daian’s experiments, so the scientist hadn’t bothered to remember his name. But now he saw him as an individual and felt the need to explain to him.
“Anyway... I hate you.” Daian said this with a wry smile. “After all, you’re my rival in love. The girl I like can’t get over you.”
“Huh?” Lud didn’t know what Daian meant, but the scientist paid no mind and continued.
“And... oh, right. The being who raised me wasn’t human.” Daian’s customary insolent smile had disappeared. He wore a serious expression that he rarely showed. “However, I love her like my mother.”
Daian’s mother, who raised him and gave him the name Daian, had been a robot that spent nearly one thousand years alone behind one of the Doors performing meaningless maintenance activities.
“Maybe that’s why I worry about you hiding behind ridiculous excuses.”
You can develop strong ties to something that isn’t human. That robot was his true mother, even though she didn’t have blood and she was a machine.
“If you’re going to reject Sven, then you must do it honestly and fairly and of your own will. That’s all I wanted to say.”
Daian had to make sure that Lud did not reject Sven on the pretext that Sven’s heart had been created by Daian and was therefore false.
“Well then, I’ll be going. Oh, one more thing. Tell Svelgen that I’ll be staying here in Saupunkt for a few more days.” Daian spoke with his back turned. “If anything happens, come to me. That’s all.” The Sorcerer said no more, as if he had completed his task.
“Wait!” Lud spoke to his back.
“Yes?” Daian asked without turning around.
“You’re not Sven’s father.”
“No. I suppose they think so.”
“In that case, I want to ask you something.”
Daian said he wasn’t the birth father of the humanoid Hunter Units. He just delivered them, like a midwife. Lud had a question he could only ask that person...