THE MULTITUDES OF THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO REBECCA SHARLAHART

THE MULTITUDES OF THE WORLD,
ACCORDING TO REBECCA SHARLAHART

Thank you very much, Bookwalker customers, for purchasing Volume Two of The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress.

My name is Rebecca Sharlahart.

Huh?

Who am I?

Did I show up somewhere?

I’ve appeared in the story already, if only a little bit. I even showed up in Volume One.

Go back and look for me. It’s just a small glimpse, and you can only see my silhouette in the illustration in the back …

But, putting that aside, I’d like to tell a short anecdote to thank those who purchased this volume.

Although, I wonder what I should talk about?

Should I reveal my three sizes?

Huh?

You don’t care?

I see …

Surprisingly, I’m told that I look quite slender in my clothes.

Who cares?

Understood.

That’s right … In that case, how about if I explain more about the setting of the story?

The most important location is the continent of Europea, where both Pelfe and Wiltia are located.

The name Europea originated from the giant empire created by those claiming to be descendants of the maiden who was given the world as a gift from God, long, long ago.

South of Europea is the continent of Gordina, known as the Dark Continent, which still holds many mysteries to this day.

Eastward is the continent of Aesia, and on the other side of the western ocean is the new continent of Noah.

Surrounded by these other three continents, Europea is sometimes referred to as the central continent.

The Greyten Empire, the Kingdom of Haugen, the August Federation, the Kingdom of Sparia, the Kingdom of Alhadra, and the Filbarneu Republic are all situated in Europea.

Hearing this might make you wonder if the Great Europea War was all an exaggeration, and you might think it was a war that took place on a single continent and only involved a quarter of the world.

That is not so.

Most of the regions in the other three continents are colonies of the various Europea nations.

Seventy percent of Noah, and ninety percent of Gordina, have become colonies of the Europea nations, and while Aesia maintains more independence, over half of it still belongs to various Europea nations.

By defeating an enemy, the victorious nation could take that enemy’s colonies under its own control.

In other words, the Great Europea War was a large conflict over world supremacy.

Now let’s change the subject a little bit.

In the farthest eastern reaches of the Aesia continent, there is a certain island nation.

Up until half a century ago, this nation didn’t even trade with the rest of the world, but after opening itself up, it immediately modernized with tremendous vigor, and was able to battle on equal footing with the nations of Europea.

This island nation assembled an alliance with Greyten, and in the early stages of the war, it fought fierce battle after battle with Wiltia as its enemy.

Before the Hunter Units were deployed in actual combat, Wiltia had tasted defeat many, many times, and countless Wiltian soldiers had been taken as prisoners.

However, it appeared that the people of this country had an unusual cultural custom, whereby they were forbidden from humiliating their prisoners.

Instead they treated them with as much good will as possible, almost as if they were guests rather than prisoners of war.

They were treated so well that the prisoners decided to return the favor, and the former meat processing and packaging workers among them offered their captors sausages.

This gesture so deeply moved their captors that tears streamed down their faces. The base commander even said that he wanted to spread this wonderful food throughout the nation, and with the utmost respect, pleaded for the prisoners to teach them how to make it themselves.

In this unusual way, the food culture of Wiltia was brought to this island nation. I’ve heard that sausages, bacon, baumkuchen, and even beer, spread throughout the country.

After that, many people came to Wiltia to learn more about Europea’s culture, and they were taught arts, literature, and strangely, sports like skiing as well. This led to some odd cultural exchanges, such as performances of the ninth symphony as part of the nation’s new year traditions.

A unique friendship was fostered between these two countries, and as a result, near the end of the war, this island nation abandoned their alliance with Greyten, and publicly became an ally of Wiltia.

From that time, the cultural exchange between the east and west continued, and soldiers from both countries traveled back and forth between the two nations.

It was around then that Lud, the former captain with whom Svelgen Avei is infatuated, and Major Runstadt, both learned “bujitsu,” and about the pastry, anpan.

The two nations also exchanged weapons development research, and consequently, there are Hunter Units in the island country as well.

It seems that it was in this country's national character to be very successful at learning, mastering and further developing the technologies of other nations, and I’ve heard they are advancing their own original Hunter Unit development.

Perhaps the chance that another country will produce a sister to Svelgen Avei and myself isn’t null—or rather, isn’t zero.

But, it still might take another nineteen years.

Now then, my story’s long enough.

I’ll leave it here for now … and if we have another chance, let’s chat again.

I look forward to that day from the bottom of my heart.

With that, I bid you farewell.