Chapter 01: Freeing the Wolf
Chapter 01: Freeing the Wolf
October 16, year 920 of the Europea Calendar.
Organbaelz was a small mining town in Pelfe, a new region in the Principality of Wiltia.
And Tockerbrot was a small bakery in town.
After repeated expansion and renovation, it was no longer a small shop, and one day an incident took place.
"Master! Master! Masterrrrr!!!"
Lud Langart, the shop owner, was lying on the bed.
The waitress Sven was clinging to him and releasing a flood of tears.
"How did this happen?! Why?! It's all because I'm not good enough! Why didn't I do better so this wouldn't happen?! Waaah!!"
Sven cried, screamed, and raved.
Her red eyes were puff with tears and she was flinging around her beautiful silver hair.
"Um... Sven? Why don't you calm down?"
Lud's young friend Jacob spoke to her.
"Ohhhhh. Master! If anything were to happen to you, I would be ready to go to Valhalla at any time... but this... this...!"
Sven didn't hear Jacob and kept waiting.
"You're overreacting."
The shop apprentice Milly spoke in a tone of amazement.
"I curse you, God! How could you lay such a burden upon my master?! Come down here so I can give you a beating!"
Sven, who didn't hear Milly either, cursed God, burning with hate and trying to pick a fight.
"What's wrong?"
Sister Marlene from the church atop the hill came in.
She looked back and forth between Sven, who was panicked, and Jacob and Milly, who were shrugging their shoulders, as if to say, "There's nothing we can do."
"Master! Don't die! Don't leave me!"
Without even a glance at Marlene, Sven placed her head against Lud's prone body and wailed.
"Uh... um... Sven? Calm down, all right? I just fainted."
Flustered, Lud reassured Sven.
"Buuuuut...!!"
It happened thirty minutes ago.
After finishing business for the day, Lud was preparing for the next day when he suddenly felt lightheaded.
He didn't completely lose consciousness, but his legs tangled, and he fell and hit his head on the corner of a nearby shelf.
He only received small injury, a minor cut with some bleeding, but when Sven saw it, she panicked, wrapped his head in a bandage and forced him into bed.
"I'm amazed. You're really overreacting."
"No!! How can you talk like that, you nasty nun, when my master is injured?!"
Sven raged as if she might bite Sister Marlene, who spoke again in surprise after hearing what happened.
"I understand your worry. But telling him not to die is unnecessary. I could hear you screaming all the way outside."
And now neighborhood dogs had started to gather.
"I told her I'm all right."
As he said this with a troubled expression, Lud unwrapped the bandage from his head.
"Don't, Master! Your wound hasn't healed yet!"
"This is just a scratch. All it needs to heal is a bit of spittle."
Lud attempted to calm Sven's panic.
"I'm worried about you, too—although not as worried as Sven."
Jacob, who had analyzed the situation calmly, spoke again. "Maybe you're working hard?"
Lud fell simply because he fell lightheaded.
He was, however, a former soldier. This kind of behavior was strange for Lud, who was noticeably robust.
"Hmm... I guess so. But I never imagined such a thing would happen."
The reason he fainted was overwork.
Tockerbrot's business had been steady. The shop was now successful enough for sales trips to neighboring towns to reach new customers outside Organbaelz.
And more customers meant more bread to sell.
Supply and demand is fundamental.
However, the production of bread had been insufficient to accommodate the increase in customers.
"The problem is that only Lud can bake bread. Sven is a waitress and I can help with shop sales but not baking."
When the bakery had been small and unpopular, Lud alone could earn sufficient, if meager, returns.
However, it was different now.
Jacob and Marlene came to help, but they were sales assistants.
The same went for the talented waitress, Sven. She helped with management, sales, and delivery services, but not with the production of goods.
"The side of the shop is now twice as big, with two ovens and double the customer base. If Lud is making all the bread alone, it's understandable that he might get lightheaded."
Lud was handling the work with the physical and mental stamina of his military days, but apparently he had reached his limit.
"Sorry. If only I could be more helpful..."
Milly mumbled with a apologetic look on her face.
With the aim of becoming a baker, she worked at Tockerbrot as Lud's apprentice.
Each day, she renewed her efforts and tried hard to increase her baking skill, but her bread wasn't yet good enough to sell to customers. So she remained an errand girl.
She felt sad about her happiness.
"What are you talking about? You're still growing! If you could take my place after less than a year of training, I'd lose my position!"
Lud soothed Milly with a gentle voice.
This wasn't pity or sympathy, and he wasn't lying out of kindness.
Lud was truly happy to see his appearance developing the honesty and integrity to recognize the limitations in her own ability.
"Y-yeah..."
Milly nodded and replied softly. Her cheeks blushed faintly.
She looked small, but she would turn fifteen years old this year.
Lud still treated her like a small child, but she had developed feelings for him.
"Anyway... moving on!"
Quick to sense the change in atmosphere, Sven immediately interrupted.
"Even if we wanted to add to staff, we would need to hire a professional to bake bread, and that's difficult."
"I agree. There's no one like that in town."
Tockerbrot was the only bakery in Organbaelz.
The town was originally smaller, but when the mine opened, its population increased.
There weren't enough specialists in proportion to the population.
"Oops... I missed my chance to mention something..."
Marlene spoke with a troubled look on her face.
The reason why she came to the shop that day was to deliver a message from town hall.
"Um, you know, it's almost the season for Thanksgiving?"
Thanksgiving, harvest festival, autumnal celebration... It went by many names, but it was a celebration of the year's harvest, and a time to give thanks to God, and prepare for the coming winter.
Even in a small town like Organbaelz, everyone took the day off from work for this occasion.
The whole town pulled together, inviting entertainers and singers for a boisterous festival.
"I have a request from town hall for Tockerbrot to serve food at the festival."
After saying this, Marlene showed them a flier about Thanksgiving.
* * *
Berun was the royal capital of the Principality of Wiltia, and in the center of this city was the royal palace, and in corner of this palace were the Schutzstaffel barracks.
Originally, the barracks belonged to the regular army, but due to cuts in military equipment, it was now the Schutzstaffel's facility for housing their soldiers.
At the cafeteria inside the building, a young-looking officer wore an unhappy expression as she used a fork to stab sausages on a plate.
Her name was Hilde, short for Hildegard von Hessen, a first lieutenant in the Schutzstaffel.
"Damn! Damn!! Damn!!!"
She was barely eating her meal, and instead, stabbed the meat—bam! bam!—with fork, raising her voice in anger and frustration.
The other Schutzstaffel soldiers around wouldn't go near her. In fact, no one ever went near her.
Regardless of rank, hardly anyone in the Schutzstaffel was friendly to her.
"First Lieutenant, what is the matter?"
If anyone tried, it was the corporal, a soldier who served directly under her.
"This cafeteria is only for officers."
Inside the Schutzstaffel, the rules governing position and rank were strict.
Officers and regular soldiers were treated differently in other ways as well.
"Well... actually, I was told that an exception would be made so that I could make use of it."
The corporal sounded oblivious to the bad-tempered Hilde's mood as he answered.
For reasons that weren't clear, Lieutenant General Genitz, the head of the Schutzstaffel, had directly recommended this man.
Apparently, the corporal had considerable battle experience in the recent Great War, and was considered the perfect assistant for Hilde, who had not been in combat.
How could that be? He looked ridiculous!
Hilde cursed him in her head.
Although he wore the regular uniform of the Schutzstaffel, the corporal's appearance was bizarre, with an iron mask covering his entire head. He said he had an unsightly scar, but the mask made him stand out even more.
There was no one else left in the cafeteria.
Perhaps meals were unpleasant around the grumpy Hilde and this clownish soldier.
"Did something happen? You're always irritated, but today you're even more..."
"Huuh?!"
"Uh... nothing."
The corporal hurriedly covered his mouth when Hilde glared at him.
"I just went to see the lieutenant general."
Hilde spoke forlornly.
One week ago, Hilde had failed to satisfy Genitz's orders.
Usually, she would have apologized to him right away, but permission to see him hadn't come down until today.
* * *
One hour earlier, at Schutzstaffel headquarters in the royal palace...
Hilde was in Genitz's office.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant General! I will take responsibility for this in any way I can!"
Hilde respected Genitz.
She believed in him and carried out his direct orders with a joy equal to that of serving God.
So it meant despair greater than death to fail him.
"Oliver Schmitz... Ellen el Ho... Klaus Huademann..."
Genitz was standing by the window, gazing at the view outside and softly reciting names.
"Huh? Lieutenant General... um..."
"Enrique Hauckgodden... Anthony Nogudd..."
Without answering Hilde, Genitz quietly listed name after name and all seemed familiar to Hilde.
"Surely, those aren't..."
"Sergei Wilms... Nicholas Fassbender... Drillon zum Thaves..."
Finally, Hilde recognized the names.
She broke out in a sweat.
She was in severe stress and the cold moisture in her body was oozing out through her skin, like it might from a sponge.
"Egmont Ike... Vanessa Steinhauser... Do you know these names?"
As he asked this, Genitz finally turned to face her.
He wasn't accusing or judging her. There was even a certain kindness in his voice, as if he were a teacher questioning a student.
"I... I... I let those soldiers die."
The names belonged to Hilde's subordinates who had died while on mission several weeks earlier.
The lieutenant general is angry. He entrusted soldier to me and I let them die for no reason. I have done something unforgivable.
"Ohhh... ohhh... ohhh..."
Her legs seemed to clatter as they shook.
She couldn't stop sweating and her eyes were swimming.
In her frustration, she tightened her fists so that her nails dug into her palms, but she didn't feel any pain.
"No."
Genitz's reply to her was completely unexpected.
"Huh?"
Hilde's respond slipped out foolishly.
"What is the meaning of military rank?"
"It... It's..."
"Responsibility."
Genitz answered before Hilde could reply.
"A superior officer is responsible for managing subordinates. I gave you ten soldiers, a brand new Hunter Unit, sufficient information, and a request for support from the local base command office. I gave you plenty of preparation."
His voice was still the same. It was kind.
"But I entrusted command to someone who still couldn't complete the mission. So this is my fault. You didn't do anything wrong. I am to blame for failing to notice your total lack of ability."
"—!!"
The shock to Hilde was as if a knife of ice had pierced her heart.
Genitz was like a god to her.
The joy lay in having the god trust and rely on her.
But he had just told her she was useless.
"Sir...!!"
Hilde didn't know what to do.
She must do something to beg for forgiveness, as subordinates everywhere have always done.
"Forgive me! It's my fault! Next time, I won't fail, so..."
She fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground.
She was prostrate in a deep, formal bow.
"Please... please, don't—"
Before she could beg him not to give up on her, Genitz gently put his hand on her shoulder and spoke in a voice that was admonishing, yet offered heartfelt consolation.
"That's enough. Thank you."
His words were exceedingly kind.
His voice, sweet and poisonously smooth, flowed into Hilde's heart.
"Go home. You don't need to do anything."
Illustration
Genitz didn't say anything more.
People scold and get angry at those from whom they expect something.
But they can be as kind as a saint toward someone for whom they care little.
Hilde had become so unimportant to Genitz that he wouldn't even let her take responsibility for her failure.
* * *
"The lieutenant doesn't need me anymore... He abandoned me... He abandoned me!"
Hilde hit the table hard.
"Maybe you're overthinking this. It was in the report, wasn't it? Someone besides Lud Langart killed ten soldiers, including Third Lieutenant Vanessa."
On her recent mission, Hilde used a Hunter Unit in her fight to defeat Lud.
During that fight, she ordered her subordinates to watch hostages, but someone had killed them all.
And their deaths had been unthinkable.
They were bludgeoned to death with incredible force.
Vanessa's innards had ruptured.
All the bullet holes at the site had come from Vanessa's gun.
So, they may have suffered a surprise attack and were defeated after resisting.
"Who in the world? Someone we didn't count on. When assumptions change, the results may also change. The lieutenant general took that into consideration and decided not to punish you."
The corporal was making a desperate effort to comfort Hilde.
And his great kindness reached her.
"Corporal? Um..."
The corporal moved his face nearer, defenseless, as if to discuss something secret.
"Gimme a break!"
Hilde's shouted angrily and punched the corporal in the face.
No, she didn't just punch.
A girl's fist wouldn't break the metal mask that the corporal wore.
Instead her fist, she threw a plate filled with messy food.
"Are you... feeling pity for me? Do you feel sorry for me? You?!"
Hilde's shoulders shook, and she glared at him.
"N-no! First Lieutenant! I—"
"Shut up!"
The corporal had fallen on his back. Hilde stomped on his face, as if she would crush him, with a military boot reinforced with metal.
"Agh!"
The mask could not protect the corporal and he groaned with pain.
"Damn it! How did this happen?! What can I do for the lieutenant general?!"
What could she do to make him look at her again?
How could she make herself important to Genitz?
Hilde's head whirled with questions.
"Uh... First Lieutenant? Um... there is a way!"
The corporal fought back pain as he spoke.
"Huuh?! Just you try spewing some nonsense! I'll gouge out your eyes and murder you!"
"Please, don't. Um... the only way to restore your reputation is to achieve a military feat."
"I wouldn't be in this mess if I could do that!"
This time Hilde hurled the bottle of pepper on the table right at him.
"Achoo!"
The bottle hit his mask and broke. The fine powder fell between the openings in the mask for his eyes and nose.
"Listen! The lieutenant general told me not to do anything. Do you understand what that means?"
Indefinite suspension.
Not only did this mean she couldn't participate in mission, it also meant she couldn't allocate soldiers and equipment on her own.
"If only I could bring back Lud Langart's—the Silver Wolf's— head! Then the lieutenant general would lavish praise on me! Unfortunately, Langart's a monster! He's not an opponent that I can defeat alone!"
She didn't know that behind Lud stood Sven, a humanoid Hunter Unit. Moreover, there was yet another figure with different intentions...
She didn't know any of this, but she knew she could not defeat this opponent on her own.
"Achoo! Achoo! Ahhhh... choo!!"
"Pay attention to what I'm saying!!"
"Gwah?!"
This time, Hilde swung the chair she was sitting on and smashed it against the corporal's head.
"Ugh... I see stars..."
"Should I send you to Heaven so you become a star?"
The corporal had pushed Hilde's irritation to the limit.
"No... I mean... I'm saying there's a way!"
"Then what is it?!"
"First Lieutenant, you're strapped for soldiers and equipment right now. I think you only have me and one other person."
"So what?"
"So make that other soldier a powerful monster who can defeat Silver Wolf. An unbeatable monster!"
"..........."
Without speaking, Hilde brandished the chair and tried to hit him again.
"Wait! What?! Why are you trying to hit me?!"
The corporal pitifully cowered away from her.
"The way you're building up to the point annoys me!"
"You're mean!"
The corporal pretended, in an overly fake away, to wipe tears off his mask.
"You should've just kept talking! So? Are you telling me this because you know someone like that monster?"
"Yes, of course."
The corporal wore a contrived smile that Hilde could sense clearly, even through his mask.
"First Lieutenant, have you heard of the Wolf Man?"
* * *
The Wolf Man was a Wiltian soldier who made his name known throughout the world during the recent Great European War.
In the neighboring country of Filbarneu, his name was synonymous with the devil.
It was said that his undercover work, classified missions, and assassinations had resulted in over 100,000 Filbarnian soldier either dead or injured.
However, that man was now in custody at a prison for special criminals deep under the royal palace of Wiltia, as if to keep him silent.
"I've heard of the Wolf Man, and he's surprisingly close to where we are."
"He was an extremely dangerous special criminal, so it's better to keep him close rather than in a remote region. When the time comes, it will be easier to get rid of him, too."
Hilde and the corporal were walking down stairs to the underground cell that held the Wolf Man.
The reasons why vary, but special criminals were considered poisonous to society, and especially to the nation.
They were thinkers and religious people who might influence and lead the masses to disrupt society.
"They should have just killed him right away."
Hilde said this casually, but it wasn't that easy.
Death could glorify such a person.
Even the death of someone insignificant and ordinary could lead to that person's sanctification and power over others.
In another country, there was once a man whose airplane controls had malfunctioned. He was supposed to retreat and return, but he accidentally made a suicide plunge into the enemy forces.
The military used him as propaganda, claiming him as a hero who had gone on a lone suicide attack to free his comrades. They erected a statue of the pilot and put his name in the nation's textbooks.
But he survived, and when he returned to his home country, the military, fearing that he would be a bad influence on society, secretly killed him.
"Sometimes the dead are more trouble than the living."
The corporal replied ironically, perhaps reflecting this incident.
"Anyway, this is old."
Hilde touched the wall.
As they descended the long stairs, the walls, which had been concrete, changed to bricks, and now were just piles of old stones.
"I believe these were made in the era of Luftzand Domain. That was when Wiltia was just a domain of the Holy Empire, and Berun wasn't yet a city."
The Principality of Wiltia was called the "land of knights" because it was founded on land by a knight who served the Holy Empire.
"They filled in the land and built the royal palace of Berun over Luftzand Castle, repeatedly expanding and renovating it."
Perhaps because it didn't have proper electricity, the corporal was holding a lantern and shining light to see as he spoke.
"These are like geological layers."
It was as if the stairs, which led underground, showed the history of the Principality of Wiltia.
"If I remember correctly, the Wolf Man returned to this country in exchange of war criminals after the war."
"Yes. He has been in prison ever since."
There was a reason that the Wolf Man, whom the government would normally have praised as a war hero and assigned to honorable duty, was confined in such a place for the two years since the war ended.
The strongest of the Special Forces soldiers, a man who had maneuvered secretly during the Great War, suddenly fled his country and defected to the enemy nation of Filbarneu toward the end of the war.
No one knows why.
But, the government was consumed with bone-deep resentment over the Wolf Man's escape to Filbarneu and could not just silently accept it.
After his capture, he was exposed as an inhumane Special Forces operative.
So, throughout the two years since the war ended, this man, who was frightening to both friend and foe, was locked up here as if to keep him isolated.
"Anyway, how did you arrange to see the Wolf Man?"
"I've known the administrator of this place for a long time. And... I dipped into the secret account."
"I see."
The secret account means expenses that didn't need to be included in a formal ledger.
In this case, it meant bribery.
"Well, here we are."
Finally, they reached the deepest cell in the medieval jail, where a man sat alone.
"This is the Wolf Man."
Seeing him for the first time, Hilde frowned.
She had imagined a fit, muscular man since he was reputed to be the most violent Special Forces soldier, but he was rather skinny and he appeared calm and gentle.
He was likely over twenty years of age, but he had childish feature.
"Are you sure? I doubt a guy who has been in jail for over two years can be of any use."
Hilde's sarcastic comments never stopped, even in front of this man.
Hilde could only use two soldiers without permission, one of whom was the corporal.
The corporal had suggested filling the remaining position with the Wolf Man, a soldier with elite battle skills, But Hilde was disappointed to see the actual man.
"Corporal, unlock the cell door."
"Huh? But..."
"Don't worry. Look."
The Wolf Man's hands were in manacles and his legs were chained to iron balls.
He could barely move.
"But, um..."
"Just open the door."
Hilde glared at the bewildered corporal, forcing him to unlock the door, then walked inside the cell and rose to her full height in front of the Wolf Man.
"My name is Hildegard von Hessen. I am first lieutenant in the Schutzstaffel. Cheer up. I'm going to take you out of here."
"............"
"Did you hear me?"
The Wolf Man did not respond to Hilde's snide tone.
He was staring at the floor of the cell with a dazed look on his face.
"I don't like incompetence, I despise useless men! So I'm going to test you. I heard you're a famous soldier, so even in these conditions you should be able to display your strength."
Hilde said this with wicked grin.
"What would you do if I did this?"
Hilde moved to pull her gun from the holster at her waist and point its muzzle at him—
"Huh?"
But it didn't happen.
Her beloved gun, which she knew she had been wearing was, gone.
"What's the matter, First Lieutenant? Did you drop it somewhere?"
The corporal asked from the other side of the cell.
"That's impossible! A military soldier would never fail to properly handle his weapon!"
For soldiers, guns were just as important as their lives.
"Are you looking for this?"
Her weapon was in the Wolf Man's hand, right in front of her.
"What?!"
Hilde was at loss for words.
The Walther PPK, Hilde's favorite gun, was pointing its barrel at her, hammer up and ready to fire.
"When did you..."
She hadn't taken her eyes off the Wolf Man.
No... Maybe she had glanced aside for a moment, but she hadn't seen the Wolf Man, who was sitting the whole time, make a move.
"Are you satisfied?"
After saying this, the Wolf Man pulled the trigger without hesitation, the gun still pointed directly at Hilde.
"Eek!!"
Hilde raised her voice, but no bullet fired from the gun.
"Here. I'll give this back."
The Wolf Man returned the gun, spinning it around halfway so the grip was toward Hilde.
"This..."
The magazine holding the ammo had been removed from the gun.
"It'd be dangerous if a shot was fired, so I returned the bullets."
"Returned them?"
Hilde didn't understand what the Wolf Man was saying, and in a state of disbelief, she searched the holster again and found the magazine inside.
"I c-can't believe you..."
Illustration
He was fast. But even more, he took instantaneous advantage of lapses in his opponent's attention and vision.
If the Wolf Man wanted, he could have killed her three times by now.
"Ha ha ha... Impressive, You passed the test."
Hilde was playing it tough, but she couldn't hide that her fist was shaking.
She played the consummate soldier, but she had never experienced battle.
So this is a real fighter who survived the Great War...
She had felt the same caution when she fated Lud Langart, the Silver Wolf.
"Um, First Lieutenant? I just remembered! We were supposed to leave behind anything that could serve as a weapon before approaching him!"
"It's too late to tell me that now!!"
Hilde yelled at the masked man who had also returned from the Great War but had no edge at all.
"Anyway, we can win now! I can get revenge against that man! Lud Langart, prepare yourself and wait for me! Wa ha ha ha ha!!"
Convinced of victory, Hilde laughed shrilly.
"Who are you guys?"
The Wolf Man wasn't sure what was going on.
"Um, please wait a second. Right now, she's in a transport of joy."
The corporal said this in a tone that made it impossible to determine his feelings through the mask.
And then...
* * *
"Achoo!"
Meanwhile, inside Tockerbrot, back in Organbaelz
Lud, whom Sven had permitted to leave his bed, sneezed once.
"Master! Have you caught a cold? I knew it! Your health is still... Let's get you back into bed this instant!"
Sven's overprotectiveness had escalated even further.
"No, I'm fine..."
Flustered, Lud responded with a troubled expression.
He wasn't sick. And he knew it.
But he had felt something... a strange, indescribable chill.
What was that? I hope nothing bad happens.
He possessed a kind of sixth sense that he had earned during his time on the battlefield.
It was warning of something yet to come, and it was sounding an alarm.