Chapter 03: Recruit Training

Chapter 03: Recruit Training

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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 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 gulped 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 Suriya 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 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 maters tall.

"Not only is the gun itself unique, but its projectiles are special armor-piercing, high-explosives 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 fire 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 fo 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 thanks 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."

"Wait a second. What did you say?"

* * *

Everyone in Organbaelz knew that Tockerbrot Bakery's bread was delicious.

The townsfolk also knew something else.

The bakery's employees increased every now and then.

Come to think of it, a silver-haired girl joined the bakery as a waitress six months ago, and then a nun and an orphan girl from the church atop the hill, and even the young owner of a repair shop that had recently closed were added.

And today, the townsfolk would see another new face.

"Why do I have to do this?!"

"Don't look surly in front of customers, Miss Schutzstaffel!"

Today customers saw an unfamiliar blonde girl alongside the silver-haired waitress. And as they tended the shop, the atmosphere was strained.

"What's wrong with you? Smile, Miss Schutzstaffel! Can't you smile, Miss Schutzstaffel? Now I'm the one who has completely lost her smile!!"

Sven's usual charming sales smile disappeared, her cheeks were twitching angrily, and eventually she let out a scream.

"This was all your stupid boss's idea!"

"Watch your mouth or I'll twist your neck! About 540 degrees!"

Hilde glared at Sven and Sven glared back as she made her treat.

"Argh! Why did master make this decision?!"

Sven would do anything—body and should—to fulfill her beloved master's wishes, but she suffered agony over this.

Heidrig and Hildegard had come to kill Lud.

For some reason Heidrig had admitted defeat and groveled before Lud, even though he had enough strength to fight.

How could Lud trust them? Even after once receiving pardon, Hilde had attacked again.

And Lud had forgiven her again.

If that had been the end of it, she could have accepted it.

But how could he hire them to work in the bakery?!

Lud had ordered them to work at his shop in exchange for letting them live.

Of course, Sven had tried to stop him.

She had mounted a fierce effort to convince him to change his mind.

Lud just looked troubled and said, "But we're short on labor."

Even if we are short—and it is true that we don't have enough employees—even Ellis would be far better!

Ellis was the name of the cat of Tockerbrot.

Of course, it would be impossible for a cat to knead bread dough.

It would be impossible, but a cat wouldn't try to kill Lud!

Heidrig the Wolf Man... Such a man would never admit defeat so easily...

She didn't know his real name, but along the western battlefront during the Great European War, she had heard his nickname, the Wolf Man, from both friend and foe.

The name Wolf Man figured in many incidents, whether true or not, such as an attempt to assassinate the president of Filbarneu, the plot to bring down the Domino Fort on the border with Wiltia, and the foiled uprising of allied forces against Wiltia with stolen information.

Some considered him the most dangerous man on the continent of Europea.

He must be planning something... I'm certain of it!

Lud and Heidrig were alone in the oven room, which Sven could reach in just ten steps, She was uneasy at the thought of what might happen while she worked.

* * *

Sven thought only Lud and Heidrig were in the oven room, but Milly was there, too.

"Wow... you're good!"

Milly said this with genuine admiration.

"I'm not that good!"

Heidrig was kneading bread dough on a worktable.

Kneading dough was the heart of making bread.

Mixing flour, water, salt, and yeast stimulates the gluten. It's said that the texture and fluffiness of the bread depends on this process.

Milly was learning how to bake bread under Lud's teaching, but it was more difficult than it seemed.

Her weight and muscle strength were barely adequate, and learning how to apply that strength evenly for fine adjustments required lots of practice by baking bread over and over.

"I worked in the kitchen when I was in the military a long time ago."

"Huh? I thought soldiers only ate canned foods."

"That's a big misconception."

Heidrig smiled wryly at Milly's honest surprise.

During wartime, meals had a big influence on a soldier's morale.

A long time ago, in order to prevent soldiers from stealing food, the military intentionally made the food taste awful. But, perhaps because of higher stress levels, the violent and even fatal incidents increased. More importantly, the bad food had a disastrous effect on critical missions.

"It's hard for anyone to be deprived of good food. And that includes soldiers, too."

The army was now careful to serve the best food possible unless intense battle prevented it, or they were unable to secure supplies.

Professional cooks were often hired as civilian employees and paid high wages.

Heidrig place bread he had kneaded on a shelf to mature, and then picked up some matured dough and divided it into pieces.

"Did you know about me?"

He asked Lud Langart, who was working with him.

"I couldn't tell just by seeing you."

Lud answered casually as he adjusted the fire in the oven.

"It's just, when we were fighting, you were careful not to knock bread from the shelves."

During their encounter a few days ago, Lud and Heidrig had grappled inside the shop.

Usually, during a fight, it's natural to use anything that might help you defeat your opponent.

Heidrig could have thrown bread from the shelves, or bottles of jam and marmalade, or overturned the desk, but he hadn't. Instead he had taken care to collide with Lud so that they wouldn't disturb anything.

"People who make food should know enough to treat it carefully. That's why I asked you to work here."

Lud had asked Heidrig if he knew anything about baking bread, and Heidrig had answered. "A little."

Based solely on that answer, Lud told Heidrig and Hilde to work at Tockerbrot.

But, it was more like he had invited them.

"I don't get it... What are you thinking?"

It may seem strange to ponder such a question while quietly baking bread, but Heidrig couldn't understand Lud's intentions.

The Silver Wolf had been among the top five Hunter Unit pilots in Wiltia.

He went into battle in his teens, and within three years, was performing heroic exploits at the end of the Great War.

I can't understand why he ever walked away from his war record and became a baker.

Lud could have risen within the ranks of the regular military or the Schutzstaffel.

According to what Heidrig heard. Lud declined an honorary knighthood, albeit of the lowest rank.

I can't understand it.

Heidrig turned it over and over in his head.

"Hey, um... Mister?"

"..........!"

Heidrig snapped back to reality when Milly spoke to him.

"W-what?"

"That twisty thingy... How do you do it? Can you teach me?"

Heidrig was making cinnamon twists by mixing sugar, cinnamon, and butter into the bread dough and then weaving it into a spiral before baking.

"Oh, this? First, you divide the dough into three pieces and then..."

Heidrig explained how to make the bread in a voice infused with complicated fellings.

"Oh, so that's how do you do it! It's just like braiding hair!"

"Um... is your name Milly?"

"Yes."

"Uh, instead of 'Mister', you can call me Heidrig."

Heidrig didn't usually show his feelings.

He didn't get upset over things.

He had experienced many situation that would not change because he cursed his rotten fate and asked, "How could this happen?!" or "Why me?!"

One such situation was becoming a pawn of the girl Hildegard.

Now, however, his voice was shaking and his emotions were rattled.

Uh-oh...

Afraid that Lud had noticed his distress, Heidrig glanced at Lud.

"?!"

Lud was watching Heidrig and Milly's exchange. His face had tensed and turned dour.

"Is s-something wrong?"

Lud started to answer Heidrig's question.

"I..."

* * *

That night...

In the attic of Tockerbrot...

The room had once been used for storage, but had been Sven's room since she arrived at Tockerbrot.

After the renovation, they established a proper room for her on the first floor, so the attic was used for storage once again.

Now Hildegard and Heidrig lived there.

"So how did he answer?"

After the day's work, the two had gone back to their room.

Hilde was listening to a report from Heidrig about what had happened in the oven room during the day.

"Oh, nothing important."

"Tell me! That's an order!"

"..............."

Hilde's fierce pride wouldn't let her allow anyone to disobey her request.

Especially, someone who worked under her.

"There's no point in you hearing this."

"I'll be the judge of that!"

Knowing the reason for Lud Langart's dismay might help her find a way of this mess.

"You know that girl who does chores in the shop? Her name is Milly."

"Yeah, that shrimpy girl."

"............."

Heidrig fell silent for a moment at Hilde's reply.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Milly was fourteen years old and soon to be fifteen on her next birthday.

And Hilde was also fifteen.

It seemed rather childish for Hilde to treat someone who was almost her age like a child.

"Well, she does have a slight build, but she appears to have thick bones, so maybe she'll grow taller."

"Which isn't what I asked about."

It was said that trained martial artists could calculate an opponent's strength from the slightest movement of the hand or foot.

Moreover, they could tell if others would be successful as martial artist simply by looking at the structure of their muscles and the hardiness of their bones while they were still young.

Heidrig was speaking with this knowledge, but that didn't matter to Hilde.

"It's just... I heard that she's very shy, so it took time for her to feel comfortable around Lud."

Apparently, Milly had disliked Lud for a over a year.

"Which means what?"

Failing to understand Heidrig's point. Hilde prodded him.

"Lud was shocked to see Milly talking to me in a friendly way the first time we met."

"Huh?"

Now Hilde was even more confused.

"He felt conflicted to see Milly being friendly toward me, when it took her over a year to get along with him."

Lud had looked down and mumbled, "I don't mean to complain. It's not like that, but... but..." And then, maybe to ease his discomfort, Milly had said, "It's not what you think! It's just, um..." The atmosphere had grown awkward.

"Are you dense?!"

Hilde exclaimed this in amazement.

The point was that Lud had felt jealous at how quickly Heidrig had become friends with a child, since Lud was a grownup man with scary features.

"What am I doing here?!"

Hilde felt ridiculous for putting her position on the line by coming all this way to kill such a pitiful opponent.

"But he really is strong."

Heidrig chided Hilde.

"I was with him all day, and to my surprise, he never gave me an opening."

"Huh?"

Hilde was surprised to hear this from Heidrig, who she thought had lost the will to fight.

"Are you still planning on...?"

"Were you going to give up?!"

"No, of course not!"

Hilde raised her voice at being answered with a question.

"But you begged for your life!"

"Nothing is easier than repairing a bad situation by begging."

Heidrig lightly squinted his eyes.

"It's an unexpected development, but we've infiltrated the opponent's territory. Now there's a better chance to attack him, right?"

"B-But you..."

All of their weapons had been confiscated.

Sven had performed a head-to-toe body check before they started work and said to Lud, "At least allow me a bare minimum of security!"

"We can't get hold of something, Like forks and knives from meals. It doesn't have to be anything high quality. Even a single nail can serve as a sufficient weapon."

"Ha ha! Ohhh, I see!"

Hilde had grown desperate in her belief that the mission had failed. Now that she saw that the situation was still evolving, she laughed with relief.

"Don't jump to conclusions. I told you. This man doesn't leave any openings. We failed when we couldn't kill him the first time. Now that he knows we're after him, it'll be harder to get the drop on him."

"Hmf! No problem! He may be a trained veteran, but if we stick with him 24-7, he'll eventually leave an opening."

And they were under the same roof.

If all else failed, they could launch a sneak attack at night or a raid at dawn.

Or they could attack by setting a fire like before.

There were many options.

"I said don't jump ahead! We've got a time limit, right?"

"Oh..."

At his words, Hilde remembered.

"We only have nine more days..."

Heidrig was supposed to be imprisoned in a dungeon, but Hilde had pulled him out with the corporal's help.

They covered it up by bribing the guards and altering records, but they wouldn't be able to avoid the monthly prison check by the Legal Affairs Bureau.

They needed to kill Lud and get back to the royal capital before that happened.

"It'll be hard, but there's no choice. Now, let's get some sleep."

Morning comes early in a bakery.

If they didn't go to sleep, they would be in no condition for an assassination attempt.

"I'm the leader, so I get the bed!"

Sven's old bed was the only one in the attic.

Hilde was the first to climb on top as if proclaiming her right to it.

"Fine. Sleeping on the floor here is much better than what I'm used to."

Heidrig had been in jail for years, where he had slept on a stone floor.

"Besides, I wouldn't be so childish as to take the bed from a little girl."

"What?! Why you—!"

He got in a barb at least.

"Sleep. We rise early tomorrow."

Wrapping a blanket around himself and lying down, Heidrig rolled over and quickly fell asleep.

"Argh!"

Hilde let out a yell, but stretched out on the bed, turned back toward Heidrig, and fell asleep.

* * *

"It seems they haven't given up yet."

Sven, who was on the first floor, heard the entire conversation between Heidrig and Hilde.

Heidrig was no idiot.

He had been careful about the volume of his voice so no one downstairs would hear, but they hadn't considered that the person listening might be a humanoid Hunter Unit with highly sensitive sound receptors.

"Nine more days... I only need to protect my master that long."

After that, they might be gone, So in a way, this was good news.

"But nine days is exactly the problem..."

Sven sighed at the irony of luck.

She confirmed that the two were asleep in the attic and walked down the dark hallway.

To her, this darkness wasn't even dark.

Tockrbrot consisted of the shop and a residential area.

40 percent of the overall area was used for the store, 40 percent was production-related space such as the oven and storage, 15 percent was for living, and the remaining 5 percent was a small room that served as an office.

Sven went there to Lud, who was working late.

"Excuse me, Master."

"Oh, are you still up?"

There was a sketchbook on his desk.

He had drawn an idea for a new type of bread.

"Are you still brainstorming ideas for bread to serve at Thanksgiving?"

"Well, this is my chance to bake something new for the townsfolk."

There were various possibilities Lud could serve at the festival.

It was important to serve traditional foods, but Lud also wanted to give people a fun surprise. He had been puzzling over it every day after work.

"There are only nine days left, so I have to hurry."

Nine days... He was right. Only nine days remained until Thanksgiving.

The two newcomers were planning to kill Sven's beloved master before the happy day when the townspeople would finally welcome him, and together they would celebrate the joys of the year.

"Master? Um, about the Wolf Man and that girl..."

Sven spoke hesitantly.

"You really should kick them out. If something were to happen to you, I..."

Sven didn't want to suggest what she had in mind.

Lud's kindness wasn't saintly and so pure as to be without flaws.

He had once witnessed Hell and had dealt with death.

But his kindness also wasn't merely for atonement.

He wanted to live with his past, so he was kind from a desire to shoulder his sins and live on an honest life.

It was heartbreaking for Sven to act against that desire.

"Sven, you've heard of the Wolf Man, right?"

Lud asked after mulling over his thoughts.

"Yes, it's rare to find anyone who doesn't know of his actions in the Great War."

The opposing nation, Filbarneu, held a grudge against him over the deaths of tens of thousands soldiers.

And his home country of Wiltia abhorred him as a shameless national traitor.

"Do you really think that's him?"

"Huh?"

Lud's question confused Sven.

"Um, are you suggesting that Heidrig isn't the real Wolf Man?"

Despite the legends, the appearance and age of the Wolf Man had long been unknown.

Since both Wiltia and Filbarneu restricted information, his actual appearance remained unknown, but word spread that such a person existed and had performed certain acts.

"Yes, there was a wolf... and he is indeed the Wolf Man."

Lud had trouble smiling.

When he tried to smile, he just looked angry. His facial muscles didn't seem to work for expressing his feelings.

And yet Sven understood that this gloomy, shadowy expression was from unspeakable pain.

Sven knew all about Lud's past as the Hunter Unit pilot known as the Silver Wolf.

She had spent time with him then as the support Ai known as Avei.

However, she knew little about his earlier past.

It was the Lud she didn't know who must have noticed something about the Wolf Man that she had not.

"I'm sorry, Sven. Can you bear with my selfishness just a little longer?"

Lud wasn't a blind optimist and he didn't ignore danger.

He understood and yet close the risky path.

"Master..."

Sven's grip on her apron tightened.

This had happened before during the Great War, when she was still a Hunter Unit.

They had encountered a furious enemy attack, but even after receiving an order to retreat, Lud rushed to rescue a friendly craft that had been immobilized by a bomb.

Sven—who had been Avei then—had tried unsuccessfully to stop him.

He had said the same thing to her then.

"Bear with my selfishness..."

If it was mere kindness, Sven would try to stop him even if he later held a grudge against her.

Lud knew his actions weren't wise.

And yet that was his decision.

Urgh... Master...

Sven sighed in exasperation.

However, her bitter smile wasn't entirely unhappy.

It's my duty to put up with his selfishness. But... no...

She wanted to put up with it.

She wanted to be his strength and make his wishes come true.

"Understood! I will bear it to the best of my ability! As for the girl Hildegard, I'll handle her myself!"

She snorted one, and then she winked and flashed her brightest smile, the one she reserved for her dearest beloved.

Illustration

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"Sorry, Sven. Thanks."

"I'm used to it."

She couldn't resist a little sarcasm.

"Well then.. For now, I'll go make tea."

"Yes. please do."

"Yes. Sir!♪"

She bowed once, then departed for the kitchen.

When people think of tea, they imagine relaxing with an afternoon cup of tea, but that isn't always the case.

Strong and very bitter tea with plenty of milk, sugar, and fresh cream gives people strength to keep going, particularly those who work late at night.

Lud's evening work would continue for some time.

So, Sven's priority was to ease his exhaustion, even a little.

* * *

Beginning the next day, Sven went on the offensive.

"What happened here?! When you wipe the table, do it like this! Wipe in a square, not in a circle!"

"And bow exactly 45 degrees! This is basic customer service!"

"And wipe thoroughly between the ridges of tongs! And thoroughly clean every place that food touches so that a baby could lick it!"

From early morning until closing time, Sven provided instruction shrewdly, carefully, and throughly by every means.

She sounded just like a ferocious drill sergeant.

"G-gimme a break! You're too strict!!"

Hilde raised her voice to protest Sven's severity.

"Huh? Did I say something confusing? You miscalculate change, don't remember the names of products, and forget to sterilize the bathroom. You do nothing but make mistakes!!"

Wearing an unfriendly expression on her face, Sven refused to listen to Hilde.

"You may be from the Schutzstaffel, but you're an actual officer who completed proper education and training, aren't you?!"

"S-so what?!"

Hilde thought they were talking about work at a bakery, not the military.

"All your flubs are just like reporting imprecise information misidentifying equipment, and neglecting weapons care in the military. They all seriously damage the broader organization!"

They were all skills drilled into recruits during military training.

"It's sheer arrogance to talk about being a career officer when you can't even work at a bakery!"

"No, that's... seriously?"

"Yes!"

In the face so Sven's rant, Hilde lost the will to fight back.

Allowing for Hilde's inability to perform her job properly, it was quite a stretch to say that it had any bearing on her suitability for the military, but sometimes the victor is the person who can simple ram her ideas through.

"If you have even a tiny bit of pride as a soldier, then stop making excuses and do your duty! Now!"

Sven handed Hilde a dust rag.

"Instead of firing back useless nonsense as a counterargument, go clean windows! Customers won't wait!"

"D-didn't I just finish that?!"

Hilde managed a retort, but Sven simply sneered with "Humff!" and marched across the room to point at the window frame.

"Do you mean this?!"

Her finger was pointing at a little dust.

"B-but that's nothing!"

"Silence!"

Hilde tried to make an excuse, but Sven shut her down.

"Listen! Windows are the very face of a shop! It is a crucial to make them clearer than crystal so that potential customers walking down the street will think, 'Oh, I'll go in and take a look!' A stain on the shop is a stain on yourself! Start over!"

"Arrrggghhh!!"

Hilde's frustration was mounting.

"You! Can't you speak a little nicer? It's like you're lecturing me!!"

"What? How can you say that?! Are you blaming me for your own ineptitude?"

Since morning, Sven had laid into Hilde continually, as if poking her with needles, even if she hadn't resorted to violence such as using her fists or a whip, Hilde's patience had finally reached its limit.

"Oh? Here you are shrugging off your failures and getting angry at me!"

Sven would never apologize.

"I don't remember asking you to do anything beyond your ability! I explained everything properly, showed you an example, and had you try it yourself!"

Sven had covered all the basics in training just as she did in her daily work.

"After all that, you still messed up, so isn't it natural that you suffer some derision?"

"Urrrgh..."

A famous general coined a maxim about training new soldiers.

"Show them, explain it to them, and then have them do it."

Demonstration, instruction, and practice are steps that serve as the basics of all teaching, not just in the military.

"B-but, at least..."

Hilde bit her lips like a sullen child and found it difficult to speak.

"Hmmm? Are you trying to say I should be nice to you? Aren't you an elite officer in the Schutzstaffel?"

Sven covered her mouth and laughed disdainfully.

"Mwa ha ha ha ha!" She laughed just like a villain.

There were more words of wisdom about training soldiers.

"People don't grow without praise."

Instead of blaming trainees for what they can't do, the secret to improving their skills is recognizing what they can do, even if it's something small.

Sven knew that.

Nonetheless, she disregards it.

Because...

"Think about your situation. You tried to kill my master but you were stupid enough to lose. We forgive you, without taking your life or torturing you, in exchange for giving up your weapons and working for us. After showing you that mercy, you want more kindness from me? What are you? A child who won't take her medicine unless I mix it with sweet syrup, even though it will hurt your teeth?"

Hilde's position was neither a volunteer soldier nor a draftee. She was in fact, a prisoner.

Sven could consider herself extremely generous for not retorting to violence against her prisoner.

"Urrrgh!!"

Sven rattled on fluently and forcefully.

Whether a verbal clash or a fistfight, the difference in their combat strengths was massive.

"Th-that's, um..."

Still, Hilde sought a counterargument.

An experienced soldier would never engage in a futile fight when the difference in combat strength between two sides was obvious.

However, Hilde was immature and a novice.

"Aha! This is abuse! You're abusing a prisoner! I'm an officer and I demand proper treatment!"

Perhaps thinking she had found a way out. Hilde shifted to counterattack with a face as proud as if she had defeated a demon.

International law strictly regulated the handling of prisoners.

This was partly for humanitarian reasons, but also because exterminating all opponents could lead to a war attrition or mission failure and increase the damage to both friend and foe.

"I see. It's true that international laws stipulate special treatment for prisoners who are officers."

Among prisoners, all officers higher than lieutenant, were entitled to slightly better treatment.

The law forbade forced labor and violence against prisoners, while also regulating the physical prison environment.

From that point of view, Hilde's argument was valid.

"That's right."

Nodding, Sven touched her chin and Hilde smiled proudly, as if she had finally found her path to victory, However, it didn't last long.

"Then why don't you quit?"

"What?"

Hilde was amazed at Sven's reply and raised her voice hollowly.

"I said you're free to quit. We welcome anyone with open arms, but we won't chase after someone who tries to leave. That's the shop's motto."

"But, um... that's..."

Suddenly, Hilde was confused.

She had made a big mistake. She should have retreated or focused on defense and then waited for the situation to change.

To begin with, treaties regarding the handling of prisoners were promises enacted between nations under international law. But this wasn't about that.

Hilde and Heidrig's goal was to assassinate Lud.

Their target had forced them to work here, but they had decided it gave them an opportunity to stick with their prey.

If they got kicked out now, they would never have another chance.

"Are you done? Then get to work. Another shop motto is 'If you don't work, you don't eat.'"

Hilde's counterattack had failed, so she started cleaning the windows as instructed.

"Just.. darn it all!"

Hildegard von Hessen, the member of a family of fallen nobles, was wiping windows and cleaning floors with tears running down her face.

* * *

That night...

"Darn it! Just darn it all!"

When Hilde returned to the attic after work, she was still frustrated.

"How long are you going to complain?"

Heidrig sounded annoyed.

"You don't understand how I feel! That silver-haired wench! Who does she think I am! That rotten girl will pay for this!"

"A lady from a noble family shouldn't talk like that."

Hilde was throwing a fit on the bed, without even a hint of ladylike poise.

"Sorry! But my family is just a bunch of fallen nobles anyway!"

"It is?"

"Eep!"

Hilde made a pinched face as if to say, "Uh-oh!"

She had only told Heidrig that she was a first lieutenant in the Schutzstaffel.

In Wiltia, however, only nobles were allowed to use von in their names.

It would be natural to assume that if a fifteen-year-old girl had the title of officer, and that of first lieutenant no less, her family had played a role.

"My family is famous and has been around since the Holy Empire!"

"Oh, that's impressive."

Hilde's family, the Hessen clan, was one of the most well-known families in Wiltia.

Their ancestors were renowned military heroes and the subject of many stories.

"We're just an old family with an honorable origin. Otherwise, we have nothing!"

Throughout the family's long history, the Hessens possessed neither political nor economic power, and eventually were left behind.

Warhorses and pikes disappeared from the battlefield, leaving the Hessens without a place to shine, and the house had fallen.

"We sold all our territory and mansions, and our descendants' estates. Now there's nothing left."

The last hope of the Hessens was the Great European War.

A pilot of the new Hunter Units could perform heroic achievements alone, just like in battle of yore.

Even Lud, who was of common origin, could be made a knight of lowest order.

"To revive my family, I entered military school when I turned ten. But before I could go to war, it ended."

Hilde made a tight fist.

Restoring her family's name was her highest priority, and ever since childhood she considered it the reason for her existence.

Then one day she lost her hope for that.

In that moment, she felt keenly the fate of the Hessens, who were unblessed by history.

"Too bad, so sad."

Heidrig's response was sarcastic.

War only meant hardship and trouble for the common folk.

Commodity price rose, supplies disappeared, and taxes went up.

If you were drafted and sent to battle, your life was in danger.

Hilde's story would find little understanding or sympathy from people like that.

"But then the lord lieutenant general spoke to me..."

Hilde couldn't bear to look at Heidrig's face.

Instead she saw the face of Genitz, which was still burnt into her eyes.

"When the lord lieutenant general came to inspect the military academy, he saw my name, summoned me, and invited me to join the Schutzstaffel. He welcomed me with special treatment, promising I would become an elite with a central position in the principality."

That had been a happy moment for Hilde.

She was about to be buried, but Genitz had found her and let her join the "chosen ones."

He had recognized that she was someone special and not like the other riffraff.

"But that man... Lud Langart... In the end, my glorious life comes to chores in a bakery! Oh, how did this happen?!"

She wanted fame and envy... But no, not only that.

Hilde wanted to be accepted and esteemed as a person of repute, so being a waitress-in-training at a bakery was humiliating, menial work.

"It seems Sven had you dancing in the palm of her hand."

But Hilde's obsession wasn't important to Heidrig.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"That woman scolded you all day today, right?"

"Yes."

"So if you had planned to make a move on Langart, you couldn't."

"Oh!"

As Hilde finally realized, her mouth gaped.

"She was watching you. And she wasn't just watching. She actively interfering with your actions and stopping you from even thinking about making a move against them."

Hilde's combat ability was nothing compared to Sven's or Lud's.

She could barely put up a fight against Hunter Unit.

However, she was capable of indirect attacks, such as poisoning or arson.

This shop was Lud's home base, and they were already inside it.

Inflicting harm on customers, not just on Lud and his employees, by poisoning the breads would cause trust in the shop to plummet. Even mere harassment would cause damage to the bakery.

"That woman interfered with anything I might have tried!"

Hilde finally realized the point behind Sven's behavior today.

"By tiring you out from work, she made sure that you can't do anything tonight but sleep. You're completely worn out."

"Argh!"

As soon as she had returned to the attic after the day's work, Hilde had flopped onto the bed with an exhausted, "I'm tired!"

In this condition, she wouldn't be able to spring a night attack.

"Don't look so unhappy. You worked hard and that mde the meal afterward taste good, didn't it?"

At Tockerbrot, despite the unpleasant circumstances, they received regular meals.

It was mainly leftover bread, but since the shop was doing well, there was also a soup with plenty of meat and vegetables.

"I saw you eat a whole baguette!"

"Oh... that?!"

Hilde blushed when Heidrig said this.

Did she blush because she had received a favor from the enemy or because she was a young lady whose big appetite had been observed?

Either way, it was a surprising change for someone who claimed that she wouldn't eat any food that Lud made.

And that isn't the only problem...

Heidrig intentionally failed to mention that Sven and Lud knew the two new workers hadn't given up on the assassination.

Even with this knowledge, their opponents allowed them a certain measure of freedom.

They aren't cautious of this girl. It's me they are worried about.

It would horrify Hilde to know that neither Lud nor Sven saw her as a threat.

Sven, the waitress, was actually trying to make sure Hilde didn't interfere between Lud and Heidrig.

What is she thinking?

What was Sven planning, even at great personal risk?

Heidrig didn't have the faintest idea.