Chapter 07: A Single Buscuit
Chapter 07: A Single Buscuit
In the royal capital of Berun, nearly six hours had passed since the Schutzstaffel launched its attack.
If the sun had risen, the invading soldiers might have retreated, but dawn in Berun comes late in the autumn, so the day was still in deep darkness.
"We're almost there! Keep holding!!"
Sophia called encouragement to her subordinates.
There's a saying that the dark is deepest before the dawn.
If you can persevere through the current hardship, you are sure to see hope.
"At least one hour... No, stand firm for just thirty minutes!"
Among the security guards, less than half could still fight, but considering the difference in the sizes of the opposing forces, Sophia's guards had kept a better rate of survival.
"Tsk!"
The submachine gun firing at the Schutzstaffel soldiers ran out of ammunition.
"Sariya! Bring a replacement mag!"
Sariya didn't reply to Sophia's order.
"Sariya, what's wrong?"
Sophia ducked her head behind the barricade too look at Sariya.
"Sari—!?"
But Private First Class Sariya wasn't there.
"You idiot... I said I'd give you a vacation after this... so why did you check out now?!"
Private Sariya's lifeless body was on the ground.
She had taken a shot to the head without even knowing her number was up.
"Sophia, you're still alive?"
Crawling across the floor, Daian appeared in front of the grieving Sophia.
He wore a helmet that looked impenetrable, another piece of new equipment from the development bureau.
"I don't have time to look at your stupid face right now, so get lost. Go cower in fear in the back!"
The only territory left for Sophia and the others consisted of the deepest part of the development bureau and Daian's office.
"Sophia, this is hopeless! We should surrender!"
"What?! You coward!"
Sophia yelled in anger at Daian's suggestion.
"You're our commander, so act like it! You'll lose the support of your subordinates like this!"
"If I was going to fly a white flag, I would've done it a long time ago! We'll find a way out of this soon enough and—"
"No, we won't. Probably not, anyway."
Sophia wasn't foolish.
She wouldn't continue fighting, armed with no more than stubbornness and pride, when there was no chance of winning.
If they were holding a castle with no hope of reinforcements, she would have sacrificed herself to protect the lives of her troops without hesitation. However, they could still win if they held out a little longer.
"You guys did great, but my projections were a bit too optimistic."
The situation was worse than Daian originally thought.
Daia hadn't told Sophia that he had sent Rebecca, his attendant humanoid Hunter Unit, to request reinforcements over an hour ago.
With her powerful legs, she should have reached military headquarters a long time ago.
But no reinforcements have come. Which means...
It would be impossible for human soldiers, no matter how many, to stop Rebecca.
Daian had created her and he knew her powers.
Nonetheless, she hadn't come back. That meant someone who wasn't human had defeated her.
Genitz, what are you thinking? What are you after?
Genitz had deployed a secret operative to counter Rebecca.
Even if they could hold until noon... No, the longer this lasted, the more certain it was that this battle would end in the worst way.
"Shut up! I'm not asking your opinion! There's no way we can retreat now!"
Sophia not knowing the circumstances, would not consent.
"Sophia, please calm down. At least I can still save you!"
If they surrendered now, disarmed, and gave Genitz what he wanted, Daian would be sure to survive.
And Genitz might give in to Daian's selfish request to spare Sophia's life.
"Don't joke! Even if we surrender, I have to save non-combatant staff members first, then my subordinates, and then myself! You come last!"
"I'm last?!"
Sophia was fiery-tempered to the very end.
"Hm? Wait. Something is wrong."
Sophia noticed a change.
The enemy fire, which had been howling, had stopped.
"What are they going to pull now?"
Scared, Sophia peeked over the barricade to examine the other side.
"I don't like it. What if they follow the combat vehicles with a Hunter Unit?"
"Don't invite bad fortune!"
Sophia snapped at Daian, who was also peeking out.
"What...?"
Their gaze fell on the Schutzstaffel soldiers.
They were all standing with their guns raised but still.
Why are they doing that in the middle of a fight?!
They didn't crouch or take cover... It was as if they were asking to be shot.
It seemed like they were obeying a command, and it was not to protect their own lives.
The soldiers lined up on two sides, making way for someone coming down their center.
An ominous silenced reigned.
It was a silence that was hard to believe given the fierce battle just moments earlier.
The tak... tak... sound of someone striding across the floor was getting closer.
The security guards, and Sophia herself, forgot to keep their guns raised and ready to fire, as they watched the approaching figure.
"No way..."
Sophia blurted out in disbelief.
It was unimaginable that he would show up here.
"Even I never expected this!"
Sophia was unable to respond to Daian's shocked exclamation.
But she did notice that this was the first time she had heard this perennially carefree man sound nervous.
"How dare you persist in this useless defense!"
A young man with long blond hair stepped forward.
"Y-you bastard!"
"No, Sophia!"
Daian shouted to stop her.
Without thinking, Sophia had revealed herself.
The man's appearance had such a strong effect that she forgot she was in the middle of a battle.
"Bastard? How disrespectful, Major Rundstadt... I may belong to the Schutzstaffel, but I'm also a general of the military."
On his shoulder, he wore a badge indicating his rank of a lieutenant general of the Principality of Wiltia.
"What're you doing here, Genitz?!"
It was Maximillian Genitz, a lieutenant general of the Principality of Wiltia and the supreme commander of the Schutzstaffel.
"Is there anything wrong with me being on my battlefield?"
Genitz extended his arm gracefully.
He looked as if he were about to conduct a symphony, but he wasn't holding a conductor's baton. It was the renowned gun and a symbol of the Wiltian military—a Walther P38.
"Uh-oh..."
By the time Sophia noticed, Genitz had pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang out.
* * *
Hide returned to the waiting room at the side of the stage.
"Phew!"
The violent beating in her chest hadn't stopped.
The reaction from the audience was so enthusiastic, she sang three more songs as an encore.
"I feel really good!"
She saw her face smiling proudly in the mirror.
The words that had confined her, such as "child of Polpora" and "black dog," now felt insignificant.
Nobles, soldiers, and Wiltians... They all sounded so inconsequential.
If someone were to say something man, today she would be able to shout back, "So what?!"
"What should I do now?"
She couldn't give up everything, and she couldn't start all over again.
However, whether she decided to live as a soldier or choose different path, at least she could determine this according to her own will.
"Huh? Marlene?"
Someone opened the dividing curtain and entered.
This place was also used for costume changes. Marlene would have called out before entering, but this man intruded without a word, and looked around to confirm that there was no one else there.
"Do you work at Tockerbrot?"
He was a plain-looking young man, about twenty years old.
There was nothing remarkable about his appearance. Or perhaps he had removed anything that might attract notice.
"Who are you?!"
Although she had never been in battle, Hilde wasn't as careless as an innocent girl strolling about town.
She saw that he was ill at east and was alarmed.
"There's no mistake about it! It's you! Your hair color is different, so you must have been wearing a disguise!"
However, when she noticed the man's discomfort, it made him... No, it made the men violent.
They must have been waiting outside, for the group marched in all of a sudden.
"Somebody—"
Hilde tried to shout, but a hemp sack came down over her head.
It was a large flour sack, large enough to hold one person.
Hilde was short, so it swiftly enveloped her all the way to her feet. And then—
"—!!"
The men punched and kicked her repeatedly through the sack.
Their methods were efficient—they didn't let her shout, they broke her will to resist, and they knocked her unconscious.
"Good. Take her away!"
Now they could carry her without detection.
In a flash, Hilde and the mysterious men were gone.
* * *
"What the heck happened here?!"
Sven raised a voice full of surprise, frustration and especially anger.
It didn't take ten minutes for Tockerbrot group to discover that Hilde had been abducted.
Marlene went backstage right after the show and found a letter.
When she read the contents and the names written on it, she felt as though she had fallen to the bottom of a pit.
"No... I can't believe they're still around!"
Lud made a face even more pained than usual as he spoke.
Unable to go to the authorities, Marlene had no choice but to ask Lud and others for help.
The letter read, "We have the girl. If you want her back, Lud Langart and Heidrig must come with Marlene to the forest outside town."
It was signed by the Pelfe Liberation League.
"This is all my fault!"
Marlene knelt on the floor and cried.
The Pelfe Liberation League was the anti-Wiltia terrorist group which Marlene had once belonged.
Sometime earlier, Lud and Sven had protected Marlene from them.
Most of the group's members were arrested and the organization appeared to disband, but those remaining must have learned of Lud's existence through Marlene.
"But why the first lieutenant?"
Heidrig was perplexed.
The incident Lud and the Pelfe Liberation League had happened over six months ago.
And it had not involved Hilde.
"Perhaps they mistook her for me."
Sven said this with a deep sigh.
"I dyed my hair black for that interview."
The photograph in the newspaper had been black and white, and low resolution.
So when Hilde visited Marlene's church and they saw her black hair, the terrorists had mistaken her for Sven.
"And why do they want me?"
Heidrig raised another question.
He had only been in Organbaelz for the past ten days. How did they know his name when he had been in prison for years before that?
The Pelfe Liberation League was a puppet organization of the August Federation, and enemy nation of Wiltia.
However, August had already distanced itself from the terrorist group because their collaboration was suspected and August feared an international conflict.
The current Pelfe Liberation League was eager for attention and liked to brag about its power, but it was actually just a gang of ruffians.
They couldn't distinguish between Hilde and Sven, so it didn't make sense for them to know Heidrig's name.
"Obviously, there's more to this picture."
Lud's comment wasn't just suspicion.
"Master, what will you do?"
Sven asked as if she were confirming what she already knew.
This didn't change the fact that Hilde had tried to kill Lud.
Not once but twice.
Other than that, they had only known each other for ten days. Their relationship wasn't close enough for him to risk his life for her.
A typical person would certainly refuse to do so.
"We have to do something about this!"
However, Lud's answer wasn't typical.
"Uh-huh... I knew it."
Sven gripped her forehead, which said clearly that she known he would say that.
Lud often insisted that he was, "just a baker," but at times like this, he didn't act like "just a baker."
It was common sense to report the incident to public authorities and let them handle the rest.
However, that would greatly lower the chances of Hilde coming back alive.
It would also put Marlene in danger. There was a strong chance that her past crimes would come to light.
Lud knew all this.
"Sorry to involve you in this, Heidrig."
"No, it's the other way around."
Lud spoke with such a serious look on his face that Heidrig replied with amazement.
"Ha ha ha... Never underestimate my master's kindness! You got that?!"
Although Sven expected it, she still couldn't find a clear explanation for Lud's behavior.
But because it happened all the time, it was her role as a servant to wrack her brains and find a solution for her beloved master.
"Let's come up with a plan. If we just do as they ask, it won't solve anything, but maybe we can figure out another way!"
As she said this, Sven smiled.
* * *
Organbaelz was a mining town.
Therefore, its composition as a town was unusual.
The area around the mine, and the roads was concentrated there.
There were still untouched mountains and forests outside the urban area.
Thick trees blanketed the land around Organbaelz.
The location where the Pelfe Liberation League wanted to meet was a small charcoal-burning lodge in a secluded part of the forest.
"Hey, I think they're here."
One of the terrorists noticed Lud and the others approaching.
Their letter instructed them to hold a lantern to avoid a surprise attack.
There were three figures: Lud, Heidrig, and Marlene.
"Ugh..."
The terrorists numbered less than ten, but the old lodge was small and stifling, so everyone was gathered around a fire outside as they waited.
The hostage Hilde was with them.
She had been roughly tied with a rope and was lying inert on the ground.
"Why did you come?"
Lud had no obligation to save her.
And Heidrig was more confused than pleased that they had risked their lives to save her.
"I kept my promise, so let the girl go!"
They were ten meters from the charcoal burning lodge, too great a distance to reach in a single bound.
And the terrorists held guns.
The weapons were outdated revolvers that looked like they were scavanged from some junkyard.
They were little more than iron scrap, with no maintenance.
However, they could still shoot bullets.
And a shot at such a short distance was likely to prove fatal.
"First, bring her here."
The leader of the terrorists pointed a gun as he gave the order.
"She's a traitor. Everyone else was caught, but she went free because she sold us out!"
The way the terrorists saw it, this was revenge against Lud and Marlene—the man was instrumental in their organization's destruction, and the woman who betrayed them.
"All right."
Lud agreed.
Marlene had her head down and, with slow and hesitant steps, she moved toward the terrorists.
"Hurry up!"
One of the members pulled the trigger of his old revolver and a bullet struck the ground several meters from Marlene.
"Eeeeek!"
Marlene shrieked in fear.
She trembled but managed to walk over and stand before them.
"Hey."
"What's up?"
The biggest of the bunch grabbed Marlene's shoulder and held her.
"My usual rule is to kill traitors right away, but first I want you to watch something fun."
The leader threatened Marlene with his gun still pointed at her.
"You two! Kill each other now!"
After saying this, he laughed loudly.
"Oh, I get it..."
"I see..."
Now Lud and Heidrig understood the terrorists' plan.
They wanted to kill Lud.
But, if they attacked him, he would fight back.
So they had taken a hostage.
Nonetheless, he might still defeat them with a surprise attack.
So they brought in a man as strong as Lud and would now force them to kill each other.
It was despicable plan that only people blind to their own weakness would choose.
"What now?"
Heidrig quietly asked Lud.
"Let's see..."
Lud mumbled in a troubled voice.
Even if they obeyed and one of them was killed, the possibility of saving Hilde was low.
But, if they refused, it was certain that either Hilde or Marlene would die immediately.
".............."
".............."
In the silence, the two assumed the stance for hand-to-hand combat.
"He heh... This is just as he said! As long as we take care of this black-haired wench, it'll all go well!"
The leader laughed as he spoke.
"Who is 'he?'?"
Marlene asked without raising her head.
"He's... I'm not gonna tell you, idiot! When one of them dies, then maybe I'll tell you!"
After saying that, he laughed loudly again, as if something were very funny.
"Hey! Start fightin'!"
He shouted at Lud and Heidrig, who were just staring at each other.
"Hmm..."
As he pondered, Lud's voice held no tension.
Awkwardly, he raised a hand.
"I want to ask something just in case."
"Yeah?"
Lud had asked so suddenly, the leader answered without thinking.
"Can't we just pretend this didn't happen? Can't you just return the hostage and leave the town?"
"Huh?"
Lud's casual request stunned the terrorists.
"You must have families and friends, right? I think you should stop doing this sort of thing and go back to a quiet life."
They liked to call themselves terrorists, but they were actually just a gang of urban thugs.
Those arrested during the earlier incident had been chosen to work for an undercover agent from August, so they must have been a little more skilled than these men.
"It's still not too late."
Lud continued trying to persuade them.
Studying their faces, one by one, Lud understood.
They were little better than a backup team. The league may not have even formally recognized them as members.
They were clearly amateurs, from the way they casually monitored their captives, the way they positioned themselves, and even their movements... They left themselves open.
But there was something else Lud noticed.
They didn't give the sense that they had done dirty work, like killing before.
They didn't have that unique aura of those who had murdered in cold blood.
It was obvious to someone who knew what to look for.
Lud, who had killed many people, could sense another killer, even in a crowd.
Other than Lud, there was only one person among them who bore the burden of such deeds.
"Cut the chitchat and start killin' each other! Do it, you idiots!"
The leader grew excited and fired his gun in frustration.
He shot without aiming.
He had no intention of hitting anything, but it was clumsy.
"If you don't hurry, I'll kill this traitor first!"
He grabbed Marlene's head, forced her to raise her face, and then put the gun barrel to her forehead.
"Huh?"
He had grabbed her so roughly that her veil came off.
Her hair fell free.
"Who're you?!"
"Why would I tell a savage like you!!"
It wasn't Marlene under the veil. It was Sven, wearing a nun's habit, her silver hair now visible to everyone.
"I knew you didn't know what the nun looks like!"
They weren't able to tell the difference between Sven and Hilde.
It was also likely that these thugs had never met Marlene who was their local contact in Organbaelz.
That's why the Tockerbrot group had used a body double.
"How long are you gonna keep your hands on me?!"
Sven seized the large terrorist who was pushing her down by the arm, and threw him with all her might.
"W-whaaat?!"
With one arm, she had tossed aside a grown man, who weighed nearly one hundred kilograms, as though he was an ugly doll.
"Gugh!!"
He crashed to the ground and lost consciousness.
"W-what the hell?!"
"W-what's going on?!"
The other terrorists were panicking.
"Tsk! Utter morons!"
Sven spluttered with disgust, and jumped up to kick the man in front of her.
"Welp!!"
She then used that man as a foothold for launching herself again.
She spun to kick the man on her right in the neck.
"Gwah?!"
She twisted her legs to ensnare him and he smashed to the ground. Then, using centrifugal force, she turned in midair to bring her foot down on the crown of the head of the man who was standing next to the fallen thug.
"Ooof!!"
Hooking his head with her foot, she crushed him into the ground and rebounding, she drove an elbow into another man.
"Gugh!!"
She had quickly defeated four men.
"Y-yaieek?!"
"What is she?!"
"No one said nuthin' about this!"
The other men were confused and terrified.
There was no way these amateurs could keep calm after seeing a pretty girl waste half of them with monster-life force.
"Wait! Don't run away yet!"
They had relied on their greater numbers and on makeshift methods rather than proper strategy.
And the bonds between them were not strong, because some bagan to flee as soon as they lost the advantage.
"We've got a hostage, so there's no need to be scared!"
"Whoa... Stop right there!"
Hilde was bound by rope and couldn't move.
Pointing a gun at her would halt Sven.
At least that's what the leader thought, but Sven grabbed his arm before he could make a move.
CRACK!
That wasn't the sound of bone breaking—it was the sound of bone crushing.
Sven's physical strength was superhuman.
However, that was when her power limits were set according to a human standard.
Tonight, she had released some of those limits.
Now, her speed and strength were superhuman.
"Uaaaghhhh!!"
When Sven squeezed an arm, it was like pressing it in an industrial-strength machine.
As his bone compacted, the leader struggled against the pain and dropped his gun.
"You're noisy!"
Sven stomped on his face, adjusting her strength to merely crack the cartilage of his nose, and knock him out.
"There! All done!"
The Pelfe Liberation League's scheme ended in total defeat.
"Are they really that dumb? They send a threatening letter to summon us to their hideout, and then they put the hostage where we can see her. That's worse than amateurish!"
The letter had even specified a time and place.
That was extremely foolish because it ensured that the Tockerbrot crew could discover their number, their arms, and any traps.
"They should have prepared a sniper or two! I feel like they were just patronizing us!"
Furious, Sven rattled off complaints, but the main source of her anger was that they had underestimated Lud, who was a battle-hardened veteran.
"Here. Are you okay, you silly girl? What's the deal with a former kidnapper getting abducted herself? In the east, people describe this as poetic justice."
As she grumbled, Sven untied the ropes around Hilde.
"Ungh... Ow!"
Hilde was too terrified to form a proper sentence. The terrorists had beaten her, and her face bore the bruises.
"It's all right. We solved the problem. Were they too awfully horrible to you?"
No one likes to believe it, but there are people in the world who gleefully commit acts so barbaric that there are no words to describe them.
"Ngh..."
Trembling, Hilde shook her head.
She had been spared the worst.
It was only for a short time, but the young girl had been trapped among savage men. It wasn't hard to imagine how terrifying it had been.
"You're safe now."
Sven reassured Hilde and held her tight.
"SOB... SOB... Waaah!! Waaaaah!!"
Finally relieved, Hilde began to cry as if expelling all the fear she had held inside.
"You are too... but that girl's weird."
Heidrig mumbled this while staring at Sven, who was holding the sobbing Hilde as if she were her mother.
"I thought she hated the first lieutenant!"
Sven had offered to serve as Marlene's replacement and to defeat the terrorists because that was what Lud wanted.
However, she was now holding Hilde, who was trembling in fear and bawling like a child, out of choice.
"That's the way things are. Human beings behave in contradictory ways. You can't give a clear, rational explanation for everything."
"I guess not..."
Heidrig agreed with Lud and walked toward Sven and Hilde.
"That's why the world is such a difficult place."
Heidrig picked up an old revolver lying next to the fallen leader.
There had been six bullets inside. The leader shot two, so there were still four left.
"Heidrig...?"
Hilde didn't know what her companion was up to.
But Heidrig didn't reply.
He gripped the gun and pulled back the hammer.
"Sorry, Lud Langart."
Then he pointed the gun at Lud and pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation.
A dry, hollow gunshot echoed through the forest.
"Heidrig... What are you doing?!"
Hilde shouted at him.
"What do you mean? Can't you see? I'm trying to kill Lud Langart. The time has come to proceed with what you ordered. That's all."
Hiedrig answered matter-of-factly, in a tone that was frighteningly even.
"But even when you're surprised, you can still dodge."
The bullet hadn't struck Lud.
Heidrig had aimed at his target, but before Lud could think, his ingrained soldier's reflexes took over and he ducked.
"But that was close."
Close but not perfect.
The bullet had grazed Lud's temple and he was bleeding.
"Stop, Heidrig! I don't want you to kill him anymore!"
"Why? Have you become attached to him? If I don't kill him, you'll die!"
"What are you talking about?!"
Hilde didn't understand that her poor judgement and careless actions had endangered her life.
"First Lieutenant, you're not cut out to be a soldier. It doesn't matter if you become a singer or a baker, but live a different life. You're more likely to be happy."
As Heidrig spoke, he cocked his weapon to put another bullet in the chamber.
She had revealed her identity and put herself in a tight spot.
Hilde could be accused of not having enough imagination.
However, what is imagination?
Hilde should have imagined the possible consequences for Heidrig and herself before she undertook this mission.
It was better for her not to imagine such possibilities.
"Live a righteous life. Don't keep making the mistakes. I made branded me a Wolf Man."
There were three bullets left in Heidrig's revolver.
That was enough for Heidrig to defeat Lud, who was barehanded.
However, one person present didn't care about the number of bullets.
"You!! What are you doing to my master?!"
Sven was furious and leapt toward Heidrig at top speed and at full power.
"Don't move, Sven!!"
"—?!"
Her master stopped her.
"Don't move! Stay with Hilde! Please, don't do anything!"
Lud shouted more desperately than the threat to his life warranted.
"Please... Just please!"
Her goal was always to protect Lud.
She would do anything he wished.
However, when there was a threat to Lud's life, she would act to protect him, even against her mater's orders.
She had been doing this since she was the Hunter Unit known as Avei.
This time, however, she stopped.
Why?! But...
It wasn't from fear that Lud would hate her.
Her heart told her that if she forcefully intervened, it would be the same as killing Lud.
"I told you, Heidrig. I know your true identity."
"Yes. To be honest, that surprised me. Since everyone thinks that's who I am. I came to accept it myself."
Lud and Heidrig stared daggers at each other.
The words "true identity" confused Hilde and Sven.
"True identity? Heidrig... who are you?"
His back turned, Heidrig answered without looking at Hilde.
"I am not the Wolf Man."
"Huh...?"
Still not understanding Heidrig's words, Hilde stared at him blankly.
* * *
He didn't clearly remember when people started speaking about "the Wolf Man" during the Great European War.
At some point, however, the soldiers of the Republic of Filbarneu, Wiltia's enemy, whispered the name.
The Wolf Man had poisoned a commander on the front.
And the Wolf Man had secretly instigated a speedy defeat against the enemy during a siege.
Further, the Wolf Man exposed information about logistics units that resulted in a breakdown of the supply chain.
Eventually, the moniker of the Wolf Man appeared in official army reports.
An article appeared in a Fibarnian newspaper claiming that a Wiltian special ops soldier with the codename Wolf Man threatened the Minister of the Army, and stole one million flones from the military budget.
This turned the Wolf Man, whose existence was no confirmed, into an object of hate, not just for Filbarnian soldiers, but for all of Wiltia.
But the true story was different.
There had never been a Wolf Man.
Since long ago, the neighboring nations of Wiltia and Filbarneu were never on good terms.
It began with a border dispute, in which one side claimed certain territory and branded the other as an invader.
The two countries would then criticize each other's culture and history, while rehashing the past and cursing at each other as barbarians.
The nations, buffeted by turbulent winds, became enemies when the Great War erupted, and would clash without reason or logic.
Each nation tried to keep its dignity by obstinately carrying out a war it refused to lose.
In the recent Great European War, however, Wiltia introduced a weapon—the Hunter Units—that drastically changed the course of the war and the very basics of war strategy.
Unable to resist that onslaught, the command centers of the Filbarnian military blamed each other, and ultimately, some were quickly to betray their homeland and searched for a pipeline to Wiltia.
Filbarneu would be destroyed from within before the Wiltian military invaded the capital.
This scenario became a distinct possibility.
Out of this, the cynical strategy of the "Wolf Man" was born.
He was to serve as a scapegoat to distract the citizens and the soldiers on the front from their mounting discontent.
The Wolf Man was the lead character in a tall tale that claimed, despite the best efforts of the Filbarnian government and military, the enemy nation of Wiltia had sent a monster to defeat them.
There was some truth behind each story.
For example, the commander who supposedly was poisoned by the Wolf Man, had neglected his work in favor of frequenting brothels, and had actually died during sexual intercourse.
The failure of the siege was due to a botched strategy by an incompetent general who bought his rank through connections and wealth.
The supply chain had broken down because of the flow of goods into illegal channels.
The theft of military funds was the result of the Minister of the Army fattening his own purse.
The truth behind each incident would have cast a shadow on the dignity of the military, and the prestige of the nation.
That's why the Wolf Man was created.
A scapegoat was required to cover for the authorities.
The republic received cooperation from the newspapers and the media, and the Wolf Man was born.
* * *
"I was a soldier in the Wiltian army. I was in the cooking unit. My daily job was feeding the troops, so I'd only touched a gun during training."
But Heidrig didn't dislike his life in the military.
It was more suited to his personality than killing on the battlefield, and there was little danger.
Many soldiers mocked him for not serving in combat, but since he prepared hot meals 24 hours a day, many others expressed gratitude.
He even hoped to open a small restaurant when the war ended and his service was up.
"Then one day, my regiment fell under surprise attack and was destroyed. The Filbarnians took all noncombatants prisoner."
Filbarneu had a competent commander.
Despite inferior numbers, poor equipment, and flagging morale, he had cobbled together a surprise attack and defeated Heidrig's regiment.
"They put me in concentration camp. Then one day, an officer from Filbarneu showed up. He looked me in the eye, and said I would suffice."
Filbarneu couldn't keep a fictitious character alive with only false information, so they needed an actual prisoner from Wiltia in order to announce the capture of the Wolf Man.
"The Wolf Man isn't even a special ops soldier? You were just a regular?! No way! That's ridiculous!"
Hilde couldn't believe what Heidrig told them.
"Then why didn't Wiltia deny it?! Besides, your combat skills are real!"
It would have seriously damaged Filbarneu if Wiltia had revealed the lie.
Wiltia could have humiliated Filbarneu by exposing its inability to continue the war without spreading a lie among its citizens and soldiers.
"There's a reason. There wasn't a Wolf Man, but at the same time, there was."
"Huh? I don't understand. What are you talking about?! Argh!"
Now Hilde was completely confused.
"In the Wiltian military, there was a top secret special force called the Werewolves."
The force had worked undercover, locating enemies, and plotting—sometimes carrying out—assassinations. They were a dark unit that Wiltia never made public.
These operatives weren't in the official records because they liquidated important figures in enemy nations, and within Wiltia. If their names were revealed, it would deliver a crippling blow to Wiltia.
"Isn't it ironic? You thought it was all the work of a fictitious Wolf Man, but there actually were real Werewolves! It's a lot like the story about the boy who cried wolf."
Filbarneu told lies and Wiltia hid dark deeds.
Heidrig was stuck in between and had become the Wolf Man when the two came together.
"In Wiltia, they knew the Wolf Man was fake, but if they exposed that, people would learned about the Werewolves. When both major nations won't reveal a lie, then the fabrication becomes the truth."
The role of the Wolf Man was thrust upon Heidrig, And, from prison, he desperately pleaded his innocence.
But no one listened.
While he feared execution at any moment, the Great War ended and he was return to Wiltia.
"Wiltia spent a lot of time on complicated deals to reclaim me, a military cook, and then threw me in a dungeon."
The authorities needed to confine the pretend Wolf Man forever in order to hide Wiltia's scandal. The victor of the Great War boasted that it was the greatest nation in the world, but it was secretly involved in a massive hoax.
"As for my combat skill... That's easy to explain."
Heidrig retrained the gun on Lud and spoke as he slowly approached.
"I wasn't the Wolf Man, but I was a Werewolf."
He then fired another shot.
Lud swiftly dodged, but Heidrig hadn't expected to hit him.
Heidrig stepped closer, and when Lud was off-balance from dodging the bullet, he kicked him.
"Ugh!!"
Heidrig's legs were strong enough to kick the mighty Lud aside.
"The suffering inside prison isn't physical. It's mental."
Without a pause, Heidrig delivered another kick.
Because Lud was so much bigger, Heidrig used his legs, which were three times stronger than his arms.
It was the right way to fight.
"I had nothing to do all day. I was abandoned in a dark cage. Before long, I no longer sensed the passage of time and thought I had gone mad."
As he said this, he gave Lud a dose of his varied footwork: a spin kick, forward kick, a knee strike, and a side kick that lifted Lud into the air.
"So the only thing I could do to pass the time was train my body."
He delivered a kick to Lud's lower body, and when Lud lost his balance, he switched to a knee strike.
Within his cramped cell, Heidrig's training had been limited.
He did pushups, squats, back extensions, sit-ups, and used iron bars for chin-ups.
Even in such circumstances, his training was very effective.
"I didn't have a partner to spar with, so I made one up in my head."
He simulated training with an imaginary opponent.
This might have been impossible for someone else, but Heidrig had been in jail for years, and had nothing else to do but focus on his training.
"Waugh!!"
Lud counterattacked and threw a fist, but Heidrig dodged it with a small movement.
This guy's strong.
Heidrig muscle strength was not exceptional and he was nowhere near as strong as Sven or the mechanical soldiers he had once fought.
However, he was an expert at dodging attacks by a hair's breadth, getting close enough to almost touch his opponent, and attacking from a position that prevented his opponent from dodging.
He had polished his close-combat skills by training in a cramped prison cell.
"Agh?!"
Heidrig's offense didn't slow down.
With his elbow, Heidrig delivered a backhand to Lud's lowered face.
When Lud's lost his balance, Heidrig threw another kick.
That kick was heavy and sharp.
Using his heel as a spindle, Heidrig spun in a small circle from which he attacked again.
Lud felt pain cut through the armor of his thick muscle.
Come to think of it, I heard something once.
It was about slaves on the continent south of Europea.
To challenge their owners, the slaves developed a martial art, which they disguised as dancing while in their cells.
The reason he doesn't use his hands is because he was wearing handcuffs.
The reason that Heidrig could dodge with little movement of his hands and legs was because they had been shackled.
Heidrig had mastered techniques that became his own martial art.
Furthermore.
"?!"
Suddenly, a gun barrel appeared before Lud's eyes.
BLAM!!
A bullet was fired, Lud dodged, but just barely.
A shot to the head would be fatal, even from a very old gun.
If Lud was focused on the physical fight, Heidrig could still use the gun.
There were two bullets left, He shot another, leaving only one.
Heidrig still had the killing shot.
"Tch!"
Lud launched off the ground, jumping back to gain distance.
However, his opponent didn't let him go.
Heidrig didn't lose his combat stance as he closely dogged his enemy.
"Uh-oh!!"
By the time Lud realized, it was too late, Heidrig swept Lud's legs from beneath him and he fell to the ground.
"Master!!"
Sven screamed.
His position, in the circumstances, amounted to checkmate.
No matter how fast he was, to stand and reassume an attack position required two steps.
Heidrig, however, only needed one to pull the trigger of a gun.
Once again, he aimed at Lud.
This time, Lud would have no time to dodge.
This fight was over.
"..............."
But Heidrig stopped.
It was the slightest hesitation, but it was a moment that could make the difference between life and death.
Lud stood, spinning his whole body, and he kicked the gun from Heidrig's hand, knocking it away.
"Agh!"
Heidrig closed in on his enemy and tried to attack from an inside position, which worked best for him. But that was exactly what Lud was waiting for.
"What the?!"
Instead of moving away or dodging Heidrig, Lud took a half-step forward.
He placed his fist—the fist on the same side as the foot he had advanced—against Heidrig's stomach as if to adjust his timing, and then released it with force, applying all his weight.
"Oof!!"
The blunt, forceful attack sunk into Heidrig's body, and he cried out in pain.
"There was once a man in the east who was in a situation like this."
Bujitsu was a martial art from the east that Lud had learned.
Once upon a time, a martial arts master committed a crime and was imprisoned.
The master had invented a technique for channeling his full power by moving just a half step with his hands and feet shackled.
Illustration
"Aaaaagh!"
The attack used Lud's full weight, and instead of allowing the impact to pass through, it permeated his opponent's body.
Heidrig kneeled, unable to stand upright.
"...I guess I won."
The Tiger's Roar had completely immobilized Heidrig.
It was impossible for him to fight.
"K..kill me..."
Heidrig gasped, through his moans.
"Someone must die to finish this."
"What do you mean?"
"The brass found out that Hilde released me, so if I live, do you know what will happen?"
The Wolf Man had been released from prison without authorization.
Since that was known, even if Heidrig returned to prison, Hilde would take responsibility for freeing him.
But if the story was that Hilde had pursued and executed the Wolf Man, who had somehow escaped, then she would be safe.
"If someone doesn't pay, this doesn't end. Those are the military's rules."
If he couldn't kill Lud, then Heidrig would settle his by sacrificing himself.
That was his decision.
"You... Were you trying to protect me?"
Hilde's tone was incredulous.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I don't owe you that much! I just... I saw your face."
The girl who had once been empty could now move forward.
She was still unsteady, but she was in better shape than Heidrig, who had soured and shriveled in prison.
"It was as if I was alive but dead at the same time. And then I decided it didn't matter."
Heidrig looked at Lud again as he spoke.
He didn't say anything more.
But his eyes were pleaded for death.
"I cannot satisfy your request."
Lud rejected his plea.
"I understand your beliefs, but I'm telling you to act against them. If you won't kill me, that girl over there will."
"I won't let Sven do it either. We won't kill you."
In a forceful tone, Lud refused even more firmly.
"You're so stubborn! I..."
"You didn't kill me either!"
"What?"
Heidrig was shocked by Lud's words.
"What are you talking about?"
"You said you were a Werewolf, but that was a lie. You weren't a Werewolf, but I was."
The Werewolves were secret force created by the Principality of Wiltia.
Its greatest power was in the training of its soldiers.
These soldiers were type three, and were orphans the military trained and educated.
The military selected the children with advanced physical abilities and put them through rigorous training to become the Werewolves.
The training was so harsh that many died.
By design, however, the death rate never exceed fifty percent.
As the stage known as final testing, two trainees would attempt to kill each other.
A child of thirteen years old would kill another child of the same age.
They became soldiers who would perform any order without hesitation.
They became true Werewolves.
"You didn't kill me during the final testing."
"No way... Were you... that boy?"
Lud had undergone the final testing for the Werewolves.
His opponent on that day had been Heidrig.
"No... You're lying!"
Heidrig shouted in disbelief.
"He wasn't as big as you!"
"I was still growing."
Lud had been twelve years old at that time, and smaller and average.
He had bullied when he was younger, so Sophia, who had been like his sister, had often protected him.
"And you didn't have that scar."
"That happened later."
He got the scar on his left cheek toward the end of the war.
"And the boy that day smiled more!"
"That... Well, a lot happened to me."
His smile. That was the most important thing Lud lost when he became a soldier.
At the final testing, Lud lost the fight.
Heidrig was supposed to kill Lud, but he wasn't able to do it.
The military deemed him unfit, so he wasn't made a Werewolf. Along with the other type-three children, he had been forced to work in the military until his term of service was over.
"I'm alive now because of you. I can never kill you."
Heidrig hadn't notice, but Lud had quickly discovered who Heidrig was.
Lud knew about the Wolf Man.
He knew that designation was to hide the existence of the Werewolves, and that the Wolf Man was created at the expense of an innocent man.
When he realized it was Heidrig, the boy who once spared his life, Lud hired him as an employee so he might live.
"That wasn't... for you, I just..."
"You couldn't bear to kill someone?"
Lud had noticed that Heidrig had never once taken a human life.
Just like the incompetent terrorists, Heidrig didn't smell like a killer.
Of those here, only Lud and one other bore the burden of the dirty work of killing many people.
And that other one wasn't Heidrig.
"I let someone die without helping."
Heidrig spit out the words.
Ten years ago, Heidrig was a homeless child with his younger sister in a slum of Berun, the royal capital.
Their parents, who were supposed to protect them, had died long ago.
Their days were miserable as they suffered from starvation and cold weather.
His fragile sister wasn't able to withstand the harsh conditions and grew very ill.
Heidrig was desperate to save his sister.
He scavenged in junkyards, begged on the streets, and sometimes shoplifted. And whenever he found food, he gave it to his sister.
However, they couldn't live that way much longer.
His sister weakened by the day, like a withering plant.
Heidrig was hungry and exhausted.
Then a military recruiter appeared.
"Come with me. We'll give you warm food and a place to live."
Young Heidrig knew about type-three soldiers.
He knew that if he accepted the man's help, he would have to go to war. But it was much better to have some control over life and death on the battlefield, as long as he escaped starvation right now.
However, one thing bothered him.
His younger sister was very sick and could die at any moment.
"Don't worry. I'll check your sister into a national hospital. You'll be apart, but you'll be able to see each other again before too long."
On instinct, Heidrig had sensed the man was lying.
When they were crawling homeless around the city, no adult had ever cared about them.
Some of them even shooed them away as if they were wild dogs.
His sister would probably be abandoned.
Her illness made her as useless as trash.
If he didn't stay with her, she wouldn't last a day.
Heidrig knew that.
But he had reached his limit.
"Oh... Then there's nothing to worry about."
As it was, he and his sister would die on the street.
And he didn't want to die. He wanted to be free, so he allowed himself to be deceived.
An adult from the military had told him not to worry.
So he was safe and chose to believe what the recruiter said.
It wasn't his fault.
He hadn't abandoned his little sister.
But he still felt guilty.
"Here, take this. And stay strong."
He had a biscuit.
They always shared.
But he gave the whole biscuit to his sister.
His sister stared at the biscuit in her hand.
Then she smiled with faint sadness.
And his sister said,
"—Thanks, Big Bro!"
"My sister knew that I was giving up on her, but she smiled and said thanks anyway."
He suspected his sister wanted to say, "Please, forget about me and live."
But she wasn't able to.
It wasn't surprising. A child not yet ten years old couldn't express a wish for he own death.
Nonetheless, she had understood that her brother couldn't keep going as before.
"She thanked me for leaving her, and she thanked me for choosing to live."
Lud suspected that Heidrig had never killed anyone.
But that wasn't entirely correct.
He had killed someone. He had let his sister die.
He had killed her in a horrible way.
"Ever since. I haven't been able to kill anyone."
It didn't matter how much he wanted to kill. His body would freeze at the last moment.
That's what happened during the final testing, and it happened in the fight against Lud just now.
When he tried to kill, he saw his sister smile.
And, with that smile, she asked him, "Are you trying to lengthen your own life by taking someone else's? Wasn't killing me enough?"
"I couldn't even kill myself... Somewhere in my heart. I believed that imprisonment and becoming the Wolf Man were my punishments... I don't deserve death... I should burn to Hell."
After saying this, Heidrig looked up at the night sky.
The dark night had no moon.
Like a life with no hope.
It may have occurred to him that giving such a life for someone else's sake would make his sister happy.
"...Hey, have you tried my bread? The kind I baked today for the Thanksgiving festival?"
He meant the Maple Autumns, the bread baked in a U-shape.
"They're shaped like horseshoes. And did you know? A horseshoe is a charm for good luck."
Long, long ago, when demons were still a scourge in the world, a holy knight appeared and defeated one.
The steel that the knight rode smashed the demon's skull with its hoof, so the horseshoe became a symbol of warding off evil and inviting happiness.
"So I want you to try my bread. And I want the people who eat my bread to be happy."
At the Thanksgiving festival, the townsfolk enjoyed the Maple Autumns because they tasted delicious, but also because their shape represented the wish of happiness.
"Ridiculous... How can I be happy now?"
Heidrig spoke bitterly.
If he returned to prison, he would be confined until death.
If he fled, he would be pursued and wold have no refuge anywhere in Wiltia.
"There is a way."
Sven had a suggestion.
"You could defect to another country, either August or Greyten."
"What?!"
As Sven explained, Heidrig was at loss for words.
"Heidrig, the Wolf Man is anathema to both Wiltia and Filbarneu. But there are lot of countries that hate both nations."
It was said that the Wolf Man had thrown Filbarneu into chaos and betrayed his mother country of Wiltia.
"But I told you. I'm not the Wolf Man."
Heidrig shook his head to tell Sven that she didn't understand, but Sven merely sniffed as if it was Heidrig who didn't understand.
"It doesn't matter who you really are. If Wiltia and Filbarneu insist that you're the Wolf Man, then you are. And that's all their enemies care about."
The will of one person is nothing when facing the giant power of a nation.
The truth is distorted and falsehoods become reality.
Sven was saying that he could use those lies to his benefit.
"Your enemy's enemy is your friend. You might be a traitor in your own country, but in an enemy country, you're a hero."
It was a common occurrence.
Recently, a former government minister, who was responsible for many failed policies and verbal gaffes, crossed the sea to an enemy nation and announced, "This country is wonderful compare to my foolish home nation." But instead of causing a diplomatic crisis, he received medals from the enemy nation.
"You would be treated as a guest of such a nation for the rest of your life."
A foreign diplomat once said, "The state of affairs in Europea is a great mystery."
If white could turn black, then one could make black turn white.
"I... never thought about that."
Heidrig, who felt guilty merely to be alive, would never have considered such a solution.
"That sounds like a good idea. You've been through terrible times. This is your chance to take back your life."
Hilde, who had been listening quietly, encouraged Hiedrig.
"But if I escape, what will happen to you?"
Unless she brought back Heidrig or killed Lud, all the blame would fall on Hilde.
"D-don't be silly, commoner!"
However, Hilde snapped back as if she had made an important decision.
"Who do you think I am?! I'm Hildegard von Hessen from the noble Hessen family! My pride won't permit you to worry about me!"
Hilde shouted, her fists, shoulders, and voice trembling, but her gaze remained firm.
"A commoner like you is never, ever allowed to worry about a noble! I've not fallen so far that you can fret over me! I will protect you because I'm a noble!"
This attitude was known as noblesse oblige.
It was a noble's obligation, even at the coast of being disadvantaged, to protect the weak and defy the strong.
The phrase is translated as "the noble's duty," but it is also referred to as "false stoicism."
"Just go. I'll take care of the rest. My house is fallen anyway, and if I invoke my family name for forgiveness, they won't kill me."
In Hilde's case, the word contained both meanings.
It wasn't sensible to feign such fortitude, but it showed her pride.
But it wasn't the weak pride cause by a fear of being hurt.
Hilde was beginning to develop a strong pride that gives up on selfish, cowardly people.
"Maybe you will see your sister again!"
"I told you. She's already—"
"Are you sure she is dead?! Have you seen any proof that she died with your own eyes?! You still don't know for sure!"
Ten years ago, in that backstreet, Heidrig believed the military would abandon his sister.
But that wasn't necessarily true.
Perhaps she was lucky, and the military put her in the hospital and she regained her health.
"The chance that she's alive isn't zero! Maybe she's waiting for you! But if you die, you'll never see her again!"
"................."
Lud lowered his eyes slightly as he listened to Hilde's pleas.
Her mother was dead. As were Lud's parents. They no longer existed in this world.
And you can never meet someone after they die.
"The chance... isn't zero..."
Every time Heidrig tried to kill himself or someone else, his sister's face appeared in his mind.
He always thought she was accusing him of killing in order to run away from his burden.
But what if that wasn't true?
What if it was a cry from inside him warning that if his sister was still alive and he died, he would never see again?
"Lud Langart..."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, but... I still want to live!"
Heidrig spoke the words that, for these last ten years, he thought he hadn't the right to utter.
"I think that sounds good."
"No, I don't think so."
Just as Lud answered, another voice spoke.
Huh?!
Lud whirled around.
A masked man stood there, looking as if he had been there all the time.
What's more, he was holding a gun.
It was the old revolver had kicked away, the gun that Heidrig had used, and that the terrorists had left behind with one remaining bullet.
And he fired that last bullet into Heidrig's head.
"A dry sound—blam!—echoed in the forest like a bad joke.
"Agh!"
Heidrig made a sound and then collapsed, blood splattering from his head.
"Did you think you had that right? An impersonator like you should consider himself lucky to have lived this long."
The masked corporal spoke quietly, in a voice colder than the iron mask he was wearing.
"Hey! Hang in there!!"
Lud lifted Heidrig.
"Ungh... Ungh!"
Heidrig didn't die immediately.
However, his skull was shattered, and his brain and a copious amount of blood spilled out, There was no way to prevent his death.
"Ungh... Unnngh!"
He was barely conscious and couldn't see or hear.
He was barely breathing.
"I'm... sorry..."
Nonetheless, he gathered all his strength and spoke through hazy consciousness.
"Sariya..."
Sariya, Lud didn't recognize that name.
He thought it might be the name of Heidrig's sister.
But there was no way of confirming that.
"Uarngh!!"
Heidrig, the name who was called the Wolf Man, breathed his last.
"What are you doing, Langart? Taking so long with such a man... That's not like you. You used to finish people off splendidly—and with flair!"
The corporal spoke to Lud as if addressing an old friend.
Once again, Lud looked up at the man in the mask.
What a collection of evil deeds he was!
Not just one or two, but tens, hundreds, thousands.
He exuded the overwhelming aura of one who sent tens of thousands of victims to their deaths, whether friend or foe.
"It can't be you..."
Lud hadn't noticed when they met before.
He must have concealed his darkness by wearing the mask and pretending to be someone else.
"Corporal!! You—!!!"
Hilde screamed and tried to punch him.
Furiously, she ran toward the man who had killed Heidrig when he might have lived a new life.
"Huh?"
However, before her arm could reach the corporal's chest, she flew through the air and smashed into the ground without realizing what happened.
"Uagh!!"
"Playtime is over. First Lieutenant Hildegard."
As he said this, the corporal slowly placed his fingers on the hooks fastening his mask.
Clink... clink... One by one, he undid the hooks and slowly removed his mask.
"I knew it... It's you."
Lud realized that his voice was shaking.
The shadow of war itself had followed Lud off the battlefield.
"Genitz..."
It was Genitz, the supreme commander of the Schutzstaffel and Lud's commander when he was a Werewolf.
"Lord Lieutenant General... Why are you disguised as the corporal?!"
Hilde couldn't believe what she was seeing and her voice trembled with fear.
"Do not misunderstand. First Lieutenant Hildegard. This is not a disguise. I was always the 'corporal'."
He had not just disguised himself as the corporal today.
When he was in the royal capital with Hilde, when she had beaten and kicked him in a foul temper, the man inside the mask was always Genitz.
"Why? Why?!"
"When a man has authority, every word he speaks has power. He can make a soldier resentful merely by the difference in rank."
The military is a hierarchical society.
The number of stars indicating rank on a soldier's shoulders determines whose orders that soldier must obey.
Even if that higher rank is held by a dog, or a pig, or even an incompetent young girl whose only skill is brandishing her fallen family's name, a soldier must obey any order, even to crawl on the ground.
"Tasting humiliation became my punishment. In that respect, Lieutenant, you were ideal."
Having a foolish girl dominate him had engraved in his heart the importance of his authority.
To Genitz, Hilde had been no more than a symbol of self-discipline, reminding him never to become like her.
And for him to say that directly to Hilde...
"Thank you for everything, and now... good-bye, Lieutenant!"
Genitz cast away the old-style revolver and drew his own weapon from the holster at his hip.
"Stop!!"
Lud shouted, but Genitz was already pointing his gun at Hilde.
"That's enough."
But Sven was even faster in swinging around behind Genitz.
"You ridiculous clown!!"
Sven's adamantine fist, which could pulverize iron, was flying toward Genitz.
"Order E56009490GTTT."
Before she could strike, Genitz muttered something softly.
"—?!"
At that moment, Sven's body stopped.
Her fist, which was a millimeter away from Genitz's face, was frozen in midair.
"What... did you... do to me?!"
It wasn't just her movement that was affected.
She could barely speak.
And an awful static that she had never experienced before was cutting through her thoughts.
"That's an emergency control code. Now, you cannot defy me."
"Why... But... No!"
Sven could imagine the worst possible outcome.
She now realized that Genitz was more of a monster than she had known.
If Lud had taught her heart how to love, then Genitz was sure to carve disgust and hatred into her bones.
"Unnn... gghh... aaahhh!"
Summoning all her strength, Sven screamed.
If she couldn't rip off these invisible chains, she could at least try to create the slightest chance of freedom.
"M...Master!"
Then, with a forced smile, she turned to face Lud, who was shock.
"I'm sorry... but I... can no longer serve you!"
Then, politely, she bowed once, investing it with her greatest gratitude, her highest respect, and her deepest love.
"Sven, what are you talking about?"
Lud was in a daze, his understanding far behind the events of taking place before his eyes.
"You will be a wonderful baker without me, so forget about me!"
For Sven, these words were so painful that it felt like they were tearing her apart.
But she had to say them.
"Please, just forget about me. Even if you see me again, it won't actually be me!"
This was the final service she could perform for her beloved master.
Genitz had stolen what was most important to her.
"And now farewell."
Sven raised her head, then turned her back on Lud and ran away.
"Sven, wait! Sven!!"
Lud shouted toward Sven's receding back.
No matter what the circumstances were, Sven never disobeyed his orders.
But now she ignored his command and disappeared into the dark.
"Oh, so that's her response, eh? How admirable!"
Genitz's body rocked with amusement as he coolly watched this unfold.
"Genitz! You... What have you done to her?!!"
Lud was furious, and he leapt up from his knees, and with incredible speed, threw a punch.
"Hmm..."
But it didn't connect.
Like a willow in the wind, Genitz smoothly evaded Lud's powerful attack, seized his arm, and bent his wrist ever so slightly, as if twisting a faucet.
"Gaaah!!"
Lud's massive frame spun around in a half circle and crashed to the ground.
"That was a pretty good move. It brings back memories, but it isn't enough."
Genitz spoke dismissively, without sparing a glance for Lud, now prostrate on the ground.
"I thought clashing with that man might awaken your past a bit, but... is that all you've got?"
Genitz mean Heidrig, the man he had just killed.
"Now then..."
Genitz glanced at Hilde.
"Eep?!"
She was cowering, and the eyes he turned on her were kind, warm, and completely unconcerned.
"I'm busy, so I can't keep fooling around here, I don't need you anymore. You can do as you please, So long, Lieutenant."
"Waaah..."
All Hilde could do was tremble.
"Wait!! What did you do to Sven?! Answer me!!"
Lud shouted, but Genitz didn't stop.
Slowly, he walked in the direction where Sven had gone.
"If you want to know, come to Berun. Come back under my command. Only I know how to make the best use of a Werewolf like you."
Leaving behind only those words, Genitz disappeared into darkness.
"Wait! Genitz!!"
Lud shouted.
But there was no reply.
"What the hell?! What in the world just happened?!"