[8] Chapter 06: The Crimson Hawk

They somehow managed to put out the fire at Tockerbrot.

They prevented the whole building from burning down, but the shop, part of the storage area, and the oven were all destroyed, so Tockerbrot was unable to open for business.

The townsfolk helped in battling the fire was a blessed relief.

Of course, they were trying to save their own houses two, but many of them tried to comfort Lud and Sven for this misfortune after the fire was extinguished.

They had treated Lud as an outsider for a lone time, and he had felt isolated, but their kindness healed his scars a little.

"Mr. Langart, are you all right?"

Jacob's mother, Charlotte, was among them.

"Is everyone at the shop safe? Um, what about my son?"

However, her guilt over the trouble her family had caused Lud made her choose her words with care.

"Um, to tell you the truth..."

Lud was hesitant to explain.

"Jacob had been kidnapped..."

"What?! Was it Shylock? Did he use force to...."

It would have been much better if it had been Shylock.

If Shylock had Jacob, he wouldn't kill or even harm him.

"No, it wasn't Shylock."

The kidnappers had used a gun and a knife in critically injuring Shylock's two minions.

Although the kidnappers most likely had a reason to keep Jacob alive, there was no need to keep him safe from bodily harm. People don't die from losing an arm, a leg or an eye.

"I don't know who did it."

Even worse, Lud and Sven didn't know who their opponents were, what their intentions were, or why they had kidnapped Jacob.

So, they couldn't think about countermeasures.

"How did this happen? Why?!"

Charlotte collapsed and started to cry.

"I shouldn't have let you keep him...!"

Charlotte had not tried to bring Jacob home when she found out he was living in Tockerbrot.

She had remained silent, without taking any action.

"I wish you had just lost quietly!"

She had believed that a small-town bakery like Tockerbrot would quickly lose to the big capitalist, Shylock, and that Jacob would reluctantly give in and obey his grandfather.

"Isn't that why I gave him those goggles? I though finally Jacob had someone to take him in!"

"Charlotte, did you always plan on letting him go?"

Jacob's goggles were a remembrance of his father.

As long as he continued wearing them, a relative of his father might recognize him.

And that person might give Jacob a better life than he had in this limited, rural area where people laughed at him as the son of a prostitute.

The goggles had been the last hope, thought up after great anguish, of a mother who couldn't make her son happy on her own.

"I'm... sorry."

As Lud tried to apologize, he made a fist so tight that his nails dug into his skin.

Instead of feeling frustrated or angry, he was ashamed of his shortcomings.

"You don't need to apologize, Master."

Sven appeared, having returned from leaving Faran and Poracho in the hospital.

Organbaelz was a mining town, so its medical facilities were well equipped given the size of the community. The hospital was ready to treat serious injuries caused by accidents like cave-ins.

"How are those two?"

"Well, they'll survive somehow... But that's not important."

Those two thugs had tried to burn down her beloved Lud's shop, so Sven had not taken the trouble of seeing them to the hospital to save their lives.

She had done it because they were important evidence.

"I examined the bullets removed from their bodies, as well as the knife wounds. The knife was for military use nad the bullets were the same type used by the Wiltian armed forces."

The responsible party wasn't a gang, the mafia or even terrorists.

Only the military would use such special equipment.

"That means... the culprits are military."

"But I don't know if they're active or retired soldiers."

Sven added quietly to Lud's speculation.

Many unscrupulous people would steal equipment from the military when retiring.

"But... why?"

"I checked with the hotel at Saupunkt. Shylock is not in his room."

Charlotte was confused, so Sven added this clue, which anyone would understand.

"A wealthy man who thought he had no surviving family discovered he has a grandson. That wealthy man becomes obsessed with his grandson and... Well, what do you think would happen?"

This disturbance involved wicked people who would kidnap for ransom and wouldn't hesitate to kill.

"What you're saying is ticking me off! Why are you blaming Master?! This is all because..."

Tockerbrot's fire occurred because there were people who wanted Shylock's money.

Lud had innocently caught up in it, so he had no reason to apologize.

"Sven, that's enough."

Lud restrained Sven, who was raising her voice. He didn't want to accuse either Charlotte or Shylock.

If he did, it would mean accusing Jacob, too.

However, that wasn't only reason Lud had stopped Sven.

"Charlotte... To be honest, you didn't want to let Jacob go, did you?"

"-!"

Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise at Lud's words.

Her face clearly answered 'yes'.

"And, to be honest, you wanted to tell Shylock that Jacob isn't his grandson, didn't you?"

The goggles would have just provided an occasion to do so.

She could have claimed that she found them or received them as a gift.

Shylock knew that Jacob was his grandson because Charlotte had admitted it in the first place.

"Well then, why didn't you refuse from the beginning?"

"She didn't know what to do so."

Lud answered Sven, who was frowning in confusion.

It didn't matter if Shylock was considered a merchant of death or a crooked businessman, there was no doubt that he was one of the richest people in Wiltia, and perhaps in the world.

Jacob's life would be better with him than at a half-bankrupt repair shop.

The foundation of happiness varies. If someone were to ask if she had acted for her child's sake, it would be difficult to claim with pretty words that she kept her child in a life of poverty out of motherly love.

"Deep down, you wanted Jacob to stay with you, but you also wished for his happiness. You didn't know how to choose, so you decided to let matters take their own course."

Charlotte had wanted both to let him go and to keep him. Both desires were genuine.

That's why she had worried and suffered.

"Humans can't easily make sense of everything."

"Humans..."

Lud's casual words unexpectedly tore at Sven's heart.

She felt that he said that because she wasn't human, and therefore couldn't understand Charlotte's feelings.

"Um, Master...? What's that supposed to mean?"

Sven had to ask that even if it meant interrupting, and Lud replied as if admonishing her.

"Nothing. It's just common sense. But you understand too, don't you?"

"Um... Uh..."

Sven was shocked but immediately understood.

She had come to Lud in human form for his sake, to make him happy.

Her willingness to die for him was unchanged.

However, if that moment ever came...

She would suffer. She would cry.

She would yearn to be with him longer.

She would long to talk with him more.

Desperate to share even a little more time with him, she would weep.

This woman... Charlotte is like me.

Finally, Sven understood how Charlotte felt.

So, she could no longer to accuse her.

"After all, Jacob feels the same. He's a child, but he's not childish. It would be great if he could just be honest and say he wants to stay with his mother, but..."

The corner of Lud's mouth bent slightly.

It was his way of forming a wry smile.

Charlotte turned to Lud.

"Mr. Langart, did you know all this? Is that why you protected him?"

"The adults around Jacob were rushing his decision. They didn't give him time to face his own feelings. And after all.. he's my friend."

Lud held no grudge against Charlotte for the burning of his shop.

This incident, indirectly caused by Jacob's grandfather, had threatened Lud's life, but he couldn't hate the man.

Without Charlotte and Shylock, Lud wouldn't have met Jacob, his first friend in town.

"Charlotte..."

Lud sat down and took her by the shoulders.

"Wait a little. I will rescue Jacob."

He stared into her eyes to convey his determination.

"Um..."

Charlotte was confused, and her cheeks blushed a little.

"Um, Mr. Langart? I heard that you were a pilot."

"I was. Did Jacob tell you?"

Lud didn't go out of his way to talk about his time in the military but he probably mentioned it to Jacob at some point.

"I knew it. All pilots have eyes like yours. You resemble Jacob's father a little."

"Was he a Hunter Unit pilot?"

Lud was surprised at the coincidences the world held.

"Yes. He was always laughing at his own boring jokes. But when I was pregnant with Jacob, he told me seriously that it would all work out, and I should leave everything to him."

Other customers who had relationships with her only said, "It must be someone else's child!"

"When women become pregnant in a place like that, many choose abortion. And I couldn't quit because I had to pay the brothel back for the advance it gave the broker who had deceived me and sent me there."

However, one man had declared proudly that the child was his, and had created a path forward for that new life.

He had produced money out of nowhere and bought her freedom from her patron, before arranging for her return to Pelfe, which had not yet been annexed.

"When we said good-bye for the last time, he had the same look in his eyes that you have, as he promised to come back to me. He gave me those goggles, saying they were precious to him."

A different kind of tears now formed in Charlotte's eyes.

She may have given those goggles to Jacob in the hope of his father finding him.

"The initials written on the goggles are SS, but I don't know anyone with those initials."

More than one thousand Hunter Units were created during the war.

Even Lud couldn't think of anyone who might be Jacob's father.

"Master... hold on a second. You said the initials were from actual names, but the military records contained aliases."

"Oh, that's right!"

When Sven pointed it out, Lud remembered that they had used fake names.

"His name was Erich Blitzdonner."

""What?!""

Lud and Sven froze with surprise when Charlotte said the name.

"Blitzdonner... Major Blitzdonner?!"

"I believe so... It's not a common name."

Lud and Sven had been surprised to learn that Jacob was Shylock's grandson, but from the viewpoint of a former Hunter Unit pilot and a former Hunter Unit, this news was a much bigger shock.

"Um, was he well-known?"

Now Charlotte sounded stunned, too.

"He was more than well-known! There was no one among the Hunter Units who didn't know the name Major Blitzdonner! Textbooks on the history of modern warfare mention his name!"

Many ace pilots had fought on the battlefields of the Great European War.

Lud had been called the Silver Wolf and his superior officer Sophia had been called the Devil's Black Spear. But they were younger, and had been active later in the Great War.

By contrast, Blitzdonner had been a hero in the first half of the war.

He was called the Crimson Hawk. As the name suggested, he piloted a Hunter Unit painted bright red, and his combat prowess was praised as that of a warrior god.

"And, um, the battle of Ledinbrauner..."

"Yes. That was truly mind-boggling."

August-the nation opposing Wiltia-had developed autonomic tanks to combat Hunter Units.

August had attacked with 50 suck tanks, which had also been used more recently against Lud and Sven.

This fight would demonstrate the military might of the August federation's technology, a fight upon which the nation's pride rested, and a fight it must not lose.

However, Blitzdonner destroyed all fifty autonomic tanks with one Hunter Unit.

"Is that.. um.. really good?"

Charlotte wasn't in the military, so she couldn't grasp how awe-inspiring this achievement was, but she did understand that Blitzdonner had been an outstanding pilot.

She was taken aback, however, to see the stunned faces of Lud and Sven.

"Actually, it wouldn't have been so strange if he had risen to a higher rank, but..."

"Yes, his behavior was somewhat..."

Lud and Sven responded uncomfortably.

Blitzdonner was undeniably skilled, but his personality was eccentric.

"His success in battle was so great that they ran out of medals and had to make more."

"But that resulted in more trouble, didn't it?"

"When I heard about it, I was speechless."

Blitzdonner's accomplishment were so unparalleled that the highest medal available wasn't enough, so the military created a special honor, in consultation with the royal family.

It was a lavish article, worked with gold and diamonds.

Blitzdonner was the only soldier to received it during the ten year war.

"And then he sold the medal."

"I heard he boasted that he gave it in payment for a debt."

The royal family and the military had been furious. Any further misbehavior and he would have been arrested for the crime of contempt for the royal family.

After that, Blitzdonner was never promoted again. He should have risen another few ranks, but he remained major.

"Oh, but that was..."

As Lud spoke, he realized something.

"That was about 11 years ago, so perhaps..."

He remembered what Charlotte had said earlier.

Blitzdonner had covered Charlotte's debt to free her from the brothel.

"I see... That's why the major sold his medal."

For soldiers, medals are proud symbols.

But, in this case, there was someone he wanted to protect even if he had to forfeit his medal and suffer enormous reproach.

"Um, did Erich really die?"

"I don't know."

Lud had no answer to Charlotte's worried question.

She believed Blitzdonner's promise that he would return to her someday, so she would not give up on him. However, the situation was more complicated.

Blitzdonner had suddenly disappeared just before Lud had become a Hunter Unit pilot.

He hadn't necessarily been killed. Officially, he was missing.

He had abandoned his beloved Hunter Unit during a battle, and disappeared somewhere.

According to various theories, he had defected to another country or had been purged, but none of those explanations were convincing.

Usually when a pilot went missing, the battleground would be searched, and if the pilot's survival couldn't be confirmed after six months, the determination was that the pilot was killed in action. But the death of Blitzdonner, the best of Wiltia's ace pilots, would have a negative effect on the whole armed forces, so he was, to this day considered missing.

"Oh..."

Charlotte looked dark at this answer, but it wasn't enough for her to embrace disappointment or sink into despair.

It was uncertain whether Blitzdonner was alive or dead.

However, one thing was certain.

Charlotte and Jacob were both significant family to Blitzdonner.

"For the sake of a fellow former Hunter Unit pilot, I must save Jacob."

Lud repeated his decision.

"But where did they take him? Since they summoned Shylock, it must be nearby, but we have no idea where!"

"Since they're in the military, it could be an army base in the area, but I doubt their commander would allow such a thing. Hmm..."

As Lud pondered, he heard a cry that seemed to say, "Did you forget about me?!"

"Meow!"

It was Ellis, the white cat that Tockerbrot kept as a pet.

"Oh, Ellis... You're safe, too!"

"Meow!"

Ellise issued a sound as if making some point and pressed against Lud's leg.

"What's this silly cat doing? Wait a bit for your food! We don't have time for-Huh?"

Sven scolded the cat but then stopped when she saw the cat's neck.

"What is that?"

Sven had made Ellis a red collar so no one would think the cat was homeless.

A piece of paper was stuck in the collar.

"It say, 'Father and son. Baelz Mine, Guards."

Sven raised her voice in surprise after reading the message.

The handwriting was rough, as if dashed off in a hurry. There were also incomprehensible lines of numbers and letters.

"Does father and son mean Shylock and Jacob? And they're at Baelz Mine? And the culprits are... the Schutzstaffel!?"

Someone had provided Lud and the others with Jacob and Shylock's whereabouts.

Was someone with different goals a part of his? Or was this some kind of trap? The different possibilities further confused the situation.

"Master, we gotta go to Baelz Mine!"

Sven appeared to have no doubts as she urged Lud, but he saw her give Charlotte a serious look.

"Understood!"

Lud judged that it was better not to ask for a more detailed explanation and agreed.

* * *

The second of the two Baelz mines was where there had once been fighting against Augustan special forces.

It was here that Shylock came after receiving threats from First Lietenant Hildegard of the Schutzstaffel. And, he had immediately fallen prisoner.

"What are you doing?! I came, so release the boy!!"

Shylock protested, but Hildegard silenced him by wielding her gunstock like a hammer and hitting him in the face.

"Shut up, Degas scum! Don't get above yourself!"

Hildegard then ordered Vanessa to take Shylock to a nearby miners shelter.

"First Lieutenant, isn't our mission over?"

It was the masked corporal who hesitantly inquired.

The Schutzstaffel's objective was the capture of Shylock.

In the royal capital of Berun, the Schutzstaffel would have to worry about people seeing any attempt to capture Shylock, and his guard would have been lighter.

Shylock's trip to inspect the annexed area of Pelfe had provided unique opportunity.

"We have successfully captured Shylock, and his grandson too. Now Shylock has to obey us. We can make him promise to finance the Schutzstaffel rather than the regular military."

Their methods may have been violent, but once a contract was concluded, they would win.

The Schutzstaffel was attempting to control over the nation.

It had a strong influence over judicial systems, so Shylock wouldn't be able to get out of it even if he objected later.

"What's your point, Corporal? You're getting on my nerves."

"Let's go back. We have done our duty."

When the corporal said this. Hildegard glared at him with hatred.

Right now, there were ten Schutzstaffel soldiers present, in addition to Vanessa and the corporal, who were adjutants to Hildegard.

They had requisitioned materials and facilities from a nearby base, but they hadn't borrowed soldiers.

If the commanding officer, Colonel Bardenbelger, learned of the Schutzstaffel organizing a kidnapping for ransom, he wasn't likely to remain silent.

"If Marshal Elvin learns of this mission, he may dispatch a punitive force on grounds that the Schutzstaffel has smeared the name of the monarch."

"That is impossible. As soon as that half-bread from the common folk ordered it, he would put himself in danger. The royal capital where he is situated is under the Schutzstaffel's control."

"But Pelfe, where we are at the moment, is under the regular's army control!"

Their mission was complete, so staying here any longer only increased the danger.

It would only be right for the commander to order an immediate withdrawal.

Nonetheless, Hildegard kept the soldiers on standby, as if she were waiting for something.

"Be quiet! Do not speak!"

"Gagh!"

Hildegard's kick sank into the corporal's belly.

"I have satisfied my orders, but only boring generals merely obey orders. Who do you think I am?! I'm the next head of the illustrious Hessen family! Hildegard Von Hessen, who will someday be the right hand of the lord lieutenant general and carry the Schutzstaffel!"

Again, Hildegard kicked the corporal, who hunched, gripping his belly.

"What are you... trying to do?"

"I'm going wolf hunting! I'm going to present the lieutenant general the head of a silver-coated wolf!"

As she grinned, her eyes glowed with insanity.

* * *

"The Hessen family... It is a well-known family. They contributed to the building of Wiltia, and it is a military family of ancient and honorable origin!"

Shylock mumbled as they yanked him along.

"Oh... how knowledgeable you are!"

This impressed Vanessa, whose smile betrayed a subtle sneer.

"I had to memorize the family trees of nobility for my job."

"But it can't be very useful to remember the names of fallen nobles, can it?"

The members of the first generation of the Hessen family had been masters of the pike known as the Tigers, Generation after generation; the family had produced famous soldiers.

But that was a story of the past.

Modern warfare, in which soldiers with rifles and tanks and fighter planes comprised the main forces, provided little opportunity for traditional warriors.

The new form of war required someone like Elvin, who was capable of advanced information processing and effective administration.

Nonetheless, the Hessens still chased acclaim as traditional warriors because that was all they had left.

As a result, their name had swiftly fallen. They found it necessary to survive by selling ancestral lands and assets, but in the end, all they had left was their pride.

"That's no way to talk to your superior officer!"

"It can't be helped. It's the truth."

Vanessa's smiling face didn't hold the slightest respect for Hildegard.

With people like this around, no wonder she went crazy...

Her environment had nurtured her elitism and conceit.

"Well, you can continue this conversation with your grandson."

After entering the shelter, she pushed Shylock to the storehouse in the back.

"Who's there?"

Jacob's voice emerged from the dim light inside the storehouse.

"Jacob? Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"They kicked me, but it's nothing serious. I cut the inside of my mouth, though."

Faint moonlight was shining through a small window with iron bars.

It was impossible for Shylock to check his own grandson's injuries.

"Who are they? Soldiers?"

"No. They're called the Schutzstaffel. They're slightly different from other soldiers."

While Shylock was carefully choosing his words, not knowing how to explain, Jacob answered with a sigh.

"Never mind. I don't care who they are. At least there's no mistake about you being the cause."

"That's... I'm sorry."

Many complicated issues were involved, but Shylock would have to say no if asked whether this would have happened to Jacob if the boy hadn't been his grandson.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

Jacob mumbled softly.

"Your son ran away... And in the place of my father, you want me to inherit your company?! Give me a break! You couldn't succeed with your son, so you want me to do-over with your grandson?! Who do you think you are?!"

Shylock ignored with others wanted and forced his affairs on them as if he were assembling people like parts.

No matter how much he smiled or how much money he offered nothing was more insulting to other people.

"That's why your son ran away from you! You didn't change, and now you're trying it one me, his son! Well, I won't stand for it!"

"Hold on Jacob... Please, hear what I have to say."

"No!"

The dangerous situation had put Jacob even more on edge.

He was attacking Shylock as the cause of all the recent disastrous events.

"Please!"

Shylock begged Jacob again.

He bowed on his knees, until his forehead touched the floor.

"What are you..."

Shylock's behavior stopped Jacob from speaking further.

Greedy Shylock... Man-Eating Shylock... This man's name had spread throughout the economic world-in Wiltia and beyond-and now he was begging for something from his young grandson.

"What I want... is for you to inherit Billions Trading, which I built."

"I knew it!"

"But..."

Before Jacob could raise his voice in accusation again, Shylock delivered his true desire.

"But before that, I want you to kill me."

"What...?"

Shylock's words silenced Jacob.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lud and Sven arrived at Baelz Mine, and proceeded cautiously.

"I wasn't expecting to come back here like this..."

The second mine was still half-closed.

The reason was unclear but apparently because of something located deep in the tunnels.

"This is the perfect place for ne'er-do-wells to hide... Be very careful, Master."

"Yes, I know. Anyway, it's really dark here."

Right before dawn was the darkest time of the day, and this was unused mine.

However, they couldn't use lights without revealing their presence.

Lud was trained and somewhat experienced with night maneuvers.

"Master... Um, if you wish, I could hold your hand?"

Sven could sense light invisible to the human eye.

This wasn't even what she consider dark.

"Oh, maybe that's a good idea."

But just as Lud reached out to her, moonlight shone through the clouds.

Why now?!

Sven was about to rant against the moon floating in the sky when a much bigger light suddenly appeared.

"What's that?"

It was a military searchlight, but it was nothing like the light from the watchtowers on a military base.

It was a light used for night manuevers that was typically attached to the shoulders of a very particular weapon.

"Thank you for coming, Coloner Lud Langart. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am First Lieutenant Hildegard von Hessen."

An Iron Giant, the driving force of Wiltia's victory, was before them and Hildegard was inside.

"A... Hunter Unit!?" L-Arms. Type Gigantes. It was the most recent model owned by the Wiltian military, model number LS-9 Teepneuen.

"And now... it's a wolf-hunting time!"

She spoke to Lud and Sven through the Teepneuen's external speakers.

Inside the cockpit, Hildegard was feeling a heady sense of exhilaration.

"Bring it on, Silver Wolf! Let's go all out with a one-on-one fight! And if you don't like the odds, you can ask that girl next to you to lend a hand! Because I'm that magnanimous!"

She was delighted at the prospect of using devastating power to smash her enemies.

"What the heck? We don't stand a chance like this!"

Sven possessed more power than a human being.

Even the mechanical soldiers of Greyten, modified so that 90 percent of their bodies were replaced with machines, weren't strong enough to destroy her.

However, those opponents were at least her size. Her power couldn't defeat this new, improved Hunter Unit, which was equipped with the latest technological advancements.

"There's nothing to do but run!"

Even worse, Lud was a human being. He was trained in martial arts, but he could not fight back against this.

"Ah ha ha ha! Are you fleeing? Okay! Let's play tag! I'll count to a hundred, so run!"

They had come to the mine to rescue Jacob, but Lud and Sven now had no choice but to run for their lives.

Hildegard laughed as if she found endless amusements in their predicament.

"What should we do, Master?! If this keeps up..."

Sven was thinking as she ran.

She racked her cognitive functions desperately, calculating from every angle, to search for a way to turn the situation to their advantage.

Nope! Our best chance would be for lightning to strike and fry all electrical devices!

The cruel reality was that they needed a hundred miracles for even a chance for winning, given the difference in combat capability between a Hunter Unit and an unarmed human being.

Only a Hunter Unit can defeat a Hunter Unit. I know that better than anyone...

Sven found herself wishing that she could turn back into what she used to be, if only for a moment.

She couldn't believe the day had come when she actually wished to be a machine again, after gaining a human body of her own will.

Sven ground her teeth in frustration as she heard Hildegard counting over the speakers.

"...93 ...94 ..."

It was impossible to escape a Hunter Unit's range in two minutes.

Even if they made it as far as a kilometer away, that was no distance for the legs of a giant.

If we had a Hunter Unit, even an older model, Master would never lose to this creep!

She had a sudden idea.

"Of course! There is one!"

A few days ago, when Lud returned from a delivery to the mine, he told her about his chat with the head miner, Laurel.

If they could make use of that...

"Master! Let's go to the first mine!"

She tugged Lud's hand and picked up the pace.

Aw, man... I always dreamed of a stroll holding his hand, but this isn't what I had in mind!

Sven fervently cursed the deity of fate who wouldn't just let her be a girl in love.