As one of the Republic volunteer troops, Claude’s paternal brother, First Lieutenant Henry Knot, was part of a mixed unit of Federacy troops and Republic volunteers. After multiple supply runs, they’d become quite familiar with each other.
“…This position really is under concentrated attack…!”
The trenches were awfully cold, as they were filled with muddy water mixed with melted snow. Henry spat out those words as he dragged out an ammunition belt from an ammo box to reload a stationary heavy machine gun. The staccato of intermittent fire, meant to keep the gun barrels from overheating, could be heard from every corner of the battlefield.
Dozens of kilometers behind them, the artillery camp rained hellfire on the metallic wave pushing on them, but new units soon trampled over the remains of fallen Legion, continuing the nonstop assault. The precious few 88 mm anti-tank guns fired repeatedly, assaulting the Löwe, which pressed on with superior numbers.
This position had been under attack for only a few days now, but in Henry’s mind, it felt like it had been this way forever.
A nearby Federacy soldier laughed in a mocking tone. “The Legion used to be Eighty-Six; maybe they have a grudge against you guys, First Lieutenant!”
“Could be! Too bad you guys have to get caught in the cross fire, then!”
The excitement and tumult of the battlefield ran high. Their jabbing and joking was all done in shouts and was perhaps a bit too extreme to come across as banter, but the fact that they could exchange such hard barbs stood as evidence of their good relations. And better to vent their frustration at the hopeless state of the battlefield than to just put up with it silently.
“I mean, us Republic soldiers should make for good decoys! Our silver hair shines and all that!” one of his Republic soldier subordinates said in a joking manner—likely spoken in total desperation.
“Oh, we can’t have the big country of justice send you out to be decoys!”
“If you’re the country of justice, you should get a hero to swoop down and blow ’em all up!”
“A hero sure would be nice right about now.”
“Maybe they’re working on one in the secret research institute.”
“But seriously, where’s our backup?! What are the Vargus wolfies doing?!”
“Is the eintopf we ordered getting delayed?!”
The snowy mud was chilling them to the bone while the Legion before them kept rolling over no matter how many they shot down. They had to joke and quip to blow off the fear and frustration. As cold and exhausted by battle as they were, seeing his men still had the cheer and morale to laugh and chatter made First Lieutenant Nino Kotiro, the most senior member of the battalion despite being the same rank as Henry, crack a bitter smile.
“Because we keep getting focused on, fire support and aid is constantly sent to us, and the surrounding units get ground down. Just hold out a little longer. Once you’re done, I’ll get you some hot coffee and eintopf!”
“Yes, sir!”
“But man, I can’t stand the first lieutenant’s homemade stew recipe; it’s always so spicy!”
“The hell did you just say?! It’s my wife’s best cooking!”
“How’s the eintopf over at your place, First Lieutenant Knot?! Bet you put in lots of pork!”
The troops ignored First Lieutenant Knot’s relatively serious retort. Henry almost burst out laughing at the joke and replied, as his stepmother often did make stew.
“Sorry, we use fish and eels instead! I’ll make it for you all someday; you’ll be surprised at how good it is!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Like Jonas said, Lena and Annette weren’t allowed to leave the suite room in the military HQ’s annexed barracks, and they’d had their phones, information terminals, and RAID Devices taken away. Instead, they were allowed to watch the news and read newspapers, and indeed, when they demanded a newspaper be delivered to them, they were given the entirety of the daily paper. In other words, at least the higher-ups weren’t preventing them from accessing public information and were intent on letting them go back to the front lines once this incident was resolved.
…Which made Lena, seated on the classy sofa in this high official suite, bitterly think they could at least let them get in touch with Shin and the rest. In the few days since she and Annette had been brought here “for their own protection,” they’d examined the doors and windows in an attempt to escape, but everything was locked. Because of this, there was always someone in the corner of the room keeping an eye on them, either Jonas or one of the female soldiers working under him.
“I mean, this was all so sudden; I’m sure everyone’s worried about us. I’m worried, too. Rüstkammer is close to the battlefield, and the Legion’s offensive is ongoing.”
Shin had been expecting to see her soon, and now he was being denied this, so he must have been worried. But even so.
“Even if they knew where we are, they’re not reckless or hasty enough to charge in here. Those higher-ups are looking down on them!” Lena said, miffed.
“Hmm, no, I’m not so sure about that…,” Annette whispered wearily.
Especially when it came to Shin, Annette could see him hurrying over like a loyal dog rushing to his owner. Shiden was suspect, too. And so was Theo, who was outraged at Annette being taken away like he was the one being affected by it… He was less of a dog and more of a moody cat, though.
“…Are you listening to me, Second Lieutenant Jonas?! At least give back our RAID Devices!” Lena eventually turned around to face Jonas, unable to ignore him any longer.
After ignoring the barbed insults Lena had intentionally said loud enough for him to hear, Jonas replied indifferently, “I’m afraid I can’t do that for security reasons.”