Strike Witches:Afrika Chapter6
As I approached the tent that was pointed out, I saw that there was someone standing outside.
A tall and dark figure.
Getting closer, she appeared to be an armored ground infantryman, equipped with an armored Striker. It was rare to see black witches. She was the first one I ever saw.
"Halt."
The armored infantryman pointed her gun at me. It was even larger than the guns other armored infantryman usually carried. Rather than a gun, it would probably be called a cannon instead.
If anyone were hit with that, they"d be torn to shreds. Or actually, be blown away without a single trace remaining.
"Your permit."
I took out my press pa.s.s and base permit, and showed them to her. She scrutinized the doc.u.ments, then stepped halfway into the tent and spoke to someone inside.
"Come in."
Seems like whatever she said worked. The guard turned towards me again, and pointed inside the tent. Bowing a bit, I entered the tent.
"Welcome to my palace."
Having come from the dazzling sunlight outside, and suddenly entering the dim interior of the tent, I could hardly see a thing. I stood in place for several seconds, and at last my eyes got accustomed to the dark. I took a look around at my surroundings, and found a magnificently furnished room, which almost looked like it had been airlifted straight from Paris.
The walls were just the canvas drapes of the tent, but there were several sandbags normally used to block small arms fire piled about like sofas, hiding the canvas walls. There were also several ammunition cases and parts boxes placed as tables and chairs. Most surprisingly, at the very back, there was even a simply-made bar and counter top.
It looked just like a café in Montmartre.
Finally, at the back of the room a beautiful woman was seated and looking at me, a wide smile on her face.
"I"ve heard you would like an interview. You"ve come a long way, all the way to the end of the world."
She was tall, with long, white hair, and long legs. Oberleutnant Ma.r.s.eille, whom I had heard so much about.
She looked just like I had imagined from the rumors.
Prouder than anyone, more cheerful than anyone, overflowing with more zeal and life than anyone, more romantic than anyone. She was a witch like no other, a heroine straight from an adventure story, or a star in a movie.
Although she called this the end of the world, Fuso could also be said to be at the end of the world, compared to Europe. When I told her this, she laughed loudly.
"Indeed, Fuso is extremely far from Europe. However, Fuso is a civilized country as well, no? Compare it to this desert, where not even the faintest trace of civilization can be found. Even the glory of ancient Rome disappeared within the vast expanse of this never-ending sand. And now, even the few nomads originally living here have been frightened off by the Neuroi, running away to lands far off. This place is the true end of the world."
So that"s what her reasoning was.
"Ah, in any case, would you care for a drink?"
Ah, in any case, would you care for a drink?
She called to the outside of the tent, asking the giant ground infantry witch there to come in.
"Let me introduce you. This is my orderly, Matilda. She is from Transvaal, and came to serve me here as my orderly, never having once laid eyes on me, because "G.o.d told me to go to your side.""
Transvaal was an area at the south end of Africa. It was quite a journey to come all the way from all that way.
"The G.o.d her people believe in takes the form of an eagle, flying in the north. "Serve her", is essentially what she was told to do."
At that moment, Matilda joined the conversation.
"Eagles are the servants of our G.o.d. One day, G.o.d took to the sky as an eagle. Soon, it led me here, flying here before my very eyes."
Ma.r.s.eille smiled softly as she listened to Matilda"s story.
"And I am grateful that you are here, Matilda. However, I no longer need your protection today, so make me a dry martini."
Matilda took off her simple armored Striker, and headed behind the counter of the bar.
"What would you like today?"
"Ah, how about a Monty?"
"Understood."
I watched as Matilda quickly took out several bottles, the nimbleness of her movements contrasting with her large body. Would even the best bars in Paris have as wide a selection of alcohol as what was here?
"How about you? Don"t tell my you won"t join me, now."
I asked for whatever she was having. I had to ask what a Monty was though.
"Ah, Monty is a Britannian general, who recently took up duties here in Africa. He is in command of the Eighth Army."
And why was it also the name of a c.o.c.ktail?
"Well, it"s done, so why don"t you take a drink first?"
She handed me my gla.s.s, which had a small olive. I took a small sip, and could tell immediately that it was much stronger than a normal martini. The ratio of gin was obviously extremely high.
"That"s right, the ratio between gin and Vermouth is 15 to 1. And as for Monty, without a 15 to 1 ratio between our strength and the enemy, he will never attack."
So that"s why it was called a Monty. But it should be quite difficult to have 15 times the force of the Neuroi.
"Why, of course. Which is why we have not attacked even a single time."
It seemed to be an oft-repeated joke on base. Perhaps it was just the troops joking at the caution of the bra.s.s, or maybe it was actually true.
There was none of the grimness here that could be seen on most battlefields.
Even my own homeland of Fuso was engaged in heavy fighting, not only through the European Expeditionary Fleet, but also in Siberia where the Neuroi suddenly appeared. I had been covering the war there before I came here to Africa, but because there was a very real threat that our own homeland would be attacked, the troops there had been much more somber.
Then, there was the Eastern Front.
As part of the counter-offensive to retake Karlsland, a ma.s.sive invasion from the north known as Operation Barbarossa was being carried out. However, hard battles were still being fought all over the front, and the number of severely wounded witches like Lt. Rall was increasing all the time.
The campaign was moving one step forward, one step back. Or maybe one step forward, three steps back, so to speak. The recent start of earnest support from Liberion was likely a welcome boon to the troops there.
Nevertheless, by no means was the war here in Africa decided. Just holding the current front was all the troops could do, let alone attacking.
I suppose that would mean that it was all just a part of Ma.r.s.eille"s natural cheer.
With that thought in mind, I continued with the interview.
Finally, after an entire night of talking, I had heard all manner of talk from Ma.r.s.eille. Each time we got into one topic, that would bring up something else to talk about. Just talking about the birth of this great ace, how she came to this country and began fighting was enough to write an entire book.
For many aces, or actually not just aces, but for every single last person fighting, there are similar kinds of drama in their lives.
And furthermore, in the hearts of every person here was the desire to protect this world, and protect their loved ones. So long as we remembered that, this desert could also be seen as part of our beautiful world.
Before we parted for the night, Ma.r.s.eille handed me a small shovel, in case I needed to relieve myself.
"Go out from the tent, and walk directly forward 50 paces. Turn 90 degrees to the right, walk another 20 paces, and use this shovel."
Of course, it was night so no one was around to see, so I did as she said. I don"t know if there were any witches around that could see even on a night like that though.
However, I never thought that I"d find a new signpost the next morning. In front of the tent, there was a small sign with the words "Forward 50 paces, right 20 paces" sticking out from the sand.
I followed the directions, and saw another message on a sign, together with an arrow pointing down.
"Hailing from a distant land 10,000 km away, our comrade from Fuso dealt with the call of nature here."
Taking a look around the area, I saw numerous other signs with similar messages. Obviously, that was when I realized I had been made the b.u.t.t of one of her jokes.