Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 153

Griffin, Sisian, and Juliet stood together silently, keeping company with the girl in front of them—Ypper, who was kneeling in front of a tombstone, head bowed, seemingly talking to the person buried beneath it.

"I will grow up, brother... I won't..." The girl sobbed uncontrollably, her long black hair draped over her back soaking the sand in front of her along with her tears.

Griffin and Sisian were about to step forward to persuade her when Juliet silently walked over and squatted down next to Ypel, taking out a handkerchief as she helped her up.

"Thank you...I'm sorry..." Seemingly somewhat overwhelmed, Ypel quickly raised her arms to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Captain Griffin, I..."

"Don't cry, it's okay." He gently hugged her and patted her head. "It's already a blessing that your brother can still hear you."

"Um……"

"Let's go, uh, where to? Honestly, our knight order is about to have a long break, but suddenly we don't know what to do..."

“Let’s head towards the city center.” Shisian put on her beret. “It’s hard to say about Lilizia, but Angeli should still be busy at headquarters. Haven’t we seen the captain in a long time?”

……

I hadn't gone more than a few steps when I saw a huge vehicle drive up the street, blocking the entire road. People and vehicles passing by hurriedly moved to the side.

"Give me, let me!"

"Hey? Daimler?" Griffin recognized the officer directing traffic at the intersection and waved to him. "Hey, what's that huge thing?"

"Hurry up, hurry up!" The officer called after the large creature and its entourage had left before replying, "Oh, it's you. Well, this thing just came from District 11; it's going to widen the subway tunnels beneath this city."

"Oh? A tunnel boring machine?"

"Yes, a few small ones weren't enough, but finally a big shot has arrived. Didn't Her Highness say that it's really necessary to utilize the underground space in Berlin, and it can be drastically modified? Cough, let me be blunt, at this rate, by the time we've built another Tokyo concession underground, Berlin probably won't have recovered from those enemy bombers yet."

"Tsk, that's true. With so many dilapidated buildings and roads, and then some annoying airplanes to cause trouble, even Japan wouldn't dare to call itself decadent."

"It looks like someone should be taking over now, so I can finally rest. So, tell me, where are you and your ladies planning to go?"

"Are you going to stay here and be a third wheel?" Griffin grinned mischievously.

"If I'm going to be someone, I'd rather be a lonely third wheel, haha!"

……

The group crossed another intersection, where a convoy of trucks, crammed with ragged civilians, hurriedly drove away following a road sign: "Left side, sub-portal Berlin F."

“Germans, huh.” Juliet sighed as she looked at the scene.

"What's wrong?"

"Captain, do you remember this Germans? How long did they fight our current enemy?"

"Four...four years?"

“We fought the Soviet Union for four years, the United States for three years, and Britain for five years,” Shissian added to the two of them. “And now, here we are, and all around us, this is what Germany has left behind…”

What are you trying to say?

“I guess that means they think if we live here for four or five years, we’re probably not in the same situation as the Germans, right?” Daimler stuck out his tongue. “Ugh, this lousy 45th district will probably have to keep the high-ranking officials in the capital up all night.”

“Look ahead, everyone.” Xixi’an reached out and placed her hands on the shoulders of the two people beside her. “We can do it, and we will do it better and better. As long as there is hope, everything will be alright. If you don’t believe me, guess what’s making you feel something under your feet right now?”

"Huh?" Griffin and Daimler exchanged glances. Huh? It seemed like they felt the ground shaking. Good heavens, what big thing is coming?

"I...I...I...I..." Looking to the side, a truck with an extremely long body and an extremely fat body drove out of a street—unlike the giant excavator we had just seen, what was this thing being transported?

"Huh?" While the others were still pondering, Ypel noticed first, "Could this be the barrel of an electromagnetic railgun?"

"yeah?!"

"Oh? Why are you all so surprised? I just often ask about these big things..."

"You're not planning to carry this thing into battle, are you? Mounting it on your Gloucester?"

"Hehe, I was just kidding! But where are we going to get this stuff? The railway isn't finished yet, is it?"

“I heard there’s a large foundation under construction in southern Berlin. Could it be…” Shisian thought for a moment, “that they’re going to put a railway gun on it and then let the foundation rotate on its own…”

"Damn, assembling and fixing the railway gun onto the rotating gun platform?"

"Although it might save some time in laying the railway, but... without the railway, how will we move and hide this huge thing if enemy planes come to attack again? The amount of work involved in digging tunnels is even greater..."

"Uh, something like this, with its towering structure, is basically no longer worth hiding in District 45, right?"

"Hehehe, a pillar reaching for the sky." Daimler couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hmm, it seems Lieutenant Daimler and you are quite close, Captain."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"There's a saying that birds of a feather flock together. You didn't act like a lieutenant, but you definitely..."

"...I mean, you've only been in my team for a month, how come you know me better than Angelina..."

"Haha, don't forget who was your deputy while she was away."

……

As they laughed and chatted, a truck stopped beside them, and several soldiers jumped out and threw several boxes stacked on the roadside onto the truck.

"Hey? Young man, where did you get this stuff?"

"You mean this? It was just picked up from the basement of this building. If there are no surprises, it should still be a weapon left behind in the city by the Germans."

"Wait? Germans?" Juliet was so shocked she almost dropped her hair. "Didn't they collect all their weapons from the city a long time ago? How come they still have them?"

"Who knows what these people were thinking six months ago? There are more weapons buried on the ground than wild vegetables. We have no idea which forgotten corner has another one. Anyway, we just collected them according to orders and put them in the weapons testing station. We tried firing them, and they all still work. Look at that big bag of bullets. That's enough for the testing station for half a week."

"Oh, by the way, I don't know if you guys like watching a good show." The soldier wiped his sweat. "On the way here, I saw a place where a rifle was dug up. It looked like one of your knights' girls was about to fight with a few people."

……

"Seriously, Warrant Officer Lütjens, why are you treating us like this? We've done so much for you!"

Beside a pile of rubble, several ordinary male soldiers, like shadows or stalkers, squeezed a young woman in black with short white hair who was picking up a rifle. More and more people gathered around.

"Do you hate us that much?" The girl didn't answer, then attached the rifle bayonet she was biting to the muzzle. "Why did we 'fail'? Aren't you even going to give us an explanation?"

With a click, Lilizia smoothly drew a circle in her hand with her rifle, and amidst the layers of people, she pointed the muzzle and the blade at the few male soldiers who were entangled with her. The men actually retreated in fear.

"Can't you guys have any self-awareness?" The warrant officer sighed and pulled back the bolt, but no spent cartridges ejected. "You were just about to challenge me to a duel, to 'conquer' me with your strength? Now you're chickening out so quickly?"

"I...I...we were just..."

“You wouldn’t even dare face the enemy’s weapon from District 45, not even a bayonet.” Lilizia extended her finger and lightly drew blood from the bayonet’s blade. “Then, do you think you can withstand me? Right here?”

"You! How dare you say that about us?!" The male soldiers were furious. One young man with glasses almost cried. "We just haven't been on the front lines much, and you... never mind, we're not talking! Who, who goes first?"

"Come on in..."

"Ahem, you're here?"

"How about you take over?"

……

"Hey, it really is her."

Meanwhile, outside the crowd of onlookers, Griffin's team climbed onto a pile of rocks and peered inside.

"It seems that what the captain always said—that Lilizia has always had many suitors—was absolutely right." Xixi'an couldn't help but laugh again.

"Who wouldn't like a cute and spirited young lady? But these guys are no different from the old bunch of lazy otaku... I can't even compare to them in looks, but look at them, they were taken down by Lily without a word. Don't they have any idea whether she'll agree or not?"

"Huh?!" Ypel's eyes widened. "The bayonet on her gun, is it real? What if it actually hurts someone?"

"Don't worry, she knows how to use her strength. The sharpened sword is to make it easier to carve something on the little rascals to teach them a lesson, not to let those guys mess around with an unsharpened sword. Well, I wonder if these people will be motivated to improve, but I guess their budding romantic feelings are all shattered, haha."

Just as Lilizia was about to knee the last guy in the back of the head with the butt of her gun, Xixi'an seemed to have thought of something.

"Captain, as we've come this far, I have this feeling that someone is following us?"

"Are you kidding me? This isn't a battlefield. Besides, do we need to be followed? It's probably just some disgusting otaku again, isn't it?"

"No, I feel that figure looks a bit like Lieutenant Angelie..."

"what?"

……

As they were talking, they felt the footsteps behind them getting closer and closer. Before Griffin could turn around, two slender yet strong arms hugged him from behind.

"Huh?" His sleeves were a bright blue. Turning around, he saw a small blonde head pressed tightly against his back. "Angelina? What's wrong with you?"

Strangers passing by were still watching the duel in the distance, but only three young ladies nearby were watching this scene, a still image.

"Cough cough... I mean, you haven't seen me in so long, you don't need to get this excited... Ah, let go, you're going to break my ribs!"

Angelie then let go of him and took a few steps back. When Griffin turned around and met her eyes, she blushed and lowered her head to fumble around for a while, picking up the hat that had been knocked off when she hugged the captain.

“Xixi’an said someone has been following you, so?” He approached, took the hat from Angelie’s hand, gently patted off the dust, and then put it on her head. “Did Her Highness teach you to play hide-and-seek, haha?”

“Captain, I…” Angelie pursed her lips, leaned forward, gently twisted Griffin’s clothes, and pressed her forehead and body against the captain.

"Hey! Griffin! They took my..." Just then, Daimler, who had inexplicably arrived late, stumbled upon the scene. "Send...send it here..."

"What the hell..." Then looking at the dog she was holding, "Uh, okay Michelin, it looks like it's going to steal your food again today..."

……

"Captain, I haven't seen you these past few days, and suddenly I feel..."

"Don't say that. I suspect that the way you looked at me like I was trash back then was genuine..." Griffin grumbled as he patted Angelie's head. "I just want to know how you've changed so much after spending these few days in command center..."

"I... for the first time, I felt what it meant to be powerless... The princess's female guards in the command center were always acting strangely... I... I didn't want to be looked at that way by anyone but one person..."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... Are you sure you didn't pick up some weird thing instead of this script?"

"No, what I mean is... Griffin, I don't know if this is surprising, but... I originally wanted to observe you more, but now, I hope... I can always stay this close to you..."

He chuckled, looking completely clueless, and glanced at the expressions of the girls around him.

“Captain, I think…” Xixi’an said with a smile, “At this moment, we might be able to see if your emotional intelligence has been lost on the battlefield.”

With a satisfied smile, Griffin cupped Angelie's face in his hands and gently pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time, so you should make it up to me, hehe!"

Just as the two were embracing tightly, Daimler suddenly started snapping photos with his camera.

"Um?!"

"I wasn't filming you, I'm just carrying you!" Oh, so he was filming from behind. Lilizia emerged from the crowd and walked towards them. "Hey Warrant Officer! Want to see how handsome you look in other people's photos?"

"Tsk, what an amateurish attempt at cover-up."

"Then I'll just be direct: how about taking a group photo with your girls?"

……

"Come closer, hey, that's more like how you act after you just confessed to me."

"Hey, what are you doing with my hat?"

"What happened to the promised compensation? Can't I even wear the hat for a bit?"

"Alright, alright! Griffin! Free love is allowed in the military, but please look at the camera, okay? Listen to my command! Answer me: What is the Knights of Agincourt fighting for?"

"Victory!"

"Damn... Griffin, you look completely different in this photo compared to in real life..."

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Volume 3, *The Locks of Hades: The River Oder*, Completed.

Section 246, Chapter 176: Comrades Under Another Flag, Brothers Under Another Flag

If it weren't for the tank columns speeding along the highway and the KMF convoy, the nights in the Tokyo Concession would have been eerily quiet.