Kana Akatsuki's award-winning Violet Evergarden tells the story of a young girl fighting her way through a post-war world, gaining personal skills while coping with the loss of her beloved Major Gilbert.
This story is based in Akatsuki-san's univers...
Author's Preface: Hello readers! To those of you who are unfamiliar with the Violet Evergarden universe, I have written some footnotes that define key words. If there is a capitalized word that does not have an explanation, it is considered common knowledge in the perspective of the writer and the common meaning and context of the term will be listed in the footer. There is a map below as well. Thank you for reading.
I will try my best to stay within the Violet Evergarden Canon, but I do not know everything!
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｢Among the bright-eyed soldiers that made up the original levy of Leiden's 87th Rifle Company, I don't think any of us were prepared for what we would see in war. Some of us were volunteers, and others conscripted into service.｣
｢The only ones in our entire battalion who had been in prior active duty service were the battalion sergeant major and the battalion commander. The rest of us were common farmers or students who attended a hastily-conducted military basic training just prior to the first battle of the war.｣
｢Being one of the foremost units deployed on the Gardarik front, casualties were a gruesome inevitability. Often times, the newest members of our company were the ones who would spend the shortest time with us. ｣
...
The Battle of Intense On this fateful night, we found ourselves wading through the sewer systems of the sacred city of Intense. We were all nervous, our boots treading lightly yet quickly through the murky sewage water as our squad leaders led the way with dim lanterns.
｢I could remember the Major saying, as he looked down at a pocket watch, "Five minutes until artillery." What followed I don't think any man could forget over a hundred lifetimes.｣
The major uttered the words, "It's time, let's go!" with a somber voice. Our squad leaders returned to their lines, raising their hands and giving us the signal to prepare for the assault.
I looked around me, trying to discern the expressions of my fellow soldiers, maybe for the last time in this life. At this moment, a young girl who looked no older than my baby sister at home (around fourteen years of age), emerged fiercely from our ranks to lead the assault.
She was a head shorter than most of the men. I thought to myself, "Aren't you a little short to be a soldier?" But those thoughts quickly exited my mind. This girl, Violet, had not only set the company's record for several obstacle courses during our time away from the frontlines, but she had a reputation as the best hand-to-hand fighter out of our entire battalion.
｢I can still remember every detail of that moment clearly now. She traveled lightly and riskily, without a helmet and putting to full use her combat knife and bayonet. When she looked up at the major, about to go, I saw her pearl blue eyes, and an expression of apathy on her face, as if we were about to practice another exercise. I think if I had known this was not feigned apathy, I think I would have been more scared of her than our enemy.｣
A dull thud resounded through the damp tunnels we stood in as the girl shoved the butt of her rifle against the manhole cover. I could practically hear the hearts of my fellow soldiers beating, as we waited with mixed feelings of apprehension and anticipation as we saw her deftly leap onto the surface.
The seconds felt like minutes and hours. Then we heard it. The faint and rhythmic pitter-patter of boots against grass stopped, and then there was a muffled groan. We filed quickly up the pair of ladders and into one of the numerous entrances to the lower city.
As I ran past, the girl was crouched on the ground, watching over our rear flank as we advanced. In front of her were the corpses of two watchmen, prey to her merciless blade. On the damp grass, a lantern cast its flames and breathed a blazing inferno behind us. But even with raging flames at our backs, and an enemy fortress to our front, what I felt was not fear nor anguish.
Because at the front, we had the Major, and to our rear, we had the Battle Maiden of Leidenschaftlich...
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From here on, the story will go back in time to around 3-4 years after the war's start. This is when Gilbert is promoted to Major and Violet is introduced.
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[1] 87th Rifle Company
An army infantry unit comprising approximately 200 people. A company is subordinate to a battalion, meaning a battalion contains multiple companies. A company itself contains multiple platoons, which range in strength from 30-60 people.
[2] Battle of Intense The city of Intense is a pilgrimage city built upon the highest mountain peak. The imperial Galdarik forces set up an Army Headquarters inside of the fortress overlooking the city of Intense. On the below map, Intense is marked as a small green region east of Alaiye.
[3] The Gardarik Empire The initial belligerent against Leidenschaftlich, the Gardarik Empire executed an invasion of Intense to serve as a staging grounds to seize the northern territories of Leidenschaftlich, which are rich in resources. The war was declared among a period of continental chaos, in which the East and West stood on opposite sides of a religious war, and the North and South has rising tensions.
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