(Note: I do not own anything. This is purely for entertainment purposes.)

Knute and Montley's bunk

As with everyone in Squad 7 seemingly turning in to the barracks, Knute had already turned in before everyone else. He was busy arranging everything in his footlocker when in flying in through the door, came his bunk mate Montley who looked as if he ran all the way here. The young man was panting heavily, sweating very profusely, his hair, and uniform dampened by the sweat, and last but not least, was hunched over with his hands resting on his knee's for support. But for some reason, the same jackass smile he had on his face hadn't seem to fade away in the slightest.

"Why don't you try and slow down a bit there kiddo? No sense in rushing everything you so," suggested Knute as he looked at the ragged Montely.

In between his ragged breathing Montley managed to say "No one...ever got rich...by going slow. Time...is money."

Knute thought about that for a moment in his head. Noticing that there was a grain of truth in what the boy was saying, he replied "Okay, you have a point there I suppose."

Once Montley had managed to regain his breath, he looked over to what Montely and asked him "What exactly are you doing?"

"I'm putting my things away. My equipment, and some of the loot I took from the Germans in Vasel," explained Knute, with money signs gleaming in his eyes.

"Loot? I thought we weren't allowed to loot the Nazis," inquired Montley. Along with the "no gambling" policy, the Gallian military was very strict about it's soldiers not looting the enemy of things such as money, precious belongings, or things like memorabilia to sell on the black market. Armies had a long history of looting enemy forces and cities upon their victory and it was widely accepted in the past. But as times changed, armies began to be more strict about looting until by this time they had completely forbidden it. But as usual, there were people in military service who would find ways around the rule or simply ignore it altogether. The only army in the world that still did it was the Imperial Germanian Reich. They would authorize it under the name of affairs such as 'reclamation', or 'state authorized seizures of enemy property'. This resulted in large quantities of priceless valuables such as paintings, gold bars, and more to be plundered by the Nazis in their three millennium of military campaigns.

"People from the Darcsen Calamity to even the Great War have taken the valuables from their fallen enemies. Why should we be excluded from such a time honored tradition," pointed out Knute, still sorting out what he grabbed from the enemy. He had a good day in Vasel, and gained what he perceived to be very neat little goodies.

Curious as to what he had, Montley asked him curiously "What exactly did you find in Vasel?"

Knute wasted no time in explaining the various items he now had in his possession "I've got me some kraut currency, thirty Reichsmarks to be exact and a nice little pocket watch. I also got me some extra gear, including...this little beauty from one of the Emperor's dead officers."

Knute pulled out an almost pristine German officer's knife without it's sheathe. It's handle was jet black with a silver pommel and steel blade made of the finest metals. Emblazoned on the grip was the Nazi eagle clutching a swastika. These were the standard issue combat knives issued to commissioned officers from Lieutenants to Field Marshals and Admirals in all branches of the German Armed Forces. It was made to look more elaborate than the combat knives that were issued to the regular German infantry. These officer issued knives can also double as bayonets where as the other German infantry simply carried a bayonet along with their combat knife. It was a highly sought after item by looters in the Great War, and Knute had managed to get his hands on one in Vasel. He was so enamored by the craftsmanship that went into making this thing that he had no idea whether to keep it or sell it.

He turned to Montley to show him this treasure, but when he saw the young man his expression was nothing like what he had expected. Montley had his back against the wall, his knees were buckling, and his face was frozen in absolute horror. Knute was actually quite confused as to how this energetic, smiling kid had suddenly turned into a quivering, frightened one. As he tried to figure out the cause, he noticed that Montley's eyes were gazing directly at the looted German knife in his hands. Suddenly it all made sense to Knute: the kid was afraid of the knife.

"Look kid, I'm not going to hurt you with this thing. I just wanted to show you it," said Knute as he slowly placed the knife back into his footlocker and closed the lid shut. This managed to calm Montley down enough so that he wasn't clinging to the wall like a spider.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Montley admitted "Sorry about that. I just have this little fear of sharp and...very pointy things. Bad experience as a kid."

"You have a fear of pointy objects? Well it sucks for you to be in the Militia then, because one of these days we may be on the receiving end of a German bayonet charge," explained Knute as he laid out the downside of this particular fear during the present situation in Gallia.

"Yeah...lucky me," said a now despondent Montley.


Up next on my now almost done list of support conversation is a quartet of people: Edy Nelson, Homer Peron, Jann Walker, and Walter Nash. After this one, I'll only have five left and then back to the story.

As usual, if you have a question or comment about this chapter or the story in general, simply send me a PM and I'll answer as best as I can. Also, don't forget to leave a review and to leave a comment on my Valkyria Chronicles Forum as well as to add to the polls I have there.

Until then,

- Heinkelboy05