Chapter 15: Welcome to my home, part 2

They found themselves in a room consisting of a fireplace, on whose shelf there were various objects, a dark wooden table with 4 chairs, a television placed on a piece of furniture and the entrance to a corridor. On the walls were hung some pictures and paintings: one depicted the panzerfahren Team, with Hilda, Himmler and Göring in the head, intent on celebrating the eighth victory in the European tournament, proudly waving the flag that was awarded to the winners of the tournament: a another depicted Himmler wearing a traditional Bavarian dress; yet another depicted a wolf on horseback as bloated (as big as a Maus, if not more in front of a warrior on horseback.

"Fenri". Himmler suddenly said.

"What?" Kay asked her.

"That's the name of that wolf."

"It's a mythological creature, isn't it? Or a ... A cryptid? "

"He is the son of Loki (god of cunning, deception and destruction) and the giantess Angrboða. The Norse gods feared him for his abnormal size, for his strength and ferocity. So much so that one day they lured him to Lyngvi Island and immobilized him with a magical chain called Gleipnir, and put a sword between his jaws, so that he could not close them. According to the myth he is still a prisoner on the island, and they will remain there until Ragnarok. "

"What is Ragnarok?" Kay asked, obviously unfamiliar with Scandinavian mythology.

"Ragnarok, the final battle between the powers of light and order and those of darkness and chaos that will take place at the end of time, causing the destruction of the world and its regeneration. He is comparable to the biblical Armagheddon. " Her landlady explained to her.

"Ah understood…"

"Anyway this is the living room, which doubles as a dining room and Kriegsraum."

"Krieg what?"

"Kriegsraum, in English War Room. The war room. "

"Why this name?"

"It's the room the student council uses for important meetings, like before a match. There are three: one is this, the other is Hilda's dining room and another is in Göring's house. Anyway, follow me, I'll show you the other rooms. "

"Ok."

The second room she showed her was the kitchen: it contained a fridge, a table with a chair, some cupboards, the actual kitchen and a sink.

"I see you keep it in order." Kay commented, noting how neat and clean she was.

With that said she took a white-covered book that was lying on the table and looked at it. It bore the inscription, in red letters:

Die leckersten Gerichte der deutschen Küche.

And under:

Von Klara Eckart.

"It's a cookbook, right?"

"Exactly."

"Do you like cooking?"

"She taught me my mother, she is a good cook." Himmler answered her.

"And your father?"

"He is a teacher. He works at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, my hometown. "

"And I bet he gave you the love of knowledge, right?"

"Exactly. I have spent years of my life reading all kinds of books: novels, essays, history books, historical / scientific popularization magazines, etc. And thanks to them I can say that I have a very heavy cultural baggage. "

"I don't doubt it."

The next room was the bathroom. Kay noticed that the room was clean and tidy.

The next room housed a series of shelves full of books, lined up side by side in a row by four, for a total of 12 shelves.

"Let me guess, is this your personal library?" Kay asked.

"Exactly. Here I keep various types of books. "

"Of various kinds, right?"

"Yes, even if most of them are novels."

"Can I see one?" Asked the blonde.

"Of course." Himmler replied.

Kay thanked her with a nod. She went to the first shelf and took one of the books, and then looked at it carefully: the cover was black in the upper part and crimson in the lower part, above it was written:

ROBERT HARRIS

VATERLAND

And below was an iron cross (the highest honor of the Third Reich), with the inscription ...

"1964?" Kay said, perplexed.

"Yes why?"

"But the Third Reich collapsed in 1945."

"Not in the Vaterland universe, where it still stands in the 1960s."

"I do not understand…"

Himmler smiled slyly.

"I understand that the term Alternate history is unknown to you, right?"

"Yup."

"Well, I'll explain it to you. Alternate history is a literary genre set in alternative timelines where the course of history has taken a different turn from ours. Lines where the Roman Empire has survived to the present day, or where the Second World War ended with the victory of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, or where the Confederates won the Civil War. "

"Ah, I understand ... A fascinating theme."

"You can say it, Hilda and I are going crazy."

"And Göring?"

"She…"

Himmler snorted.

"She has little time to read ... You know, between boxing training, panzerfahren training, walking around the ship and daily activities ..."

"I see."

"Now let's go upstairs."

The upper floor housed three rooms: the first was Himmler's bedroom, the second the guest room, and the third her private study, which contained a desk with a laptop on it and, next to it, a notepad and a pen. blue; next to it stood a waste basket; on the right wall there was a small shelf that housed some books mainly books on mythology or on the Vikings: The Nordic Myths, The Song of the Nibelungs, History of the Vikings etc.

"You really like Vikings, I see." Kay stated.

"Exactly. They were strong and valiant warriors, and for centuries they were the bogeymen of the northern seas, with their ferocious raids to the detriment of coastal cities. "

"In Japan we have three Scandinavian themed schools." Kay said.

"Oh yes? And which?"

"Viking (representing Norway), Viggen (Sweden) and Jatkosota (Finland)."

"Ah ... Here in Europe we have the main Scandinavian schools are the Norwegian Erik Røde (Erik the red), the Swedish Gustav II Adolf (Gustav II Adolf) and the Finnish Mannerheim."

"Mannerheim ... This name is not new to me."

"It doesn't surprise me, as he is considered a national hero in Finland. He has fought four wars (Russo-Japanese war, the winter war, the two world wars) and was also president of his nation in the 1940s. "

"Some kind of Finnish George Washington?"

"I don't know how accurate the comparison is, but let's say yes."

Kay let out a sigh, then asked:

"Are we going to the third floor now? But I didn't see the stairs ... "

"On the third floor is the ceiling. There is nothing interesting, just junk. Other questions?"

"Yes, why didn't Ingrid (or Rebecca) recognize me?"

"Perhaps because it is neither one nor the other. That was Anita, the third twin. "

Kay was amazed.

"Did you say ... Third twin?"

"Exactly. Each of them wears a ring set with a precious stone: Rebecca a ruby, Ingrid a sapphire and Anita an emerald. "

"I'll have to keep this detail in mind ... At first glance they are identical."

"Of course…"

Himmler snorted, then said:

"Listen, Kay ..."

"Tell me."

"Would you like to stop here for lunch?"

An unsure expression formed on Kay's face.

"Are you sure? I don't want to disturb ... "

In response, Himmler flashed a friendly smile.

"No disturbance, indeed for me it is a pleasure to have company at the table!"

Relieved, Kay smiled back.

"So I'm in."

"Perfect! I assured you that my dishes have nothing to envy to those cooked by Hilda's chefs! " The bespectacled promised her, beaming.