As Hans and Hetzer walked down the hill and closer to the village, they were both shocked.
especially Hans. Hetzer was more on the curious side.
"Um, commander this village... Hetzer doesn't know but feels a little weird." She said as she walked besides Hans.
Hans could see the wooden huts more clearly now.
To him, it felt like the villages he read about in fairy tales about the ancient world.
As the couple approached the gate, the militia in front of them crossed their spears making a big X before them.
"Stop! Who are you and what do you want?" The older looking one shouted at them.
Hetzer quickly stood in front of Hans, but he pulled her back.
No matter who she was, he just couldn't let a young girl stand to protect him.
"I am Oberleutnant Hans Ulster. And this is..... uh...."
Hans hesitated as he was pointing towards the girl. He was confused how to introduce her.
"Hetzer." She said,
"My name is Hetzer and I am someone very precious to the commander."
The guards stood in their position.
"Umm... Ober...." They couldn't catch Hans' name.
Now they gazed closely at the dresses both of them were wearing.
This was the first time they saw something like these.
They even frowned at Hetzer for not wearing any pants.
The black dress with the markings of a skill on the cap Hans wore frightened them a bit.
"A-are you bandits? Why are skulls painted on your dress?"
The guards pointed their spears towards Hans and took a step back.
"Huh no why'd we be bandits?!" Hans exclaimed.
"Then who are you?" The guard asked.
"We are just some travellers going west. We mean no harm." Hans explained.
He didn't say that he was an officer in the German Army.
The guards finally let them in after some convincing.
Hetzer was walking holding Hans' left arm almost hugging him.
Hans didn't care about it.
He saw that the villagers were glancing weird looks at them. So he thought that Hetzer was scared.
And scared she was as people whispered amongst each other glancing at her.
The village was small—almost too small to be called a village. Only seven houses could be seen here and there, as if placed by coincidence rather than design.
The houses were modest mud huts, their straw-thatched roofs weathered by years of sun and rain.
Most had a single room, though a faint curl of smoke from some chimneys suggested warm hearths within.
Each house was surrounded by small vegetable gardens bursting with green or chicken farms alive with the clucking and fluttering of hens.
There was a big well in the center of the village and it seemed that this was the main source of water for the villagers.
As for the population, Hans deduced there's no way there can be more than 30 people living here.
An older person, probably in the late 70s or early 80s approached them.
His face was wrinkled and he walked with a stick in his arm that supported his body. His head was bald and he had white beards on his face
The man wore a white robe that extended upto his legs.
Some more people followed him from behind. Two of them were unarmed while another had a spear on his hand.
"This might be the village elder," Hans thought.
"Umm.... who might this grandpa be?" Hetzer spoke after a long time.
"Shh, he might be someone influential around here so don't talk like that to him." Hans whispered in her ears.
As the elder slowly came closer to them, Hans greeted.
"Good day sir. I am Hans Ulster and this is my friend Hetzer."
"Good day young man. I am Asper. The eldest and the leader of this settlement." The man spoke looking at Hans.
The others that followed him stood behind him. They maintained strong glance at Hans and Hetzer.
Hetzer clung more tightly to Hans, scared of their looks.
This amused everyone present but none spoke. They found the young girl naive as well though her dress was still a little questionable.
"Um... can you tell me tell me which village is this?" Hans asked.
He brought out a map from his pocket.
"This settlement has no name. It's not registered in the kingdom's list." The old man spoke.
The word kingdom caught Hans off guard. Hetzer was confused as well.
"Aren't we supposed to be in the eastern front in Russia?" She asked looking at Hans.
"Ah, sir I don't understand." He showed the map in his hand to Asper.
"I think we were here." He said pointing at the city of Minsk in the map.
The old man was surprised.
"I have never seen such a map before." He said.
"And what's written here? I don't know what language it is." He further added.
"Ah, sorry you can't read German. I understand." Hans scratched his head with an awkward smile.
He felt silly for asking a Russian villager about a map in German.
"Anyways do you know any big cities nearby?" Hans changed the topic again feeling shame for mentioning the word German to a Russian.
"I must focus. If the Ivans find me I'll be in a gulag." He thought.
"Oh, yes there is a big city about three days walk from here. It's called the City of Golz." The old man answered.
Hans frowned. He never heard of this city.
"Huh, Golz?! Not Minsk?" He asked curious about the city.
But this time the old man frowned.
"Minsk? I've never heard of it." He said.
"Hey, where are you guys from? And where do you want to go?" A young man from behind asked.
"We want to go to Minsk. Do you know where it is?"
Hans said looking at them.
"As my father said, we never heard about that city. Maybe you can go to the city to check out." He said.
"Yeah, they would know more than us about the other places." Asper added.
"But won't the NKVD arrest us?" Hans spoke incautiously.
"Huh, what's the NKVD?" The young man asked from behind.
"Oh, its nothing." Hans said.
"Anyways my partner Hetzer and I are very tired. Is there any inn or something for travellers to rest in this village?"
"Hahah, as you can see it's just a small settlement. the only houses here are those of the inhabitants. There is nothing else." The young man said.
"No need to worry. Our house is a little big. You can rest there along with your wife."
"Thank you I will take you up on that offer." Hans smiled.
As they walked to Asper's house, Hetzer clung to him even more tightly.
"What's the matter?" Hans asked.
She blushed. Her face turned red from embarrassment.
"I-it's nothing. He just called Hetzer your w-wife." She hesitantly spoke.
"Oh, sorry. I will clear up the misunderstanding." Hans felt guilty for not noticing.
"Huh, why?! No commander...."
As they entered the man's house Hans called to him.
"Excuse me mister Asper, actually she is...."
While Hans tried to clear the misunderstanding, Hetzer pressed his mouth.
"Is something the matter?" The young man beside Asper asked.
"Oh no, it's nothing. Commander is just feeling tired and wants take a bath first." Hetzer covered up.
As they entered the house an elderly lady welcomed them.
"Welcome back dear. Oh... it seems there are some guests with you." She said looking at Hans and Hetzer.
"Thanks for having us." Hans said.
The guard that was following them went to his own house while Asper and his son along with Hans and Hetzer entered the house.
"Oh, actually both Hetzer and I are dirty and stinking due to our long journey. Can we have a bath first?" Hans said after entering the house.
"Oh, sure. But we only have one bathroom. Do you want to go in together?"
Hans felt shy hearing this.
"If commander wants it, then maybe...." Hetzer said.
Her face was now pink and she averted Hans' gaze.
"No, need. We'll do it separately." Hans said.
Hans went inside the bathroom while Asper's son brought water from the well.
Asper went outside to try and make some special arrangements for their guests.
In the meantime the old lady spoke to Hetzer.