「A small town somewhere in the Empire.」
A group of young men had been conscripted for the war—some were honest young farmhands, others were idle vagrants who survived on petty theft and extortion. In any case, the town had been quiet for a good while.
Then, after spring began, the young men returned. The officer in charge of their demobilization gathered the town's residents in the square to deliver an important speech.
He pulled a speech from his coat, squinted at it for a moment, then gave up and stuffed it back in, instead bellowing to the residents:
"Quiet down! Please, quiet!
"I am Captain Cohen of the Empire Army's Marlin Second Legion. Now, listen up, all of you:
"Our great and merciful His Majesty Emperor William II says the soldiers fought hard, that you citizens who didn't go to the battlefield worked hard producing grain, ammunition, and cloth… and that His Majesty the Emperor, in his concern for the nation and its people, also worked hard.
