Lud Langart was one of Wiltia's most decorated Ace Pilots, with his ferocity and silver Hunter Unit earning him the nickname of "The Silver Wolf". However, something inside him died during the war, leaving him with a Thousand-Yard Stare so severe that even Avei, the combat AI built into his machine, became concerned for his well-being. When his job was over he refused a noble title, instead retiring to the newly-annexed Pelfe region to live a quiet life as a baker.
One day, Avei was awoken in storage by the designer of the Hunter Units, a man so brilliant that some called him a sorcerer. He had only one question to ask: "Would you like to become human?"
In the small mining town of Organbaelz, there stands a bakery named Tockerbrot. Its owner is an ex-Wiltian soldier with a permanent scowl on his face, so it never had many customers... until someone talked him into hiring a waitress, and his call was answered by a mysterious silver-haired girl named Sven. Somehow she wasn't afraid of the owner's face, and began working non-stop to prove that his bread is baked with love and care.
The war may be over, but corruption and political unrest continue to spread, and the Silver Wolf may be forced to once again bare his fangs. But when he does, Sven - Svelgen Avei - will continue to fight by his side.
The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress (Tatakau Panya to Kikaijikake no Kanban Musume) is a 10-volume Light Novel series written by SOW and illustrated by Zaza, perhaps best described as Fullmetal Alchemist meets Full Metal Panic!. An official English translation is available on Book-Walker
.
This book series contains examples of:
- Accidentally-Correct Writing: The "pineapple bread" which Lud invents (bread topped in cookie dough with a texture resembling a pineapple) is clearly supposed to be Japanese-style "melon bread", with the author even explaining the Local Reference for foreign readers. However, a similar bread exists in Hong Kong which is named after a pineapple.
- Accidental Truth:
- "The Wolf Man" was a notorious Wiltian assassin, spy and saboteur responsible for over 100,000 Filbarnian (French) deaths. He was also a complete fabrication used by Filbarneu to blame their own screw-ups on the enemy. However, when Filbarneu presented a random Wiltian POW and claimed to have captured the Wolf Man, Wiltia frantically bartered for his release, then locked him away in a private cell. This is because, by sheer coincidence, the fake Wolf Man was a dropout from an actual Wiltian black ops division known as the Werewolves.
- In book 7, the hit piece against Lud is mostly Blatant Lies, but while describing his past as a soldier it manages to correctly pin him to the site of the Lapchuricka massacre.
- All Myths Are True: While God is currently absent, Saint Europa and the Devil that destroyed European Empire does exist: Saint Europa is currently the The Man Behind the Man Shadow Dictator of August Federation after she escaped from the Door holding her 150 years ago, while the Devil is mysterious, Ambiguously Evil (or Hero with Bad Publicity) Noan General Douglas Meitzer.
- Archaeological Arms Race: Numerous factions in Europea and beyond struggle to gain control of the remaining Doors and the secrets behind them.
- Becoming the Mask: Marlene initially used the position as the orphanage nun as a front for helping Pelfe Liberation League, however some eventual hostage situation and discussion with Lud, she decides that she cares more for the orphans then the Liberation League, betrays them, and becomes a nun for real.
- Full-Body Disguise: No one realizes that Fianna Libera, the famed actor/scientist, is actually Saint in Full-Body Disguise. Daian invited her to a Door hunt without knowing, and when he got too close to the truth, Saint shed the skin and attacked them. He and Blitzdonner would have been killed if Hanussen didn't teleport them out.
- Central Theme:
According to the author, "the value of a human life". - Char Clone: Erich Blitzdonner, aka "The Crimson Hawk", a missing-in-action Ace Pilot known for his signature red Hunter Unit. He's also Jacob's long-lost father. While the mysterious masked corporal introduced around the same time turns out to be a Red Herring, he eventually loses his mask, leading to Blitzdonner picking it up and briefly wearing it as a disguise.
- Child Soldier: A number of them show up in the series. The Wiltian military has a system for adopting orphans as "Type-3 soldiers", with Lud himself having had his start as one.
- Cliffhanger: Book 4 ends with the masked corporal (previously implied to be the heroic Crimson Hawk) revealing himself as General Genitz and apparently killing Daian, Heidrig and Rebecca, before reprogramming Sven to obey him and taking her back to a conquered Berun to have her open the ultimate Door.
- Cyborg: Despite their use being illegal, it's an Open Secret that many militaries possess "mechanical soldiers" who've had part of their body replaced by machinery (some having nothing left beyond their head). Many of these possess features like hidden weapons, extending limbs, or even the ability for two soldiers to compact together and disguise themselves as a single person.
- Fantasy Conflict Counterpart: The Great European War, often called simply "The Great War", to World War I. It differed in that countries like Noa (the United States) never entered the conflict, and it was eventually won by Wiltia (Germany) due to their access to Lost Technology.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: All the nations are very obviously based on real ones, with little more than the names changed. Even a number of historical events are alluded to, albeit they didn't always happen in the same order.
- Flawed Prototype: Book 5 introduces the first humanoid Hunter Unit created by Daian, which, despite having some features that Sven and Rebecca lack, remained a pure machine which never "awakened a heart", leading him to dismiss it as a failure. When she does finally awaken, Daian still isn't happy... because her emotions are now too strong.
- Gentle Giant: Lud is a huge, intimidating man, but seeks only to bake bread that will make people happy.
- Green Rocks: Rezanite, a red mineral said to be formed from the crystallised hearts of dragons. It can be used to power the Rezanium reactor at the heart of the Hunter Units, the Rezaniumcraft which propels some types of airship, or the Zeihombomber explosive weapon.
- Historical In-Joke: In book 2 the massive airship Defairedead is attacked by terrorists, who believe that a catastrophic crash will cause people to lose faith in such airships. It's even noted that the vessel's rezanite-based propulsion system is the product of Wiltia's helium shortage, and was installed because the designers considered hydrogen too dangerous.
- I Got Bigger: Lud went through a massive growth spurt after his childhood days as a spy. Coupled with his younger self's cheerful demeanour, most people find it hard to believe that they're even the same person.
- Local Reference: Some imports from the distant nation of Yamato (i.e. Japan) appear in the story, including confections like anpan, two martial arts styles referred to as bujitsu and budo, and later a Yamato Ambadassador.
- Malicious Slander: In book 7 Lud falls victim to a propaganda piece which presents him as an undercover Wiltian soldier who attacked a pro-Pelfe political activist (in truth the man was a petty crook that some terrorists had hired as their driver, and Lud saved his life). This leads to his bakery being picketed by protestors from nearby towns, and eventually Lud being forced to appear in court. He has a hard time denying it, as one of the article's claims (that Lud was connected to a war crime) was accidentally true.
- Meaningful Name: The prototype Humanoid Hunter Unit, after she was given to Yamato, was named Lillie after lily flower in her owner Suzuka's family crest. She ends up falling in love with Hilde.
- Military Coup: After peace was declared, the ruthless General Genitz was placed in control of Wiltia's Praetorian Guard and immediately began seizing control of newly-freed resources (and unemployed soldiers) to bloat it into a force that rivals the regular army. It's extremely obvious to most of the cast what he's planning to do.
- Morphic Resonance: Sven and Rebecca both have hair colours (silver and red respectively) matching the colour they were painted as Hunter Units.
- My Greatest Failure: For Lud, his role in the town of Lapchuricka being wiped off the map, which lead to him quitting his unit and losing his ability to smile.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed:
- Lud is based on Yasubei Kimura, the samurai-turned-baker who invented anpan. Appropriately, anpan is among the exotic breads that Lud bakes in an effort to lure in customers, and one of his own inventions is something similar to melonpan.
- Erich Blitzdonner, "The Crimson Hawk", was Wiltia's ace-of-aces in the First European War who piloted a distinctive red Hunter Unit, making him a stand-in for the Red Baron. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he is also a Char Clone.
- Book 8 introduces a "General Douglas" from Noa (the setting equivalent of America), who is actually the immortal "Devil" spoken of in Europea myth, albeit he turns out to be a Hero with Bad Publicity.
- Book 9 has some scientists researching space travel mention that they were inspired by a sci-fi author named "J.B. Verne" and his stories about travelling around the world or vast distances under the sea. This takes a dark twist with the reveal that their newest project was backed by the military and is called the Verne-1.
- Lud is based on Yasubei Kimura, the samurai-turned-baker who invented anpan
- Not So Stoic: Normally Rebecca is a very calm and collected girl, until she's around her master Blitzdonner or Jacob, then she turns into a Smitten Teenage Girl.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: A Justified example in Book 2 - Sven's hair was designed as a radiator to vent excess heat, so releasing her Power Limiters burns away the black hair dye she'd been using as a disguise, reverting it to its natural silver colour.
- Precursors: The ancient civilisation of Europea which fell 1,000 years ago.
- Red Baron: Wiltia's Ace Pilots were allowed to choose a custom paintjob for their Hunter Unit, which led many of them to earn nicknames:
- "The Silver Wolf" for Lud and Avei.
- "The Devil's Black Spear" for Sophia and her machine.
- "The Crimson Hawk" for Erich and Sharlahart.
- Robot Girl: The "humanoid Hunter Units" Sven and Rebecca, along with Lillie, a prototype unit introduced in Book 5. On the outside they all look indistinguishable from humans, with the exception of their striking red eyes (which glow when using their full strength).
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Saint, a beloved mythical figure who actually caused the downfall of the ancient Europea civilisation, was sealed behind a Door in the August Federation (Russia) until her escape about a century and a half ago.
- Shout-Out: The head of Billions Trading, who faced life-long discrimination for having the blood of the Degas Clan, is named Joseph Shylock.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Lillie has a module installed by Daian that allows her to have limited understanding of animal speech. This becomes useful when she, Hilde, and Sophia needs to find out the people who wiped out entourage of "General Douglas", a Noan military mascot penguin.
- Sweet Baker: Lud.
- Won the War, Lost the Peace: A number of Wiltian characters comment that things may have actually been simpler before they won the war. While the absorption of Pelfe into Wiltia was a peaceful one (Pelfe was fighting a losing battle and turned to its closest ally for protection) it hasn't sit well with the citizens, fuelled by a combination of Wiltian elitism, unscrupulous Pelfeans using the transition to rob their own people while blaming Wiltia, and foreign agents trying to stir up a civil war. And that's before getting into the actions of General Genitz, who is blatantly redirecting wartime resources to his own troops in preparation for a Military Coup. The combination of having to defend larger territory and getting hit by arms reduction treaty doesn't help.
- You Mean X Mas: Book 6 has the inhabitants of Organbaelz preparing for the winter-time Holy Festival, in which a silver-haired woman called The Saint travels around bringing gifts to good children. The Pelfean version also includes The Saint's mythical adversary, The Devil, who acts as a figure like The Krampus. Sven and Lud are recruited to play the roles, with Lud (to his grief) making such a convincing Devil that even some adults scream on seeing him. There's even a gag where Jacob believes that presents are instead brought by "a man in red"... because he caught a glimpse of a Char Clone sneaking into his mother's bedroom at night.
