Sawano Kawa wasted no time and charged straight at Annie. Annie narrowed her eyes. Moving later but arriving first, she whipped out a lightning-fast roundhouse kick aimed at his head.
Kawa was startled—too fast!
He hurriedly retreated, raising both arms vertically to shield his face. A heavy blow crashed into him, forcing him back several steps. Before he could recover, another kick shot toward him. Just as he was about to fall flat onto the ground, he hastily activated his ability and vanished on the spot.
"Tch! That hurts."
Though invisible, Kawa still landed hard on his backside. He simply didn't want others to see him in such a sorry state—he wanted to maintain an air of mystery. Magath, standing at a distance, couldn't see what happened. Annie couldn't see him either, but she knew he must have been knocked down; she had clearly heard him hit the ground.
Suddenly, a sharp sound cut through the air. Annie immediately retreated and looked toward the source, but saw nothing. Kawa's punch struck empty air. Thinking quickly, he crouched down and, in the final second before his invisibility wore off, launched an attack toward Annie's lower body.
Annie had still been focused on the position of his upper body. When she sensed the incoming strike from below, it was already too late to dodge. Gritting her teeth, she dropped down and crossed her arms over her abdomen to block.
Kawa reappeared.
Annie successfully stopped the rather underhanded punch and shot him a fierce glare.
Kawa grinned shamelessly. His invisibility was now on cooldown. He couldn't continue fighting—otherwise he would lose.
At that moment, Theo Magath began clapping.
"Good! Just as expected of a child of Marley. That technique just now—was it the unique ninjutsu of Hizuru?"
Magath had sharp eyes. He could think of no other explanation. Surely it wasn't some kind of superpower—only Titans possessed such extraordinary abilities.
"Yes, General. I once learned ninjutsu from a samurai who came from Hizuru," Kawa followed along smoothly.
"Very good. Come with me."
Magath led him back to the office.
"What the hell is up with that guy?" Reiner muttered through clenched teeth.
"Annie, are you hurt?" Bertholdt hurried to her side.
Annie glanced at him and shook her head. Then she looked toward the distant figure standing beside Magath and said slowly, "He's lying. That isn't ninjutsu."
Under her father's strict training, Annie had studied nearly every martial art and ancient combat method across the continent. She had heard of Hizuru's ninjutsu and had even looked into it in ancient texts as a child. The art was nearly extinct, preserved only in records held by Hizuru's royal family. Moreover, ninjutsu techniques required specific preconditions to activate.
But Kawa's ability had none. He simply vanished and reappeared without warning. Without Annie's combat instincts and experience, it would have been difficult to notice.
Marcel pondered briefly and sighed. "That's not important. We're descendants of devils who wield the power of Titans. If other races possess unusual abilities, that's not strange. Otherwise, they would have been wiped out thousands of years ago…"
He cut himself off.
Annie found some logic in that. As descendants of devils, perhaps others were granted some means to resist them by fate itself.
She clenched her fists.
Father, wait for me.
Her mind replayed the words her father had once spoken, kneeling and weeping:
"Annie, I'm sorry. I was too harsh on you growing up. I don't want honor as an honorary Marleyan. I only want you to come back safely."
Those words had shaken her numb heart deeply. For the first time, she felt cared for. She wanted to protect that bond at any cost.
Meanwhile, Kawa thought to himself lewdly, Annie, you'll be mine soon enough.
Magath pushed open the office door. Inside, a tall young man stood up at once—blond hair, glasses, light stubble.
Kawa stared at him for a moment before recognition dawned.
Zeke.
Zeke glanced at him and asked Magath, "Do you need me to step out?"
"No. Stay seated," Magath instructed, then smiled at Kawa. "Child, I don't yet know your name."
"Sawano Kawa."
"Kawa?" Magath searched his memory for notable martial families. "That name—your teacher gave it to you, didn't he?"
"Yes. My parents died at sea when I was very young. My teacher raised me. Recently, he said he felt his time was near and returned to Hizuru to spend his final days in peace. He told me to remain in Marley, saying my abilities could only truly flourish here."
Kawa spoke excitedly—because he was excited. His mind had already formed a plan:
He would follow Reiner and the others to Paradis Island.
Anime was anime; he held no deep sentimental attachment. After watching so many series over the years, nothing moved him much anymore—except the female leads.
If he had come to this world himself, why would he fight desperately for the protagonist? Back when he was just a viewer, he could silently support them. But now that he was here, he would prioritize himself.
He decided: he would go to Paradis Island, "collect" Mikasa, Historia, Sasha, Hitch—every named female character—and bring them back to Marley. Then Marley could destroy Paradis. Once those Eldian girls were in Marley, they would have no one to rely on but him. He would have several beautiful heroines as maids.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became—until he hastily forced himself to stop, mentally reciting trigonometric formulas, multiplication tables, the periodic table, Japanese syllabary charts…
Calm.
"Kawa, are you willing to join the military and contribute to great Marley? If you agree, I will cultivate you as my personal guard," Magath said sternly.
"General, I am willing. But I want to know what he does." Kawa pointed at Zeke. "I feel a connection with him. I'd like to cooperate."
Zeke was startled. A Marleyan volunteering to work with Eldians—even if just a child—made him feel strangely warmed.
"I am the Warrior Unit's Chief, Zeke Yeager. You are welcome to join at any time," Zeke said with a slight bow.
Magath looked thoughtful. Though Zeke was the Warrior Chief, he still wore the armband marking him as Eldian.
"They will be carrying out a dangerous mission— infiltrating the evil island of Paradis to gather intelligence. As Eldians, they have certain advantages. Are you sure you still wish to join?" Magath asked with a faint smile, expecting the child to back down.
"That makes me want to join even more. I believe we Marleyans are superior to Eldians. I'll perform better than they will."
"Oh?" Magath considered briefly. "Come with me. Zeke, you as well."
"Damn those Middle Easterners! Even after the ceasefire, they're still watching us closely!" A furious voice roared from the conference room.
"Although the war has ended, we barely scraped out a victory. They've likely realized that the power of the Titans isn't invincible," another high-ranking officer added.
The door opened. Magath entered with Zeke and Kawa.
All eyes in the room turned toward them.
Kawa felt cold sweat break out. A shut-in in his previous life, he had never faced so many imposing figures radiating killing intent.
"Magath, aren't you preparing the infiltration of Paradis? Why are you here?" asked Calvi, Commander-in-Chief of the Marleyan military.
"Marshal Calvi, I request joint operations between Marleyans and Eldians," Magath declared.
"What? You want those lowly Eldians to cooperate with noble Marleyan soldiers?" one officer protested.
"I oppose it. Eldians are a different race. Who knows whether they harbor ill intentions on the battlefield?" another added, ignoring the fact that Zeke stood right there.
Zeke silently lowered his head.
"Silence," Calvi commanded, and the room fell quiet. His sharp gaze fixed on Magath. "Explain."
"Our brave Marleyan soldiers are more capable. Such an important mission should not be entrusted entirely to Eldians. Therefore, I propose that this child infiltrate alongside them," Magath said, gesturing to Kawa. "Kawa, demonstrate."
His invisibility long off cooldown, Kawa vanished instantly.
The officers panicked, glancing around nervously.
One second later, he reappeared behind Marshal Calvi and casually placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Marshal, may I join now?" he asked with a grin.