"If you insist on going, then I'm going too. I won't let you throw your life away alone."
Mikasa looked at Chen Si with a firm, serious expression.
Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Armin quickly said, "Everyone calm down! The royal government is sending refugees to reclaim Wall Maria, but it's basically a suicide mission! They can't even provide enough weapons. They just want to reduce the population burden!"
"That's right," Armin's grandfather said sternly. "You three are not allowed to act recklessly. You must live."
"Mom, what are you doing?" Eren asked, watching Carla bundle up luggage.
"What am I doing?" Carla's eyes brimmed with tears. "If you're all going, fine. Grisha is already missing—dead or alive, we don't know. If something happens to you too… I don't want to live either."
Chen Si felt a headache coming on. He had underestimated how much they cared about him.
"…Fine. I won't go."
Mikasa immediately rushed over, snatched his dagger, and stared at him warily—as if afraid he would sneak off.
Cruel politics. Cruel reality.
Those in power needed only a small meeting, a few sentences, a signature—and the fate of hundreds of thousands was decided.
And thus, Armin's grandfather's life reached its end…
At the cost of two hundred thousand lives, the food crisis was finally alleviated.
"Let me emphasize this again," a voice said. "The Coordinate and the Founding Titan are in the same person. All you need to do is capture a black-haired, blue-eyed boy."
Inside a tavern in a civilian district within Wall Rose, Kawa took a gulp of Rose-produced liquor and spat.
"Tch. What garbage. Worse than Maria's wine."
"Is your intel really reliable?" Reiner asked worriedly. "Is the mission really that simple? We were supposed to search for years."
Present were Marcel, Reiner, Bertholdt, Pieck, and Kawa. Annie had infiltrated the refugee camp earlier to gather intelligence and was currently elsewhere—truthfully, she simply disliked Kawa and didn't want to take orders from him.
"No problem. I have exclusive Marley intelligence. You Eldians wouldn't know," Kawa said dismissively. "Reiner, Bertholdt—you two join the new Training Corps inside the walls and meet up with Annie. Find a chance to capture the boy named Eren. If you can't, then find a way into the Survey Corps. You'll have three years to act. The plan's already laid out. How you execute it is up to you."
Kawa had considered joining the Training Corps himself, but the timing to intercept Mikasa had already passed. By now, she was probably completely loyal to Eren. His interest waned.
Besides, three years of military training? Impossible. Back in his old life, he skipped gym class whenever he could.
He had considered other strategies—having Bertholdt enter Wall Sina and bomb the royal government leadership, or launching a surprise night assault on the training camp. But that would mean full-scale war.
The thought of fighting alongside Titans made him shudder.
He had even suggested all five Titans attack the Training Corps directly and abduct Eren. Everyone else strongly opposed it. They feared provoking the Founding Titan and triggering the Rumbling to destroy their homeland. When Kawa claimed Eren was both the Coordinate and the Founding Titan, the Marleyan Warriors barely believed him.
Frankly, Kawa simply didn't inspire confidence.
"Marcel, you stay within Wall Rose. Investigate the upper ranks there and cause minor disruptions when appropriate—but nothing too big. Support Reiner's group when necessary. Only transform as a last resort. Don't let the people inside the walls learn too much about us."
"Pieck, you're coming with me into Wall Sina. We'll act according to circumstances."
Despite his chaotic personality, his orders were relatively organized.
Before transmigrating, Kawa had been a shut-in obsessed with anime and video games. But he had played plenty of strategy games—and with foreknowledge of events, he wasn't completely clueless.
Spoilers alone were already a massive advantage.
More importantly, this time they had numbers.
Pieck didn't object much. She trusted Magath completely. If Magath told her to follow Kawa's command, she would.
And Kawa's abilities were useful. Since arriving on the island and killing a Pure Titan with Pieck's help, his powers had fully awakened. He could turn invisible for one minute with only a two-minute cooldown. His physical abilities had improved as well. Without invisibility, he could likely defeat Marcel. Against Annie, however, he'd still need stealth—without it, they'd be evenly matched.
He had considered drugging her—but even Marley had no reliable sedatives, and Annie never ate food he gave her. Bertholdt also watched closely.
Though he theoretically had command authority, Pieck and Reiner were more trusted by Magath. He couldn't push them too far.
Magath, after investigating Kawa's background and finding nothing, had grown slightly wary. Kawa might have been a spy from another nation. Still, his talents were valuable, so Magath granted him command.
"Waaah… Grandpa…" Armin clutched his grandfather's hat and cried pitifully.
Chen Si couldn't help thinking Armin looked even more like a girl when he cried.
"It's all because of the Titans," Eren said, clenching his fists as he looked at Armin. "Armin's grandpa… Dad missing… It's all because of them. We have to defeat them to take back our home."
"Armin, Chen Si. Next year, I'm joining the Training Corps. I'll gain the power to fight Titans."
"I'll go too," Chen Si nodded.
Eren's mouth fell open in surprise.
"I'll go too," Armin said softly.
"Armin?"
"I said, I'll go too!"
Chen Si looked at Armin thoughtfully. Sometimes grief and hatred could become courage.
"I'm going too," Mikasa said calmly.
"Mikasa, you don't have to," Eren protested. "You said the most important thing is to survive."
"Yes," Mikasa replied, glancing at Chen Si before looking back at Eren. "That's exactly why I'm going. So you won't die."
"Alright, enough talk," Chen Si interrupted. "Figure out how to deal with Aunt Carla first."
"…Huh?" Eren and Mikasa froze. Armin, fearing Carla's scolding, quietly backed away.
"This… this is your job, Eren," Armin said—and promptly fled.
"Hey, Armin!" Eren cried miserably, then looked at Chen Si and Mikasa with pleading eyes.
"Oh, what nice weather," Chen Si said casually. "Come on, Mikasa. Let's go sunbathe."
He took her hand and headed outside.
"Okay, big brother," Mikasa smiled brightly as she followed.
"Hey! You can't leave me alone to face this!" Eren roared.
"Face what?" Carla's voice came from behind him. She had just returned with vegetables.
"Uh… Mom… I'm joining the Training Corps! Chen Si, Armin, and Mikasa are going too! It's not just me!"
"What did you say?"
Carla slowly raised the kitchen knife in her hand. A terrifying glint flashed across the blade.
Eren swallowed hard.
You traitors… he screamed internally.
"The induction ceremony for the 104th Training Corps will now begin!"
A booming voice echoed across the field.
"I am Keith Shadis—the unluckiest man alive, assigned to supervise you worthless brats!"
"I do not welcome you. As you are now, you are nothing but Titan fodder—livestock awaiting slaughter! No, worse than livestock!"
"For three years, we will forge you into soldiers. We will teach you how to fight Titans. Three years from now, when you stand before a Titan, will you remain nothing more than feed? Will you become a wall protecting the king's honor? Or will you become glorious soldiers who drive the Titans from our land?"
"That decision is yours!"
Every word Keith Shadis roared carried overwhelming force.
He needed no amplifier. His voice rang clearly across the entire training ground.
With dark, hollow eyes, a completely bald head, deep furrows on his brow, and an aura of intimidation, he was terrifying.
Some recruits were already trembling, regret creeping into their hearts.