"If you insist on going, I'm going too. I won't let you throw your life away alone," Mikasa told Chen Si solemnly.
Seeing the situation suddenly spiral out of control, Armin hurriedly said:
"Everyone, calm down! The Royal Government is sending the refugees to their deaths this time. They can't even give everyone a weapon. They just want to reduce the population burden!"
"That's right. You three children are not to do anything reckless. You're all going to stay alive," Armin's Grandfather said, his expression stern.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Eren asked as he watched Carla haul out bags of every size.
"Aren't you all going? Fine. We don't even know whether Grisha is alive or dead anyway. If something happens to you too, I won't want to live anymore," Carla said, tears filling her eyes.
Watching them, Chen Si felt his head throb. He was utterly overwhelmed. What was going on? He had still underestimated how much everyone cared about him. Helpless, he could only say:
"All right, I won't go."
Mikasa immediately ran to Chen Si's side, snatched his dagger away, and kept her eyes fixed on him, afraid he might sneak off.
That night.
Chen Si slipped out of his room and crept toward the front door.
"Heh, as if I'd really stay behind. Once I get First Blood, I'll be invincible." Chen Si opened the door, looked left and right, and sighed in relief when he saw no one. He was planning to sneak off and enlist.
Chen Si had barely taken a step when a long-haired girl wearing a red scarf glided toward him with a faint smile.
"Where are you going, big brother?" Mikasa's sweet, soft voice sent a shiver through Chen Si.
After Mikasa caught him several more times trying to sneak away, Chen Si gave up...
Cruel politics, cruel reality. All those in power needed was a meeting with a handful of people, a few words, and a signature to decide the fate and survival of hundreds of thousands.
And Armin's Grandfather's life came to its end here... At the cost of a full two hundred thousand lives, the food crisis finally eased.
"I won't repeat the mission. Let me stress this one more time: the Coordinate and the Founding Titan are both in the same person. All you need to do is capture a black-haired, blue-eyed boy."
In a tavern in a commoners' district inside Wall Rose, a Mushroom-Headed Man took a swig of locally brewed liquor.
"Pah! What is this crap? It's even worse than the liquor from Maria."
"Is your information really reliable? Is the mission really that simple? We were expecting to spend a long time searching," Reiner said worriedly.
Marcel, Reiner, Bertolt, Pieck, and the unidentified Mushroom-Headed Man were present. Annie had infiltrated the refugee camp ahead of them to gather information, and her current whereabouts were unknown. In truth, Annie was thoroughly disgusted by this man and did not want to take orders from him.
"Get moving. You lowly Eldians should be grateful I'm giving you a chance to rise above your station," the Mushroom-Headed Man said arrogantly.
Everyone fell silent. Reiner sighed and watched the Mushroom-Headed Man and Pieck leave.
"Miss Pieck..." Bertolt said worriedly.
"Don't worry. With General Magath around, he wouldn't dare do anything to Miss Pieck," Reiner said.
"Reiner, are we really going to do what he says...?" Bertolt asked uneasily.
"At least if we want to avoid angering the Founding Titan and having it unleash countless Titans, our only option is to follow his instructions and find that boy who might be the Founding Titan. Let's join the Training Corps, Bertolt. This is our chance to infiltrate the walls," Reiner told him.
"Understood." With little will of his own, Bertolt readily agreed to Reiner's proposal.
"Waaah... hic..." Armin clutched his grandfather's hat, sobbing so pitifully that it tugged at the heart. Armin looks even more like a girl when he cries... Chen Si grumbled inwardly.
"It's because of the Titans that Armin's grandfather... And Dad is still missing. It's all because of the Titans. We can only take back our home by defeating them," Eren said, watching Armin as he clenched his fists.
"Armin, Chen Si, I'm joining the Training Corps next year. I'm going to gain the strength to fight the Titans," Eren said.
"Yeah, I'll go too," Chen Si said with a nod.
Eren's mouth fell open in delight.
"I'll go too," Armin said softly.
"Armin?" Eren looked at him in surprise.
"I'll go too!" Armin repeated loudly.
Chen Si looked at Armin with feeling. Sometimes, hatred and grief could turn into courage.
"I'll go too," Mikasa said calmly.
"Mikasa, you should stay behind. Didn't you say staying alive was what mattered most?" Eren said, trying to persuade her.
"Yes. That's why I'm going-to keep you from dying." Mikasa glanced at Chen Si, then turned to Eren as she spoke.
"All right, enough talk. You'd better figure out how to handle Aunt Carla," Chen Si said, throwing cold water on their enthusiasm.
"Huh?" Eren and Mikasa both froze. Afraid of Carla's scolding, Armin quickly backed up two steps, hoping to escape.
"Th-this is up to you, Eren." With that, Armin hurried out of the room.
"Hey, Armin!" Eren watched him leave with a forlorn look, then turned pleading eyes on Chen Si and Mikasa.
"Ah, what lovely weather. Come on, Mikasa. Let's go enjoy the sunshine." Chen Si took Mikasa's hand and headed for the door.
"Okay, big brother." Mikasa broke into a smile and left with him.
"Hey! Don't go! You can't leave me to face this alone!" Eren roared.
"Face what? Eren, what are you talking about?" Carla asked in confusion as she returned from gathering vegetables outside.
"Ah, Mom... um... I'm going to join the Training Corps. Chen Si, Armin, and Mikasa are all going too! It's not just me!" Eren stammered.
"What did you say?!" Carla, who had just picked up a kitchen knife, looked murderous. The blade in her hand gleamed with a terrifying cold light. Eren swallowed. You three deserters! he screamed silently.
"The induction ceremony for the 104th Training Corps begins now! I'm Keith Shadis, and I must have the worst luck in the world to have been assigned to supervise you worthless maggots!
I don't welcome you in the slightest. As you are now, you're nothing but Titan fodder, rations, a herd of livestock waiting to be slaughtered! No, you're worse than livestock! We will spend three years training your currently worthless selves, teaching you the methods and skills needed to fight Titans.
Three years from now, when you stand before a Titan, will you still be nothing but feed for it? Will you become an honored wall protecting the king? Or will you become glorious soldiers who drive the Titans out? That is for you to decide!" Keith Shadis seemed to roar every sentence, every word.
He had no megaphone, yet everyone across the open ground could hear his lecture perfectly. With his pitch-black eye sockets, his bald head without a single hair, his deep forehead wrinkles, and the menace radiating from him, Keith Shadis made every word sound terrifying.
Some of the more fainthearted trainees were already trembling at the knees from his shouting and beginning to regret their decision.