The truth of the world

As Erwin and the other two read the books, Erwin's eyes gradually lit up.

(For the details of what was in the books, watch episodes 19 through 21 of Attack on Titan's third season. I won't go into them here, or I'd end up padding out several chapters. In short, humans existed beyond the walls, and they were extremely hostile toward the people of Eldia, wanting to wipe them out.

Then there were the nine titans in the world. The one Doctor Jaeger had inherited was the Attack Titan.

There was also Jaeger's tragic life: he had wanted to overthrow the regime and restore his homeland, but failed. His comrades were all turned into pure titans, while he inherited the Attack Titan's power and infiltrated the walls to seize the Founding Titan's power, then married and had a child.

The books also explained that the Founding Titan could alter the memories of Eldians, and why the Eldians had come to this island.

That's it.)

Only after reading for a long time did Erwin slowly close the books. Bai Yu had even gone out midway to give the people outside an update, lest they think the three of them had died in there.

But Squad Leader Hange still rushed inside.

"Commander Erwin, it's almost dawn!"

Having just closed the books, Erwin drew a deep breath and pressed both hands hard against his face, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Hange couldn't help worrying.

"Commander Erwin?"

But Bai Yu stopped her.

"He's fine. He's busy being excited. Levi, let's head up first and give Erwin some time to process it. Otherwise, I'm afraid he won't pull himself together anytime soon."

Looking at Bai Yu, who had read those shocking revelations alongside them yet acted as though nothing had happened, Levi finally recovered and nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go outside first and have everyone prepare to withdraw."

As Bai Yu and Levi went outside, Erwin finally burst into laughter, tears of excitement streaming down his face. The wish he had held for so many years-finally, finally, the veil had been lifted!

Hearing Erwin's laughter behind them startled quite a few people. He had always remained composed, no matter what happened. This was the first time he had ever lost control like this.

The same went for Bai Yu and Levi. Though they couldn't see him, they could imagine his excitement.

Beside them, Hange turned to Levi and Bai Yu in confusion.

"What exactly did you find in there?"

Before Levi could answer, Bai Yu spoke first in a rather casual tone.

"We found the most popular dirty book in all of Wall Maria from three years ago."

That left Hange speechless.

Seeing her disbelief, Bai Yu spread his hands, then put on a look as though he were swearing to heaven.

"Really. Commander Erwin told me ages ago that he wanted to read it, but Wall Maria fell before he got the chance. He's been thinking about it ever since. Now that he's finally found it, how could he not be excited?"

"If you don't want to tell me, then don't. Do you take me for an idiot?"

Hange couldn't help clenching her fists, but just then, Levi spoke beside her, leaving her petrified.

"Bai Yu's right."

W-w-what...

Outside, the Scouts were just about to rush into the basement when they saw Bai Yu and the other two come out.

Levi waved a hand and spoke calmly.

"Everyone, prepare to withdraw. Squad Leader Hange, take them to the other side of the wall first. Mount up and be ready to leave at any moment!"

But Hange still hadn't quite recovered.

Bai Yu poked her waist.

"Squad Leader Hange?"

"Ah, got it."

Hange led the Scouts away, though she kept glancing back at Bai Yu and Levi. Bai Yu merely smiled and waved her on, urging her to hurry.

Bai Yu also had Ming and Xiate join the others.

Only then did Levi ask Bai Yu a question.

"Why did you say that?"

"Heh. Consider it payback for threatening me into joining the Survey Corps back then."

His answer left Levi utterly exasperated.

At some point, Erwin's laughter had stopped. They turned toward the basement as the wooden door slowly opened, and Erwin stepped out with an ease on his face they had never seen before.

Looking at Erwin, Bai Yu nudged Levi with his elbow.

"This proves that, in Commander Erwin's heart, the truth he's obsessed with matters more than humanity. The good news is that he has the truth now."

Levi didn't answer him. He simply watched Erwin quietly.

"What are you planning to do next?"

A smile lingered at the corners of Erwin's mouth.

"Return to Wall Rose first. And don't let anything we found here get out. It stays between the three of us."

"Understood."

"Got it. The sooner we get back, the sooner I can sleep."

The three climbed onto the wall. The horizon was already hazy with light. Dawn was almost here!

Once the three descended from the wall, Erwin swept his sword forward.

"All Scouts, withdraw! Return to Wall Rose!"

Everyone began galloping away. Before heading to his position in the formation, Bai Yu couldn't resist reminding him.

"Be excited all you want, Commander, but take it easy. Don't lead us off course. You've fulfilled your dream, but I haven't fulfilled mine yet."

"Haha, don't worry. I'll bring every last one of you back."

Well, he's definitely gotten carried away. Still, he should calm down in a little while.

Fortunately, thanks to what had happened the night before, the titans along their route had all been cleared out. Those farther away couldn't catch up because of the distance, so they only had to deal with a few scattered titans.

Not many red signal flares went up, either.

Evening came, then deep night, before they finally reached Wall Rose. Dodging titans and riding at a forced pace had taken more than ten hours in total, and every Scout's horse was nearing its limit.

If the titans hadn't grown less active again after nightfall, they probably would have suffered heavy casualties.

Bai Yu had lost count of how many blades he had ruined.

They had only just reached the foot of the dormitory building and hadn't even gone upstairs when Ming and Xiate closed their eyes and slumped against Bai Yu. If he hadn't been there, they would have fallen straight to the ground.

"You haven't even bathed yet!"

"Dear brother, I'll skip it today. Carry me upstairs..."

Her voice grew fainter toward the end, and she fell straight asleep. Beside her, Ming didn't even say a word, simply hanging off Bai Yu.

"All right, then."

Bai Yu's Support Squad had switched horses three times along the way. They had used up half the gas canisters and blades brought along by the entire Survey Corps.

He really couldn't blame them for this. All he could do was carry them upstairs himself...