"The Reiss Family..."
"That's right. But when I looked into the Reiss Family afterward, I discovered something that happened three years ago. On the very day Wall Maria was breached, a fire broke out at their estate. Only one member of the Reiss Family survived-the current head of the family. Very strange..."
Bai Yu pretended to ponder this for a moment.
"Indeed. For a family that possesses the power of the Titans, being burned to death in a fire isn't plausible."
As he spoke, Bai Yu glanced at Ming beside him.
"Ming, what do you make of this?"
"Lord Bai Yu, I suspect there's something fishy about this!"
With a blank expression, Ming delivered the line Bai Yu had told him to prepare. He had no idea what the point was, but Bai Yu had said it was funny.
Erwin nodded as well.
"I haven't decided whether we should probe the Reiss Family yet. If they realize we know the truth, they might erase our memories."
With that, Erwin took a small booklet from inside his coat and handed it to Bai Yu.
"What's this?"
"I've recorded everything we've learned and all our actions in this booklet. It serves the same purpose as those three books, though I haven't included their contents. I have a copy too. This is a duplicate, for you to keep safe."
Bai Yu accepted it, looking a little curious.
"Why not leave it with the captain?"
"You're the best person to entrust it to. There's something different about you."
Hearing that, Bai Yu wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Commander Erwin, aren't you putting a little too much trust in me?"
"The surprises you've brought me have far exceeded the trust I've placed in you."
"Is that so... Then who are you planning to put in charge of probing the Reiss Family?"
Erwin looked at Bai Yu and shook his head slightly.
"Originally, I intended to give the task to your squad, but you need to keep an eye on Eren. He hasn't shown anything unusual yet, has he?"
Bai Yu shrugged. Of course he knew what was going on with Eren. Watching him or not made no difference. Besides, visiting too often might put Annie, Reiner, and the others on their guard. That was precisely why Bai Yu had taken the assignment in the first place-he was afraid other Survey Corps members might alert them.
After giving him the assignment, Erwin had stopped asking about it and left everything to Bai Yu.
"So, how is Eren?"
"Same as always. He's dead set on joining the Survey Corps. We can just recruit him when he finishes his remaining year and a half of training. Or we could bring him straight over once the government is overthrown."
That reminded Bai Yu of Kali.
"Oh, right. You know Kali-the prospective member of our Support Squad I've got my eye on. I'm planning to have her join next month's Expedition Beyond the Walls."
Erwin had no objection to Bai Yu bringing a cadet who hadn't completed her three years of training on their Expedition Beyond the Walls. After all, hadn't Ming and Xiate done the same? Of course, that privilege only applied to people Bai Yu vouched for, because he had the strength to back it up.
"Hmm... No problem. Have her register with us when the time comes, and she'll count as a prospective member of the Survey Corps. As for this class of cadets, keep a little... closer watch on them..."
Though Erwin hadn't spelled it out, Bai Yu understood what he meant. That was another reason Erwin liked him: he understood what Erwin was getting at, even when Erwin himself wasn't certain and only had a hunch.
"Don't worry. We're watching them like hawks. Ming has a feeling too."
Beside him, Ming paused mid-drink and nodded lightly.
"Yes. There are Titans among the 104th Cadet Corps. It's a very strong feeling."
Only then did Bai Yu turn back to Erwin.
"I see... So you'd already noticed. No wonder you were so eager to take the assignment to watch Eren back then. We'll leave the 104th Cadet Corps to you, then. Right now, we have to seize the Founding Titan first, and deal with the Royal Government. Until then, we have no time to spare for them. Can you handle that, Bai Yu?"
"Don't worry, Commander Erwin."
As soon as Bai Yu stepped outside, he saw Levi approaching.
"Levi, I reckon this job is outside your area of expertise. Don't mess it up, or we're all done for."
Levi didn't understand what he was talking about, though he could more or less guess why Erwin had summoned him. He regarded Bai Yu with his usual gloomy gaze.
"What are you talking about?"
"Uh, just-good luck!"
Bai Yu stretched hard.
Come to think of it, he hadn't entered "Paths" again since the last time he had gone in and come back out. Had that just been a coincidence?
Bai Yu let his mind wander, and the system panel appeared again.
[Personal stats: Strength: 75.12 (+2.43) Stamina: 90.6 (+5.2) Speed: 85.3 (+3.1) Mental reaction speed: 124.8 (+1.7)]
This is getting tough. It's been more than a decade, and these stats keep rising more and more slowly, even though I've only been training harder. These gains took about a year and a half, and that's with my body still growing over the past few years. Otherwise, I'd probably have gained only half as much.
Sure enough, science and technology are the foremost productive forces.
"Let's go, Xiate, Ming. Today we'll get that Thunder Spear finished, then start working on long-range missiles."
Though they didn't know what Bai Yu meant by long-range missiles, they nodded and followed him.
... (Process skipped. The author doesn't know how to build missiles either.)
Several days later.
In the special research area Erwin had now allocated to Bai Yu, several targets stood across a large open space.
Bai Yu held something that looked like a missile, complete with a basic launch rail. To keep it lightweight, however, he hadn't made it too complicated.
It could be mounted on an arm, though using it required a bit of arm strength.
Bai Yu checked that the weapon in his hands was working properly. It would be absurd if it simply blew up on him.
Then Bai Yu secured the weapon to a table, made some adjustments, and aimed it at a distant target. For this first test, getting it to launch would be enough. Though he was confident, he had built a remote-control device just in case, and the three of them took cover behind a large iron plate.
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