Arthur woke early the next morning.
He wanted to get in line early to collect breakfast for the others, who were still asleep, so they would not go hungry that day.
But just as he got up, Mikasa opened her eyes and insisted on going with him.
Unable to dissuade her, Arthur agreed and took Mikasa along.
Not long after the two of them left.
Eren woke with his head feeling groggy. The first thing he said was to Carla, who was already awake, sitting with her head lowered and looking downcast.
"Mom, I think I saw Dad come back."
Carla trembled slightly at his words, then smiled.
"You must have dreamed it because you missed him so much."
"Probably." Eren nodded. He also thought it must have been a dream, unaware that he really had seen his father the night before.
"Huh? Mom, where did Arthur and Mikasa go?" Eren looked at their empty beds.
"They got up early to collect food."
"Then I'll go find them."
After getting Carla's permission, Eren headed toward the food distribution point to look for Arthur and Mikasa.
Halfway there, he suddenly felt something against his chest. He pulled his clothes aside to check and was surprised to find the key to his father's basement.
"Huh? How did this end up with me?" Eren stared in confusion at the key glittering in the sunlight.
Then something seemed to occur to him.
"That means Dad really came yesterday! It wasn't a dream!" Eren slapped his forehead. He had never expected what he saw to have been real rather than a dream.
"But where did Dad go?" Now that Eren knew his father had come, he wondered why he was nowhere to be found.
"Forget it. I'll ask Mom when I get back." Eren continued looking for Arthur and Mikasa.
Eren passed through the corridor and soon saw the long line of people waiting for food.
On his way there, he had also witnessed plenty of chaos.
Some people fought over food, some were still lost in grief over their loved ones, and others were injured with no one to treat them.
Every scene shook Eren to his core.
He had never imagined humans could be so fragile in the face of disaster.
Soon, Eren spotted Arthur, Mikasa, and his close friend Armin, who had just collected their food and were heading back.
"Arthur, Mikasa, Armin!" Eren waved at them.
The three smiled when they saw Eren and walked toward him.
As it happened, Arthur and Mikasa had run into Armin by chance. None of them had expected to get another opportunity to see one another.
"Armin, I'm so glad you're all right!" Eren gave his close friend a huge hug.
Armin was shy by nature, and Eren's enthusiastic hug made him turn bright red, though he was also delighted to see Eren again.
"You're finally awake, Eren. I thought you were going to sleep all day," Arthur teased.
"Haha, I overslept a little." Eren scratched his head sheepishly.
"All right, let's head back. Mikasa and I picked up enough for the whole day." Arthur showed Eren the bread in his and Mikasa's arms.
"Yeah!" Seeing that they had already collected the day's bread and that there seemed to be enough to fill everyone's stomachs, Eren felt pleased too.
"Hmph, a bunch of useless mouths!" A Garrison soldier standing beside them sneered disdainfully, then turned to leave.
"You!" Furious at those words, Eren was about to confront him, but Arthur stopped him.
"Arthur?" Eren looked at him in confusion, unsure why he was holding him back.
"Did you forget what I told you? Don't act rashly." Arthur cast the Garrison soldier a cold glance.
"Uh... okay." Eren remembered Arthur's words. Though reluctant, he agreed.
"There's nothing we can do about it, Eren. There are too many refugees, so there isn't enough food to go around. And since we came from the outer districts, we aren't exactly welcome," Armin explained.
"..." Eren stayed silent, but his tightly clenched fists showed just how angry he was.
"Seriously, why are the higher-ups making us share food with these outsiders? They should've let the Titans eat a few more and cut down the number of refugees. Then we could save some food." The same blond, buzz-cut Garrison soldier opened his foul mouth again.
He spoke so loudly that the refugees nearby, whether collecting bread or eating it, were furious. But the uniform he wore kept them from daring to say a word.
"You bastard!" Eren could no longer hold back. He was about to rush forward when Arthur pulled him back, handed him the bread, then lunged forward and kicked the soldier.
"Ow!"
The immense force of Arthur's kick sent the blond, buzz-cut soldier flying. He crashed hard onto the ground and cried out in pain.
The sudden turn of events left everyone too stunned to react.
"You little brat!" The blond soldier's brown-haired companion charged at Arthur with his fists swinging. He had never imagined that a boy barely in his teens would dare hit them.
"Tch." Arthur sneered at the brown-haired soldier's reckless charge and sloppy punch. He swiftly caught the soldier's hand, then heaved him over his shoulder and slammed him onto the ground.
"Aaargh!" The brown-haired soldier's back burned with pain, as though it had snapped in half.
"You can't even beat a kid, and you call yourself a soldier?" Arthur held the brown-haired man's arm and looked down at him in disdain.
The surrounding refugees stared in shock as young Arthur single-handedly took down two Garrison soldiers, then burst into cheers.
"Good hit!"
"These useless idiots! They can't even beat a kid, and they have the nerve to wear those uniforms!"
"How embarrassing! Two grown men beaten by a child!"
Hearing the mocking laughter around them, the two defeated soldiers were so ashamed that they wished they could crawl into a hole.
They had never imagined they would lose to a child who looked as though he had barely hit puberty.
"Arthur, you're so awesome!" Eren gazed in admiration at Arthur, who had beaten the two foul-mouthed soldiers.
"Oh no, the Military Police Brigade is coming!" Armin's expression changed as he saw a Garrison officer approaching because of the commotion.
"Arthur, come with me!" Mikasa also realized something was wrong and hurried to grab Arthur and flee. She knew these soldiers were all cut from the same cloth.
Arthur did not leave with Mikasa. Instead, he watched as the Garrison officer approached him with two soldiers in tow.
"What happened here?" The Garrison officer stared in bewilderment at the soldier pinned beneath Arthur and the blond, buzz-cut soldier lying unconscious nearby. He had no idea what had happened.
"Here's what happened!" Seeing the officer arrive, the watching refugees hurried to explain on Arthur's behalf, not wanting the soldiers to mistreat the boy.
After hearing the explanation, the officer looked at the two soldiers with a dark expression. He had never expected his subordinates to say such things in front of so many people. If word reached the wrong ears, he would certainly be reprimanded.
Those two morons had nearly ruined him.
"I understand. We apologize for what these two soldiers said. Take them into custody and bring them back to headquarters for punishment." The officer offered a few words of apology, then ordered the soldiers behind him to escort the pair away.
Then, seeing that Arthur possessed such strength at so young an age, he felt an urge to recruit him. After all, a child taking down two grown soldiers was truly astonishing.
So he said to Arthur.
"Son, have you ever considered joining the Garrison?"
"Sorry, I'm not interested." Arthur shook his head and declined the officer's invitation.
"Hahaha, if you ever decide to enlist, the Garrison's doors will always be open to you."
Arthur gave a perfunctory nod.
The officer then left with his men.
Seeing that Arthur was fine, the refugees offered him a few words of encouragement before returning to their own affairs.
Arthur went back to Mikasa and the others.
"Arthur, that was far too reckless!" Mikasa was deeply unhappy that he had done something so dangerous. Luckily, the officer had been understanding. Had they encountered one of the corrupt ones, Arthur would certainly have suffered for it.
"It's fine. I knew what I was doing." Arthur smiled and stroked Mikasa's head to reassure her. He knew she was worried about him.
"Wow! Arthur, you were so cool! Those two soldiers couldn't even last one move against you!" Eren looked at him in admiration.
"It was nothing." Eren's praise left Arthur feeling a little proud, but then he changed his tone.
"Eren, I'll teach you something else today. When it's time to act, act. You can be patient, but if they cross your bottom line, fight back. Understand?"
"Understood!" Eren mulled over Arthur's words, and the more he thought about them, the more sense they made.
Mikasa and Armin also felt they had learned something from Arthur's words.
"Let's go. Aunt Carla must be getting anxious." Arthur waved to the three of them.
"Yeah," the three replied.
Armin then parted ways with Arthur and the others, since he was staying with his grandfather.
When they returned to their lodgings, Carla was shocked and frightened to learn that Arthur had clashed with soldiers, and she told him not to do it again.
Arthur nodded in agreement.
After all, his philosophy was simple: he would leave others alone if they left him alone, but if they crossed him, he would pay them back tenfold or even a hundredfold!