Attack on Titan: Kuklo Unbound

A Titan.

That was the name given to these monsters who acted with such impunity. The sworn enemies of humanity.

While, as one would expect, they were shaped like titanic humans, they bore nothing like compassion in their hearts. Their temperaments were demonically savage, and in face of them humans were no more than crawling insects. The town was overrun with flames and smoke and transformed into a living hell.

Not a single man or woman with the courage to stand against the Titan was anywhere to be found. That was only natural. It meant taking on an absurd mountain of an opponent. Going up against it sword in hand amounted to throwing one’s life away. Screaming in terror and scrambling for safety was all that humans could do─except for one boy, one-eyed, known as the Titan’s son…

“Damned monster.” Kuklo twisted his face in displeasure and fixed his glare on his abhorrent enemy.

Devouring humans with the ease of a glutton stuffing his cheeks with nuts, the giant avatar of the absurd brought total destruction to the town. Could it be enjoying itself? A full smile graced its face.

The Titan then turned to face Kuklo, perhaps noticing his intense stare, and broke into a delighted grin as if it’d been reunited with a best friend.

Exposed to the wickedly overpowering presence, a groan spilled from Kuklo’s lips. All it did was look at him; already he was cowering and ready to crumple, having forgotten to breathe. How could a frail human ever hope to withstand the pressure exuded by a Titan?

Just as Kuklo faltered and shrank away, the Titan began its assault on him.

Though it was ten meters tall, it descended on him with the agility of a winged creature. Barely weighted down by its gigantic frame, it was a natural disaster on legs, a living tornado. All that remained in its wake was rubble and corpses.

Kuklo took a step back, then another, subdued by the attacking Titan as it made the ground rumble. The Titan was the one predator that regularly fed on humans. The mind could not but picture death, and the body withered as a natural response. If Kuklo’s will failed for the slightest moment, his legs might buckle. Yet he grit his teeth and stood his ground.

It will be the same no matter where I run. Once a Titan had its eye on you, it was nearly impossible to escape from its demonic grasp. The thing would chase Kuklo to the end of the world, lusting to devour his body. I have to do it. I have to kill it…

It was a reckless course of action and the only way to come out of this alive.

He drew the sword that hung from his waist and stared at the Titan as it approached with a bizarre cry.

***

Kuklo snapped awake, surprised by his own scream. His clothes were drenched with night sweat after his utterly realistic, vivid nightmare. As though he’d been running at a full sprint, his breathing was wild and out of control. His heart rang like an alarm bell to the point of pain.

A dream…

While Kuklo let out a sigh of relief, a hand to his aching chest, the monster he saw in his nightmare did exist in reality. His body had overreacted to a mere dream, a sign that his fear had worked its way to his very core. If he closed his eyes, he could recall the image of a savage Titan in detail.

Not only did the Titans have size on their side, they defied common sense by reviving any number of times unless their single weakness was destroyed. Kuklo had nearly been eaten by one of these ghouls not once but twice, so forgetting them was something he’d never be able to do even if he wished. They had left an immeasurable impact on him and pressed their figures deep into his psyche as with a brand.

“Did you have a scary dream?” a young man in prison clothes asked casually.

Cardina Baumeister. Though a patrician’s scion, luck had not been on his side, and he’d been imprisoned after getting wrapped up in political strife. He had been Kuklo’s comrade-in-chains, and they’d been banished from the country together as well.

Kuklo finally began to find his bearings. That’s right. We came back from out there…

His foolish choice to face a Titan, if only in a dream, owed to his earlier escape from the outer lands, which crawled with the monsters. He’d challenged a Titan in order to save Cardina and just barely survived. No wonder he dreamt about it. It didn’t take much thought to realize how insane an act it had been─and what a miracle it was that he’d returned alive.

I never want to do that again. Kuklo had been forced to relive his terror. Yet, he might confront a Titan again in the same situation. His temperament did him no good, but he didn’t need a reason to save someone’s life. My facing off against those things is like fate, anyway.

He’d been slapped with the dishonorable name of “Titan’s son” at birth and been treated as though his life meant nothing. He was prepared to challenge the Titans because it was his destiny.

As his breathing settled, Kuklo looked around him. Instead of a bed, he was spread out in a horse-drawn carriage with nothing but the clothes on his back, next to Cardina.

I feel like I’ve slept for a while…

His miraculous return from outside the walls courtesy of Jorge Piquer had only taken place earlier that morning. Since the sun was almost perfectly overhead, he’d slept for a few hours. The carriage was headed north along an artery road that connected various towns, but it would be some time before they reached Wall Rose, let alone their destination, the factory city.

“Want me to guess what you were dreaming about?” Cardina asked in a humming tone. He cheerfully continued before Kuklo had the chance to answer. “I won’t beat around the bush. You dreamt that Titans were chasing you.”

Cardina’s white teeth were visible as he beamed, and Kuklo could only shrug his shoulders in resignation.

“Hm? Was I off?”

“I was being chased by Titans. What else would I dream about?”

“You said it.” Considering his own frivolous bent, though, it was hard to imagine Cardina dreaming of Titans.

“To begin with, I had that dream because we had a weird discussion before going to sleep.”

“Weird?”

“Something about having me use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.”

Cardina seemed to take his point. “Ah…”

The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was an anti-Titan piece of gear based on the “Equipment,” the machine used to defeat a Titan for the first time. The original Equipment, however, had the fatal flaw of only allowing for movement along a single axis. Improvement after improvement had been made in order to remove this flaw, and the completed Vertical Maneuvering Equipment enabled free movement in all directions. According to Jorge, it was the definitive anti-Titan armament.

Yet it, too, faced a significant issue.

“No one has ever been able to master it, right?” Kuklo recalled. In other words, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment lacked competent users.

“If it’s just the Equipment, I can handle it… It only goes in one direction, after all,” Cardina said. Indeed, the original limited movement to a single axis. Since the wielder entrusted his or her body to the machine, which did the rest, Kuklo could easily learn how to pilot it, too. “Unlike the Equipment,” Cardina went on, “the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment lets you move in all directions. You need superhuman balance and reflexes to maneuver freely in space like that. One little mistake and you’re sure to come crashing down to the ground.”

“Have you used it before?”

“Yeah, and I fell out of the sky every time…” Cardina trembled a bit as he spoke. The experience must have been terrifying.

“I’m convinced that you’d be able to master it,” broke in the driver of the carriage, a soldier in his early fifties.

This was Jorge Piquer, who cut a dashing figure in his unicorn-emblazoned jacket. Now a soldier belonging to the Military Police Brigade, he had once commanded the Survey Corps and was moreover the national hero who’d proven that Titans could be defeated. Having ceded the post of commander to Carlo Piquer, his son, Jorge now trained soldiers of the next generation as a member of the Military Police Brigade. Cardina had been a student, but he’d withdrawn from the Training Corps before he could be assigned to duty.

“We have to master the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment if we want to get rid of the Titans,” Jorge declared with some passion. “No matter how high its quality, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment is nothing more than junk if no one can use it.”

“Speaking of which, it had no development budget, right?” Cardina said. Then he whispered into Kuklo’s ear, “Rumor’s that the instructor paid for it out of his own pocket.”

“Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training is not a part of the Training Corps curriculum. That’s why the Survey Corps uses the same primitive tactics against the Titans that it always has.” As the former Survey Corps commander, and as a Training Corps instructor, Jorge didn’t seem to be content with the current state of the military. His voice was tinged with irritation.

“I would be able to master that thing?”

“I can’t say for sure, but the possibility is there.”

“I get the feeling you can do it, too,” Cardina chimed in.

“Based on what?”

“Well, you’ve never even been trained, but look at how you’re able to move.”

“My son wouldn’t have recommended you if you didn’t have the potential,” Jorge concurred.

Cardina and Jorge had great expectations for his physical acumen, but Kuklo was doubtful. It was true that his years of abuse had endowed him with perseverance. He was confident that he could put up with hell and not give up.

But what good is that against a Titan? A single blow from a Titan’s fist would be enough to send Kuklo to the afterlife. Feral quickness and keen senses might help one run away but were clearly insignificant pitted against a Titan’s powerful frame.

“Just the fact you stood against a Titan is worthy of praise. Do you know how many soldiers’ spirits got crushed in the last expedition?”

The first Survey Corps mission in fifteen years had exposed the troops’ mental unpreparedness. As for the personnel who’d deserted the cargo team they’d been ordered to guard, they seemed unlikely to venture outside the walls with the Survey Corps again. The fear that Titans planted in people wasn’t easy to wipe away.

“You may have gotten your courage from Heath.”

“You mean my father?”

“Heath Mansell served under me, and he trained and served alongside Carlo. He was a daring, fearless exemplar of a soldier.”

“Hmph…” Kuklo’s uninterested reaction owed to never having known his father.

“And maybe it was fate that Ogre attacked you.”

“Ogre?”

“The name of the Titan you encountered during the expedition.”

“That big one…” Kuklo did not have to think back to it. He’d just met the Titan in a dream. The image of its monstrous body, over ten meters tall, clung to his mind like a scab.

“Ogre was the one who got Heath. One might say that you and it are linked by fate.”

“So that’s what you meant…” But Kuklo didn’t feel the bond implied by Jorge. By the time Kuklo was dropped into this world, both of his parents had already left it. A cage had been his cradle, and derision his only lullaby. He felt no particular emotions sprouting in him for Heath, his father.

“Heath wasn’t the only one who fell victim to the Titans. Elena’s life, too, spiraled out of control when she lost him.”

A heretic who worshipped the Titans and wished for the things to enter the city, Elena was the perpetrator of a grave, unprecedented crime. She was also Kuklo’s mother. She died after being eaten by the Titan she allowed in, and Kuklo was born from its vomit, earning him the name of “Titan’s son.”

So both of my parents had their lives ruined by Titans. He seemed bound by a string of fate to the Titans, just as Jorge had pointed out. It was an accursed string, red from the pools of fresh blood it had been soaked in.

That wasn’t enough to make him want to avenge his parents. Vengeance for himself was another thing entirely. He’d been forced to live his life as a Titan’s son thanks to the Titans, and he was dead set on destroying them.

I hadn’t cut my link to the Titans. He’d hoped coming face to face with a Titan outside the walls and learning for sure that he was not a Titan’s son might set him off on a fresh new life as a human. Unfortunately, the odd bond seemed to persist.

“Can I take them on if I use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?”

“The machine can make that a reality. If you master it, you can fell them,” Jorge assured.

And it might let me sever my ties to those monsters. But to do that, Kuklo would have to head outside of the walls and face the Titans once again. Do I have it in me?

He’d be up against monsters that he feared so deeply they appeared even in his dreams. He’d rather not encounter them again. No one did.

But I have to do it. Until he severed his ties of fate to the Titans, he’d have to live in perpetual fear of their shadow. That was something he had absolutely no interest in, and he was being offered a perfect opportunity to rid himself of the moniker of “Titan’s son.” He had no choice but to gather his courage and fight.

That was not all Kuklo had to worry about, though. His thoughts next turned to a precarious young girl who looked like a bisque doll─Sharle Inocencio. Kuklo’s savior, she’d bestowed him with knowledge and led him to the world. Without Sharle, Kuklo would undoubtedly still be on display somewhere as a Titan’s son.

I’m sure she’ll be angry…

It was Kuklo’s selfish wish to meet a Titan that had ended up getting him exiled in the first place. He’d reaped what he’d sown. The entire affair must have been unbearable for Sharle, who’d been swept into it. After fleeing her home empty-handed following an unforeseen attack on her family by cultists, she and Kuklo had survived by relying on each other and no one else. It wasn’t hard for him to imagine her anxiety. It was only thanks to Sharle’s wits and tact that Kuklo had returned safely from beyond Wall Maria.

And I’m going back out there anyway? The mere thought was enough to dampen his mood, but now that he’d learned more about his relationship to the Titans, Kuklo couldn’t go on living pretending that he hadn’t. He would have to convince Sharle.

“Well, do your best. I’ll be cheering for you from the curtains.” Cardina spoke like it wasn’t his business.

“Hah?” Kuklo’s voice cracked. Patting Cardina on the shoulder, he said, “You’re coming with me.”

“Wha?!” It was Cardina’s voice’s turn to crack.

“If not for me, you wouldn’t have been able to come back. You should join me.”

“I’ve already withdrawn from training, and I’m not talented like you…”

“Jorge said you could make it into the top ten with some work.”

“Ugh… I feel like I’ve dug my own grave.”

“You’ve saved me the hassle of roping him in,” Jorge thanked, still looking straight ahead and muffling a chuckle. “Both of you have what it takes. I guarantee you that much.”

“So he says.”

Cardina grimaced and scratched his head. “Oh, fine. I do owe you.”

By the time their conversation had come to a close, a gigantic wall that seemed to scrape the heavens came into view ahead of them. The sheer cliff was Wall Rose, a distillation of the human intellect. The solemn structure boasted a height of fifty meters, the same as Wall Maria, and its presence was overwhelming. While less prominent due to its central placement, it would be humanity’s new defense line if Wall Maria were ever to be breached. It went without saying that it played an important role both politically and militarily.

“We’re at the halfway point. Why don’t we get a little food and rest in Trost District,” Jorge proposed.

Kuklo’s stomach grumbled his reply for him.

***

It was not easy, but a path could be discerned. However, going off it would be a mighty challenge. Bookshelves, a work desk, and furniture used to receive visitors were all present and visible, but the piles of junk extended even to those, leaving them unusable. Among it all, a single shelf that presented a mysterious apparatus beamed like a store’s showcase. The room seemed not to have been cleaned in years. It was full of dust and stank slightly of mold.

“Ack.” Having arrived at the workshop chief’s office with a broom in one hand and a dustpan in another, Sharle Inocencio stared blankly at the scene before her. How does a room even turn out like this?

For Sharle, the high-bred daughter of the famed merchant baron Dario Inocencio, the sight of the office was like something out of a nightmare. It wouldn’t be a surprise if some bizarre verminous bug lived under the sheaves of paper.

The old Sharle would have gotten cold feet and left, but her heart had grown stouter, especially after her brush with death. A dirty room still surprised her, but it wasn’t enough to stop her in her tracks. When she thought back to the days she’d spent in the darkness of the underground city living in fear of pursuit, the office she faced seemed like a trifling hazard.

“All right, why don’t we get started.”

The room wouldn’t get any tidier if she just stood around. She needed to work her hands, not her mouth, and get to cleaning the room like it was nothing. She’d gone to the trouble of borrowing a set of working clothes, so she could leap into this battle against messiness without having to worry about getting her own dress dirty. Compared to other clashes the one she faced was less stressful, but this was a mission, and she had tasked herself with it.

“Okay!” Sharle fired up her spirit and waded into the room, pushing trash on the floor aside with her feet.

It was now a month since Sharle first came to the factory town. Her life here was utterly peaceful. These, perhaps, were the first days in her fifteen years spent entirely carefree. Strictly speaking, she did worry about something, but it’d surely be resolved soon.

I’m happy. She’d been made to live as her father’s tool, but that was now in the past. Dario, who’d put her life under his thumb, had succumbed to the daggers of murderous heretics that worshipped Titans. She was finally free from the Inocencio family’s spell and lived as she wanted─even if her freedom had come in the unwanted form of her father’s demise…

Sharle now lived in the workshop that acted as the factory city’s core. Its chief was Xenophon Harkimo. Under his command, it was singlehandedly responsible for weapons and gear sold to the military and handled everything from development to manufacture. In essence, it was an armory. As many as a thousand craftsmen toiled from day to night, and Sharle rented a room there.

She had no complaints about life in the workshop. While it was impossible to keep from being annoyed by the noises and vibrations that came ringing, it was a minor issue compared to all that she’d faced before. They seemed to treat her like a guest, and she wasn’t put to work, but she didn’t feel comfortable about simply accepting their generosity. So she’d volunteered to clean. The state of disorder of the workshop chief’s room seemed like an accurate reflection of its occupant.

Sharle began by reaching for the reams of paper piled on the floor like confetti. Fortunately for her, no poisonous vermin came flying out at her, but she was surprised nonetheless at what she found written on the documents.

“Blueprints? Contracts? Aren’t these important?” Even Sharle, with her sheltered upbringing, could tell at a glance that these were precious documents. Perhaps Xenophon had been made workshop chief by some sort of mistake, but surely his talents were so great that they compensated for his weaknesses. At least, that was the favorable way Sharle decided to interpret it as she continued to clean the room.

Just as she’d finally cleaned the floor to the point of walkability and moved on to the bookshelves, a man who looked to be in his fifties popped in wearing a dirty, chemical-soaked set of work clothes.

“Ah, seeing a girl toil away like that reminds me of the old days.”

The distinctive man with an unkempt head of salt-and-pepper hair, a face full of stubble, and thick, rimless glasses was none other than Xenophon, the workshop chief. His appearance suggested that he was perhaps better at hands-on work than reigning as the master of his own castle. Few in his position would ever emit the same chemical stench.

He’s a good man, but… The suspicions Xenophon inspired in others overpowered his virtues.

“Yes, and she cleaned the rooms just as you’re doing now.” He seemed moved as he stroked his beard.

“Does she still work here?”

“No, she passed away fifteen years ago.”

That means… The deceased craftswoman must have been attacked by the Titan that had invaded Shiganshina District. Xenophon would not have specified the number of years otherwise.

Fifteen years ago, the workshop city wasn’t functional yet, and workshops were scattered among different towns. Xenophon and the woman in question must have worked together in the Shiganshina District workshop.

“She may be gone now, but her spirit is alive and well,” the chief said. Trekking down the trail blazed by Sharle, he headed to the shelf that held the mysterious apparatus. It seemed to be something he was proud of, and his eyes glimmered like an innocent child’s.

“What is that?”

“It’s the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.”

“The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?”

“I guess you could call it the only machine capable of matching the Titans.”

“Is that some sort of successor to the Equipment?”

“That’s about right.”

Satisfied with the explanation, Sharle looked closely at the machine that sat on the shelf, but she had no idea whatsoever of how it worked. Considering what the Equipment had been able to do though, it was easy to imagine that the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was an astonishing breakthrough.

The Equipment was the invention used to defeat a Titan for the first time. That would mean the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment was capable of even more. As she observed its parts, she noticed an inscription that appeared to refer to a celestial spirit.

“ANGEL?”

“It’s pronounced ‘an-hel.’ The man who developed the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.”

“And the one who created the Equipment, right?”

“And also my rival. He should have been made workshop chief, but he decided to retire, of all things. Yes, he was having trouble with his eyes, but still, how unfortunate.” Xenophon slumped his shoulders, either lamenting the absence of his rival or exhausted by the burdens of being workshop chief. Possibly both. “But it was surely the right decision. It wouldn’t have been easy to outdo himself after inventing the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.”

“So he went out on top?”

“Well, he left one hell of a parting gift.”

“Is that so?”

“There’s such a thing as a machine’s controls being too responsive. What good is a steed that no one can master?” Xenophon sighed as he pushed his glasses back up with his index finger. “You think this guy you’re waiting for can tame it?” he threw out, watching for Sharle’s reaction.

I’m happy they’re saving Kuklo, but… Carlo and Jorge were planning to recruit Kuklo. They weren’t so stingy as to stipulate any conditions in exchange for their help, but considering his debt to the two, Kuklo seemed likely to go along with them. In fact, he might do so quite eagerly.

Of course, that worry could wait until his safe return.

“Oh, it’s nothing to get worked up about. If Carlo and Jorge, two generations of commanders, see something in him, he’ll surely make it back fine.”

“If you say so…” Sharle, who knew quite well how dangerous it was outside the walls, couldn’t bring herself to trust Xenophon’s reasoning. How could she stay calm? If he came across a Titan, it would be over.

The daring plan to pluck Kuklo up from outside the walls had already been set into motion. If everything had gone smoothly, they would be reunited in a matter of hours. She only wished she had some way of knowing.

“For now, we just have to wait,” advised Xenophon. “You don’t have to agree with me, but you do believe he’ll return alive, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then I shall wait and believe, too. For our ultimate challenger to return.” Xenophon grinned. “I can’t wait to see the path he draws across the sky,” he said, taking the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment from the shelf.

“Challenger”?! There was something disquieting about the word, but Sharle willed herself not to mind. After all, she couldn’t imagine any misfortune worse than his latest ordeal visiting Kuklo.

Forcing herself to feel satisfied, Sharle wielded her broom and got back to cleaning the office.

***

Glancing at the patrolling soldiers, Kuklo noticed their gear and muttered, “High alert…”

Unlike the soldiers stationed in Trost District, these troops seemed on edge, ready to strike the moment an enemy appeared. They carried short swords on their waist that must have been made of Iron Bamboo, and even shouldered carbines. Ammunition surely filled the horses’ saddlebags. Even the Garrison troops in Shiganshina District on watch for Titans didn’t appear as tense as these soldiers.

“Speaking of strict, how about those checkpoints?”

As Cardina pointed out, the soldiers manning the checkpoints were so heavily armed they seemed ready to start a war. While the town gates were like sieves despite being guarded, the personnel here were scrupulous in their inspections. Once, Kuklo and Sharle had purchased false identification from a merchant to escape from Wall Sheena; it was doubtful that the same trick would work along this route. It went without saying that any attempts to grease a soldier’s palms were likewise bound to fail. Merely approaching a checkpoint would be out of bounds if Jorge weren’t with them.

“The factory city is practically an armory. Its loss could imperil the nation’s very existence,” the instructor explained. Judging by the airtight, heavy security, they’d already faced an incident along those lines.

“It’s singlehandedly responsible for everything from the development to the manufacturing of arms,” agreed Cardina. “This is the only place where Iron Bamboo and Iceburst Stone can be processed.”

On top of that, a mint was located in the city. Cultists or anti-establishment groups occupying it would be a grand debacle.

Humans are scarier than Titans…

While the Titans were absolutely ridiculous monsters, their lack of intelligence made them easy to manage. It certainly helped Wall Maria maintain its proud reputation of being indestructible. Meanwhile, humanity’s intellect made up for its powerlessness. A good example was Elena, the cultist who let a Titan into town without needing to destroy the wall. It explained the military’s excessive defense measures for the factory city.

But thanks to that, Sharle can live there safely.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kuklo stared ahead of him. The road went gradually uphill, and he was starting to feel cold from the slightly increased altitude. He did not know the factory city’s location, but taking convenience and secrecy into account, it was most likely in the outskirts of Wall Sheena. The chilly and clear air reminded Kuklo of the harsh days he spent living in a shed.

Not that they’ll ever turn into fond memories… Still, Kuklo wouldn’t be who he was without the experience. If a stroke of luck had freed him from the shed, he surely would have ended up dying on some nameless street. In that sense, even his days of abuse at the hands of Xavi Inocencio, Sharle’s older brother, seemed meaningful to him.

“Eh, another checkpoint? How many more are there?”

Cardina looked fed up, but Kuklo was unperturbed. Though certainly irritating, the body searches were as noninvasive as possible thanks to Jorge’s presence. The increased number of checkpoints also proved that they were nearing their destination.

I can meet her soon.

Kuklo felt a slight quickening in his chest.

***

It was still as bright as dusk thanks to the city’s many gas-powered street lamps. You didn’t need a lantern to walk the streets. With an Iceburst Stone extraction site nearby, the city was prone to reaping the mineral’s benefits. Even Shiganshina District, with its full array of facilities, was shuttered at night by darkness. The difference was stark.

The city’s scale was also far beyond what Kuklo had imagined. He’d pictured small, compact factories, but the place’s size put it on par with Shiganshina District. Not only were there businesses to address workers’ daily necessities, the area was even home to amusement facilities. The city appeared to be its own independent country, the result of having gathered the gamut of resources, human and otherwise, needed to let it stand on its own. Of course, security was strict. While not fifty meters tall, there was a defensive wall, and countless guards kept watchful eyes on the factory city. No run-of-the-mill attack would ever bring it down.

A large blast furnace loomed like a landmark in the center. The giant furnace, which was fifty meters tall, clearly generated copious amounts of heat. Refining Iron Bamboo demanded as much, and it was no wonder that weapons made of the material were astoundingly sharp and durable.

The workshop, the trio’s destination, stood at the foot of the furnace. Even now, countless craftsmen seemed to be toiling away, and the shrill, intermittent sounds of metal being forged rang from within it.

Kuklo, Cardina, and Jorge left the carriage and headed straight to the workshop chief’s room. The chief seemed to be a well-organized man, as his room was neat and tidy. What appeared to be weapons and gear developed by the workshop lined the walls. It was practically a showroom. In particular, a mannequin stood out. A machine resembling the Equipment was attached to it.

Is that the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment? At first glance, it seemed no different from the Equipment.

Be that as it may, it wasn’t the prized invention that compelled their attention, but rather a craftsman type who lay sound asleep and snoring on a sofa.

Is he Xenophon, the workshop chief?! Compared to the elegant room, the slumbering man gave a vastly different impression. His disheveled hair seemed to have not once met a comb, and his mouth hung open. His aloofness was evident from his filthy work clothes, stained as they were by some mysterious liquid. He certainly didn’t look like someone who oversaw all the craftsmen. A sleepwalking underling accidentally napping in the chief’s room was more like it.

When Kuklo looked at Jorge questioningly, the instructor replied with a nod and a wry smile.

So he is the workshop chief. Looks could certainly be misleading, but it was still baffling to Kuklo. “So─” he began, hoping to bring up an important topic.

That was when Xenophon, apparently sensing that he had visitors, opened his eyes.

“You’ve finally decided to arrive,” the workshop chief greeted, quickly sitting up. He took a deep yawn and stretched. “I was worried you might have been eaten by Titans.”

“So worried you fell asleep.”

“I hope you’ll excuse me, but all the waiting tired me out. I was asleep before I knew it,” Xenophon confessed without a trace of guilt, turning towards Kuklo. “Allow me, then: Welcome, my challenger!”

“Challenger?” Kuklo parroted.

Xenophon grinned. “You’re the daredevil who’s going to try to learn how to master the thing. I believe challenger is an appropriate title.”

Kuklo sighed. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Controlling the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment will be a truly difficult task, but I would love to see you dancing in the skies like an angel.”

“An angel?”

“You’ll understand soon enough. More than you might care to.” Smiling like a mischievous child, the workshop chief ran an assessing pair of eyes over Kuklo.

I’m getting a bad feeling about this. There should have been nothing to fear about wearing and operating a machine, but Kuklo’s anxiety was growing with each word Xenophon spoke. Something like a sixth sense was detecting danger and sounding an alarm.

“By the way, what’s this guy for? Is he a spare?” Xenophon asked, turning to Cardina with unabashed curiosity.

“I think he’s confusing me for a machine part…”

Cardina’s complaint wasn’t far off the mark. Xenophon was a man who walked many fine lines as a mad engineer of sorts. At the same time, he had managed to climb his way up to workshop chief, so he was clearly somebody─even if he seemed to have traded something in for his talent.

“I’m going to be taking care of them,” Jorge warned.

“Hmph. So you’re going to work them like dogs as recruits? I’d be tempted to pity them…but I’m sure they can handle it.”

“Why do you say that?” Kuklo inquired.

“You were able to return alive despite being chased by Titans. That’s more than enough experience under your belt.”

“The greenhorns don’t even compare.”

Neither Jorge nor Xenophon’s faith in him assuaged Kuklo.

I was just lucky… It would be one thing if he’d exercised his wits, hatched a plan, and relied on his physical capabilities to escape from the Titans. Overcoming the situation and returning to the interior on his own would have been extremely difficult. Or rather, impossible.

If Sharle had not entreated Carlo, and if Carlo had not spoken to Jorge, Kuklo would have ended up in a Titan’s stomach alongside Cardina.

“By the way, what about the training equipment I requested?”

“Oh, that? It will arrive soon enough. Learning to manage it promises to be next to impossible, though.”

Jorge and Xenophon continued their conversation, but what interested Kuklo was neither the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment nor his own potential as a recruit. Just as he was getting impatient that the two weren’t turning to the main issue at hand, his ears picked up a slight sound.

That’s…

He knew this sound that approached him with a steady rhythm. They were footsteps. Before the image of the person making them could even form in his mind, the door to the workshop chief’s office burst open. Everyone’s eyes turned to settle on the girl who stood at the entrance.

“Kuklo!” With that lively cry, she leapt into his chest. Then she clung to him, and that was how anxious she’d been. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” breathed Sharle.

Kuklo felt shocked at his own recklessness, rather belatedly, and relieved from the bottom of his heart that he’d made it back.

I’m lucky just to be alive. No sooner than he let out a sigh, a wave of fatigue came crashing down on him. He was hardly to blame. Tossed out of the walls before sunrise, he’d danced with a Titan. If anything, he deserved a pat on the shoulder for not keeling over.

“Oh dear. We’d planned out such a moving reunion, but you couldn’t wait and just had to jump the gun…” Xenophon grimaced and scratched his head. “I suppose you could say this is moving in its own way.”

“I know it seems like everyone wants to leave the young couple to themselves, but do you think you could introduce us first?” Cardina asked Kuklo, grinning. He seemed to be enjoying the situation.

He’s acting like he’s a stranger… In truth, Cardina had a connection to Sharle. As the heads of the Inocencio family and the Baumeister family were now departed, their engagement had to be moot; it seemed unlikely that Cardina would be interested in courting her, certainly not at this stage, but this was delicate stuff.

“You don’t need to be introduced,” Kuklo stated.

“Not for my sake. But, you know, because the young lady doesn’t know who I am?”

Sharle had regained her composure while Kuklo and Cardina chatted. She stood up straight, turned to Cardina, and bowed her head. “My name is Sharle Inocencio.”

“How polite of you. I’m Cardina Baumeister. Nice to meet you,” Cardina replied innocently, glancing at Sharle to catch her reaction.