Attack on Titan: Kuklo Unbound

The temperature was low, and Kuklo breathed what looked like white steam out at a regular rhythm. While much of his body’s heat had been robbed from him, his clothes seemed to keep him from being frozen stiff. After all, Kuklo had once spent his days being drenched by cold water while completely naked. This was no life-threatening crisis, and he felt relaxed enough to change his posture and go back to sleep. If he held his knees to his body and curled up into a ball, he’d be able to minimize the loss of heat.

But there was something he had to find out before succumbing to his drowsiness.

Where am I? He was surrounded by complete silence and couldn’t detect anyone else. He concentrated on his sense of hearing but only sensed the wind, the chirping of insects, and other sounds of nature. Fortunately, there seemed to be nothing malicious nearby.

Kuklo squinted his eye open to look carefully around him, but he could see nothing through the pitch darkness. Nevertheless, he cautiously surveyed the area, and in time his eye adjusted and gradually conveyed his surroundings to him.

He was lying in a cramped room just barely large enough to sprawl in. There was nothing resembling furniture, only a toilet and a small window for lighting with bars over it. With only stars and pale moonlight on the other side, no clue offered up his current location. The telltale silence could only belong to the dead of night, however. The sturdy metal door in the entryway featured a slit that could be used to observe the room’s interior.

“This is a─” Kuklo frowned at his sense of déjà vu. Although he didn’t know where he was, the room’s setup was familiar to him.

Why am I in jail?! Kuklo trembled at the accursed sight and his absurd plight, but soon gathered himself, rose off the floor, and stood on guard to be ready for anything. Just as he did, a dull pain shot across his skull.

“Ow!” He grimaced and put a hand to his forehead and felt a bump on it. He must have taken a blow to the head. He wanted to know why but didn’t have the time to sit back and think─his sensitive ears had registered a faint noise.

Something is here. Kuklo strained to hear what it was, focusing his attention on the noise coming from the other side of the door. It wasn’t the sound of a small animal’s steps, nor the flutter of a bug’s wings.

The sound of clothes… In other words, the rustling of cloth against cloth. A person’s here. Friend or foe, he was sure of that.

A jailer? Considering his surroundings, it was a reasonable guess. His life didn’t seem to be threatened for the moment, but he couldn’t let down his guard.

What now?! Just as Kuklo was thinking about his next move, a familiar male voice broke the silence.

“So, are you finally up?”

“Cardina?”

“Yes. Doesn’t it suck to be us?”

“Are you in a cage, too?”

“Why would I be in a cage? I’m not an animal.” There was a hint of a chuckle in Cardina’s voice, and he was surely smiling as wryly as ever.

“We’ve been put into nice little disciplinary cells.”

“Dis-ci-pli-nary? What does that mean?”

“Let’s just say it’s where people who break the rules are deposited to urge them to reflect on what they’ve done,” Cardina explained in what he thought was a straightforward fashion, failing to enlighten Kuklo. “Don’t you remember the fight with Xavi during logistics training?”

“Oh. Yes. I was kicked by Xavi…” Kuklo finally recalled, arriving at the cause of the bump on his head at the same time.

“You probably don’t remember, but training was aborted after that. We all came back to the academy.”

“So this place is inside the academy?”

“Yes. It’s rarely used, though. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of it being used before.” Cardina sighed and added, “For that matter, I’ve never heard of training being aborted before, either. By a brawl, at that, so I suppose we deserve this.”

“Was it such a bad thing to do?”

“Of course. Acting on your own is a big problem once you’re a member of the corps.”

“Why?”

“Troops act as one. That’s why it’s called a corps. One might even say that there is zero room for independent behavior. Basically, whatever you’re concerned about is secondary. Operations can’t be carried out if soldiers decide to act on their own.”

Cardina’s point reminded Kuklo of a certain event, a scene from the time he’d snuck along on the Survey Corps’ expedition. If the corps had abandoned the wagon, it would have been easier for them to return safely. What Cardina described sounded similar.

“By the way, the smallest unit of soldiers employed in carrying out missions is the eight-person team. Your father was a team leader, which means he had seven soldiers under him.”

“So the reason the recruits were running in such an orderly way…”

“Is because that’s part of training, too. Logistics training isn’t meant to be a competition. I told you, didn’t I? Those knapsacks were full of essences that soldiering requires.” Cardina explained that logistics training not only bolstered knowledge, technique, and physical abilities but also fostered a spirit of cooperation. In other words, clockwork order was a must. Kuklo didn’t have to search his mind to recall that only he and Cardina had passed other recruits.

Thinking back, the Survey Corps were advancing in an orderly line, too. While nowhere near as spectacular, the recruits’ logistics training did resemble the Survey Corps’ march.

“Is he here too, then?”

“Xavi? No, he’s probably curled up in his bed right about now.”

“Wha?!” Shocked, Kuklo actually bent forward. “But─”

“Whoa, don’t ask me why. I don’t know,” Cardina interrupted. “The one thing I can tell you is that Xavi handled himself well out there. He could say he was teaching a lesson to a chap who was flaunting military discipline. His violence would take on some legitimacy.”

While the explanation did make sense, something kept Kuklo from being fully satisfied. Why didn’t he tell me?

If Jorge had explained how the corps worked, Kuklo probably wouldn’t have acted so rashly. It wouldn’t have done away with his desire to know what Xavi was now like, but he could have avoided causing an incident that merited his landing in a disciplinary cell.

“He didn’t tell you on purpose.”

“Why?”

“It’s just a few months until graduation. He doesn’t have time to guide you through the alphabet. Rather than teach you using words, he probably intends to have you learn first-hand. And honestly, I think you have, no?”

True, Kuklo’s body might absorb the lessons, but that didn’t make Jorge’s method of instruction any less rough.

That’s why he didn’t stop me. Jorge had stood by and watched Kuklo and Xavi’s scuffle on purpose then, to teach Kuklo the rules in an efficient manner. There had to be better ways, but the instructor must have decided that the method suited Kuklo best.

I definitely won’t be forgetting while this pain lasts, Kuklo admitted with a wry smile, rubbing the bump on his forehead.

“When can we leave here?”

“In two or three days, probably.”

Kuklo’s stomach grumbled as soon as he heard Cardina’s estimate. “What about food?”

“The point is for us to think about what we’ve done. Why would we get any?”

“Nothing to eat, then…”

Knowing that he wouldn’t be getting a meal made him want one even more. Still, he was only mildly hungry and could bear it. He’d fought against hunger for most of his life. A two or three day fast would certainly affect him but hardly make him throw in the towel. If he was desperate for food, he should be able to find some by searching his cell diligently. A few days were a mere blink of the eye.

Kuklo got on all fours like a beast, then closed his eye to cut off his sense of sight. With no information coming from his eye, his hearing grew sharper. He could hear footsteps.

“Someone’s coming─” Kuklo whispered and quickly lay back down, pretending to be asleep. Of course, that was not all he was doing. He had his ear to the ground, trying to do whatever he could to find out more.

While the footsteps were clearly approaching the disciplinary cells, the question was to whom they belonged. Kuklo was on alert at first because it could be a raid by Xavi, but the rhythm of the footsteps indicated that it wasn’t him. Given where they were, it could be an instructor on patrol. The footfalls were awfully soft for that, though, and the span of the steps suggested that it was a woman, not a man. Probably around Sharle’s…

Whoever it was stopped in front of his cell. Kuklo could sense he was being watched, perhaps through the slit on the door, but the observer didn’t seem to bear any harmful designs. Just moments later, the eyes were no longer on him, and the presence left the door.

The person who’d been watching Kuklo began walking to Cardina’s cell. This time, there was a small knock.

“Are you awake, Cardina?” The voice had to be the visitor’s. It was a woman’s, and a whisper.

“Is that you, Rosa? What business do you have down here?”

“Just saying hello. And I should be asking you that.” The woman Cardina had called Rosa sounded rather vexed. “I don’t know what you were thinking, but everyone’s talking about you now.”

Cardina breathed a deep sigh. “I guess that was about as flashy of a greeting as you could get, wasn’t it…”

Are the two friends? Their casual back-and-forth suggested that Cardina and Rosa knew one another.

“I hadn’t planned on coming back to the academy, but…I guess you could say fate played a little trick on me.”

“You mean rejoining the corps right as everyone thought you’d left, then getting put in a disciplinary cell before even saying hello?”

“I meant all the stuff that led to this.”

“Like what?” Rosa did not seem aware of the misfortunes that had visited Cardina. The training academy was in a location isolated from the outside world, so it was no surprise she hadn’t heard. The only people in the Training Corps who knew everything had to be Kuklo, Cardina, and Jorge. The other instructors, perhaps privy to bits and pieces, probably had to keep them under wraps considering the sentence’s nature.

After another deep sigh, Cardina spoke to Kuklo. “This is Rosa Carlstedt. She’s one of the recruits receiving special training from Instructor Jorge.”

“Those remedial lessons? You’re training to use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?!”

“Huh?!” the woman named Rosa let out in surprise. She must not have expected Kuklo to be only feigning sleep.

Kuklo was surprised, too, but by something else: the fact that a woman was attempting to master the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. Since the machinery guided its user to wherever she needed to go, steering it didn’t require formidable muscles. In fact, they only got in the way of three-dimensional movement. Yet no matter how hard Kuklo tried to imagine it, he couldn’t picture a woman heading toward a Titan using the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, and the reason was simple. He kept being reminded of Sharle.

“I kind of owed him for something, so I swallowed my pride and decided to come back.”

“Whatever it is that happened, can I assume that you intend to graduate this time?”

“Reluctantly, yes.”

“Really?”

“I seem to have lost a lot of credibility.”

Rosa sighed in response. “Of course you have.” Cardina’s departure from the Training Corps must have been sudden, and she couldn’t be blamed for being skeptical.

“Sorry, I should have introduced you earlier─the talk of the town, Kuklo.”

“Kuklo? I think I’ve heard that name somewhere…”

“That’s because you probably have. He’s the Titan’s son that Xavi claims to have punished.”

What exactly Xavi had said about the “Titan’s son” was unclear, but it was easy to imagine him gleefully spinning yarns of his heroics. Yet Xavi probably knew little about his Titan’s son, nor, in all likeliness, did he care to. The fact that he’d defeated a Titan’s son sufficed, though even that was no fact. In reality, Xavi knew practically nothing about Kuklo.

“He’s the Titan’s son…” Rosa said pensively, as though it concerned her.

“Aren’t you scared of me?”

“Scared? Because you’re a Titan son?!”

“Yes.”

“I may still be in training, but I’m a soldier. We learn about Titans. It’s not hard to figure out what’s true and what’s not.”

“He had us confused for a while, though,” Cardina said of Xavi. His bragging must have commenced as soon as he’d joined the Training Corps.

“Child-sized Titans exist, but there are no records of a Titan ever giving birth,” Rosa explained matter-of-factly. “Still, to think you were with the famous Titan’s son.”

“It’s a long story. He came here on Instructor Jorge and Commander Carlo’s recommendations.”

“Killing Ogre. That is my goal.”

“Ogre?”

“That’s the name of the Titan that ruined his life,” Cardina supplemented.

“I need the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment if I’m to kill a Titan. That’s why I came here.”

“So you have an actual goal in mind, unlike Cardina.”

“Such a mean way to put it.”

“Well, you earned it. He seems to have potential, though. He has a lot to learn as a soldier, but he must have what it takes if Instructor Jorge recommended him. And─” Rosa suddenly cut herself off. “Anyway, I see that you two mean it.”

“And you came all the way here to find out?”

“Of course I’d want to know. There’s a strong chance we’ll be in the same team.”

“I see. So you’re the one leading up the flunkers now.”

“Yes, because a certain someone actually dropped out.”

Cardina grunted, the barb finding its mark.

“Well, I should get going…” Rosa opened the slit at the bottom of the door and shoved a piece of bread torn in half and an apple through it. “It’s probably not enough, but you did cause a problem large enough to land you in a disciplinary cell. I hope you think about what you’ve done.” With that, she closed the slit and walked away.

“Always so serious. Why can’t she relax a little?”

“I think there is such a thing as being too relaxed, too,” Kuklo noted with some dismay.

He bit into the dried-out piece of bread.

***

Even after returning to his bed in the barracks, having finished training and bathed, he couldn’t rid himself of his growing anxiety. Unable to sit still, he writhed in secret on his bed.

He was supposed to have died. It was Kuklo’s continued existence that bewildered Xavi. Sentenced to death for the crime of murdering Dario Inocencio as well as the cultists, Kuklo should never have shown himself again. Not only that, the execution had taken place a week ago. Though Xavi was not there to witness it, he’d received a report from the Military Police, so he was certain of it. Why is he alive?

Until now, everything had gone exactly as Xavi had planned. He had provided false testimony to the Military Police in order to finally rid himself of the eyesore that was Kuklo, and doing so had even resulted in a death sentence. His scheme had been flawless. Except, of course, for the fact that Kuklo was still alive. It was an utter paradox. It was impossible.

Could it be someone else who happens to look like him?! But Xavi immediately rejected the idea. The cut on his right eye. I did that to him. Even without the wound, Xavi would never mistake someone else for Kuklo. And vice versa. He came to show himself to me… He wanted me to know he was alive.

Xavi had deemed his plan perfect, but something must have managed to upend it. He had no idea what that thing was, nor did he know why the Military Police wasn’t apprehending Kuklo anew, but it seemed as though the devil’s own luck had worked to miraculously save the Titan’s son.

This is bad. Very bad. Kuklo’s existence was nothing short of a threat to Xavi. If Kuklo told the truth, Xavi faced ruin. Not only would his path to the Military Police be cut off, he’d be thrown into a dark prison and left to rot, his remaining days a bleak gray. Sharle, his younger sister, knew the truth, too, but she’d kept her silence until now and promised to be harmless. Perhaps she was no longer of this world to begin with. It wasn’t one that a girl with her sheltered upbringing could navigate.

Even more was on Xavi’s mind. Why is he in the Training Corps? He could tell by the emblem on Kuklo’s jacket that he belonged to the academy. But why?!

Kuklo still being alive could be chalked up to some sort of twisted luck, as Xavi forced to persuade himself… Kuklo joining the corps as a recruit, on the other hand, was unthinkable. Not only that, he was with Cardina, who was supposed to have left.

The unexpected developments sat in Xavi’s mind like a ball of tangled threads. It was all he could do to keep from panicking. There was one thing, however, that he understood in his confusion.

They’re definitely going to be a menace. Both Kuklo’s very presence and Cardina’s abilities as a soldier endangered Xavi’s standing. Cardina returning to become a recruit meant, quite simply, that one seat on the Military Police was gone. Kuklo’s abilities were still an unknown, but he was the Titan’s son. He could be hiding incredible power within him. Xavi couldn’t help but fear that his road to the Military Police was receding.

I’m the one who’ll be applying to be an MP! he nearly screamed the words without thinking, but grit his teeth to hold them back.

Xavi had established his current position by winning over potential rivals with money. Those stubborn enough to resist him he subjugated by force. Even then, it was unlikely that he could graduate at the top of his class, so he’d resorted to any and all measures to secure his spot in the top ten.

“You think you can get in my way?”

His body atremble, Xavi searched for a way to make sure that only he found happiness.

***

Yet they were most certainly not there as decoration. Though still in training, they were indeed soldiers. In an emergency, they would be sent into battle as a matter of course to protect the citizenry. While no records spoke of the Training Corps engaging in actual combat, its members were absolutely ready to be tapped. That much was clear from their expressions.

Their collective attention was on two recruits who stood facing them: Kuklo and Cardina, freshly out of their disciplinary cells that morning. Since they’d been placed in their cells before they could introduce themselves as classmates, Jorge was giving them a chance to do exactly that.

Due perhaps to the earlier incident, the pair were receiving a less than hearty welcome, as was clear from the tension in the air and the askance looks, as if the two brought bad luck. Graduation was now in sight, making this an important period. Any unnecessary trouble had to be shunned like the plague. In particular, Xavi, who stood in the front row, had murder in his eyes as he gazed at Kuklo.

So many enemies, I see. But this neither inconvenienced nor upset Kuklo. He’d come to the training academy to learn how to use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment in order to kill Ogre. He wasn’t here to be chummy or to make friends.

“I didn’t think I’d ever have to wear fatigues again,” Cardina moped beside Kuklo.

“Better than a death sentence.”

“Now, that would shut me up, wouldn’t it?” Cardina scratched his head and smiled bitterly.

“This is Kuklo and Cardina. They’ll be joining you as of today. There’s not much time until graduation, but I’d like you to work with one another as you aim to better yourselves. For the king, for the country, and for the people,” Jorge succinctly informed the wall of recruits. Then he looked at Kuklo and Cardina. He seemed to want them to introduce themselves.

What do I talk about? Kuklo couldn’t think of anything worth telling the group.

As he stood there confused, Cardina boldly stepped forward. Placing his right fist to the left side of his chest, he hollered, so loudly his voice seemed to echo into the farthest corners of the grounds, “Cardina Baumeister! Due to certain reasons, I have returned!! I intend to make up for every day I have missed by devoting every drop of sweat I have to my training! Thank you all!!”

Kuklo blinked and turned a surprised look at Cardina, not expecting anyone so low-keyed to bellow from so deep in his stomach. Nevertheless, standing straight as an arrow and saluting, Cardina was the very picture of a soldier ready to sacrifice his life for the king, the country, and the people. He had just been moping so it was hard to tell what was in his heart, and maybe it was all for show.

It was Kuklo’s turn next. Following Cardina’s lead, he took a step forward. He hadn’t come up with anything to say, and he lacked Cardina’s glibness to make do with platitudes.

I came here for one reason. His only choice was to tell them the plain truth.

“I am going to slay a Titan!”

Kuklo’s declaration caused a stir among the recruits.

***

While the term “combat arts” seemed self-explanatory, it covered a wide array of techniques including swordsmanship, marksmanship, wrestling, roping, horsemanship, and more. It went without saying that these were founded on certain basic physical abilities. Likewise for classroom learning.

The recruits applied themselves to all subjects, but differences in aptitude existed to varying degrees. Roughly speaking, the Training Corps consisted of two types: physically gifted soldiers who were good at combat and mentally gifted soldiers who excelled in the classroom. The ones with the top grades needed for applying to the Military Police tended to be nearly perfect in both aspects, and both Cardina and Xavi counted themselves among that group. It was a natural result of their upbringings. Educated well from a young age and endowed with a wealth of knowledge, they’d been schooled and trained as elites precisely so that they might join the Brigade.

Meanwhile, Kuklo’s grades were poor. While everyone recognized his great potential, he relied on sensibility alone, and his self-taught ways didn’t pass muster. He was like raw ore, no different from stone unless he was processed and polished. Far from adept at reading and writing, he also suffered in the classroom, but what he lacked most in comparison to his corpsmates had to be life experience. His uncooperative streak and deficient imagination revealed as much.

So I couldn’t beat Xavi back there because I’m not experienced? As soon as the thought distracted him, his feet were taken out from under him, and he tumbled to the ground. He reflexively shot out his right hand for a soft landing─not a moment too soon, as he’d have smashed his back against the earth and been left gasping.

“You’re getting thrown because you keep spacing out,” a petite female recruit in fatigues told him as she reached out her arm.

The striking young lady with glossy, short black hair was none other than Rosa, whom Kuklo had met in the brig. She was also the one who’d just caught him with a double leg takedown. Kuklo took Rosa’s hand and stood up slowly.

“We’re in training so no one’s going to finish you off, but you’d be a goner if this were a real fight,” Rosa said, looking up at Kuklo with her obsidian eyes. As the angle of her head indicated, she was only as tall as the bottom of Kuklo’s jaw and the shortest soldier in the entire Training Corps.

I can’t believe she managed to throw me… Not particularly muscular, Rosa didn’t look strong enough to throw a guy, but she’d done exactly that to Kuklo. While he doubted he was weaker than her physically speaking, their differences in skill and experience had determined the round’s outcome.

That’s why I couldn’t match up to Xavi. Moreover, Xavi’s hangers-on had made winning impossible from the outset that time.

Looking around, Kuklo saw recruits sparring with partners across the athletic grounds. He could tell from their movements that the bouts weren’t being decided by size or strength.

“Soft and fair goes far. You may think that being small is a disadvantage, but a world of possibilities opens up if you see it as a weapon instead.”

“So I just have to practice.”

“That’s certainly the quickest way. You have the raw talent, all you need to do is have faith and keep at it.”

Perhaps speaking from personal experience, Rosa sounded confident. She also seemed to believe wholeheartedly in the teachings of Jorge, her instructor. In fact, she posted above average grades, and while the practicals dragged her down, she was completely capable when it mattered. She’d serve quite fine as a soldier out of the academy.

If she stayed inside the walls, of course. But Rosa was taking Vertical Maneuvering Equipment lessons, which meant she wanted to join the Survey Corps.

“Why did you become a recruit, Rosa?” Kuklo asked her. Even if she’d been handpicked by a hero like Jorge, going outside the walls took some serious resolve.

Rosa replied by telling him about her parents, both of whom had been soldiers. “My father died before I was born, though, and my mother’s retired.”

“So you followed in their footsteps?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“But why learn to use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?”

Instead of answering him, Rosa squared off against Kuklo as though to remind him that they were in the middle of training.

I see. Kuklo adjusted his posture and began sparring freely with her.

“My dad was killed by a Titan,” Rosa said.

“You want to avenge him?”

“I don’t feel like it’s anything as admirable as that, but maybe his blood is guiding me.”

“Was he in the Survey Corps?”

“Yeah. In the team your father led.”

“Heath’s?” Kuklo let out in surprise.

I see. That’s why she was quick to trust me… His father’s identity must have steered her to accept him without preliminaries when they met in the brig.

“I was interested in the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, too. After all, the guy who made it lives with my mom,” Rosa remarked with a shrug.

Then she sent Kuklo’s body flying through the air.

***

Betraying a mix of fatigue and relief, the recruits retired to their barracks with whatever friends each had. Soon they’d wash the dirt from their bodies in the baths, eat in the mess room, and enjoy their free time, but it was a different story for Kuklo and the others who received remedial lessons. The day was only now starting for them, their training so far merely a warm-up. More tired than prepared, their bodies covered in sweat and dust, it certainly didn’t look that way though.

Since Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training was not part of the regular curriculum for recruits, the sessions, considered remedial, took place after hours. In other words, it ate into Kuklo’s free time. Everyone knew about the old Equipment, but the Survey Corps slaying a Titan under Jorge’s command didn’t prove the efficacy of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.

It could be used to approach a Titan’s weak point so as to slice out the meat around its medulla oblongata with single-edged swords─this, however, was nothing more than a theoretical possibility. The Titans’ weakness had been discovered and the armaments existed to destroy it, but if no one could put them to use, it was pointless. The brass refused to add Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training as an official subject as a result. If it weren’t for Jorge, even the remedial lessons might not have been tolerated, the invention shelved, never to see the light of day. Yet the same brass couldn’t reject a national hero’s proposal outright. Ignorant of the political two-step, the recruits simply saw fellow students receiving “remedial” lessons. The unjustified label of “flunkers” had spread unchecked.

The special training did not take part in the athletic grounds but in the nearby woods. Pulling oneself up with the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment involved firing anchors into targets and winding the wires back in. The targets were trees. While anchors might be lodged into a Titan’s body to approach its weakness, the enemy─an avatar of destruction─seemed unlikely to stand stock-still. A target on a rampage made maneuvering difficult, whereas trees were ideal.

The world outside of the walls was mostly an expansive wasteland, but it wasn’t entirely barren. Resilient flora that weren’t picky about soil quality grew here and there, and oases where trees flourished, though rare, also dotted the area. Forests offered advantageous terrain that drew out the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment’s full potential. The best setting not just for offense, they’d surely come in handy in the event of a retreat.

While training took place in the woods with actual combat in mind, the old Equipment was used for the lessons. Identical in concept if functionally inferior to the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, it was suited for training since it allowed adapting to a third dimension and simulated the feel of handling the improved model.

The truth, however, was that continued use of the old Equipment, which only permitted movement along one axis, barely established a foothold for mastering the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.

***

There were about a hundred seats there, so recruits ate in shifts, but over two hours had passed since the end of regular training, leaving the hall empty. They had the place to themselves, but this meant plating their own chow since the recruits on cafeteria duty were gone too.

Of course, the meals did not consist of the colorful fare one might find in a town canteen. The food was little better than rations; not only that, these were their fellow students’ leftovers. Naturally it was cold. Though it would fill their stomachs, that was about it.

Looking displeased, Cardina shrugged and said, “I really hope they hurry up and elevate it to an official subject.” He bit into his bread.

“I doubt that’ll happen during our time here.”

This blunt assertion came from Rose, who sat next to Kuklo. Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training wouldn’t be added as an official subject until someone mastered it and proved its usefulness to the brass. Even if things went smoothly, providing proof in the course of their studies was a tall order. They had no choice but to put up with leftovers for dinner.

“This doesn’t bother me, you know?” opined Kuklo. For him these leftovers amounted to a feast. There was nothing about the situation he found unsatisfactory.

“Well, maybe not you,” Cardina said, sighing conspicuously, “but not everyone’s as tough as you.” He then looked around at everyone at the table.

Only Kuklo, Cardina, and Rosa had enough strength left to get food down their throats. All of the others were just barely sipping soup, their stomachs unable to handle the solid fare─a struggle Ku-klo found impossible to understand.

You can’t be sure there will be food tomorrow. Therefore, eat when you can. That was Kuklo’s creed, and leaving food on a plate was unthinkable.

He bit into his bread and moistened his throat with soup. There was no hurry, but he hastily brought the corn beef to his mouth, which was growing full from whatever he could shovel in.

“Are you a squirrel or something?” Cardina looked appalled, but Kuklo, true to his credo, continued to stuff his face, very much like a squirrel storing acorns in its cheeks. Cardina changed the topic. “Still, we don’t seem to be getting the best results from the special training, though we’re mastering the old Equipment at least.”

“I see how the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment works, but using it is another story… I can’t even imagine myself flying around with that thing,” Rosa agreed. The sight of their special training barely simulated the advanced version’s operations. Shrugging, she concluded, “We need to make a breakthrough soon. I don’t want to leave this place a flunker.”

“Xenophon spoke about a change that’s like a revolution. It takes some trigger,” Kuklo said.

“Like what?” asked Rosa.

“I don’t know.”

Rosa sighed in grief. “What if it turns out that it’s not the kind of machine humans can ever master?”

“No one has learned to use it yet,” Cardina pointed out. “That possibility is there…”

“I respect what the instructor says and I do believe in the brilliance of its inventors, but there’s no guarantee that we have what it takes to do the job.”

“Does it pain you to not be making progress?” Kuklo asked.

“It does,” Rosa admitted frankly. “Making so little headway ends up sowing doubt. Sometimes I think that maybe it’d be better just to use the old model rather than the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment…”

“It did manage to bring down a Titan in the past,” Cardina reminded.

“But Uncle Angel insists that the old Equipment is defective, so it must be inadequate as anti-Titan gear.”

“So our only option is to master the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?” Kuklo pressed.

Rosa nodded and replied yes, but her voice sank and she seemed lost. Perhaps the lack of results and her impatience over it was affecting her motivation.

The conversation drifted away from the topic of training, and they each worked on their dinner at their own pace. It was then that Kuklo’s ears detected ominous footsteps approaching the mess hall.

That’s… Kuklo didn’t have to concentrate on them to tell who they belonged to. Xavi!

He seemed to have his entourage with him, as Kuklo could hear multiple pairs of feet. It was most likely a small group of four or five including Xavi, perhaps the same gang that had taken Kuklo down during logistics training. In any case, Kuklo was certain he’d get dragged into trouble if they met.

Suddenly tense, he felt his pulse quickening.

I knew I was right about eating. Kuklo gulped down all the food that was in his mouth, then pointed at the mess hall’s exit. “We’re done eating. Everyone go to their rooms now.”

“Done? We’re still in the middle of─”

“Do we have company?” Cardina interrupted an upset Rosa. No doubt he could tell from Kuklo’s demeanor, thanks to the time they’d spent together, that unwanted guests were about to arrive. “Sheesh, I’d rather not have to go back to one of those cells…”

“Oh, I see,” Rosa read the situation.

“He has business with me.”

“So we should get out of here? That would be like abandoning a comrade in enemy territory.”

“This is your opportunity to learn what being a soldier means.”

Cardina and Rosa seemed to have no intention of running, nor did the other recruits at the table.

“He really does seem bothered that you joined, though,” Cardina said, his voice free of any nerves. “I guess that’s normal when someone you counted off as dead shows up.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rosa asked, puzzled.

“Some things are better left unknown. You don’t want to be disappeared by a suspicious organization, do you?”

Cardina is right…

Leaving aside the bit about suspicious organizations, a punishment as inhumane as exile could only exist in the shadows. Nearly all soldiers would be in the dark about its existence, let alone any civilians. It was not something to bring up lightly. Furthermore, it was a trump card ensuring Kuklo and Cardina’s personal safety. It kept the royal government from making facile moves against them.

“Whatever happens, you can’t fight back. That’s exactly what they want us to do,” Cardina whispered. Careless behavior was to be avoided if the scuffle during logistics training were any indication.

The disciplinary cell was not a particularly frightening place for Kuklo, but rather like home. For the others, though, it would be worthy of its name, and he was reluctant to send them there with him.

“Just leave this to me. There’s nothing they can do,” offered Cardina.

“Nothing they can do?!”

“Yes. I have a magic word that can silence him,” Cardina winked. He was brimming with confidence.

In time, the topic of their discussion entered. Unexpectedly, Xavi was alone, his entourage apparently waiting outside. As far as they could tell, he was unarmed.

“What a surprise to find you flunkers here. You must be tired from such a long day of training,” Xavi spoke snidely the first thing, striding towards Kuklo.

“Is there something you’re here for?” Cardina responded as though to a close friend.

“We’re in the middle of a meeting, so could you make it short?” Rosa requested. Despite her small frame, she was plucky and didn’t so much as flinch in face of the bear-like Xavi. Perhaps she, like Kuklo, took after her father.

“I’m here for this monster. Mind leaving me and the Titan’s son to ourselves?” Xavi said, gesturing toward the exit of the mess hall with his chin.

“Is it some kind of problem if we’re here?”

“This doesn’t have to do with any of you.”

“Did you bring lookouts so no one would get in your way?” Cardina accused.

Xavi’s right cheek twitched. There was no reply, but his reaction revealed that it was the truth. Not only that, they had already heard his lackeys’ footsteps.

With Cardina and the others gone, the mess hall would be a locked room of sorts. There’d be no way of knowing what took place. In the worst case, even if Kuklo’s corpse were discovered, Xavi would have an alibi if he and his cohort stuck to their guns.

“Anyway, you’re all in my way. Scram,” Xavi tried to intimidate them.

Cardina just smirked and scratched his head. “That’s something we can’t do. He’s one of us, you see.”

“A Titan’s son? One of you?! What kind of freak are you?!” Xavi’s face relaxed and he bared his teeth as he broke into laughter, but his eyes weren’t smiling. Flaming hatred dwelled in the long, sharp slits of his eyes.

At this rate… Xavi was like a volcano on the verge of erupting. The slightest thing could cause him to explode. Kuklo balled his fists and braced for a fight, ready for anything to happen. His crass enemy shrank from no means to accomplish his goals, and inattention could prove fatal. Kuklo’s body grew hot, his blood pumping through him at an increased rate. Already in combat mode, he was poised to spring forth at any moment.

Rosa, who sat next to him, put a hand on his fist as if to pacify him. She shook her head slightly and muttered, “Be patient.”

If I get in a fight here it will be the same as last time… Exhaling, Kuklo quietly unclenched his fists.

Cardina and Xavi continued trading words.

“That thing is a monster, not something you can make friends with.”

“I don’t see any Titan’s son in here.”

“Excuse me?”

“As you’re aware, the Titan’s son was executed. He’s no longer of this world.”

“Where the hell did you hear that…” Xavi’s eyes opened wide. He must not have expected Cardina to know about the death sentence.

He was not the only one who was surprised. All the others, including Rosa, looked bewildered. A criminal heinous enough to be sentenced to death couldn’t have joined their team.

But there was a contradiction at play. That is why Xavi came to meet me. He no doubt wanted to know why Kuklo was still alive and kicking when he’d been executed.

“Let me repeat myself. There’s no Titan’s son here.”

“But…”

“Or would you rather have the case reopened? They might always discover some new evidence they missed the first time.” Cardina grinned knowingly at Xavi, who grimly ground his teeth.

I see. That’s what he meant. “Reopened”─that was Cardina’s magic word to silence Xavi.

If the case were reopened, Xavi’s false testimony to the Military Police might come to light, a fatal blow for someone attempting to join the Brigade. He couldn’t press the issue of Kuklo’s death sentence.

Of course, Jorge already knew all the details, so Xavi had been rendered powerless on this front long ago. Cornering the guy didn’t interest Kuklo, though.

What matters is learning how to use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment to kill Ogre. Therefore he had no time at all to waste on Xavi.

The Inocencio heir glared at Kuklo spitefully, clicked his tongue, and turned around.

“See? Didn’t that go well?” Cardina bragged, puffing his chest out. “Now he shouldn’t be able to bother us.”

“I hope not…” Since they knew his weakness, he’d surely refrain from taking overt action. Still, this was Xavi. He wasn’t one to meekly back down.

“What’s all this about executions and reopening cases?” Rosa posed the obvious question, but Kuklo and Cardina just looked at one another and refused to answer. The reason why went without saying.

“Some things are better left unknown.” “You don’t want to be disappeared by a suspicious organization, do you?”

Kuklo and Cardina spoke the words as if they were telepathically linked, and Rosa could only sigh in response.

***

For Kuklo, who had spent most of his life alone, everything about his time at the training academy seemed fresh. He ate together and slept together with five hundred other recruits, and that alone qualified as a dramatic change in environment. While it was a constricting one since he wasn’t accustomed to matching the pace of others, Kuklo didn’t cause too much friction thanks to Cardina and Rosa helping him along. To begin with, the other recruits didn’t go out of their way to accost him given Xavi’s proclamations that he was a Titan’s son.

Kuklo’s life was proceeding without a hitch. If he continued to train hard, he would no doubt post adequate grades. He might not make the Military Police, but a stable life as a soldier was nearly guaranteed.

Meanwhile, the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training failed to put up any results to speak of. They tried everything they could imagine, but the gains were always trivial and resembled nothing like a breakthrough. Time passed idly by, and a fretful mood hovered over the team. Perhaps it just wasn’t possible.

It was when Kuklo and the others strapped on the Equipment to head toward the forest, the day’s classes over, that Jorge announced to them, “Today’s training is canceled. We’re all going outside today.”

“Outside to where?” Kuklo asked, to which Jorge replied, “Wall Maria.”

“Shopping in Shiganshina District?”

“There’s something I want to show all of you.”

“I assume it’s for our Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training.”

“You’re right, Rosa,” Jorge admitted, without divulging any details. He seemed to want it to be a surprise until they arrived, but it wasn’t as if keeping it a secret buoyed his students’ hearts.

“You’re not going to make us run to Wall Maria, are you?”

“We’ll go by carriage. You’re free to run if you want to build some stamina.”

“I’ll take the carriage, please,” Cardina took back his joke. He dashed straight to the stables, eager to prepare a carriage before Jorge could change his mind.

Wall Maria… Only half a month earlier, Kuklo had barely made it back from beyond the walls after being banished from the country. It feels like so long ago. Two short weeks felt like years thanks to a string of events that had changed his outlook on life.

“Kuklo!”

The yell cut short his train of thought. He hadn’t noticed, but Rosa and the others were already walking toward the stables and beckoning him to follow.

I should go. Kuklo nodded and hurried to them.

***

All around him was enveloped in pitch darkness. Driving with neither street lamps nor moonlight was difficult even for a man of his experience. If not for his lantern lighting the path, he wouldn’t have been able to proceed.

Though the major route was full of carriages during the day, it was now deserted, with only the occasional patrolling soldier or diligent merchant passing by. It was not an ideal time to travel.

Jorge’s students were asleep in the wagon, tired from their training, leaving only him, the driver, awake. Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training was not an official subject, which meant it received no assistance from the corps. He had to prepare anything and everything himself. Normally, it was unthinkable for an instructor to sit reins in hand on the driver’s seat and personally transport recruits.

I should just be happy they’re allowing the training to take place… If he had not accomplished the incredible feat of defeating a Titan as commander of the Survey Corps, even that permission would not have been forthcoming from the brass. I have to prove the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment isn’t plain junk if I want it to be recognized as a subject.

While his students were working hard, they were stuck in a long tunnel with no exit in sight. They had yet to lose heart, but he knew it was going gradually downhill. Their doubts about the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment were sapping their spirits.

I hope this becomes the trigger… He hadn’t told them, but they were headed to the top of Wall Maria. The Survey Corps would be going on an expedition the next morning, and he wanted his students to watch.

Yet, it wasn’t the brave figure of the Survey Corps venturing outside the walls that he wanted to show them, but the opposite spectacle.

Carlo Piquer, Jorge’s son and the current commander of the Survey Corps, was the one to suggest an observational lesson upon hearing about the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment training’s status. Witnessing what went on in the field might help undo their stagnation. Envisioning a battle with a Titan might help them make free use of the gadget.

It was a different approach, but that was exactly why Jorge considered it necessary.

But it might also cause them to lose heart. While Kuklo and Cardina had already seen hell outside the walls, Rosa and the others had not. Though they knew from lectures the gist of what awaited them, it was ultimately nothing more than second-hand knowledge. The cruelty of the lands outside the walls could not be conveyed in words, and that was especially true when it came to the irrationality called the Titans. Jorge had seen the wills of scores of soldiers snapped in two by them.

“Shall I take the reins?” Rosa asked, peeking out from the wagon. She didn’t seem to have just woken up, so she must have been resting her body but not asleep.

“I’ll be okay. You’re the one who ought to rest.”

“I’m fine, too,” Rosa smiled. She moved to the driver’s seat, next to Jorge.

“You took after your mother. Considerate, in just the same way.”

“You know my mother?”

“Of course.”

Rosa’s father, Solm Hume, had served under Jorge in the Survey Corps. Jorge knew his fiancée, Maria Carlstedt─though they only met for the first time at Solm’s funeral.

“Maria was once called Wall Maria’s guardian angel.”

“I’ve never heard that before.”

“I would assume not. It was just something whispered among the Survey Corps.”

It was natural for his troops to search for special significance in a Garrison soldier named Maria. No one knew who first said it, but there had been a rumor that a corpsman who saw her before an expedition would return uninjured. Of course, it was nothing more than a superstition, but it was adhered to by countless men who hoped to glimpse her as they passed through the gates. In a way, that was how cruel the world outside the walls was. How ironic that others were able to return alive when Solm, her fiancé, died on an expedition.

“Maria doesn’t seem to be very happy that you’re going to become a soldier.”

“It’s because I want to join the Survey Corps.”

“So she doesn’t want Solm’s fate to be yours.”

“I don’t plan for that to happen,” Rosa replied firmly. “But I do see what they mean by ‘Like father, like daughter.’”

“How so?”

“It’s like I was guided by my father’s blood coursing through me. But maybe it’s just my imagination.”

“Solm was a talented soldier. Were he still alive, I’m sure my son would find his presence reassuring.”

The reformed Survey Corps was undeniably inferior to the corps under Jorge’s command. Troop quality could only deteriorate after avoiding actual combat for fifteen years. It was a grave problem and the reason Jorge couldn’t step down from active service.

Kuklo. He might be the same, too. It seemed too perfect a coincidence that Kuklo was in the Training Corps under Jorge. Heath had been appointed as team leader when Jorge was still commander. Carlo and Solm were in his team, and Carlo would later discover Kuklo in a Titan’s vomit.

Destiny, I suppose. The Survey Corps had resumed their expeditions as if they’d been waiting for Kuklo to come on stage. The Vertical Maneuvering Equipment had lurked in the wings as well. It only seemed right to call it destiny.

In that case, he’ll soon learn to use the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. Perhaps thanks to his newfound confidence, Jorge’s mouth loosened into the slightest of smiles.

“Is something the matter?”

“Oh, I was simply thinking about what I’ll do when I retire.”

“What’s that?!”

“Just talking to myself.”

Jorge cleared his throat and cracked his whip.

***

Shiganshina District was a gigantic town that boasted the largest population of any inside the country. It was also the nation’s center of trade. While it was full of energy even on a regular day, today’s commotion was something special.

Kuklo and the others had not made it in time, but the Survey Corps had left on an expedition that morning. In other words, the men and women on the street were spectators, and their unusual enthusiasm was due to the Survey Corps’ imminent return.

Dumbfounded, Cardina watched the spectators in front of the main gate. “It’s like some festival.”

“An expedition is a festival for them. They’re here for the return parade to the barracks,” Kuklo said.

“You seem to know a lot about this. Have you been in one of these crowds before?”

“I was in a parade with the Survey Corps.”

“That’s quite a valuable experience there…”

The town only grew more restive, and the area around the gate became jammed full of people trying to secure front-row seats. At the moment, though, their attention was focused on Kuklo and the rest of his group. The crowd was used to seeing soldiers, but recruits must have been an uncommon sight. That fact alone may not have garnered their attention, but Kuklo and the others wore the old Equipment. The strange armament naturally drew eyes toward them.

Wearing the Equipment was a part of their training, meant to get their bodies used to the machinery.

“Nothing wrong with being looked at,” Cardina welcomed sarcastically, but Rosa and the others looked stiff. Perhaps they were excited and afraid of the outside world in equal measure, for their faces bore an inscrutable mix of emotions.

The classes might be part of the problem, Kuklo suspected. While knowledge was necessary to survive beyond the walls, it was counterproductive if the lectures planted fear in the recruits’ hearts. Even so, fears rooted in knowledge rather than experience wasn’t true fear.

Kuklo looked at the towering wall and concentrated on what was on the other side. No Titans nearby…

Just as he confirmed this, Jorge returned from speaking to a Garrison soldier. “Okay, let’s go up,” he said, pointing to the top of the wall. He pulled out the Equipment controller from its holster on his waist.

“We’re not going up there using these, are we?”

“Of course we are,” Jorge disabused Cardina. Then he fixed his aim and pushed down on the controller’s lever. An anchor flew from its muzzle and sank into the top of the wall. “This is the perfect opportunity for you to display the fruits of your training. Make a good impression here and it’ll be easier for me to talk to the higher-ups, too.”

Jorge smiled fearlessly as he returned the controller’s lever to its original position. The machine on his back howled and rewound its wire at a fierce rate. Jorge’s body flew into the air and approached the top of the wall almost instantly, causing spectators to cheer in amazement. After grabbing the edge of the wall to pull himself up, he motioned to Kuklo and the others to follow.

“That’s the instructor for you. I guess he had this all planned out from the beginning,” Cardina marveled.

“He seems like he’d do fine out there, too,” Rosa said, sounding just as surprised.

Jorge had moved with such fluidity and grace that it was hard to believe he was a veteran who’d stepped away from the front lines. If anyone dared to spar with him, he would end things quickly after amusing himself, no doubt.

Kuklo grabbed his own controller and followed Jorge’s lead, sinking an anchor into the top of the wall. The taut wire provided him with solid feedback; the Equipment would be able to support his body. Having made sure, Kuklo used the lever, and the Equipment roared in response. His body shook off gravity and suddenly flew into the sky, guided by the anchor. He was nearly to the top just a moment later, and he let off speed to make a soft landing. As soon as he did, he grabbed the edge and moved onto the wall.

One by one, the others followed.

“Looks like all that practice is paying off,” Jorge nodded, looking satisfied. Still, that didn’t keep him from adding a pointed reminder. “The goal is to learn to control the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. Don’t forget that.”

The top of Wall Maria was full of soldiers at work. With an expedition in progress, they had to bring their A-game and be ready for anything.

Jorge and his students moved to a watchtower, and from there they could see the world beyond the walls alongside the lookouts.

The tower was perfect for getting a panoramic view of the outside world. Of course, all they saw was an expanse of unused, barren land, with little of note. Kuklo cast a quick glance across the area but found nothing more than a dreary wasteland stretching to the horizon. No Titans seemed to be nearby.

But they have to be somewhere… He could be sure of that.

“You know, though, the more I see it, the worse it looks,” Cardina said with some feeling, perhaps reminded of his dash through the outside world. Kuklo didn’t care to play another life-or-death game of tag with a Titan, but it was inevitable if he wished to take one on.

Rosa spoke next. “I can’t believe that people used to live there…”

“Without humans there to tend the land, it ends up looking like that.”

That was especially true where the Titans roamed. When they rushed through a town, it was enough to turn buildings into rubble.

Only one Titan had entered Shiganshina, but it had razed half the district, leaving countless people dead or injured. It was said that hundreds of Titans existed─perhaps thousands. If a horde of them descended on a town, it would collapse almost instantly.

The soldiers burst into activity. A lookout had spotted something beyond the walls through his binoculars.

That’s… Kuklo focused on the direction the soldier was pointing. He saw black smoke in the sky a few kilometers ahead. It was a beacon. The menacing puff made it clear that something had happened.

“The Survey Corps is coming back.”

The black smoke that polluted the sky was from a signal flare fired by a soldier. A “Black Star” indicated that the Survey Corps was heading back with a Titan in tow.

This was followed by a Yellow Star. It seemed the Survey Corps was being followed by a considerable number of Titans.

Before long, dots that appeared to be the Survey Corps emerged from beyond the horizon. They seemed to be advancing at full speed, their warhorses kicking up a storm of dust. At second sight, that was not all. The cloud was also due to grand, human-shaped creatures that madly pursued the Survey Corps.

“Titans…”

Only their silhouettes were visible through the cloud of dust, but there seemed to be ten at the very least. While varying in size, they were all easily larger than any human. That their shapes were clear despite the distance was proof.

“Burn this sight into your memories. Never forget what those Titans look like.”

Jorge’s instructions were superfluous, as his students all had their eyes glued on the monstrosities. Rosa, who was seeing a Titan for the first time, had her eyes opened especially wide. She was trembling, but the reaction was natural. It was hard to stay cool and collected in the face of monsters that defied human comprehension. Everything she thought she knew about the world had to be crashing down around her.

This was the trial Jorge wished to impose on his students. It was his way of screening them. If a recruit couldn’t weather it, he or she was incapable of challenging a Titan. It wasn’t a sign of Jorge’s severity─just the opposite.

Fortunately, Rosa and the others seemed to have conquered their fear. They stood firm, even if their faces had turned sickly pale…

As they watched, the Survey Corps grew closer and closer. The Titans were now clearly visible, too, and while initially there seemed to be around ten, the true count, including some smaller Titans, approximated twenty.

It was a dreadful sight, like something out of a nightmare. The Titans were about five hundred meters away from the Survey Corps. Though not slim enough to be covered instantly, the gap was nonetheless rapidly closing. It would only be a matter of time before the Titans caught up.

With the Survey Corps drawing near, the gigantic, ten-meter-tall gate began to open.

Commander Carlo brought up the rear as the group closed in on the gate, their horses neighing. His sharp gaze stared straight forward, and he skillfully used his reins to spur his mount.

“Fire!!”

The order came from a soldier who’d been gauging the situation from up high. The cannons placed on top of the wall spewed flames, and balls of fire shot out of their muzzles and into the ground a few hundred meters ahead. Amidst explosions, giant pillars of flame flared up from the ground, engulfing the bodies of multiple nearby Titans. Still, that did not stop the attack of the Titans. They seemed to know no fear, and they all continued to charge savagely forward, expressions unchanged.

The bombardment continued, blowing Titans away and bathing them in hellfire. It still wasn’t enough to incapacitate them, but it did pin them down, providing one Survey Corps soldier after another the chance to pass through Wall Maria.

“Close the gates! Close the gates!”

The portal shut almost as soon as a soldier shouted the command. Perhaps noticing that their prey had vanished, the Titans halted their attack.

After that, the monsters began to act erratically. While some wandered off, others stood in place as if they were reluctant to part. Unlike when they were chasing after the Survey Corps, they seemed to have no clear goal in mind. Eating humans was the only thing that interested them.

The Titans that had been knocked over by the shelling rose up. Though they should have been missing limbs, these had been restored, and their hideously burned skin had finished regenerating as well. Having recovered completely in just a few minutes, the monsters began roaming the land as though nothing had happened. The bombardment must not have so much as tickled them.

Kuklo balled his fists and glared at these implacable enemies of mankind. Perhaps noticing his impassioned stare, a familiar Titan, tall and lean, approached with a smile.

“Ogre…”

The Garrison soldiers did nothing to the sluggish figure. With the gates closed, Titans had no way of breaching Wall Maria. Perhaps the understanding was that it was safe to ignore them. The wall was thick enough to repel Titans and tall enough to be unscalable. A misguided strike damaging Wall Maria posed a bigger threat than any of the Titans outside of it.

“So, is that one your nemesis? Quite a fine young man, isn’t he?” Cardina joked, but his face was stern.

Rosa stood next to him, her expression no less stiff. “Did you see those monsters? How do you even…”

“As you saw, they can’t be defeated by orthodox means,” Jorge replied. “I doubt the current Survey Corps, which still relies on the same old tactics, can ever down a Titan.” Despite the Garrison soldiers around him, the instructor openly criticized the prevailing doctrine. Only Jorge, who’d defeated a Titan, could get away with that.

“To defeat them we need the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment,” Kuklo said.

“That’s right.”

“What if that doesn’t work?”

“Then humanity will gradually decline.”

Xenophon might come up with a groundbreaking new weapon, but waiting wasn’t the answer.

At a tortoise’s pace, Ogre ambled to a spot right below the watchtower. Then it looked up at Kuklo.

The more Kuklo looked at Ogre, the more it resembled a person. Aside from its size, it was nearly identical to a human, and this was what made Titans all the more repulsive. As if to greet Kuklo, it opened its mouth, a slit that stretched form ear to ear.

“Laugh while you still can,” Kuklo spat at the Titan. If he’d been holding explosives, he’d have thrown them into the Titan’s mouth, but unfortunately he was empty-handed. While he couldn’t settle things just yet, he believed he’d have the chance soon.