"No, let's head back the way we came. I just remembered a few things I need to go over," Roger said after a moment's thought. "Besides, this afternoon I'm going out with Count Eddie."
"Got it, Boss."
The carriage turned around.
Watching the lavishly decorated carriage return the way it came, the gendarmes whispered among themselves.
"Why do they seem so suspicious? Hey, who do you think is in there?"
"Who cares. It's just a bunch of stuffed-shirt piggies. They're probably in there cursing us out right now."
"Man, these nobles are something else. A few of them tried to force their way out this morning. We stopped them and did a thorough search. Guess what? One of them was some finance minister. You should've seen his face—ugh, the stink on it. If the regiment commander hadn't come to smooth things over… tsk tsk."
"Haha… well, we're bottom-rung folks. Don't overthink it. Do the shift."
Seeing the gendarmes return to their posts with his own eyes, Roger let out a breath.
If they'd insisted on a search, they would've recognized his face at a glance. Then what? The plan to find the Founding would be dead in the water.
What Roger hadn't expected was that even the royal capital was now under lockdown. That only confirmed his suspicion: Erwin had already taken action.
He hadn't announced anything publicly yet, but it was obvious he'd begun looking for Roger and believed Roger knew the truth about the Titans.
And all of that came almost entirely from Erwin's deductions.
Roger combed through Reiner's memories and his own and found no moment Erwin had personally witnessed a human turning into a Titan. By ordinary logic, he shouldn't have been able to guess it. Yet somehow he not only guessed, he'd gotten eight or nine tenths of it right.
"But why is he so obsessed with the truth about the Titans?"
Roger couldn't figure it out.
If Erwin didn't have such a fierce drive to uncover the truth, he wouldn't have deduced this far.
And that was exactly what Roger feared most about Erwin.
He just didn't know what choice Erwin would make after learning "the truth of the Titans' world."
Would he choose to represent the island and oppose the world?
Or would he accept a lesser position for the sake of world peace?
Roger had no way of knowing.
By now, the carriage had returned to the tavern.
Nelly was at the bar and saw Roger step down.
"Why are you back?" he asked.
"Something came up. You handle the surface residency permits, Nelly," Roger said, then looked to the person beside him. "Babut!"
"Ah—ah! I'm here!"
Babut was flustered. Being called by Roger made him jolt like a guilty thief.
Coward, Roger thought with disdain, then turned and called someone else.
"Forget it. Tours, pick two people and come with me. This time we're getting it done."
"Understood."
With his usual confident grin, Tours tapped two trusted men and walked over.
After a glance at Nelly, Roger returned to his room and changed into plain clothes and his ODM gear.
As a precaution, he also had Tours and the others put on the ODM sets Nelly had bought from the black market.
After some training, their handling was only so-so, but at least they could operate the gear proficiently enough.
With that, Roger, Tours, and the rest headed back into the Underground.
This time, the Underground was much quieter than usual.
By Roger's estimate, they'd reached about halfway down the staircase, yet he still hadn't heard the usual clamor.
It was a little too quiet.
"Did something happen?"
Tours wondered aloud.
That put Roger on alert.
"Be ready to use the ODM gear and bail at any moment," Roger ordered.
"Right."
The others answered, hands settling on their trigger switches.
At last they reached the final step.
They went down and looked over the Underground they'd visited a few days ago.
Turned out he'd overthought it.
It was the same tattered Underground as before—only the toll collectors at the stairhead were gone.
"What, do they get days off too?"
Tours joked, but no one laughed. Apparently, no one got the joke.
With the address Nelly had dug up, Roger led them straight to Levi's place.
The far east end of the Underground, an extremely remote spot.
The houses were all dilapidated—obvious hand-me-downs long since used up and discarded.
To avoid drawing eyes, they approached one by one and regrouped at the corner. Roger pointed to a shabby house ahead.
"Levi lives there. Get ready. He's not the type who wants people finding his home."
"Understood."
The men nodded.
But just then—
"Not necessarily."
A voice sounded behind Roger.
Everyone turned to see a short man with an indifferent look, leaning against the wall and toying with a sharp little knife.
"Levi."
Roger spoke his name, and Levi's attention shifted.
"You're Reiner Braun, right? The idiot boss of some topside scumbag outfit? Spit it out. If this is boring, don't blame me for getting rough."
Levi said it while looking straight at Roger.
A few people appeared around Roger, each with a weapon in hand. Roger figured they were Levi's crew.
"Boss…"
Tours glared at them, thinking a bloodbath was about to start.
But Roger calmly took off his hat.
"Nothing else. I just want you to follow this idiot boss—me—join my scumbag outfit, and become one of the scumbags. Oh, and I'll pay you a salary and grant you surface residency."
Levi went quiet at that.
"You trying to recruit me?"
"What do you think?"
Levi looked Roger up and down, thinking things over.
Then someone beside Levi spoke up.
"Boss, do it. This is a golden chance!"
After a long pause, Levi shook his head.
"Not interested," he refused. Then he turned to the man next to him. "Farlan, you go. I'll give you the opportunity."
"Huh? Boss, you—?!"
"I've got no interest in living topside. The Underground feels cozier to me."
"Huh? But… but you said…"
"How about this instead?" Levi looked to Roger. "Farlan's as capable as I am. He can handle your jobs just fine."
"No." Roger's answer was firm. "Levi, I came here specifically. You should know why."
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