"What happened?"
As soon as he reached Roger's side, Levi asked with concern.
"Nothing," Roger waved it off with a smile. "I just didn't expect the War Hammer's ability to be this unstable. Maybe I've just been off these past few days."
Hearing that, Levi frowned. "Unstable—as in, it causes explosions? You'd better not be hiding anything, or it'll be a mess to clean up when it blows up in our faces."
"What would I even be hiding?"
Roger shrugged and, out of habit, scratched the bridge of his nose.
He didn't keep looking at Levi. He knew he wasn't good at hiding things; if someone stared him down, he'd show a tell without meaning to.
Back when he infiltrated inside the Walls, that's exactly what happened. Roger had no experience lying, slipped up without noticing, got cocky—and Erwin saw it and almost unmasked him.
Luckily, he maneuvered hard and fast back then, so Erwin never found grounds to arrest him.
Otherwise, Roger figured even ten identities wouldn't be enough to keep Erwin from sorting him out.
Levi hadn't interrogated many people, but he'd been on the receiving end before.
In his view, a person's eyes can't lie.
No matter how deceptive their actions or expressions, their eyes ultimately sell them out—revealing what they really think.
Levi didn't know what Roger was thinking, but from those shifty eyes, he could tell Roger was lying.
Something had definitely happened.
Levi glanced up at the statue's top, then at its half-blasted body. Factoring in Roger's eyes, his mind began to race.
In his view, something bad had happened, and for various reasons Roger hadn't chosen to tell them—his Scorpion Group members, his most trusted subordinates.
He understood.
Because Levi had done this kind of thing more than once.
Back in the Underground, whenever the organization was about to be toppled, Levi—as the boss—would always step out first, take the risk himself, and keep everyone in the dark so they had no forewarning of what was coming. Then he, Levi alone, would shoulder all the danger.
That way, even if something catastrophic happened, it had nothing to do with them. He took all the guilt and risk. If someone had to die, it would be him.
"If you want to play hero alone, I'll oblige you—but first you're going to tell me the truth, down to the last detail," Levi said, looking at Roger, his eyes flat and stripped of illusion.
Roger looked back at him.
"Nothing happened. Relax."
He recycled his line.
Levi said nothing, folded his arms, and kept staring at Roger like he was waiting him out.
Obviously, he didn't believe it—and he showed it.
Roger knew Levi didn't buy it, and he doubted he could fool him anyway, so he tried to change the subject.
"Get everyone together. We can pile sand and stone to rebuild the statue's upper half."
As he spoke, Roger rubbed his temples.
Levi was still staring in silence, which made him feel very awkward.
"Trust me. I can handle this. Besides, if you get involved…" Roger paused at last and said, "You getting involved would only slow me down."
Once Levi heard that—since the words had gone that far—there really wasn't anything left to say.
"Understood."
He finally dropped it, vaulted back into the saddle,
and after one last glance at Roger, spurred his horse and left at speed.
Watching Levi ride off, Roger let out a breath.
[He cares about you.]
"No. He's fulfilling a contract," Roger pinched the bridge of his nose. "Levi doesn't care about anyone."
[Maybe you'll be the first.]
"Heh… heh-heh…" Roger laughed.
[What's funny?]
"The way you said that—sounds like a romance trope."
[…]
Roger stretched, letting the body that had been tensed to the limit relax at last.
[Do you read?]
"I used to. Back in school," Roger arched a brow. "Aren't you parasitic on me? You didn't know that?"
[I just don't care.]
[Same way Anderson only ever wanted to drag you down and never paid attention to when you slipped in and out of the hospital to see your grandmother.]
[Even though you hinted at it more than once.]
"…Anderson, huh?" Roger looked up at the sky. "That example doesn't quite fit."
[Hit a nerve?]
"A little," Roger sighed. "Right now I honestly don't know whether I should hate him or thank him."
[You don't need to do either.]
[Everything he did was for himself. For his… girlfriend?]
[Oh—his crush.]
"Do people really go that far for someone they like?"
[Maybe.]
[But not always.]
The distant sunset sank, and Roger suddenly felt like he'd changed. After coming to the island and learning more, he'd somehow loosened up.
To be precise, this was what power had given him—backbone.
Before, when he didn't have enough to eat or wear, he brimmed with hostility and treated everyone like an enemy.
But now, somehow, he'd grown smooth. He felt like nothing could slip out of his control.
A sense of absolute power.
If he wanted, he could wipe out every living thing within the Walls—Titans and humans alike—in a single day.
But then the Founding would be impossible to track, and the loss wouldn't be worth it.
Tours and the others found their boss one after another. Seeing him safe, they were relieved—but none of them knew what he'd gone through.
Repairs on the Titan statue began at once. People hung themselves on the surface using ODM gear, like painters on a wall, slowly packing the statue's upper section with sand and stone.
A few days later, the work was done.
Erwin personally penned a letter and sent word to Hange—who was stationed inside the Walls and in charge of the Titan reduction effort.
He had Hange send the "Great Hammer" used on Titans along with other supplies.
To ensure safety, in a few days they would launch the purge of Titans in the Wall Maria districts.
But just as they turned back to deal with the Titans—
On the other side of Paradis Island,
Zeke had already brought eighty percent of Marley's army to land.
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