"If you like it, I can make one just for you.
I already taught Armin how to use it."
Evan smiled as Armin's grandfather carefully set the fishing rod down.
But the old man shook his head.
"No, no… if I take this, what will you use?"
Evan waved the concern away.
"For you it's a valuable fishing tool…
but for me, it's just a stick.
Making another won't take me long."
Armin immediately nodded.
"He really did just walk into the woods for a few minutes and came back with this.
Mikasa and I didn't believe him at first… but when that fish jumped out of the water, we were terrified!"
Eren paused thoughtfully.
"So that's why… The riverbank's so high.
Without a boat, you really can't catch anything."
Carla suddenly spoke up.
"Oh, Evan
you're not originally from Shiganshina District, are you?"
Evan nearly answered honestly before switching mid-sentence:
"…What makes you say that?"
Carla pulled up a white shirt from a pile of hay
the one Evan had arrived in the world wearing.
"While washing your clothes yesterday…
I realized something strange.
I've never seen this style in the whole district."
She lifted her gaze.
"You must be from inside Wall Rose… right?"
All eyes immediately fixed on Evan.
He hesitated just for a heartbeat then nodded quickly.
"Y-Yes. Actually… I'm an orphan.
I've never had a real home.
I stay in one place for a while and… eventually I get restless and move on.
That's why I still had clothes from the inner wall when I arrived here.
I just didn't have time to change before everything happened."
"Ohh…"
Everyone nodded, half understanding, half inventing the details themselves.
After all, most people from the outer wall had never once stepped inside Wall Rose.
If they'd never seen such clothes, it made sense.
But
Mikasa turned her head slowly, staring into Evan's soul:
"…You're lying."
"Cough!… Cough!"
Evan violently averted his gaze.
Why did it feel like this girl could read his mind?!
The others didn't notice the subtle exchange.
Armin suddenly said:
"Eren, Mikasa, did you hear the rumor about the Light Giant?"
Eren stopped mid-bite.
"The… Light Giant?
Is that another kind of Titan?"
Armin wasn't sure himself.
"I heard it while waiting for bread today.
Someone said that on the day Wall Maria fell,
a strange pillar of light appeared in the southern residential district."
Mikasa's head jolted up.
Her sharp gaze immediately locked onto one person at the table.
Evan tensed, coughed again, and shoved a huge bite of bread into his mouth to avoid eye contact.
"A pillar of light?"
Eren leaned in, fascinated.
"What happened next?!"
"Armin, enough of that nonsense."
His grandfather snapped sharply.
"Forget such stories."
Evan chimed in instantly too fast:
"Grandpa's right. There's no such thing as a Light Giant.
Armin, you must be starving eat more fish."
The moment those words left his mouth…
Mikasa's eyes narrowed like a hunting cat cornering prey.
"You seem… very uncomfortable with this topic."
Eren blinked.
"So, Evan, are you hot or something?"
Evan froze.
"…Huh?"
Eren pointed.
"Your forehead's covered in sweat."
"..."
Nope.
Nope nope nope.
Time to evacuate.
"I'm, uh… going to take a bath."
"...?"
Everyone watched him leave with the same expression:
That boy is hiding something.
"Armin, continue," Eren urged eagerly once Evan was gone.
Armin nodded.
"After the pillar of light,
someone said a colorful giant walked out of it.
Not like any Titan we know.
Most importantly…"
Armin lowered his voice.
"…It didn't have a mouth."
Carla gasped softly.
"No mouth? Titans… can be like that?"
"And the strangest part it fought other Titans.
Took out several in an instant."
Even Armin sounded like he was telling an impossible fairy tale.
But Eren's eyes glowed with intense, trembling hope.
"If that's true…
then humanity might actually be saved…"
Armin nodded gravely.
"Yes.
If a Titan exists that protects humans,
then leaving the walls…
might really be possible someday."
Eren leaned forward.
"What happened after that?
Where did the Light Giant go?"
"…That's the part no one knows.
They said it disappeared.
And no one's seen it since."
"Disappeared…"
A heavy silence settled over the small stable
a silence full of fear, awe, and the first tiny spark of hope.