Five days remained before the fifty-seventh expedition beyond the walls.
The soldiers were granted a single day of leave, allowed to return home and see their families. After all, whether they would ever come back from the expedition was anyone's guess.
If they didn't return, at least they would fail only in their duty as children to their parents. Other responsibilities—husbands to wives, wives to husbands, parents to children—didn't exist.
Because the Survey Corps soldiers were all single.
Everyone understood this instinctively. Once you chose a corps where death was a constant companion, it was only natural that no one would look favorably upon you. Even if someone did love you, you shouldn't respond.
Otherwise, what would you bring them except endless anxiety—and one day, a cold, incomplete corpse?
Sometimes not even a corpse.
Sometimes, all that was left was a message:
They're dead. Eaten by a Titan.
Even Erwin, the commander of the Survey Corps, had once chosen dreams over love. The woman he loved eventually married Nile, the commander of the Military Police.
Nile had always found this difficult to fully understand. On one hand, he felt regret for Erwin; on the other, he deeply admired him. And somewhere in his heart, there was even a trace of relief.
Relief that Erwin had chosen his dream.
Because if Erwin had joined the Military Police instead, then whether it was the commander's position—or the woman—neither would have belonged to Nile.
At this moment, headquarters was nearly empty. Only a handful of soldiers with no family to visit remained behind. The upper ranks of the Survey Corps had also stayed, gathered to discuss the upcoming expedition.
Erwin was the first to speak, directing his question to Hange.
"Krista hasn't shown any unusual behavior lately, has she?"
"No," Hange replied seriously.
"After you spoke with her that day, I had several female soldiers discreetly monitor her movements. She's behaved exactly as usual and didn't mention that conversation to anyone."
"Good."
"Erwin," Levi suddenly said, "Since we're sure Lillian is a Titan, does the expedition even have any meaning anymore?"
Erwin shook his head. "We can't be certain he's a Titan. What we can confirm is that he's known about Titans for a long time."
Mike frowned. "If he isn't a Titan, then why go through all that trouble with secret notes? Why not just come to us directly? But if he is a Titan—why warn us at all?"
The group fell silent, each lost in thought.
Indeed, the situation was contradictory. There was no way to immediately form a clear conclusion.
After a moment, Erwin spoke again.
"At present, there are two possibilities.
First: he is not a Titan, but he knows about them. In that case, he may have chosen this method because he feared that approaching us directly would make us suspect and imprison him as a Titan. Or perhaps he feared that Titans had already infiltrated the military, and that revealing himself would alert them and get him killed."
"And the second?" Hange asked, intrigued.
"Second: he is a Titan. In that case, his actions can't be judged purely through logic—we have to consider emotion."
"Emotion?" Hange tilted her head.
"Yes," Erwin said.
"According to intelligence from the training corps, during the snow mountain exercise, he once risked his life to save Krista. Someone who would sacrifice himself in a life-or-death situation can't be considered purely rational."
Erwin paused before continuing.
"If that's the case, then perhaps he has a reason he must destroy the walls. But his emotional side makes him unable to bear the guilt—so he secretly left us clues."
Levi rubbed his temples.
"Erwin, aren't you overthinking this?"
"No!" Hange interjected excitedly.
"If that's true, then it's very possible that the enemy Titans aren't united! We know there are three intelligent enemy Titans. If Lillian is one of them, maybe he has ideological differences with the other two and doesn't want to cause excessive human casualties."
Erwin nodded.
"That's also a possibility."
Mike frowned deeply.
"Then shouldn't our top priority be finding a way to control Lillian?"
"That won't be easy," Erwin replied.
"He's now a new squad leader in the Military Police—and he's inside Wall Sina. If he is a Titan, acting rashly could trigger a massive crisis."
"Then what about requesting cooperation from the Military Police?"
"That takes time. And Lillian is very intelligent. He visited the Survey Corps ten days ago—and he knows the expedition is imminent."
Erwin's gaze drifted, as though simulating Lillian's thoughts.
"If I were Lillian, and I visited the Survey Corps only to see the planned expedition suddenly canceled… what would I think? I'd ask why. I'd grow suspicious."
"And once he becomes suspicious," Hange said quietly, "it'll be nearly impossible to control him."
"That's right. So the expedition beyond the walls must proceed according to the original plan," Erwin said.
"And whether Lillian is a Titan or not, there's a very high chance that they will appear during this expedition. Eren's basement is the key. If they don't want us to learn the truth about the Titans, then they will definitely try to seize Eren—or kill him."
"..."
Hange spoke softly, "A lot of people are going to die again, aren't they?"
No one answered.
There was no way around it. Aside from the few people in this room, the rest of the soldiers had no idea that their lives were already hanging by a thread.
But then again, that was true for everyone.
Even among the officers present, aside from Levi, none of them stood a chance against an intelligent Titan. Mike might be able to hold on for a short while—but the outcome would still be inevitable.
---
The gunfight in the forest was nearing its end.
The enemy's crude, undisciplined shooting was no match for the Military Police—especially with Annie, a true sharpshooter, on their side. Before long, the enemy suffered heavy casualties and began to retreat.
On the recruits' side, aside from Baker, Wilson from Annie's squad had been killed. Robert from Marlo's squad had taken a bullet to the shoulder and was no longer combat-capable.
At this point, Lillian had no intention of letting the enemy escape. He immediately led a pursuit, taking Marlo with him while ordering Annie and her squad to flank from the other side.
Lillian moved at incredible speed. He quickly overtook the fleeing bandits and opened fire ahead of them, cutting off their escape route.
With enemies seemingly in front, behind, and on both sides, several bandits dropped their weapons and knelt to surrender. One man, however, stubbornly continued running.
He didn't get far.
Lillian caught him.
When he saw the man's face, Lillian wasn't surprised—not really. In fact, it was exactly what he had expected.
"Behave yourself!"
The recruits tied up the surrendering bandits and then stared in disbelief as Lillian dragged someone back by the leg.
"That's…?!"
Their faces filled with shock as they recognized the man being hauled across the ground.
Lillian threw him down in front of them.
It was none other than Waltz Keir, a battalion captain of the Military Police.
Waltz was filthy and disheveled, his eyes vicious. Faced with the recruits' confusion and shock, he showed no sign of begging—instead, he roared angrily:
"You dare defy your superior?! Are you trying to start a rebellion?!"
"Captain Waltz," Lillian said calmly,
"Care to explain why you were running around with a group of bandits?"
"You insignificant bastard!" Waltz snarled.
"I'm your superior officer! I don't owe you any explanation! Now come with me back to headquarters immediately!"
He tried to stand and walk away, but the recruits blocked his path.
"Captain Waltz," Marlo said coldly, "I never imagined you'd be working with bandits."
"Nonsense!" Waltz shouted, pointing at the bound bandits and then at himself.
"Me? Working with bandits? Why would I? I'm a battalion captain—why would I abandon that to become a bandit?!"
The recruits hesitated.
Lillian nodded. "Good question. Looks like we'll need answers from these gentlemen instead."
He turned to the bandits.
"Illegal possession of firearms. Attacking Military Police. That's enough to put you on the gallows. But if you tell the truth, you might be allowed to live out the rest of your days in prison."
"Lillian! This is coercion! I'm telling you, you—ugh!"
Before Waltz could finish, Lillian kicked him hard in the stomach.
The pain dropped Waltz to his knees instantly, leaving him unable to speak.
The recruits looked on, unsure what to do.
Inside the walls, respect—and fear—for authority was deeply ingrained. Even when an official was clearly implicated, people still instinctively feared them.
The same was happening here.
Even though the recruits knew in their hearts that Waltz had orchestrated the ambush, many of them didn't even dare feel anger. All they felt was confusion—and fear.
Lillian understood this perfectly.
And he had no intention of trying to change their thinking with words—because it was impossible.
Values couldn't be imposed. If a few sentences could overturn beliefs rooted that deeply, they could just as easily be overturned again the next day.
So Lillian didn't rely on words.
He relied on action.
And on action to bind everyone to him.
"I… I'll talk!"
One of the bandits finally cracked under the pressure.
"It was him! Waltz came to us before—told us to gather some people… said we had to kill Li—Lillian! We had no choice! He's a battalion captain! If we didn't cooperate, he'd just find someone else, and then we'd be—"
"Shut the hell up!!" Waltz roared, clutching his stomach.
"You piece of trash! How dare you slander me! I'll have you hanged—"
"Do you have proof?" Lillian asked calmly.
The bandit nodded furiously, hatred flashing in his eyes.
"It's all written down! Every transaction! The ledger's on me!"
"Good."
Lillian pulled a small notebook from the bandit's chest, flipped through it, and nodded in satisfaction.
Only then did he look back at Waltz.
Waltz finally realized what was happening. Panic flooded his face.
"Y-You can't do this! Even if I committed crimes, you have no authority! This must go to a military court!"
Seeing Lillian unmoved, Waltz turned to the recruits and shouted:
"Do you want to rebel along with Lillian?! Arrest him! I guarantee you promotions for everyone!"
The recruits remained silent.
"That's enough."
Lillian raised his gun and pressed the barrel against Waltz's forehead. Before anyone could react, his finger pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A single shot.
Waltz collapsed, dead.
Lillian looked at the stunned recruits and said evenly:
"Battalion Captain Waltz colluded with bandits to ambush the Military Police, but was killed by the bandits during the battle.
The soldiers, unaware of the truth, fought back in anger and eliminated all bandits.
Afterward, a ledger was found, revealing the facts."
He turned and walked away.
"Deal with them."
The bandits froze.
Wasn't this supposed to be a peaceful life in prison?
"Yes! That's exactly how it should be!" Marlo said, looking at Lillian's retreating figure with undisguised admiration. "These 'carnivores' deserved to die!"
Annie also turned her head and looked at Lillian for a long moment. Only after a while did she speak softly:
"…Marlo, are you sure he won't become a new kind of 'carnivore' himself?"