The Survey Corps went on expeditions for many reasons.
“Uncovering the secrets of the Titans” stood as their foremost. Titans only showed interest in humans, and only ate humans, and their harmfulness to humanity was a fact.
Whether or not the Titans were true natural enemies, however, remained unclear. Despite surface resemblances to a relationship between carnivorous predator and prey, Titans didn’t actually see humanity as a source of food, as witnessed by their habit of vomiting people out undigested. In other words, humanity did not even know why it needed to be eaten by the Titans.
Where had they come from, and where were they going?
Casting light on Titan behavior was a major mission for the Survey Corps.
That was not their only job, though. Another was to create a map, the current expedition’s objective.
While the outside world looked like a sprawling wasteland, it did have some distinct features. There were rocks, trees, and knolls, but most notable of all were the oases. No other places offered themselves as emergency evacuation areas, and knowing the locations of sources of water was essential to increasing the survival rate on expeditions. Of course, no place was secure in the outside world where Titans roamed, but these foliaged watering spots were perfect both for hiding and for shaking off pursuit. Many Titans moved in straight lines, so weaving through trees could save lives.
The map had been completed for a roughly ten-kilometer swath south of Wall Maria. Three oases existed there: one five kilometers south of Shiganshina District, another seven kilometers to the southeast, and one more ten kilometers to the southwest. During the current expedition, they would survey beyond that perimeter.
“Why a map, though?” Kuklo questioned as they passed the nine-kilometer point.
“Didn’t I just tell you?” scolded Cardina. “Areas with water are important out here.”
“I know, but…” A map was only a map.
“Creating maps is an important duty. Maps of the south are particularly meaningful,” Rosa said. “The Titans come from the south side. That means if there’s something, that’s where. Who knows what that something is, though.”
“Maybe there’s a town where our outsized friends go about their lives.”
“Or some sort of phenomenon that causes Titans to come into existence.”
“I see…” Kuklo muttered, satisfied. “So we aren’t just looking for oases.”
“There’s one more reason for these mapping expeditions. Do you know what it is?” quizzed Rosa.
“One more reason?”
“They’re playing it safe for us greenhorns’ sake,” Cardina answered with a wry smile. “We’ll get accustomed to the outside world as we map it. Call it the corps’ first and last act of kindness.”
“So it’s like a practice run until next time.” Still, they did find themselves beyond the walls, and that fact was enough to keep Kuklo on guard.
The ten-kilometer line came within view. Just then, Team One, which led the advance, came to a sudden stop, bringing them all to a halt.
What happened? Before Kuklo could ask, a red signal flare bloomed in the sky.
“A Titan…”
A red flare, also known as a “Red Star,” signaled the discovery of a Titan. Awestruck, Kuklo watched the red smoke spread like a pool of blood.
Next, three yellow signal flares soared into the air in short succession.
“So we have ourselves a three-meter-class Titan. I really would have preferred to avoid any at all,” Cardina sighed.
…It’s not Ogre.
Kuklo couldn’t immediately decide whether to welcome or to regret the fact that they wouldn’t be facing Ogre. Either way, a monster was now closing in on them.
If they did nothing they were in for a battle, but Commander Carlo’s plans apparently didn’t call for one. Team One made a U-turn and began heading down a new path, probably toward the southeast oasis. The closest one was at the ten-kilometer point southwest, but the Titan seemed to be coming from that direction.
The Titan was about five hundred meters away. In the dim light, its distant form was hard to make out for Kuklo. As it closed in, however, its figure rapidly grew distinct. The Titan had the features of a geriatric. Its back was hunched, seemingly due to old age, and its body was as scrawny as a withered tree. Yet contrary to its appearance it was athletic. Demonstrating a horse-like speed, it charged toward them. Contact seemed like a matter of time, but if they began fleeing right away, they might outrun it.
Snapping his reins Kuklo urged his mount to turn around, but just then, a green signal flare exploded overhead.
“A Green Star?” Kuklo furrowed his brow. Used to signal an anomaly, it was the exact type that had gone up in the course of Kuklo’s unheard-of attempt to smuggle himself along on an expedition. A stowaway certainly qualified as anomalous, but under the circumstances no problem could possibly be bigger than a Titan.
The signal had been fired by the leader of Team Seven, who was about twenty meters ahead. As soon as Kuklo looked his way, his eye opened wide. One of Team Seven’s soldiers was charging directly toward the Titan.
That’s… Kuklo could tell who it was even from behind. “Xavi…”
Letting out a war cry, brandishing his short sword, Xavi sped forth on his mount. Betraying nothing in the way of strategy, his assault amounted to a suicide attack.
He’s going to get killed… Matching power for power was no way to challenge a Titan. While traditional tactics did work against a three-meter-class, it assumed a cohort of trustworthy comrades. Defying a Titan alone was a sure way to die.
“So, what should we do?”
“There’s nothing we can do,” Rosa told Cardina. She seemed stunned by the unforeseen development, but Xavi’s death was a certainty if they did nothing.
“Damn it! I’m going to help him!” spat Kuklo, spurring his horse.
“What did I say about acting on your own?”
Rosa’s voice reprimanded him from behind, but Kuklo had made his decision and was on his way, and couldn’t stop now.
I promised, too. Sharle would grieve and mourn if Xavi died in battle. A despot of sorts, he’d been a constant source of hardship for Kuklo. Still, Xavi was Sharle’s only family, and she wouldn’t want to lose him.
Besides, being eaten by a Titan was the worst possible way to go. Regardless of any cause for resentment, Kuklo felt a moral obligation as a human being to help. Of course, the weak and helpless had the right to run away as fast as they could, but Kuklo had been granted the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, which made him strong. He couldn’t allow himself to sit back and watch a Titan eat Xavi.
The rest of Team Ten seemed to agree; Kuklo heard the galloping of horses behind him. The other teams hesitated, perhaps unable to move and adapt on the fly like Team Ten. Rescuing one greenhorn acting on his own accord certainly didn’t justify endangering the entire corps. It was only because Team Ten was a living bundle of exceptions that it was able to act.
Reassured and emboldened by his comrades’ backing, Kuklo whipped his horse and hurried toward Xavi, who had already engaged the Titan. Doggedly attempting to aim at its weak spot and moving around it, he hadn’t challenged a Titan without at least some forethought. He was fighting to win. A Titan, however, was no opponent to be facing alone.
Xavi’s short sword sliced at its withered bough of a right arm. The Iron Bamboo sword’s sharp edge lopped it off from the elbow down, but the Titan didn’t falter. With its left arm it grabbed and plucked Xavi off of his mount and hoisted up his body.
“Aaaahh!!” a shriek, probably from the pain, escaped Xavi as the Titan popped open its long, ear-to-ear mouth.
I won’t make it in time… Pulling his controllers from their holsters, Kuklo placed them in his scabbards to extract a pair of single-edged swords. Next, he focused on the Titan’s torso. Can I do it?
But there was no time to think. Xavi’s life was now hanging by a thread.
Kuklo activated his controller’s lever, and an anchor shot out from the firing mechanism and burrowed into the Titan’s body, true to his aim. Though far less secure than a tree, with no other targets nearby he had to make do. In exchange, he’d approach the Titan via the shortest possible route.
Kuklo stood on his saddle and leapt into the air. Guided by the anchor, he pulled into range. He lopped off the Titan’s left arm with one swing of his single-edged blade, then landed on the ground and recovered his anchor. Xavi fell toward the ground together with the Titan’s arm.
Xavi was safe for now, but the Titan was by no means dead. While it now had no arms to grab them with, all it needed was its mouth, and even those arms were beginning to regenerate.