Liberty Bell rang loud as the Survey Corps marched through the avenue on horseback. The roadsides were overflowing with spectators there to celebrate their return, and the cheers gave the event the feel of a victory parade. Some had indeed mistaken the expedition to be some sort of festival, but it truly was the first thing for the people to be happy about in a while. It was no surprise that some would want to enjoy themselves as much as they could, the expedition’s results of secondary importance to them.
What should I do? Kuklo rode on a spare horse as though he was a member of the Survey Corps, but he was painfully out of place. Mere happenstance had led to this outcome, and by all rights he should have been bound and led at the end of a rope. Still, things could have been worse. I need to get away somehow.
Kuklo saw the crowd of nearly a thousand that had gathered to see the Survey Corps. They might aid his escape. The problem was timing. While the scene looked like a victory parade, the Survey Corps couldn’t have shared the mood. Unresponsive to the cheering throngs, every soldier, without exception, wore a sullen face. As far as the troops were concerned, they were just riding back to their barracks. And of course, as soon as they got there, Kuklo would be tied up. He needed to find an opening for his escape before then.
As he kept an eye on the movements of the soldiers and the spectators, planning his escape route, he suddenly heard a voice ask, “Did you fulfill your purpose?”
It caught Kuklo off guard and he almost screamed.
The voice belonged to Carlo. He rode alongside Kuklo, possibly as a measure to prevent his escape. “You said you wanted to see a Titan. Did you get anything from it?”
“I did,” Kuklo managed, but his response was anything but crisp. He was now certain that he was not a Titan’s son, and in that sense, he’d fulfilled his long-standing wish. Yet, there was no decisive change in how he felt. What could it be? I feel so gloomy…
Perhaps he had expected a dramatic metamorphosis on the order of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. He wasn’t disappointed, but he felt like something was missing. After all, despite having narrowly escaped a Titan’s clutches, he’d confirmed nothing beyond the self-evident fact that he was a child of men. It was not meaningless, but perhaps the cost he’d paid along the way had been too great.
“Using the wagon to stop the Titan was a brilliant idea.”
“Thank you,” Kuklo replied curtly. He had absolutely no interest in talking to Carlo about the expedition. I just need to get away…
He’d thought the spectators would aid his escape, but the turnout was actually inconveniently large. He’d meant to hide among them to shake off pursuit, but there were no gaps to slip through. The crowd was a barrier that cut off potential routes, and taking advantage of the turnout seemed impossible.
“You are very nimble on your feet, boy. A burglar, perhaps?”
“No.”
“Did someone teach you to fight?”
My chance to escape is slipping away. At this rate, they might reach the barracks before their little chat was over. “Don’t mind me. You should wave to the crowds,” he urged the commander.
“It is an expedition, not an exhibition.”
“Then why did you go beyond the wall?”
“For observation and experience. Of course, we could’ve surveyed better, but a certain someone prevented that.”
“So it’s my fault?”
“Our poor job is to blame, too,” Carlo casually admitted.
If Kuklo was able to sneak along, that proved there were holes in the expedition’s planning. It seemed like a foolish oversight, but they hadn’t shirked their preparations. Kuklo knew firsthand, though, that the unexpected could occur despite the most careful planning.
“By the way, I haven’t heard your name yet,” Carlo asked for a second time.
“Oh,” Kuklo replied evasively. There was no reason to be an honest fool. “I am…” he began, considering what to say. That was when the parade suddenly came to a halt.
For a moment, everything fell silent, as though time stood still. Then the spectators began to stir. The Military Police Brigade, lined up in front of the troops, prevented their progress.
“Looks like something happened,” Carlo said, wary.
Kuklo’s face turned grim. He could guess why the Military Police had stopped them. Their gazes, directed at him atop the horse, only seemed to prove him right. This couldn’t be about him going past Wall Maria without permission. In that case, Carlo would have been expecting them.
Kuklo didn’t know how the Military Police had found him, but all eyes were on the expedition. It wasn’t hard to imagine him catching someone’s attention. Perhaps the Green Star he’d mistakenly fired had put the soldiers on alert.
The Military Police gave orders to the soldiers guarding the sidewalks, who began closing in on Kuklo from all sides.
“Did you do something that would make people keep an eye out for you?” Carlo asked.
“I didn’t do anything.” While Kuklo was at the scene of the crime, he couldn’t think of anything he’d done that was against the law. In fact, to the extent that his rights as a human had been so flagrantly ignored, he might be considered a victim.
I have to explain. He had no choice but to meekly cooperate with the investigation. He was guilty of nothing, so simply offering his account ought to do─assuming, of course, that they’d bother to heed the words of a Titan’s son.
Meanwhile, the soldiers continued to inch closer as if to encircle Kuklo. To judge from the tight, unbroken ring that they formed, their orders must have been to apprehend him without fail.
Kuklo let out a deep sigh. So they’re treating me like a criminal…
Just as he made up his mind and began to dismount, he met eyes with a girl pushing through the crowd toward him.
Sharle, he nearly called out to her reflexively, but stopped himself in time. He couldn’t let the Military Police Brigade know she was there. Sharle seemed to see the fix he was in. Her face was noticeably pale, and she looked ready to faint at any moment.
I can’t get her involved… Staring at Sharle, he shook his head slightly so only she would notice. That sufficed to convey his thinking to her, and she stood frozen, her eyes wide open.
Good. Kuklo scouted the area unobtrusively. It seemed as though no soldiers had noticed Sharle. The only person who followed his gaze was Carlo, who nevertheless showed no signs of taking action.
“You should have no problems as long as you have a clear conscience,” noted the Survey Corps’ commander.
“I hope so.” Kuklo laughed drily and took the knife on his waist, presenting it to Carlo.
“What’s that?”
“I’ll leave it with you. It wasn’t mine in the first place…”
“This isn’t one of our weapons.”
“But if not for this knife, I would be in that Titan’s belly by now.”
“I see.” Carlo took it with no further questions.
“You’re kind of different,” Kuklo remarked.
“Not as much as yourself.”
With another dry laugh, Kuklo hopped off his horse and walked to where the soldiers stood.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sharle watched dumbfounded as the soldiers arrested Kuklo and took him away. She couldn’t tell exactly what he was suspected of. If he was wanted for going outside the wall without permission, then that certainly counted as a crime, but interrupting the parade to capture him seemed unnecessary. For that, he had to be facing different charges, and she knew all too well what they might be.
What should I do… She could not act thoughtlessly, Kuklo having stayed her. It was unlikely to improve the situation and could even put her in danger, and he’d motioned her not to come out of concern for her. Yet, it was pure agony for Sharle to be left with no clue as to how many days he’d be detained and where she should wait in the meantime. It was like a bad dream.
Still, she did have some hope. She turned to look at the Survey Corps, still halted in their tracks. Among the rows of stalwarts, the one that held her particular interest was the commander, Carlo.
Kuklo gave him something. Wasn’t that…
She recalled the odd exchange between the two. She had no way of making out the words, but Kuklo had passed Carlo her charm. Of that she was certain. Perhaps he’d been forced to disarm himself before surrendering, but the circumstances suggested that he concealed some other intention.
Or maybe I’m just hoping he did. Sharle saw it as a good luck charm, but to a soldier, a knife was a deadly tool. But…
As Sharle struggled with her thoughts, her eyes met Carlo’s. By the time she tried to look away he was already facing in a different direction, but she was certain she’d been subjected to his razor-sharp gaze. Her goose bumps said as much.
Maybe he noticed, she wondered, regarding her and Kuklo’s eye contact. Eavesdropping on their silent understanding seemed like an impossible feat, but then again, Carlo was the sort of man who’d been chosen to command the Survey Corps. Perhaps a couple of amateurs’ tricks didn’t stand a chance of getting past him. Which means…
The soldiers began to move forward once again, Kuklo apparently handed over to the Military Police Brigade. As the brave troops pulled away, Sharle considered her next move.