Carlo Piquer sat in his cramped executive office in the barracks thinking back on the expedition. If he had to summarize it, the first in fifteen years, in one word, “deplorable” fit the bill. The only silver lining was that everyone had returned alive, but the decline in troop quality was obvious. While they were equal if not superior to their predecessors physically, as a result of their lack of combat experience they didn’t begin to stack up mentally. In fact, a number of soldiers felt so crushed they were applying for transfers to the Garrison.
“Boy, oh boy…” Carlo lamented theatrically, eyeing the documents that sat on his wide desk. It was an application for transfer and dismissal he’d just received from a subordinate. He hadn’t read through it, but he made a point of accepting all of these. Useless even if dissuaded from leaving, such personnel would only drag down morale.
Carlo did not boast ample combat experience, either. Yes, he had participated in Survey Corps expeditions under his father Jorge Piquer’s command, and he had nearly died in a fight with a Titan. He even witnessed the historic moment when a Titan was felled. He had no remarkable achievements of his own, however, and graded himself an average soldier. He’d viewed his promotion to commander as some sort of mistake.
My father was more suited to the role… Jorge was now bringing up the next generation as a Training Corps instructor. Though as virile as ever, considering his age there was no way he could reassume command of the Survey Corps.
The ranks who had joined the same year as Carlo were also out of the picture. They all tread their own paths, and not a single one of them had ended up with the reformed Survey Corps.
If only Solm were alive… If either he or Heath, their team leader, were alive, perhaps they could give him some advice. But that was a vain wish.
I have no right to complain about my men. Just as Carlo grimaced, a knock announcing a visitor echoed through the room.
The girl who opened the door and entered the office looked nervous and out of place in the barracks. Her expression was stiff, and she had the creaky movements of an unoiled machine. Of course, this was a natural reaction given her identity and the dilemma she faced.
So she mustered up some courage to come here. She doesn’t seem like some aristocratic family’s little princess, either.
Carlo had foreseen that Sharle Inocencio would come to visit him in order to save Kuklo. She’d been able to reach his office without ado only because he’d instructed his men to that end. It was not something Carlo had done thoughtlessly. He had made his decision after getting information on both her and Kuklo from the Military Police Brigade. Since they’d interrupted his procession, the commander had a right to know why and he had exercised it.
I would have never guessed he was the Titan’s son, though… The Military Police’s explanation had made Carlo doubt his ears, but their encounter somehow also made sense. It is destiny…
Nodding to himself, Carlo offered Sharle a chair and said, “Don’t get too nervous, you won’t be able to tell me what you’re here to say.”
She took the chair, but her eyes wandered around the room even after she sat.
Yet Sharle was the first to break the silence. “Um… I’ve come here to ask for your guidance about something.”
“About him? Or about something personal, Miss Sharle Inocencio?”
Having only phrased herself in a hackneyed way, Sharle looked shocked. She realized that Carlo already knew everything. This only strengthened her resolve, and her hesitation vanished. “What is he…Kuklo doing now?”
I see. So she’s more worried about the boy than about herself. Her words could be considered proof of her determination. “He is on his way to Wall Sheena in a convoy carriage right about now.”
“To Wall Sheena…” Sharle murmured with a ponderous expression. Perhaps she was already trying to figure out how to get there.
“And I have a question for you.”
“Yes?”
“Is he a criminal?”
“No, he’s not!” she denied without missing a beat.
His reaction was the same. When he’d probed Kuklo about it, his denial had been just as immediate, as if any such accusation misconstrued him. It indicated a clear conscience, but unfortunately the Military Police did not see things the same way. If they were to be believed, Kuklo was a vile criminal with few precedents in the annals of history. But─
Carlo tilted his head, wondering if he really was that. They hadn’t spoken at length, but he understood Kuklo’s character all too well. Beyond the walls, proximity to death laid bare one’s temperament. Masks fell off within moments. Troops tasked to protect the cargo team taking flight to save themselves was a case in point.
“He is accused of several crimes. For the murder of your father, Dario Inocencio, of servants of the Inocencio family, as well as the murders of several devout believers. As well as your abduction, I expect. Of course, the abductee herself is now safe and sound in my office.”
There was also the matter of going past Wall Maria without permission, but adding the charge wouldn’t worsen Kuklo’s plight─not unless a punishment worse than the death penalty existed.
Carlo had spelled out the gravity of the situation, and Sharle looked even grimmer than before. “Kuklo…didn’t do anything wrong,” she objected.
“However, there was a witness.”
“A witness?!”