The prisoners’ sentence was being carried out in a hush before daybreak. The early hour seemed to be chosen out of the royal government’s desire to conceal the existence of exile as a punishment. All it entailed was banishing criminals to the land outside the country, but any citizen could imagine the outcome that lurked beyond the walls. Letting Titans deal with the guilty was an inhuman, unconscionable act, which was why the punishment was carried out while citizens slept.
About twenty criminals, including Kuklo, were to be exiled. They had been split into groups and sat waiting in covered wagons by the main gates of Shiganshina District.
The gates would open before long, and the wagons were ready to head straight into the depths of hell. There were, of course, no drivers, nor did any of the damned take the reins. The wagons would be left to run freely with no guidance at all.
This is bad… It was impossible for Kuklo to stay calm.
Cardina, who rode in the same wagon, had a solemn look on his face. Everyone there had their hands tied behind their back in order to prevent escape, and they had been gagged in order to keep them quiet. They were in no shape to search for Naraka. For all they knew, they were headed straight into the Titans’ embrace.
Kuklo tried wriggling his arms to loosen the ropes, but they seemed expertly tied, not budging an inch. The same went for the gag. In his state, he could not so much as confirm his intentions with Cardina. In the worst case, he would have to leap out of the wagon and accept whatever injuries came as a result. Even if things went well for them, restrained thus, surviving the impossibly dangerous lands outside was hardly guaranteed.
The first thing I need to do is get these ropes off. Kuklo continued to try to wrest his wrists free, but all he sensed was his skin being worn down. As he struggled, an aging soldier, seemingly with the Garrison, flipped back the wagon’s canvas and inspected the interior. He seemed to want to be extra sure. He began to check the prisoners’ ropes and gags one by one.
Shit! A string of curses would have spewed from Kuklo’s mouth had it not been shut for him. Coming to Kuklo, the soldier stared at him for a while and nodded some sort of understanding. That I’m a Titan’s son, probably.
His piercing gaze seemed to bore into Kuklo’s darkened right eye. Being the target of an inquisitive stare hardly bothered Kuklo at this late date, but the intensity of the soldier’s gaze gave him pause. Few men’s eyes could make him shrink into himself, and Kuklo had only met one.
Pretending to inspect Kuklo, the soldier handed him something resembling a wooden stick.
This is… The item felt familiar in his hands. It was not the first time he’d held it. The charm? Why did he have it?!
Kuklo wanted to ask the soldier, but the gag forbade him. Instead, he pled with his eye to extract some sort of information, but the soldier got off the carriage without a single look back at Kuklo.
What does this mean? He was unable to digest the situation, but one thing seemed clear. Am I supposed to use it to escape?
Carlo must have instructed the soldier. The commander was using the knife to inform Kuklo that he was pulling strings behind the scenes.
What is he thinking? Even the head of the Survey Corps had no right to interfere with the execution of a criminal’s sentence. Kuklo could not think of any benefit to be reaped from taking this risk to save him. But reasons did not matter to him at the moment, only ways out of his bind. If he wanted to know why, he could meet Carlo later and ask him.
The gates seemed ready to open, and the wagon began to storm off.
It’s starting…
Kuklo tried to calm himself as he wiggled the knife back and forth. It was difficult to use due to the ropes binding his hands, but the blade’s sharpness made up for that. As soon as they passed the wall, the worn-out carriage began to bounce violently up and down. It had no suspension.
Kuklo had to move as quickly as possible and get off right away. They were being pulled by a slow draft horse, but it was a horse nonetheless. Every moment he wasted put him that much farther away from the town and hurt his chances.
Kuklo slowly cut through the rope─it felt like one thread at a time. When he was nearly through, he put all of his strength in his arms to snap free. He immediately removed his gag and proceeded to undo the other prisoners’ bonds with the knife.
Once he completed his chain of actions, Kuklo looked down at the knife in his hands.
Her charm… He was sure of what it was from the moment he felt it, but now he knew he was right. It saved me again.
Kuklo thought of how much he owed it and smiled in spite of himself.
“When did you get that thing?!” Cardina asked, but he soon lost interest and peeled back the canvas.
It was too dark to judge distance, but the light from what appeared to be a watch fire atop Wall Maria hinted that they were already four or five hundred meters from Shiganshina District.
“All right, let’s hurry and jump off,” invited Cardina.
“Jump off? What about the wagon?!”
“We need it to keep running off. They’re probably watching it.”
“So what?”
“They might do something if they realize we escaped.”
“Oh, that’s what you’re worried about…”
“I mean, they probably won’t send anyone after us, but I suppose they might shoot their cannons.” Perhaps picturing this, Cardina’s body shivered. Then he casually raised his hand and said, “Well, so long!” And just like that, he jumped out of the wagon with a derring-do that belied appearances.
Kuklo was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and followed suit. He tried to absorb the shock of the impact as he hit the ground, but his momentum made it hard to come to a stop. He rolled, banging one part of his body after the other before he finally lay unmoving.
“Kuklo! You still alive?”
“Yeah…” He rose slowly, checking to make sure his body was still functional. As dramatic as his tumble had been, he seemed to have gotten away with just a few scrapes, along with whatever bruises that might show up. He breathed a sigh of relief, but soon gasped and tensed himself. This was no time to be celebrating merely getting off the wagon.
We’re now outside the walls… A chill shot down his spine, and a desperate scene played in his mind all too vividly. Nightmarish images of being chased down by preposterously gigantic monsters─just remembering the Titans dealt a fierce, electric jolt.
While fear had been driven deep into Kuklo’s heart, he rarely thought of the Titans inside the walls, thanks perhaps to the sense of security they afforded. But as soon as it sank in that he’d stepped outside them, the image of a Titan came back to him, broad smile and all.
Keeping calm was a tall order outside of the walls, but if he allowed himself to despair or panic, he’d be done for even before encountering a Titan. Maintaining composure had to be his first priority.
Calm down… Calm down… Kuklo put his hand to his chest and exhaled deeply, repeating the words over and over as if to hypnotize himself. Yet, while it might muster some makeshift bravado, mere chanting didn’t dispel his gnawing fears. He had to overcome his terror if he wanted to return alive. In other words, an unyielding will, certain of survival at any cost, was vital.
Kuklo looked at his knife, nodded, and slapped his cheeks to gather his focus. He opened his left eye wide and listened closely for any signs.
The darkness was covered in a thin haze that made it hard to see, and all he could hear was the wagon running off into the distance and the blowing wind. Luckily, he didn’t detect any signs of the Titans he so feared.
Kuklo sighed again, this time in more honest relief. He turned to Cardina and asked, “Where are the others?”
“It seems we’re the only ones who jumped off.”
“Huh?!” Kuklo looked toward where the wagon had gone off, but he could make out nothing.
“Perhaps they’d already given up long ago.”
“Give up on what?”
“On life.”
“Oh…”
They must have lost hope as soon as their punishment had been decided. Thinking back, Kuklo realized that none of the other prisoners in the carriage had made any attempts to escape. They’d all worn lifeless expressions like they were no more than breathing corpses. Resignation was a reasonable reaction to being tossed out of the walls.