Unexpectedly, their departure came in the morning.
“Our goal is to help people nearby. We wouldn’t be able to find anyone at night, even if there were people out there. Isn’t that so,” Bernhardt, who stood next to Mathias, observed in his usual singsong manner.
“I suppose…”
A few hundred soldiers were already gathered before the gate. Around a tenth were regulars, and the rest were volunteers. The former were on horseback, while the latter were grouped in so many wagons.
Mathias and the others were in the wagons. Mathias shared one with Bernhardt and Nikki, while Klaus and Jarratt rode in another.
In charge of Mathias’ vehicle was a sloppily dressed middle-aged soldier whose skin had somehow remained supple. He’d been yawning for a while and looked half-asleep. Despite this, the fellow was kitted out with a set of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, with launchers and sheaths for his blades slung over either side of his waist. Mathias couldn’t help wondering if the man really was proficient in its use.
“You were lucky. For that man to let you take his place so quickly.”
“Hm. Yes.”
Mathias’ response to Nikki, who sat facing him, ended up sounding half-hearted because in the end, they hadn’t needed to bribe any of the soldiers in charge of signing up volunteers.
They’d gotten Mathias in as follows: First, they’d spoken to a random volunteer, paying him an upfront fee. Next, before they were due to leave, they’d paid him the remaining sum in exchange for his equipment and badge. Finally, they’d watched him disappear into a back street.
There had been little risk of being turned down since the volunteers were mostly in it for the money. During the evacuation from Quinta, many of them had seen the Titans. A number had developed second thoughts and dropped out of the campaign even before passing through the gates.
“If I’d known it would be this easy, I’d have managed it by myself,” Mathias blurted out his complaint.
Overhearing, Bernhardt gave a despairing shake of his head. “Such folly…” He brought his head in uncomfortably close and continued in a whisper, “How would you have reached Quinta, if you’d been on your own? You have no horse, and you lack the guile to rob one from the soldiers. Even supposing you did break away, you would be nothing more than a meal.”
“Yes, maybe,” Mathias conceded the point. “Plus, I can’t ride.”
“You can use a gun, right?” Nikki asked.
“A bit. My father showed me how.”
“A very good decision.” Bernhardt sat back, his voice no longer hushed. “The rich often find themselves gaining the antipathy of the poor. And you have a good chance of being robbed. A gun is necessary for your own protection.”
“But surely these aren’t any good against the Titans.” Mathias glanced at his allocated weapon. The gun had two side-by-side barrels. The design meant it could fire a couple of shots in quick succession.
“Your folly knows no bounds,” Bernhardt lamented with another extravagant shake of his head. “Your gun fires buckshot. True, this doesn’t help against a ten-meter-class, but it’s perfectly serviceable for blinding a five-meter-class. Guns are for more than simply killing the enemy.”
“Oh, really?”
Mathias hadn’t seen any Titans during his evacuation from Quinta. His party had left long before their arrival.
He’d only ever seen a Titan in person once.
A few years ago, a connection of his father’s had enabled him to visit the top of Wall Maria. From there, he had gazed down at the world beyond. He’d espied a lone seven-meter-class, only barely visible in the distance, but even then it had been a substantial shock. For a while afterwards, recalling the image at night, he’d been unable to sleep.
“Use your imagination!”
Bernhardt was in high spirits. The thought of venturing beyond the wall didn’t appear to worry him in the slightest. The same seemed to be true for Nikki, as well as Jarratt and Klaus. Their nonchalant attitude stood out among the volunteers, all of whom wore tense expressions. It was no great surprise that many were withdrawing from the campaign.
“We’re not going today, then. To Quinta.”
“The district has the wall,” Bernhardt said. “They’ve judged that Quinta can fend for itself for a while. Our first duty is to reconnoiter the land between Wall Rose and Wall Maria and to save anyone still living there. The judgment itself is sound.”
“I guess it does make sense.”
It was as Mathias had heard the day before. The royal government betrayed no concern for the people stuck in Quinta. Their main priority was to reclaim Shiganshina.
“And yet you are impatient to be reacquainted with your lady friend. That is where we enter the equation.”
“Hey, it’s opening,” Nikki indicated, a bounce in her voice.
All eyes turned to the gate. The great chains began to roll, hauling the iron-reinforced portals open. Light began to filter through the inside portion of the cave-like passageway. A commotion stirred among the ranks of volunteers, and many were holding their hand over their mouths, as though to stifle an urge to throw up. Some were pale-faced and shaking, while others were pleading with the regular troops to close the gate again. No doubt memories of being attacked by the Titans were beginning to resurface.
At the front of the crowd, the commanding officer of the rescue operation seemed to be making a speech. A short while later, an authoritative rallying cry rang into the air.
Bernhardt happily announced, “We’re off!”
The wagon lurched forwards with a start. Mathias came dangerously close to toppling off it. He gritted his teeth and hung on desperately to the lip of the vehicle. The up-down motion was worse than he’d expected. He had to be careful not to bite off his tongue.
“Here’s to getting rich,” Nikki said, sounding blasé as she sat opposite fiddling with her rifle.
The first village rolled into view after a couple of hours on the road.
It was built around a bridge crossing the river. Relatively large, it had acted as a transport hub due to its position intersecting two main routes. Wooden houses lined the main street, while the thatched roofs of various one-story structures dotted the grasslands and hills nearby.
No Titans appeared to be in the area. Mathias had to wonder whether less had made it through Shiganshina than they’d initially feared.
His optimism was painfully short-lived.
“What the…”
The closer they got, the more the air began to reek─with the smell of decomposition, mixed with that of excrement and an acrid accent reminiscent of vinegar.
Soon enough, the origin became apparent.
The villagers’ corpses lay strewn over the main road and the fields nearby. None retained their original shapes. Each had had their limbs severed. Their bones and viscera, exposed. Every last one was slathered with translucent mucus.
“Titan spit,” was all Bernhardt said.
The Titans gorged themselves on people. Yet this action had no relation to sustenance. They chewed flesh and bone then casually spat them out. Even now, it was not known how they sustained their enormous frames.
The march of the rescue force came to a halt before the village threshold. Progressing any farther would mean crushing the bodies under horse and wagon. The commanding officer seemed to have qualms about doing so.
“Just get on with it,” Klaus muttered. His and Jarratt’s wagon had stopped directly in front of the one containing Mathias and the others.
“Makes you wanna gag,” Nikki said, using a cloth to cover her nose and mouth.
His resolve apparently set, the commanding officer issued his orders. “C-Continue forwards! All units, I want thorough searches of each building. Look for survivors!”
The wagons began to shunt forwards. Wheels climbed onto corpses, the weight crushing them with loud cracks. The sensation rode up through the floor to where Mathias sat. As Nikki had said, it was enough to make him gag.
Bernhardt slapped him on the back. “A little fortitude, son.”