4 Chapter 3: Painful Task

Eren and Ymir were in a cabin deep in the woods. They had just returned from Shiganshina and found this abode abandoned where they decided to use it as their temporary base.

Ymir asked. "Okay, so we're done with Shiganshina. What's next? Are we investigating the royal family first or the warriors?"

Eren contemplated about it. "The warriors are on high alert. If they suspect that someone is after them, they could scramble out which would be bad for us. Especially since there are only two of us. Even with the upgrade of our titans, I don't know if we could meet and defeat them head on. Also, we need to make sure if the Attack, Founding, War Hammer and the Jaw titan exist in duplicates. If they do, we will first need to know the other holder of the Founding Titan. Another factor needed to be taken care of is that the warriors could be four if Marcel Galliard survived ,and we would be possibly overtaken. "

"So the royal family then?" Ymir suggested.

Eren nodded. "It would be better. They have many minions within the government, the nobility, the First Interior Squad and the wall cultist. We can attack one of their members without drawing attention and gather information in all discretion."

"And which of those should we look for?" Ymir asked with barely masked awe.It is really clear to her that Eren was clearly puting his heart into this plan seeing how thorough and knowledgeable he is.

"The government is excluded. They are too well protected. It would not go unnoticed. The cultists won't have information that we lack. For the nobles, we would have to know where to starts as they are not all close to each other except for the Reiss family which are certainly watching them. So the only people we can search for are the First Interior Squad. "

"And how do we do it? We can't show up at their HQ and wreck everything."

"No. We kidnap one or two of their soldiers and question them to get the worms out of their noses."

Ymir frowned. "What if they refuse to speak?"

Eren closed his eyes and hardened his expression. "We'll have to get answers.Otherwise,we will get them by whatever means necessary."

Djel Sannes slowly woke up.The last thing he recalled was he and Ralph crossing a forest with someone shaking them off their horses and  knocked out. He didn't understand what really happened which was an understatement as he was supposed to be on a mission to investigate an inventor in the countryside as he and the rest of the First Interior Squad were always around to make sure that no invention could threaten their King. He then realized that he was now in a small windowless room, probably underground. He was tied to a chair with his hands, feet, arms and legs securely tied so he couldn't make any movements.Suddenly, the door in front of him opened that brought in two people. They were two children with one boy who must have been 11 years old, and a girl,13 years old with all their clothes noticeably covered with blood.

After a moment of silence, the 13 year old girl spoke. "There you are! Finally awake? I guess you are ready to answer our questions then."

The tone used were both venomous and cold which made Sannes wondered how a child could talk like that.

"I don't know why you assaulted me and Ralph. But if you let me go right away, I promise you won't have any problems. You just have to tell me who made you do this then no harm will be done." Sannes offered with a thought that he could trick these kids . He did not know their motives but in those eyes, it was only unconscious people who didn't know what they were getting themselves into and  were going to pay the price. For the moment, he would just be reassuring and benevolent.

The only answer he got was her foot in his mouth. "Don't even hope to get yourself untied. Your ass won't budge from that chair until you tell us what you know."

She withdrew her foot to let him breathe. Next to her, the boy was preparing an  assortment of instruments for torture which made Sannes's eyes widened in disbelief. How could these kids dare to torture someone?

The brunette haired boy approached him with a pair of pliers. "This is how it goes: we ask you a question, you answer it. A lie, a silence or something else and a pulled out nail is what you get. After ten mistakes, we go to the toes, then to your feet. it will be a broken nose, arms, legs ... We will always find a way to make you suffer. The only thing we promise is to keep you alive. You have to be able to feel pain all the way. "

Sannes began to tremble. These kids were really serious and intended to use all the necessary methods.Would he really survive this?

"But who are you ?" Sannes stammered.

"You don't need to know that. We're asking the questions. But just for you to take us seriously ..." The boy answered with a trace of threat in his tone.

Without warning, the boy grabbed a nail with his pliers and tore it out violently which was followed by a scream of pain for Sannes.

"As I was saying, this is our first question. Who is the current head of the Reiss family?"

Sannes blinked despite the pain. Where did these kids get interested in the royal family?

"Why ?"

He was interrupted by another pulled out nail, this time by the girl.

"It's either a correct answer or pain. Nothing else. Answer this time! Who's running the Reiss family?"

Sannes resigned himself to giving some information. "It's Uri Reiss. But it's Rod Reiss who really runs the family business." After all, it was known to anyone with little interest in the Reiss family. And these kids could never suspect the truth.

Eren smiled. "See, it's not that complicated. Now tell us, who else makes up their families."

"Rod's wife, Greta, and their children: Urklyn, Frieda, Abel, Dirk and Florian."

"How long has Rod and Uri's father been dead?"

"Almost 13 years."

"Who manages their security?"

"The local military police."

This little lie cost him another nail with another cry.

"Tell me the truth !" The brunette scolded.

Sannes resigned himself again. As much as he would never denounce his king, he also knew the sadism of his bodyguard. It wouldn't be a big loss.

"Kenny Ackerman." He could see the brunette raise his eyebrows at the revelation.

"How does he relate to this other than the Reiss?"

"He sometimes goes to the offices of the Assembly. I don't know why."

The brunette congratulated him in an unhealthy tone. "Well congrats! You pulled off the easy questions but this time,  each withholding of information will cost you double pain which we will eventually increase."

Sannes's eyes widened in terror. "Where was that leading? "

He grasps a new nail with his pliers. "Let's start! What are the secret plans for the Survey Corps?"

Sannes was further unsettled. Where did they get their information from?

"I won't tell you anything." He said firmly.

As promised, he found himself with a hand completely devoid of a fingernail.

"If in the end we don't have everything we want, we'll have to do the same with your comrade Ralph. Do you really want to condemn him to this?" Asked the teal eyed brat.

Sannes cut his breath. They were also holding his friend. In this case, he forced himself to let out more information. But by the time he got back to talking, he had two more nails missing.

He cried out, hoping the pain would finally end. "Kenny Ackerman is preparing an anti-personnel squad to take them out when the time comes. He's training soldiers with modified ODM gear."

"How many are there?"

"About twenty soldiers." Sannes answered with a lie which was obvious to them.

The lie cost him what was left of his fingernails as well as tears.

"55 ... there are 55 soldiers training with the new equipment."

"Where is the equipment stored?"

"In ... in a cabin on the Reiss' estate. It's in the forest of giant trees. That's where they train."

"Under what conditions must they eliminate the scouts?"

"Only if they start to take an interest in the walls or the Reiss family."

"Who knows about this plan?"

"Uri, Rod, Kenny, the Anti-Personnel Control Squad and the government. No one else."

"Who knows the real role of the Reiss on the government?"

Sannes swallowed. "Only Commander Roeg is in cahoots. Pixis, Dawk, Zackley and Smith are just puppets."

The brunette continued. "What is the task of the wall cultists?"

This time Sannes wanted to resist. No one should know the links between the central brigades and the cult. Unfortunately for him, it got him four fewer teeth followed by another cry of agony and a relinquishment of his new resistance.

"They have to make sure that no one is looking for information about the walls and their constructions."

"What about Rod Reiss' illegitimate daughter?"

"That brat ..." Apparently, the name did not please the girl this time who pulled out two more of his teeth.

She gave him a dark look. "Her name is Historia Reiss !"

Sannes trembled again. "Uh ... yes you are right. We were sent to kill her after the fall of Wall Maria. Kenny cut her mother's throat and Rod  intervene to spare the girl. His demands were that she take the name Krista Lenz and other than that, it was decided that she would join the Survey Corps to die as soon as possible. "

Sannes could see the look of hatred on the brunette girl's face which made him wince.

"The Cult of the Wall is watching her to make sure she's not doing anything else."

"Where is she now?"

Sannes wept like a baby. "I don't know."

Strangely, the torturers accepted the answer

The boy nodded. "Great. We're almost done. But the last questions are the most important. For the trouble, you will have the right to an extra hit for each withholding of information. Here we go: why kill Historia just after the fall of the Wall Maria? She wasn't putting the family in danger. "

"It doesn't matter. Did you have to question anything closely or remotely related to the Reiss?"

Without warning, he received a violent blow to the nose which broke several bones and had one tooth missing.

"I rephrase my question. Why did you wait several days after the fall of the wall? There is something besides the attack on Shiganshina."

Sannes swallowed bitterly. "Please! I only know that someone attempted to kill Uri Reiss. I don't know who he was but he failed. We have been looking for him ever since. But since he went after the Reiss, it was necessary to clear out the troublesome elements, including Historia. "

"Do Rod's kids know about Historia?"

"Only Frieda knew of her existence. However, she was never made aware of the attempted murder."

"And where do the Reiss family meet if there is a problem?"

This time it was too much for Sannes. Either way, he refused to betray the king.

"I refuse to betray my king."

He huffed. "Very good." Ten torn teeth and two broken ribs later, he then resumed. "Let me explain something to you. We're going to go after them. It doesn't matter if you answer us or not. Nevertheless, we preferred to avoid killing them all. We might only have to kill one. But we really must know which one precisely. Otherwise, they will all pass away. In the state you are in , you cannot act. So if you really want to be faithful to the crown you cherish, make sure that there is something of the royal family left afterwards. our passage. Responding to us is the only way for you to save them. "

Sannes resigned himself once again.

"The refuge is a cave accessible from the Reiss chapel. You enter through a trapdoor. They will be there in a week."

"Who looked the most tired between Rod and Uri the last time you saw them?

"Uri."

As the brunette girl slipped behind the chair, Eren smiled at Sannes. "Thanks for everything. You've saved us a lot of time."

Without warning, the brunette broke his neck. Sannes was now lying dead on the chair.

Eren huffed. "His friend told us the exact same thing."

Ymir nodded. "Well yes. Luckily they've been interviewed. Even though things remain largely the same, some key details differ. The owner of the Founding Titan is Uri, not Frieda."

"Indeed. Luckily we did found out. Otherwise, all of the Reiss could have been killed."

Ymir took on a worried look. "If the Reiss are going to hand over the Founding Titan, we absolutely have to steal it from them."

"I agree Ymir. However, things will be different this time. Kenny Ackerman will definitely be there with a few men. After my father's failed attack, they will be much more careful."

Ymir growled. "Good. We can eliminate him like that too."

Eren nodded to signify his agreement. Ymir then looked at Sannes' corpse which made her assumed a somber expression.

Eren became worried. "Ymir I ..."

She held up her hand to stop him. "I know what I was getting into, Eren. Otherwise, I would have let you do the interrogation on your own. I'm just not used to causing one person so much pain. Killing is still okay with me, but torturing is still hard. . "