Chapter 4: Preparing for an uncertain future

We were now sitting outside the Yeagers' house, where we had placed three small seats made by us personally. They were just stumps, we only polished the part we sit on.

I tried my hand at carpentry, Eren followed my example, and Armin for company.

- Well, who wants to do what after they're adults?

Somehow, miraculously, the conversation got that way.

- I'm gonna join the Intelligence Corps and destroy all the titans!

Eren stood up proudly and grinned with a triumphant hand in the air.

- I see what you are, but what about you, Armin?

- I-I don't know, where are you going?

I touched my chin, starting to think about the rest of my life, something I should have done sooner.

- I don't know, I could join the Intelligence Corps, or become a scientist, or a combination of both, which is the most convenient. After all, without personal experience to develop weapons against giant monsters is a bit difficult, although there are a couple of ideas.

- Tell me about it!!!

Eren showed undisguised interest, after all, he liked all my stories, which I safely took from my past life. Eren's parents also liked some of the classics.

- Well, you can create oval-like vessels, where you can put the explosive mixture and its activator, and if necessary, you can start the reaction separating sections of the iron. But such that they do not immediately react, otherwise instead of dead titanium there will be a dead man.

While talking about my idea, I was drawing a similar grenade, at least as I remembered it.

- How do you come up with that?

Armin asked the expected question that I had to answer to the entire Yeager family.

- A child's imagination is an amazing thing, opening up a sea of ideas, some of which are quite realistic to create. Okay, let's play three stones.

Three Stones is a simple game with incredibly easy rules. It requires each player to take, expectedly, three stones, but you can and almost any other object the main thing that they could fit in the clasped palm. Each player takes three objects and throws forward fists with clenched in them, conditional stones, the number of which varies from zero to three. After that, everyone takes turns announcing how many stones they think are in the game, counting the contents of all the clenched fists. For example, the number of stones in our game starts at zero and goes up to nine. When a player says a number, others in that round can no longer repeat it. When everyone has said a number, the players unclench their fists and count the pebbles to see who has won. If no one has won, the game resumes. If one of the players guesses the correct number, he puts aside one of the pebbles and continues the game with two, being the first to name the number for the next round.

The one who guessed three times and got rid of his pebbles the fastest wins.

It seems very easy, but thanks to it you can improve your strategy and readability of other people's facial expressions.

- Let's go! / Let's go.

Everyone hid their hands behind their backs, trying to pick up an unexpected amount. There was only a small smile on Eren's face, nothing more. Armin, on the other hand, kept an indifferent face.

To my horror, after a couple dozen games they had learned to hide their outward reactions well, depriving me of the ability to at least anticipate how many stones were encased in their hands.

Both turned toward me. The game was clearly not on my side, because the last player gets more chances to see the reaction of his opponents and from that to make a conclusion about the number, and I am deprived of such an opportunity. My gaze darted between the two children, trying to catch something, but nothing came out. The only thing left to do was to surrender to the will of luck.

- 7.

They still kept their cool, which on the one hand is good, because they learn from mistakes pretty well, but on the other hand I now have a hard time beating them, since I only determine the number by how many they took in previous games.

Damn, my chances of winning are incredibly low, but no methods on how to solve the problem come to mind. Even if I calculate the probability of all the chances, each option only has a total of 10%.

- 6. / 4.

Both named a value less than I did, which was logical. The maximal values were very rare, but they still happened.

We slowly unfolded our palms, revealing their contents. Three stones for me and Armin, two for Eren. Eight in total. No one won, but I was the closest.

After a couple of games, the winner was Armin, who had three wins, while Eren and I had one each, which was a bit surprising, considering that initially Armin was almost always last.

His mental abilities and good strategizing skills put him in a leadership role, but his insecurity spoiled everything. The good thing is that practicing and winning regular games, little by little, raises his self-esteem.

- Armin, how did you win like that?

He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he answered the question, while we listened to the cherished strategy.

- Well...

His story stretched for 10 minutes, which made me think that he could take the position of a political figure, because if he is interested, he can stretch his speech for a long time, which can put people to sleep.

The next days passed like a pattern. Breakfast, we do some bullshit, most of the time we play some game, or we go to train, taking Armin with us, who is not touched by those hooligans, because they don't come here anymore. Those moves must have left them with unforgettable sensations, so we can not worry about further attacks, but just in case I started to carry a small jar with hot pepper, so that at the right moment I could throw it directly into the eyes of my opponent. Then came lunch, games again, dinner and games.

The schedule was a lot of fun, but what can you do. Even though I'm not exactly a toddler, to turn down a chance to relive another childhood is true sacrilege. I can do things I didn't have the guts to do back then, even though some of the adventures were quite rightly dangerous.

To craft a regular bow, you only need two items: a resilient stick and a rope, that's it. Then you just need to tighten it well, and not a bad toy will be ready, the truth to make more than ten arrows did not work out, because I had to create two more bows, but it was enough.

Now I laid out the wood on the street fence as targets for our eye training, and posture is not badly aligned. It's a lot of fun, too.

Advancement in the study of the world has not advanced in any way, but I did not feel any loss from it. The world around us is stuck between the Middle Ages and the discovery of steam engines, as there were still no machines, but according to Hannes' stories there were so-called devices of spatial maneuvering, powered by gas. They were created to fight the titans, by the way. There seemed to be a ferry, but I could see it once, and then only once, when it had almost reached the shore of another city.

Lack of electricity was also not good for me, especially when you are already used to look at messenger or social network in the morning, to play some mobile wank, and now it is simply impossible. But everywhere has its pluses, I have much more free time, which I used to spend on children's fun and physical development.

Although there was something really catastrophically lacking - the streamers of a mopitch, whose intelligence exceeded the IQ of ordinary people, and whose thinking was on the level of a god. A truly incredible man, a real dream of any man who always keeps his word and will not let you down in a difficult situation. A real icon for imitation, not restraining himself by the limits of mortals. A supreme being, in short.

- Whoever fails to hit the target, fulfills the wish of the one who could hit the most.

- Okay. / I'll win and make you do 150 squats in one repetition. That'll be my revenge!

Eren was very cruel, but it was a little bit my fault, because I had once wished for him to do a hundred squats, after which he couldn't walk because of the pain in his legs.

Yeah, it was so funny watching him on stiff legs trying to catch up with me for making that wish. Yeah, I'm just now realizing that I'm not the best role model, although the downside is offset by the fact that I'm teaching them new things that may not exist in this world. Column addition, multiplication of numbers, division, equations to find the unknown, and more. Now they'll be smarter than many of the inhabitants, at least they can be in charge of the economy, although it will collapse in a couple of days, but they can.

- Don't look ahead, Eren, because if I win, you're in for worse.

- We'll see about that.

He's confident, but that's even better, because it's always better to defeat the proud.

I've gotten used to always starting first, but when you're confident of winning, it's not so scary. My chances of winning are about 70%. Although, if you think about it that way, it's 50/50. Okay, stop, I'd better not think about it, or I'll lose focus and blow it for the kids. My legs might be able to handle all that squatting, but they're going to be uncomfortable the next day anyway.

I hit eight wood out of ten. This body's eyesight is pretty good, not like my original one, since I've screwed it up to -2. Still, sitting on the phone or at the PC without rest can really damage your health because of the flat screen, so it's better to take a break from time to time and do a little warm-up for your eyes. For example, first look at one object nearby, and then sharply at an object located much farther away. You can also draw figure eights with your eyes, also a good warm-up.

- I'm going to hit all 10!

Eren managed to hit only 5 wooden objects, a good result for a beginner, but not enough to win. Now it was Armin's turn, and I was absorbed in my own thoughts.

I had originally thought that life without electricity would drive me crazy, but no, it's bearable, especially if I can become its discoverer. If, of course, my intelligence is sufficient, which I have some doubts about. In physics, I was consistently getting B's and C's because of the huge number of formulas I had to memorize to solve the boring and annoying problems, and I couldn't do it. Even experiments did not dilute the boredom because of their small number. But I still had some knowledge.

At that time, Eren came up to Armin and put his hand on his shoulder, staring at him with a sad expression.

- Come on Armin, all hope is on you. Know that if you don't get in, I'll have to suffer.

What a little manipulator. Forcing a stuck-up kid to give his best for fear of ruining his friend's hope.

Looking at it, I remembered myself. Something like that happened to me at school, when I pushed two not very smart bullies against each other, but eventually they realized it. They didn't do anything about it, because I was already big-built then, but I had a lot less muscle than later. Shit, because of school flashbacks I remembered other stuff that should not be discussed in decent society. The funny thing was that it was the same two bullies who were doing this shit, and then a third one joined them.

Armin managed to knock down 7 pieces of wood, hope and responsibility works wonders.

- It's not enough to win, but I'm gonna wish for something else.

A smile appeared on their faces that was not destined to last long.

- 100 Burpees.

Armin and Eren's faces changed dramatically in the opposite direction. They now stared with shocked and stunned eyes, realizing that they were facing a workload that squats were nothing compared to.

I was joking now of course, because if I really make such a wish, it will be the ultimate for me when I lose. So better feel sorry for them, this time.

- I was kidding. Ahahahahahaha, you should see the look on your faces, ahahahahaha.

Both of them just grinned wryly.

- Okay, I don't have any imagination, I'll think of something later. Come on, let's try to make fishing rods, and then we'll catch a shark!

Surprisingly, the fishing went well for everyone, but I only caught a couple of fish and that, I had to do it secretly, just in case, or else. Do not want to earn problems with the local analogue of the police - the garrison, whose duties include: the protection of the walls in the attack of titans, the subsequent evacuation of the population and patrolling with the organization of order. Although there is a military police - this is a direct analog of the militia from the homeworld, but their number is much smaller and mostly based in the city, where the king and the elite live.

Yes, there is a damn king, and the elite has a good advantage when living in another city, not just rich houses. If there's a titan attack, the first thing they'll do is go for Shiganshina, the city where we live, they even give you "heroes" status for that, and they're very likely to get eaten.

Such prospects are actually a bit frightening, but motivated to do something, good knowledge of chemistry and a couple of videos from YouTube allowed me to make a grenade, not as powerful as a combat grenade, but still.

There is nothing complicated in the construction, I molded a vessel from clay and divided the space into two parts with the help of iron, to which I attached a ring-like tip to make it easier to pull out. Once the grenade's tip is pulled out, a chemical reaction will occur that will allow the liquid to transfer to the other compartment. It takes a couple seconds for the projectile to eject, which is somewhat dangerous because there is no way to prevent it.

I hid the grenade under a plank on the second floor, only at that point Eren caught me on fire, so I had to tell him what it was. It wasn't too terrible, especially when I told him that if he handled it carelessly he'd get his arm blown off, it made him not want to touch it. In an emergency, if anything, he could bring it to him, so it wouldn't be a waste.

In the evening after the fishing trip, we sat outside in the cool street while Armin read a book about the world outside the walls.

- And then there is the vast blue sea.

- Wow. I wish I could see it all with my own eyes.

- I'm more interested in what lives in such a sea with giant monsters roaming the land. Maybe giant sharks that can feed on titans?

- What kind of sharks?

- Predatory fish with lots of sharp teeth.

- Wow. / I don't feel like swimming anymore.

- Because of the fear that you can hardly see what is in the water, and there might be some iron lying there, a wound from which could have terrible consequences, or a water creature that will bite or eat you, I never swim.

- I didn't think you were afraid of that sort of thing....

Armin was surprised at this revelation while Eren pondered his attitude towards water.

- Well, after all, it is an element where one is practically helpless. You can't breathe, your movements are very slow, so it's hard to fight off anything. And you can't see a thing, like I said.

- Well, you said that you should fight fears, not accept them, although the danger is still real, so you can't avoid being wary.

- I am. It's not really my fear, but it's easier to be safe than sorry.

- What's that?

Eren was interested in the new words he was sure to add to his already rich vocabulary, thanks to me.

- Over-expect - over-insure, under-expect - don't over-insure, okay?

- I got it.

I created a demon. It's a good thing Armin doesn't steal my vocabulary, or else my future language would change a lot if such individuals have children, and now is not even the time for such words. Okay, I'm biased here, but still.

- It's getting dark, let's get out of here. Goodbye, brother.

Eren and I shook Armin's hand and then headed home in a pleasantly blowing breeze.

The days continued to flow like a raging river, until at one point I had an idea that had never occurred to me before: to go with Grisha to the country, where he went to visit the family from time to time as a house doctor.

Because of the days full of children's fun, it had never occurred to me to go with him and find out what kind of family and what was in the country.

At this point, Grisha was already going outside when I ran up to him, followed by Eren as well.

- Grisha, can I come with you?

- Yes, Dad, can I come with you?

- E...

- Take them with you, Grisha.

We were joined by Carla, and from this he was even a little confused, because Grisha now literally had no choice. I even felt a little pity for him, but did not intend to retreat.

- O-okay.

___________

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