Chapter 7: Yeah, minus three, yoohoo.

The more you try to learn about the world around you, the more questions you end up with.

I was lying on my bed now, two days after my conversation with Grisha. Eren was already asleep, while I was suffering from insomnia, drowning in thoughts about the overall situation.

Now it would be a machine gun to make ... But I don't even know how, because it's not a simple crossbow, but something heavier with more parts and mechanisms, which I can hardly ever think of, but you can get electricity from potatoes, other fruits or vegetables with acid content. But what the hell is it for now, if you need to at least make a light bulb ... I'll just forget it for now and make a more powerful grenade, I guess.

Finally, having lost all strength to resist sleep, my body had a chance to recover.

The next day I started to make a new mixture for bombs, which differed from the original one by the presence of two explosive elements, which I managed to get from the alcoholic Hannes, who had gotten a stone in his head not so long ago and became much kinder.

Now I was on the roof while Eren and Armin watched me assemble a bomb, not a grenade. The main difference was the absence of the pin, which was replaced by a rope fetil.

- Let me try.

Eren never missed an opportunity to assemble a dangerous weapon. The mania was a little alarming, though it was offset by a child's curiosity.

- Aren't you afraid that if you do something wrong, you'll be scattered all over the roof?

- ... Hmm, well, now I don't know... Let me give it a shot.

I stared at him wide-eyed, disbelieving. Usually scaring him with the consequences was an effective method, but it didn't work now. Whether it was overcoming his fears, or whether he'd just grown up and realized he wasn't in any danger of being reassembled, or both.

- If that's the case, let's do both then.

Armin stared at me doubtfully.

- If you don't ignite the mixture directly, there won't be an explosion. No one has a source of fire with them, right?

Both of them shook their heads, to which I let them up and started to follow the action.

Their observation experience was enough to be able to assemble a bomb and possibly a grenade on their own, which I don't trust anyone to assemble, because if they're not careful, it will explode even without a fire source.

Hell, I could build a whole factory of things. Bad things, but still.

- That's not bad, just make one more and that'll do it. They're not as fast-acting as grenades, but the power contained in them should be much greater, but there's no way to test that right now. Not even in the conditional forest because of the resulting fire, because it's too lazy to run and put it out.

- Is it possible to create a water bomb?

Armin asked a very strange, but at the same time legitimate question.

- In theory, you can take a thin, so that when thrown, it can not withstand the load and explode, but also elastic material and pour water into it, although the second, maybe not necessarily, but it will be pleasant to squeeze. The only problem is that their effectiveness with a conditional bucket of water would still be very debatable, even though they'd be easier to use due to the ability to throw them where you can't hit them with a bucket. Geez, I've said too much, I need to be more concise.

- ... Okay.

That was the only thing Armin replied as he went back to assembling the bomb.

I decided to look at the wall out of boredom, but I couldn't help but wonder how it was possible to build something like that. I knew about the Chinese wall, but the local ones were terrifyingly huge, which again inspired a certain amount of fear due to the size of the monsters living behind the walls. When Eren and Armin were done, I stowed all the bombs in a pre-prepared metal box I had hidden under the roof.

If you think about it, the explosives on the roof are enough to probably blow up the whole town. What a terrible thing I'm doing.

- All right, let's go downstairs, I've got a new game.

Once in our room, I laid out 12 sheets of paper and a pencil in front of each of us to make playing cards.

Now I wanted to play "Fool" since I had no experience with other card games.

- Now I will explain what you need to draw.

- Oh, what are you doing here?

Carla came up to us, which was a good thing, because now we could put her to work.

- Have a seat. I'll explain everything.

With the new member joining us, I had to take away and distribute the sheets again, but each of them 9 pieces, so that it would be equal, because for "Fool" you need only 36 cards, and for the same poker 52. After a brief explanation about suits and ranks, everyone got to work, even Carla, who, apparently, had no hurry.

- Well done. Now that we're done with the cards, let's move on to the rules, which are very simple.

The rules of the game were extremely easy, so I didn't have to explain them several times and we went straight to the game, where I had a huge advantage due to experience and strategy. The latter should be changed depending on the actions of the opponent, but there are general recommendations that work positively always: it is not to take a large number of cards, especially towards the end of the game, as well as do not clamp trumps, because you can still stay with them when the opponents leave the game, first you need to get rid of small cards; in addition, it is worth throwing a few at a time, for example, if you have two eights and one ten, it is better to go eight, as the opponent will be harder to fight back; well, and you can also track the movement of trumps to be g

Acting on the above advice, the game went like butter. I managed to be the first to get out of the game, after which it remained, just watching while waiting for the loser.

So far the closest to the exit was Eren, but a sharp attack with four jacks put him in a stalemate, so I had to take them. Carla left the game and went about her business, leaving us to the tense atmosphere between Armin and Eren.

- Alrighty, good luck with that!

- Thank you.

The two serious players only nodded menacingly as they watched each other. Eren used 4 jacks, but Armin covered them with queens, which left them in an equal position, each with 4 cards in their hands. This situation even piqued my interest, as there were still two trumps left in play, as well as four sixes and two sevens.

Is it really...

Armin put two aces on the table, which Eren covered with sixes, and the first in turn reported two more sixes, immediately covered with two sevens.

There was an outcome that seemed improbable, but nevertheless came true.

- And how do you determine the winner? / Yes, how?

Both turned to me, asking a question with an obvious answer, to which I smiled broadly.

- You both lost, which means you're both fools.

They stared at me in silence for a few seconds, then took deep breaths at the same time.

- Don't be discouraged, we can play again. And to make the game more serious, let's go for five assholes.

- I'm in.

Eren answered shortly and confidently while Armin pondered his answer.

- Okay, me too.

- Fine, then let's get started.

In the end, it was a draw between them again, as if fate itself didn't want to show who was stronger.

- Yeah, well, if you're playing on the condition, then go ahead, I'll just abstain.

Eren and Armin looked at each other and then played rock, paper, scissors, where Eren won and got the chance to be the first to hit 5 ass-kickers. After that it was Armin's turn, while I tried not to laugh at the top of my voice.

- I refuse to play cards anytime soon. / Solidarity.

They reached an agreement in common thought, to which I shrugged, calling them to practice with a smile.

- I refuse to play cards anytime soon. / Solidarity.

They reached an agreement in common thought, to which I shrugged, calling them to practice with a smile.

- Let's go for a run, more squats are okay.

I'd originally planned for them to feel the lingering pain of discomfort after the butt-kicks, but they turned out to be no fiends to kick with all their might. But I have old memories, when I was playing soccer on my ass in the yard and our team lost, and I got such a powerful kick that I couldn't sit up properly for two days.

Yeah, those were good times.

- Eren, 842 times 2.

- 1684.

- Right. Armin, 926 times 2.

- 1852.

- That's right.

During physical training, I sometimes set examples to get their heads working in addition to their muscles. I didn't want them to grow up to be less than intelligent ambassadors, although there was an upside to that, but the downside was greater.

After running one lap, I was too lazy to continue, so I started doing squats and jumping jacks to get a feel for my legs.

- Haa, I've been thinking more and more often - why do I have to train so hard?

Armin looked at me tiredly.

- Hmm, physical activity has a positive effect on the body and the brain itself. As an example, we can take you. After you started exercising, your self-confidence became higher, because you realized that you are quite capable of fighting back against a bully.

- And if I stop, will it go away?

He asked another question.

- It depends on the person. In general, sports is a hobby, which a person can do in his free time, like painting, for example. If there is no desire, there is no need to force yourself, although, from time to time, you should at least do some training to prevent your health.

Armin just stood there for a while with a thoughtful look, while Eren and I continued to squat and jump.

I can understand his thoughts, because I've had the same thing happen to me, when I achieved the desired result, I just kept on keeping in shape to keep myself in shape. Losing motivation is not a very positive thing, but good discipline will help.

- Oh I don't know, it just starts to become an exhausting chore.

- If that's the case, you might want to take a break. You'll see if it's worth continuing or if you'd rather do something else.

Armin nodded, and then joined us with a doubtful look on his face.

We spent the rest of the day playing checkers, since I was too lazy to make chess and explain the moves of the pieces. After the evening walk we went home, where we had a quick dinner and went to bed, but Eren had other plans.

- What are you doing there?

- Drawing maps for Armin and Mikasa.

- I see.

I spread out more comfortably in the bed so I could fall asleep.

- Can you help me?

- Are you serious? Why don't you save it for the morning?

- No, dad's going to Ackerman's in the morning, so we have to do them now.

- Okay.

It took almost half an hour to make the 72 cards, which I fought hard against sleep. Eren was pecking his nose at the end, but a sharp jolt woke him up and we finished the job with the last of our strength and then went to bed.

The morning was awful because of the heavy feeling of nestling my head against the soft pillow, which I tried not to give away on the trip to the Ackermans, while a faint smile lurked on my face. There was a long, thick piece of cloth in my bag that could hold a decent amount of weight, which promised me a wonderful feeling.

- Hello. / Hello! / Hi, Henkel, Michelle and Mikasa.

- Hello, hello. Hello. / Hello.

After greeting the families, Grisha and Mikasa's parents went into the house, leaving us to play, which I used to build a hammock. For this I had to look for two trees not too far apart.

- What are we gonna play?

Mikasa got straight to the point, to which Eren pulled out a deck of cards prepared in advance.

- Wow, what beautiful pieces of paper!

- Yes, but these are playing cards. I'll explain how to play them in a moment.

As one of them recounted my words and the other listened with a keen face, I started tying knots, almost finishing one.

- What are you doing?

The girl's attention was now shifted to the sleepy me, who was fully ruled by the desire to lie down, preferably on a soft surface.

- Like a bed. When I do, you'll understand.

I started on the second knot, and Eren, having finished his explanation, also began to watch.

My strength was decreasing by the second, so I had to speed up to avoid falling to the ground and falling asleep on it. As soon as I finished the second knot, I immediately jumped into the hammock with a wide grin, swinging from side to side.

- Waaaaaay. / Oh-freakin'-good.

After receiving rapturous emotions from the two children, I covered my eyes, giving myself over to the heavenly pleasure the others had decided to indulge in.

- Uhh! / Ahhhh.

While Eren almost jumped into me at a run, swinging the hammock hard, Mikasa was trying to simultaneously climb in and hold on so she wouldn't fly off. Having no desire to soothe the crying child, I picked her up and lifted her to us, returning to a lying position.

- Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. / Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Eren began to spin the hammock from side to side, which Mikasa began to do as well, while my sense of dread of flying out of here grew with each tug. I was already clenching the fabric as they suddenly swayed so hard to one side that we were twisted until we couldn't move normally.

- On the count of three, make a jerk to the left side and, just in case, grab hold of me, I don't want you to fly out of here and break something.

Both of them nodded silently as I started the countdown.

- 1, 2, 3!

Luckily, we were able to swing in time and were safely released and remained on the hammock where we started playing Fool. And after a couple of cones we were joined by the adults, who at first were surprised at where we were sitting, but afterwards started playing, good thing Grisha told us the rules and ranks of the cards, which saved time. Grisha and I were always the first to exit the cones, while the others continued the battle among themselves. Father Ackerman was the first to lose, followed by Eren and Mikasa, while Michelle Ackerman managed to sneak out near the end of the game.

- What an interesting game. Before I knew it, the sun had already risen so high.

Henkel was pleasantly surprised by the cards.

- Yes, yes, just the thing to pass the time.

My wife joined my husband's enthusiasm as I tried my best to stay awake, using all my willpower, which made me completely forget about further conversations, only at the end I used the remnants to say goodbye to them.

After lunch I went straight to bed, giving my tired mind a chance to rest. Waking up without any sleep, which I might have had but was momentarily forgotten, I noticed the setting sun outside the window, feeling a little wrecked.

Need to freshen up.

I decided to go for a run through the cool streets to at least regain some sort of consciousness, rather than feeling like shit.

I went down the stairs to the first floor and found no one there, which seemed odd, but I didn't need to find out why. The cold air felt great, but because of that I decided to do a full set of full-body exercises. I started, of course, with pull-ups, after push-ups, twists on the bar and leg lifts, squats with a jump and lifting the body on the toes, and pull-ups with a reverse grip.

Feeling energized, I went back to the house, where the others were sitting in the kitchen, except for Eren, who was upstairs. As it turned out, they'd gone to visit someone, and Eren had gone out after playing a few cones with Armin.

The next months flew by one after another, with the same speed as Lightning McQueen from the first part overtaking each opponent.

I hadn't done much in the intervening time, just a couple hundred more grenades and bombs that I'd stashed all over the city in case the titans attacked. In addition, I created a couple dozen smoke bombs, with two types: one was kind of safe for humans, and the other was very difficult to breathe and could possibly cause poisoning. Unfortunately, I could not find out the last point, because nobody would agree to such a thing, and also I am not a giraffe breeder to conduct experiments on animals.

Now we once again went to the Ackermans, as Michelle's term was approaching, so Grisha wanted to again offer them to move to the city, which earlier they did not particularly agree, discounting everything for the future.

- But if they moved, Mikasa would finally see Armin.

- Uh-huh.

While Eren was saying something and I was answering him one-syllable, I was thinking about the fact that I'd paid too little attention to physics, even though it was tediously taught; more detailed knowledge would have made it much easier to build a generator of some kind. But my maximum is to be able to extract electricity from a potato or a lemon. There is, of course, the option to fixate on research, but it would take so much time that it's even kind of a shame, because it's much easier to cheat on something, the same medicine.

Shit, but really, you can make medicines and make money on it, given the not too developed medicine. The only problem is the ingredients needed to create them, but this can try to level out Grisha's knowledge.

- Dad, why did Mikasa's mom become so fat?

Grisha raised his eyebrows in surprise and put his palm on the child's shoulder.

- Remember, Eren, never tell a woman that she is fat. Never. Well, Mrs. Ackerman is just pregnant.

- Is there a baby in her belly?

- Uh, yeah.

In the tone of Grisha felt annoyance from the expected question.

- ... Did she really eat the baby to become hers?

Eren gave out an incredible theory, from which I could blink a couple of times, trying not to laugh.

- Yeah.

Grisha confirmed it, which made me have a little doubt about procreation in this world.

I hope it's not true.

The clouds overhead were getting heavier and heavier, followed by a little rain, from which we were saved thanks to the umbrella.

- Smells like burnt meat. The food must have been messed up.

I smelled the odor of overcooked meat, the source of which gave me a real shock.

The Ackerman house was missing one wall with a door scattered around, but most horrifying were the three bodies torn apart by the explosion. Their limbs were lying all over the place, even bits and pieces of their rich inner world: intestines, meat, etc.

- No way...

Grisha covered his mouth in shock, and Eren on the contrary opened it, being in fucked by the picture. What to be dark, even I was fucked up from such a thing.

- Wow.

That was the only thing that came out of my mouth, because the remains of the bodies didn't belong to the Ackerman family, so I didn't feel any regret while Eren's tears started to form because of the premature conclusions.

- You and Eren wait here while I check the house.

- Okay. / E-e-e-e.

When Grisha went to the house, I decided to calm the whining kid.

- Don't be afraid, it's not them.

- A-a who?

- I don't know, maybe robbers or slave traders.

- Wh-what do you mean?

- I don't think good men carry a couple knives and a strong rope.

I pointed to the severed torso with all of the aforementioned items.

Man, that rope actually looks pretty good... I'd take it, but it's covered in blood and flesh, so I'll pass.

- Okay, well, Daddy's not coming back.

- Oh, yeah.

We decided to go to the house, where we found the Ackerman family quite intact, only Grisha was bandaging Henkel's bleeding hand. Michelle and Mikasa looked frightened, but the mother was still trying to calm her daughter down.

- Oh, hello, kids.

There was a slight smile on the injured Henkel's face while his wife and daughter didn't even notice us.

___________

From the author:

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