Chapter 20

On top of a large wagon full of refugees, two children were sitting next to each other. Both were wearing raincoats to protect themselves from the heavy storm and windstorm at that location.

"We were lucky to be sent to the same place!" - Zirken.

"..." - Annie.

"Now that I stopped to think, what is your name?" - Zirken tilting his head and feigning confusion.

"Annie Leonhart." - Annie.

"Hmmmm... Okay, I'll call you Ane." - Zirken.

"What?" - Annie, indignant.

"My name is Ezir, no last name. Just Ezir." - Zirken.

'He ignored me? And it's normal not to have a last name around here?' - Annie.

"Why?" - Annie.

"I lost the right to have it a few years ago..." - Zirken with a slightly melancholy expression.

"I see." - Annie.

"Anyway, Ane! Where do you come from?" - Zirken.

"I'd rather not say. And my name is Annie." - Annie.

"So how old are you Ane?" - Zirken.

'Why do I only meet idiots?"- Annie.

"*sigh* I'm 11." - Annie.

"So we're the same age! And you..."

After that, the boy followed with a flurry of questioning and attempts to get even closer to the girl through conversation. Sometimes he would ask personal questions, other times he would try to switch to a common subject between the two.

After a few more days of traveling, the group of refugees finally reached their destination. It was a plot of land prepared by the government for planting food, and there were also several small buildings around.

During the rest of the day, all the refugees who had come to work took advantage of the rain and began to prepare the soil. There was no one who was not doing something, whether it was manual labor or managing something.

Near the end of the day, when it was still some time before the sun went down, each worker received a piece of bread, or at least that was the plan... Because of the scarcity of food, due to the great mass of people, some had to be content with only half a loaf of bread, but few complained about this because at least they would have something to eat.

After everyone had eaten, the workers were divided into groups of four people and assigned to a single small hut. However, the young Zirken did not like this idea very much. His group consisted of him, Annie and two other children he didn't like one bit.

'So they've arrived... *sigh* this is going to suck.' - Zirken.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Reiner Braun."

"M-my name is Bertolt Hoover." - A little nervously.

"Annie Leonhart."

"Pleasure, my name is Ezir!" - Zirken.

After introducing themselves, the 4 of them entered their new temporary home. The interior was quite precarious, the floor had a few holes in it and so did the ceiling. There was only one table and the beds were only two bunks on either side of the short space.

"Looks like we'll only be able to use this place to try to sleep." - Zirken.

"Well, at least it's something..." - Bertolt

"True." - Reiner.

"..." - Annie.

"Hey Ane, do you want to sleep on the bottom or top bunk?" - Zirken.

"Whatever." - Annie.

Upon hearing how their mission companion was called, the other two boys immediately widened their eyes slightly.

'Ane?! - Reiner and Bertolt.

Zirken clearly saw their attempt to hide his surprise, but he ignored them completely as as he looked out the window, he finally remembered his weakness and now had bigger problems to deal with.

'It's only a short time before it's completely dark, I have to hurry.' - Zirken.

"Sorry guys, I need to go to the bathroom now, but don't steal my bed!" - Zirken

The young man quickly ran outside and covered his head with the black hood, preventing anyone from seeing the color of his hair.

As he walked through the door and away, Rainer and Bertolt stared at the only girl present. Neither of them had a good expression, and they clearly couldn't ignore what they had just heard.

"What the fuck is this Annie? When did you get intimate with this demon? Have you forgotten our mission?!" - Reiner.

"No Reiner, I didn't forget. And I was never intimate with him, it was he who started calling me that without my consent." - Annie.

"Huh, and why didn't you just kill him when you had the chance? At some point he might end up finding out our secret!" - Reiner.

"Don't talk as if we can kill someone in here whenever we want Reiner! And besides, our mission would only be discovered if some coward doesn't know how to be careful!" - Annie.

"What?! Are you trying to protect that demon?!" - Reiner.

"STOP FIGHTING!" - Bertolt.

Upon hearing that loud shout, Annie and Reiner quickly realized what a foolish thing they were doing and shut up completely.

*Whew* - Bertolt.

"Don't you see? Fighting now won't do any good!" - Bertolt.

"*sigh* You're right... How were things on your side, Annie?" - Reiner.

"I managed to find out that there is one more wall beyond that one and it is probably the area where the founding titan is, but only a few people can enter it." - Annie.

"And how can we infiltrate it?" - Reiner.

"I don't know, I'm keeping that kid with me to see if I can extract useful information." - Annie.

"Right..." - Reiner.

"And how was it on your end? Did you have any unforeseen events?" - Annie.

"Reiner was attacked and severely wounded." - Bertolt.

"Huh? How?!" - Annie.

"I don't know, that thing just pointed its finger up and a big sphere of fire formed. By the time I realized it, I was flying away as my abdomen charred..." - Reiner.

The girl listened carefully to every word, and as she listened, the more shocked she became. It was totally unknown to her that there were people capable of sending a titan flying through the air using their bare hands or even generating fire through their fingers.

"As far as I could tell, there are very few who can do such a thing. Almost everyone who died during the titans' entry could not even resist in some way." - Reiner.

"*sigh* This is getting more and more dangerous..." - Annie, who immediately afterwards threw herself on Zirken's bed and put out all her tiredness.

Soon after this exchange of information, the moon rose in the sky, bringing with it a beautiful night full of stars. The three warriors decided to go to sleep and recover their energy for tomorrow.

However, unintentionally, Annie woke up in the middle of the dawn and immediately noticed something strange.

'That boy hasn't come back yet? I wonder if he got lost.... Well, it's not my problem.' - Annie.

The girl went back to sleep, but meanwhile, outside, more specifically a few feet away from the cabin

"'I still wonder how they hid their plan for such a long time? They almost screamed for all of Paradis to hear..." - Zirken with his white hair under the black hood.