I WILL PROTECT YOU

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟔

3rd POV

"It's like the report said..." Moblit announced, riding into the abandoned village with soldiers following behind him. "The entire village is devastated, and yet there's not a drop of blood, let alone any bodies here." He said as the group came to a halt and got off their horses.

"Then...the villagers of Ragako were able to safely evacuate?" One of the soldiers asked, jumping off from his horse. Mobilt glimpsed at him and looked around the village. "If that's the case, then the titans were having a field day in an empty village. That's hard to believe," Moblit answered. Walking forward he headed to the stables which had every horse in there. "Furthermore...why would they evacuate without even taking a single horse?" Moblit added.

"Then what happened? What could this mean?" Another soldier asked. Right when he asked that, one other soldier ran up to them and called Moblit's name.

"Moblit, I found one! This way!" Leading the scouts to where he found the titan, they all stood in shock when seeing it.

"There you are..." Moblit muttered. Seeing the large scrawny titan that laid on the crushed house. It was the same titan Connie saw the day before and asked Hange and the others to check out.

"Moblit, look at this." A soldier came up to him and handed Moblit a drawn portrait of an older couple.

"This is a portrait of Connie Springer's parents?" Moblit asked, the soldiers gathering around him to see the drawing.

"It's a strong possibility." One of them answered.

As Moblit held the portrait, he saw the titan shift its eyes on them. Startled, he dropped the frame. The titan began to try to get up from its laying position. Immediately, one soldier pulled out his blades to kill the titan but Moblit stopped him, placing his arm in front of the soldier.

"Wait! Hold up!" He yelled. Getting down he picked up the frame although he held it upside down. As he looked at the woman in the portrait he compared her side by side to the titan.

Gasping, he realized the facial similarities the woman had to the titan. His eyes widened and sweat formed on his cheek.

"Unbelievable."

-

The green smoke rose in the air, shocking both Reiner and Bertholdt that the Scouts were already this close to them. Reiner reached over and grabbed his operation device.

"Dammit!" He cursed. Bertholdt suddenly grabbed Reiner by the shoulders. "Reiner. What are you right now?" He asked him. Reiner shrugged off his hands and answered.

"Relax, I'm a warrior." He reassured.

"You're saying to trust Ymir as a warrior?" Bertholdt then asked, his eyes going onto Ymir as her missing body parts were back. "Isn't she the one who ate Marcel?" He added.

"Yeah, that's my point. Ymir's motive is clear. Once she turned human again, she probably roamed around and lived only caring about herself. Until she met Krista...And as cute as Krista is, we have other reasons to bring her to our side. She's an important person in a family of the Church. If Eren or Y/n turns out not to be the Coordinate, our job isn't over yet. Having Krista with us at that point will make our search much easier."

BANG!

The sound of another flare gun shooting in the distance caught their attention as Reiner was done with explaining. "They're close." Bertholdt noted.

What are they talking about? Eren thought, giving a glance at the two teenagers. Are they planning to leave before the sun sets?

"Let's bring an end to it. The next time we come here, we can take Annie, Krista, and that back home. That way we won't have to come here anymore." Bertholdt said. Avoiding eye contact with Reiner.