Chapter 37

The March to Death

"Alright, people!" I shouted as we waited for the opening of Karanese's District. "In 30 more seconds, the Gate will be opened!"

And the crowd of citizen-made-soldiers waited in tenseness. I saw some of the people on the sidelines looking at us in contempt, some others laughing that they finally gotten rid of the vermin, and some looking right at me in disgust at leading the expedition which was sure to fail.

My horse stomped its foot to the ground as I looked at the antique watch I had in my hands.

20 more seconds…

I looked around once more, looking on the carriages that were covered by white cloth. I made sure there was a total of 5 carriages that carried my weapons and the supply.

I looked at the watch once more and started to count down.

"5! 4! 3! 2! 1!" by this time, the Gate was completely opened, "Expedition to Wall Maria, begins!"

And I kicked my horse so it will begin to run. My horse obediently did so, followed by the others.

So we left the Gate, into the land that was taken from us not even one year ago. The rate of survival will be very, very low, but I'll protect as much as I could and still stay alive.

At first, the expedition went smoothly, as there were no Titans, but as time passed by, and we get even further to Wall Maria, Deviants started to appear.

All of them are dead set on me.

At this point, to avoid endangering the people from the Titans, I pulled the reigns to one side and separated with the rest of the group. Just like what I taught them, one of them took the lead and take them to the other direction. I made sure that I am not too far or too close to them, so that they are able to shoot the Titans.

The people standby on the carriages pulled open the cloths. On each carriage were a canon and its supply. They loaded the canon and started to aim at the Titans.

The plan was for me to run parallel in the same direction as the people as the Deviants chased me. While avoiding the Deviants, I'll also kill the Titans from this side, while I trusted the other side to some Scouting Legion soldiers who insisted on coming despite the low survival rate and those civilians who are better at 3DMG than most.

The centre, on the other hand, will be telling what direction we are going by the use of the smoke gun. They will also keep the number of Titans as low as possible for both sides. Since the usual cannon balls are useless, I formed a canon ball using Ditto, so that the Titans will be immobile by the Ditto's stickiness.

There was no casualty at first, but as time goes by, we are getting more and more exhausted, we started to lose the people. First, it was those civilians fighting against the Titans, then some of the Scouting Legion soldiers.

We started to regroup, and I was back to leading the expedition. We followed the 'Long Distance Enemy Detection' Formation, which I had told them during the short one week.

"Hey! What are you doing!" someone behind my back shouted. "Come back here!"

I turned my head to see who shouted and saw that a man was shouting to someone to return to the grouping. It seems that the man's companion decided to run away.

"No! I refuse to die like that!" his companion shouted, "I'll return to Wall Rose! Those who wish to follow me may do so!"

And with that, the man's companion turned his horse and ran in the opposite direction; a few other people followed him.

Idiots, I thought, they are all idiots.

Not long later, I heard the sound of them screaming for their life. Even thought the sound was very far, I can still hear it clearly.

I was torn to help, but I can't. I can't just go off and leave all the rest!

So we continued to gallop further from Wall Rose. The Titans started closing into us, and clashes against the Titans became even more unavoidable. We fought, our numbers decreased. I fought too, using 3DMG to maneuver around, killing Titans with the many ways I know.

I killed the normal Titans which can't detect me, and others will kill the Deviants for me.

By the time I realized, our numbers had decreased from 2000 people to just 1000.

"Retreat! Regroup and retreat!" I shouted to the people. Those who heard immediately followed my orders and shouted for their comrades to retreat too.

As we return, the surviving Scouting Legion soldiers protected the people from the sides, but some of the Titans still managed to break in.

By the time we reached the Gate of Karanese District, all that was remained of our troop were mere 200 people. I ordered the people to return to their children if they have any, and the wounded to go to the medical center. Now all that was left to be done with the mission was to send a report, both verbal and written, to Erwin.

So I went into Erwin's office and knocked.

"Come in," came the muffled reply from behind the door.

The door creaked open, and I saw all of them inside Erwin's office. Levi was sitting on his own single sofa, and Erwin was behind his work desk. Moblit and Amanda were sitting on the 2-seat sofa, sitting attentively while Mike was leaning by the window. All of them seem like they are waiting for someone.

They were all waiting for me.

I inhaled deeply and then started to speak, "Report for the Expedition to Wall Maria."

"Report," Erwin answered back.

"Today, 2000 soldiers under my jurisdiction were out for the expedition. The Ditto Cannon has proven useful to make the Titans immobile. After around 7 km, we returned to the 'Long Distance Enemy Detection Formation'. Around afternoon, our numbers were cut by half, and we had to retreat. By the time we reached Wall Rose, only 200 remained."

Erwin nodded, "I'll expect the written report by the time you are back. I suppose there is no need for you to go to medical bay?"

"There are burnt marks caused by Pac-mans, but nothing too critical." I answered.

Erwin narrowed his eyes. "Show me the wound, and I'll be the judge on whether or not you will go to the medical bay."

I took off the military jacket and rolled up the sleeve of my yellow shirt, revealing the scorch marks on my skin.

"Alright, you may return to your room, but after you tended your own wound."

I nodded and was about to leave the room when Moblit stopped me.

"Captain! Is there anything you need?"

I chuckled dryly. "For now? Nothing."

Poor Moblit. I guess he had gotten used to me being hyper and excited and ridiculous all day long that he didn't know what to do when I suddenly went all down.

I looked at the faces of all of them, and noticed that there was a hint of worry in most of them. Levi's face is as usual, and Erwin is still stoic as ever. Amanda tried to hide her worry, but she failed miserably, Mike sent me some glances once in a while, and Moblit was hyperventilating on what to do.

"Geez," I said, "You don't need to worry. All I need is some time to rest, and I'll be back to normal, okay?"

I gave them a smile, but it was not as convincing as I thought, as Moblit seemed even more worried.

I went out of the office, but instead of going to my room and taking care of my burnt marks, I walked to the direction I'm sure where the training field was. I walked past the gates and looked at the starry night, feeling the night breeze blowing on me.

I know that Erwin's orders to rest and tend my wounds were for the best, but I can't help feeling restless even though I feel I can just faint anytime soon. I put on my military jacket once more and hugged myself, keeping myself warm from the night wind.

I found a good spot under the tree and sat down, leaning on the thick bark. I breathed evenly, trying to ease myself from the inner turmoil.

During the day, I did not think much as my main priority is to keep as many people save from the Titans, but now, with nothing to do, it finally hit me.

Today, 1800 people died because of my incompetence.

Damn.

I closed my eyes and tried to keep my tears at bay. I know the end result, and I know how I will end up, but just predicting and actually experiencing it are two different things.

"Oi!" a voice resounded from somewhere near the entrance of the training ground, "Erwin's order is for you to rest, Shitty Bitch, or are you just plain deaft?"

I turned to face the source of the voice and tried to figure who was there. The person has short figure and black hair, so I uttered the only possible name, "…Levi?"

Levi scoffed as he walked closer to my spot. He did not sit down on the ground or lean on the bark as that will be unhygienic for him.

Something suddenly fell from Levi's hand to my lap. I picked them up, wondering what it was. It was a small bottle of alcohol and some bandages.

"I believe that the Scouting Legion is not useless." Levi said, "Their sacrifices are not useless."

I looked wide eyed at him. Back when we were younger, he had outright said that Scouting Legion was suicidal folks, but now…

I smiled at him weakly and muttered a soft thank you before tending my own wounds.

At first, I planned on keeping silent, but as time passed, I can no longer hold these feelings in, so I started blabbering.

I talked about those who abandoned the mission and how idiotic they were. I talked about how heroic those 1800 people died. I talked about how I felt.

In the end, tears started to roll down my cheeks and Levi had to sit down on the ground to hug me and comfort me.

Levi's way of comfort, of course, included a bit of hard hits to my head.