Ingvild and Grimwald were traversing a mountainous area at night. Since the terrain was so uneven, they decided to take advantage of the Cart Titan's power to go from one location to another.

— Do you really think there was no other way? — Grimwald asked with his titan form's deep voice.

From their elevated position, he looked back at the city Ingvild had just destroyed. The walls were no more than scattered clods of stone, and most of the buildings were destroyed. A small number of survivors could be seen leaving their former homes and walking away to some unknown place. Ingvild still had the transformation marks on her face; the chin, the cheeks, and the area under the eyes appeared to be skinless.

— It's just to scare them a little bit. Create some chaos and disorder to make our task easier. — She answered from above. She was resting on his upper back.

—You simply alarmed them. Now all Maldatians know they're being invaded. — He said sternly.

— That's what I said, it makes our task easier. Just stomp some cities, wait for them to submit, and execute every suspicious person.

— Hmph... I never expected you to be that way. You seemed very easy-going during our meetings.

Ingvild looked up to the night sky. It was mostly cloudy. The moonlight shone shyly through a cluster of dark clouds.

— Do you think the moon thinks about the stars? Starlight is so weak and fades away behind the clouds so easily, yet the moon manages to outshine them. — She said thoughtfully.

— You're spouting nonsense. Why don't you stop trying to be deep and follow the orders we were given by the queen herself?

— Hildegard is too soft. Her mistake is thinking of non-Eldians as people.

Grimwald stopped on his tracks. He again looked back at the destroyed Maldatian city. Her words reminded him of a simpler time. One of his childhood friends, the son of a non-Eldian slave serving his clan, was beaten to death because Grimwald's father was disgusted by the idea of the heir of one of the Nine Titans treating a mere slave as an equal. "You are above these animals." — The words echoed in his mind.

— I will return to Eldia right now. You are going against the queen's orders, and I'll report it as soon as I arrive.

— You're not going back! — She exclaimed, standing up on his back.

He reached for Ingvild with his hand, but she jumped out of the way and landed clumsily on the ground.

— You're lucky I'm tired. Or else...

— Or else what? — He asked sarcastically.

— Oh, that does it, you horse-faced titan!

She took a small blade out of a pocket, but Grimwald was faster. He immobilised her with his giant hand, pressing her entire body against the ground. Ingvild had trouble breathing, and her face was turning red.

— I'm not an idiot. I won't even give you a chance to transform.

Her dark eyes were filled with anger. She tried to struggle, but the weight of the Cart Titan's hand didn't allow any freedom of movement. "As long as I can draw out some blood, I can win!" — She thought. Ingvild bit her own tongue, nearly parting it in half. Grimwald noticed her skin glowing and backed away immediatly in order not to be hit by the explosion. Then Ingvild rose from the ground in titan form, which had an appearance very similar to her human form, but partially skinless. What seemed to be bare muscle appeared through most of her face, torso, and hands.

— You're a dead man, Grimwald! My titan is stronger than yours! — She shouted with a distorted, deep voice.

"I have the terrain advantage and greater mobility. I can simply run away. Still, it would be disastrous to leave her wreaking havoc, even in a foreign nation." — He thought to himself. Ingvild landed a powerful kick on his ribs, sending the Cart Titan rolling down a slope and ruining some trees on the way. She slid down to deal the final blow on the gigantic motionless body laying down on a ledge.

— You never had a chance, horse-face.

She stomped the neck area once, twice, thrice... All to make sure her opponent was really dead. Suddenly, she saw a yellow light shine from behind her and something big weighing on her back. It was Grimwald again. Without wasting time, he bit down on her nape sideways so that she wouldn't accidentally die. The Female Titan fell to the ground. Grimwald managed to remove Ingvild from inside the body, though his teeth sliced off her legs.

— Strength might win battles, but intelligence wins wars. You were too reckless for your own good. — He said while gazing at Ingvild, who was unconscious. — Well, enough monologues. I need to take you back to Eldia as soon as possible.

…

— Sören, I swear to Ymir, I'd much prefer working in the docks carrying weight than this. It has already been five days of pure torture.

Ulrika and Sören managed to find some work at the inn they were staying. They helped with generally everything that didn't involve communication but spent most of their time in the kitchen helping to prepare the meals. The head cook was more than happy to accept two new assistants and enjoyed his free time at least twice a week, and this was one of his days off. Ulrika was slicing one carrot after another with great precision while Sören struggled to defeather a fowl.

— Inns are great places to gather information. Plus, we need to appear as less suspicious as possible. — Sören explained.

Ulrika pouted and continued her work. "You'd be right if Arnulf had taught us more than a few basic words and phrases, smart guy. Now we're stuck here while he's out making connections." — She thought.

— I've had some doubts concerning you, or rather, your abilities. What exactly did Anders do to make you that way? — He asked, impressed with her knife skills.

— Founding Titan magic. I'm not lying to you when I say I don't know the details. My parents, and a polymath fellow are the only ones who know exactly what happened.

— The queen explained a part of it, though it seems she's also in the dark about this. — Sören added.

— I'm just a prototype anyways. My unborn sibling will be the true perfect weapon in human form. And the Fritz clan was lucky because it worked.

Sören began to daydream about the applications of "titan science" while mechanically defeathering the fowl. "Fearsome. What if every Eldian was altered to be like Ulrika?"

— Good morning, you two! — Said a balding man with a thick grey moustache. — How's the kitchen doing today?

— Good morning, sir. — They replied with somewhat of an accent.

It was Thaddeus, the owner of the inn. He walked around to inspect their work while mumbling to himself in Marleyan. He stood still for a few minutes and gave an order to Sören.

— Sören, someone made a mess out there. Why don't you go and clean it?

He understood enough words, such as "mess" and "clean", grabbed a broom and an old piece of cloth, and promptly walked away to put things in order. Thaddeus then approached Ulrika, putting his hand on her shoulder.

— It seems that your stew will end up rather watery. Why don't you put some starch to thicken it?

Ulrika didn't understand what he was talking about. Her Marleyan was very basic. Thaddeus' hand suddenly slid down a few inches. He groped her chest while breathing heavily.

— Budding… That's the way I like it. — He approached her ear. — Say, little one, do you want to earn some extra silver?

— I working, sir. Please, get away… — She replied, trembling.

He put his other hand on her crotch, making her jump by surprise. His breathing became heavier with each second.

— I can't stand it anymore, Ulrika. Come on, it will be quick.

With a quick movement, she grabbed one of his arms and broke it using her shoulder. Before he could scream in pain, she struck a high kick right on his lower jaw. He fell like a stone on the ground. Sören, hearing the noise, went back in the kitchen to check the situation, only to find Ulrika heaving and Thaddeus laying on the ground with one of his arms shaped like a zigzag.

— What…

— He tried to abuse me! — She interrupted him. — It was by reflex!

— I definitely won't blame you, Ulrika, but… How do we deal with this? He's going to wake up soon and then what?

They watched as blood pooled from behind his head.

— I guess this one isn't waking up any soon. — Ulrika remarked.

They heard steps coming from the front counter. Ulrika grabbed a knife and readied herself for combat, and Sören stood still, paralysed with tension. A back-haired girl, perhaps fifteen years old, came in on the kitchen and gasped, putting her hands on the lower face in surprise.

— Finally! Thank you for this! — She exclaimed.

The Eldians looked at each other in confusion. They understood that she was grateful for something, but for what? Then it dawned on them, and no more words were needed. Thaddeus was probably a sickening person. The girl searched the cabinets for a while and approached them with a large sack.

— Quick, we need to hide this! Until nightfall, the body can stay inside this cabinet! — She said while pointing to the location so that Sören and Ulrika would understand what she meant.

It was a tense afternoon. The inn functioned normally and served its patrons like nothing had happened. Ulrika remained calm throughout all day, cooking and cleaning with no problems whatsoever. Some time past midnight, when the last patron left, the three went back to the kitchen to check on the corpse.

— We'll leave it in the forest and hope wild animals do the rest of the work for us. — The girl suggested but was met with confused stares.

After a series of gestures and mimicries, Ulrika and Sören finally understood what she meant. They loaded the bag on a wooden cart and headed for the forest to the east.

— Wait here. I need to bring some important things with us.

They understood they were supposed to wait, and so they did. She came back with an unlit torch, a sword, and a spear. They continued on their way. Not too long after, a guard approached from close by, torch in hand. The girl signalled for them to stand still.

— You're the girl from the inn, aren't you? — He asked. — What are you doing outside at such an hour?

— Some of our pig meat spoiled and we'll dump it in the wilderness. — She answered calmly. — Also, can you light our torch? I forgot to bring the flint.

The guard approached the sack and smelled it, recoiling soon afterwards due to the horrible smell.

— Ugh… Go quickly before the bears feel the stench. Can you defend yourselves? — He said while lighting their torch.

She grabbed a sword and a spear from within the cart and showed the weapons to the guard. He nodded in agreement and let them resume their journey. For a moment, Sören forgot he was a titan shifter and felt extremely anxious in fear the guard would discover their crime. After walking for a while, they found a partially buried deer carcass.

— Let's leave it here. A bear buried this one so that it could eat it later. He'll be happy with the surprise.

They unloaded the sack and quickly went back to town, trying to discuss what they would tell the patrons and other employees despite the language barrier. "I didn't even kill this man and the whole situation was an ordeal. Would I be able to kill hundreds in titan form?" — Sören thought to himself.