The forest was completely tranquil. It was a nice change, compared to the usually busy district that Marlowe was stationed at. But he did not come here to enjoy the peacefulness. The higher ups ordered them to search the forest and find the fugitive scouts.
"Haven't we gone a little too far?" Asked Hitch.
"We're not going to find them in the middle of the town" Marlowe replied, with an annoyed voice.
Ever since Marcel disappeared, things had become weird between them. He would often catch her looking at him in an odd way. Yet, every time he did so, she would turn her eyes so quickly that he wasn't sure if he really saw it or not.
"Sheesh…" the girl exclaimed "why'd I get stuck with you…"
"…I know you just wanted some time alone with me, right?" Hitch suddenly said.
That brought a little blush to Marlowe's face.
"Hitch…" he replied slowly "sorry, but I didn't want to partner with you either."
"…is that so?" The girl said with a pout "well, that's fine then."
"Doesn't it strike you as strange, though?" Marlowe asked.
"What?"
"Why would the survey corps run around killing civilians? They risk their lives for humanity's sake every day, right?"
Hitch looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, have you forgotten? Remember what they did in Stohess? They turned it into a battlefield! They left a pile of bodies for us to clean up."
Marlowe looked down with consideration.
"Yes" he finally responded "what they did there, was abhorrent. But they revealed the titan hiding within the walls. And also, they kept the wall from being breached."
"Could any other group of soldiers have done that? If the survey corps is just dissolved, then humanity…"
"Quiet" Hitch suddenly interjected.
There was a sound of splashing nearby. The two policemen slowly walked closer towards the flowing river.
There was a soldier, presumably a scout, taking water from the brook.
"Don't move!" Marlowe yelled as he pointed his gun towards him "hands up!"
The man slowly put his hands in the air, as he was told.
"Stand!" the young MP ordered "and turn around!"
As the unknown soldier complied, he turned out to be a small boy with blonde hair.
"You're survey corps? That's right. Just stay silent. Do what I…"
Suddenly, both Marlowe and Hitch had blades at their throats.
"Now, nice and slow" he heard o voice from behind "give your guns to him."
"Don't make a sound, alright?" The blonde exclaimed when he took their firearms.
"Leave your uniforms and all your gear behind. Your boots, too. Don't worry, we have shoes for you."
As the two MPs complied, the fugitives started to rummage through their things.
"Private Marlowe Freudenberg, Military police brigade, Stohess District" captain Levi recited his ID.
"Yes" said boy replied, with disbelief in his voice. He didn't expect to meet the famous soldier under such circumstances.
"Hitch Dreyse. Same assignment, military police."
"Yes."
"Both recruits from the 104th… Only been assigned to Stohess district" Levi said as he was reading further "looks like the military police tradition of leaving all the work to recruits is still alive and healthy."
"We're ready" the blonde boy from earlier along with a dark-haired girl exclaimed as they finished putting on the MP uniforms.
"All right" the captain spoke "the interior brigade should still be on the scene in Stohess. Capture anyone you think might be an interior MP and gather clues."
"Yes, sir."
"As for you…" Levi said as he turned towards Marlowe and Hitch.
"Do you know that it's your fault that over a hundred Stohess civilians are dead?!" Hitch suddenly interjected.
"Hey…" Marlowe whispered to the girl, trying to silence her.
"You people" she continued despite his plead "probably think you're heroes or something… But you got all those people killed and ruined their families…!"
"Yes, I know" the short captain responded.
Hitch looked shocked with his responses. She glanced at the other soldiers.
"You're probably from the southern training corps, aren't you? Just like Marcel Galliard."
For some reason, upon hearing this name, everyone looked towards her.
"Were you friends with him, right? They didn't even find his body!"
The moment of silence was suddenly broken by Levi's quick response.
"That may be, because he was the traitor."
This caused Marlowe and Hitch to widen their eyes.
"W-what…?" The boy asked with visible shock.
"Galliard possessed power similar to Eren Yeager's" a blonde woman who was with them suddenly spoke "unfortunately, he managed to escape beyond the walls."
Levi cursed under his nose.
"It makes me sick" he said "we're all in the dark when it comes to how this world works…"
"We'll keep you tied until we're ready to leave. I promise we'll release you then. There's no way you'd be able to catch up to us, after all."
So, they weren't in danger. Marlowe, once again thought about all of his time in the military police and reminded himself of that crazy thought he's been having for a while.
'Now or never.'
"Captain Levi!" He suddenly exclaimed "I don't think that what you're doing is wrong, but did the survey corps really murder the Reeves company workers?"
The man turned towards them again.
"The boss was killed by the interior MPs" he said, "but whoever wins here will decide what's in the history books."
"T-then" Marlowe exclaimed with newfound bravery "let me help you! I will do anything it takes to right the wrongs of this world!"
"If you want to find the interior brigade, let me do it! I'll be far more effective than your disguised soldiers!"
Levi looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"No" he replied after some thought "I can't know whether you're truly prepared to make the system your enemy."
"Let's go" the captain said, leaving the dumbstruck MP "Sasha, tie them up around here."
"Captain!" One of the soldiers suddenly exclaimed "let me handle this!"
Levi turned around, unsure of what was about to happen.
"Jean" he said to the boy "take care of it."
The soldier named Jean started leading them away.
"Keep walking straight" he said as he pointed his dagger at them.
"Just try it" Jean exclaimed with a wicked smile "one wrong move and this knife goes in your gut."
"That won't happen" Marlowe slowly replied "I want to help the survey corps."
"Hah" the scout sneered at him "you just want to trick us… sell us out and make a name for yourselves. You can't fool me."
Marlowe sighed. What was he supposed to do to prove his intentions?
"Okay" Jean exclaimed as they stopped in front of a large stone "right around here."
"We'll keep quiet about this" the young MP promised.
"That's right, you will" the scout deadpanned as he raised his knife "you're gonna die here!"
"Wha…?!" Marlowe cried out with shock and tried to shield Hitch with his body "That's not what he said!"
"The captain might've felt like letting you go…" Jean said as he started closing the distance between them "but it's too dangerous. I've decided it's safer to kill you."
"You have to believe us!" Marlowe pleaded "We know you're fighting to save humanity! Right, Hitch?!"
"Yeah!" Hitch cried out as she nodded her head vigorously.
"Oh, you think I can just trust you two…?" He said as he took a swing at them.
Suddenly, he tripped over and fell to the ground.
"Hitch! Run!" Marlowe yelled towards the girl as he picked up Jean's dagger.
But before he could do anything with it, he had what appeared to be a gun barrel to his chin.
"Mine can shoot first" Jean said with a crazy smile "you're dead unless you act."
"Wait!" Marlowe screamed at the top of his lungs "I swear I'm on your side! There's no need for us to fight!"
"If you really want to leave everything behind and make the rest of the world your enemy, trust me and drop your knife. And please, tell me, how am I supposed to believe in what you said? What makes you think that we can save humanity?"
Marlowe had only one thing to say.
"Then…" he started "…why are you still in the survey corps?"
This answer seemed to surprise Jean.
"…I joined the rotten MPs to clean the brigade up…" Marlowe continued "…but I made the wrong choice…"
He dropped the dagger down.
"…As long as the survey corps keeps fighting with their lives at stake, I'll trust you…"
Jean lowered his gun and wiped the sweat off his face, breathing a sigh of relief. Was all of this some kind of test?
Suddenly the scout was hit in the head with a long log.
"You horse-faced freak!" Hitch yelled at him as she raised her improvised weapon up to strike again.
"Wait! Hitch!" Marlowe exclaimed as he ran between them "he was just testing me!"
Indeed, what Jean held to Marlowe's chin wasn't a gun, but a blunt end of a stick.
"Hey, you" the young MP said to the lying scout "if I hadn't believed you, I would've swung that knife, you know. Why did you go so far?"
"You remind me of a certain dumbass I hate…" Jean replied as he stood up and dusted himself off "…you've proven your commitment, Marlowe. Lend us your strength."
Later, they rejoined the small fugitive team. It seemed like the scouts accepted his proposal to help them. Even though Hitch was against the idea, she tried to help as much as she could.
"This garrison is probably where the first brigade keeps some of its officers" she said as she pointed at the map "we can't know for sure, but I've heard they often use it as a meeting place."
"Alright" Levi said as they all stood up "thank you for your input. Both of you."
Marlowe nodded at the famous captain.
"We won't forget how you helped us" Jean exclaimed with a smile.
As Marlowe and Hitch went back to town, the girl seemed to be a little moody.
"See Marlowe" she said, "now you're in a big trouble."
"If I'm in trouble, you're in trouble as well" the annoyed boy replied.
Hitch gave him a smug smile.
"Hey, I really don't mind being in trouble with…"
"What is that?" Marlowe suddenly exclaimed when they saw a commotion in the city. They walked over to the closest newspaper vendor.
It turned out that Flegel Reeves testified against the first squad interior brigade, and now it was them who was being wanted. Marlowe quickly ran towards the closest barracks.
When he entered, he saw that there was already a female survey corps officer there.
"Hey!" He cried out as Hitch caught up with him.
The female scout turned towards them with a confused expression.
"We have news from captain Levi!"
