'Damn it, that shaveling is as poor as me' Ymir thought as she was searching through a small hiding place under the altar.
Robbing churches was easy, as those institutions usually had way more money than they needed. Sometimes, contributions would exceed the usual budget of a priest and would be hidden in such a place. This time, however, it seemed that either the minister was just too greedy for his own good, or the attendees were simply stingy.
This church was placed in the exterior, but it was still one of the wealthier areas. The girl was hoping that she could live for at least a month, off this action.
One tiny part of her was wondering if stealing from churches was wrong, even for thieving standards. The people came here to seek truth, salvation and peace, yet she was carelessly taking away the fruits of their hard work.
For Ymir, however, religion wasn't something that she was fond of. Memories of the cult and the suffering that all its members went through, were still fresh in her mind.
"No one ever told you that stealing from churches brings the wrath of god upon you?"
The girl instantaneously turned around to see the person who sneaked up on her. It was a tall, dark-haired woman, dressed in a white robe. It didn't seem like she was working here. Was she an attendee?
"There was nothing here anyway" Ymir responded as she reached out to her pocket.
For situations like this, she was already prepared. The girl kept a small dagger with her at all times, in case anything like this happened. Not only was it for self-defence, but also, it had a special kind of purpose for Ymir.
"Don't even think about using your power" the woman spoke as she held out her open palm.
The rogue girl looked at the newcomer with wide eyes. There was a small cut on the woman's hand and little drops of blood were dripping to the floor.
"Who the hell are you?" Ymir asked as she gritted her teeth.
Was that woman one of the warriors? She had never seen a person such as her, in her predecessor's memories. Was it possible that they knew about her already?
"I am Frieda Reiss, the king of the walls" the woman spoke with peace "who are you?"
It couldn't be… The king of the walls? How unlucky she had to be to encounter the most dangerous person on the entire island?
"Y-Ymir Fritz!" She responded with fear in her voice.
"You know" Frieda started as she looked at her with pity "it's not exactly the best kind of name if you want to lay low…"
"It's the only name I've ever known…" Ymir said as she was desperately trying to put up a strong façade.
At that, she could see that the attitude of the woman in front of her changed. Almost like she was feeling sorry for her.
"What happened?" Frieda asked out of the blue.
Why was the king of the walls acting like this? Did she have some secret agenda?
"Why do you care anyway?" Ymir cried out "if you're going to kill me, just be done with it…"
"I care because I care" the dark-haired woman spoke with compassion "like it or not, you are like me, a fellow Eldian…"
"Shut the hell up!" The rogue girl shouted, trying to hold back her tears "we are nothing alike! Just kill me already!"
"I think that your insistence signifies that we are very much alike" Frieda exclaimed slowly "I think it matters to you way more than you're willing to admit."
Something about that statement shook Ymir to the core. It wasn't like she could put up a fight against such an adversary anyway, so why not try her chances of talking her way out of this situation?
"You may be right" the girl spoke after a moment "it's because of that I ended up in this hellhole."
"Tell me about it" the woman replied before sitting on one of the benches.
Did the ruler of the walls really wanted to just talk? If so, it was worth taking that chance.
"I was born in poverty" Ymir said after taking a seat "no parents. No relatives. I didn't even know what my name was. Just another orphan living in the gutter…"
The look that Frieda was giving her spoke more than a thousand words. The amount of sympathy and compassion the woman was radiating was unbelievable. In a weird way, it was making the young girl want to continue on with her tale.
"Then, everything changed when a group of people took me in. Some kind of cult, that began to worship me as a member of the royal bloodline…"
"This is what makes us similar" Frieda interjected.
"Well, it was like this until we were found out" Ymir continued as she looked towards the altar "I thought that if I kept on pretending to be who they wanted me to be, the authorities would leave the rest of them alone…"
"You wanted to save them?" The dark-haired woman asked.
"Maybe…" the rogue girl spoke "maybe I was just trying to be a good girl… At the end of the day none of this mattered. The whole cult had been sent to paradise…"
"…And when you were given a second chance you decided to live for yourself" Frieda finished for her.
Ymir looked at the woman with wide eyes.
"I understand that notion" the ruler of the walls continued "it didn't end well the last time you tried to help someone, so you have decided to shut yourself off from the rest of the world."
Frieda raised her finger up.
"This is where we're different" she said "I don't want to shut myself off from the suffering of my subjects. If anything, I will die along them."
"Are you trying to recruit me into your little cult?" Ymir asked mockingly.
"Even for someone with godlike powers, it is impossible to actually detach from the other people" Frieda exclaimed "believe me, I know. If anything, we should use them to make things better."
"You're trying to tell me that I should make things better?" The rogue girl spoke with anger in her voice "it is because of you that this place has no future! The world will destroy this island in a few years, and you haven't done anything to prevent that…"
"This is our just punishment" the king of the walls spoke with authority.
Ymir could swear that for a single moment, she saw a shine in the woman's eyes. After a few seconds, Frieda looked the other way.
"But in a sense, you're right" the woman continued "there are at least two people in my life that I want to keep away from the world's anger. This is my plan for you…"
The girl was looking at the adult with confusion. Her words were contradicting each other. What did she want her to do?
"I want you to protect my little sister and her friend. That's all."
So, there were exceptions to who was supposed to die. Maybe the ruler of the walls was even changing her mind on the isolationist stance. Maybe, there was future to this island…
"It's kinda selfish of you" Ymir spoke after a long pause "are those kids any good?"
"You're not that much older than them, actually" Frieda responded with a warm smile "and trust me, you'll love them…"
Silence filled the air as the rogue girl was looking at the most powerful person on the planet in astonishment.
"I don't have a choice, do I?"
"No, you don't."