Kenny was aware of being followed. In the underground it wasn't that unusual, but this time, he deliberately let his follower get close. Setting up traps like that was a desperate measure on his part, but the queen requested of him to do it, and she would always get what she wanted, one way or another.
'Damn, how long's it been?' Kenny asked himself, trying not to lose focus on the mission.
It's been five years ever since Uri had died. At first it had seemed as if his friend was still there, with his will and ideology being carried on by Frieda, but now, all of it had been thrown down the drain. The queen threw away the peace and currently, they were apparently preparing for a future attack launched by some enemy from beyond the island.
The island filled with titans, which were essentially his own people.
The person following him stopped behind some dark corner. This was him moment to strike. Of course, there was the possibility that this individual wasn't exactly one of the intruders, but nonetheless, no man who tailed him could have had good intentions.
Kenny turned another corner, and swiftly, made his way up to the roof. It wasn't that high up and he was pretty athletic but doing this silently was just on another level. There weren't that many people who could mimic his style.
From above, he could finally take a first good look at the brave individual who decided to follow him. His tail was a small female, merely a teenager.
'Let the fun begin' the old Ackerman smiled and jumped from the roof, landing silently behind the girl.
"Hello there, missy" he said as he placed one hand on the girl's shoulder "decided to tail an old geezer like me, have you?"
From her body language, he could deduce that his move had surprised her. However, his hand couldn't feel much fear radiating from her. If that was the case, it must've meant that the strange girl had something up her sleeve.
"I've got to say, you've got a good eye for men" Kenny added after a moment.
"I was…" the girl slowly said "…born at an inn… My mother worked there as she raised me alone… She always told me stories of my father, a man she only ever met once…"
So, this was the approach she was taking. Of course, Kenny knew it wasn't true at all. Merely a cheap shot.
"So, I could tell at first sight, that it was finally you" the girl spoke, finishing her cover up.
"Now, ain't that touching?" The old Ackerman exclaimed, leaning in to see her face "well, if you want a hug from daddy, start by putting both of your arms up."
"Are you really so certain it's not true?" The girl asked, pushing her luck further.
"Not a chance" Kenny said with dismay in his voice "this is the kind o' joke I hate the most…"
"I can't believe you, daddy…"
And right after that, she threw a roundhouse kick right at his face.
Had the rogue been someone else, this could've meant the end for him. The girl's leg smashed the nearby pipe, along with the part of the wall it was attached to.
"Whoa…" he gasped as he barely managed to avoid the powerful kick.
The girl proceeded to take a run for it, but Kenny was content for the time being. He's already seen her face.
"C'mon!" He yelled after her, as she was turning the corner "so you've hit that rebellious phase, huh?"
Kenny didn't manage to catch her, as she jumped down into the sewers. Today, he hadn't felt like dirtying himself anymore.
'But tomorrow is another day' the man said to himself with a smirk.
"Fine!" He yelled into the drain "not like I need a daughter who tries to kick his pop to death, anyway!"
"Sir."
This brought the old Ackerman out of his thoughts. Looking at the person who disturbed him, he saw that it was his lieutenant, Traute Caven.
"Don't call me sir" he spoke with annoyance as he straightened himself in his chair.
They were currently at the headquarters of the newly appointed special squad. Kenny himself, picked those people personally and so far, they turned out to be really efficient. Maybe it was all due to his intricate knowledge of the MPs, which he gained by killing so many of them.
"Would you rather if I called you mistress instead?" The woman asked emotionlessly.
"Very funny" Kenny exclaimed, leaning back "okay, tell me what you've got."
Traute looked down to some files she was holding.
"We've been looking for the person you described among the new recruits" the woman said, holding out a drawing of a face "is this the girl you've encountered?"
Kenny leaned in to take a closer look.
The same blonde hair, the same face shape, the same prominent nose…
"Does the height match?" He asked.
"Yes" Traute spoke "so far, she's been the most promising one…"
"It's her" the old Ackerman affirmed "what do we know about this girl?"
His lieutenant dropped a whole folder of documents onto his desk.
"Her name is Annie Leonhart, she's an orphan and she's one of the three sole survivors from her home village near wall Maria."
"A perfect cover up" Kenny interjected "what about the other two?"
"Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover" Traute elaborated "they've all joined the training corps together, though they don't seem familiar with Leonhart."
"Huh" Kenny said to himself.
'If they come from the same town, they should've known each other beforehand' he thought 'this cannot be a coincidence…'
"They are on this with her" the rogue concluded "anything more about the trio?"
"The girl seems to be very keen on hand-to-hand combat" the woman spoke, reading the reports.
'Yeah, I guess I learnt that the hard way' the old Ackerman thought.
"Other than that," Traute continued, looking back at him "they seem to excel in every field."
They finally had the culprits. Frieda would love this.
"Of course, they do" Kenny said, while standing up "they've been trained as soldiers once before. C'mon, let's tell the queen…"
"Uhm…" the woman took hold of his arm all of a sudden "when we've been searching among the female recruits, I noticed that one file had been removed from our intel base…"
The man stood frozen for a single moment. He deliberately got rid of that file, while they were gathering information.
"Okay…" he exclaimed, still not looking the woman in the face "…and…?"
Traute hesitated for a few moments, before speaking up.
"I figured it was you who did it, but I couldn't just let it go. On my own, I requested the list of recruits from the corps' headquarters…"
She knew about the existence of Mikasa Ackerman. Of course, she couldn't possibly know the importance of this family, but it still seemed suspicious for him to remove the file of someone with his own surname on it.
"I never told anyone…" Traute spoke slowly.
"Good" Kenny responded, before walking off "because if you did, you'd be dead."
Before leaving the office, he took one, final glance at his lieutenant. She wasn't scared one bit. The rogue was well aware that the reason for that was that she would never actually proceed with this information any further. Her loyalty was the main factor to him making the woman his right hand.
"Let's go" the old Ackerman exclaimed, motioning for her to come along "we're going to have a very long talk with the queen…"