Chapter 6: The Nine Crime Lords

Wall Rose – Karanese District

"Just what are we staying here for Commander…?" Rivaille asked as he crossed his legs, stirring his coffee with a spoon. Both he and Commander Irvin were sitting down at a small restaurant in the Karanese District, 90 degrees to the right of the Trost District around the Wall Rose.

"My investigation isn't quite done yet" Irvin stoically replied as he flipped through the papers that were somewhat strewn about on the table.

The Lance Corporal sighed after taking a sip from his hot drink, "Don't we have more important things to do?"

"I believe that is a rhetorical question Rivaille" The Commander replied looking up from what he was reading, "I'm sure you know that the Scouting Legion is in down time at the moment, do you not?"

"Yessir" He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes slightly. After a few moments of glaring at his commander tirelessly reading documents, he spoke up, "Hasn't your investigation hit a brick wall already?"

"It's true that I have no leads, but my intuition tells me otherwise"

"Really now?" Rivaille asked with slight interest, leaning forward resting his elbows on the table, "Tell me Commander, what was the point of this whole ordeal again, aside from finding out who wanted Liette dead?"

Irvin was silent for a moment before opening his mouth, "Since they asked specifically for Liette out of all the other people qualified for the job; that has led me to believe that someone wants her dead. As you know, politicians cannot make specific requests by themselves, they need the majority of the board to side with them on the request." Pausing a moment to straighten up his papers, he continued, "I do not believe that many people would want to send one of humanities best soldiers on a suicide mission like that, so most of the members would disagree. Unless…"

Noticing that he had stopped talking again, Rivaille asked, "Unless…?"

"Unless they are merely puppets in a play. I have reason to think that there is someone manipulating the strings behind the Board of Politicians" The Board of Politicians is the law making body of the kingdom, which consults with the King on what kind of laws be implemented, and take votes on what should be passed and not be passed with consent of the King.

Rivaille widened his eyes at the revelation that Irvin had enlightened him to, "That would explain the ongoing outbursts of corruption in the districts…" Looking up at his commander after thinking it through, the Lance Corporal asked, "Then what about the campaign to retake the Wall Maria…? Why was that part of their scheme?"

"My theory is that since there was an influx of refugees from the Shiganshina District to the Trost district, the amount of revenue that is earned overall dropped dramatically because of the increase in food prices" Irvin began to explain, "The bureaucrats and conservatives are not happy about that since their pockets will run dry at this rate."

Rivaille nodded his head as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, "I'm following you…" He said as he watched Irvin take a cigar out to smoke.

Grinning at Rivaille's frowning face, he continued, "Rivaille, you know of the Nine Crime Lords correct…?"

Rivaille's body tightened up when Irvin said Crime Lords, losing his focus, his arm contracted and his spilled a bit of coffee on his shirt. As a former participant in the underground activity of organized crime, he muttered at the utmost seriousness, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat "What of them?" He asked, furiously wiping the coffee stained area of his shirt with a cloth, trying his best to stay calm.

Irvin then folded his hands together has he rested his elbows on the table, "There is one crime lord for each district along the Walls Rose and Sina, then one last crime lord only known as…"

"The Paramount Crime Lord, who resides within the Inner Wall…" Rivaille interrupted as his expression soon turned to somewhat anger. "Do you believe that he is behind all of this?"

"Who else could it be?" Irvin asked rhetorically with the cigar in his mouth, "Assuming that one crime lord has enough power to influence even a few of the members of the Board of Politicians, him managing to best the majority of the Board is nay slim."

The Lance Corporal scoffed at the mere thought of it as his teeth were clenched out of anxiety.

"The Paramount Crime Lord, the most powerful individual in the world of the corruption. He holds the most influence economically, he practically has a foot in politics. The only one above him is the King himself. He is most likely the only one who is behind this. And he is the one that wants Liette dead."

Slumping down into his chair with his hands folded in deep thought, Rivaille said, "I see your point…But what relation does the Paramount Crime Lord have with Liette?"

"That's where I'm stuck" Irvin said laying his papers down to accept his order of coffee. "There's no clear relationship between her and the Paramount Crime Lord, and I don't believe that her history can say otherwise. At least, what we know about her so far"

Again trying to wipe the remains of the hot beverage off his shirt, Rivaille added, "Orphan, adopted into the circus by this Roger Dalton. When she was twelve, a massacre occurred." He read from the profile on Liette. "Nothing that stands out about crime. Does she even know that someone's after her?"

Momentarily taking his cigar out of his mouth to take a sip of his coffee, Irvin replied, "I'm sure she knows. She may be naïve, but she's not ignorant."

Despite their discussion ending, there was one man who took upon the curiosity to ask.

"E-excuse me" A man asked from behind Commander Irvin.

"How can I help you?" Irvin turned around to look at the man in question.

"Do you…. By chance know Liette Herrman?"

"Yes why do you ask?" The Commander asked, curious as to why this man wanted to know if they had relations with Liette.

The man was trembling as his face lit up with a smile of joy, "M-My name's Nelson Herrman, I am Liette's foster brother"

Wall Rose – Trost District

"Is that… what's left of the army?" One of the people asked as crowds began to form on the streets to see the remains of the refugee army.

Some stared in disbelief at the amount of people that survived. They can only do so much to imagine the horrors that awaited them outside those walls.

"Two hundred fifty thousand of them…"

"I can't believe it… the government how could they?…. What monsters…."

"We won't survive, humanity will be extinct at this rate. Once they break the walls again…"

Other people broke down due to despair, others couldn't bear to look at the survivors because it would remind them of what they witnessed at Shiganshina. Out of this well of despair, no one even bothered to think of these one hundred plus survivors as traitors. Frankly, no one cared. All of them shared a common knowledge that they must do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means retreat.

Liette knew this as she was limping down the street, with Zackley supporting her up. Her body ached all over. She had a sprained ankle and wrist, with cuts and bruises strewn about.

"It's her!" A voice in the crowd whispered, then suddenly, dozens of voices began to chant the same.

"That's the Silver Haired Striker!"

"If she couldn't beat all the titans, then we know that humanities lost"

"I thought she was supposed to be as strong as Rivaille"

"At least give her some credit, its hell out there. I don't expect any person to make it back the same person"

As the meager army continued their way to report their losses and at least try to get some rest after their concurrent nightmare, Zack began to ask, "Do they even look harshly on us?"

Liette shook her head weakly, murmuring, "They feel the pain we've been through. No one can condemn us"

Despite all the survivors' fears of being branded as traitors, nothing had occurred. No judgment, no accusations, none of that. It was as if the government simply ignored them. Many of them wondered why, others were overjoyed, but all could not shake the feeling that something strange was behind all this.

Liette sat there at the table in her room watching her fireplace crackle. Her wounds were patched up and most of the pain was gone, but her legs couldn't help but feel stiff and sore. By chance, she figured that going out for a walk at night would be a way to loosen them up.

She tried not to walk too fast or apply too much pressure on her strained ankle while out through the streets. The chilly breeze of the winter air cooled Liette's flushed face as her dress fluttered like papers let loose.

Stopping, she glared at the moon. "The moon and the sun, every morning, the moon falls and the sun rises, every evening, the sun falls and the moon rises. This continues on and on in an endless cycle, an endless loop." This deeply reminded her of her own existence. "Yes, I am like the earth. The sun and the moon both revolve around me, day after day."

ooo

Liette sighed, being careful not to loosen the cast on her arm while taking a cigarette out, thinking it again, she put it away and took out Roger's pipe.

Sighing as she leaned back in her chair, staring at the plain white ceiling "Here in this room again…" she said to herself. She wasn't really in the mood for saying anything. Her mind was too shaken, too angry. "Just who is behind this madness…?"

Her moments of silence and thought were subtly interrupted by a knock on her door, "Come in" she said expecting Rivaille, or someone similar to barge in. Except that it wasn't, instead, it was Kristell.

"Uhm, h-hello Liette. I hope you're doing well" Kristell said, slightly hiding behind the entrance, "I have a message for you" Holding an envelope out, she approached Liette and handed it over. "It's from Commander Irvin"

Two Days Earlier – Wall Rose: Karanese District

"You know Liette?" Irvin replied with a keen interest as he set is cup aside and turned to listen to the man named Nelson.

Nelson scratched his head as he replied, "Yes, I do. I think you know this already, but we adopted her from an orphanage, and she lived with us for a long time until about seven years ago."

"And then the massacre happened" Irvin cut in, carefully nibbling on his tart.

"Y-yes" Nelson said with a hint of sadness, "Everyone was thought to have died except me, but they didn't find the bodies of two people from the fire. One of them was Liette, so I thought that she might have survived. I was so doubtful until now, I'm so relieved to know that she is still alive and well."

Rivaille cleared his throat as he glared at Irvin, who was constructing a pathway in his head.

"Then, do you by perchance know if Liette has any relation to the matter at hand?" The Commander asked, "Is there someone that wants her dead?"

Nelson simply shook his head to the second question, "I couldn't dare think of anyone who wants Liette dead. But there is something that I need to tell her, and I think that it might relate to this"

Both commanding officers were interested to know what this big secret was, "And that something is…?" Rivaille asked bluntly, a tad bit impatient to know.

The somewhat nervous man looked around his shoulders to make sure no one suspicious was around, despite looking suspicious himself, "I wanted to wait until I saw Liette to tell anyone this, but, Roger was going to…."

Wall Rose – Path to Karanese District

Dear Liette,

There is someone who claims to know you and he wants to speak with you. Meet us in the Karanese District in front of the main gate. Rivaille and I will accompany you to him. Seeing as that you are probably injured, take caution on your travels. Otherwise, make haste, as this is dire information that you must know. Also to note, congratulations on your survival.

Commander Irvin

That was what the letter contained when Liette opened it last night. She was curious, "Someone who knows me?" There was no one that came to mind that she knew who lived in the Karanese district. There was an air of curiosity around Liette that just made her wonder.

The wind was brisk as she laid back in the wagon driven by Kristell and Peter. Lucky for Liette, both of them were on their way to the Karanese District on a delivery mission set forth by Urdin. Since her body was still injured, she took the liberty of traveling with them to her destination.

It was nearing dusk, so the trio decided to take camp for the day. The path that they were on was about 135 miles from the main path between the Wall Sin and Wall Rose. So far, they were about halfway through, and it would take about another day to arrive at their destination.

"Hey, if you're going to hitch a ride with us, you're going to have to contribute a little bit at least" Peter requested as he finished lighting up the campfire.

"Oi, be careful how you talk to your superior" Liette joked as she rubbed her sprained ankle, just replacing it with fresh bandages.

Just as she was speaking, Kristell came walking back from the nearby lake with a bucket of fish, and a fishing rod slung over her shoulder. "I caught some!"

"Good grief Kristell! I hope you don't get sick over that stuff" Peter replied showing a half serious face while he peered into her bucket. About three fish, not a bad spoil at all. "It'll be a waste if we can't eat it because we're sick"

Sliding his hand into the bucket, he took out a midsized fresh water salmon. He squired a bit because it was still slightly alive, and his hands were unsteady when holding the knife and the slimy fish at the same time. It was as if he were scared to cut it.

"Why don't you just let me do it?" Kristell asked as she took out a pan, a few plates, some bread, cheese, butter, and water.

"I got this!" Peter said, determined with himself, but unable to proceed to cut the fish. In reality, Peter had a fear of cutting things with a knife while cooking. This was a result of a cooking accident when his mother was showing him the ropes as a young child. He cut his finger with the knife, and even thought it wasn't a serious gash, he was ever traumatized by the experience. Ever since then, he tried his best to overcome this fear, but was unable to.

Liette, too anxious to watch the teenager struggle with his past, took the knife and cutting board from Peter. With this, Liette held the knife in her right hand and made sure that her sprained left wrist was secured. "Some of us are getting hungry" she commented. With one single swing, she cut the head of the fish off, sliding it off to the ground. Swift and gentle cuts were made so that only the meat of the fish was being cut off, and eventually, only the bone, the tail, and bits of flesh that were too difficult to get off remained.

"That's how you bone a fish" Liette added as she slid the meat onto a different plate, and started on the other two fish.

After that was done, she put the chunks of meat onto a pan after melting a bit of butter over the fire. Stirring and stirring, she cooked until the fish was a tad bit fried, which had a mouth stirring aroma. Distributing the meat among three plates, she then took a block of cheese, slapping it onto the pan and proceeded to melt it down.

"Wait, Liette, what are you doing?" Peter asked with a bit of worry. He didn't like the idea of melted cheese one bit.

"Who cares what she's doing!" Kristell replied in a hint of excitement at the delicious aroma that filled her nostrils.

"You'll see" Liette muttered over the sizzling of the melted cheese. After it had turned into a golden liquid, she poured it over the fish, giving it a smooth and gooey texture. Nearly completing the dish, she cut the three loaves of bread in half from side and placed them on their respective plates. "Be careful, it's hot"

Both Kristell and Peter brightened with delight as the eagerly dug into the dishes that Liette had prepared.

"This… this is delicious!" Kristell beamed with happiness.

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Peter inquired with his mouth full.

Liette smiled as she too began to eat up replying, "There are certain things you learn in the Scouting Legion. One is the face of hell itself, and the second is cooking."

ooo

Dinner was over, yet, it was still a bit early to go to sleep. So the three of them just sat at the campfire, watching it slowly shrivel the logs of wood into a black crisp. To break the somewhat eerie silence, Liette asked, "You guys are graduating soon from your trainee squad aren't you?"

Both of them nodded.

Understanding their answers, Liette took her pipe out and lit it, "And what branches did you guys want to join?"

"Stationary Guard" Kristell answered first.

"Why's that?"

"Mmmh…" She thought about it for a moment, "Simple branch for a simple girl no?"

"Understandable" The Silver Haired Striker nodded as she turned to Peter, "How about you?"

Peter was nervously silent for a moment, "Well…. The Military Police"

Liette nodded her head, "Are you in the top ten?"

The boy shook his head. "It's just a dream. Maybe someday I'll join."

"Why do you want to in the first place?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Peter asked, "Living in the inner walls. Being comfortable, no danger. It's all I could ever ask. But it'll never come true, I'm not cut out for it. What about you? You're sure seem strong enough, why didn't you join the Military Police?"

"I did" Liette replied before blowing smoke out, glaring into the campfire, "I left a few months in"

Both Kristell and Peter expressed their surprise with a "What?!"

The dusty blonde haired girl followed up, "Why?"

Liette sighed, "It's difficult being one of the few females in the Military Police. Sometimes, certain things occur to make you realize that you've made a mistake."

ooo

"Hey Liette! Me n' the gang are going out for another drink, you in?" A snarky voice called out as Liette was writing on some parchment, a deed to some land south of the Wall Sina. She looked back at the person at her door, it was a young man. Somewhat snooty looking, as if he was above everyone else, and he had an even snootier grin on his face.

"Sorry. The Seniors want me to finish this distribution before tomorrow" She replied, trying her best to ignore the peer pressure.

Her peer laughed snobily, "Ack, c'mon! You can finish that later! And besides, they know you're a hard worker, so take some time off and loosen up. No one's gonna punish you anyway"

"Huuhh…" Liette sighed as she finished off her last sentence, "Alright alright fine. You're lucky I was there to help you back to the barracks"

"Hahaha, funny. I didn't need your help, I was just letting you help me"

"Right Ricken." She replied sarcastically, putting her quill down. Following Ricken out of her door, "You let me help you"

It's been five months since Liette had decided to join the Military Police, as graduating third in her trainee squad, she decided that living a comfortable life away from the titans seemed like the best way to go. She wasn't too disappointed. Those three years of life threatening training paid off, but Liette couldn't help but feel a bit empty inside.

The bar was already occupied with other Military Police officers. Some were already drunk, others were passed out, and it was only dusk.

"Hey guys! I'm here!" Ricken hollered out spreading his arms as everyone cheered at his arrival.

"About time!" Many of them said as they raised their glasses of alcohol.

And so the drinking began.

No one could tell the time, especially if everyone was hollering out and yelling over a game of cards. Liette didn't mind, even though her mind was all foggy and her senses were dulled, her playing card instincts were sharp as a tack. She wasn't as good as some of the others, but she was glad not to be in last place.

By the time she took a step out to get some air, the moon was already shining bright in the sky. "A – hic – ready?" she hiccupped before slowly trudging to the alley nearby for a smoke. Her head hurt quite a lot, and she felt nauseous. "I think I might've – hic -, drunk too much"

Enjoying a few moments of silence to herself, "Hey! Theeeerree you arree!" the slurred voice of Ricken sounded, echoing through the alley.

"What'r you doin' out here? Ya should be in dere or else yur gonna miss all de fun!" He drunkenly said, hiccupping and stumbling on his feet to lean against the wall next to Liette.

"What does – hic- it look like?" Liette questioned.

"It looks like…. You're smoking!" The drunk officer said pointing with a wobbly finger.

"Then I am" She replied, blowing smoke straight at his face.

"You know Liette…." Ricken began to say as he pushed himself off the wall, standing next to her, "There's somethin' I've been wantin' to tell you fer a longgg time"

"And that iiiiissss…?"

"Well, you know, I kind of like you and…"

"Anndd..?"

Liette asked with curiosity, slightly embarrassed as she watched him, not really expecting much. Instead of getting a reply in words, Ricken pushed forward, digging his lips forcefully onto Liette's. Before she knew that he was kissing her, she felt his hands all over her body. One was squeezing her breast, and the other was slowly slithering its way down her stomach.

Managing to realize what was going on, she punched Ricken in the face yelling, "What the hell are you doing?!" She was panting, gasping for breath at this somewhat confusing moment.

"I-I'm s-sorry! I wasn't, th-thinking!"

It was quiet except for Liette's heavy breathing. Then it clicked, Liette realized something as she turned and ran out the alley. She couldn't hear anything except her own footsteps and the desperate voice of Ricken fading from her ears. Bursting to a full sprint, she only stopped when she tripped over, rolling, lying on her back on the ground. Her shirt was partially unbuttoned, but she didn't care. Placing her hand over chest, that emptiness that she was feeling in her heart, she knew what the cause of it was.

"Clara….Erick…."

At that moment, she realized what the true face of the Military Police was. She realized that she had made a mistake, she realized where she truly wanted to be.

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter guys! And the story unfolds! I think it might be quite a shock to see that Nelson is still alive isn't it? Also, I want to keep you guys in suspense because I know all of you guys want to know what Roger was going to do. :P

Oh well, I enjoy reunions very much so, especially one's as heartfelt as this will. Anyway, I'm kind of diving into a different story, kind of explaining the politics and corruption behind Shingeki no Kyojin, rather than fighting the titans because I think that it's an important aspect of the world that has yet to be shown in great detail (so far in the anime). So this begins the Nine Crime Lords arc of my story, (Which I came up with on the fly) and I truly hope that this becomes quite interesting as a read for all of you guys.

Otherwise, hope you enjoyed it, stay tuned for another update and don't forget to drop a review.