If he'd just flopped down and surrendered earlier, he'd be sipping tea inside Wall Maria by now—living the good life, right?
"Sigh!" He smacked his thigh in frustration.
"No way—I've got to track them down and make them haul me off!"
Two seconds after slapping his leg, Rein dragged his worn-out body up and bolted toward where the Survey Corps had vanished.
"Come grab me! Please, just come grab me already~"
The Survey Corps would probably never guess, even till their dying breath, that someone could have such a bizarre request.
Too bad for them—they were teetering on death's edge right now, every thought bent on survival.
Just like Rein not long ago.
They'd strayed too far from the wall. If they couldn't shake the horde of Titans and find their horses, they'd be stuck out here waiting to die.
Five minutes back, the squad leader had barked out an escape plan.
Split into three teams to break out, scatter the clustered Titans, then each team sacrifices one or two as bait—flesh to draw the Titans off—so the main group could slip away.
They called it "rear guard." Also known as "suicide squad."
Lucky for them, only half of the dozen Titans were over 10 meters. As long as they didn't dip too low swapping gas on their maneuver gear, the risk dropped by half.
That wasn't the real headache, though. The real pain was that Abnormal.
Fast as hell—leagues above your average Titan.
Maneuver gear alone couldn't outrun it.
So the job of luring it fell to the squad leader.
Right now, he perched on a tree nearly 30 meters tall, five Titans staring up at him from below like hungry dogs.
This was the tallest tree around for miles. Leave it, and he'd be a dead man walking.
"Dedicate your heart!" he roared inside. The Survey Corps danced on death's doorstep daily—no fear of the end.
He was waiting—buying his team time to escape.
But as he waited, a massive figure lumbered into view.
???
Wasn't that the freaky Titan that bolted earlier?
It was Rein—he'd tracked them down and spotted the squad leader.
"Take me back!" Seeing Survey Corps colors, Rein lit up, throwing his hands up in surrender. His garbled roars sent the squad leader's face white with shock.
Noticing the guy didn't react, Rein glanced around and clocked it: the leader was stranded, cut off.
"Big bro, don't panic—I'll save you!" He waved at the squad leader, trying to signal with wild gestures.
The squad leader blinked, muttering, "Is… is he talking to me?"
A mindless Titan chatting up a human?
What the hell?
Rein didn't care about the guy's jaw-dropping stare. He stomped over to the Titan pack.
"Well, damn, brother! Didn't expect to see you here!" He recognized the Abnormal that always hung near his straw nest—pacing under the tree like a dog sniffing prey.
"Let the kid go—give me some face, huh?"
"His meat's no good. How about I fix your bones tomorrow instead?"
He tried "Titan speak" to reason with the Abnormal, but it didn't do squat.
Rein pushed out what he thought was a friendly grin.
But against the lure of human meat, his words were as good as hot air.
Seeing his "buddies" wouldn't budge, irritation started bubbling up.
His eyes flicked around, and a scheme clicked.
Rein lunged, snagging the long-haired Titan's arm with a yank, pulling her in close.
She was scrawny—under 10 meters, weaker than Rein. One tug, and she stumbled right into his chest.
Up in the tree, the squad leader's inner monologue: Today's an eye-opener! A Titan playing thug with another Titan!
Of course, pure-hearted Rein wasn't thinking anything shady. After hauling the long-haired Titan in, he took a big step right, grabbed the Abnormal's forelimb with a hard pull.
Caught off guard, the Abnormal lost balance and crashed into Rein's grip too.
Squad leader's inner monologue: Holy hell, this is wild.
But he'd misjudged—Rein wasn't messing around; he was saving this Survey Corps guy.
Left hand on the long-haired Titan, right on the Abnormal, Rein dragged them off. Under the squad leader's stunned gaze, they vanished from sight.
"He… he's saving me?"
The world's a weird place—full of surprises.
Big forest, every kind of bird.
It took the squad leader a solid thirty seconds to snap out of it.
Now, only three Titans lingered below—two over 10 meters, one shorter.
Without that Abnormal, his odds of escaping just shot up.
He glanced back where Rein had disappeared, feelings tangled. Should he say thanks or not?
With a sigh, he fired up his maneuver gear, gas hissing out, and kicked off his escape.
The green Wings of Freedom soared away, but Rein came trudging back.
Too late—place was empty, not a soul left.
"Ungrateful jerk!" Rein slapped his thigh again. "I pull you out of the fire, and you ditch me?"
Muttering about the decline of human decency, he chased after the tracks the Titans left behind.
Tracking people is exhausting—especially in a dense forest, like fishing for a needle in the sea.
Good thing Titans are heavy—where they stomp, they leave clues.
Still, Rein chased forever and didn't spot a single human.
People gotta adapt, though.
"Why not just wait at the gate?" he thought. "They've got to head back eventually."
Idea settled, he relaxed and started strolling south toward Shiganshina District.
He'd only ambled a bit when an orange streak shot up behind him.
Signal flare!
Orange meant casualties—retreat. Some squad back there was in deep trouble.
They'd been running all this time and were still behind him?
Figuring it wasn't far, Rein slowed down, planning to wait for the Survey Corps.
Then a figure darted past nearby.
Long hair flowing—it was the long-haired Titan he'd dragged off earlier.
She was booking it, like she was rushing home to grab laundry. Was someone up ahead?
"Save one if I can," he thought, heading her way.
Before he got there, a scream cut through.
"Ahh!!!"
Loud, but young-sounding.
"Spare a life!" Rein bellowed, picking up speed. He arrived just in time to see the long-haired Titan clutching someone in her grip.