"Military Personnel Got Kidnapped In Broad Daylight!"
This statement, or the news of Historia and Ymir getting abducted in the open and light, spread in all of the Trost district like a wildfire.
For a moment silence filled everywhere; the citizens of the wall, noticing the strict changes in the military, had remained silent.
When the military suddenly started piling up the cannons over the top of the wall, they silently watched, although the shadow of 'something is wrong' appeared in their hearts.
They didn't dwell upon it, or rather, they didn't register it. Ignoring it, they continued to go on with their lives, following their usual routine, trying to maintain the facade of everything being normal.
But the deafening sound of this sudden incident reverberated throughout the Trost district, like a pebble thrown into the calm lake; it shattered the fragile facade.
The fear of the civilians, their angst, and their insecurities suddenly burst out.
The questions about the uncertainty of their safety got fired at the government.
Although no physical riot spread out due to the iron rule of the government, the chaos already trembles in the heart and mind of every citizen.
The spring, which has just bloomed, suddenly seems to be withered by the gloom and the tension in the air.
Inside a modest house, a ten-year-old boy gazes out of the window at the small soaring figure of a white bird in the clear blue sky; sparkles of amazement flash in his eyes.
Forbidden by his mother to go out of the house, the boy felt the suffocation. Now looking at the shining wings of the bird as it flies over the tall and mighty walls, the boy thinks aloud, "Only if I had the wings," an intense yearning radiating out with his every word, "then I could have also fled, leaping over these giant walls; I could have been free."
Being confined in the house—the isolation and suffocation—ignites the thought of liberation inside his mind.
Similarly to him, every human being yearns for freedom; it is just that the objective of their freedom may differ.
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The moment it was confirmed that Christa Lenz and Ymir, military training cadets, got abducted, the military immediately reacted, dispatching their personnel.
They searched every corner of the Trost district and inquired from every possible person, but in the end, after three days, they still didn't find any clue of where the abductor had taken them.
The situation gets more tense as the time passes.
The 104th military training cadets, who had been sent to the Trost district for the training, became relentless.
Suddenly finding two of their fellows abducted and missing for three days, they all become worried.
After having spent three years together through the training, they have formed a bond of camaraderie.
Even then, while most of them feel worried for their members, there are still some exceptions who don't care what happens to them, or a rare few who find this situation a great opportunity.
In an obscure place, the figures of Reiner, Bertoldt, and Annie, the trio of Marleyan warriors, meet in secret.
"What do you think of the current situation?" Annie asks the question.
"It is completely tense." A reply sounded from Bertoldt.
"Yeah, the changes are completely unexpected." Reiner speaks with a hint of gravity in his voice, "We don't know why the military suddenly became so active?"
"And this sudden abduction of Christia and Ymir suggests something is going on behind the scenes, which we are not aware of."
"Yeah, many uncertainties are happening altogether." Annie spoke out her thoughts: "But this is also a perfect opportunity for us to act."
"You are right." Bertolt gives a nod. "There is still no clue of where the Founding Titan is, but this time we have to lure it out; otherwise, we may be late."
"This tense atmosphere is the perfect opportunity to create more chaos; if we breach the Trost district, then the Founding Titan must be forced to show itself."
Hearing this, both Reiner and Annie nod in agreement.
"Then it is decided, we will breach the Trost district, and even after that, if the founding titans don't show up, then we will breach the Wall Rose too."
Just like that, the fate of the thousands of people of the Trost district got decided in a span of minutes.
The situation continues to move in uncertainty.
Similarly to this meeting, at a different place, another big decision was taking place to fan more flames to the chaos.
Somewhere inside the walls.
In a safe house.
Smash
The sound of something being broken sounded.
Standing on the wooden floor, a middle-aged man, with many wrinkles on his face, looks at the broken pieces of vase in front of him.
Gritting his teeth in anger, while helplessness flashes across the middle-aged man, he speaks, "Everything is falling apart."
"First the Founding Titan got stolen, then the wall got breached, and now Historia—the last royal family member other than me who can inherit the Founding's power—is now abducted."
"Seriously, what is going on?" The middle-aged man, Rod Reiss, the real king of Paradis Island, shouts and screams in frustration.
After a while, gathering his bearings, Rod Reiss calms down and looks back at the person standing there, leaning over the wall.
"Kenny, I want you to find the bastard who dares to kidnap my daughter, bring his head, and save Historia; she is the only hope of the wall."
"Hai, Hai, I will surely snuff out the guy who dared to kidnap the princess." Kenny Ackerman replies while sighing, "I just don't know when I am going to get rest, you know.
This old man is getting older; my shoulders may not be able to handle all of these actions."
Kenny swings his shoulder around, feeling the stiff pain in it.
"Kenny, I know you are the only person whom I can trust to find Historia." Rod Reiss looks seriously at Kenny.
"Don't worry, I will find her."
Kenny replies and then says in a tired voice. "It is just that I have a feeling that something big will be happening."