With a thunderous crash, Roger hit the ground.
Before landing, he'd hurriedly adjusted his posture.
He had thought that strange force dragging him along would gently lower him all the way to the ground.
He was overthinking it.
That force vanished halfway through, before he'd even reached the Forest of Giant Trees.
Suddenly, the tremendous strength pulling him just disappeared.
Roger didn't know how, but in his Titan form he managed to spread his wings and glide for a while before finally landing.
But he couldn't get rid of the inertia. Even using his wings to glide, he still slammed hard into the ground.
By shifting to a two-footed landing, Roger at least avoided taking a hit to the nape.
In the past, Titan Warriors often suffered heavy injuries when their napes were randomly struck—tripping, falling, that kind of "accident."
From this height, Roger absolutely couldn't afford to take damage.
So he chose to land on both feet.
And his Titan's feet were pulverized in the impact—smashed, mangled, ruined in an instant.
Fortunately, he was on the ground now, and there were hiding spots around, so Roger didn't care.
He exited from the nape, leaping down and standing on the earth.
There were no houses nearby—just fields.
At the far end of the fields there were a few homes, but they were a fair distance away.
Feeling the wind blowing in his face, Roger slowly started toward those houses.
He didn't know whether Dior and the others could monitor him in real time, but he had to find somewhere to hide himself.
After a long walk, he finally arrived at the front door of one of the homes.
Standing on the doorstep, he suddenly thought of something.
If Dior really could monitor him in real time, they would have already come here and tried to ambush him.
The fact that he'd made it safely to this house meant they still hadn't found him.
Knock, knock.
Roger rapped on the door.
A few seconds later, someone opened it.
Behind the door stood a little girl, and behind her, a middle-aged woman.
The woman looked at Roger, doubt in her eyes but no fear.
Maybe it was because he was about the same age as her son.
"You are…?"
She asked.
Roger thought for a moment and made something up.
"I'm…"
"The new tenant Lord Rod arranged to come live here, right? Hello, hello, please take care of us."
…?
Roger blinked.
Lord Rod?
Wasn't he dead?
Or… was this Rod's hometown, the village he'd been born in?
Then this would be Rod Reiss's territory?
"No, no, I just wandered in by accident. I didn't know this was Lord Rod's village—I'll leave right away."
"Oh? No need," the woman hurriedly stopped him. "Where could you even go now? It'll be dark soon. I know a place—no one lives there now. You can stay there for the night."
"But…"
"It's fine. The boy who lived there before was a cute young man about your age too."
"Yeah, yeah!" the little girl said with a giggle. "That tall big brother was just as handsome as you!"
"Ah, in that case, I really appreciate it…" Roger didn't want to keep refusing, so he agreed.
"Haha, no need to thank me. It's been a long time since our village had any guests."
Saying that, the woman went back into the house and took a ring of keys.
"Old man, I'm heading out for a bit!"
"Mm."
She shouted into the house, then led Roger away.
Counting the keys in her hand, she chatted with Roger as they walked; the old woman was very talkative, like she didn't have a care in the world.
She said her son served in the Central Military Police, and that the two of them had been sent to Lord Rod's village so they wouldn't get in his way.
The village was sealed off.
Surrounded by forest.
There were wolves in the woods.
But the village had a hunter guard squad made up of villagers, so the wolves didn't dare come near.
Every time their son visited, he came using that mechanical device.
Roger said it was called the three-dimensional maneuver gear.
The old woman was shocked.
"So that means you really did come from outside the Walls?"
"Of course," Roger nodded.
"Then can you tell me what's going on out there?"
"Outside the Walls…" Roger hesitated, wondering whether he should tell her the truth.
But the woman's face was full of worry as she said:
"No one has come to deliver food to the village in a long time. We can feed ourselves alright with the crops we grow, but we don't have enough other supplies. The villagers tried forming a team to go out, but it's mountain country—steep, winding paths and flocks of raptors. They never managed to get through. Since you came from outside, you must have some special way, right?"
"Yes," Roger nodded.
"What way?"
"I flew."
Roger pointed to the sky.
"Uh? Hehe…"
The woman thought he was telling a bad joke, so she didn't ask further.
He probably came with a group and hit his head along the way, she thought to herself.
"We're here. This will be your house."
She said, picking out a key from the ring and unlocking the door.
Creak.
The door opened.
Roger looked inside.
It was neat and tidy.
Clearly, the previous owner had been someone who liked to keep things clean.
He stepped in and glanced around.
"Two girls and a boy used to live here," the woman said. "The boy was really tall—about two meters, I think. Like a little Titan…"
"Two-meter class, huh…"
"Hm?"
"Ah, what was his name?"
"Bertholdt," the woman replied without thinking. "I remember very clearly. He always helped us with chores, so I knew him well. But a long time ago, he left with those two girls."
"I see."
"So, do you know him?"
"Me? I know him very well. We used to be classmates."
"That's quite a coincidence! Oh—no, I guess it's actually unlucky. If you'd come just a year earlier, you might've met him."
"Haha, yeah, I guess so."
Roger replied politely.
The woman was delighted, and kept praising Bertholdt.
But Roger felt like he'd just swallowed a lump of crap.
So this was where Bertholdt, Annie, and Pieck had lived.
How could it possibly be this coincidental?
Of all places, it had to be the home of three people who all ended up dying by my hand!
What was this, the murderer returning to the crime scene for a look?
Roger was speechless.
Still, this really was the best place to stay.
Sleeping outdoors was not a great option.
Roger had no desire to spend the night fighting mosquitoes and wild wolves.
"Thank you for everything. If there's anything I can help with, please just ask."
"Ahaha, you're too polite!"
The woman went home in high spirits.
Roger sat down on the bed.
The bedding was folded neatly. A vase sat on the headboard, the flowers in it long since removed.
Roger felt around under the pillow and, sure enough, found a diary.
"You still keep this habit, huh, Pieck."
Roger sighed and opened Pieck's diary.
One passage in particular caught his eye.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.