[…Porco's been acting a little off. He told his parents he was going to do something big, and that even if he died and slept forever in the underground city inside the Walls, he would never come back. Because of that, he had a huge fight with them, but in the end he still ran away without telling anyone. Reiner said he'd gone to take revenge on Roger-kun, which is why he kept muttering about some underground city inside the Walls. I really hope he won't actually go…
…
…
He can't beat Roger-kun. (doodle: super awkward face)]
After reading this passage and checking the date she'd written, Roger realized it was from a few years ago, around the time Pieck was about to deploy to Paradis Island.
Roger didn't know what kind of shock Porco had gone through back then, but thinking about it now, it probably couldn't be separated from Mr. Torin.
Mr. Torin was in the Forest of Giant Trees.
The Forest of Giant Trees was outside the Walls.
And this Rod Village was inside the Walls.
So if he wanted to go outside the Walls, there was a good chance he would run into Dior's group.
Once they found him, it would very likely trigger a direct clash.
Right now, Roger knew almost nothing about them and was completely on the defensive.
If he could find Mr. Torin, he might be able to learn the truth about them.
But that wasn't possible right now.
It was already getting late.
"Vanilla's afraid of light. That's probably their weakness," Roger analyzed. "So it's best to move during the day."
Thinking that, Roger looked at the green cloak beside him.
A cloak mass-produced by the Armory—standard issue for soldiers inside the Walls.
If he covered his face with this cloak, he might be able to slip through and reach the Forest of Giant Trees.
[If I were Dior, I'd definitely set an ambush in the Forest of Giant Trees,]
[and wait for you to walk right into it.]
[I might even kill Torin.]
"Kill Mr. Torin?"
[Yeah.]
[As strong as Torin is, he's absolutely no match for Dior.]
"Absolutely no match?"
[Absolutely not.]
[I know him better than anyone.]
[His swordsmanship may be peerless—put him against the strongest swordsman in the world, and they wouldn't last a single round.]
[His understanding of the sword, his speed, his power—he's the best in the world.]
[But even so, Dior's power completely outstrips his.]
[Don't forget, Dior can stop time.]
"True enough."
Roger nodded.
In front of someone who could halt time itself, what did it matter if your blade was the fastest in the world?
You'd still be brutally slaughtered before your sword ever left the scabbard.
"But… if even Mr. Torin could be killed, then Porco telling me the location of the Forest of Giant Trees would basically be the same as telling Dior where I'm going, wouldn't it?"
[…]
[When you put it like that… it does sound that way.]
[In that case, Mr. Torin is probably already…]
"No. If it's Mr. Torin, I doubt he'd let himself be caught out that easily," Roger reasoned. "Porco might look like he has no brains, but he fooled me, and he managed to fool Dior for years."
[So you're saying…]
Roger sank into deep thought.
All of a sudden, something occurred to him, and he hurriedly flipped back to Pieck's diary.
[…Porco's been acting a little off. He told his parents he was going to do something big, and that even if he died and slept forever in the underground city inside the Walls, he would never come back.]
"A big thing… the underground city?"
Why did it have to be the underground city, specifically?
Because of the natural barrier formed by the Titans, Marley knew almost nothing about the geography inside the Walls. How could they know there even was an underground city?
Even if there were some extremely rare historical records that mentioned it, there's no way Porco would latch onto that particular detail in his excuse, right?
Besides—
Porco's academic grades were practically zero.
He copied Marcel's homework every time.
There's no way he would know about such an obscure place inside the Walls.
Unless… it was a hint.
All of a sudden, Roger felt a strange certainty rising in him.
He felt that Mr. Torin was very likely not in the Forest of Giant Trees.
There was a strong chance he was in the underground city inside the Walls.
The Forest of Giant Trees was probably just a lie meant to mislead Dior.
The real Mr. Torin was very likely in the underground city.
"Rod Village… Lord Rod's territory…"
Roger suddenly understood.
The Reiss family was the oldest bloodline, and their domain was the capital, Mitras.
And beneath Mitras lay the underground city.
"It wasn't an accidental landing—it was a precise drop!!"
In a flash, Roger saw it.
Porco had already contacted Mr. Torin long ago, and after changing his outlook, had become a spy at Dior's side.
Then, by constantly reinforcing the impression in his comrades' minds, he'd brought the place name "underground city" into circulation inside the Walls.
They'd known all along that Roger would devour all of his classmates and steal their memories.
That's why they'd set up this plan.
All of this was Mr. Torin's design—or rather, the design of his father, Benson Tybur.
"So I was originally a member of the Tybur family, and my mother was royal blood from inside the Walls who escaped to the outside."
[Because she became an orphan at a young age and survived on charity meals from many families, Jean grew up feeling deep affection for the poor and hard-working people inside the Walls, and wanted to repay them.]
[That mindset led her to join the Survey Corps.]
[But because the Corps was too weak, they were scattered by the Titans.]
[Back then, Benson, whether he was following a guiding hand or carrying out his own field survey of the Walls to make maps…]
[In short, he met Jean and saved her.]
[The two fell in love and had you, Roger.]
"So that's how it was…" Roger's gaze grew distant, as if he were seeing the moment his parents first met.
[That's right, Roger.]
[Jean knew she was of royal blood, so at the time she called herself "Ackermann." Benson believed her.]
[But the Tybur elders fiercely opposed their love.]
[As General Tybur, Benson used all his strength to protect Jean.]
[But because of that, he was stripped of his rank as general.]
[Jean was forced to commit suicide.]
[And Benson's personality changed completely. He secretly sent his child away.]
[You were cared for by trusted officers scattered across Marley, including Torin.]
[Benson gave them all the surname "Eikam," a homophone of "Ackerman," to give you a "clan background."]
[You could say that everyone inside the Walls with the surname Eikam is actually one of your father's subordinates, protecting you from the shadows.]
"Heh… protecting me, huh… Dumping me off on Grandma and then never showing their faces again," Roger laughed softly.
[You have to understand—Benson had his own difficulties.]
[He was trying to take care of you in his own way.]
"Let's just pretend that's how it is." Roger sighed and looked out the window.
The mystery of his identity that had haunted him for so long was finally solved.
But…
So what?
"Let's go. Time to find Mr. Torin."
Roger closed Pieck's diary as he spoke.
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