"The Wall Maria has been breached!"
The Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan have appeared!
"The Wall Maria has been breached!"
The messenger rode through the streets toward the lord's mansion, and everyone along the way heard the message.
Today was the day to buy supplies, so Gale was at the entrance of the market, listening to the messenger's shouts. At last, the day had arrived—the day the wall was breached by the titans.
As a slave within the walls, Gale had no way to stop Reiner and Beckham from doing whatever they wanted; he did not even have the ability to protect himself, as he was hiding from his family.
According to the plan, when the wall collapses, Eren's father will arrive at Reiss territory, enter the underground cave of the church, transform into the Attack Titan, kill the Reiss family, and seize the power of the Founding Titan.
Then it will be the night of the massacre at the farm. The Military Police, led by Kenny, will arrive at Reiss territory from the capital and kill most of those who know the secret in order to protect the "royal family."
After four months of hiding, Gale was ready.
A month ago, he bought horses on the black market and hid them in a cave on the outskirts. There, he stored the supplies he needed to escape, as well as the salary he had saved over the past few months and some money he had embezzled from his position, a total of about sixty gold coins.
He had already planned his escape route: from Reiss territory to the outer edge of the wall, and then westward to an inner gate of Wall Maria near Rose.
Refugees would pour in en masse through that inner gate, and it would become incredibly chaotic to maintain order.
He could then take advantage of this opportunity to blend in among the refugees and obtain an entirely new identity.
At that moment, he was no longer Ian of the Reiss Farm, but Gale the orphan who came from Wall Maria.
Because of his status as a child, the government would not send him to the front lines. All that remained was to seize the opportunity, find a way to use the little money and resources he had to make a name for himself, and try to rise through the ranks of the army.
But all of this was conditional on successfully escaping.
Escaping was the most important thing; if he could not leave the farm alive, everything else was nothing but empty words.
"Let's go back and give the news to Bob." Gale watched the messenger depart, then turned the reins and drove the carriage toward the farm.
Before noon, they returned to the farm, and Ian went to the steward's room to give a report.
"Calm down." Bob appeared calm and said, "Go back to work. The titans are not a threat to us."
Bob seemed confident. Gale thought that he must know of the existence of the Founding Titan.
He knew that as long as the people within the walls possessed the Founding Titan, the titans could never threaten them. However, he must not have received news of the Reiss family being massacred, with only Lord Reiss remaining.
The news of the breach of Wall Maria had reached Reiss territory, which indicated that at least one or two days had passed since then, and the Founding Titan was probably taken by Eren's father one or two days ago.
After leaving the steward's room, Gale quietly rode his horse into the city to ask around the black market about any fires that might have occurred nearby.
Sure enough, there were some rumors that the small church in the south had caught fire the previous night for unknown reasons, but for some reason the higher-ups were paying special attention to it, and a large number of soldiers had surrounded the area.
The incident had occurred. The fact that the steward, a member of the Reiss family, did not know about it could only mean one thing: he had been abandoned and was listed among the victims of the Military Police.
A dead person has no need to know secrets.
At that moment, Gale's heart was pounding violently. The message would take about a day to travel from Reiss territory to the capital, including the journey.
Kenny and his group should arrive here tomorrow night, or the day after tomorrow.
Ian knew it was time to call his substitute.
He arrived at the most dilapidated neighborhood in town and knocked on a rickety wooden door.
The boy who opened the door was about the same height as him. He looked very emaciated. He paused for a moment upon seeing him, then bowed his head respectfully. "Gale, is it time for me to be needed?"
"Yes, Kael, it will be tonight."
"I understand." Kael replied with a smile and said, "It seems I'll have time to say goodbye to my brothers."
"Wait a moment." Before Kael turned around, Gale called out to him and took a woolen pouch from his pocket. "There are ten gold coins here. Have your brother go to the market tomorrow and look for Mr. Leith, who works as a carpenter, and have your sister go see Mrs. Gloria, the seamstress, on Old Street."
"I've already made arrangements for them to work there. It's certain that their life in the slums will end tomorrow and they'll have the chance to live better lives."
"Thank you." Kael accepted the money and bowed. "We are sincerely grateful for all your help. If it weren't for you, our family probably would have starved to death last winter."
"You're welcome. It's a deal we made, isn't it?" Gale did not smile. In fact, he felt quite bad about what he would do later. That was why he tried to be fair to the boy in front of him.
"You deserve it."
The boy suddenly coughed uncontrollably several times, spitting blood. He looked up and smiled, saying, "If my humble life can contribute something to my brothers and their future, then my life was not in vain, as I always thought."
"Make the most of the time you spend with your family. Go buy some good food tonight. I'll pick you up at midnight." Gale hugged him, put on his cloak, and left.
The boy watched his figure as he walked away, then bowed three times.
The boy's name was Kael. He was the boy Gale had met last winter and was one year younger than him. He had contracted tuberculosis, an incurable disease in the present day that would kill him within a few years.
Therefore, Gale chose him as his substitute, giving Kael two gold coins each month to support his younger siblings.
He used his connections with the soldiers to ensure that his siblings would not suffer harassment during this time and that Kael would not have to use his frail body to work outdoors.
That same afternoon, Kael took the money Gale had given him and went to the market to buy vegetables, meat, and a chicken. His younger siblings chattered and gathered around him.
"Brother! Why is there so much luxury today?"
"Brother! Brother! This chicken leg is delicious!"
Kael patted his younger siblings on the head and smiled gently. "Your brother found a good job. Tomorrow he's going to another city. The person I'll be working for is the mysterious man who has helped us all these months. That's why, when you go to those places written in his notes, be obedient so you don't disappoint the mysterious man, alright?"
He left them a picture book showing how much he loved his siblings, divided the money he had saved so far—a total of fifteen gold coins including what Gale had given him—and stored them in equal portions.
Although the house was in ruins, he loved the smiles of his younger siblings.
By the warm glow of the fire, the children slept around him.
He sat alone until late into the night, until there was a knock at the door. He kissed his younger siblings on the forehead, extinguished the candle flame, put on his hood, and left without looking back.
"Did you say goodbye to them?" Gale asked casually.
"They'll understand when they're adults. Thanks to your preparations, they'll be able to grow up without problems. Although I won't live to see that day, I believe they'll all be happy."
"Is that so…?" Gale fell silent for a moment and then said, "They definitely will be, they will definitely be happy."