Everyone waited. Some reluctantly stayed outside. Others, less concerned about what they might discover in Eren's house, remained outside out of fear of being attacked by the enemy.
"No… This key… isn't for this door…" Eren said with a blank expression.
"Let me handle it." Levi stepped forward, handed the oil lamp to Eren, and extended his right leg in a powerful kick.
Crack!
He kicked the wooden door open, and a stale, dusty smell poured out.
The group covered their noses and rushed into the basement.
"Dried herbs, prescriptions, patient records…" Hange picked up the medicine from the cabinet and the notes from the table to examine them. "It looks exactly like a doctor's office."
"It must have been arranged like this on purpose," said Erwin, who seemed to understand more than what was visible at first glance. "Let's keep searching; there must be a place where we can use Eren's key."
Gale stood at the doorway, watching the bustling group.
Ymir and Hannes were behind him, holding oil lamps. Soon, they noticed something strange on the workbench: a lock on one of the drawers.
Eren took out a key, inserted it into the lock, and heard a metallic click. He turned the key and opened the drawer.
Inside the drawer was a hidden compartment, from which Hange took out three notebooks.
"The scent comes from peppermint oil and charcoal, and it has been treated to repel insects and moisture," Hange sniffed, identifying each smell.
"It seems this is exactly what we were looking for."
The oil lamp was placed on the table, and everyone stood silently around it.
Erwin took a deep breath and opened the notebook to the first page.
The first thing that caught his attention was a black-and-white photograph, which Gale immediately recognized.
The photo showed a man, a woman, and a child. Both the man and the woman were properly dressed. The woman was seated in a chair, holding her child in her arms.
"Is this… a painting?" Erwin frowned. If it was a painting, it was too realistic.
"No… no… This is a material I've never seen before." Hange took the photograph and examined it under the firelight. "It must have been taken using some method, capturing the moment the eye can see."
"There are words on the back!" Hange flipped the photo over and read aloud.
"This is not a painting, this is… This is a reflection of light from the subject imprinted onto special paper, and it is called a photograph. I come from outside the walls, where humans live with dignity."
"What do you mean?" Levi frowned and asked, "Isn't the area outside the walls supposed to be full of Titans?"
"Let's first look at the contents of the notes." Erwin showed no surprise.
He had anticipated this, and when he heard the words: "I come from beyond the walls, where humans live with dignity," he even felt a sense of excitement.
As expected, both he and his father had been right.
There was absolutely no evidence proving that the humans living outside the walls had gone extinct.
The royal family's history books were pure fabrication!
"I'll read it." Erwin took the first notebook and read aloud. "Humanity has not perished… and I hope that whoever receives this book is one of my comrades."
"My name is Grisha Yeager. I was born in Marley, across the sea, a land where science and technology far surpass those within the walls."
The basement remained in absolute silence as Erwin Smith read aloud the three notebooks Grisha had left behind. No one interrupted. No one moved. Every word seemed heavier than the last.
In his writings, Grisha recounted his life in detail, from his childhood to the most recent events. He spoke of his origin as an Eldian in Marley, a nation where his people lived oppressed and branded as a cursed race.
To the rest of the world, Eldians were not human… they were demons.
"My father taught me that the history of our people began nearly two thousand years ago, when Ymir Fritz obtained the power of the Titans. According to the version passed down, she made a pact with the 'Devil of the Earth,' and after her death, her power was divided into the Nine Titans, giving rise to the Eldian Empire."
Erwin paused briefly before continuing, as if even he needed to process what he was reading.
"The Eldian Empire used that power to subjugate other nations, including Marley, establishing itself as the dominant force for centuries."
The pages turned, and with them came a version of history that contradicted everything they believed.
"During that time, the Eldians expanded their dominion, seizing lands and subjugating other peoples. According to Marley, this period was an era of darkness in which the power of the Titans was used to oppress the world for more than one thousand seven hundred years."
The atmosphere grew even more tense.
"However, approximately eighty years ago, Marley managed to reverse the situation during the Great Titan War. They gained control of seven of the Nine Titans, weakening the Eldian Empire."
"The king of the Eldians, bearer of the Founding Titan, fled to Paradis Island, where he raised three walls and isolated his people from the rest of the world."
Erwin continued reading, his voice firm, though heavier. "The Eldians who remained in Marley were abandoned. Since then, we have lived under their rule, confined to internment zones and forced to wear armbands that identify us as descendants of Ymir."
"We were taught that we had to atone for the sins of our ancestors. That our very existence was a mistake that had to be redeemed through obedience."
There was a slight tremor in Erwin's voice as he moved on.
"That is how I was raised… believing in that inherited guilt."
At that moment, there was a longer pause. Erwin, who was reading, could not believe that he held the origin of his history in his hands.
"But everything changed the day I took my sister, Faye Yeager, to see an airship."
"For leaving the internment zone without permission, we were captured by Marleyan officers. As punishment… they set dogs on her."
"My sister, only eight years old… was killed."
The final words fell like an unbearable weight.
"Her body was thrown into the river."
The silence that followed was even deeper than before.
…
What Grisha Yeager described was a devastating revelation for Erwin and the others.
Was that the true reason the walls had been built? Then why were there so many Titans outside them? And how was the power of the Titans passed on…?
Almost all the questions could be answered within these three notebooks.
Eren was so shocked after hearing half of it that he sat down on the ground.
According to the book, the way to inherit the power of the Titans is to become a mindless Pure Titan and then devour the human form of an intelligent Titan.
His father, Grisha Yeager, had inherited the Attack Titan, which meant that his Titan power came from his father.
He had transformed into a Titan and devoured his father. Those fragmented images suddenly surfaced in his mind at that moment, and he remembered that after the wall was destroyed, it was his father who injected him!
His father found him while he, Mikasa, and Armin were fleeing and passed the Titan power on to him.
The strength of a Titan was not his "talent."
"While I was hoping for new discoveries… this information is too explosive…" Hange swallowed with difficulty. "Marley, the Nine Titans, the King of the Walls who refuses to fight… is the world outside the walls really that fascinating?"
"Gale, you don't seem very surprised?" Erwin closed the final notebook and turned his gaze toward Gale, who remained silent.
"Well… I've already heard some of these things." Gale smiled as he looked at the books on the table.
"You've heard about this? What do you mean?" Hange turned her head. "You already knew these things? How did you find out?"
It was one thing to have shared part of his knowledge because he had read important things in the Reiss family library, but it was entirely different to know specific details about a world they didn't know.
"Because among us, one of us is from Marley." Gale said, extending his hand toward Ymir as he explained: "Ymir, it's time."
"Is this part of the deal we made?" Ymir asked, crossing her arms.
"No, but things change." Gale said with a smile and added, "Why don't you explain it to them first? Tonight I want to take everyone to the beach. I might need to trouble you later."
"You want me to be your means of transportation…" Ymir sighed, slightly irritated, but gave in. "Alright, since you're my superior."
Erwin and the others did not understand the conversation between Ymir and Gale, but in a few hours, they would witness a scene they would never forget.
"Everything makes sense now. What we don't know is how many of the Titans under Marley's control came to Paradis in search of the Founding Titan." Erwin analyzed everything and thought that there were probably no more than four Titans.
If the enemy had seven of the nine Titan shifters under their control, it would be normal for them to send four to these lands. Two of them had already been neutralized, leaving only the Armored Titan and the Colossal Titan missing.
But for now, they did not need to worry. They had two Titans in their possession and weapons for defense. If the Titans who destroyed the walls appeared again, they could face them—and even emerge victorious.