The next day, Earl Charles was arrested on charges of "embezzlement."
Those involved with him were imprisoned and transferred to the nearest special district, the district within Wall Rose that was the most militarized—the Trost District.
The armed forces of the noble class were completely ineffective against the Titans that swept through the lands of the nobles.
Yes, a small group of people within Wall Rose witnessed it firsthand.
The Titans acted under the orders of government soldiers.
Those Titans helped the soldiers fight against the private armies of the nobles.
They served as human shields, charging in front of the government soldiers, and the small-caliber bullets of the AK-47 could not harm the Titans.
The manufacturing methods and transportation channels of this new type of weapon, the Gatling machine gun, were strictly controlled by the government.
Little by little, all armed forces opposing the government were annihilated by the Titans.
The Titans did not brutally devour people; during battle, they upheld "humanitarianism," and once a soldier dropped his weapon and surrendered, they stopped attacking him.
Everyone saw that the Titans, who once devoured people, now remained docile in their places. Suddenly, the Titans who were once enemies had become allies.
At the end of June, the government announced the abolition of aristocracy and slavery. From then on, on Paradis Island, there would no longer be any distinction between nobles, commoners, and slaves.
With the exception of the princess, who was retained as a symbol, everyone was a citizen and enjoyed the same rights as any other person.
The government stopped taxing grain production as it had under the nobility; instead, it required the people to carry out military and industrial labor.
Unemployed individuals or those willing to join the army could enter the new governmental system. In addition to lodging and food, they would receive a monthly salary.
After purging the nobility, the government announced to the people across the entire nation:
"We have learned to control the Titans. From now on, the Titans will no longer be enemies of humanity, but will exist within the walls as our cooperative partners."
As part of public exhibitions, Titans were led by soldiers to different towns.
The naked Titan, dressed in rough clothing that covered its waist and thighs, with numbers and names sewn onto the fabric, was ordered by soldiers to work in the fields.
At first, people felt terror toward the Titans, but as they replaced oxen and horses, helping people harvest and transport grain for free, people gradually began to speak of the benefits they brought.
In the end, the number of people who had actually seen Titans remained a minority.
Most of the refugees within Wall Maria had received prior notice to be relocated back to their territory.
In the beginning, in the villages that encountered Titans, almost no one survived. Those who witnessed the horrific scene of Titans devouring people and still managed to reach the walls, like Eren and his group, represented no more than one percent of the total refugees.
That is why they were able to use nearby territory to begin cultivating the land that had been left behind.
People were trapped within the walls, and their knowledge of Titans was based on rumors. In fact, many people had no idea what Titans really looked like.
Although they heard adults say every day that humans living outside the walls had been devoured by Titans and that they could not leave, it was like a fairy tale used to scare children for those who had lived inside the walls for a hundred years.
People are more willing to believe what they see with their own eyes.
What they saw were Titans carrying stones to build factories, Titans working in the fields to harvest crops, and Titans standing in deep rivers to build bridges.
During the Titan exhibition in the city, there was a segment that included the following:
Those who wished to approach the Titan could step forward and stand on the palm of the Titan's hand.
The Titan would lift them up, and they could stand at a height of more than ten meters, looking down at the crowd.
From initial fear, to daring to try it on stage, and then to long lines forming, with even women and children joining the spectacle—all of it happened in just half a month.
A month passed, and at the end of July, the government issued a message to the people:
"Wall Maria is now open to the public."
The government would gradually carry out the restoration of Wall Maria. The original towns would be abandoned, and the government would redesign the area for future development.