After waiting for more than an hour, the sky had already darkened and the rain had finally stopped. During that time I kept checking the ventilation in the room and occasionally added more wood to the fire. Only then did the Military Police finally arrive.
Hearing the commotion outside, I placed my coat over Mikasa's shoulders and walked to the door.
"They're certainly late," I said calmly as I opened it. "Time for us to go outside."
"Yeah," Eren replied, nodding with clear disdain. "That's why I said the Military Police wouldn't make it in time."
I shrugged. "I never counted on them anyway."
Eren's opinion of me seemed to improve after hearing that. Just as he was about to say more, the Military Police stormed into the house.
Bang!
The door was slammed open.
"Don't move, you..." the leading officer shouted as he rushed inside with his gun raised. Then he froze when he saw the three of us standing there unharmed. "Uh... where are the human traffickers?"
He stared at us in confusion for several seconds before lowering his weapon and scratching his head awkwardly.
I pointed down the corridor toward the last room.
"They're all in there. It's already been dealt with."
"Huh?" The officer gasped in disbelief.
He quickly waved two of his subordinates forward to check the room. Then he turned toward the doorway and shouted outside.
"Doctor Jaeger, they're here!"
A middle aged man with glasses, shoulder length hair, and a long coat hurried inside. It was Grisha Jaeger.
He adjusted his glasses while looking at us in astonishment.
"You actually succeeded."
"I always keep my promises," I replied with a small shrug. To me, it was not something worth celebrating.
In truth, this was the first time I had killed another human being. Before today, the only creatures I had ever killed were Abominations. Never humans.
"Eren helped a lot," I added, glancing toward him.
Grisha's expression turned complicated. After several seconds of silence, he slowly nodded.
"Alright. Let's talk outside. Eren, I need to speak with you."
Some time later, Mikasa and I stood outside quietly. Not far away, Grisha was scolding Eren.
"I'm not scolding you for wanting to save Mikasa," Grisha said in a low but firm voice. "I'm scolding you because you don't value your own life. A person only gets one life..."
Even though he tried to keep his voice down, I could hear every word clearly. Mikasa probably heard it as well.
I lowered my gaze and looked at my hands.
I carried a quarter of human blood in my veins. Today was the first time I had attacked people who could technically be considered my own kind. Even if those men were worse than beasts, this was still the first time I had taken a life without the instinct of hunting driving me.
The feeling was strange.
"Jax."
Mikasa gently tugged on my sleeve. Her face was filled with confusion and helplessness.
"Where do we go now?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked toward Grisha.
"Before he died, Uncle Hank entrusted us to Doctor Jaeger," I said quietly. "He'll take us in."
Mikasa froze for a moment.
She pulled the coat tighter around herself and lifted the scarf around her neck until it covered half of her face. Tears began to gather in her eyes.
"Then... did Father say anything else?" she asked softly. "About me?"
"He told me to save you."
My nose stung as the memory resurfaced. Just recalling that moment filled me with pain.
"He kept repeating that sentence."
Mikasa could no longer hold it in. She broke down in tears.
A heavy sense of guilt settled in my chest.
I could have prevented that tragedy. If things had gone differently, maybe none of this would have happened.
But the helplessness I felt at that moment was something I would remember clearly even a hundred years from now.