Sillage

Chapter 25: Devil.

TW MENTIONS OF BLOOD/CORPSES

"That would be all for today. Thank you, Levi," the blue-eyed Commander said, deep voice bouncing off the stone walls of his room.

It had been a couple of days since his arrival at the castle, and he had yet to get used to the surroundings. Erwin Smith was anything but a picky man, but he'd be a shameless liar if he didn't admit to missing his office at the official Scouts headquarters back in Trost.

Maybe it was the familiarity he got accustomed to over the years, the one that helped him think more clearly. Or, perhaps, he just had a hard time adapting to scenery changes, despite him being the Commander of the Scouting Regiment, of all the Military branches.

He'd been spending all this time in the same position, after all; nothing but a dead end in front of him, unable to advance. Maybe he, too, grew used to the comfort of ignorance and simply existing, just like all those people inside the Walls, without even realizing it.

There was no point in denying that sometimes he wondered what the purpose of it all was. They had no support from the people, the nobles were doing everything in their power to stop the Regiment from eating away too much of their taxes and the Royal Government, as well as the MPs, were closely monitoring them. Stopping the Scouts whenever they stepped on someone's toes, Erwin had been doing nothing but sending soldiers to their deaths for the past 6 years. But no matter how many expeditions he had led or how many people died because of him, the results were still the same.

Zero.

None.

Nothing new or relevant about titans. No information about the outside world. No truth about what happened, or how and why was humanity driven inside these cramped Walls, 107 years ago.

Eyes focusing on the mountain of paperwork laying before him, the quiet sigh that made its way out of his chest tangled with the sounds of the night drifting through the cracks in the window panels. A night-bird's caw traveled to his ears as its prey's squeak reminded the Commander of his regiment's difficult situation yet again.

Erwin Smith was a charming and intelligent leader, and he knew that very well. If he wanted to, he could steal whatever he wished from the market, and then convince the merchant they gave Erwin the item themselves for a good cause, with little hassle.

But he was above such games.

Instead, his work included convincing people to charge to their deaths.

And in the irony of it all, he was good at it. He was too good at it, and he wondered sometimes if Keith Shadis also realized it, and that's why he appointed Erwin as his successor all those years back.

It would be so easy to just give everything up and retire, get the money he saved over the years and buy a farm somewhere quiet inside Wall Rose. Live the rest of his days in peace, away from all the guilt and horrors he'd been living through since his childhood.

But he knew he couldn't do that. Even when things seemed pointless, and the cycle of witnessing his soldiers die looked never-ending, he couldn't walk away.

Since a long time ago, he swore to see this through to the end, no matter what. He would bring knowledge to this world and prove his father's words had been true, even if he had to turn his heart to unwavering ice and play the role of the devil.

And that's what he'd been diligently doing all this time.

Now that the titan cadet appeared, the truth about this world and its monsters, hidden inside his father's basement, Erwin finally had the chance to change something. And he'd be damned if he let anything get in his way after all these years of patiently planning and waiting.