Chapter 28 - Less than 200

(3rd person's POV)

(Near the gate of Trost)

A big crowd of people was filling up the whole street. Normally, this would only happen during a festival, but the current mood was the complete opposite.

It could be said that the only emotions that were visible in the face of these people were anger, sadness, despair, mocking, and some were even amusing at the scene.

Today was a big day.

A month ago, the royal government enacted a royal decree, stating that 250,000 civilians will be sent into Wall Maria in order to reclaim back the land. The act was called the Wall Maria reclamation operation. Although it was met with a lot of resistance, the decree was still enforced regardless.

At first, many people were hopeful since the number of the army was very high and there's no way for the Titans to win.

But deep down, everyone knew. There was just not enough land for everybody, so this so-called 'reclamation' operation was just a cover for the culling of countless citizens, which is made up of 20% of the human population.

Now, after a month, the gate was finally open again.

But this time... instead of 250,000, there were only less than 200 left.

Everyone was utterly shocked. Guesses have been made of how many will return. The most commonly accepted number was ranging from 5,000-50,000. However, no one expected this development.

Cries were heard everywhere, mostly from the wives of the deceased, or their children.

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"Told ya Eren. There were gonna be less than 1000 alive. I just didn't expect that the number was even lower than I thought."

After an hour of silence and quiet murmurs, Athanatos finally broke the silence.

"...shut up."

"Oh? I'm just telling you facts Eren. There are just 3 types of people inside this wall. The first is the hopeless cowards, who just wanted all the nightmares to be over with. The second, is the greedy pigs, they enjoyed luxury while leaving their subjects to suffer. And lastly, it is the type of people like you, Eren. The one who thinks that they're gonna make some good changes, but still, too afraid to do anything."

"And you know what's the similarities between all of them? All of them are parasites. Earlier you said something about the surviving people were just soldiers abandoning the civilians so they can survive. And what did you called them? Cowards? Parasites? No, Eren. Wake up. We're all parasites here. Accept it. Stop being so delusional."

"SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO HUH?"

Eren, who was no longer able to hold his emotions back, was having an outburst. His face was full of anger, but not at Athanatos, it was directed at himself.

"You know what is funny Eren? You've been barking for quite a while now." The boy then changed his voice to mimic that of Eren. "I'm going to join the Survey Corps and kill them all. I will do this to them. I will do that to them."

"And now, look at you. What have you done over this past year? NOTHING! YOU WERE F**KING USELESS"

"That's a bit harsh Thana-kun." Armin, who was just staring at the whole conversation finally voiced his opinion. It seemed that he is afraid of how the situation is going to turn out.

"You too Armin. I'm saying this to both of you. Look at Mikasa and Annie. They have been working their ȧss off while you two idiots are doing nothing but complain. Tell me Eren, what's the difference between you and a parasite?"

Then Eren glared at Athanatos. He wanted to fight him but he knew if he makes a move, he will be put down immediately.

Not wanting to embarrass himself any further, he calmed himself down and began to think rationally.

Seeing this, Athanatos's lip began to curve into a tiny smile.

After a while, Armin and Eren both made their decision.

"I'm going to become stronger, starting now. Then I'm going to join the cadet and become a Survey Corps members. Please help me Thana-kun. Make me stronger."

"Sure, Eren" Athanatos replied

"I will too. I will become stronger and then maybe one day, I can see the outside world."

"You don't have to Armin." Eren quickly said back, afraid that his friend is making a rash decision because of the pressure.

"No. I do!"

"There's no point in following me to your death."

Seeing this, Athanatos's smile began to widen.

Clap*

"Nobody is going to die on my watch. Then we're all going together then? You're with me right, Mikasa, Annie?

"Ok..."

"Yes, Thana-kun"

"Guys..." Eren, seeing that all of his friends are going with him, was delighted.

"Great... Go back to the house and tell the ȧduŀts. We're beginning our training tmr."

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After Eren and Armin left, only Athanatos and the two girls stayed behind.

"Thana-kun... Why are we joining the cadet? Aren't we too strong for that?"

Mikasa who although agreed to join the military, asked this question regardless.

"Remember about the Marley Mikasa? I told you about them before. Annie should also know how strong their army is. If we're leaving the Survey Corps alone, there's going to be a bloodbath and many citizens will die. Even if we win, the consequences will be too great. It won't be fun living in a world where wars never end. We just gotta help to end it without exposing too much of our strength."

"There's also a lot of reasons Mikasa. Think about it like this. You wouldn't want to live in a world where the government is oppressing its citizens right? If we help the Eldians to win the war, we can set up whatever rules we want. But we can't do this with our overwhelming strength. That would be ruling in fear, and that's no different than the current system. It's also a good chance to learn different combat styles. Besides, it's more interesting that way."

"Thana-kun is right. The world outside isn't as beautiful as we imagined. This is a good opportunity to change the world for the better."

"I will do what you think is best Thana-kun."

"Hahaha, it's good that you're voicing your opinions. Don't just always blindly follow my order. I really like this part of you. It's good to question something when you think it's wrong. C'mon, let's go home."

' (´,,•ω•,,｀) Blushing* I also like this part of you Thana-kun. You have been more talkative lately. I'm happy for you.'

With that thought, she followed happily behind Athanatos to home.