The prisoners stared at Zeke, dumbstruck.
Andy was the first to break, his voice shrill with panic.
"Captain! Weren't you going to lead us to merit? Why are you suddenly saying this?"
Zeke's tone was calm, almost bored.
"You've already made a contribution. I'll report your achievements to King Marley when I return."
Whether those officers made it back or not, Zeke didn't care. If they did, they would carry the names of these wretches with them. That was enough.
But the condemned didn't understand the subtlety of it. They were trapped in their own desperation, clinging to the only thing they thought gave their lives meaning.
"What?! You won't even give us a chance to earn merit?!" Andy cried, tears spilling. "Then we'll still die in shame! We'll never wash away our sins! Wuwu…"
Zeke pinched his brow, exasperated.
"I already said it isn't like that. You're free. I won't roar. You won't turn into Titans. You can go wherever you like—stay here, cross into the Walls, even crawl back to Marley if you're that stupid. Whatever happens isn't my concern. As for the 'honor' you crave, those officers will deliver it to your families."
"Warrior Captain! Please let me do you a service!" Andy stumbled forward, elated, but he cuffed him back.
"Calm yourself! Don't you get it? The 'honor' is already given to us. From now on, we go where we want. He doesn't care!"
Andy froze, dumbfounded. His heart felt yanked up and down like a rope in a cruel game, swinging from hope to despair and back until his head was spinning.
Meters' voice trembled. "You… you're really letting us go?"
"Yeah," Zeke said simply.
That "honor" they craved so much—he was giving it away for free. Marley's sacred badge of redemption, stripped of its false weight and thrown into the dirt. Only fools with defective minds would still grovel for it.
"How… how could such a good thing happen?" Andy stammered. "They just let us go? Without us doing anything?"
But sometimes good things really did happen. Or at least, things that looked like it.
Meters narrowed his eyes. "Then why, Warrior Captain? Why save us?"
"Yes! Why save them?!" Reiner suddenly burst out, his voice cracking with rage. His whole body shook. "Didn't you say they'd clear the way? But now you don't even want them to do anything! Was it all a lie? Did you lie to the commanders?! Are you—" he choked, the words barely leaving his throat, "—are you really going to betray Marley?!"
So noisy.
Zeke scratched his ear, unimpressed. He gave Reiner a long, measuring look.
"Tell me, Reiner. Did you really win the Armored Titan by your own strength? Because I don't see it. You don't seem fit to be a Warrior."
The boy froze, face burning with humiliation.
Too noisy. Too unstable. Poor nerves. The examiners must have been blind this year.
"Of course I did!" Reiner roared back, but no one noticed the flicker of panic that crossed Marcel's face as he stood behind him.
"Answer me, Warrior Captain!" Reiner pressed, eyes bloodshot. "Why save these devils? Do you want to betray Marley?!"
So noisy.
Zeke almost laughed. He wanted to say it outright: Yes. Yes, I saved them. And what exactly do you plan to do about it?
But reason clamped his jaw shut. Not here. Not yet. Not with four other shifters at his side. They were still children, but even children could tear him apart if they all transformed at once.
Instead, his mind flickered back to the night before.
"I'll leave my grandparents to you."
"Rest assured," Yelena had replied. "Even if I die, I won't let any harm come to them."
"What about the others?"
There had been a long silence.
"I'm sorry," she had admitted. "The families of the new recruits are too tightly watched. This time was too rushed—we barely managed to secure your elders. We haven't had the chance to smuggle the others' families out."
"How long?" he'd asked.
"A month… maybe two."
"Faster," he'd demanded.
"But why? Why risk saving their families at all?" she'd asked, frustrated. "Wouldn't it be easier to find others, seize their Titan powers, and train replacements?"
"Not easier," Zeke had answered coldly. "Training a Warrior isn't simple. These recruits are the best candidates. We save them, or we lose everything."
Yelena had finally nodded, though unease lingered in her eyes.
Before they parted, she had whispered one last warning:
"Zeke, the hardest part won't be rescuing their families… or stealing Titans. It'll be the recruits themselves. You know that, don't you?"