Before Carla came back, Zeke quietly applied medicine to his own arm.
He didn't really need it.
His body was already healing.
But…
He had to pretend.
"How could someone recover from an injury in the blink of an eye?" he thought. "If I act too healthy, it'll raise suspicions. Better to look pitiful and keep Aunt Carla's sympathy."
Mikasa's cold words echoed in his memory
"You deliberately got beaten to gain Aunt Carla's sympathy, didn't you?"
Zeke shook his head and pretended he hadn't heard them.
Meanwhile, the children had found their own fun.
"Can I touch your knife?"
Eren whispered to Reiner while Mikasa was busy in the kitchen scrubbing pots.
The special weapon forged an instant bond between the two boys.
"Okay," Reiner said in a hushed tone.
Truthfully, he was still rattled by Mikasa and didn't dare raise his voice.
Friendship grew quickly not only from shared interests—but from sharing a common enemy. And all of them, Marleyan and Eldian alike, were united by one thing.
Fear of Mikasa.
They were all terrified of being beaten.
Reiner unsheathed the Survey Corps blade and held it up. The children crowded around, their eyes wide.
"Wow~!" they chorused.
Eren's face lit up like the night sky. "Wow! This is the Survey Corps' special sword! A weapon made to fight Titans! It's amazing!"
Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie, however, looked grim. They all thought the same chilling thought
'This knife is designed to cut the nape of a Titan.'
The image made the back of their own necks prickle with unease.
The weapon looked strange compared to ordinary knives. Its blade was segmented, the hilt fitted with a trigger mechanism, and at the tail end, a snapped steel wire still dangled. Reiner and the others had seen the Survey Corps fight before.
They knew that wire connected to an iron box on the soldier's waist. But they had never fully understood what the box itself did.
"Um… do you know why this knife is designed so strangely?" Reiner asked, testing the waters.
Children, as always, found a way to communicate quickly.
"No idea!" Eren said brightly.
"Huh?" Reiner blinked.
"Aren't you a fan of the Survey Corps? How could you not know?"
"But this is all Corps equipment! How would a commoner like me ever know the details?"
"…"
Zeke, sitting by the window, finally stepped in. "That's called a ODM Device. The trigger lets a soldier fire a cable, then swing and glide through the air. It's for flexible aerial combat against Titans. As for the blade—its segmented design allows it to be snapped off if it gets stuck in a Titan's nape. That way, the soldier can disengage and escape."
"Is that so? That's amazing!" Eren cried.
Zeke chuckled. "My little brother is so cute at this stage. He gets excited over every new thing, his eyes sparkling like stars. It's impossible not to love him like this."
"Captain… how does Brother know about the ODM Device?" Bertolt asked nervously.
"Of course. Uncle Grisha wrote it in his letters," Zeke replied smoothly.
"Oh!" The three instantly nodded in understanding.
Zeke smirked inwardly. No matter what happened, as long as he said "Grisha told me," they'd swallow it. Convenient. He didn't want to think too deeply anyway. He just wanted to admire his adorable brother a little longer.
"But how does Dad know about the military?" Eren asked suddenly, frowning. "He's just an ordinary doctor!"
Zeke's smile froze.
"Who says my brother is an idiot who only knows how to charge forward? This kid isn't as dumb as people think…"
"Because… Uncle has many friends in the army," Zeke improvised quickly. "For example… Captain Keith."
Yes, Keith. That sounded safe enough. He remembered the memory: Grisha, lost beyond the Walls, rescued by Keith Shadis and brought back to the city. No one had suspected him then. That moment had shaped Zeke's entire infiltration plan.
If all it took to be trusted was appearing human, then simply walking in was enough.
"Amazing! Dad actually knows the captain!" Eren's admiration soared. He clutched the blade tighter. "Then why strike the back of the neck? Why not just chop off the head?"
"Because the Titan's weak spot is here," Zeke said, tapping the back of his neck. "Titans regenerate too fast. No matter what you cut, they heal. But if you slice off the flesh right here, they can't regenerate. They die."
The Marleyan trio winced, pale.
"Oh!" Even Mikasa, freshly back from the kitchen, took note.
"But wouldn't it be better to just cut the whole head off?" Eren pressed.
Zeke laughed. "Even if the Titan lowered its head, it would still be higher than you, idiot!"
"But this knife is made to kill Titans!" Eren protested, swinging it. "Shouldn't it be sharp enough to cut a neck clean through?"
"Idiot," Zeke scolded. "It's just sharper than a normal blade, not a magical weapon. A Titan's neck is thicker than a man's body. Even a professional executioner couldn't cut it in one swing. Shaving off enough flesh from the nape is already the limit of human strength."
"Ohhh." Eren nodded. Mikasa too seemed to understand.
But across from them, Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie were sweating bullets.
"Captain, did you forget your identity?"
"You totally forgot! You just told insider secrets to kids inside the Walls! Do you want us to die??"
"It's fine," Reiner muttered, trying to calm them. "They're just kids…"
But then Eren swung the blade with fiery determination. "I get it! I'll become a Survey Corps soldier one day! I'll go outside the Walls and slay Titans!"
"Absolutely not!" the three blurted at once, horrified.
And before Eren could argue further, Mikasa's fist came crashing down.
"I told you already," she said coldly, looming over him. "Don't even dream of joining the Survey Corps!"
"Yeah!" Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie shouted in unison, supporting her this time with full sincerity.
"But—" Eren tried to speak.
At that moment, a sharp "click" echoed at the door.
Carla stepped inside. Her face was pale, her movements stiff.
"Mom?" Eren blinked. Something was wrong. She wasn't smiling.
Carla didn't look at him. Instead, she pointed straight at Zeke and the others. Her lips trembled as she counted.
"One big, three small…"
"Three men and one woman…"
"Three blondes, one brunette…"