The Empire of Titans Chapter 80 (The Prisoners of War) (Patreon)

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"Kenny Ackerman, right?" Historia asked as she strode over to him. The man groaned loudly as he straightened himself before addressing the Queen, who was in the company of Levi, the Ackerman Brat.

"What can I do for you, your grace?" Kenny asked without bothering with stupid courtesy; he was never one to bow down and do all that boring shit. If Historia wanted something from him, he would do it, but he wasn't one to bow. Kenny noticed the glare that Levi gave him; it wasn't because of the lack of courtesy. Kenny knew Levi still didn't fully trust him, and he tolerated his presence.

"My sister used to visit me on the farm when I was a little girl," Historia said, and Kenny wondered where she was getting at; he knew that, while Frieda tried to be subtle about it, Kenny knew what she was doing from the very beginning; he had told her as much to Uri, who had been an old man at the time, surprisingly, he had told Kenny to hold his blade and not do anything, Kenny wondered why, the younger Uri would have told him to bring back Frieda to her home, and to slice Historia's throat. 

Back then, Kenny wished to have known what was going through Uri's head all those years, but now, after knowing the truth, Kenny knew what it was: his friend was living the life of someone else. In a way, the real Uri had died the moment he became a Titan Shifter, and his mind wasn't his anymore, so Kenny was happy to know that his old friend was free now; he no longer had to suffer ever again.

"Yes, Frieda did visit you often. What about it?" Kenny asked as he leaned forward, away from the column of the hall.

"I would like to know more about my uncle and sister. You knew them, so I was hoping you could tell me more." Historia requested. Kenny tried to hide it but failed to hide that he didn't like the idea of talking about Uri specifically. He could understand why she wanted to know more about them, and he wondered why she was even asking like this: she was the Queen; she could order him instead. Kenny wasn't sure if he would have liked it more if she had been commanding him instead of talking to him so softly.

"Very well, but not everything you will hear is pleasant, and I'm not one to sugarcoat it for you, dear Queen. I will be as blunt as possible." Historia accepted it with a smile. They both walked out of the castle and found three horses. The land that belonged to the Royal Family was quite vast.

Soon enough, Kenny and Historia were standing in front of a flowing river. The two could hear the chirping of birds and the smell of the flowers. A vast green field was around them, with the forest far into the distance and a tree trunk lying on its side near the river. 

"I have never been here before," Historia said, a little amazed at the beautiful sight. Kenny nodded without much thought as he motioned for her to sit on the trunk near her. While both watched the river flowing, the little fish could be seen swimming like silver arrows.

"This place. I first met your uncle here. I was here to kill him." 

"Kill Him! But why?" Historia gasped. Looking up at him, Kenny grinned, as if remembering a pleasant memory.

"The Ackermans were hunted down by the royal family, Historia. They were all killed one by one; that's why we were forced into hiding. We have our unusual strength, but even an Ackerman is not immortal; this is why the scarf girl was raised in the woods while the dwarf brat behind us was raised in the Underground City." Kenny said loudly enough for the other one to hear him despite the small distance, but Levi had no reaction and watched over Historia in case Kenny tried to do something foolish as he always did.

Historia suddenly looked guilty. She opened her mouth to apologize—"I don't want to hear it." Kenny interrupted her, knowing what she was about to do. This took the girl a little by surprise as he turned to face her fully.

"Your apology will not bring back any of them. You can stay here and apologize all day long, and none of them will be back, so don't waste my time with an apology, and let's continue where we left off." Kenny said harshly, expecting the Queen to be hurt, but instead, she giggled in amusement.

"I see. No apologies then, but Mister Kenny. I still want to know about my Uncle and Sister, so you Better Start Talking." Historia said with a commanding voice. At this moment, she stood up and looked up at him with no fear in her eyes. 

Kenny grinned like a madman at the sight. He could almost swear that he could see golden lightning dancing around her fingertips. With a second look, he noticed. It was well hidden, but Kenny could see it. Just in between her index finger and thumb, there was a small cut.

Smart girl, Kenny thought, impressed; that kind of cut was difficult to notice even for him; someone else would have never noticed it.

"As my Queen commands it," Kenny said with the same grin while giving her a shallow bow of his head. Historia didn't seem impressed, so he cleared his throat and started talking.

"Your father had my life in his hand. He could have simply squeezed me, and I would have died. I still don't know why Uri spared me that day, I don't know if that was the old King thinking or Uri, but whatever the case, your uncle spared my stupid life, and before you know it. I was in command of his personal guards, and had a seat on his small council. From that day onwards, the Ackermans weren't being hunted down anymore, and I worked for him for a very long time, but don't fool yourself. Uri still made every decision neccaseray to make sure the Humanity inside the Walls wouldn't advance. Do you really want to know what he ordered me to do?" Kenny questioned, and for the first time, he was giving her a choice to tell him 'No' and not listen to what Uri had ordered him. 

Historia looked distraught upon hearing his words. She lifted her face up and looked at the vast green fields as if remembering something. "Yes. Tell me everything. I'm no little girl," Historia ordered him, and Kenny once again seemed impressed, but he did a good job hiding it behind his poker face.

"Well. There was this man named Werkzeug Langweilig who once dug underneath the wall. He dug ten meters below and hit the very bottom of the wall, but that wasn't the worst part. Somehow, he had a piece of crystal shaped like a knife; the man had wanted to see what was inside the walls and had dug underneath in hopes of no one noticing him and finding out why they were unbreakable. With the piece of crystal, he caught a glimpse of the Titan's foot. Uri ordered me to silence him, but not just him, his entire family, a wife and three children. The house was burned to a crisp; my duty was to find out where he lived, and Djel Sannes took care of the rest, but my hands are not clean. One of the girls managed to escape during the fire; she crawled away with her legs and feet through a small tunnel they had underneath the house when she opened the door. It was me waiting for her. She didn't even have time to scream before I cut her throat; I watched as life was draining from her eyes." Kenny told her with a stone-cold look, almost like a wall of ice was talking to her; if Kenny felt any bit of remorse for what he had done, then Historia couldn't tell.

But despite what she heard, Historia motioned for him to continue. Kenny then told her of many other similar cases. One had managed to make a gun that could fire four bullets without reloading; Kenny had made him look as if he had strangled himself. 

Another one had managed to create an engine that worked with coal. The man had drunk himself to death in his house. 

Another one somehow managed to make a light bulb. The man sadly threw himself off the wall the next day. 

Kenny kept telling her more and more cases of Uri killing people who possessed even the smallest threat to the thing that he called 'The Paradise for Humanity.'

"Then, the last case happened three years before the fall of Wall Maria, I was barely involved in that one. But there was this couple from Shiganshina that had made a ballon, big enough to carry a basket that could carry up to three people. The fools had tried to escape the walls with that ballon, but I gave out the information and Sannes with a group of five soldiers from the MP ambushed them, they were shot down along with their ballon, but the mother survived the fall and the bullet on her stomach, in her last moments, she begged for her son and father back home to be spared." Historia fell silent. 

She knew her family's history wasn't without bloodshed; she wondered how many people they had killed when the walls were first closed over a century ago. Knowing the will of the King couldn't touch Eren, she felt relieved.

"What about my sister?" 

"Well, your sister was Queen only for three years before Grisha Yeager ate her, she only had to deal with two who had started spreading the word around that we all lived on an island. How they knew it? I have no idea, but she ordered me to kill them, and I did as I was told." Historia wondered how her sister felt when the old King forced her to give the order for all these people to die. She felt a growing feeling in her heart, biting her lower lip.

"Whatever you are, Old King. I hope you are burning in hell." She cursed him; if there was a hell after death, then he deserved to suffer there for all his eternity. 

After hearing everything, Historia remained quiet before standing up from the wooden trunk. A pair of birds flew overhead, their wings clapping as they soared into the distance. "Thank you for telling me, mister Kenny. I would have appreciated it if you could be my personal bodyguard," she said firmly, almost ordering him.

Kenny was caught off guard before looking back at Levi, who rolled his eyes and murmured something under his breath that Kenny couldn't hear.

"I just told you everything I have done, and your first instinct is to hire me as your bodyguard. Tell me, is the dwarf not enough?" Kenny questioned with mocking laughter as he looked back at Levi once again, who was glaring at him.

"You were loyal to my Uncle and Sister. I want you as my bodyguard, but I will warn you, Kenny Ackerman." Historia's voice turned ice cold as she turned to face him. Kenny had to admit that she knew how to be intimidating, and it would have worked on someone else, but not Kenny, but her try still amused him; it reminded him of Uri in a way; he, too, had that fire in his eyes, even when he was an old man.

"If you cross me, I will drag you through the streets from Sina to Maria until there's nothing left but bones." Kenny winced slightly, almost imagining it was happening, and at the same time, he berated himself for never having come up with that threat before.

"As you order me, Queen Historia." '

*

*

"Curse you, all of you will burn in hell."

"Do not touch me, you Devils."

"How dare you all look down on us."

"I will kill all of you, you monsters. Marley will drag you all to hell from where you crawled up from."

Hange watched in silence as the Marley soldiers cursed their existence over and over again; even the sound of the waves was drowned by their curses. Many Survey Corps soldiers were aiming their guns at them, many feeling quite trigger-happy at this moment.

She was a little impressed they could still manage to scream like that. After their Commander was imprisoned, the others were imprisoned too. Commander Magath, as he called himself, had told them he would cooperate as long as his soldiers weren't mistreated.

' "Commander Magath, you might see us as devils, but remember you are the ones who attacked us first instead of shooting all of you. We won't harm your soldiers; they will be fed three times a day, and they will be allowed to walk outside within a territory we have made for the prisoners of war." Eren said firmly as he approached the Commander, who had handcuffs on his hands. 

Eren had just left his Titan, so the marks were still visible on his face; Magath turned to face him, looking at him in a calculating way.

"Who are you?"

"The King of the Walls, my name is Eren Yeager. I promise you, your soldiers will not be harmed as long as they don't try to harm us." Eren spoke sincerely. Magath narrowed his gaze. He knew the kid wasn't lying, but he found it odd that he introduced himself to him so openly.

This must be a trap. Why would the King himself come to the battle, and why reveal himself to everyone?!! Magath thought in confusion, trying to understand the game they were playing with him. But one thing he knew: either the kid was a good liar, or he truly was who he said he was. Magath knew he was out of options. He needed to hope for the best for now.

"My men will not cause any trouble," Magath stated before turning his head to look at the rest who were still alive. "RIGHT!!" he shouted with a commanding voice, but his men looked down, not meeting his eyes. Some looked at the Eldians with disgust; when they were putting on the handcuffs, many of them had cried out, telling them not to touch them.

"As I said, your men will be treated well. Much better than Eldians are treated back at Marley." Eren said with a grave voice, giving Magath a warning look as he was dragged away. '

Jean, Connie, and Sasha watched in silence as the soldiers were being dragged away. The MP who had come with them would keep them in check, an idea that had come from Historia.

"I want fifty MP to go to this mission with the Survey Corps, while I trust that your soldiers are capable of fighting back, Commander Erwin. MP are the ones who are used to dealing with humans, more than those from the Survey Corps. They will handle the prisoners. Those MP will take orders from Commander Erwin, and my husband, the King."

Jean didn't know what to think; he knew, and he was told time and time again that Marley hated their guts, and according to Annie, Zeke, and Ymir, the entire world hated them, but Jean had held hope, perhaps, it wasn't as bad, but seeing the way they were shouting names, the rage, and the hatred in their eyes. He felt his stomach twisting, but deep down, he knew it wouldn't be fair to paint the entire world with the same paint as the Marleys.

"Connie, do you think there's food on the ship?" Sasha abruptly asked the bald next to her. Instead of ignoring her, Connie looked deep into his thoughts, but nothing could be heard besides an echo in the vast void.

"Maybe, hey, they might have food that we have never tasted before," Connie suggested. Sasha's face brightened like a star, and she held her hands together just under her chin as she almost squealed in delight. Jean, who was listening to their conversations, shouted at them.

"Shut up, you two. This is serious," Jean ordered, rounding on them. Connie closed his mouth, while Sasha pouted loudly.

"Nothing is more serious than food. Did your mother never teach you that?" Sasha asked in a tone as if that question were the most important question possible. Jean grumbled; thankfully, the others weren't really paying attention to the stupid duo and one smart one.

"These kids are morons," Levi commented as the soldiers were being led away from the docks by the MP soldiers and ten soldiers of the Survey Corps; they all were ordered strictly by Eren not to use brute strength unless it was absolutely necessary.

Mikasa sighed wearily before walking up to them. Sasha seemed to not be paying attention to anything around here as she was discussing something about new Delicious food. While at any other time, Mikasa would appreciate her comments and attitude, this wasn't one of them, as she grabbed Sasha's ponytail from behind, causing the village girl to wince slightly.

"Sasha, we can talk later about food, but right now, we need you to pay attention," Mikasa told her strictly while also eyeing Connie, who gulped from her serious sight and backed away. Mikasa let go of her ponytail, and Sasha pouted loudly while rubbing the back of her head where her ponytail started.

"Mikasa, aren't you excited about all the new food we can find?" Sasha asked with a dreamy look. Looking at Mikasa with big puppy eyes, the latter sighed wearily. Sometimes, she wished Sasha was more like Annie, but that would completely ruin her.

"Why are they wearing armbands?" Hange questioned the second group of prisoners they had; Eren had ordered for them to be the last to be put inside the jails they had made for them with War Hammer Titan Hardening Ability.

"They are Eldians from Marley. The yellow color symbolizes they are soldiers of Marley. The red ones are worn only by the Titan Shifters and their families, and the white ones are worn by everyone else." Zeke explained as he approached them. Only nine were left; Annie crushed the tenth one when he tried to fight back. Upon seeing Zeke, the Eldian soldiers tried to break free from their handcuffs, but their faces turned red.

"Zeke, you traitor. We all looked up to you as The Boy Wonder. You Traitors Devil." One of them shouted with rage, looking at Annie, who didn't seem to care what they called her before he looked at Pieck, who had been quiet the whole time.

"You bitch. Your father will be burned for this!! You betrayed your homelands for this Devils." He shouted with rage as he struggled more against the handcuffs that had started twisting the skin of his wrists. What he said was quickly followed by almost the rest of the Eldian prisoners.

"You All Will Burn in HELL, YOU DEVILS-" Shoot!

Everyone fell silent when the bullet hit the concrete near his feet. Everyone looked at Eren, who handed the smoking gun back to Floch. The man gulped loudly as Eren stepped forward, looking at him blankly as he looked at their names written on the small iron plates snitched into their uniforms.

"Do not mistake our hospitality for weakness, Mister Kalag. You all have someone waiting for you back home, don't you? You may have a father, a mother, a lover, children, or friends. Think of them first before deciding to throw your lives away like this. We don't want to hurt you, but we will.

Now answer this question: What is more important, your pride or the family waiting for you back home? Do you really want to leave them alone in this Cruel World?" The Eldian soldiers fell silent. Some still looked like they wanted to insult them, but many of them were holding something in their hands, something of value to them until one walked past Kalag.

"We will not cause any trouble." He spoke, and in his hands was a necklace.

"Heimand, you traitor—" "I'm no traitor, Kalag. The kid's right. If we all die here, what would be the point? Our family will be left alone. Do you really want little Ammad to be an orphan? Again?" he questioned, looking back at Kalag, who clenched his teeth in frustration before his head slumped down in defeat.

"We will follow your orders," Heimand said back to Eren. Soon, he and the rest of the Eldian Soldiers were led away, but they would be kept in a different place, away from the Marley soldiers.

Erwin seemed pleased to see Eren taking charge occasionally. He could see the soldiers looking at him with respect, especially those who were part of the Jeagerists; they looked at him as if he were a god. As the last Eldian soldier walked away, Erwin cleared his throat before addressing Hange.

"Hange, after we are done here. I want you to talk with each Eldian soldier, with all of them, ask them about their homes and everything you can think off, just don't get too weird with your questions." Hange squealed loudly at the opportunity while Levi rolled his eyes almost at the back of his head before giving Erwin a deadpan look.

"Do you really just told Hange to not be weird?" He asked with a hint of disbelief before letting out a sigh when Erwin gave him a familiar look.

"I will go with her and make sure she doesn't scare our... guests," Levi said the last word with a snarl, secretly wanting to be there. He enjoyed her antics sometimes, but he would rather die than admit that to anyone.

Eren watched as Hange's team examined the weapons, which he assumed were the cars. They were the brains of the Survey Corps when it came to this sort of thing. Everyone examined everything, but they were told not to break anything.

"Wait, this drives?! How? Is there a horse inside??" Sasha asked incredulously before leaning her head down, her ear against the metallic plate of the car. Annie smiled in amusement at her antics, which was rarely seen by anyone.

Zeke looked bewildered, especially when Connie joined Sasha. He, too, tried to hear if there was a horse inside the front of the car.

"This is called a Bazooka? Be careful with it," Pieck instructed as MP soldiers were picking up some weapons the Marley soldiers had left behind. Those looked similar to their Thunderspears but much larger, and those ones had a hole in the middle.

Eren could tell Pieck wasn't in a good mood, especially when her Panzer Unit was being carried away in handcuffs. They all looked at her with betrayal in their eyes, and Pieck could not even bear to look at them.

"I understand how you feel." Pieck's eyes merely flickered at Eren, who stood behind her, before looking forward once again to the vast ocean.

"Oh really, how?" She asked with doubt. She knew he probably knew how it felt, but at this point, she felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Reiner was one of my best friend back at the Training Corps. We all trained together for three years. I looked up to him, and when I learned that he was the Armoured Titan...One thing I learned is that it won't get easy, you can talk with them if you want. I will allow you that much." Eren said as he turned on his heels, ready to walk away.

"Thanks," Pieck murmured under her breath. Eren heard her but decided to leave her alone as Hange got far too excited while examining the weapons.

"Holy Shit, This shoots...what you called...aahhhh... a rocket, is like a better version of our thunder spears!!" Hange squealed loudly as she examined the fully loaded Bazooka.

"Yes, just don't try-" Zeke fell silent in shock when Hange aimed the Bazooka right at her face, staring down at the rocket inside, but thankfully, Levi grabbed it from her hands before she could do something stupid. She pouted loudly in disappointment as if he had just taken her favorite toy.

"If you want to blow up your face, at least do it from a safe distance," Levi said, berating her like a child. Hange giggled nervously, rubbing the back of her head as soldiers walked inside the two large ships. Many looked at them with amazement; they had never seen such large ships before.

*

*

"I hope you like tea," Erwin said as he scooted out a chair. Moblit placed the still steaming cup of tea near Magath, who sat on the other side of the table with his hands cuffed.

"How are my man being treated?"

Erwin could respect that for the man, caring for his soldiers. "They are treated well."

"Are they? I know how things can go when even the guards hate the prisoners they are supposed to guard, they will turn a blind eye, and you will find your prisoners beaten up and even dead."

"I take it you are talking from experience... who was it? An Eldian prisoner, or someone from those countries you are invading?" Erwin's question was met with silence as Moblit returned back, holding a backboard, before giving it to Erwin.

"Now, let's talk."