The wooden door was being pounded loudly. Two Marleyan soldiers with rifles on their backs were roughly knocking on the door of the low house in front of them.
Being called from the military camp to search for some remnants of the Eldian Restorationists made the two Marleyan soldiers extremely irritated. They belonged to the elite unit of the Marleyan Guard Corps, yet they were ordered to carry out work that should have been done by the police—what was this supposed to be?
To the proud Marleyan Guard Corps, this felt like humiliation. Besides, they had received assembly orders just yesterday, preparing to head to the front lines to deal with those ignorant Middle Easterners. Fighting for the nation was what the lofty Marleyan Guard Corps should be doing! Of course, in the eyes of these arrogant soldiers, the Middle Easterners were utterly insignificant. Marley's setbacks on the front line were entirely due to the useless Eldian units.
Such prejudice only made most Marleyan soldiers view Eldians even more poorly. Moreover, they were now searching inside the Eldian internment zone, so one could imagine just how bad their attitude was. No one knew how many innocent Eldians had already been beaten severely by these resentful Marleyan soldiers.
The two Marleyan soldiers knocking on the door were one tall and one short, both looking impatient. The tall one could no longer wait. He directly removed his rifle and raised the butt of the gun, preparing to smash it down.
At the very moment the gun butt was about to strike, the wooden door opened. Leonhart stepped out first. Seeing the fully armed soldiers, the plainly dressed middle-aged man looked somewhat at a loss.
"Hey, old man, have you seen any unfamiliar Eldians or anyone carrying weapons recently?" the tall Marleyan soldier asked rudely.
Mr. Leonhart hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I haven't."
The tall Marleyan soldier frowned and jabbed Mr. Leonhart's shoulder condescendingly.
"Really? Then why did you take so long to open the door? Speak! Are you hiding something!?"
Mr. Leonhart also frowned. He didn't know why this Marleyan soldier was being so hostile, but he had his own stubborn pride. He retorted directly,
"No. Sir, I don't know what you're talking about. I've already made it very clear—I haven't seen the people you mentioned! Please stop making unreasonable accusations!"
Seeing how firm Mr. Leonhart's attitude was, the tall Marleyan soldier grew furious. An Eldian dared to talk back to him like that!?
"You old man, you dare talk back!?" The tall Marleyan soldier swung up his rifle butt in rage.
But the shorter soldier beside him stopped him and pointed at the red armband on Mr. Leonhart's arm. "Honorary Marleyan?"
The tall soldier froze for a moment. He hadn't noticed earlier, nor had he imagined that the old man before him would be an Honorary Marleyan.
How could an Honorary Marleyan live in such a shabby place? Still, Honorary Marleyans were different from ordinary Eldians. They were the family members of the Titan warriors. Even regular Marleyan soldiers had to show them some respect—after all, those Titan warriors were Marley's most effective weapons.
After learning Mr. Leonhart's status, the two soldiers no longer wanted trouble. If an Honorary Marleyan caused a scene, it would not benefit them. To ensure the Titan warriors fought with peace of mind, the Marleyan government did "care" about their families.
The two soldiers stopped arguing and turned to leave. Mr. Leonhart cast them a cold glance and was about to return inside when their muttered conversation clearly reached his ears.
"Which Titan warrior's family is that old guy from? Why's he living in such a dump?"
"I heard before—seems like he's the family of the Female Titan who died on Paradis Island."
"Heh, that's it? I thought it was someone important. Losing the power of the Female Titan just proves that warrior was useless. How is a useless person's family worthy of being an Honorary Marleyan? Bah!"
"Honorary Marleyan? What a joke. An Eldian is still an Eldian—a bunch of damned devil descendants. Ridiculous. Think wearing an armband makes you Marleyan?"
...
Those words pierced into Mr. Leonhart's heart like sharp thorns. The Marleyan soldiers' insults toward his daughter filled him with anger, and their contempt for Honorary Marleyans brought deep sorrow. Back then, for the sake of that identity they spoke of, he had almost personally trained his daughter into a cold-blooded machine.
Yet this Honorary Marleyan status he obtained was regarded in the eyes of the Marleyans. How ironic.
Mr. Leonhart's eyes turned red with rage. He grabbed a cup from the table and hurled it fiercely at the two departing Marleyan soldiers.
Thud!
While talking, the tall soldier suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. He cried out and clutched his head. Turning around, he saw a bamboo cup lying on the ground, the rim stained with a bit of blood.
The tall soldier reached back and touched it—sure enough, his hand came away with blood. Instantly, fury flared. He raised his rifle and aimed it at Mr. Leonhart, shouting,
"Old man, are you looking to die!?"
But Mr. Leonhart only glared viciously at the soldier, showing not the slightest trace of fear.
At that tense moment, an angry shout suddenly rang out from the side: "Stop!"
Yago, wearing a trench coat, rushed quickly to the soldier's side. Before the soldier could react, he swiftly snatched the rifle away and followed up with a side kick, sending the soldier staggering aside.
Yago's sudden appearance stunned both Mr. Leonhart and the two Marleyan soldiers.
Yago looked at Mr. Leonhart and asked with concern, "Are you alright, fa—, uh, Mr. Leonhart?"
Mr. Leonhart froze for a moment, then nodded. Yago immediately turned to look at the two Marleyan soldiers, a trace of killing intent flashing in his eyes. They actually dared to aim a gun at my father-in-law!?
The two Marleyan soldiers were also stunned, though more surprised than angry.
Especially the soldier who had been kicked aside—there was no fury on his face, only astonishment.
Before Yago could speak, the tall soldier carefully studied Yago's face. After hesitating for a moment, he decisively saluted and said, "Lie—Lieutenant Colonel, sir, what are you doing here? Are you inspecting the mission?"
As soon as those words were spoken, both Yago and Mr. Leonhart were stunned. Lieutenant Colonel?
The shorter soldier beside him also froze, blinked, carefully looked at Yago's face, then at the tall soldier who was saluting—before quickly snapping into a salute himself.
"Sir!"
A huge question mark seemed to appear in Yago's mind, yet his expression remained cold and composed.
Seeing Yago's calm demeanor, the tall soldier found the face in his memory becoming clearer and clearer. It was indeed the Lieutenant Colonel he had encountered that morning.