Days passed by, one after another and in the blink of an eye, the first half a year since Ellie met Reiner and Annie slipped away amidst the hustle and bustle.
Over these past six months, they had finally gained a foothold in the Trost District.
Not only had the three of them secured a stable place to live, but they had also each found jobs suited to themselves.
The one who had changed the most, first of all, was Reiner.
When he first went to the construction site, he was just an ordinary laborer responsible for moving wood and carrying stones but relying on strength far exceeding that of an ordinary person, this guy quickly stood out among a group of adults and became the foreman’s favorite.
What on earth was going on?
It turned out that, on one occasion, a heavy iron-sheet door blocked the workers’ path and just as everyone was preparing to find some tools to pry it open, Reiner, who happened to be passing by, gave it a casual pull and manually dismantled the entire door, frame and all!
The foreman stared wide-eyed on the spot and from that day onward, this kid’s unparalleled talent for demolition was gradually uncovered by the foreman.
No matter how sturdy a door was, as long as Reiner went up and gave it a push, it was guaranteed to come crashing down neatly.
“Reiner, you brat, you were simply born to do this kind of work!”
The foreman heavily patted him on the shoulder, laughing so hard his mouth couldn’t close, and gave him a twenty-percent raise on the spot.
“From now on, all the doors on the construction site belong to you!
You dismantle old doors, you dismantle broken doors, and you dismantle any doors that get in the way!”
“If there’s a family’s door nearby that can’t be taken off, I’ll take you there first!”
“Wait a few years until you’ve accumulated enough experience, and I’ll form a demolition team for you, letting you be the team leader!”
Reiner listened with boiling blood and nodded heavily.
“Leave it to me, Foreman!
I will definitely not let a single door remain intact in this world!”
( ง • ̀ _ • ́ ) ง
“Good!
That’s ambition!”
Compared to Reiner’s simple and crude construction-site life, Annie’s hunting experiences were much more magical.
The place where she usually hunted was a large forest within Wall Rose.
At the very beginning, everything was still considered normal, Annie would go out every morning with a hunting bow and return in the evening carrying a few wild rabbits or a string of small fish, occasionally picking some mushrooms and wild fruits as well.
Ellie was extremely satisfied with this.
There was meat to eat, and it didn’t cost money—how great was that!
But as she explored deeper into the forest, the size of the prey she brought back became larger and larger.
From small sika deer to snorting wild boars, until one dusk last month—
Annie dragged a huge tiger with mottled stripes back to the farmhouse yard.
Ellie, who was washing vegetables, took one look at it and almost threw away the wooden basin in her hands.
“…Annie, this thing is a tiger, right?!”
Ellie pointed at the majestic yet already breathless big kitty on the ground, her head almost spinning from shock.
“This is definitely a protected animal!
Where on earth did you get it from?!”
Annie merely glanced at her indifferently out of the corner of her eye and patted the dust off her clothes.
“It made the first move.”
“So you just beat it to death?”
“Yeah.”
Annie bent down to grab the beast’s hind legs, preparing to drag the prey into the yard but as soon as her arm exerted force, a few drops of fresh blood trickled down, blooming into a dazzling red flower on the ground.
The shock on Ellie’s face vanished instantly.
“Wait, you’re injured?”
Only then did Ellie notice that the hand Annie had hanging by her side was dripping blood.
Her expression changed, and she hurriedly dropped the wooden basin, running to Annie’s side.
Up close, the injury looked even more serious than she had imagined.
Annie’s sleeve had been shredded to pieces by the tiger, leaving several deep, long wounds on her arm, with fresh blood continuously streaming down her fingertips.
Clearly, this big kitty hadn’t gone down without a fight.
Even someone as formidable as Annie had still paid a considerable price when dealing with such a fierce beast bare-handed.
Ellie sighed while helping her bandage the wounds, all the while frantically complaining in her heart.
As long as you’re willing to use even a tiny bit of the Power of the Titans, this wound could heal while steaming in a few seconds, alright?
Are you deliberately keeping the wound open just to act pitiful in front of me?
After a simple bandage, Annie moved her wrist and nonchalantly picked up the caught prey, turning around to walk into the kitchen.
“What are you going to do?”
“Cook.”
“You’re still cooking when your hand is injured like this, Annie?!”
“It’s fine.
It’s just a small scratch.
It doesn’t affect me holding a knife.”
Annie calmly tied on her apron and began processing the prey she had brought back.
Skinning, removing the internal organs, cutting up the meat.
Not long after, the processed big-kitty meat went into the pot together with potatoes and beans.
The soup bubbled with a glug-glug sound, and the rich aroma of meat quickly crept out of the kitchen, drifting all over the farm.
Speaking of which, during the half a year the three of them had lived together, Annie had unconsciously taken charge of most of the family’s meals.
Now, she was already able to make quite delicious dishes, which was truly something to celebrate.
While Annie gradually maxed out her culinary skills, Ellie, relying on literacy and arithmetic abilities far surpassing those of her peers, was getting along more and more smoothly at the Church of the Walls.
Nowadays, she had already become the old priest’s most trusted little assistant!
Refugee registration, supply statistics, winter fuel allocation—tasks that gave ordinary clergymen headaches just by looking at them were handled with ease by Ellie!
She could even take advantage of helping the church purchase supplies to buy back some flour, lamp oil, and coarse salt that were difficult to obtain elsewhere, all at internal prices!
Ever since they gained this channel, the three people’s lives finally didn’t have to be so tight anymore!
Of course, work was work.
When it was time to slack off, Ellie would definitely not mistreat herself.
Every time she finished registering the reports, she would take the delicacies contributed by believers and sit in a warm spot by the window, basking in the sun, eating desserts, and occasionally watching the crowds coming and going downstairs.
The days were unimaginably cozy.
( ～ ￣ ▽ ￣ ) ～
…
Late at night, when all was quiet, a slightly cool night breeze blew past outside the farmhouse.
Ellie was somewhat exhausted from organizing documents at the church during the day, so she went to bed early and quickly fell asleep and as moonlight spilled into the quiet courtyard, Reiner and Annie sat side by side on the wooden stool at the doorway.
The two of them deliberately lowered their voices.
“What should we do?
There’s still no news from Bertholdt.”
Reiner looked at the night sky, his expression somewhat solemn.
“Moreover, regarding the clues to the Founding Titan, we still have no clue at all.”
Annie crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame.
“The world inside the walls is even bigger than we imagined.
To reach the true core, we might have to wait a few years until we join the Training Corps.”
The two fell silent for a moment.
Actually, in their initial plan, they had only regarded Ellie as a tool that could be utilized.
After all, a girl inside the walls with a church background, who knew how to keep accounts and socialize, could provide them with the best cover.
When the time was ripe, or when they found the whereabouts of the Founding Titan, they would leave without hesitation.
However, spending every waking moment together for half a year had caused something to quietly change.
“Annie…”
Reiner suddenly spoke in a low voice.
“When our mission is completely over, and we’re ready to return to our hometown…
Back to our home.”
The moment he spoke those words, Reiner himself was stunned for a second.
Annie slightly turned her head away, a trace of complex emotion flashing through her eyes.
“Don’t be silly, Reiner.
She doesn’t even know where our hometown is and…
she’s a person from inside the walls, a descendant of the devils.”
“If she knew our true identities, knew what we had done to this wall…”
Annie did not continue speaking.
Both of them knew what this represented.
The courtyard fell into silence.
…
“Hey—you two aren’t working in broad daylight, acting like stone carvings at the doorway?”
The next evening, at the farmhouse dining table, Ellie walked over carrying a large pot of steaming stew.
Don’t misunderstand, this wasn’t a dish made by Ellie herself, she had entrusted the nuns at the church to help her make it.
The rich aroma of meat instantly filled the entire room.
The rabbit meat in the pot was stewed to perfection, tender and flavorful, paired with fresh potatoes and carrots, making one’s appetite soar.
“Wow, so fragrant!”
Reiner picked up the spoon with shining eyes.
Annie also silently ladled herself a bowl, sipping the soup in small sips, a satisfied expression appearing on her face.
“Eat slower.
Nobody is fighting you for it.”
Ellie looked at them with a smile and casually ladled a bowl for herself as well.
“Right, I heard at the church today that the city is going to hold the Autumn Harvest Festival next week.”
“Autumn Harvest Festival?”
Reiner raised his head and asked, “What is that?”
“It’s a festival to celebrate the harvest!”
Ellie put her hands together.
“I heard there will be lots of delicious food stalls, and the streets will be hung with colorful lights.
It’ll be super lively!”
“The priest even promised to give me a few days off.
At that time, let’s the few of us go take a stroll together, okay?”
Reiner and Annie exchanged glances.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it those few days.”
Reiner rubbed the back of his head with some regret.
“The foreman took jobs from several shops and needs to replace the old doors before the celebration.
They’re short on demolition workers these few days, and he asked me to go help out no matter what.”
“So…
I won’t go.
You and Annie go play together.”
Ellie nodded, expressing her understanding.
After all, in the field of door dismantling, Reiner was now the foreman’s most trusted number-one general.
“I’ll accompany you.”
Annie gently replied.
================================================================ decent timeskip, nothing special going on, just living their lives.
harvest festival is next, wonder what happens :/?
the wither cannon is so laggy jesus christ, have a good one 🙂
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