I freed myself from Armin's hands and stood up. Pushing all my other plans aside, I need to do some exercise first; this body is just too weak. Well, what can you expect from a ten-year-old bratty boy's body? Let alone not being strong, it's a grace that his cheekbones are not visible.
There's only one way to confirm my suspicion that they had regressed too, because by the clarity of their words and the refinement of their demeanour, they don't seem like any of your ordinary children. Well, the other reason for this can be because they are one of the main characters. But it's better to be safe than sorry, so.
"Mikasa, Armin, I am thinking of continuing the Rumbling!" My voice wasn't loud, but it wasn't low either; they heard it clearly, word by word, what I said.
Like a cluster of bombs had blasted in their minds, both Mikasa and Armin shouted at once, "No, no!"
Their reaction gave me the answer that I was looking for; so, they do have regressed with me. When that strange phenomenon happened, they were standing on my shoulders. Then I remember there are others too in that fight; if physical touch is all that's needed to regress, I should thank God there's no Marley Titan shifter close by.
But then my heart turned cold. These two, they can't be trusted. If they can go against Eren one time, what is holding them back a second time? If they were the children from the past, although I wouldn't bother with them, they couldn't pose any hindrance to my plan either.
But they are regressed with me. What can I do now? Mikasa is clearly stronger than me, and at this point, I also don't have the Titan's powers—thus, Grisha will give them to me tonight.
But even so, even if I can transform into a Titan, my body's stamina is not enough to have a full Titan transformation, and in that half-baked stage, I will be a range target for them. On top of that, people will know I can transform into a Titan.
This creates the risk that I would be slain by the wall guards or Survey Corps, and well, there's also a chance that I would be captured and used as a boot-quality checker, like Eren was by that Levi.
But all these outcomes are something that I don't want. Then, the words of Eren's mother, for some reason, came to my mind: Let the past of Eren go with Eren. Live your life. I am taking him with me.
I took a deep breath. She was right. The karma of Eren had nothing to do with me; I should just let it go.
Mikasa and Armin both dashed forward and grabbed one hand each, like they don't want me to even move.
"Move."
The word came out of my mouth. It wasn't cold like meeting an enemy, nor warm like meeting an acquaintance. It was devoid of any emotion, like it was spoken to some stranger, which technically is the case for me, because I don't know them like Eren did.
They didn't listen, so with some force, I shoved my hands from their hands. This time, due to the previous incident, Mikasa's hand grip wasn't strong, so I was able to do that easily.
"There are people. We will talk once we are at the port," I said and walked away from them.
Mikasa wanted to chase me, but Armin grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks; he shook his head. Mikasa, who wanted to say something, in the end, let go of it and waited for the refugee camp.
The old harbor storehouse, which was used for food storage, is now filled with the refugees. I woke up early in the morning. Last night, the same incident of Grisha giving his power happened, but I was ready and didn't make much fuss, so things went smoothly.
I walked out of the stable. By now, it's too early in the morning; food distribution wouldn't start for another hour. After getting my share of food, I returned to the stable where I had spent my night.
But at the gate of the stable, Mikasa and Armin were waiting for me.
"Eren, we—" Mikasa was about to say something, but ignoring her, I went inside the stable and gestured for them to come in.
By now, everyone was busy trying to survive, so no one was inside the stable, making it the perfect place to talk. Before they could speak anything first, I spoke.
"You two, let the things of the past be the past. From now on, we don't have anything to do with each other. Let's just be strangers. By now, you have also learned that you can't tell anyone that you had regressed from the future," I said.
In my mind, the processing of my morning experiments was going on. I had tried to speak of some future events to an unknown person; he could understand the future events I talked of, but he couldn't understand whenever I said I am from the future. So, it seems there's a restriction on the regressors to tell others that they have come from the future.
Anyway, no one would believe a ten-year-old refugee child shouting he is from the future either; after his family's death, people may think he has gone crazy and may only pity him.
And by now, I understood the way Armin thinks. He would absolutely try to save his grandfather, who was supposed to die in the next government cut of the starving population in the name of war.
Hearing Eren's words, both Mikasa and Armin had entirely different thoughts. Mikasa's ears stopped listening when Eren said, "Let's be strangers," while Armin was surprised that Eren had guessed his actions.
"In that world, you had your choices and I had mine. Don't worry, I won't start the Rumbling if it's not the only choice, and they want me to start."
After saying this, I stood up, brushing my pants. I started to walk out of the stable. The sun had started to rise, and the oncoming light created a long shadow of me; that falling ground shadow shaded the faces of Mikasa and Armin.
Until a long time had passed, Mikasa had only now noted the departure of Eren. Looking at Armin, she wanted to confirm that it's all just a dream, or like before, Eren was just saying all this to keep them away. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't convince herself.
Like that, time passed. The same order, the same year had arrived. People chose to try and farm on the barren lands, but like before, it didn't work out. Then the second order came: two hundred fifty thousand people were forced to reclaim the lost land. They and the government both knew that it's just a measure to kill the extra people to control the famine. But they still went to their deaths; anyway, they didn't have any other options from the start.
But there's something different about it. This time, Armin's grandfather had broken his leg by slipping, so he wasn't able to go to his death.
Armin really has tricks, I thought at that time.
Every day, Armin or Mikasa came to me with some bread to share, but I refused again and again, until one day I lost my temper and shouted at them: "Can't you understand that I want nothing to do with you anymore?!"
From then on, my days became much more peaceful. No one came to bother me again, except for an old acquaintance of Grisha yeager who offered me to leave with him.
Firstly I was a little skeptical about him, but if he is person who came to have some kidneys he can take it from Attack titan, in here things are really bad, no one have enough food to eat, I had already decided to go in forest to hunt some animals using traps, for which I also had secured some spikes and metal wire.
In the end, giving a try I accepted his offer. After following him to his house I also find out that Grisha Yeager is really a beneficiary to their family. he had saved his wife and daughter from the plague.
After one and half years, then came the day of the Corps recruitment. I wasn't sure if my or their regression would change things, so I remained as low-key as possible.
Because to start my plan, I need the powers of the Founder, and for that, Historia—who should be known as Krista Lenz by now—is the key point. If there's any mishap to me or Historia, like if either one of us went into a different training camp or if she died by any chance, things will become tricky.
Like that, time passed. Fortunately for me, things went smoothly in these past days, and the training camp I was assigned to is the same one from the story. And most importantly, Krista, aka Historia, is also here.
I thought as I looked at the blonde girl standing straight in a standard soldier's stance.
continue—