Walking along the street, Yago was in a good mood. Although Mr. Leonhart's gaze toward him was not exactly kind, at least the objective had been accomplished. Soon, Annie Leonhart would be reunited with Mr. Leonhart.
Thinking of the possible look of joy on Annie Leonhart's face, Yago couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.
Before long, Yago arrived at a crossroads. Unnoticed by him, from the other side, several small figures were sprinting wildly.
"Udo, Zofia, and Falco, just you wait and see! This time on the battlefield, I'll be the most dazzling one! Haha!" A brown-haired little girl shouted to her companions as she ran, glancing back over her shoulder, completely unaware that there was a figure at the intersection ahead.
Behind the little girl, her companions were also running. Among them, a blond little boy noticed the figure that had appeared in front of her and quickly shouted,
"Gabi! Slow down, there's someone ahead!"
Gabi looked at Falco, but because she was running too fast, she didn't hear clearly.
"Falco, what are you sa—… ah!"
Charging forward blindly, Gabi suddenly felt herself crash into something. The powerful rebound force instantly knocked her backward. Just as she was about to fall, a hand suddenly grabbed her arm firmly, preventing her from hitting the ground.
At this moment, her companions also caught up. Falco was panting heavily. He first glanced at Gabi and, seeing that she was unharmed, then looked at the person she had run into.
Beneath the black trench coat was a tall, upright figure. An unfamiliar handsome face and a faintly oppressive aura emanated from him. Most importantly, this young man, who seemed to be about the same age as his brother Colt, did not have an Eldian armband on his arm. In the Liberio internment zone, the only ones who dared not wear an armband were Marleyans.
Falco hurriedly apologized on Gabi's behalf.
"BI'm so sorry. My friend was running too fast and bumped into you."
Gabi's other two friends, the black-haired boy Udo and the white-haired little girl Zofia, also bowed to Yago in apology.
Looking at the yellow armbands on their arms, Yago immediately understood their identities. "Warrior Candidates?"
Then Yago turned his gaze to the little girl who had just run into him. Suddenly, Gabi's face overlapped with the figure in older Eren's memories—the one who shot Sasha.
"You killed Sasha?!" Yago's eyes widened at once. The hand gripping Gabi's arm suddenly tightened. The immense strength made Gabi cry out in pain. "It hurts! Let go! It hurts!"
But a crimson glint flashed through Yago's black pupils. The image of Sasha collapsing in a pool of blood from older Eren's memory was reflected in his mind.
That simple, kind, slightly foolish girl had died on the cold deck. Yago could not accept that outcome. Threads of killing intent began to seep from his body.
Yago's icy killing intent terrified the Warrior Candidates. Falco was the first to rush forward, prying at Yago's fingers with all his strength while anxiously shouting,
"Let go! Gabi didn't mean it, please forgive her! I'm sorry!"
Udo and Zofia each clung to one of Yago's legs.
"We're sorry, it's our fault. We shouldn't have been running around. Please let Gabi go!"
Gabi was also thoroughly frightened at this moment. The way this unfamiliar man had looked at her just now was especially terrifying, as if he wanted to devour her alive. She was still just a child. Although she had just received news that all Warrior Candidates were to head to the front lines, she had never seen a battlefield, nor had she ever encountered such a terrifying gaze and killing intent.
"Gabi! Apologize quickly!" Falco shouted urgently.
Startled, Gabi hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't run around anymore, I'm sorry! Please, please let go, it really hurts…"
At the same time, the crimson in Yago's eyes faded. He loosened his grip. The intense pain in Gabi's arm eased. Instinctively, she staggered back to put distance between herself and Yago. Her eyes were already brimming with tears—from pain, and from fear—as she stared at him with lingering terror.
Seeing Gabi released, her companions quickly let go of Yago as well. Frightened, they ran to Gabi's side. The children all stared at Yago with fearful expressions.
Looking at Gabi's young face filled with terror, Yago was, for the moment, unable to connect her with the girl in older Eren's memory whose mind had been twisted.
Granted, he had just harbored killing intent—but was he truly going to kill these children here? For now, they seemed to be nothing more than children who had done nothing.
Yago raised his hand and looked at it, giving a self-mocking smile.
"Am I going soft?"
If he were facing the Gabi from older Eren's memory—the one who shot Sasha and shouted arrogantly—Yago would have crushed her head without the slightest hesitation. But facing the present Gabi, when he questioned his own heart, he found that he couldn't do it.
After thinking for a long time, Yago walked toward the children and soon stood before them. The oppressive aura from earlier frightened the Warrior Candidates so much that they didn't dare move.
Yago extended his hand toward Gabi. Terrified, Gabi immediately closed her eyes, covered her head, and shouted, "Don't!!"
But the pain she had imagined did not come. Instead, a piece of paper was placed in her palm. When she opened her eyes again, she saw only Yago's departing figure. In her hand was a banknote.
Watching Yago leave, Falco still felt lingering fear. He asked with concern, "Gabi, are you okay?"
Gabi's body was still trembling slightly.
"That… that Marleyan… the way he looked at me… was so, so scary. He… he seemed like he wanted to kill me."
At that moment, Colt, wearing his armband, also found the children who had been running wildly just now.
"You guys were running way too fast. Hurry up, or Captain Magath will get angry."
However, Colt soon noticed that the children's expressions were not quite right. He asked in surprise, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Gabi suddenly raised her head and, in a voice tinged with tears, asked,
"Even if we become Marleyan Warrior Candidates, will we still be looked down on by Marleyans? Is it only by becoming Honorary Marleyans that they won't discriminate against us?"
Colt froze. He hadn't expected Gabi to ask such a question. But since he didn't know what had happened, he could only reply vaguely,
"Uh, becoming an Honorary Marleyan should let you live a good life…"
After hearing Colt's words, Gabi lowered her head. Normally, she would have believed in this unwaveringly—that becoming an Honorary Marleyan would be enough, that she could live a good life, that Marleyans would no longer discriminate against her, that they would even admire her instead of seeing her as a descendant of devils. But now…
In the end, Colt still led the children toward the Warrior unit's assembly point. Only Gabi no longer had her original excitement.
Yago walked along the street with his head lowered. Thinking of the Gabi in older Eren's memory shouting "devils" at the Survey Corps, he muttered,
"If you truly become like that, I will personally crush you!"
(A/N: Let me say a bit about my feelings. When writing this chapter, my mood was somewhat complicated. In the original work, Gabi is indeed detestable—someone like that could be written to die ten thousand times without regret. But the Gabi here is still merely a Warrior Candidate, and that kind of pathological, brainwashed worldview has not yet fully formed. To ruthlessly write her death at this point feels somewhat forced. I can only ask everyone to continue watching how the plot develops next. If you were Yago, what would you choose to do?)