You are my Soul

☾hapter XV

Anelise's POV

We continued our ride, with Eren trailing a bit behind us.

" Ah... Did Commander Erwin...". I overheard Eren mumbling.

" Hey ! Snap out of it !". Oluo exclaimed, jolting him from his daydream.

" Eren ! Think later ! We need to push farther in and stand by !". Petra urged.

Eren nodded, refocusing," Ah, right !".

We spurred our horses to move faster, and from a distance, we could hear the sound of gunfire, a clear indication that Commander Erwin had ordered more hooks to be fired for safety.

After a few minutes, Eld signaled for us to stop, deeming that we had gone far enough. We secured our horses' reins before utilizing the Three-dimensional Maneuver Gear to land gracefully on a sturdy tree branch.

I decided to sit down and dangle my legs, listening with a distracted ear to Eren conversing with the squad members while resting my head on my hand.

"...from the very start, right ? I can see why he wouldn't have told the new troops, but why wouldn't he tell you when you've all been with the Survey Corps for so long ?". Eren inquired.

" Shut up !". Shouted Oluo.

" Are you saying the Commander and the Lance Corporal don't trust us ?". Petra wondered in disbelief.

" Huh ? No, but that's what this means !". Eren fervently denied Petra's question.

" Petra, rip out his teeth ! Swap the front and back teeth when you shove 'em back in !". Oluo yelled, his temper flaring.

" Oluo, calm down. You're wasting all your energy, and just looking at you, I can feel mine draining away too". I told him in a bored tone.

I saw his eyes twitch, but before he could retort, Eld began to speak.

" No, Eren's right". Eld stated.

" What ?". Oluo asked, hoping he had misunderstood.

" I think there was a reason the Commander couldn't trust us". Eld revealed.

" Like what ?". Gunther asked, puzzled by Eld's remark.

" There's a spy among us, and the more secret the information, the better. If the Commander had told too many people, his plan could have fallen apart". I explained.

Eld nodded in agreement with my assessment.

" How do you know that, Izzy ?". Petra inquired.

I merely shrugged my shoulders," I have a secret myself, and if that secret falls into the wrong hands, there's no guarantee that the traitor we're trying to capture right now wouldn't attempt to silence me. I thought to myself that the Commander's reasoning was the same as mine".

I could see the expressions of my comrades shifting into panic. Admittedly, revealing that someone might want to kill me could be unsettling.

" Does this have anything to do with what you saw earlier ?". Gunther inquired, breaking the silence.

I offered a simple nod, understanding that sometimes, less was more when it came to sensitive matters.

He seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and wisely changed the topic of conversation. The other squad members began chatting amongst themselves. As I kept to myself, not contributing to their discussions, I noticed Eren slowly approaching me.

" Izzy, can we talk ?". Eren asked nervously.

" What ?". I retorted, my tone harsher than intended, causing Eren to hesitate.