Attack on Titan: A Blacksmith's Tale

Chapter 28: Regrets of a Troubled Mind

(Mitras)

Levi rarely visited the Capital itself. The place was crawling with all the things he despised: spoiled citizens, noblemen that had people that catered to their every whim, and, of course, the Military Police that usually failed to uphold the oaths they swore. All in all, fighting Titans sounded more pleasant than taking a stroll down the Capitol, but the Underground was below the city, so he'd have to suck it up and deal with it.

Unfortunately, there was another problem facing him and his men. Whenever high-ranking Scouts like Levi or Erwin entered the Interior, the entire place would know about it. That included civilians who had a bone to pick with the Scout Regiment. He could hear their angry shouts directed at him and his men.

"Get out of our city," came from a woman cradling her infant.

"I'll see you hanged, Levi," came from a merchant with too much time on his hands.

"Titan Sympathizer," came from another woman with a face that needed to be punched in.

That comment caused Levi's eyes to twitch, but he had to let it go. As much as he wanted to, beating up morons in the street would just validate their existence. He knew the only reason they were doing this was because one of their own districts was attacked. When it wasn't their problem, they delivered snide remarks to him, the commander, and the Regiment. One could hope that the tragedy would get their heads out of their asses and—

SPLAT!

The remains of a tomato sunk down Levi's face and onto the road. His juice-stained head whipped to his right, seeing that it was a male civilian gearing up for another throw. That one action sparked the rest as produce started sailing through the air.

"Heads down and keep going," Levi ordered, ducking from a head of lettuce.

The Scouts and Matthew did as ordered even as they were assaulted by the food. Their clothes were quickly stained with all sorts of things except for meat. Even when angry, the people of the Interior weren't keen on throwing away their precious commodity. Untrained horses would be panicking and give the mob a chance to swarm them. Scout steeds, who were able to gallop towards lumbering giants, were not such horses. The group managed to lose the crowd easily enough, the angry shouts growing softer as the distance between them increased.

"I've seen civilians angry at us before, but nothing like that," Mandel commented, brushing a crushed pear out of his hair. "Damn, that hurt."

"Can you blame them?" Matthew asked, the one who was affected the least by the food throwing. Damn that Psion's powers. "One of their districts was attacked."

"If these cowards weren't so busy hiding in their cozy homes instead of growing spines, perhaps it wouldn't have come to that," Levi said, his cold stare piercing Matthew's for a moment. "But we'll never know for sure."

Matthew glared back, but he wisely held his tongue.

After a while, Levi brought his horse to a halt in front of two MPs that wore civilian clothes: Gretchen Dohman and Erik Feldt, along with a couple of cases of ODM gear. They awaited outside the Underground entrance, seemingly ready for this. He would be the judge of that.

"Captain Levi," they greeted respectively, saluting.

"What are the orders your commander gave you?" he asked immediately.

"To follow your orders without question, sir," Erik answered.

"If I told you to sacrifice yourself for the good of the mission, would you do it?"

"We are prepared for that, sir," Gretchen replied.

Levi dismounted, sizing them up. "Are you up to speed on the target?"