Attack on Titan: The Berserk Titan

Kenny brought me to a small village in Mitras. I don't know how far away from Rodd Reiss' field. He had a room here. It seems like one of those people who don't settle in one place, but instead they're just on the move. 

"Was it necessary to take me all this way back, even though you're taking me back home?" I complained.

Frieda must have reached her home and my family may have been notified by now. He wants to kidnap me and then ask my mother for money for the ransom? Listen here, eunuch old geezer... I didn't spend a year growing the company and making a profit, saving to create another branch, just for you to kidnap me like this and take it all away. 

"We still don't know if I'm letting you go, kid… and even if I do, you're walking back, don't expect me to fetch you" He had the gallantry to say this with a smile.

"Stingy old geezer".

"Don't make me change my mind. Tell me, what is this business you were talking about?"

He sat down in front of the window, the room was lit only with a dim candle, where I could see the small village and vast lands beyond that looked dim with the falling sun. There was a village in the distance and the walls. I would have to walk... it was not a very enthusiastic mood.

Nevertheless, getting out of this without having to pay a penny is the priority.

"It's a drug", I said.

"A drug? You mean medicine?"

"Yes, but not exactly. My mother and I are in the process of developing a component capable of influencing the mind to reduce physical pain. But this component has an addictive aspect to it due to Hallucinogens. It can make you feel happy and at ease".

He lifted his brows, "You mean something like tobacco?"

"Tobacco?" I was momentarily stunned. I haven't seen anyone use tobacco in this world.

"It is very exclusive, but here it is…"

He showed me a cigarette, which looked quite rudimentary and poorly done, but it was a cigarette.

"It is very exclusive and smoking this can make you feel really good~ you want some? ugh, wait... I forgot you're a kid" The man rubbed his temples. "Anyway, you want some or not?".

"I don't think I want. But forget about that tobacco, I can make something that will leave you unable to ever come back to this garbage, with how good it is. But I want its usage to be regulated, and I want it to be acquired mostly by the legion, the soldiers who are in constant contact with the titans," I said. 

He lit up the cigarette and smoked, "That's good and all but how do I profit from this?"

"You're well connected. At the very least, you seem to know Frieda, which means you know Rodd Reiss".

"... I am well acquainted, yes" He affirmed. 

"I want you to help me propose this to the minister of defence, I don't have the means or the contacts yet... we weren't even going to bring this up until the product was finished, I am just telling you ahead of time so that you can be involved."

"Minister of Defence? Who the hell is that?" Kenny laughed, "You're talking about the commander of the military?"

"Yes".

We aren't taught much about the chain of command in this place aside from the three divisions of the military. I guess that way, no one can be held accountable for anything.

"Pixis, huh… we will see, brat. I do have the connections, but I have to see this drug or whatever first. How long is it going to take to develop it?"

"It should be done in the next couple of years. I will pay you a fixed rate, a hundred thousand dews for the contract. Regardless of whether it is successful or not, that's a profit for you" I proposed a number that wasn't either high or small. Regardless of how much he asked, we were surely going to make a lot more money, but I didn't want him to get too hooked. 

He lifted his brows and huffed some smoke," That's some good money. Almost as much as I was planning to ask your parents to save you".

"…" My brows twitched; it was his subtle way of telling me to go higher, but I didn't say a word and instead just glared at him, 'Tell me a number'.

"Two hundred thousand–" He began his bargain.

"Deal~" I agreed happily. 

"… eh?" Kenny was left speechless. He must have thought 

"I said deal. Two hundred thousand, you let me go now, and in two years I'll let you test the drug, then you can get this Pixis to come look at it, I'll deal with the rest" I proposed our terms since there was a deal. 

The amount he proposed was no small number, but it was way lower than what I expected him to go for. If we consider a single dew is equivalent to a single thousand. Then he's getting a two-hundred-thousand-dollar drink for getting us a deal worth tens of millions. 

"I feel like I just got scammed. I can't increase the price, can I?" He huffed another bit of smoke.

"You can't", I said.

"What if I just ask more to your parents, huh?"

"I can always bite my tongue and die. You get no money from my parents and lose your credibility with the military cause you failed to hand me over alive. What are you going to eat, Kenny?" I growled. I hate when people bite more than they can chew.

He glared at me, and we glared at one another... he wasn't happy, but I had successfully kicked off his greed. He must think that we can do more business in the future; his net profit from our connection is not going to be just two hundred thousand. 

'It doesn't matter in the end how much money you get out of this deal, Kenny. Because now I know I have the Gomu Gomu... I will become stronger in the future, and murdering you is not going to be an issue. I'll use you all I want, and then I'll take those two hundred thousand away from your corpse'.

"I hate cunning brats like you the most… You remind me of a nephew I have. He's a pain in the ass, too. Good, then, we have a deal. Just go already, I have to travel"

He agreed and turned around, but the pitiful him didn't get to see my smile. 

"I have a question for you. It is regarding what you know about me and Vanessa–"

"All I know about you is that you were brought from outside the walls by the commander of the scouts. From the moment you arrived, you have been under watch... that nun was just one of the ones supposed to keep a watch on you, that's all. Get lost, the gate to Orvud is an hour walk in that direction..."

He pointed out to the wall in the distance, and it was already getting very dark.

"You really making me walk home?" I sighed, "Can't you see I am a kid?".

"Did I stutter?"

"..."

**

**

And so, Arthur began walking through the fields with scarce trees. 

'Yeah, no...'

He found two trees close enough to one another, parallel to his destination, hooked his arms on both and stretched back as much as he could. Then he jumped, and the tension sent him flying in the skies like a bullet towards that village. 

He crashed like trash on the ground, getting covered in dust and even mud. 

Nevertheless, Arthur could only think of victory. 

'I survived, I spilt a load of bullshit and survived... my mom is not yet aware of the hallucinogen factor of the drug she's working in. And once she realises it, she will likely produce something to counter it. But that's okay by me... I will deal with it on my own. As for you, Kenny... I don't need your connections. Rodd Reiss is going to be my father-in-law. What other connections do I need other than him'.

Arthur reached the city, and he realised a lot of brows were given his aspect, and when he reached the gate, he was questioned. He looked around to see if any of the military police were present, but there were only gate officers. 

"It is too late, the gate only opens from morning to early evening", One of them said as they surrounded him.

"It is me, Arthur... I have gone through the gate before, in fact, I went through this morning together with the Young Lady from the Reiss Family," Arthur described.

It wasn't the first time he crossed the gate to Mitras. Every time he left with Frieda to visit Historia, they had to cross the carriage through the gates and then return in the evening.

"Oh? Arthur Borg? You're Lord Reiss' guest? Why are you here this late?"

"The young lady and I were attacked, she managed to escape, but I didn't... could you help me? I am trying to get back home in Orvud".

The guards looked at one another and nodded, "It is not according to our protocol, but we can allow you to stay here in our dorms for now, but you still need to wait until the morning, Arthur".

The boy frowned but nodded nonetheless; there wasn't much of a choice. 

He was given a room in the dorms where the officers would patrol and stay for the night. However, Arthur looked through the window how one of the officers shoot out on his horse somewhere towards the east while the other remained.

'I can't stay here... he may have gone to the military police quarters, and even if he didn't, they may know things by the morning that they don't know yet. If what Kenny said is true, then they're looking for me right now'.

While thinking about what to do, Arthur noticed that the gate wasn't completely shut. There was a big enough gap between the door and the top of the entrance. Although that gap was not easy to reach.

'They may just apprehend me in the morning, I have to go... fucking geezer', he growled at the memory of Kenny, who had just messed everything up.

"You're a kid, don't curse, Arthur!"

Arthur was about to jump out of the window, but he turned around and looked back, and there was no one. No sweet voice, no subtle scold. 

"I thought I didn't care about you, but I guess I did".

'You never know what you have until you lose it. I am sorry, Vanessa'.

Arthur jumped out of the window and landed on the ground not too far away from the checkout office. The streets of the small village were silent and grim. 

"The only way I can do this is if I can do like Luffy... a gun".

From his perspective, he could see the gap where he hoped to squeeze, but no one could normally reach that.

He punched forward, and nothing happened...

'Dammit, why isn't it stretching!?'. 

After trying a couple of times, he finally achieved the desired result... or at least something close enough. He punched forward after loading, and his arm elongated about two metres, but only two metres...

'Shit, this is not enough to reach there...'