"What we should do now is wait for Dior to come," Roger said, looking at the sword in his hand.
Incursio was still trembling faintly. After gaining a new master, it was obviously more excited. Compared to its previous owner, it felt something strange and subtle toward its current one—like he was fundamentally different from the people it had served before.
But Roger looked at it and felt it was oddly familiar.
To him, a sword was just a sword. Nothing special. It could cut things, slice things, and serve as a weapon—already extremely useful.
As for whether it needed intelligence or a soul… that was too fantastical for Roger, and also unnecessary. What would he even do with a sword that talked?
Though if this sword could fly over from a hundred meters away and land in his hand… that would be another story.
"Given Dior's personality, he shouldn't wait too long," Nelly said. "But after the clashes you've had with him, he's probably already realized you're not weak. You have a lot of room to grow. If he keeps letting you learn and develop, you might end up cultivating some kind of trump card."
"What do you mean by 'make sunlight chase them'?" Roger asked.
"It's like this. Recently I've been studying a lot of geography—especially world geography. Our enemies are mainly from all over the world now. If I want to ease relations with them and understand their customs, I think that's necessary for my role as a diplomat."
"I know that. But what exactly do you mean by 'make sunlight chase them'?"
"Our world is a rotating sphere, and it moves in a regular orbit around a star—the sun," Nelly said. "That vampire called Dior—if he wants to kill you, he can appear anywhere, anytime. But what if you fight him at the exact moment the sun is about to rise?"
"Then he might not appear," Roger said. "Because he knows that the sun rising at that time is fatal to him."
"But what if he doesn't know when the sun will appear?"
"What do you mean?"
Nelly looked at Roger, then pulled out a map from the desk in front of him and pointed at a country on it.
"Hizuru's geographic position is extremely special. Because it doesn't get much sunlight, their country is often bathed in darkness. But precisely because sunlight is so scarce, their sunrise window is extremely brief—and it can catch people off guard. When it's deep night here, that's when light is just beginning to appear over there.
"I'm thinking… if Dior doesn't know that, and he follows you to Hizuru, then he might be seriously injured by sunlight that appears suddenly. In that case, you could have a better chance."
After hearing Nelly out, Roger thought carefully. "But we don't have any relationship with Hizuru at all."
"We don't—yet. But we will soon."
"How so?"
"A while ago, they sent a letter," Nelly said. "In it, they said they want to establish ties with our newly founded Eldian nation. Their ancestors were once allies of Eldia. But when the 145th King Fritz moved all Eldians to this island, and under pressure from the world, they had no choice but to cut ties with Eldia. Still, long ago, we were extremely close allies—there was never any rift between us.
"And their king once even came to Eldia, and left behind a bloodline here. Boss, you might not understand yet, but once I say this next part, you will."
"Then say it."
"They're Orientals."
"Orientals?"
"Yes. They're an Eastern nation. Everyone in their country is Eastern. And long ago, for certain reasons, Eastern people were also hunted down by the royal family. That reason—I think you know it."
"Yes," Roger said. "Because they refused to collude with the nobles to hide the truth about Titans, they were rejected by all the nobles and suppressed to near extinction. Luckily, they hid themselves and didn't die in that coup."
He paused, then asked, "If that's the case, do you think they'd agree to me going to their country?"
"Definitely. As long as you go as the leader of Eldia to meet with them, that's enough," Nelly said. "Establishing relations with a nation as powerful as ours is something they'd be desperate for."
"I think they want our resources," Roger said with a faint smile. "It's obvious. If I can't see that, then I'm not fit to be king inside the Walls."
Nelly thought the same, but he considered it normal.
"They'll provide us with information and technology, so our development can catch up to the outside world in a short time," Nelly said. "I think trading away some resources is still profitable."
"Then do it your way," Roger said, nodding.
Nelly's intelligence really was impressive.
If someone like him ever became an enemy, it would be a headache. Unfortunately, he had strategy but lacked courage—when big things happened, he would only think about retreat.
If he could somehow merge with Tours—having both courage and brains—then he might actually become a force to be reckoned with.
Nelly nodded silently and withdrew.
Roger continued studying the map on the desk.
But after staring at it for a long time, he suddenly thought of someone.
Mikasa Ackerman.
From Eren's memories, Roger knew Mikasa's mother was Eastern, and her father was an Ackerman—so she was the union of two bloodlines.
If he brought her here, maybe he could ask her about Hizuru.
With that in mind, Roger ordered his men to bring Mikasa Ackerman to him.
At that moment, Mikasa Ackerman felt an emptiness as well—now that there was no need for foreign war.
Without Eren by her side, her life had lost its color.
To find something to do, she specifically applied to go to the Training Corps, planning to train soldiers who could protect their homeland together with the former commander, Keith.
Sometimes she would run into recruits who shouted—just like Eren once did—that they would wipe out other peoples of the world.
She didn't try to stop them. She simply used her harsh trials to test them.
Unfortunately, not a single one persisted like Eren did. They all gave up halfway—just empty slogans, with no resolve to dedicate their hearts.
Keith was old now. Ever since he stopped being commander, he'd remained at this training base, sending wave after wave of fresh blood to the front.
Because he had once been commander of the Survey Corps and had experience hunting Titans outside, he had his own unique methods when training rookies—letting them taste the world's cruelty ahead of time.
But no matter how ruthless Keith was, he still wasn't as punishing as Mikasa.
Mikasa didn't really understand what other people's physical limits were, so she demanded they train by the standards she demanded of herself—resulting in endless complaints. Every night, they collapsed into sleep with exhausted bodies, only to wake up and train like demons again the next day.
Because of this strict female instructor, the recruits in the Training Corps gave her a nickname:
"Demon Ackerman."
They even spread rumors that she had terrifying eight-pack abs—so shredded she'd practically become a Titan.
And that she had only come to the Training Corps to torture people.
Mikasa ignored all of it.
She led by example. No matter how monstrous or terrifying the training plan she set seemed to others, she could carry it out calmly, day after day—something that, to everyone watching, was utterly incomprehensible.
Now, being suddenly summoned by Roger, the excitement in her heart surged again.
Is it war again? she wondered.
Finishing her last push-up, she cracked her knuckles, eager to move.