Phoo!
Eren woke up in the middle of the night, surrounded by Carla and Mikasa still sound asleep. He held his head; the recent "dream" seemed to have made him recall something.
His father's working basement... he realized he had never paid attention to it to the extent that when Asahi asked, he answered instinctively.
"That's strange... I think I've been down there before?"
Eren scratched his head and left his family's sleeping area to wander outside.
He leaned against the wooden railing, silently gazing at the night sky, letting the passing breeze ruffle his bangs.
Despite witnessing loss, because his loved ones were still by his side, Eren, aside from a little bewilderment, was still a normal child.
He thought so.
Coincidentally, at this moment, Erwin had just finished his meeting. He was about to head back to his room to rest when he saw the young Eren dreamily looking at the sky.
So he changed his mind and slowly approached the boy.
"Young man, it's late, aren't you going to sleep?"
"It's the Survey Corps!"
Seeing Erwin's figure with the green cloak, Eren immediately became excited. Although he always admired the Survey Corps soldiers—the people who could go outside the Wall—he had only been able to look from afar. He had never been in such close proximity.
When Eren turned, Erwin also vaguely realized he had seen this boy before. It was on the day Shiganshina was attacked; the boy had looked at the Survey Corps with yearning eyes, even though that operation was a disastrous failure.
"Young man, what is your name?"
"Eren, Eren Yeager! I really admire all of you... but..."
"Your family forbids it, right? Haha, that's normal."
Erwin said with a smile. He could understand; the Survey Corps was always called a bunch of fools, and no family would want their children to go out there and face death.
"Then, Eren, why do you want to join us? You must know that people can die, a deadly death. After experiencing the Titan attack in Shiganshina, you surely understand what death is, right?"
Not being able to live anymore, not being able to see the people you love anymore. No matter how glorious or happy life was before, death is the end.
"It... it is really scary. But I still want to go outside."
He had always harbored a dream: to be able to go outside the Wall and witness the magnificent scenery mentioned in the book Armin gave him when he was little.
"Do you know about the sea? The book says it's a giant salt lake that merchants couldn't exploit even in a lifetime. Wow, when I first heard about it, I was so excited."
"Beyond those Walls, there is the fiery water, the icy land, the snow-covered sands... anyone who sees those things will be the freest person in the world..."
"I... want to become the freest person in the world."
Eren's final statement deeply moved Erwin. A very pure dream, yet more difficult than ever.
Outside, there might truly be the magnificent landscapes the boy spoke of, but it was also full of dangerous things lurking around, and the Titans were a typical example.
"Alright, you should go back to sleep now."
"Yes..."
Eren yawned and walked away, leaving Erwin alone. He watched the direction the boy disappeared, then looked up at the sky.
"A dream, huh..."
He had one too. A dream, a desire that he had pursued from childhood to adulthood.
…
Asahi had returned to the base of Wall Maria.
Looking at the motionless Titans, he merely glanced at them and paid no further attention, climbing the Wall with his bare hands.
The equipment that allowed the soldiers to fly and move was called the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. He hadn't been trained to use it, nor did he have his own set yet. So, he primarily relied on his physical strength.
Asahi didn't climb for long and quickly stood on top of the Wall.
Although it wasn't the first time he had seen this structure, every time he looked at it, he couldn't help but marvel.
He pinpointed the location of the Yeager house and plummeted down. A moment later, he stood before the place where he had been crushed earlier.
Sifting and searching for a while, Asahi found something that looked like a cellar door, which seemed to be the very basement Eren had mentioned.
Fortunately, it wasn't the area covered by the crushed stone.
He lifted the cellar door, revealing a staircase leading down underground. Each step on the wooden stairs echoed with a creaking sound. Asahi was stopped by a door. It was also locked.
"Forgive me, Grisha."
He muttered to himself, raising his hand and forcefully twisting the doorknob.
Crack! Crack!
The wooden pieces, of course, couldn't withstand that force, shattering into splinters along with the handle. The door opened, revealing a normal working room.
A desk with several sheets of paper on the surface and an oil lamp, next to which were stacked several books. A shelf holding bottles labeled with different contents. A bookshelf placed against the wall near the door. Arranged at the far end were a few wooden boxes, along with some scrolls bundled together.
Asahi went in for a quick survey. The bookshelf was entirely filled with medical books, and the medicines on the shelf were just common remedies.
The desk was also unremarkable. The papers on the desk were just ordinary medical records. He meticulously checked the desk drawers; they contained nothing unusual.
No, he found something.
A drawer specifically designed to be hidden beside the desk, seemingly very difficult to detect if not for a small keyhole on the drawer's surface.
Clank!
Asahi used force to pull it open; there was almost no resistance. A small drawer appeared in his sight.
It was empty.
"How can that be?"
He frowned, not believing Grisha would intentionally create this special design and then leave nothing inside.
He tried tapping the bottom of the drawer with his finger, and the difference in density immediately became apparent.
It was a false bottom, created to conceal the real layer beneath. Removing the false wooden bottom, three notebooks, lined with cloth, were neatly stacked side by side. The faint smell of essential oils and mint to repel moths emerged; the three books had definitely been treated with a special method to preserve them for at least several decades.
Asahi didn't understand.
If he wanted to keep a secret, there were entirely better ways to do it. It was almost as if it was intentionally created to be found by others.
Furthermore, Grisha was still alive and nearby; he could simply tell everything himself. Why was it necessary to record it in these notebooks?
Unless he was undertaking an action with a very high risk of death. Knowing he might not return, he recorded something in these three notebooks. And left it for...
Eren?
Asahi couldn't be sure.
He turned over each notebook, page by page. Throughout the entire process, his expression was as cold as stone, showing no apparent change but gradually darkening.
"This is serious."
If things had gone as Grisha intended, everything would have been resolved by now. But his appearance had thrown that path off course.
It wasn't too late; there was a chance to salvage the situation.
Asahi carefully tucked the three notebooks away. He began to turn Grisha's entire study upside down.
He wanted to search every nook and cranny. He wanted to know what this doctor planned to do next, where he planned to go next. Only by knowing these things could Asahi take action.