Attack on Titan: The Berserk Titan

As I saw Vanessa tidying me up in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel sad that it felt like we were going to go our separate ways. She's a beautiful girl with awful circumstances, but at least I can rest assured that she's going to be safe here.

"Are we going to see each other again?".

"We will, Arthur. Let's go, we can't be late".

"Why is the interview so deep at night? couldn't they wait until tomorrow?".

"They don't want unwanted people to know that they're adopting a child, so this interview is secret. We're going to go somewhere, they're going to ask you some questions... and if they like you, they will take you right there".

"Just like that? I won't be able to come back?".

I didn't think the process would be so quick; I hadn't even said my farewell to my friends here.

"Yes, that quick... and that's for the best, the quicker the better".

"It feels like you're throwing me away".

"I am, you're too good for this orphanage, arthur... you should be somewhere more according to you".

"You're too good for here too, Vanessa... if I get in, m-maybe I can get you a job as a maid–"

Vanessa kissed my forehead, "I will be okay... you don't have to worry about me".

I slapped her hand away and stared at her fuming, I don't understand why she's so adamant in giving me away. 

"You have been very mature for your age so far, Arthur... don't be a child now... I need you to be an adult now!".

"I am not an adult, I am a kid..."

"You may be, but you're not... so let's keep the lies to ourselves. You have things you don't want to say, I have things I can't say... be good, okay?".

"A-Are you selling me?".

"..."

"Vanessa!"

She put a cloak on me and on herself then we set off in silence. Vanessa looked sideways as if someone was watching at all times. Eventually, we arrived in a room where there were two individuals also in a cloak.

"Lady Vannir, Lord Borg".

Vanessa greeted them both and removed the cloak off me. 

They were a rather handsome man with dark hair and a blonde lady with blue eyes who looked just a tad bit older than him. While his countenance was fresh, she looked strict and hard-tempered. 

"My name is Vannir Borg, this is my husband, Leon Borg".

The man knelt down and patted my head, "What is your name, boy?".

"My name is Arthur".

"I see, Arthur... what is your favourite thing in the world?".

"Favourite thing...?"

"What is something you like more than anything else in the world".

"... money".

"Pft!~" The woman laughed.

"Do you know how to make it? Money...?"

"I know, it is not hard".

"Oh? We're a family of merchants, we make money by selling products manufactured in different villages of Wall Maria and Rose. We specialise mostly in medical supplies such as medicine and pills," Vannir said and knelt next to her husband to take my hand. 

"Vanessa said something about some trick that you do with numbers".

"Trigonometry, do you want to see–".

"Trigonometry... I don't know how it works and I am not interested, Arthur" She glared at me dead in the eye, "If your name were Arthur Borg... how would you use this trigonometry to make money?".

"..." I looked at Vanessa, who seemed to be in a cross between sweating in nervousness and happiness at the chemistry. 

So far, I don't have a bad opinion of these two. It seems they don't want a son but something else.

"Trigonometry specialises in calculating angles, edges and distances between different sides of a triangle or other geometric forms. It is not a skill I would use to make money as a merchant. I would use a bit of algorithmic and statistical methods to know which trade routes are more risk-effective and worth investing in. If you sent your goods from Karanes to Trost and Utopia and realised that you only sold 50% of your stock in Utopia, it would be wiser to send stock in carriages more according to demand since your goods also have an expiration date and won't be of any use two months after they're sent depending on what season we're in. Like, I imagine the majority of medical supplies are used in soldiers... so it would be worthwhile to take crime statistics from each district into account– eh? Are you following?".

Lady Vannir and Lord Borg were gasping; they both looked at Vanessa, who also gawked as if she had never heard me talk to her this eloquently. 

"Are you sure you're not lying? Six years old?" Leon Borg couldn't believe it, but except for the way I talked, the way I looked corresponded to a six-year-old kid. 

"H-He is, I have raised him since he was a baby... and since he was three years old, he's been very eloquent and reliable. I-I even suspect he knew how to speak way before that, but he didn't do it so that I wouldn't be suspicious" Vanessa glared at me.

They both looked at me inquisitively, wondering if that's true.

I scratched my head, "H-Hehe, who knows?~"

"..."

Lady Vannir caressed her chin and looked at her husband, "A genius?".

"..." He didn't answer and instead stared at me one more time, "What is your dream, Arthur...? What do you want to do in the future?".

"I want to join the Legion".

!!!

The answer took them by surprise, Vanessa rubbed her forehead and stared at me with an accusing glare, she thought I messed up this interview.

"What do you mean? You just said you love money above anything else. Why does that translate into joining the Legion? You're to smart to be joining that group of wretches" Lady Vannir took my wrist, she had already made her decision.

We were no longer in the phase in which they wondered if they wanted to adopt me or not. They were in the phase in which they imposed their demands on me.

But I wasn't about to allow that. They're not using me... I am using them.

"If you want to be our child, you better forget that dream–"

"If the two of you want money... wouldn't it be normal to be interested in all the resources outside murals?" I said.

"..." Their gazes told me to profoundise.

"What can be harvested within the walls is very limited, and there is poverty in wall maria and some places in wall rose because cattle and meat are not enough for all of us. They're exclusive for those in the centre. Can you imagine a world in which meat is easily accessible to everyone? That future is possible if we traverse beyond the walls".

"But we humans can't defeat the titans!–" Lady Vannir retorted.

"We can with stronger weapons" I said.

"..."

I put a finger on my head, "I am smart enough to come up with stronger weapons... so why wouldn't I be interested in joining the legion and watching the world beyond the walls? In fact, I won't just go and watch it... I want to make human settlements outside the walls, that's my dream".

Lady Vannir clenched her teeth, she took out a bag of money and put it in the shocked Vanessa's hands. 

"We're taking him, thanks for your business and I hope this is never going to reach public ears. We will wait some time before we disclose to the public that I have 'given birth' to Arthur".

They wanted to take me straight away, but I pulled Vanessa's shivering wrist.

"Can I have some last words with her?" I requested. Vanessa shivered even more, she didn't want to face me. But she'd have to... I deserved at least that much.

"... that's okay, but don't take too long... we don't want to be seen this late around here".

Both of them, my new parents, left us to have a bit of privacy. 

"I'm sorry"

The first thing Vanessa did was apologise, but throughout it she didn't look at my face once. She knelt down and we were on eye level.

"You're more clever than I thought, Vanessa... I never thought you'd be able to do this" I said with a bit of a laugh. 

I was not losing in this deal, neither of us were... I would be adopted by a rich family instead of staying in that church, and she made some money.

She made a good deal for both of us, even if I still felt a bit betrayed. 

"If I said I am doing this to protect you, you won't believe me, do you?" She mumbled, her voice very weak.

"... it doesn't look that way to me" I said, looking at the bag full of money. I felt compelled to ask her how much she sold me for, but figured that'd just upset me more.

"If you were in my shoes, would you think you're protecting me?".

"If I were in your shoes, I would realise that this girl has done nothing but protect me for the last five years... so probably, this time it is not any different".

"Hahahahaha!" I laughed out loud, but she didn't laugh with me.

"..."

Once my laughter receded, I stared at her... I took her head in my small hands, "... then I guess that's how I will have to see it so that we don't feel bad about each other, Vanessa".

Then I kissed her cheek, Vanessa yelped, her eyes watered up and she hugged me hard, she kissed me back... she cried, but she never explained to me what she was going through. What was the real reason for all of this. Why did she need the money? 

Nothing. I thought she saw me as someone reliable, but I guess I was wrong.

"T-Take this–" She said, taking some coins out of the bag, I was surprised to see they were all gold coins.

I refused and put them back in the bag, "I don't want it. I told you that you didn't have to pay, didn't I? Because you have been my mother for five years".

My refusal only increased her guilt, she hugged me and sobbed even further, "I love you, Arthur... be a good kid, okay? Don't get your parents too upset, and try to not get in trouble... don't ask foolish questions... later, if we see each other again... I may take on that maid offer... if you can forgive me"

I released her and walked to the door, she didn't have the strength to follow me.

"Just make sure you enjoy that money and don't give it to the family that sold you away to the church, the same way you're selling me. That would be quite ironic, don't you think?"

I left the room and headed downstairs, Lady Vannir and Leon were already in the carriage waiting for me. I boarded it and we left.

I never saw Vanessa again.