Mother

It was already dawn when Loran finally returned to Trost. He quickly went home and finally relaxed as he took a bath and lay down on his bed.

He was in quite a good mood as practically everything went perfectly, except for the death of that hunter. Besides, he already thought about what he would do with Mikasa and Armin.

'They are most likely looking for Eren everywhere right now' Loran thought as he smiled. The truth was that he wanted them to join with him in Recruit Troop #104.

This way it would be much easier for him to gain their trust and loyalty in the future. Although he didn't know if they would continue to join without Eren.

'So all I have to do is give them a motive, therefore I will simply blame the current government and the military police for Eren's death' Once they know that Eren's death was caused by the military police they will turn against the current government, joining the army in order to take revenge and end up fervently aiding in the future rebellion.

Once he thought this, Loran slept for a few hours and went downstairs to have breakfast with his mother.

"Mother, I plan to join the Reconnaissance Troops" Loran said as he ate his breakfast 'I don't understand how my mother makes even bread taste so good.'

Sophia raised her head to look at Loran with concern as a frown appeared on her face "You want to die and leave me alone?"

Sophia despite not seeing the heavy casualties the Recon Troops suffer upon returning to Shinganshina has heard the high mortality rates the Recon Troops have had with every expedition they make outside the walls.

Sophia like Loran is a person of few words, however that doesn't mean she doesn't have a lot of emotions running through her.

To Sophia, Loran is her only family and her beloved son, therefore she was very much against him being exposed to such danger.

Looking at his mother with long straight brown hair next to her fine face with beautiful brown eyes full of concern, Loran couldn't help but let his heart soften.

Honestly, in these 6 years he had grown quite fond of Sophia even though he saw her more as a sister than a mother. She has shown him an affection and love comparable to his former family.

"Don't worry mother, I will make sure not to leave you alone and that nothing happens to you" Loran said as he looked steadily into Sophia's eyes "However, I am still thinking about joining the Recon Troops."

The two pairs of brown eyes continued to stare at each other for a few seconds before Sophia walked to Loran's side and hugged him tightly "Then promise me that no matter what happens you will always return home safely, please..."

Sophia knows her son quite well, she knows how firm he can be when he makes up his mind about something. She knew that even with her refusal he would still make the same decision so she didn't refuse anymore, though her worry still took her heart.

Looking at Sophia who was hugging him tightly, Loran exclaimed firmly "I won't leave you alone mother, I promise!"

After calming his mother, Loran left his house towards the place where the refugees were currently staying.

Winning over Mikasa and Armin has taken on greater importance within him after seeing Sophia's outburst. Having these two people can give Loran a greater layer of security despite being a Titan himself.

Mikasa's strength and Armin's intelligence are quite formidable weapons that can be of great use to him. After all, a great Emperor must have good subordinates, as he cannot do everything by himself.

After searching for a while, he finally spotted the characteristic blond mushroom hairstyle which seemed to be looking for something everywhere.

Loran put on the friendliest expression he could and approached Armin saying "Hi, are you looking for something?, if you want I can help you since I am someone from this district I could be of help to you."

Armin initially thought about politely refusing the stranger's help but upon hearing that he was a Trost native he said "I'm looking for my friend, his name is Eren and his appearance is..."

After describing Eren's general appearance, Armin looked at Loren with some expectation that he had seen him or pointed him to a place where he could find a refugee like Eren.

After making it look like he was thinking, Loran said "Ah, I think I saw someone similar next to a man who looked like his father the last night fighting with some Military Police guys."

'Eren, Mr. Jaeger and the Military Police?' Armin was puzzled as to why Eren would be fighting with the Military Police, but remembering Eren's character he couldn't help but panic and run towards Mikasa's location after thanking Loran.

Looking at Armin's running figure Loran could only sigh and feel a little guilty for doing this to the trio. Then, he went for a walk around the district to clear his head 'After asking the military police and getting nothing, they will surely start to resent them. I just have to fan their resentment by giving a few clues as to what might have happened to Eren.'

Loren also mentioned Grisha as he knew that Shadis should still be here in Trost, plus they might meet him in the future which would show holes in what he said so he decided to say that Eren together with Grisha had a conflict with the Military Police.

....

Armin along with Mikasa were walking back to the refugee area while frowning.

They had just left the Military Police headquarters after asking about Eren, however, the Military Police said they knew nothing about Eren and Grisha.

'Maybe he got the wrong people?' wondered Armin referring to what Loran had told him, however this did nothing but worry him since Eren had disappeared since the night before 'Besides, Mr. Jaeger and Eren wouldn't leave on their own without telling us first...'

Seeing Mikasa's increasingly dark and worried face, Armin asked him "From your side you didn't find any clues, Mikasa?"

"No..." Mikasa said as she frowned more and more while biting her lip.

"Hey, you two!"

Armin was about to tell Mikasa to go back to rest and resume their search when they heard a man's voice call out behind them.

Turning around both Mikasa and Armin saw a middle aged man with short brown hair and some vestiges of a beard approaching them 'That's the uniform of the Recon Troops!' thought Armin as he saw the wings on the middle aged man's uniform.

The man, Keith Shadis, asked them as they approached "You two are the friends of Grisha's son, right?"

"Yes sir, do you know where Eren is?" Armin quickly asked the man after seeing that he apparently knew Grisha. Mikasa also looked with intense expectation at Shadis.

"I wonder that too, last night Grisha took Eren, however, I've been looking for them ever since and haven't found them" Seeing that they also didn't know where Eren and Grisha were, Shadis said what he knew.

After hearing this both Armin and Mikasa were disappointed again, Armin also thought 'Since this men who looks like Mr. Jeager's friend said that he saw them together it means that what the guy said this morning is probably true'.

While thinking this Armin said "Someone told me that he saw them fighting with some Militar Police guys last night, however, we asked the military police and they said they didn't know anything..."

"The military police?" said Shadis as he frowned. He knew about the acts that the military police guys usually do, especially now that crime and lack of food is on the rise due to the current overpopulation. So he said "I see, go back then to the refugee area it's getting late."

After saying this Shadis left quickly without waiting for the response of Armin and Mikasa, who without any other choice went back to the refugee area.

....

After a walk around Trost and a bite to eat, it was getting late. Therefore, Loran went to the refugee area and looked for Mikasa and Armin to give the final blow.

After finding both of them depressed with their heads down on top of some crates, Loran approached them.

"Hello again, were you able to find your friend?" asked Loran as he approached Mikasa and Armin.

After hearing the familiar voice from this morning Armin lifted his head to look at Loran and said "No.... The military police say they don't know anything."

Mikasa also raised her head to look carefully at Loran who approached them without warning.

"I see... it's a pity, lately I've heard some nasty rumors from the military police" Loran sighed as he sat down next to Armin.

"Rumors?" Armin said as he was starting to get a bad feeling about it.

"You know... with crime and overpopulation increased in the district due to the refugees the military police have been secretly cracking down, apparently several people have gone missing lately" Loran said as he hinted that the military police were to blame for Eren and Grisha's disappearance.

"Are you saying that the military police killed Eren?" Mikasa said while looking at Loran with hostility and annoyance.

"Calm down, I'm just stating a possibility, it doesn't have to be that way" Loran said as he backed down at Mikasa's obvious anger.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I can't help you more, see you" said Loran as he left without waiting for a response from Mikasa or Armin apparently fleeing from the furious Mikasa.

Armin was stunned as he looked ahead and thought 'The military police killed Eren? Why? Do they want to reduce the burden of food? or is it something else?'

'No, it's still not certain that Eren is dead' Armin said to himself for comfort before turning to Mikasa "Mikasa, what do we do?"

"I refuse to believe that Eren is dead, we have to find out what happened to him" Mikasa said as he gritted his teeth with hatred 'If the military police really did kill Eren I won't forgive them'

"In that case... let's join the military, once there we can more easily investigate Eren's disappearance, currently we can't do anything" said Armin as he looked at Mikasa

"Mm..." nodded Mikasa as his eyes filled with determination and hostility.