Chapter 83

In terms of strength, it was clear that Eren, who couldn't even handle the Female Titan, would be no match for the Armored Titan. Even though Eren had been trained by Tom for a month and could use some combat techniques in his Titan form, and even though Eren's physical strength and fighting spirit were at their peak, and even though the Armored Titan was already at the end of its strength... the huge gap in power between the two meant that after a few exchanges, Eren was still suppressed.

However, Tom never expected Eren to defeat the Armored Titan. He only needed Eren to wear down the last of the Armored Titan's strength. At the same time, the elite members of the Survey Corps began to appear on the battlefield, attacking the Armored Titan with various methods.

With the appearance of the Survey Corps, the people, who had been filled with despair, once again saw hope in their eyes.

Then, in this atmosphere, the shills that Tom had arranged in advance finally launched their offensive.

"Hey, did you know that the reason the Titans appeared in the interior this time is because of the royal family?"

"What did you say?"

"You don't believe me?" Shill No. 1 said with conviction, "My brother works in the capital, and once when he was drunk, he accidentally told me that the royal family has always known the secret of the Titans and has been trying to create Titans."

"Ah, now that you mention it, I remember my sister saying something about the royal family being able to control Titan power... Oh, my sister works as a maid in the capital, but I always felt her job wasn't that simple, because every time she came home, she had a faint smell of blood on her." Shill No. 2 chimed in.

"Nonsense, you two are just making things up, I don't believe it!" Shill No. 3 played the role of the skeptic.

"Although I don't really believe it either, didn't Commander Pixis say over a month ago that Eren Yeager was a human-made anti-Titan weapon? And it did work in the war. If that's true, then..." Shill No. 4 countered with facts.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem to be the case..." Shill No. 3 was immediately convinced.

"But if the royal family can control Titan power, why did this happen?" Shill No. 5 raised a question.

"I know about this, I didn't want to say it, but with so many people dying, I can't keep it to myself..." Shill No. 6 played the role of the informant, looking solemn as he revealed the truth, "There are actually two factions within the royal family. The war faction wants to use Titan power to eliminate the Titans outside and bring freedom to humanity, while the power faction doesn't want to do that and instead wants to keep Titan power in their own hands to strengthen the royal family's power. The two factions couldn't agree, so a conflict broke out..."

"The royal family is having an internal war?"

"Of course, otherwise why hasn't anyone from the royal family come to restore order?"

"That's true, now that you mention it, we haven't seen anyone from the royal family. What happened to them?"

"They're all dead. In fact, the reason so many Military Police are gathered around the capital today is because of this."

"I see, that's why there are fewer Military Police patrolling today... Hey, Mr. Military Police, you must know something, right?"

The former Military Police, now Shill No. N, put on a sad face, "I really don't know. I'm just a low-ranking soldier following orders. I only heard from my superiors that something troublesome might happen today, but I don't know what it is."

"See, it's just as I thought! So the general situation should be clear. The power faction and the war faction had a conflict, which led to the destruction of the royal family and the release of the Titans, causing this tragedy."

"But why the Armored Titan?" Someone in the crowd was finally stirred up.

"Could it be... the Armored Titan was also created by the royal family? Damn, how could they do such a thing!"

The shills began to guide the conversation at the right moment.

"Just to consolidate their power, they would risk all our lives? My parents and my wife and relatives all died in the fall of Wall Maria five years ago. If all this was the doing of the royal family..."

"No, that's not right. Although the power faction of the royal family is despicable, there are also members of the royal family who truly care about humanity. Do you know that the new recruit who recently joined the Survey Corps, Historia, is actually a princess with pure royal blood, the last hope of the war faction!"

"Historia? Who's that?"

"Historia Reiss, her real name is Krista Reiss. She is not only the legitimate heir to the royal family but also a determined, brave, kind, and intelligent girl, seen by the war faction as the hope of humanity. But to make her a qualified queen, she didn't stay in the royal family. Instead, she lived incognito as a common girl, from the pioneer lands to the training corps and then to the Survey Corps, undergoing thorough training as a future queen..."

"Do you know that the Titan-shifter Eren Yeager, who has Titan power, is actually the same age as Princess Krista, and they were both in the same training class and joined the Survey Corps? Do you know why?"

"Could it be that he is..."

"That's right. Eren Yeager was created by the war faction of the royal family to protect and assist Princess Krista. Otherwise, why would they choose a new recruit from the training corps to have such powerful Titan power? It's because of Princess Krista. As long as the princess is alive, we still have hope! Now that Eren Yeager and the Survey Corps have appeared, the princess must be somewhere, and she will come to save us!"

"Yes, the princess will come to save us. Let's all call out... Princess Krista!"

"Princess Krista!"

"Queen Krista!"

"Princess Krista!"

"..."

The voices of the shills grew louder, and all the shills began to chant this name in unison.

Often, the truth of a matter is not important. As the saying goes, 'three men make a tiger.' As long as someone says it, someone will believe it, and the more people say it, the more people will believe it. Once someone believes it, more and more people will believe it. At that point, even if it's a lie, it will become the truth, especially since what the shills were saying was a mix of truth and lies.

As for the ordinary people who didn't know the truth, the truth didn't matter to them. They didn't care about the so-called truth. What they cared about was... who could protect them? Who could bring them a stable life?

Thus, when the first person was swayed by the shills' words, a second and a third followed, and more and more people joined in, chanting Historia's real name. In the end, all the voices coalesced into one name.

Princess Krista!

Whether they believed it or not, the owner of this name had become their hope.

...

Even without adjusting his hearing, Tom could hear the voices clearly. He knew that all the pieces of the chess game were finally in place. The momentum he had deliberately created was forming a kind of prestige. As long as he could solidify this prestige, no one could stop Historia from becoming the new queen.

So, there was only one thing left to do.

"Go, respond to the people's expectations, defeat the Armored Titan, and become the true hope of humanity!"

Tom patted Historia's back lightly and said with a smile.

...

Some readers have expressed concern that the tone of the book is becoming more serious. I want to say that this concern is unnecessary. Although the recent chapters have been a bit more intense due to the plot, this atmosphere is only occasional. As a comedy novel, the main focus is on the humorous and entertaining aspects, which is the basic professional ethic of a comedian.

Additionally, this volume is coming to an end. I'll give a spoiler: the third volume is about Hunter x Hunter, and I think it will be a lot of fun.

Finally, it seems like it's been a while since I last asked for votes, so I'm asking now. Give me all your recommendation votes and any other votes you have!

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