Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City, Part 1

Shingeki no Kyojin: Kakuzetsu Toshi no Joō (Ue) (進撃の巨人　隔絶都市の女王（上）) is a light novel based on the Attack on Titan manga. It is written by Ryō Kawakami and illustrated by Range Murata.

Plot
In this first of two parts, Wall Maria, humanity's outermost defense, has just been breached, and Titans roam what had once been the interior. Situated along the wall like the fallen Shiganshina District, the town of Quinta finds itself surrounded on all sides by the monstrosities and severed from the rest of humankind's last bastion.

A stand-alone side story to the mega-hit comics franchise, this novel tells of the increasingly harrowing travails of Rita Iglehaut, a Garrison soldier trapped in Quinta, and her well-to-do childhood friend Mathias Kramer, who managed to flee the district in time only to face challenges for which he seems ill-suited.

Prologue
On the day after Wall Maria is breached, Garrison recruit Rita Iglehaut tries to help with the chaos as the remaining half of the population of Quinta District is escorted to Wall Rose. She tries to help the citizens escape and finds a young child who she then saves, joining her comrade Wilco as they are ordered to retreat into Quinta. Arriving at Quinta, Wilco is killed in an accident during the Garrison's attempts to ward off the approaching Titans, and Rita hands the girl over to a middle age woman upon their arrival. Fighting breaks out among the citizens as the order is given to close the inner gate of Quinta, and despite all her losses, Rita tries her best to maintain order over the citizens under pressure.