Soldier (Chapter)

"Am I gonna die...here? No...that's wrong. I won't die here. I have to go home. To our hometown...."

- Reiner's past flashes before his eyes

Soldier (兵士) is the 1st chapter of the 10th volume and the 39th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
The attack on Utgard Castle continues. While the soldiers fight Titans outside the castle, some small Titans manage to enter the castle. The new members of the Survey Corps are told to stay indoors and create defenses against the infiltrated Titans. Lynne tells them not to give up, while they start looking for ways to stop the Titans.

Reiner finds a small Titan inside a tower. He tries to stop it without success, he is saved by Bertolt, who promises him that they will go back to their hometown. The other recruits then trap the Titan with an old cannon they find. However, when another Titan tries to eat Connie, he is saved by Reiner, making Bertolt think how much Reiner has changed. After some struggling, they finally throw the Titan out of a window. Suddenly, the surprised soldiers see their horses crashing on the castle and a giant boulder that kills Henning and Lynne, launched by the Beast Titan.

Summary
As the Titans advance on Utgard Castle, some of them seemingly turn on each other. When the Titans start getting closer to the castle, Henning, Nanaba, Lynne and Gelgar attack. A larger Titan is quickly dispatched and falls on some of the smaller ones. Gelgar notes Nanaba's skill and the two have a short conversation regarding the battle in which Nanaba tells Gelgar not to be so reckless and Gelgar says that Nanaba better count his involvement in the slaying of the Titan as an assist.

A Titan that survived being hit by the other starts to make its way out from under the carcass of the large one, prompting Lynne to swiftly finish it. Lynne, now at ground level, sees that the door has been breached. She quickly warns the recruits of the danger and tells them to set up barricades to stop the advancing Titans.

The recruits go inside to start setting up barricades as Reiner runs ahead of the others while Connie and Bertolt note that Reiner always takes the most dangerous tasks and that it is a bad habit of his. Reiner makes his way down the dark staircase, eventually reaching an old door. Reiner opens it, only to find a Titan waiting on the other side. He quickly closes the door and barricades it, however, within seconds the Titan starts beating on it. Reiner, trying to use his own body's weight as a further means of keeping the door shut, shouts that he has found a Titan and needs further material to barricade the door.

The Titan soon begins to force its way through the old and fragile door. As the Titan's arm breaks through, Reiner has a flashback. He remembers that once when he was younger he was just about to be grabbed by a Titan, however, a friend of his pushed Reiner out of the way only to be grabbed himself, leaving Reiner and Bertolt to watch in horror as their friend was eaten alive. As the Titan manages to get through and starts to attack Reiner directly, Bertolt comes and thrusts a pitchfork into its eyes. Reiner, telling Bertolt that they will survive and return to their hometown, is startled when the others show up with an old cannon. Reiner asks if they are able to use it, to which they reply that they cannot shoot but they can push it onto the Titan.

They let the cannon go and it hits and immobilizes the Titan. Connie wonders what they should do, stating that all he found was a small knife. Reiner replies that they should just let the Titan be since it is already unable to move. Krista says that they should go back upstairs, and notes that if one Titan managed to come in; others will do so too. Meanwhile another Titan appears and attacks Connie, however, Reiner pushes away the Titan only to be attacked by it himself. Reiner, with the Titan biting into his arm, hurls it onto his back and moves to a nearby window with the intention of jumping out the window along with the Titan.

Before Reiner can jump, Connie slices away the Titan's jaw muscles, allowing Reiner to break free while Ymir kicks the Titan out the window. Afterward the group blockades the door properly and Krista treats Reiner's arm. They discuss Reiner's actions, eventually leading to Reiner saying that he only did what he had to do as a soldier. Connie comments on this and asks Bertolt if Reiner always has been like this, Bertolt answers by saying that Reiner used to be a Warrior. Reiner gives a vague and apparently confused answer to this.

Ymir, looking out of the window, comments on how strong the Survey Corps is when she sees how many Titans have been killed. Outside, the battle continues. With most of the larger Titans dispatched, Nanaba notes how good an environment to fight in they have. As some of them move to see how the newer soldiers are doing, they are surprised by a strange sound. They then see a projectile hit the stable and kill their horses, a few seconds later another projectile comes and hits Lynne and Henning on the rooftop, killing both instantly.

Connie notes that it has to be the Beast Titan they saw earlier who did this, he then spots a large number of Titans heading in their direction. As Nanaba says that it seems as though the Titans are operating based on some sort of plan and exclaims that it feels like someone is toying with them, the Beast Titan on top of the Wall roars.

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