Southwestward (Chapter)

To The Southwest is the third chapter of the ninth volume and the 37th chapter overall.

Summary
Sitting in a cart together with several other people including Eren, Mikasa and Armin, Hange plays with a rock in her hand. Armin suddenly speaks up, wondering what they should do now that Wall Rose has been breached and asking why they are bringing along a priest from the Wall Cult.

Hange then reveals that Pastor Nick had previous knowledge about the Titans in the wall but chose to keep it a secret, prompting Eren to get angry at the priest. Levi then states that even though Nick may be capable of preserving this secret he's not so sure about the other believers, he goes on to say that even though he is hurt he is capable of watching over one person and that he'd rather avoid hurting the priest. He then notes that Hange is playing with a rock and states that he didn't know she had such a strange habit.

Hange says that it isn't a rock, but rather a fragment of the Female Titan's hardened skin. When a surprised Armin notes that it hasn't disappeared, Hange explains that she too was surprised by it remaining after Annie left her Titan form, and she therefore made a closer investigation. She compared it with a fragment of the wall and came to the realization that the two are very similar. Leading Hange to conclude that the Walls are built around Titans using their ability to harden their skin. This opens for a possibility of sealing breaches in the wall using Eren's Titan abilities.

The group speculates on employing this strategy to recover Wall Maria, eventually Armin suggests going to Shiganshina District at night to repair the wall. Even with this new hope, there are still doubts regarding whether or not Eren will be capable of using his abilities to this extent, but Eren assures that he will be able to do so.

When they arrive at Hermiha District, Pastor Nick is shocked when he sees all the refugees gathered in the city. Levi and Hange press Nick to tell them more, but he still refuses to divulge any further information. He does however reveal that there is someone who can provide them with more information, a former member of the 104th Trainees Squad who has joined the Survey Corps and is going under a false name.

Eren immediately wants to go to the battlefield and find the girl, but Hange says that she still doesn't know the names of all the new recruits. They try to describe her to Hange, eventually saying that she is the girl who is always with Ymir, much to the surprise of Hange and Levi.

A few hours earlier, Krista and Ymir are patrolling Wall Rose along with Nanaba and Henning. Ymir asks Nanaba for her and Krista to return because they don't have any Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear. Nanaba refuses her request, saying that they need someone to help them relay messages. Krista then confronts Ymir about if she joined the Survey Corps for her sake, Krista goes on to say that Ymir should have been in the top ten instead of her and asks her if her attempts to protect her has anything to do with her family. Ymir confirms this, but states that she is there entirely for her own sake.

Nine hours after the first Titan sighting inside Wall Rose, Connie's squad arrives at his hometown. Connie rushes into the village first despite the others' protests, only to find that the village is destroyed. Distraught, Connie shouts out that he has come back home and starts running through the village, looking for anyone still alive. He soon comes across what's left of his family's house, with a Titan lying in it.

Reiner pulls him back from the house and the other members of the squad advance on the Titan, but they quickly realize that the Titan's frail limbs would be incapable of supporting the large body and that the Titan is in a position that makes it unable to move, leaving the group puzzled as to how it got there.