Coderoin (Chapter)

"Could you pretend that you were unable to find me?"

- Carly Stratmann makes a request of Annie

Coderoin (コデロイン) is the 4th chapter of the 1st volume and the 4th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan: Lost Girls manga, written and illustrated by Ryōsuke Fuji.

Overview
Returning to the Pit Lidors tavern, Annie fights the patrons and defeats Lou, threatening him into silence about her meeting with them. When the chaos dies down, Carly Stratmann appears at last.

Annie and Carly speak together, and Carly confesses to her involvement in the coderoin trade. She tells her that Wayne was a dealer, and her father is the boss of the trade. She and her father agreed to keep coderoin out of distribution in Stohess District, keeping it in the capital alone, but Elliot had broken this promise, causing her to leave home. Carly asks Annie to pretend she was not found.

At the Military Police Brigade barracks, Annie retrieves a permit to Wall Rose and a letter from Elliot Stratmann about Wayne's location. Carly prepares to leave, and while walking with Annie she asks her if she ever went against her own father. Annie recalls a time when she snapped during her training and attacked him, even though he was proud of her ferocity in the breakdown. After eating with Carly, Annie gives her the Wall Rose travel permit. Carly bids Annie farewell, and Annie prepares to conclude the day's task.

Summary
Having returned to the Pit Lidors tavern, the patrons begin attacking Annie. She makes quick work of them while Lou struggles to find ammunition for his pistol. As he fires a bullet at her, she throws a bottle in his direction, shattering it against the bullet. Annie catches Lou in the destruction, and taking his pistol she demands that Lou must never speak of her arrival at the Pit Lidors or her meeting with him and Wald. As Lou wets himself in fear, Annie takes back her blade ring. Once the chaos dies down, Carly Stratmann appears at last. In a private room, Annie and Carly speak together. Carly is informed of Wayne Eisner's death, and Annie tells her that she is willing to overlook her involvement in the coderoin trade if she returns home. The patrons on the floor below are excited for Carly's return, but the bartender informs them that they will have to pay for their own drinks from then on. Carly demonstrates her expertise in chemistry by describing the process of coderoin production in great detail to Annie. She reveals that Wayne was a dealer of the drug, and Elliot Stratmann was in charge of the trade. The Stratmann family had been using their carriage business to send coderoin to the capital. Carly had agreed with her father that coderoin would only be sold in the capital, and as long as the agreement lasted she would bring in as much fortune as he wanted. However, Elliot had begun to sell coderoin within Stohess District, and because of this she left home. She chose to live with Wayne for a time and wanted to leave town though Wayne did not. Wayne wanted to earn more money, leading to his blackmail with Wald and Lou, but Lou had betrayed him. After everything is revealed, Carly asks Annie to pretend that she had not been found. Annie asks Carly why she began coderoin production, and she admits that she wanted to keep her father financially stable. In the Military Police Brigade barracks, Annie forges a Wall Rose travel permit. She notices that she had received a note from Marlowe, delivering a message from Elliot concerning Wayne's location. Annie realizes that the letter had arrived before she had arrived at Wayne's home. At the Pit Lidors, Carly bids farewell to the patrons and leaves a large sum of money with the bartender, an old friend of hers. Annie asks Carly why she befriends drunkards, and Carly says that they do not realize that they cannot retrieve something that is gone. Carly asks Annie if she ever went against her own father. Annie tells her that she did at one time, and Carly decides to find food for Annie, who had not eaten since lunch. When Carly is gone, Annie thinks back to the time she defied her father. During her strenuous training, Annie had snapped and attacked her father relentlessly. Ever since that day, her father walked with a limp, proud of the strength Annie had displayed. Since that day, her training had been even more brutal. Carly returns with limeade and donuts, the former being especially enjoyed by Annie. Carly admits that she is the only one who knows how to make coderoin, meaning that her father will be financially ruined with her departure. Annie gives her the forged Wall Rose travel permit, and Carly tells her that Stohess might be better off once she is gone. Carly bids Annie farewell, and Annie prepares to wrap up her task for the day.