After a gruesome campaign, the Expeditionaries finally returned to Wall Emi safely. They rode back through the city of Otonokizaka.

KANAN'S POV

I entered the gate with sheer despair. My face froze with hopelessness after what I just went through.

About 421 Expeditionaries survived, including myself. So far that is all I know for now. Like me, they all felt so broken and humiliated. Even the Legionnaires who survived had the same faces. I saw the same three girls (Tsubasa, Yuuki, and Toudou) who left with me hours ago here come back with broken and traumatised faces. They looked so guilty or something.

I looked at the city we entered. The sky is grey, the surroundings are not very colorful. The crowd looked at us desperately hoping for some good news. There were people who are starving lying at one street.

It didn't took too long before I noticed a girl with dirty clothes desperately asking for help.

"Hey....tell me where my dad is!!"

I just looked at her as she continued to suffer and gain nothing.

"Dad....dad...DAD!! DAD, WHERE ARE YOU!!?"

I just walked away with Mr. Yazawa's horse. It needs to get back to it's stables (half of the Expedition's horses are borrowed via government organization, the other half are actually owned by the Expeditionaries).

I thought that I could proceed without further obstacles until...

"....tsk....DAD!! A.K.A. MORI YAZAWA, WHERE ARE YOU!!!?"

Like a spark, my eyes immediately turned back to the girl. I heard it correctly - the girl said Mr. Yazawa's name. Damn....this could mean only one thing....

"Dad!! Mori Yazawa!! Where are you!!?"

I told the horse to stay put then I quickly ran towards her till I appeared directly in front of her, much to her shock.

"Hey.....are you Mori Yazawa's daughter?", I asked her.

"Huh!!? Y-yes....I am....my name is Nico.....WAIT, YOU KNOW HIM!!?"

Nico Yazawa, huh? I can see how desperate this girl looks. As much as I am shaken about telling it to her, I knew I should because there's no choice besides that. Lying ain't gonna make things better.

"Y-yes....yes I know him - "

"WHERE IS HE!!? TELL ME!!? I WANT TO SEE HIM RIGHT NOW!!"

I paused for a moment trying to contemplate the tone of this girl. She truly looked desperate. The way she looks meant that she probably went through something horrible. Darn it, it looks like I am gonna be the one who will add further suffering to her - sigh, but I have no right to say something false.

"Someone told me that it is more cruel to let someone wait for somebody who will never come back....."

"Eh?"

As Nico wondered, I placed my hands on her shoulders.

"I am sorry...your dad was with me and protected me then....."

I....I had to speak out the truth....I shed a tear as I am about too...no matter how hard I tried to hold it back in....

"He....he's dead...."

"Eh!?"

All of a sudden, time stopped and this girl's face broke. Her expression is like a statue - her eyes widened, her mouth opened a bit, her face staring at me like death is in front of her. She is stunned - paralyzed with denial. So am I. I let her see my broken face as it is about to throw tears away.

Soon however, Nico slowly looked furious.

"W-why did my dad die? Why?!!! WHY?!!! TELL ME!!!"

I closed my eyes as I reported to her what happened.

"He died protecting me and the rest of us as we hurried to return back here. So many Alpacas chased us and the fog was too thick....he died whilst we retreated on our way here...I am sorry....."

"......"

Nico looked at the other survivors. They are all traumatized. She is forced to realise that everyone suffered. She realised that I am telling the truth - for real. I noticed her face starting to get wet.

"No....no....I am crying....I told my dad I will not cry yet.....I broke that promise I made with him....."

Nico forced herself to not cry. She kept wiping every tear that came out. I called her and asked:

"Is this the first time you lost someone important to you?"

Nico tried to look away from my eyes but I held her by the shoulder and said:

"You should cry. When somebody loses someone, they should cry. You are not human if you do not do that......"

Then I showed her how similar we are - I showed her my face which forces itself to smile.

"Right now.....I am crying too......we both lost our loved ones....you are not alone, little girl......."

"....(tearing up)...what....did you say?....I...am not a little girl.....I....I....I am brave....a brave girl just like what dad said........"

Sigh. Some people just aren't brave enough to accept things....

"No.......no....I...am not.....I am not brave enough to lose him yet.....I...am such a fool......(started crying almost endlessly)", Nico realises as she started screaming in sorrow. I embraced her to sympathise with her despair.

Then I cried too. We both cried so much - people heard our sorrows. Nico just covered her mouth to soften her voice so that people would notice it less.

"Nico!!!!"

Before long, I heard someone call Nico. I saw a lady running towards us. She looked like Nico - it must be her mom.

-----

Expedition One is a failure. Out of the 400,000 that set off, most have either died or went missing. Most of the 30,700 Expeditionaries that deserted the Expedition died - only 53 made it back to Wall Aya to report what happened. As for the entire Expedition force, only about 2,357 survived. This meant that the Expedition, overall, has lost more than 398,000 men.

It turned out what Shinzo Matsuura guessed was true. The Expedition's true purpose is sending 400,000 to die to lessen the burden of feeding and accommodating the already overpopulated inhabitants of Walls Emi and Suzuko. Duke August Cunningham was given strict orders to command and ensure that as many Expeditionaries die as possible when a clear path to Wall Aya is truly considered impossible. Kanan secretly shared this conspiracy with her fellow Expeditionaries.

However, the government ignored and/or denied any confirmation of the truth of Kanan's claims, either staying silent or giving the excuse that the Expedition is actually aiming for the recapture of Wall Aya as they previously stated. As a result, the truth became little more than rumors - only the Expeditionaries, LL and Uranohoshi Corps, and the civilians believed it.

The Colossal Alpaca that is claimed by some to have attacked the Expedition has also been considered a rumor due to lack of verification. Some Expeditionaries are even speculating that Cunningham made this up and sent this false news to everyone in order to motivate the soldiers to leave the Expedition and get back home safely - arguably an act of kindness committed by a devoted yet loyalist "commander".

The only "rumor" that is accepted, however, is the report that Kanan and a few others made about the Armored being attacked by another Alpaca. Both the Garisson and Legionnaires are beginning to investigate this account's validity and overall usefulness to mankind's future battles versus the Alpacas.

Whatever the case, the Expeditionaries arrived defeated, tired, and humiliated. In an attempt to uplift the morale of the people and to give these soldiers some value in their sacrifices, Queen Kurosawa arranged a ceremony to congratulate the survivors for their heroism and for their survival.

The ceremony took place two days later at Otonokizaka. Those who participated are all presented in front of a large crowd of viewers - only about 321 participated, the rest headed back for home immediately. The Queen herself appeared to personally present them their medals of honor. Alongside her are her entourage which included her two daughters, the young princesses Ruby and Dia. Mari also participated in the ceremony.

"Another government propaganda? So this is how the people in the Inner Wall show their support."

The Queen walked through the stage as she readied the medals to be given to these Expeditionaries. A lot of negative whispers circulate through both the audience and the awardees themselves.

"Does she even know that almost everyone who is here right now came here because we have no more families or home to go back to?"

I stood firm despite hearing all these whispers. At the very least I wanna show myself - and to my dad and Mr. Yazawa in the afterlife - that I am honored to meet the Queen despite what she may have done behind the scenes. I believe it takes great courage for a monarch to face a crowd that she knows does not like her.

One by one, Queen Kurosawa presented each awardee a medal. I got mine eventually. I could see in the faces of her entourage, princesses Dia and Ruby and the noble named Mari Ohara all smiled at me despite seeing my tired and depressed face. Then she proceeded all the way to the last Expeditionary standing at the first row in front of the stage.

That last Expeditionary - Legionnaire Eri Ayase - stood like a statue. Her face is completely stunned. She totally looked broken. When the Queen gave her her four medals (four to show how much she has accomplished), Eri refused silently. As if she is not aware that someone is in front of her.

"Eri? You did a wonderful job. Accept these honors - you deserve them.", said the Queen.

Eri stayed silent. It started to get the crowd's attention.

"....Eri? Are you alright?"

Before long, Eri suddenly held her head with her two hands, kneeled down and said:

"I......I am sorry......"

"Huh?", Queen Nori said.

"I AM SO SORRY!!!!! I AM SOOOOO SOOOORRRYYYY!!!"

Eri started screaming loudly and wildly. She kept screaming, crying, and apologizing. She broke down and lost her mind - in front of all these viewers.

"Please.....calm down.....", the Queen failed to comfort her.

"I FAILED HUMANITY!! ALMOST EVERYONE IN THE EXPEDITION DIED!! I WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO BRING US ANYWHERE CLOSE TO WALL AYA!! I AM SO SORRY!!!! SOOOORRRRYYYY!!!!"

The young Eri Ayase broke down. The stress that she suffered was too much for her that she had to let out her emotions to everyone. The Queen is speechless.

More so are her entourage. Dia is stunned to see her like that. She realized how badly traumatized Eri was. She realised that her expectations of proud heroes in this ceremony turned out to be shell shocked, broken combatants. Dia just stood there unable to do anything. Her little sister, Ruby, hid behind her thinking that Eri would attack them. Behind these two, Mari looked at Eri with absolute pity without saying a word.

I stood speechless as I watched and pitied Eri Ayase. I never thought a strong and young Legionnaire like her would be so mentally fragile. I also saw the other Legionnaires such as Tsubasa, Toudou, and Yuuki as they showed very depressing and guilty faces.

Soon, another Expeditionary, also an awardee, decided to speak out.

"No offense Your Majesty, but I believe that this entire Expedition was doomed already from the start. This ceremony is pointless for all of us who lost everything and gained nothing. You can see that, right?"

The Queen is speechless. She found herself humiliated in front of these survivors. The Queen understood them. She did not mind what others think of her. She just focused on doing whatever she could to uplift the spirits of these heroes.

Queen Nori felt the same despair as the others. She knew that she has responsibility over these poor souls. She knew she is to blame for sending them into a deadly Expedition in the first place. Even though no one knew that she was forced by the Council to approve the Expedition, she felt that she still should take the blame as it is part of her duty and how a Queen must act - she must bear the sufferings of mankind.

The Queen whispered to herself: "I am so useless....."

NORIKO YAZAWA'S POV

I am just one of many people in the crowd who watched the awarding ceremony with disbelief. The Queen's public spectacle revealed humanity's failure. I just watched the drama patiently with my daughter, Nico.

I am glad I came here. Two days ago, I thought that my husband would be back so I looked for him so I could ask for help in finding our children. Instead, I found Nico. Although I wanted to rejoice, this other girl, Kanan, told us that my husband died.

When I heard that a ceremony would be conducted here two days later, I rented to a nearby inn where the two of us stayed at. I waited for the ceremony to be held hoping I might still be able to see my husband somehow, which led to where we are right now.

I cannot help but feel how useless this spectacle is. I also felt how uncertain my future will be - what should I do now that both my husband and my three other kids are all gone?

"Mom.....I am sick of this........"

"Nico?", I said as I looked down to find my daughter grabbing my hand very tightly. Looks like she too cannot stand watching all this.

"I am sick of seeing everyone scared for their lives. I am sick of seeing our heroes come home defeated. I am sick of people dying. I am sick of people harming other people. I...I am....I am so sick of living inside these Walls!"

Until now, my plan is to look for a new home inside Wall Suzuko. I wanted a safer life for the only family that I have left. Somewhere safe from Alpacas and evil thugs. I want both of us to keep on living - for my husband's sake.

But my daughter has showed me that she has something else in mind....that she does not want to live another peaceful life running away.

"Mom......I am going to be a soldier! I.....I WILL JOIN THE LOVE LIVE CORPS AND KILL ALL THE ALPACAS!!!!"

I am stunned. My daughter's face clearly showed rage that I have never seen before. That face is the face of mankind's wrath....my daughter's wrath.

My eyes sharpened. I now knew what to do.

"I see. Come with me then, Nico. I will grant you your wish."

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A/N: Just wanna say how happy I am for the amount of people who managed to read all the way here! I thank you guys for bearing with all the wait. Next up are the final two chapters and an announcement page that I want you to check out.

Volume 2 will come out soon as well, so stay tuned for that!