Early the next morning, Yago groggily opened his eyes.
"Huh? Where is everyone? They're all gone? Why didn't anyone wake me?"
Yago looked at the empty dormitory, completely dumbfounded.
"That's seriously not loyal at all!"
Yago hurriedly fastened his belt.
"Why does it feel a bit tighter… did I gain weight recently?"
But there was no time to think about it. He quickly put on his uniform and sprinted toward the cafeteria at full speed.
"What?! Mealtime is over?! No way!"
Yago wailed as he stared at the spotlessly clean cafeteria. The kitchen staff said that breakfast had ended half an hour ago—young man, you're late.
Yago could only leave in a daze and head to the classroom.
"Report!"
"Come in! Recruit, you're five minutes late!"
It was the same familiar old instructor from yesterday.
"Yes, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
Sure enough, there was still only that last empty seat in the back row, and still the same familiar deskmate with light blond hair.
After all, most people simply couldn't adapt to Annie's aura.
After settling down, the instructor continued yesterday's dull and tedious history lesson. Yago immediately entered sleep-recovery mode.
After a while, Yago felt his arm being poked. He groggily raised his head and saw Annie staring straight at him.
"Uh… Annie? What's up?"
Seeing Yago's muddled look, Annie's calm gaze suddenly changed. A chill ran through Yago, instantly waking him up. Seeing the pencil and blank notebook she pushed over, he finally remembered that yesterday he had promised to teach Annie how to draw.
"Sorry, sorry, Annie, I was too out of it. Really sorry."
Yago scratched his head as he apologized. Anyway, this history class was boring to listen to—teaching Annie to draw wasn't bad either. As for why Yago knew how to draw? Don't ask. If you ask, it's just magical memories in his head.
So Yago taught Annie step by step, from outline lines to controlling light and shadow…
It had to be said—Annie was basically a genius. With just a little instruction, she had already grasped the basics… well, she was just a bit impatient. People usually start learning sketching with apples or spheres, but Annie went straight for using her deskmate as the model.
Yago's mouth twitched as he looked at the rather Picasso-esque drawing in front of him.
"Who is this supposed to be?"
"You. What, doesn't it look like you?"
Like hell it does!
Yago was screaming internally, but his mouth kept praising her nonstop, complimenting Annie on how well she drew and how fast she was improving.
Hearing Yago's praise, a faint blush actually appeared on Annie's originally cold and refined face. Of course, Yago—currently in full flattery mode—didn't notice it.
But someone with a keen eye did notice. Jean Kirstein said,
"What is this… so Yago likes that kind of cold, icy girl? That's really lacking ambition. What's there to like about that block of ice?"
Mikasa saw the scene and felt both a bit emotional and slightly envious. She then looked at Eren. Eren was still in a highly excited state—he had to prove himself!
"Ah…"
Mikasa sighed.
Bertholdt watched Annie with a complicated expression. As a former companion, Bertholdt naturally had some feelings for Annie as well, but he had always buried them deep in his heart. They had a mission—emotions shouldn't restrain them. Bertholdt's mind grew chaotic. He suddenly thought of the many refugees, and the more than three hundred thousand civilians who died in the battle to reclaim Wall Maria. Bertholdt lowered his head.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
He kept repenting in a voice only he could hear.
...
Finally, class ended. Yago took the lead and rushed out of the classroom like a charging horse, becoming the second to reach the cafeteria. As for why he was second—because some potato girl was even faster.
Yago devoured his bread and potato soup. With the fall of Wall Maria, people had entered a period of food shortages.
Even the training corps that trained recruits couldn't guarantee meat at any time. Most of the time, it was potato soup with bread, and even that was rationed.
After quickly finishing his portion, Yago still felt unsatisfied. His eyes swept around and landed on Eren. Because Eren was eager to train, he hadn't eaten much lunch, and there was still a whole piece of bread on his plate.
"Opportunity—bread!"
Yago shot his hand out at lightning speed. At the same moment, another pair of hands pressed down on the bread as well. Yago raised his head in surprise.
"Sasha? What are you doing, Sasha?"
While Yago was still stunned, Sasha yanked the bread away and stuffed it into her mouth in just a few huge bites.
"Huh? Yago, what's wrong? ⊙_⊙"
Sasha said blankly.
Yago rubbed his forehead. "This kid turns into a starving ghost the moment she sees food."
"Here."
A piece of bread was placed in front of him. Yago looked gratefully at Annie.
"Thank you so much, Annie."
"Tch, just eat."
Annie replied coldly and turned to leave. But as she turned around, the corner of her mouth unconsciously curved into a faint smile.
...
Afternoon.
"Eren! You can do it! You definitely can!"
Armin shouted loudly to cheer Eren on. Quite a few recruits had gathered around to watch, and Instructor Keith Shadis was among them, watching Eren with a stern expression. Eren looked firmly at everyone for a moment.
"I'm ready!"
Thomas Wagner at the side began to turn the handle.
Instructor Keith Shadis's gaze was deep as he looked at Eren.
"I hope you won't blame me."
As Eren's feet left the ground, everyone became serious. Eren even shouted loudly,
"I won't fail!"
After swaying slightly, Eren stabilized his body. Very soon, one minute passed.
"Eren! You succeeded!"
Armin said excitedly. Mikasa also looked at Eren with joy in her eyes.
The surrounding recruits talked among themselves in amazement, and many of them cheered for Eren. Jean Kirstein clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I succeeded? That's great! I can become a soldier now!"
Eren shouted excitedly. It seemed that yesterday he really had been too nervous. Today, during the simulation, there was none of yesterday's sense of blockage. Maintaining balance was easy.
Instructor Keith Shadis said, "How is that possible?"
He stared at Eren in disbelief.
"Recruit Eren, come here."
"Yes."
Hearing the instructor call him, Eren briskly came down from the simulation device and stood at attention in front of him.
Keith Shadis's expression was solemn. He tugged at the belt on Eren's body, and his eyes suddenly contracted. He clearly remembered that Eren's waist belt device… could this be fate?
Keith Shadis heard that line echo in his mind:
"At least this child, having been born into this world, is already great."
Eren asked excitedly,
"Instructor, does this mean I can become a soldier?"
Keith Shadis: "...Of course you can!"
At that moment, a cry of surprise nearby caught Instructor Keith Shadis's attention.
On the simulation device to the side, Yago was actually swaying violently. Yesterday, Yago had been the first to complete the balance training, and he had done exceptionally well. What was going on now?
Thomas Wagner, who was turning the handle for Yago, also looked shocked.
What was going on? His muscles were clearly fine, and his perception shouldn't be wrong. So why was he losing his balance?
"Damn it! Stabilize!"
Yago cursed inwardly. He tensed his muscles and lowered his center of gravity in an unbelievable way. The violently swaying body actually began to stabilize.
Everyone noticed Yago's abnormality.
Jean Kirstein said, "Eh? Wasn't that guy Yago doing fine yesterday?"
Armin said, "What's going on?"
Sasha said, "It must be because he ate too much!"
Sasha still held a strong grudge against Yago for having eaten one more piece of bread than her at noon because of Annie.
Annie frowned slightly, a trace of concern flashing through her eyes—hard to notice.
Reiner, on the other hand, was secretly delighted. If this could eliminate that soldier, it wouldn't be bad. He always felt that Yago would be a major threat to them in the future.