Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, more than a month had gone by in the training corps. During this month, although they hadn't yet touched the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment, all kinds of physical training had given the group of new recruits a completely refreshed look—at least they finally looked somewhat the part.
...
In the morning, after a month had passed, the history course was nearly finished with all the material it needed to cover. Unfortunately, Yago had not the slightest interest in this so-called history that felt more like legendary tales.
Yago rested his cheek on his hand, his gaze unfocused, watching Annie carefully sketch on a blank notebook. It had to be said, Annie's talent was truly high—after just a single month, the sketches she drew were already very good, only a tiny bit worse than Yago's.
"You look pretty bored," Annie glanced at Yago.
"No, not at all. I'm thinking—yes, thinking," Yago said solemnly.
Annie stopped her pencil.
"Thinking? Thinking about what? Since when did you get so serious? Who was it that threw me a little cheat note during the exam a few days ago?"
Yago replied awkwardly, "Ahem, well, I was just too lazy to study this boring stuff. Besides, this doesn't even count toward the evaluation score—what's there to be afraid of?"
Annie said in the tone she had learned from Yago, "Heh heh."
Taking advantage of the teacher turning around to write on the board, Yago stretched lazily.
"Annie, do you think Titans might also have intelligence?"
Annie's hand trembled, and the pencil drew a horizontal line across the notebook.
"Why would you say that?" she asked, appearing calm.
Yago said lazily, "Just a guess. You know, I'm from Shiganshina. I didn't see the Colossal Titan, but I did see that so-called Armored Titan. I always felt their actions were very purposeful. Don't you think all of this feels unreal? A wall that hadn't been breached for a hundred years was broken through in a single day by strange Titans."
Annie said, "So you think Titans have intelligence?"
Yago said, "You could say that. But thinking in the worst direction, Titans and humans are still somewhat alike. And Titans are said to only attack humans, so is it possible that Titans were once actually humans? Or even that humans can turn into Titans?" Yago suddenly looked at Annie with deep eyes.
Annie unconsciously clenched her left hand, her gaze shifting slightly.
"Th-that kind of thing… that's completely impossible, right?"
Seeing Annie's nervous look, Yago laughed.
"No way? I was just talking nonsense. Why are you so nervous, Annie?"
Annie: "..."
After a while, Annie spoke hesitantly.
"Yago, if what you say is true, and those Titans that broke through the walls really were transformed from humans, what should we do?"
Yago said, "I really wouldn't know. If they were humans, why destroy the walls? If they truly had that kind of power, shouldn't they use it to benefit humanity? I'd rather hope all of this is just coincidence. A Titan with a human heart would be even more terrifying than a Titan."
Annie didn't respond, lowering her head, unsure of what to say.
"Anyway, that's getting too far off topic. By the way, Annie, we can rest for two days starting tomorrow. Have you decided where to go relax? Want to go on a picnic together?" Yago asked.
The training corps had two days off every month. Annie shook her head.
"No need. I… I have something to do tomorrow."
"Alright," Yago said with some regret.
...
After class, Annie left the classroom before Yago. Watching her petite figure from behind, Yago fell into thought. Some feeling deep inside kept reminding him that Annie seemed to be a very important person. At the same time, there was a faint, barely noticeable flutter in his heart. It felt as though he needed to search for something—something worth protecting with his life.
...
Annie, after leaving the classroom, was far from calm. A sense of guilt flooded her heart.
Reiner and Bertolt found Annie, and the three of them came to an empty classroom.
After closing the door, Reiner went straight to the point.
"Annie! You've been getting way too close to Yago lately, haven't you? Did you forget our mission?"
Annie retorted bluntly, "This has nothing to do with you! Just mind your own business."
Reiner said excitedly, "Wake up! The people on this island are all devils! All descendants of devils! Don't forget our mission!"
Bertolt stood to the side in silence.
Annie said coldly, "Devils—does that include Historia too?"
Reiner froze. "Historia? She—what does she have to do with this! We—we are warriors of Marley! They are all devils! All… devils."
By the end, even Reiner couldn't continue speaking.
"But we have to go back home, Annie. Isn't your father also waiting for you to return?"
Annie's expression changed. "I'll infiltrate Wall Sheena to investigate tomorrow." After saying that, Annie left on her own.
Bertolt hesitated as if wanting to speak, but in the end, he only sighed.
...
In the afternoon, it was the familiar physical training again—long-distance running. Over this period of time, the recruits' physical fitness had improved a lot; even Armin could manage to finish ten laps.
Yago ran easily at the very front, with many red-eyed recruits biting close behind. This was because Instructor Keith had said that whoever managed to surpass Yago this time would get ten extra points added to their final graduation evaluation.
As soon as those words were spoken, many people looked at Yago with green light in their eyes. So now a whole group was desperately chasing after Yago.
Yago was also quite helpless. This was basically being dragged into it for no reason. He didn't care much about these things anyway—he could have slowed down a bit and let someone pass him, since his goal wasn't the Military Police.
But Instructor Keith had privately spoken to him: if Yago dared to hold back, then next month, the position of chief toilet cleaner of the training corps would belong to Yago!
With that said, what choice did Yago have? He really didn't want to keep company with toilets.
Connie squinted as he looked at Yago's figure and said, "So scary. He's been running for so long, and Yago doesn't look tired at all."
Jean Kirstein clenched his teeth.
"Damn it, damn it! This guy is so fast! Ah! I have to surpass him! I'm going to join the Military Police!"
Ymir pulled along the already struggling Historia. Mikasa followed behind Eren. If Mikasa went all out, her speed definitely wouldn't be slower than Yago's. Unfortunately, Mikasa's eyes were too small—so small that they could only hold Eren, with no room for herself or anyone else.
And there were also Armin, Marco, Thomas Wagner, Reiner, Bertolt… in short, a whole bunch of recruits could only watch Yago's back as they ate dust.
Instructor Keith Shadis stood on the high platform, watching the energetic recruits. In his heart, he felt both gratified and regretful. These children would all become excellent soldiers in the future. But still—Eren.
Instructor Keith's gaze locked onto Eren. The boy's eyes were firm. Even from such a distance, Instructor Keith seemed able to feel it. This child was just like his father. Perhaps he was worrying too much.
Instructor Keith then looked at Yago, who was far ahead of everyone else.
"A kid who wants to join the Survey Corps—will he become the second Levi? Let's wait and see."