"Huff… huff… huff…"
Heavy breathing echoed from inside the room. Hearing it, Annie stopped at the door. She frowned slightly and raised her hand to knock.
Knock, knock.
The breathing gradually subsided, and Lillian's voice came from inside. "Come in."
Annie pushed the door open. Her pupils contracted at once, and she quickly shifted her gaze aside—Lillian was pulling on his shirt, his entire body drenched in sweat. His hair was soaked, plastered to his forehead, partially covering his eyes.
Glancing at the training equipment scattered on the floor, Annie looked at him with displeasure. "What are you doing? Your injuries haven't healed yet."
"They have," Lillian said. "My body's a bit special—I recover quickly. Even if I were to die, it wouldn't matter."
"..."
Annie took it as angry talk. She wanted to say something, but seeing the sweat still running down his cheeks, she swallowed her words.
"What is it?" Lillian asked. He knew Annie wasn't the type to come by just to chat.
"Your letter of appointment has arrived."
"..."
When he heard the words "letter of appointment," Lillian felt a sharp pain in his chest. He had thought that these days of frenzied physical training might help him forget—but how could that really be possible?
Annie was watching him, and she didn't feel any better either.
Lillian had already told her what had happened. She knew that those people had used the "letter of appointment" as a pretext to lure him over, which in turn led to an innocent girl being struck by an utterly senseless disaster.
"Commander Nile is waiting for you," Annie said.
"Mm, I know." Lillian wiped the sweat from his hair, face, and neck with a towel. "Let's go."
He stepped out of the room. Watching his retreating figure, Annie truly felt that he had changed.
Back when they were still in the training corps, she had begun paying quiet attention to him after losing to him for the first time. She had always been unwilling to accept it. She had trained relentlessly since childhood, pouring in enormous effort, yet she lost simply because she lacked raw strength—and that felt unbearably unfair.
Like Kuina from One Piece, the girl Zoro could never defeat. She had grown disheartened after her father said that a female swordsman, limited by physical strength, could never become the world's strongest. She later regained her resolve through her promise with Zoro—but fate was cruel. Before she could succeed, she died in an accident, falling down the stairs.
Annie refused to lose for the same reason. That was why she kept provoking Lillian again and again. And when she realized that he could be so strong with little effort, relying purely on his natural strength, her resentment only grew.
But after that incident—after Lillian was discharged from the hospital—he changed completely. She noticed that he began pouring all his extra time into physical conditioning and training, pushing himself to the brink every single day. According to Marlo, who shared a room with him, Lillian had been coming back exhausted to the point of collapse these past few days—too tired to say a single word, sometimes not even taking off his clothes before falling straight onto the bed.
There was no doubt that this state was excessive. But Annie also knew she had no grounds to try to stop him.
Lillian arrived at the makeshift office that had been set up temporarily. Nile was already waiting inside, his expression complicated when he saw Lillian enter.
"Commander."
Lillian saluted him. Nile nodded and handed over the document in his hand.
"The letter of appointment. By decision from above, you are formally appointed as acting deputy commander of Stohess District."
"…"
Lillian wasn't particularly surprised. Since Zackly had agreed, he would definitely follow through. With his status and connections, arranging an acting deputy commander position was hardly difficult.
"You're young," Nile said, "but your abilities are highly regarded by those above. Still, I need to remind you—this deputy commander position is temporary. Acting only. You've been put here because you're expected to exercise your authority quickly and without obstruction, and stabilize Stohess District. If you can't do that, you'll be replaced. And even after stability is achieved, you may still be replaced. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
Lillian nodded, thinking to himself that by the time that happened, it might not even be clear who truly held power inside the Walls.
"Good. Do your best. I still have work in the capital, so I'll be heading back."
"Commander," Lillian suddenly called out. "About the Titans… the Survey Corps has already investigated, hasn't it?"
"Hm? Yes… yes, they have," Nile replied. A trace of evasiveness flickered through his eyes—vanishing quickly, but Lillian still caught it.
"They didn't gain anything," Nile continued. "And that special investigation unit has also been urgently recalled. The Titan matter is now yours to look into."
With that, he left without giving Lillian a chance to respond. Watching his departing figure, Lillian frowned.
Though the exchange had been brief, he had gained some very important information.
First, when the Survey Corps was mentioned, Nile's reaction had clearly been unnatural. And if Erwin intended to capture him alive, it would never be as simple as what happened with Annie in the original story. Annie had only been an ordinary soldier—grabbing her suddenly was feasible. But Lillian was now a deputy commander. Acting or not, moving against him would not be easy. Doing so quietly would be impossible; it would require cooperation from the Military Police. So if Erwin still intended to carry out that plan, he would inevitably seek help from his old classmate, Nile.
The other issue was the sudden recall of the Central Military Police—Kenny's group.
Why?
To be honest, Lillian was deeply wary of them. Their methods were "wild," unconstrained by rules. Or rather, they themselves were the rules. If they suddenly made a move, escaping would be extremely difficult for him.
Yet now, before any real investigation had concluded, they were suddenly withdrawn. Could it be… that those who knew the secret had sensed danger? That they no longer planned to wait, and were preparing to reclaim the "vessel" and the "power"?
If that was the case, then Krista and Eren were in danger.
For now, Krista was likely still safe within the Survey Corps, with Ymir by her side for protection—but no. He couldn't afford that kind of wishful thinking anymore. He had already learned that lesson once, hadn't he?
Lillian shook his head. He couldn't lose anyone else he wanted to protect.
"I need to make Erwin realize how important Krista is… I need to have a serious, in-depth conversation with him."
---
"Lillian is the new deputy commander?!"
"Acting…"
"Even so, that's not okay, is it?! How long has he even been in the corps?!"
"How could it possibly be his turn?"
"Yeah, this is way too strange."
"Shh! He's here!"
As soon as Lillian appeared, everyone immediately shut their mouths. He swept his gaze over them and walked straight up.
"I'm the new deputy commander. You all know that already," he said bluntly. "From now on, all assignments will come from me."
"I don't care how things were done before, and I don't want to know. But starting now, everything resets. Anyone who still has sticky fingers—I'll cut off those hands and feet."
As he spoke, he glanced at the headquarters behind him. More than ten days had passed; the rubble had already been cleared away, and several temporary office buildings had been erected.
"Just like this headquarters—destroyed, then rebuilt. I expect the same from you. I want you to live as if you've died once already, casting off old habits after rebirth and facing life with a new attitude."
The group exchanged looks, unsure of what to say.
"I'll distribute the work assignments shortly. Everyone works. No one slacks off. Dismissed."
With that, Lillian turned and left. The ten new recruits under his command followed him, heads held high.
There was a saying: when one man rises, even his chickens and dogs ascend with him. Now that Lillian had become deputy commander—the highest authority in the Stohess District Military Police—the happiest people were naturally the recruits who followed him. Their own status rose accordingly. "Even a seventh-rank official at the prime minister's gate carries weight" was no joke; it was easy to imagine that the veteran soldiers would no longer dare to give them cold looks.
Of course, Lillian didn't let their excitement last long. He immediately assigned them a massive workload. The gap left by the deaths of over forty Military Police officers was no small matter. Even if those men had been lazy good-for-nothings, just standing on the streets like statues still carried a certain deterrent effect.
Once that "statue" was gone—once patrol numbers dropped—crime would naturally rise. After all, if you want to reduce crime without relying on the government's machinery of violence, there is only one path: massively develop productivity so that everyone is well fed and warmly clothed, with a rich spiritual life as well.
But that was obviously something the world inside the Walls could never achieve. Forget the world inside the Walls—even the future world beyond them wouldn't be able to do it. That was precisely why the existence of the Military Police was so necessary.
At the moment, Lillian had dispatched everyone he could spare to patrol the streets, while he himself quickly skimmed through various documents. As a deputy commander, he now had to grasp the overall situation, and that meant understanding far more than before.
Just then, Annie walked in holding a letter.
It had to be said that the first thing Lillian did after becoming deputy commander was appoint Annie as his administrative assistant. There was no messy or sentimental reason behind it—simply put, someone as dangerous as her was better kept close, where he could keep an eye on her.
To be honest, even now, Lillian couldn't be one hundred percent certain that Annie would always stay on his side. That was why he needed to constantly confirm her thoughts. Keeping her by his side was the safest option.
"Put it aside for now," Lillian said. "I don't have time to read it."
"It's from the Survey Corps."
"..."
Lillian froze. That couldn't be ignored.
He took the letter—and discovered it was from Eren.
{Hey, Lillian, how are things going with the Military Police? I heard there was an explosion over there—are you okay? Um… I want to apologize in person for what I said to you before. It just so happens that the day after tomorrow is a day off, so it should be fine for me to come see you, right? Oh, and Krista and the others will be coming too. Everyone really misses you. Last time you came to see us—this time it's our turn to visit you. Yeah, that's it! Then it's settled! See you the day after tomorrow!}
"..."
After reading the letter, Lillian didn't quite know what to say.
The writing style was unmistakably Eren's—straightforward and impulsive. But no matter how he looked at it, the purpose didn't seem to be as simple as "coming to see me."
Lillian let out a sigh. Across from him, Annie was visibly curious.
"My classmates are coming," Lillian said, handing her the letter. "I wonder what kind of gifts they'll bring me."