"Damn that bald…"
"He's actually counting it toward the total score! Then who would dare not go!"
"Exactly. If you want to enter the Military Police, you definitely can't give up this score."
"So hateful! Old fox!"
In the boys' dormitory, everyone complained while changing clothes. To walk in such swirling heavy snow, thick clothing was absolutely necessary—otherwise they would all be frozen into popsicles. And most importantly, Keith had told them that this training would not be over quickly; at the fastest, it would take five or six hours.
So they also had to carry food, water, and some portable tools—more than ten pounds of weight on their backs. Just as Keith had said, traveling in the snow mountains under such conditions truly could cost them their lives.
---
"Cough… cough, cough, cough!"
Violent coughing rang out. Everyone looked over and saw a boy organizing his backpack while coughing nonstop. His eye sockets were sunken, his face pale, his lips tinged purple—clearly he was ill.
"Hey, Daz!" everyone stared at him in shock. "Aren't you down with a cold? You're still going to take part in this training?!"
"Y-yes." Daz nodded.
"Are you crazy?!"
Daz gave them a weak smile. "This training counts toward the total score. How could I not participate?"
"But you can't throw your life away just for points!"
"Don't worry. I can hold on."
"..."
Seeing this, no one tried to persuade him further. Lillian looked at this boy named Daz and thought: you say you can hold on, but the outcome really won't be as you say. In the end he was dragged along the whole way by Krista, and if not for Ymir, he would have died for sure.
But it wasn't all bad. After all, because of him, Ymir and Krista indirectly formed a bond, and their understanding of one another deepened.
---
Afternoon.
Everyone had finished preparing. After eating a steaming hot lunch, putting on thick clothes and cloaks, and slinging their backpacks over their shoulders, they gathered in the square.
"Next, we will divide into groups!"
In such atrocious weather, traveling alone was impossible—it would definitely cause massive casualties, and that was not the purpose of training. But if everyone went together, it would lack chErenge and fail to achieve the training's goal, so that wouldn't do either. Therefore, dividing into groups was the most appropriate choice: several people per group, neither too many nor too few, able to look after one another while still maintaining a certain level of chErenge.
"Group One: Sina Kranz, Dott Kain, Olsay Edess, William Cruz."
"Group Two: Kael Clyde…"
"Group Three…"
Keith flipped through the roster and read aloud the names as the teams were formed.
Lillian noticed that the grouping had been done with care: every squad contained a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. No team consisted entirely of the powerful or the weak — an obvious, deliberate arrangement.
Before long, all the groups were set, and everyone prepared to depart.
Before they left, Keith granted them a few minutes so that members of each group could introduce themselves and grow a little familiar with one another.
After all, these teams were not formed by choice; many of them barely knew anything about the others beyond a name, and perhaps not ten words had ever passed between them. Under such circumstances, a little acquaintance was necessary.
"Tsk, tsk, Krista — our luck's really lousy, huh?"
Ymir draped an arm over Krista's shoulder and glanced at the two across from them, teasing, "Who'd have thought our two teammates would be, one, a consumption-sufferer and the other, a little runt."
"Ymir!" Krista clearly could not stomach Ymir's barbed tongue; she pinched Ymir's arm and then offered an apologetic smile to Daz and Lillian. "Um, she's only joking."
"It's fine." Daz coughed twice more as he spoke. "I… cough, cough… I really don't feel too well…"
Lillian glanced at him and, in the same tone, said, "I'm fine too. I am, after all, short."
"Ha ha ha!"
Ymir burst into laughter and slapped Lillian on the shoulder encouragingly. "It's okay! You're only thirteen — or fourteen? You've still got room to grow!"
Indeed, this was Lillian's squad:
Ymir, Krista, Daz, and Lillian.
A… peculiar combination.
Yet it made a certain kind of sense: Ymir and Krista were usually competent, while Daz and Lillian were mediocre. The mix of strengths and weaknesses was exactly the principle behind the team divisions.
Lillian glanced at the other teams — much the same there too.
"All right! Gossip time is over!"
Keith bellowed and strode ahead, waving a large hand. "Move out in groups. I'll lead you to the foot of the mountain. Only when you reach the finish line at the mountain's midway point will your task be considered complete!"
With that he moved off. The others gathered into their groups and followed.
"It's a pity we're not on the same team," Eren said deliberately as he passed by Lillian. Since Lillian had helped him last time, Eren felt particularly favorably toward him.
Eren did not know that Keith already knew about that incident, and only later had a chill of fear run down his spine. Had Lillian not intervened, he might really have been eliminated. So Eren's gratitude toward Lillian was sincere.
"It's nothing," Lillian answered.
At that moment, Eren's group happened to include Mikasa and Armin, along with another member of slightly lesser ability. The balance was not bad — Mikasa the strongest, Armin the weakest, and that evened things out.
"See you at the finish."
"Right! See you at the finish!"
Eren hurried back to his team. Ymir, seizing a chance, teased, "Who would've guessed the little runt is quite popular."
"—"
Lillian bristled at Ymir's relentless use of "little runt." He met her jibe with her own nickname without hesitating. "Well, at the very least I'll be more popular than the sharp-tongued one."
"Huh?" Ymir lifted an eyebrow. "The little runt dares speak back?"
"The venomous-tongued woman talks a lot too."
"Ymir, Lillian…" Krista quickly stepped between the two sparring figures, palms out in a calming gesture. "Stop arguing. It's time to go."
"Hmph. Come on, Krista — let's ignore this little runt." Ymir seized Krista's arm and strode forward. Lillian looked to Daz, still coughing, and said, "Let's go, brother."
"Mm… cough, cough, cough…"