This was a small cave of about seven or eight square meters.
Lillian placed Daz in the middle, then leaned against one side and sat down. Krista checked Daz anxiously, gently pushing his body with both hands. "Daz, Daz, can you hear me?"
"He fainted," Lillian said. "With a high fever, you can't wake him by calling."
"Then what should we do…?"
Krista was extremely anxious. Ymir glanced at the snowstorm outside the cave and then at Daz, clearly a bit displeased.
"Honestly, wasn't this guy already sick? And he still came to this training?"
"It's for the evaluation score."
As long as you could enter the Military Police, it was basically an iron rice bowl — steady pay, no worries about food or clothing. A truly good job.
After all, in this world, even filling your stomach wasn't easy. Every year, countless people starved to death. Under such circumstances, everyone would risk their life to compete for a spot in the Military Police.
"So what now?" Ymir smiled faintly. "How about we leave him here…"
"Ymir!" Krista immediately cut her off, puffing up angrily. "We can't abandon our comrade!"
"Oh, my adorable Krista, I never said we'd abandon him."
Ymir shrugged. "But do you really think it'll be easy walking while carrying him? We might even drag ourselves down with him. It'd be better if we reach the finish first and let the instructors come rescue him."
"..."
She wasn't wrong. Just walking in this weather and terrain was already difficult — carrying a "dead weight" would be even worse.
An unconscious Daz was no different from a sack of supplies, which meant carrying more than a hundred pounds. That was no joke.
Of course, with Lillian's physical condition, this wasn't a big problem. But he didn't rush to speak — he wanted to see whether Krista would still insist.
She had already taken off her hood. Her beautiful blond hair spilled down over her narrow shoulders. She gathered it and said firmly:
"We can't leave him here alone!"
Then she looked at Lillian.
"Lillian, you agree with me… right?"
"Yes."
Lillian nodded. "Leaving him here is too dangerous. This cave is hard to find — rescue won't be easy. Even if we leave markers along the way, this heavy snow will bury them soon. And… there might be wolves in these mountains. If we leave him here, by the time help arrives, there might only be bones left."
"Wolves?!"
Krista shrank back at once, fear appearing on her delicate face.
"Shorty's scaring people again."
Ymir said this while putting an arm around Krista, laughing.
"Relax — if any wolves show up, I'll protect you~"
"Ymir…"
In a snowy mountain like this, it was impossible that there were no animals. Wolves appearing wouldn't be surprising at all.
"Let's replenish our strength first."
Lillian took off his backpack, opened it, and took out some food.
This had been issued before the training started. After all, such harsh training without providing food would be impossible — these trainees were only 13 to 15 years old, physically and mentally unable to endure extreme trials.
Of course, there wasn't much food — at most, enough for one meal per person.
Ymir and Krista took out their food as well. Because of the wind and snow, the bread was already cold and hard, almost like biting into ice. But as long as it restored strength, taste didn't matter.
Whoosh—whoosh.
The wind and snow kept blowing outside. Sometimes snow drifted in and landed on the bread, and they swallowed it together with each bite.
Soon the icy bread was gone. They took out water and drank a little. There were no thermos flasks in this world, so the water was naturally cold — luckily not frozen solid yet.
Lillian took a sip; even his teeth ached faintly. He sighed, looking outside the cave, and murmured softly:
"'The evening comes, the sky about to snow — would you like to share a cup of wine with me?'"
"What's that shorty mumbling about?"
Lillian looked over. Ymir was biting her bread.
"The sharp-tongued woman says even if she explained it, you wouldn't understand."
"Of course tall people can't understand what short people say."
"Ymir, Lillian, stop arguing."
Krista looked at them helplessly, especially at Ymir.
"Don't always call Lillian 'short'… that's very rude!"
"That's only to him." Ymir smirked and lifted Krista's chin with a slender finger. "For you, I only use 'little cutie.'"
Krista's cheeks instantly turned red. She stammered, unable to speak. She glanced at the scarf on Daz's face, then at Lillian's bare neck, and hurriedly asked:
"Lillian, aren't you cold?"
"How could I not be cold? But it's not like I'll freeze to death without a scarf."
He looked at Daz.
"More importantly, he's running a high fever. If he catches more cold… his body could be seriously damaged. If he's left with lasting complications, that'd be terrible."
"..."
Krista nodded. She took off her own scarf and wrapped it around Daz's forehead. Now his whole face, except for his nose and mouth, was covered.
"…I really can't do anything with you."
Ymir sighed, pulled off her own scarf, and without explanation tied it around Krista's neck.
"Ymir…" Krista tried to return it, but Ymir pressed her hand down.
"Don't move. Shorty's thick-skinned and not afraid of the cold — you're different."
"But you…"
"I'm better off than you." She gently stroked Krista's smooth cheek.
"If you get sick too, then we'll have two patients on our hands."
"O… okay."
Krista nodded. Though embarrassed, she didn't refuse again.
Indeed, her body was weak and she got sick easily. If she collapsed now, this little team would have an even harder time reaching the finish.
Of course, that was only what she thought.
In reality, this small squad could truly be called "a den of hidden talents." Leaving Lillian aside, Ymir—who possessed the power of a Titan—could by herself carry all three of them to the finish line. But unless it was an emergency, she would never use that power.
The three of them sat in silence for a while. Under the flickering dark-yellow light, they occasionally exchanged glances. Listening to the snowstorm raging outside the cave, Krista somehow felt waves of calm.
She secretly glanced at Ymir, then at Lillian, and felt an indescribable warmth rise in her heart. It was something she rarely felt during her life on the run.
"All right."
Lillian stood up and looked at the drifting snow outside.
"We need to hurry. The snow outside seems to be getting heavier. Daz must reach the destination as soon as possible to receive treatment—we can't delay any longer."
"Mm!" Krista stood up too and looked at Daz.
"Then we—"
"I'll carry him."
As Lillian spoke, he crouched down, placed Daz's arms over his shoulders, and with a burst of strength lifted him onto his back.
"Lillian…"
"As expected of the 'super-strong shorty,' you really have a lot of strength."
"Sharp-tongued woman, if you have time to talk, you'd better help me secure his legs."