After eating and drinking their fill, everyone gathered around Karen, chatting animatedly.
"Karen, if anyone in the training corps dares to bully you, tell me!" Robert thumped his chest. "I'll go beat him up right away!"
"Oh, please," another recruit scoffed. "Robert, you'd just be delivering yourself for free. Karen-chan should come to me instead."
"Hey! Green! Once my shoulder heals, I'm definitely punching you!"
"Oh, stop it, you two. You're about the same anyway." Hitch said mockingly, then turned to Karen. "Karen, if they're useless, just come find my roommate Annie. She won't even need to lift a finger—just standing there will scare the brat stiff."
"..."
Annie's eye twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything.
Lillian watched everyone laughing and joking. Beyond happiness, he also felt a sense of quiet relief.
At the very least, because of him, these new recruits hadn't become like the slick, corrupt veterans of the Military Police. At least for now, they still held on to their sense of justice.
And that, more than anything, was the most meaningful thing he had done as their captain.
"I'll train really hard!" Karen said earnestly. "I'll do my best to make the top ten and join the Military Police!"
"That's the spirit! By then we'll all be officers!"
"Of course—three years from now."
"Go for it!"
Everyone cheered her on. Karen checked the time and suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! It's already this late!"
She grew flustered. "I have to head back. If I'm too late, the instructors will scold me."
"Alright. I'll walk you back," Lillian said.
"No need, Lillian-nii, I can go by my—"
"No." Lillian shook his head. "Public security around here isn't great at night."
"Yeah," Marlo added. "All kinds of punks come out after dark. It's dangerous for a little girl like you. Let the captain walk you back."
"Then… okay." Karen nodded shyly, blinking her big eyes at Lillian. "Sorry to trouble you, Lillian-nii."
"What are you apologizing for?" Lillian rubbed her head lightly. "Let's go."
Lillian and Karen left together. The others soon dispersed as well, each returning to their own dormitories.
---
The Next Day
Wake up. Wash up.
When Annie returned to the dorm, she happened to run into a female soldier who handed her a letter.
"Annie, your mail. I was grabbing the newspaper and saw it in the mailbox, so I brought it up for you."
"Thank you."
Annie took the letter and glanced at the sender's address—it was from the Survey Corps.
She returned to the room, changed into her uniform, sat down at the desk, and opened the envelope. Inside was a page filled with dense handwriting. She skimmed through it, her expression still cold, though a glimmer of contemplation appeared in her eyes.
Just then, her roommate Hitch walked in, towel-drying her damp hair. Seeing Annie absorbed in reading, she walked over and casually took the letter from her hands.
"What're you reading?"
Hitch started reading it herself.
"Let's see… 'Yo, Annie. How's life in the Military Police? We're training hard for the expedition beyond the Walls over here. Seriously, remembering stuff like long-distance enemy scouting formations is exhausting. If I'd known, I would've joined the Military Police to live an easy life too. Oh, by the way, Eren got assigned to a different squad—I haven't seen him lately…'"
After a few lines, Hitch lost interest.
"This is boring as hell. I thought it'd be something more… explicit." She smirked. "But I guess that's what you get from someone associated with a person like you."
She handed the letter back and started changing clothes.
"By the way, today's a rest day, right? Why're you still wearing your uniform? You won't be popular dressed like that. Didn't I tell you already? Dressing up won't kill you. And since you're not exactly sociable, I mean—"
"Let's talk about it another time," Annie interrupted.
"Huh? You say that like it's something important." Hitch continued lecturing. "Remember—nothing matters more to a woman than beauty~"
"…Hitch, about tomorrow's district patrol—could you help me ask Lillian for sick leave?"
"Huh?"
Hitch looked at her in confusion.
"You're taking leave? But you and Lillian came from the same training corps, right? Shouldn't you be pretty close? Why ask me to do it?"
She paused, then added thoughtfully, "Honestly, that guy kind of scares me. I still can't forget how he just knocked on the door and walked into a room full of bandits. Doesn't he care about dying at all? Say… are people from your district all this weird?"
As she spoke, Hitch drifted off-topic again.
"That said, he's actually pretty cute-looking. And he's strong, gets promoted quickly, and he's young too—his future's bright. If he weren't our captain, I'd honestly consider going after him myself. But it's been almost a month and I've never heard him talk about women at all. That's pretty strange. Not like Robert and those idiots—always thinking about hitting on girls at bars. Since today's a rest day, they've probably gone again. Seriously…"
"Hitch." Annie decisively pulled the conversation back on track. "My relationship with Lillian isn't very good. So please ask for me."
"…Yeah, that figures." Hitch said, picking up a comb and smoothing her hair. "With your personality, you probably barely spoke to him during the three years in the training corps, right?"
She paused, then nodded. "Alright, I'll help you ask. But what do you need the leave for?"
"Just a small personal matter."
"Isn't free time exactly for handling stuff like that?" Hitch replied. "You could just do it today."
"The other party already has their own arrangements," Annie said calmly. "They're not free today."
"Is that so? Fine then. But you owe me a favor."
As she spoke, Hitch pulled a sketch out of the desk drawer and handed it to Annie. Annie took it and looked at it. The drawing depicted a long-haired woman with delicate features, about twenty-something years old.
"I heard she ran away from home."
"And then?"
"About five days ago, I think. A senior shoved it at me and said, 'Go find her for me!' I swear, it's unbearable. The stuff they don't want to do themselves just gets dumped on us new recruits."
"And then?"
"I mean—" Hitch glanced at Annie through the mirror. "Could you stop saying 'and then'? It's like you're interrogating me."
"I'll ask differently once I think of another way," Annie replied without emotion. "So—what happened next?"
Hitch sighed in frustration. "Fine. Then what happened is—I have a terrible memory. So before I forget, I'd really appreciate it if you repaid that favor you owe me."
"So this is the condition for helping me ask for leave."
"If you don't want to, that's fine too." Hitch smiled. "Just skip patrol tomorrow. Lillian definitely won't punish you."
She added casually, "Of course, that'll leave an absence record. You sure you want that?"
She held out her hand. Annie didn't hesitate and shook it.
"Deal."
Hitch withdrew her hand and looked at Annie with curiosity. "So then—what kind of man is he?"
"Hm?" Annie looked confused.
"The private matter you're taking leave for," Hitch said teasingly. "You're obviously going to see a man, right? Could it be that guy who wrote you the letter just now—what was his name, 'Reiner'?" She leaned in gossipingly. "So? What kind of man is he?"
Annie replied flatly, "A fifteen-meter-class Titan."
Hitch's mouth twitched. "…You know, you really don't need to force jokes like that. They don't make anyone laugh. It's just painfully boring."
---
Some time earlier.
Lillian escorted Karen to the outside of the training corps compound in Stohess District. She stopped and waved at him.
"Lillian-nii, thank you for walking me back! I'm heading in now~"
"Alright."
"I'll come visit you guys in the Military Police again next time I'm off!"
"Mhm."
Lillian watched as Karen's figure gradually disappeared from view. The smile on his face slowly faded as well, until his expression returned to calm neutrality.
He turned back toward the city and hailed a carriage parked by the roadside.
The driver smiled when he saw him.
"Hiring a carriage, sir?"
"Yes. To the Inner City."
"The Inner City?" The driver froze. "Do you have a pass, sir?"
The Inner City within Wall Sina was the royal capital—not somewhere just anyone could enter. Without a permit, entry was impossible. Of course, with enough money, one could always "smooth things over."
But Lillian didn't need that. As an officer of the Military Police, he naturally had clearance.
"I do. Let's go."
"Alright, hop on."
The carriage rolled forward smoothly. Sitting inside, Lillian took a sheet of paper from his coat. On it was a strange diagram, along with several lines of text. He examined it carefully, confirmed there were no issues, then folded it up and put it away again.
Soon, they arrived in the Inner City.
Lillian went straight to the Underground City.
The moment he descended, numerous furtive eyes locked onto him. He ignored them and headed directly to a tavern he had visited before, asking the bartender to fetch Klaus.
About ten minutes later, Klaus arrived.
"What is it?"
"Find me somewhere we can talk."
"Follow me."
Klaus led Lillian upstairs into a small private room.
"Coming this late at night—you must have something urgent," Klaus said.
Lillian nodded, took the paper from his coat, and handed it over. "Help me get this made overnight. I'll leave you an address—deliver it there tomorrow."
"This is—?!"
Klaus stared at the diagram, then looked up at Lillian in shock. "You're planning to—"
"Don't worry about its purpose for now," Lillian interrupted. "I'll tell you when the timing's right."
He continued, "There's one more thing. The Underground City should have it. I need it immediately."