During lunchtime, everyone gathered around the table where Rayan was sitting, chattering and asking about what happened last night.
"Hey Rayan, did you guys really kill the wolves?"
"So amazing!"
"Yeah... if I had encountered them, I probably would have been too scared to move, right?"
"If you ask me, those instructors are too irresponsible. Making us train on a mountain with wolves. It is too dangerous."
"That guy Keith did say there was a risk to life..."
"But..."
Bang.
Ymir slammed her fist on the table, looking at everyone with an unfriendly expression. "Listen up, you guys. If you keep chattering around here and do not let me eat in peace, I do not mind letting you experience what those wolves felt when they were killed yesterday."
Glug.
Hearing this, everyone felt a chill in their hearts and swallowed their saliva. The noisy room instantly fell silent, and then everyone awkwardly hurried away, returning to their own tables.
It had to be said that Ymir's terror level in the 104th Squad was quite high. The others had even ranked the three most unapproachable girls: Annie, Mikasa, and Ymir.
Ordered by their level of scariness, Annie was naturally first. Her usual expressionless face was equivalent to a clear "keep out." She either ignored or physically dealt with anyone who tried to strike up a conversation, making her very frightening. Mikasa had a similar vibe, but she was actually a very nice person and would not refuse normal interactions. As for Ymir, she mostly wore a smile, but it was not exactly a friendly one. What made her even more intimidating than the previous two was her moodiness. She might be smiling one second and then looking at you with a murderous gaze the next. So, seeing Ymir on the verge of losing her temper, everyone quickly scattered, not daring to provoke her.
"Ymir..."
Krista, who was at the same table, felt a bit sorry for them. Clearly, her personality, or rather the way she deliberately chose to survive, was one of tolerance and amiability, although sometimes a bit too amiable.
"The venomous tongued woman did well," Rayan said, taking a sip of soup as he spoke. "All that noise was annoying."
"Yeah, very annoying."
The three of them sat at one table. Daz should have been there too, but his fever was indeed very high, and he had not woken up even now.
"Rayan, do you want me to help you?" Krista looked at Rayan, who was holding a spoon with one hand to drink soup and then putting it down to pick up bread, finding the back and forth quite troublesome. So she wanted to help.
"Huh?"
Rayan was taken aback. Ymir beside him immediately said with displeasure, "Krista, you are not going to feed him, are you? That will not do. You have not even fed me yet. Besides, the shorty can still use one hand, so just ignore him."
Krista felt a bit embarrassed by Ymir's blunt words, but before she could insist, Rayan interjected.
"Yeah. I do not want to enjoy the treatment of a vegetable prematurely," he said. "Stop staring at me, eat quickly. Your soup is going to get cold."
"Yeah... yeah."
Krista's fair face flushed slightly. Her slender hands hurriedly picked up the soup bowl, and she drank small sips while holding it in front of her face to hide her slightly hot cheeks.
After eating, everyone embarked on the return journey.
It was noon, and compared to yesterday's harsh weather, today the sun was very bright, casting a warm glow on everyone.
The instructors led the trainees along a hidden path, narrow but very flat and safe, obviously a safe passage for quickly going up and down the mountain. Using this path, it took them less than three hours to reach the foot of the mountain.
"Whoosh."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although the training was not long, the fatigue it brought was far greater than ordinary training, especially mentally, as the pressure of death was not something easily endured.
Back at the training base, Instructor Keith was already waiting for everyone.
He looked at the trainees standing in neat rows and nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad. This year's batch is good. No one died."
"..."
"The other instructors have recorded your performances. I will make a fair evaluation of your results based on these records."
As he spoke, his gaze focused on Rayan's arm, where a bandage was still wrapped, hanging from his neck.
"Alright, everyone go and rest. Rayan Kafka, stay behind."
"..."
Everyone looked at him in surprise, then left one by one. Krista hesitated, unwilling to leave, but Ymir dragged her away. In the blink of an eye, only Keith and Rayan remained in the large square.
Keith walked closer to Rayan, their eyes met for a moment, and the former reached out his rough hand and patted the latter's shoulder.
"Not bad."
"I heard that you were bitten by a wolf on the mountain, losing a large chunk of flesh, to protect Krista Lenz. Not bad. Although you are a bit short, you are already showing the makings of a man."
"..."
Rayan thought, thanks.
"Tell me what you think," Keith said. Rayan was a bit puzzled and asked, "Instructor Keith, what do you mean, what do I think?"
Keith glanced at Rayan's bandaged arm. "Your arm. The doctor told me. It might be a few months, or you might never be able to hold a blade again. You cannot be a soldier with just one hand."
"...Instructor Keith wants to persuade me to quit?"
Keith shook his head.
"What we lack right now are soldiers like you, kid. Moreover, your identity is special. The higher ups have been keeping an eye on you, and this incident has also been reported."
Rayan frowned slightly. He naturally knew why his identity was special.
Half a year ago, after he entered Wall Rose from outside the walls, he was immediately questioned by the military.
This was within his expectations. After all, being able to return from outside the walls was a very rare occurrence, and the military also wanted to obtain some useful information.
Speaking of which, he had even met Commander Erwin of the Survey Corps at that time, and the latter had asked him a few questions.
And he did indeed provide some useful yet useless information. For example: the farther away from the walls, the fewer titans there were. Eventually, you would hardly see any titans at all.
In short, he did not reveal anything important. And the military did not make things too difficult for him. Because the people inside the walls knew that these individuals had been abandoned, they felt guilty towards the dozens who returned and had some desire to compensate them.
So, Keith's words now clearly had another meaning.
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