"It's a bit high."
Lock looked at the cliff face in front of him, nearly four meters high and covered in a layer of ice.
The two had followed the map route to this point. The Safe House was not far ahead, but they hadn't expected to encounter a precipice.
Touching the smooth cross-section, Lock guessed:
"It looks like it was caused by an earthquake."
Annie Leonhart looked up to estimate the height, then looked at Lock and asked,
"What should we do? Take a detour?"
"That would waste too much time."
Lock rejected Annie's suggestion. He set down his backpack and pulled out a coil of rope.
He said to Annie,
"Step on my shoulders to get up, then secure the rope and drop it down."
Annie glanced sideways at Lock without saying a word.
Realizing the problem, Lock gave an embarrassed laugh.
"It seems our combined height isn't quite enough."
Of course, it was mainly Annie holding them back, but Lock didn't dare mention it.
The two immediately switched to another method.
Annie took off her heavy coat and backpack, going light with only the rope.
Lock stood at the bottom of the cliff, looked at Annie, who was ready in the distance, and made a gesture to start.
They had cleared the snow on the ground beforehand with shovels, leaving the paths specifically for Annie to build up speed.
Annie began to run, accelerating, and the distance between them closed rapidly.
Lock stood ready. Annie rushed up and stepped onto Lock's palms.
Lock exerted force instantly, hoisting Annie above his head.
Annie soared into the air, grabbed the edge of the cliff, and climbed up with gritted teeth.
Soon, Lock saw a rope drop down.
Lock picked up Annie's gear and clothes, and with his legs hanging, he climbed the cliff using alternating pull-ups.
Lock looked at Annie, who was shivering from the cold on the cliff, and hurriedly handed her her coat.
He noticed that Annie wasn't wearing the scarf he had given her under her coat.
Watching Annie wrap her coat tightly, Lock said proudly,
"With coordination like ours, you won't find another pair in the entire 104th Class."
Annie didn't comment. She took her backpack from Lock and said calmly,
"Stop being cheeky and let's go."
Despite what Annie said, Lock knew she was feeling a bit shy.
"Don't you want my help? I can carry two backpacks."
Annie walked ahead and said coldly,
"No thanks. I'm not one of those delicate girls."
"Is that so? I still remember how you cried when you first lost to me, Annie."
Annie stopped, turned around, and swung her backpack at Lock.
She said gloomily,
"How come I remember it was someone else who ended up begging for mercy?"
Lock caught the bag and laughed,
"Alright, alright. I thought you'd forgotten. You were really ruthless back then; you almost crippled one of my feet."
The wind and snow continued. The two talked as they walked, and half an hour later, they finally reached the Safe House.
Annie pushed open the door. The space inside was small, the windows were tightly shut, but the temperature wasn't high either.
However, there was a pile of unchopped wood by the door.
Annie walked inside and looked back.
"We really are the first team to arrive. No one has started a fire."
Lock, following her in, looked at the large pot hanging from the ceiling and said happily,
"I told you there'd be a pot in the Safe House."
He set down his backpack, took out the frozen rabbit, and handed it to Annie.
"Let's get to work. I've been hungry for a while."
Annie took the rabbit and was about to speak when she saw Lock pulling more things out of his backpack.
"This is salt, this frozen fat is for the base, and some small chili peppers..."
Annie asked suspiciously,
"With so many things, how did you dodge the Instructor's inspection?"
Lock explained while unpacking,
"Don't you know? They only forbade bringing food; bringing some seasonings is fine."
"They gave each of us a potato. Yours is hers,e too, Annie."
"And finally..."
Lock pulled out a whole bottle of wine from his backpack.
"It's your favorite grape juice, Annie."
Annie's eyes flickered, but she quickly returned to normal. She said seriously,
"This counts as seasoning?"
Lock held the bottle and replied,
"Cooking wine, used to remove the gamey smell."
Annie looked skeptical.
Lock shrugged.
"Fine, I talked my way into bringing it in with the Instructor."
In reality, Lock had given the Instructor a bottle of wine as hush money.
After giving everything to Annie, Lock said,
"You get things ready, I'll go chop some wood."
He stepped out of the wooden hut and took down the axe hanging on the wall.
Looking at the logs piled by the wall, Lock remarked that the Instructors still had some humanity left, not making them chop down trees in this terrible weather.
Lock took off his gloves, gripped the axe, and began the physical labor.
The Instructors had provided each team with a flint, so the Trainees didn't have to struggle with rubbing sticks together to start a fire.
After nearly an hour of work, Lock and Annie sat by the pot and began to enjoy the precious fruits of their labor.
Annie scooped a spoonful of broth, tasted it, and nodded.
"It's ready."
Lock held out his bowl to Annie, asking her to fill it up.
After taking a large gulp regardless of the temperature, Lock sighed contentedly,
"Your cooking is really good, Annie."
Annie scooped a bowl for herself and sipped it slowly, saying calmly,
"Thank you for the compliment."
Lock handed a wooden cup to Annie, then picked up the wine bottle nearby.
"We won't heat this bottle; otherwise, the flavor would be wasted."
He pulled the cork and skillfully poured a cup for Annie.
The two sat around the fire, drinking wine and tasting the broth, letting the wind and snow howl outside the window.
The very essence of happiness was manifested in this moment...
Bang, bang, bang.
A sudden knocking at the door interrupted their quiet time.
"Is anyone there?" a girl's voice called from outside.
Lock thought it sounded familiar but couldn't place it for a moment, whereas Annie said directly,
"It's Mina."
Lock realized and thought there must be more than one person outside.
Annie stood up, went to the door, and opened it.
Standing at the door was indeed Mina Carolina with her twin braids, along with Thomas and three others Lock didn't recognize.
They were probably all in the same squad as Thomas.
"Annie, it's you! You chose this route, too!"
Mina was very happy to see her roommate.
"Come in quickly."
Annie stepped aside to make room.
As the five walked into the room, they discovered there was another person inside.
Lock greeted them with a smile,
"Hello there!"
Only then did everyone realize—how could Lock not be by Annie's side?
He pointed to the large pot in front of him and asked,
"Would you like a bowl of hot rabbit soup?"
Soon, the satisfied sighs of five people echoed in unison by the fire.
"I feel like I've come back to life."
"I really want another bowl!"
Mina grabbed Annie's arm and said sweetly,
"Annie, your cooking is so good. Can you teach me?"
Thomas looked at Lock and asked,
"Lock, let's go together from here. The snow is getting heavier outside, and you two..."
Thomas originally wanted to say it was unsafe, but considering their strength, saying so seemed a bit presumptuous.
Lock responded in time,
"It's fine. You guys go ahead. Don't worry about us."
He leaned in and whispered in Thomas's ear,
"Mainly, Annie only came to this training to accompany me. We want to spend some more time together."
Thomas nodded with a strange expression...
After the five took a candle lamp from the room and said goodbye to Lock and Annie, they stepped back into the wind and snow.
"Why didn't you go with them?"
Annie turned to Lock, puzzled.
"Wait a bit longer."
Lock looked at the sky and didn't give a reason, just smilingly repeated,
"Wait a bit longer."
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