All the Trainees were gathered at the entrance, looking at the huge wild boar carcass in amazement.
"Aaaaaah!"
Sasha was the most excited, circling the wild boar and constantly touching it, imagining how each part would taste.
She looked at Lock and Annie, who were sitting on the ground looking somewhat exhausted, and chirped about something.
Lock didn't hear what Sasha was saying; dragging this big guy back had truly taken half his life, and he had thought about giving up many times along the way.
But to maintain his image in Annie's eyes, he gritted his teeth and persevered until the end. Fortunately, the latter half of the journey was mostly downhill; otherwise, the two of them really wouldn't have been able to drag it back to the base.
The Instructors ordered a few Trainees to drag the wild boar away.
Reiner walked up to Lock and Annie and asked, "Lock, have you seen Krista and Ymir? They should have taken the same path as you."
Lock shook his head and said, "We stayed at the Safe House for a long time and never saw them."
Only then did Annie realize that the reason Lock hadn't left was that he was waiting for those two.
Now, hearing that they might be lost in the forest, she felt a bit of regret for having forced Lock to leave early back then.
Annie then became annoyed with Lock for not explaining things clearly to her, and in her frustration, she couldn't help but punch Lock beside her.
"What's wrong?" Lock asked, somewhat bewildered.
"Nothing," Annie said indifferently, turning her head away.
The Instructor blocked the crowd and said, "Everyone, get inside immediately."
Eren hesitated, "But, Krista and..."
The Instructor interrupted, "I know. We will send out a Search Party tomorrow morning."
"But won't that be too late?!"
The Instructor stared at Eren and shouted, "Then do you want to go and throw your lives away?"
As the wind howled, Annie and Lock supported each other as they walked past the crowd, not participating in the argument.
Anyway, they didn't have the strength to do anything...
The atmosphere in the Cafeteria was a bit gloomy, and everyone's faces were filled with worry.
Only Lock was heartlessly stuffing his face.
The food had been prepared before Lock arrived at the base, so there was no wild boar meat for dinner.
Tonight it was bread, mashed potatoes, and mushroom soup; compared to normal training, this was already quite a feast.
But... it's hard to go from luxury to frugality.
Annie's palate had become somewhat picky thanks to Lock's private cooking, and she had little appetite for the food in her bowl.
Fortunately, that bottle of grape juice wasn't finished yet. Annie secretly poured the rest into her cup.
Taking small sips of the "juice," she said to Lock, who was sitting opposite her, "Aren't you worried?"
Lock was dipping his bread in the soup. Hearing this, he gave Annie a surprised look and explained, "With Ymir there, nothing will go wrong."
Annie was puzzled. "What kind of reasoning is that?"
Lock smiled slightly. "Don't be fooled by Ymir's usual slackness during training; she's actually very strong, just like you, Annie."
Annie was left speechless by Lock's words, unsure if he was praising or insulting her, and stopped questioning him...
Late at night, Eren put on his gear, preparing to set out to rescue the three missing people.
He said to Mikasa and Armin, who were following behind him, "I told you that you didn't need to follow me. Like the Instructor said, going might just be throwing our lives away."
Mikasa said firmly, "It's because I don't want that to happen that I have to go with you."
Armin also said, "How can we just leave Krista and the others behind?"
Just then, Reiner and Bertholdt also walked out.
"Hey, what are you trying to do, acting on your own?"
"Heading out with only that gear is far too reckless."
Reiner said confidently, "With just a few of you, I'm afraid you don't have what it takes to save Krista."
Bertholdt stood behind Reiner and said, "When it comes to search and rescue, the more people there are, the higher the efficiency."
"Yeah, Bertholdt is right. The more people, the better."
Connie, Sasha, and Marco also emerged from behind.
Sasha, holding a bag, said, "I even brought lots of food!"
Eren was moved by everyone's actions and was about to speak when a dull roll of thunder suddenly came from outside!
The sound vanished in a flash, and for a moment, everyone was slow to react.
Armin asked in confusion, "What was... that sound just now?"
Everyone rushed out the door together. Sasha pointed toward a faint light in the distant snowstorm and said, "Someone's coming from over there!"
They hurried toward the light to meet them.
As they drew closer, everyone was astonished by the scene before them.
Lock and Ymir walked up to everyone, with Daz being carried on Lock's back.
Lock looked at the crowd and smiled, "Sorry, I beat you all to being the hero."
Beside him, Ymir had a complicated expression.
Reiner took Daz from Lock's back and ran toward the base with several others...
After sending the others away, Lock and Ymir sat by the base entrance, waiting for Krista.
After a long silence, Ymir spoke up, "You knew Krista's true identity from the beginning, didn't you?"
Lock's expression remained calm, and he didn't say a word.
Ymir reached out and grabbed Lock's collar, leaning in close and speaking in a low voice, "What is your goal?"
Lock stared at the nearby Ymir and smiled, "I'm not the kind of bad person you think I am, Ymir."
"And to tell you the truth, I don't know her true identity either."
"This is merely an order from my father."
Ymir frowned. "What order?"
Lock waved his hand dismissively. "Protect her, get on her good side, ideally become friends or something."
Seeing that Lock didn't seem to be lying, Ymir let go of him.
She said mockingly, "No wonder a noble young master like you joined the Training Corps... or did you mistake Annie for her?"
Lock was noncommittal and said casually, "Anyway, with you protecting her, I can't be bothered to play babysitter."
Then he looked at Ymir and said, "Before this, I always thought you were sent by someone inside the walls, too. I didn't expect you to simply like her."
Ymir didn't refute him.
Just then, Lock stood up and said in surprise, "She's back!"
Ymir also stood up and gave Lock a shove. "You should get going, too. Don't disturb my private time with Krista."
Lock feigned a stumble and said helplessly, "Fine, fine, I'm going to sleep then."
He returned inside and saw Annie standing in the front hall waiting for him.
Lock smiled. "Why are you up too?"
Annie crossed her arms and said coldly, "You really do enjoy playing the hero, especially in front of girls."
Lock ignored the several peeking eyes behind the door and said, "Daz would be offended if he heard you say that."
Annie huffed and turned to leave.
Lock looked at the eyes hidden behind the door crack and said irritably, "Enjoying the show?"
The door slammed shut immediately, followed by the sound of giggling as they ran away.
Lock turned his head and looked through the window at Ymir and Krista standing together.
As the morning light behind them tore through the darkness, Lock felt as if he could see the story's conclusion.
Lock said calmly, "How pitiful, Ymir."
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