A few days later...
The current class of trainees that Xiate joined began, marking the start of her journey to catch up to White Fish.
As for White Fish, White Fish was sleeping...
On the first day.
Levi looked at White Fish sleeping on the roof and couldn't help but turn his gaze toward Erwin.
"Hey, Erwin, aren't you going to do something about that guy?"
Erwin looked at White Fish sleeping up there and simply shook his head gently.
"Leave him be."
At noon, White Fish was found arriving at the cafeteria right on time, eating his meal quickly.
Then...
As soon as Levi stepped out of the cafeteria, he saw White Fish continuing his nap on the roof.
At dinner time, White Fish arrived at the cafeteria punctually to eat, and after dinner, he went right back to lying on the roof to sleep.
Then he would sleep all the way until breakfast the next morning, eat punctually again, and then head back up to the roof to sleep...
This...
It was a constant cycle; he truly just ate and slept, slept and ate. Everyone was starting to find it hard to watch, but considering he was only ten years old, they simply chose to ignore him, viewing him as a non-combatant.
White Fish was more than happy with this leisure.
A few days later, White Fish disappeared from the roof—well, he just found a different place to sleep.
White Fish sat on the edge of a rocky valley not far away, watching the trainees below as they ran and performed physical conditioning. Among them, Xiate was particularly conspicuous; she looked a bit smaller than those around her, yet she was running at the very front.
Her expression was very calm, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking, and her eyes were as still as a quiet lake. Looking at Xiate, a gentle smile couldn't help but grace the corners of White Fish's mouth.
But watching Xiate working so hard, he found himself unable to sleep... perhaps he was afraid she might get hurt or something.
The training instructor was a stern-faced man—yes, the previous Commander of the Survey Corps, Keith Shadis. At this time, he still had hair, unlike the bald head he would have three years later.
As for why he was the 'previous' commander, within these few days, the Commander of the Survey Corps had already become Erwin.
Speaking of which, because Wall Maria had been breached, all of the Survey Corps' previous preparations outside the walls had come to naught. They had to start from scratch, which also increased the frequency of the Expeditions Beyond the Walls.
There were about twenty days left before the next Expedition Beyond the Walls would take place.
White Fish knew that the Survey Corps was being sent to scout ahead first, and then that so-called Wall Maria Reclamation Plan would be used to send over a hundred thousand people out along a set route toward the breach in Shiganshina District.
Although success was impossible, the higher-ups didn't actually expect this reclamation plan to succeed.
Paving a road to death for those refugees?
White Fish thought bitterly, but there was nothing that could be done. He had no way to stop it unless he could kill every single Titan inside Wall Maria by himself, which wasn't realistic.
Especially on flat ground. In a city, he might manage to kill about twenty Titans before his gas and blades ran out, but on open ground, unless there were other decoys, he'd have to run if he were targeted by more than a dozen Titans.
White Fish was only human, dammit, not Ultraman.
However, regarding that random reward from the system, it would be great if he could pull something like a Tiga transformation device.
He indulged in some fantasies.
So far, he had only pulled a small pile of gold scraps, a water cup, an inexhaustible ballpoint pen, a piece of ordinary paper, and such. Anyway, White Fish's favorite thing right now was a pair of wireless headphones that had infinite battery life and could randomly play or store music.
During training, Keith also noticed White Fish in the distance, faintly making out the wings of freedom representing the Survey Corps on his clothes.
A slight gloom appeared in his eyes as he turned his head and continued training the group of New Recruits.
In the afternoon, there was a balance test. Xiate's talent was excellent; she was able to master her balance extremely quickly the first time she got on the apparatus. Her talent seemed quite impressive.
White Fish rubbed his chin slightly.
Why hadn't he seen Xiate in the plot of his previous life? Was it because she hadn't become a trainee? Hmm, it was likely his own influence that had changed things a bit.
However, besides Xiate, there was another youth who caught White Fish's attention.
It was a boy with snowy white hair. His aura was something White Fish actually liked—it was very conducive to sleeping. He also had a pair of wine-red eyes. He was about twelve years old, but he took to physical training and balance training very quickly. His talent was exceptionally good.
He was also quite good-looking.
But his personality was somewhat silent; he didn't talk much to those around him. He was similar to Xiate in that regard; although people occasionally tried to approach Xiate, the conversations never lasted long.
That white-haired youth—no, actually, White Fish wasn't entirely sure if they were male or female. They were a bit far away and had a somewhat androgynous look, so he couldn't be certain.
But White Fish was already planning in his heart to pull them into the Survey Corps to be his subordinate.
As they were dismissed, White Fish waved to Xiate in the distance. As for Keith, he only spared him a glance and said nothing more; before coming here, White Fish had already had Commander Erwin greet him.
Keith also knew that this ten-year-old girl would join the Survey Corps after three years of training, and that the ten-year-old boy had already joined. For this reason, the two of them had even had a bit of an argument, because White Fish and Xiate's ages were simply too young.
But none of that concerned White Fish. Actually, the atmosphere of the Survey Corps was quite good; there was work to do, but also plenty of leisure. The only slight downside was the constant danger to one's life.
After Xiate chatted with White Fish for a bit, she returned to the trainees. As for White Fish, this young Survey Corps soldier, many of the trainees were curious, but being curious didn't mean they wanted to join the Survey Corps.
As night fell and White Fish was preparing to go back to sleep, he saw a figure sitting on a rock not far away, staring blankly at the sky.
It was that white-haired youth.
White Fish stopped in his tracks and immediately went over to say hello.
"Hello there."
The other person turned their head, looking at him with wine-red eyes that were crystal clear, as if they could see right into the depths of his heart.
So beautiful.
White Fish couldn't help but think to himself.
But he quickly snapped out of it. Just as he was about to say something, the other person suddenly leaned in, sniffed him, and with eyes sparkling slightly, tackled the ten-year-old White Fish directly to the ground.
Not knowing what the other person wanted to do, White Fish was just about to push them away when they pulled back, a bottle of liquor that had been hanging at White Fish's waist now held in their hand.