"Yago! Left side! Take care of those two!" Yago heard Ness's order, immediately focused his attention, pulled the trigger, and the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment fired in an instant as Yago swiftly disengaged from his horse.
The hilts locked onto the blades at his waist, twin swords drawn, cold light flashing. Yago burst forward with several midair gas boosts, rapidly closing in on the target.
Slash! Slash! Two clean cuts—two large chunks of rubber padding fell from the Titan model.
When Yago returned to his horse, Ness gave him a thumbs-up in praise.
"Good kid. Your moves are really something. No wonder everyone calls you Little Levi."
Yago's mouth twitched. Stop comparing him to that short guy already, okay? And what's with Little Levi anyway? Just hearing it makes it feel like he'll never grow taller.
This was the fifth Long-Range Enemy Scouting Formation drill held by the recruit squad this month—and the last one. Tomorrow, the Survey Corps would conduct its 57th expedition beyond the walls, and all recruits would take part.
Yago's skill had earned the recognition of many Survey Corps soldiers, including Ness. The nickname Little Levi had spread because of them, and many soldiers even believed that Yago already counted as humanity's third-strongest soldier—if not for his young age.
Because of this, Yago was exceptionally assigned to the elite combat squad under Ness's command.
Riding his beloved horse Charette, Ness slowly paced over to Yago. Seeing Yago look a bit absent-minded, he teased,
"What's wrong? Thinking about your little girlfriend again?"
Yago rolled his eyes. "What little girlfriend? Squad Leader Ness, you can't just say things like that."
"Oh, come on. I've heard it all from the other recruits. You've been sticking to her for three years. So what's going on lately? That little girlfriend of yours seems to be avoiding you," Ness asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Yago naturally knew he meant Annie. Honestly, Yago himself didn't know what was going on either. Over the past month, Annie had been avoiding him in every way, and because of that, Yago had been noticeably down.
Seeing Yago not answer,Ness put on a knowing look.
"Don't tell me—you've never confessed?"
Yago looked skeptical. "What? Confessed?"
Ness wore an expression like he'd solved the case.
"No wonder! Yago, this is on you. It's been three years and you still haven't confessed. Tomorrow's the expedition beyond the walls—it's dangerous as hell. If you still don't make your feelings clear now, of course her heart would go cold. No wonder she's avoiding you."
Yago froze. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Over the past three years, although he'd been close to Annie, he really had never clearly expressed his feelings.
Yago asked himself—did he like Annie? Yes. Without question. From the day he joined the training corps and saw Annie's cool blue eyes, he had liked her. Maybe it was time to make his feelings known.
Yago made up his mind.
...
At night, inside the Survey Corps cafeteria, Yago looked around in disappointment. He didn't see Annie anywhere, so he picked a random spot and ate.
Since tomorrow was the 57th expedition beyond the walls, tonight's dinner could be called plentiful.
The objective of the Survey Corps' 57th expedition was to retake Wall Maria and uncover the secret of Eren's basement. If this battle succeeded, it would be an enormous boost to humanity's morale.
It was said that the logistics unit had advanced a month's worth of food expenses, so meat could even be seen at dinner. Though there wasn't much, it was still tempting.
But for Yago right now, even a dinner with meat tasted like chewing wax.
...
On the other side, Annie sat alone on the rooftop of the Survey Corps barracks, silently rubbing the two rings in her hand.
She removed one ring that looked very plain. Gently toggling a small mechanism on it, a thin spike emerged from the ring.
Annie put it back on, then removed the other ring. This one looked far more exquisite, gleaming under the moonlight, and faintly, tiny letters could be seen engraved on it.
This time, Annie didn't put it back on. She clenched the ring in her hand.
...
"Eren, not everyone is like Mikasa, willing to sacrifice themselves for you. But you are humanity's hope! So Eren—this time, we can really only rely on you!" Jean said, gripping Eren's shoulders, his face showing a rare helplessness.
"Jean..." Eren was completely caught off guard. Just moments ago, Jean had been criticizing Eren for attacking Mikasa after transforming into a Titan. Eren had thought Jean would argue with him again, but instead, Jean now looked like he was placing all his hopes on him.
"Don't worry, everyone! I'll give it everything I've got!" Eren said firmly.
Jean sighed. "Let's hope so."
Yago silently watched everyone from the side, his feelings complicated. The burden Eren carried seemed a bit too heavy.
...
Early the next morning, atop the walls of Trost District, the Garrison's fixed cannons roared relentlessly, mercilessly crushing the Titans gathered below the walls.
Before the gate, more than three hundred fully equipped Survey Corps soldiers stood ready, having completed preparations for the 57th expedition beyond the walls, quietly waiting for the Garrison to finish clearing the Titans outside the gate.
Yago tugged at his cloak and looked in one direction. Annie, also wearing the Survey Corps cloak, sat quietly on her horse.
Yago urged his horse toward Annie. Annie noticed him and wanted to leave, but the surrounding Survey Corps soldiers coincidentally surrounded her.
This was, of course, arranged by Yago. Annie could only watch as Yago approached. Finally, Yago came to her side and simply looked at her. The surrounding soldiers, tactfully, dispersed.
Seeing everyone move away, Annie tried to spur her horse to leave, but Yago grabbed the reins.
"Annie, I—I don't know what's been going on with you lately, why you've been avoiding me. But there's something I have to tell you," Yago said seriously.
Annie lifted her head as well, her blue eyes meeting Yago's. Her heart suddenly began to race—she seemed to sense what Yago was about to say.
"Annie, I like you. I've always liked you! Would you go out with me?" Yago finally mustered the courage to say the words he'd been hiding in his heart.
The surrounding Survey Corps soldiers naturally heard it too and looked over with teasing expressions. Annie's face suddenly flushed red, but she didn't speak. Yago couldn't withstand the gazes either. He hurriedly left behind,
"Be careful out there—and could you think about it properly?" Then he ran off.
Annie was left standing there at a loss. The fellow recruits all watched the scene unfold—Mikasa's eyes held a trace of envy, Reiner glanced subtly at Historia beside him, Bertholdt sighed, his eyes tinged with a bit of sadness.
The others treated it like a spectacle. As for Yago and Annie, everyone had known about it all along—finally witnessing this moment was genuinely exciting.
Yago, face red, returned to Ness's side. Ness gave him a thumbs-up.
Before long, the cannon fire atop the wall gradually thinned, until it finally fell completely silent.
"All Titans outside the wall have been cleared! The gate will open in 30 seconds!" the Garrison soldier atop the wall shouted.
At the front of the formation, Commander Erwin's expression suddenly turned grave. He abruptly drew a blade and pointed it toward the sky. "All units, prepare!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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