Full and satisfied.
Everyone gathered around Karen, chatting amongst themselves.
"Karen, if anyone in the training corps dares to bully you, just tell me!" Roberts patted his chest. "I'll go take care of them immediately!"
"Come on, Roberts, even if you go, it'll be for nothing. Karen, you should just look for me."
"Hey! Grimm! Once my shoulder injury heals, I'm definitely going to beat you up!"
"Alright, alright, what are you arguing about? I think you're both equally useless," Hitch said with a mocking expression, then said to Karen, "Little Karen, it's useless to look for them. Just look for my roommate Annie. She doesn't even need to lift a finger; just standing there will scare those bullies out of their wits."
"..."
Annie's eyelid twitched, but she didn't say anything.
Rayan looked at the laughing crowd, feeling a sense of happiness and relief in his heart.
At least because of him, these new recruits hadn't yet become corrupted like those veteran Military Police officers. At least for now, they still held onto a sense of justice. And that was the most meaningful thing he, as their captain, had done.
"I will definitely train hard!" Karen said seriously. "I will definitely do my best to get into the top ten and then join the Military Police!"
"Great! By then, we'll definitely be officers!"
"Of course, that's three years from now."
"Good luck! Do your best!"
Everyone cheered Karen on. The latter looked at the time and exclaimed, "Oh no! It's so late!" She became anxious. "I have to go back, or the instructor will scold me if it gets too late."
"Okay, let's go, I'll walk you back," Rayan said.
"No need, Brother Rayan, I can go myself..."
"No," Rayan shook his head. "The security here at night isn't that good."
"Yeah," Marlo also said from the side. "Those thugs all come out at night. It's still dangerous for a little girl like you. Let the captain walk you back."
"Then... alright." Karen nodded somewhat shyly, her big eyes blinking as she looked at Rayan. "Thank you, Brother Rayan."
"What are you saying?" Rayan ruffled her small head. "Let's go."
Rayan and Karen left, and everyone else naturally dispersed, returning to their respective dormitories.
The next day.
Wake up, wash up.
When Annie returned to the dormitory, she happened to run into a female soldier. The latter held out a letter to her. "Annie, this is your letter. I just saw it in the mailbox when I went to get the newspaper, so I brought it for you."
"Thank you."
Annie took the letter and glanced at the return address on the envelope. It was from the Survey Corps.
She returned to the dormitory, changed into her uniform, sat at the table, opened the envelope,1 and took out the letter inside. It was filled with densely written words. She glanced at it, her expression still cold, but a thoughtful light appeared in her eyes.
At this moment, her roommate Hitch walked in, wiping her freshly washed, wet hair. Seeing Annie intently reading the letter, she walked over and reached out to take it.
"What are you looking at?"
Hitch said as she looked at it herself. "What, what? 'Yo, Annie, how's the Military Police? We're training here for the expedition outside the walls. Anyway, having to remember tedious things like long-range scouting formations is really tiring. If I had known, I would have joined the Military Police to enjoy the good life. Oh right, Eren was assigned to a different squad, haven't seen him lately...'"
After reading a bit, Hitch lost interest.
"What a boring letter. I thought there'd be some 'R-rated' content. But I guess it can't be helped, considering it's from someone you know."
Handing the letter back to Annie, Hitch said while changing her clothes, "Speaking of which, isn't today a day off? Why are you still wearing your uniform? You won't be popular like that. Didn't I tell you? Dressing up won't kill you, and since you're not very sociable, I'm saying..."
"Maybe some other time," Annie interrupted her.
"Huh? You make it sound like you have some important business," Hitch imparted her wisdom. "Remember, for a woman, there's nothing more important than beauty~"
"...Hitch, could you help me ask Rayan for sick leave for tomorrow's district patrol?"
"Huh?"
Hitch looked at her in confusion. "You want to ask for leave? But weren't you and Rayan from the same training corps? You should be very familiar with him. Why do you need my help to ask for leave?" As she spoke, her tone became somewhat admiring. "Speaking of which, I'm quite afraid of that guy. I still can't forget the time he knocked on the door and entered a room full of robbers. Isn't he afraid of dying? By the way, people from your district... are they all a bit strange?"
As she spoke, Hitch digressed. "But putting that aside, he's actually quite cute. And he's a good fighter, gets promoted quickly, young, and has a bright future. If he wasn't our captain, I would even want to pursue him. But it's strange that he hasn't talked about women in almost a month. Unlike those guys like Roberts, who think about picking up girls at bars all day long. They're probably out again today since it's their day off, honestly..."
"Hitch," Annie decisively brought the topic back on track. "My relationship with Rayan isn't very good. So please ask for me."
"Well... maybe. With your personality, you probably didn't talk to him much during your three years in the training corps, right?" Hitch said, picking up a comb and tidying her hair. "Alright, I'll ask for you, but do you have something to do?"
"Just some small personal matter."
"Isn't the rest time for dealing with such things? Why not take care of it today?"
"The other party also has their own arrangements," Annie said. "They're not free today."
"Is that so? Okay, but you owe me one," Hitch said, taking a portrait from a drawer in the table and handing it to Annie. The latter took it and saw a beautiful long-haired woman, probably in her twenties.
"It's said she ran away from home."
"And then?"
"It was about five days ago, I think. A senior shoved it at me and said, 'You go find her for me!' I can't stand it. They just force us new recruits to do the work they don't want to do."
"And then?"
"I'm saying..." Hitch glanced at Annie through the reflection in the mirror. "Could you stop saying 'and then?' It sounds like you're interrogating me."
"I'll think of other ways to ask later," Annie said unmoved. "And then?"
Hitch shook her head in frustration. "Forget it. And then, I'm a very forgetful person. Before I forget, I hope you can repay the favor you owe me first."
"I see, so this is the condition for helping me ask for leave."
"You don't have to if you don't want to. You can just skip work tomorrow; Rayan definitely won't punish you," Hitch said with a smile. "But then you'll have an absence record. Do you want that?"
She held out her hand, and Annie shook it without hesitation.
"Deal."
Hitch let go of her hand, looking at Annie with interest. "And then, what kind of man is he?"
"Huh?" Annie looked a little strange.
"I mean the personal matter you need me to ask for leave to deal with. It must be to see a man, right? Could it be to see that guy who wrote you the letter, what's his name, 'Reiner'?" Hitch asked gossipingly. "Speaking of which, what kind of man is he?"
Annie: "He's a fifteen-meter-class Titan."
Hitch's mouth twitched a couple of times. "...You know, you don't have to force yourself to tell these jokes. They're not funny at all, so boring."
...
Time shifted back slightly.
Rayan escorted Karen to the outside of the training corps in the Stohess District. The latter stopped and waved at him. "Brother Rayan, thank you for walking me back. I'm going in now~"
"Okay."
"I'll come visit you all at the Military Police when I have my next day off!"
"Mm."
Rayan watched Karen's figure gradually disappear, the smile on his face also gradually fading until it returned to calmness.
He turned back to the city and found a carriage parked by the roadside.
The coachman saw him and smiled, "Passenger wants a ride?"
"Yes, to the inner city."
"Inner city?" The coachman was taken aback. "Do you have a permit, sir?"
The inner city of Wall Sina was the royal capital, and it wasn't a place anyone could go. It was impossible to enter without a permit. Of course, if you had money, you could also successfully sneak in through some "arrangements."
Rayan naturally didn't need one. He was, after all, an officer of the Military Police, and he had the authority to enter and exit the inner city.
"Yes, let's go."
"Alright, sir, please get in."
The carriage rode smoothly. Rayan sat inside and took out a drawing from his pocket. It depicted a strange object with some words written next to it. After carefully examining it to make sure there were no omissions, he put the paper away.
Soon, they arrived at the inner city. Rayan went straight to the underground district.
As soon as he went down, many furtive eyes fixed on him. Rayan ignored them and went directly to the tavern he had visited before, asking the bartender to find Klaus.
After about ten minutes, Klaus arrived.
"What is it?"
"Need a place to talk."
"Follow me."
Klaus led Rayan upstairs to a small room.
"Coming over late at night, it must be something urgent?" Klaus said. Rayan nodded and took out the piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to him. "Help me make this overnight. I'll leave an address, and you can send it over tomorrow."
"This?!"
Klaus looked at the drawing and then at Rayan in surprise. "You're going to..."
"Don't worry about the purpose for now. I'll tell you when the time is right," Rayan said, then continued, "There's one more thing. It should be available in the underground district... I need it now."
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Need More Chapters
Every 300 Power Stones
2 Bonus chapter
Every 500 Power Stones
4 Bonus chapter.
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Try Other Fics I Have
•SAO: I replaced him?
•Anime: I Want Harem
•DxD: I am S man
•Anime: Curse Of Immortality
•Genshin Impact: I have Broken System