In the dormitory, Christa lit an oil lamp and sat at the table, looking at the newspaper. Ymir lay on her side on the bed next to her, propping her head up with one hand, her slender eyes watching the girl burning the midnight oil.
"Hey, Christa, didn't you read that all the way through during the day?" Ymir said. "Is this some kind of homework you're reviewing?"
"Mm..."
Christa obviously wasn't listening carefully, nodding perfunctorily, her attention completely focused on the newspaper.
Their Survey Corps wasn't some isolated place; naturally, they also saw newspapers. So, yesterday, when everyone saw in the newspaper that Rayan had been received by the King, they were all taken aback. And what surprised them even more was that the latter had actually participated in the Wall Maria reclamation operation!
They knew how brutal that operation was, yet Rayan had never mentioned it to them, which was rather strange. After all, if it were anyone else who had returned from that operation, they would surely boast about it endlessly.
However, this did explain why Rayan, despite not being in the top ten, could still enter the Military Police Regiment. It turned out he was specially recruited because of this event.
"Alright, let's go to sleep. We have training tomorrow," Ymir said, lying flat on her back.
Christa hummed in agreement, folded the newspaper, and put it away. Then she also lay down on her bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, a strong wave of fatigue washed over her.
After a day of training, these recruits were indeed finding it hard to bear unlike the Training Corps, the Survey Corps' training intensity was much greater, and because the recruits would also participate in the expedition outside the walls in a month, their training was even more intensive.
When their physical training reached its limit, they would immediately switch to theoretical combat knowledge. After the theory, once they had recovered some strength, they would start combat training again. In short, there was basically no rest time throughout the day. And with such days continuing for a month, one could imagine how much the recruits complained.
Christa thought: I originally wanted to take the one day off each week to see how Rayan was doing, but it seems there's no time at all now.
She thought somewhat pessimistically.
Before, Commander Erwin had said that the casualty rate for new recruits was 30%, which meant that during the expedition outside the walls in a month, she might also die out there. Then she would never see him again... But he should be safe in the Military Police Regiment; there shouldn't be any danger.
That's good... Christa thought, closing her eyes and slowly falling asleep.
...
Early morning.
"Get up, time to work."
Rayan said while getting dressed. The others in the dormitory also got up upon hearing this and were dressed neatly in no time.
He led them out, and several female soldiers had already arrived outside. Seeing Rayan, they all saluted. Only Annie glanced at him indifferently, as if she couldn't be bothered with him.
"Stand at attention,"
Rayan said. The saying "a higher rank crushes those below" wasn't a joke. Even though he was just a squad leader now, the new recruits didn't dare disobey him. Otherwise, they would suffer.
After all, the entire system was like this: if a new recruit could challenge a squad leader, wouldn't a squad leader be able to challenge a captain? A captain challenge a major? A major challenge a lieutenant colonel?
That would be chaos. So, what was implemented in the military within the walls was absolute obedience "a soldier's duty is to obey orders."
"We all got to know each other yesterday. If there are no surprises, we will be fighting side by side in the future. So, there's no need for formality or politeness. Doing our job well is the most important thing."
"Squad Leader Rayan, what do we need to do?"
Rayan glanced at the person who asked and said, "We are the Military Police. Our duty is to protect the lives and property of the residents. Therefore, thieves, robbers, murderers are all our enemies. Clearing them out and capturing them is our job."
"..."
Everyone looked at each other, clearly having some reservations but not daring to voice them.
"I'm going to get some files. You all wait here," Rayan said.
He knew these guys were dissatisfied, which was normal. After all, the goal of most people who joined the Military Police was to enjoy a comfortable life, to do nothing and still get paid a salary, to be a rice weevil. So, his workaholic attitude at the moment made them somewhat uncomfortable.
And as soon as he left, everyone immediately started whispering to each other.
"It seems our Squad Leader Rayan really loves to work," a gray-haired girl said to Marlo beside her. "What a weirdo."
"Hitch, what did you say!" Marlo glared at her with displeasure upon hearing this. His interactions with Rayan over the past two days had made him strongly approve of the latter. Unlike others, Rayan didn't mock his ideals but instead encouraged him to realize them step by step.
"Rayan is doing this for our own good," Marlo said. "If we catch more criminals, we'll definitely get promoted faster for our merits!"
"Huh?"
A young man beside him sighed and shook his head. "You guys are too naive. Forget about whether you can catch those cunning guys or not. Even if you do, do you think the credit will be yours? Hehe, those who sit in the office drinking and playing cards won't even mention your name when reporting upwards! The credit will directly become theirs!"
"..."
Everyone nodded in agreement. They weren't children anymore, and many of them were clear about the ins and outs of this. Especially among these dozen or so people, not all of them were top ten graduates from the Training Corps in various districts who were directly recommended. Several of them had been transferred from the Garrison Regiment.
They had worked in the Garrison Regiment for several years and had long seen through this system of military merits. So, they didn't want to work hard at all, just wanted to coast along, taking each day as it came.
Anyway, they just needed to survive the first year in the Military Police. In the second year, these new recruits would become veterans, and then the next batch of new recruits would arrive. By then, they would have become the senior members, and they would imitate their predecessors, handing over the work to the new recruits and enjoying themselves.
Although no one said it out loud, this was what most people thought.
Marlo looked at the people who agreed with that statement, his face not looking good. He couldn't think of a rebuttal, but he definitely didn't agree with that person's point of view, so he simply remained silent with a sullen face.
Hitch next to him couldn't help but laugh at his expression, then asked the girl in the same dormitory, "Annie, I remember you and this Squad Leader Rayan are both from Trost District, right? You were also in the same batch of trainees. Was he like this back in the Training Corps?"
Annie remained silent.
"Hey, hey, are you ignoring me again!"
"Hitch, leave her alone. She's from that district; she probably just saw hell... Her heart must have suffered some trauma," someone said.
Hitch shrugged indifferently upon hearing this and didn't say anything more.
Actually, Annie didn't have any psychological trauma; she just didn't know how to answer.
Her understanding of Rayan wasn't much. She only knew that he was very strong, and his application of unarmed combat skills was practically invincible. It could be said that it was difficult for anyone to defeat him in hand-to-hand combat. Also, his relationship with Christa and Ymir seemed very good; the three of them were often together.
That was it. Annie's understanding of Rayan was only these things. In fact, she didn't need to understand these people. Anyway, in the future, they would all... it was meaningless.
If she knew that the ending would definitely be mutual enmity, wouldn't understanding them more just make her suffer more? So, aloofness and indifference were the best armor, so that when that day came, she wouldn't be too painful and heartbroken.
This was Annie's strategy, but Reiner's? It was completely the opposite.
Reiner completely regarded himself as a "reliable big brother," caring about every trainee in their batch and having a very good relationship with them. But what was the result of this? Schizophrenia.
Precisely because he had feelings, it was much more painful when he had to act. Of course, Reiner and Annie were fundamentally different. The former could forcibly suppress his pain, while the latter would shed tears even with the slightest heartache.
If Annie had a good relationship with everyone like Reiner, she probably wouldn't be able to bring herself to act at all. And even though their relationship wasn't that good, she had let Armin go several times in the original story and even let Jean go. And it was this softheartedness that brought her a devastating blow.
On the other side, Rayan took some case files from the office. These were all reports submitted by the residents, but they were piled up here gathering dust, and no one was dealing with them at all.
Within the walls, the Military Police were almost like the police. If even the police didn't care much about reports, then one could imagine the reason for the high crime rate.
"Just handle these cases," the Military Police officer managing the files said. "We have more important things to do, and we're short on manpower."
More important things... like playing mahjong with one person missing?
Rayan silently took the files and left, arriving at his small office.
As a squad leader, he was considered an officer, big or small, so he naturally had his own office. However, the area was extremely small, with only a desk, a chair, and a bookshelf inside, all covered in dust from years of neglect.
He placed all the files on the desk. There were so many; it was impossible to do them all in one day. He had to pick and choose, selecting the more important ones.
Just as the Military Police officer had said, there was a shortage of manpower. Rayan currently only had a dozen or so people under his command. With so few people, petty theft was definitely out of the question. What they needed to handle were the big cases of robbers and murderers.
Soon, Rayan picked out a file, looked at the details, and nodded. "It's you."
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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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