Kapitel 17: Just that

For now, that was the situation on Takashi's side and on the other side, Eren, Mikasa and the others had reached the camp on a high slope at the foot of the mountain.　

"It took them 9 hours and 32 minutes to get to the camp. Considering the weather, it's not bad at all." An instructor looked at his watch and said to Jean, Connie and Marco.

The three arrived just behind Eren. This seemed to be a sign that others would arrive one after another in the next two hours.

After several hours, only five people had not arrived at the camp and those were Christa, Ymir, Takashi, Liam and Daniel.

Many were worried and several instructors had already left the camp to look around.

Less than two kilometers from the camp, Christa was struggling to carry the unconscious Daniel forward with Ymir's help. Under such circumstances, the three of them would not be able to reach the camp at the foot of the mountain.

Due to the accident in which Liam was hit by a rock and fell into a ravine, Christa in this weather could not do anything for him and, following Ymir's advice, they could only do something for Daniel, who remained unconscious.

Unable to do anything for Liam, Christa helped Daniel as best she could. She knew it was difficult, even with one injured person they were in trouble, with two they would never make it to the camp.

Finally, Ymir stopped Christa knowing that there was no chance of getting out of the place without dying. Looking at Christa, Ymir mumbled words and after a moment confessed that she accidentally discovered that she was the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman and left a very profound sentence, "When I revealed my secret to someone other than you, reveal your name and live on."

Finally, with her deepest wish, she looked at Christa and said, "I will come back for you when I take Daniel, I promise I will get you out of this place."

"No, Ymir!" Chista looked at Ymir who grabbed Daniel and jumped down a slope.

Ymir had thought about it, Christa even though she looked just like her and had many similarities was very foolish. Without making her change her mind about leaving Daniel behind, she wanted for the first time to be seen by someone and feel like herself.

She no longer cared about the development, without thinking much about the consequences she jumped next to the silly Daniel and showed what she always tried to keep secret.

A new form of Ymir.

"Soplo!"

Unable to jump to save Ymir, Christa watched a huge burst of golden electric arcs and then a monster appeared not far away from her gaze.

"She's... a titan?" looking at Ymir, Christa didn't know how to react to the situation.

Ymir looked at Christa and said, "I'll come get you, go back for now."

Then, Ymir in her titan form held Daniel and jumped forward, running at high speed towards the camp located not far in front of the cliff.

Christa grabbed the lamp, her expression was a little dazed, not knowing what was happening. Then suddenly she noticed a light coming from behind her.

Apparently a cadet was still behind her group, looking in the distance Christa said, "Takashi, why are you behind, who is the person on your back?"

Just now, Takashi and Liam saw a flash of light, but since it was dark, Liam didn't quite know what had happened. However, Takashi learned something impressive but he wouldn't say it now.

"I have Liam on my back, what are you doing here alone, Christa?" Takashi rarely got so serious.

"Ymir left with Daniel first, I was trying to slow down a bit so I could see if there was anyone else." Christa said quickly, hiding what she had seen.

"Let's go together, we'll be there as soon as we get down this slope." Takashi narrowed his eyes, is it Ymir?

"Do you need help?" Christa asked.

"No, I can do it, let's go." Of course, Takashi wouldn't let Christa carry a guy as heavy as Liam.

As they walked, Takashi couldn't help but think silently. Was the light just now a lightning flash characteristic of a titan when transforming, right? Was it Ymir who transformed just now? Is she the same as Eren?

How was it possible for Ymir to leave Christa alone on the mountain? No, Takashi thought that Christa had covered for Ymir and from her nervous behavior, he knew that she had quite possibly just found out.

If so, was Ymir someone who could be trusted? There was no chance she would help anyone if she was one of the bad guys who attacked the Maria wall, but still Takashi needed to check.

It had been another half hour and Eren couldn't sit still in the camp room.

"No, don't stop me, I'm going to find them." Eren said to Mikasa and Armin.

"Then let's go together." Replied Reiner with a serious look.

Jean, Connie, Marco, etc. also expressed their intention to go together, at this point.

"Ymir came back with Daniel!" Sasha entered from outside with Ymir and Daniel, who was already awake.

Connie asked Ymir, "Have you seen Takashi, Liam and Christa?"

Ymir was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting so many people not yet back to their dorms.

"Christa is coming soon. As for Liam, I haven't seen him since the accident. Takashi never showed up, possibly he didn't go up the mountain." Ymir's behavior was a bit strange, she knew that there was no one but Liam behind her group, she didn't expect that Takashi who is like a monster still hadn't finished the test.

Eren was in a hurry, so he was about to leave to find Takashi, but an instructor stopped him.

"Wait, at least wait until Christa comes back." The instructor stopped everyone. Most of these people were the elite of this southern training corps, and they couldn't be allowed to take any chances trying to save other people.

Time passed and everyone arrived at the door to wait for Christa.

"Look, Christa is back, no, looks like Takashi is back too." Sasha said, pointing to two lamps not far away.

Ymir sighed in relief, he couldn't go back because of the instructors' instruction and anxious people. She could only rely on Christa's skills to get back to the camp, after all it was not far away.

Sasha ran to Takashi and asked, "Takashi, why were you so late?"

Takashi handed over the injured Liam to the instructors and said to Sasha, "The path was blocked... No, let's talk inside."

Late at night, more than twenty people were sitting around the fire. Sasha stood by Takashi's side as if she had been very worried about her friend's absence.

Takashi had changed his clothes wet from the snow and sweat, he had walked most of the mountain with Liam on his back, he weighed a lot so it was not an easy task.

That's why Ymir rescued Daniel by turning into a titan and throwing himself down the cliff, only then he could help Christa. At that moment, Ymir only acted so that Christa could return safely and not sacrifice herself for a fool like Daniel. On the other hand, not wanting to take Christa, Ymir thought that this would be the best way for her to think about what had happened and hopefully hide her secret.

"So that guy Takashi carried you on his back most of the mountain!" Ymir felt amazing. If she didn't become a titan though her physical condition would be considered top-notch among normal people, but it was impossible for her to carry an unconscious Daniel.

Liam, who was wrapped in a blanket, was still in shock, "That's the truth. I was worried it would affect him on the way over. I didn't expect him not to take a break."

Eren, who was used to Mikasa carrying him and helping him a lot, thought it was natural among people with the Ackerman surname.

Reiner looked at Takashi with some surprise, "How did you do it? Your stamina and strength are very good, but it's not enough for you to carry a person all over the mountain!"

Takashi smiled and said, "I didn't want to die, not in this place so far away from the world. With those thoughts in mind, my will and perseverance did the job."

Takashi's words and actions were nothing special. Reiner stopped talking, Connie and Thomas gaped. The strongest and most popular people within the training corps are strong enough to climb the mountain by themselves, but when it comes to carrying others the subject would change.

However, sharp-minded Armin paid no attention to this, "Takashi, why did you walk last?"

Everyone was stunned before thinking about this question.

"I think he fell asleep." Connie said.

Takashi got up from the campfire, walked over to Connie and slid his hand over his bald head. "Well, you can think about that."

Eren was a bit puzzled, "Don't you care about the evaluation results? This time, they'll be included in the final score."

Takashi looked at Eren and looked at everyone again, at this moment, he thought of something and said, "Eren, is the final score really important to people like us? Only the top ten final grades are eligible to join the Military Police Corps and live in the inner city."

"The better the soldier, the better the chances of staying out of harm's way. Does this mean anything to us who are going to join the Scout Corps?"

Eren was puzzled for a moment, he obviously hadn't thought about this topic before, but he soon came to his senses and realized the contradiction.

Everyone's expressions were different, some people were suddenly surprised, some people were calm and obviously realized this a long time ago.

Annie leaned to one side and felt very nonexistent. She looked at Takashi and retracted her eyes. She was still a little surprised. She thought Takashi, a smart young man, could do things better than anyone else.

Jean Kirstein was a bit irritable, he was someone who worked hard to get into the military police corps, sometimes he also felt absurd, as a soldier, he worked so hard to stay away from the battlefield. As Takashi told them, he would rather bleed now than bleed in the future.

At this, Jean couldn't help but ask, "Takashi, why do you have to join the Exploration Corps?"

Jean asked the question that many people want to ask.

Eren wanted to join the Exploration Corps to kill all the titans and something that very few people know is to avenge his mother's death. But none could understand Takashi, being a hunter, would he rather leave the forest to go fight titans?

Takashi only now felt a void in his memory and answered calmly, "There is no special reason, the world is very big and I want to go and see it. I will fight those who are my enemies and save all those who can be saved. I don't hate titans but I am determined to exterminate them to save as many lives of our people as possible."

There was a silence, and it was the first time someone said go die outside the wall in such a cool and refined way.

After a while, Connie said, "Takashi, I didn't expect you to speak so elegantly. I thought you would just ridicule people."

Connie was very tolerant of Takashi touching his head, he felt there was no prejudice with his actions. Only sometimes they fought over some differences, but everything was resolved in the end.

Just because of that? Looking at the outside world and fighting titans, a very fair thing to do but it didn't meet the characteristics of being a hunter.

Jean looked at Takashi and thought, he can force himself not to think about that issue, but no matter what, he must go to the military police to maintain a stable life in the future within the big city.

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet, no one had anything else to say. At this moment, Sasha looked at Takashi and suddenly said, "Takashi, I'm sorry but I'm hungry, do you have something to eat?" 　

With a few simple words from the potato girl, the mood became cheerful. Takashi took out a piece of bread from Liam's backpack and stuffed it into Sasha's mouth and said to everyone, "I'm tired, you should go to bed."

Then Takashi walked straight out of the living room and walked towards the previously arranged bedroom, he suddenly felt strange.

Everyone smiled and stopped thinking about it. It was still early to join the corps or enter the military police. It had only been a little over half a year and there were still more than two years left to consider future plans.

Eren, who hasn't spoken for a moment now, has a firm expression on his face, no matter how absurd it is that a good soldier can stay away from the battlefield, it won't change his goal! Seeing this, Mikasa was a little worried.

"Eren, Armin, stay away from that person in the future." Mikasa said goodbye to Eren and walked towards the dormitory. She felt something unique about Takashi, as if he was willing to give everything to make a significant change, even his life.

Eren and Armin looked at each other helplessly. They were getting along very happily with Takashi. Both Eren and Takashi had the goals of joining the Exploration corps to kill titans. But at the same time Eren and Takashi had nothing in common.

At this point, Mikasa hadn't given up on the idea of stopping Eren from joining the Exploration Corps. The reason she didn't show it too clearly was because she knew she couldn't stop him!

Takashi's appearance made Eren more determined! This is the reason Mikasa doesn't like seeing Takashi, though he is also aware that he would be just as stubborn without a Takashi by his side.

Sasha's eyes glittered, feeling too sad to try to eat the bread Takashi had handed her.