#three viewpoints selected cases

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Three Viewpoints Selected Cases

The Case of the Corps Tea Party - File No. 09 Levi's Side (3/3)

"According to Oluo's explanation, some high-grade tea was accidentally sent to the Survey Corps, and so the mighty Military Police Brigade are coming all the way here just to retrieve it…"

"Is it really worth getting that worked up over? It's hard enough to get adequate food to eat, so I doubt there are many soldiers out there who have discerning tastes in tea."

The notice regarding a collection of provisioned tea had arrived as soon as they woke up. All of the soldiers under Levi had their heads tilted as they tried to understand this inexplicable situation.

It is true that these tea leaves are a lot more tolerable than the ones we normally get. But…I think the truth of the matter is…

While the theory about the Survey Corps being unsuitable for the luxury goods that accidentally reached them did make sense, it wasn't a good enough reason for the Military Police to be acting so frantic.

"…Oluo, bring the tea leaves here. There's something I want to check."

Just then, Levi recalled the way the Military Police Brigade "did business" and that's when he decided to check for himself.

******

"Eren, give me that spoon over there."

The tea that had been brought to the room was barely any different from what was normally supplied to the corpsmen. As Levi hated to get his hands dirty, he took a thin, long teaspoon from the recruit and calmly stirred through the leaves.

"What is that beautiful stone?!"

…A moment later, a large, glimmering rock was there in Levi's hand. A rock that in their walled society could only be seen in Royal and aristocratic estates… It was a decorative gem that lowly soldiers such as the Survey Corpsmen had only ever seen in illustrations.

"I-Is that what you call a jewel?!"

"I've only ever seen gems that shine like that being treated like the holy treasures of the Wall Religion…!"

"What is that, Captain?!"

He brushed the tea leaves off the gem and rolled it on the table.

"This is what the Military Police have been looking for…from the very start."

Then, based on his experiences along with stories from old acquaintances, Levi began to give his own thoughts on the incident.

"They were trying to cover up their bribes by hiding valuables inside tea that they claimed was a donation…? Really?"

"No matter how rotten they may be in the inside, even the Military Police have to take a neutral appearance. It doesn't look good for them to be taking money directly…"

"But food is a different matter. Like Oluo said, luxury goods or not, no one's going to complain about them donating tea that any regular citizen could get and say that it should have been used as alms."

Levi's talented soldiers quickly digested what he said and arrived at the truth themselves.

"And some stupid MP must have mixed things up. So now they're saying the tea isn't fit for consumption and are trying to retrieve it," one of them said, playing with the shinning rock… Outside of the Walls, it was nothing more than a worthless pebble. Eren agreed with the corpsman, looked at the gem with curious eyes, and asked.

"What are you going to go with this gem, Captain?"

"…That's up to Erwin." "We're going back immediately," he announced, and began heading back to the Commander, the head of the Survey Corps.

******

"I see… It's a good thing you were you quick to figure out what was really going on. Let's let the MP in charge of this know."

Erwin's reaction to hearing what had happened was flatter than they expected. As there could have been more than one stone, he briskly ordered his aide to ask the Military Police how many items were "unfit for consumption" and to arrange for an investigation of all of the tea to make sure that no foul play had taken place.

"…So you're going to hand them back without a word?"

"I think it'd be more convenient for us to have the Military Police owe us one rather than turn the entire Brigade against us because we pilfered a couple of pebbles. Not happy, Levi?"

Levi had no objections to Erwin's decision. He thought it was best to let Erwin handle the way he dealt with the military brass and other branches himself.

"I'll leave all of the political maneuvering up to you."

"If you have any requests, I'll be happy to pass them along as ones by the first individual to discover the goods."

"Hmm…"

Levi recalled the tea he'd had a single sip of that morning. It was undeniably excellent.

"I don't care about these pebbles, but the tea was good. It'd be nice if they supplied us with more of the same."

Erwin grinned before repeating Levi's simple request in his own trademark way.

"Okay, I'll let them know. I'll ask for them to supply you with tea next time with whatever made it 'unfit for consumption' taken out."

He then turned his back to Levi in order to go meet the MP leading the case himself as Levi returned to his own job.

[ PART 1 | PART 2 ]

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

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Three Viewpoints Selected Cases

The Case of the Sacked Squad Leader - File No. 05 Petra's Side (2/3)

Petra Ral did not belong to the Survey Corps's Fourth Squad, which was led by Squad Leader Hange. She just so happened to walk by Hange's locked laboratory around the time it had been sacked.

"Um! I have a notice from the Captain to the Squad Leaders!"

There was no reply. She tried the doorknob, but it was locked.

Is Hange out? I'll tell the Captain to go to them last.

Just then she heard loud noises.

"Ah?!"

Sounds of objects rattling apart, papers or something similar fluttering to the ground, and a loud, dull boom.

She instinctively knocked on the door to see if everyone was all right, but there was no answer.

Maybe they piled things up in a sloppy way and it fell over?

Petra didn't think much of it because she assumed that the room was empty and went back to her work.

******

When Hange and their subordinates came by to talk to Petra, that was the first time she learned Hange was actually inside the room when those loud noise occurred.

"…I bet you were so drowsy that you managed to mess up and break that stuff on your own. You're lucky your glasses didn't break," Levi spat at Hange now that he was near, but their only defense seemed to miss the point a bit.

"I had goggles on, Not glasses. I was testing a new weapon."

Hange looked at Petra and asked her about the situation.

"Petra, so I heard you came by the room while I was in there? Do you know anything?"

"…I heard a noise. I thought it was empty and assumed that some things just fell over."

She then went on to talk about the sound she heard and what took place right after.

******

A storage shed overseen by the Fourth Squad sat right next to Hange's locked lab, always filled with an assortment of different items. At times it may have been vegetables to feed to Titans in experiments, while at others it could be spears used to hurt them.

I wonder what kind of experiment they're running today? Logs…and a rope…

As Petra walked away from the room and passed the shed, she saw something curious and stopped.

Nifa, one of Hange's subordinates, called out to her.

"Oh, do you need our squad for something?"

"I do. There's a tactics memorandum going around, and… Oh, I'll come back for Hange later."

"That would be appreciated. The Squad Leader's busy right now," Nifa laughed, before realizing that Petra's eyes were fixed on something in the shed. She casually explained what it was.

"Were you wondering about that? Those are the materials for the anti-Titan weapon prototypes."

As always, the Fourth Squad was full of new ideas. Petra thanked Nifa, still amazed as she left the scene.

******

"Weapons?"

Though Levi seemed to be uninterested as he listened to Petra's story, he now furrowed his brows.

"Yes. It seems like they're trying to test how much of an impact a Titan body can take."

"The only way to stop one of those things is to slice out its nape. We learned that a long time ago."

"The goal isn't to defeat them. These are stationary traps meant to stop Titans by neutralizing their limbs. If this works out, it'd help out a lot in cases like defending an encampment while on a march."

As someone who fought on the front lines, Petra thought it was a good idea. Titans may not move much at night, but some might. There was no such thing as too much safety when it came to the Titans.

"So it's research that will help lighten the load on any of us on watch duty?"

Petra had been able to stay alive thanks to the way she and her fellow corpsmates helped one another out. As such, she saw Hange's plan as attractive. Avoiding battles would mean more of her comrades making it back alive.

"That's right. It's not smart move to tire out combat specialists like you by placing you on patrol duty."

Still, Levi was cautious. "That all sounds great, but do our wagons have the space to carry this alongside all of our other valuable resources?"

"They're made with the assumption that the materials can be procured on-site. They uses pendulums and hammers made out of trees and ropes. We've been trying a lot of things."

"Oh, Squad Leader!"

Suddenly, one of the corpsmen that Hange had brought spoke up. It was Nifa, who seemed to be there hiding between the larger soldiers.

"Nifa?"

"I…think I figured it out."

The sudden words shocked everyone, and they all turned to listen to her.

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

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Three Viewpoints Selected Cases

The Case of the Sacked Squad Leader - File No. 04 Hange's Side (1/3)

When Hange got up in the middle of their room, it looked nothing like it usually did.

"Wuh?! What's going on here?!"

…It was definitely the room they always used for research. But its floor, tables, and bookshelves had been changed entirely.

"I can't believe this… The whole place has been sacked."

The books were scattered, the lab equipment on top of the desk had met a horrible end, and fragments of wood and ropes had been scattered along the floor, leaving no place to so much as walk.

Hmm, this is bad. I don't remember a thing.

******

Just as Hange was feeling lost, they heard a knock at the door accompanied by a frantic voice.

"Squad Leader, Squad Leader…Hange!"

"Hm? Moblit!"

A moment later, Hange's aide broke through the door and entered the room holding a hatchet that must have come from a storehouse.

Hange noticed the broken lock on the door and realized that he must have broken the latch in order to come inside. Despite his imposing appearance, Hange's aide let his shoulders down as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Could you please answer if you're awake…?"

"What do you mean?"

"The door was locked and you weren't replying at all. I had no choice but to destroy the door…but what happened here?"

Moblit had been so preoccupied with confirming the safety of his superior officer that he only now showed surprise once more, having seen the terrible state of the room.

******

"…Your books and lab equipment. What happened to everything?"

"What should I do? I wonder if I did this?"

"You don't remember?!"

"Not at all," Hange said as they scratched their tousled head.

They remembered declaring that they would be holing up in the room for an experiment. That must have been what they were doing, given the prototypes scattered around. While there were some half-scribbled notes, they ended with a notice that the experiment was about to begin.

"Let's start from the beginning and sort everything out. I was passed out here for a while, right?"

"Yes. It seems like you told Nifa that you'd be in here for a while. It was quiet whenever we passed by, for quite some time."

He said everyone had left Hange alone for a while because it was assumed they were taking a nap.

"But then we received some paperwork that needed immediate confirmation and needed to wake you up."

That was when Moblit did everything to wake Hange up, making loud noises and beating on the door.

"I was afraid that your heart had finally exploded from all of the excitement…"

"Hah, you worry too much. I don't even have a scratch on me… Or probably not."

Hange finished the work given to them by their subordinates a few minutes later, then went to Erwin to explain the situation.

"And that's what happened, Erwin, but I don't remember doing it at all. So please, just don't make me write an apology…"

"At the moment, I'm afraid that's exactly what you're going to have to do," the Commander of the Survey Corps said after hearing Hange out, shaking his head without emotion.

"It was a room locked from the inside, with no way in or out, right? In that case, the only one who could have destroyed that room was you, Hange."

Though it was a daily occurrence for things to break in the course of Hange's duties, given their enthusiasm for Titan research, they were also living in a resource-starved world. The Corps's equipment was under close management, and anything that was broken had to be procured again and taken out of the budget.

Hange knew this well enough. But there was a reason they thought this wasn't their fault.

"Think about it. My Squad was working on new types of weapons. Even our valuable prototypes were in pieces. Do you really think that's something I would do?"

Erwin remained calm. The order he gave was not to pin down a criminal but to find the truth.

"…Alright, then."

Hange decided to start by going to a subordinate who might know what was going on.

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

[snk-smartpass]

Three Viewpoints: Selected Cases

The Case of the Anonymous Invitation - File No. 11 Krista's Side (2/3)

One day, the Training Corps received a letter with no address inviting someone to a meal.

Speculation about its sender, as well as the intended recipient that this sender must have forgotten to write, was the topic of much discussion even after they returned to the barracks.

"I wonder who that invitation was for? A boy, or maybe a girl…?"

"I really would like to know! Oh, I'm so jealous!"

While the girls barracks were always alive with discussion, it was especially animated today. Krista smiled as she listened in, and then the conversation turned to her.

"If anyone is going to get a letter like that…don't you think it'd be Krista?"

"What…?"

Everyone's attention suddenly turned to her, putting Krista at a loss.

I don't remember ever saving anyone…

••••••

"The letter said it was by someone who was saved, right…? I don't remember ever doing something like that…"

Confused, Krista tried to nonchalantly signal the nearby Ymir for help.

"You're always fussing over people, even when you don't realize it yourself. So…I could see someone mistaking that for you saving them, can't you?"

Hmm…I'm not very happy to hear that.

Krista knew that her kindness and caring that everyone thought so highly of wasn't the real her. She was afraid of being praised for her false compassion, and so she desperately tried to find something that would let her deny it. Not out of the kindness of her own heart… but out of selfishness.

"Um, didn't Marco also say something like, 'When I got lost on that mountain, I thought I was going to die by the side of the path'…?" In other words… I think the person who sent that letter must have met the person it was for during mountain training the other day."

••••••

"Mountain training…? Oh, that really tough one?"

"Now I remember! Where we had to hunt, even though we didn't have enough food… I was ready to steal other people's prey, forget about saving them."

The girls in the barracks all held their heads heavy in their hands. Memories of the harsh, mentally and physically exhausting multi-day training exercise was still fresh in their minds.

"It would've been amazing if you managed to pull that off, potato girl. You shoulda tried."

"There was no one to try on! The squads were far away from one another, and we were nowhere near any populated paths… We only saw our squadmates during that exercise."

"…And even if you did, you wouldn't get yourself invited out for a meal if you robbed someone in the middle of the road."

Though Sasha talked about how tough of a time she had during training, Ymir was mildly bewildered by the toughness she showed regardless of the fact.

"I didn't have any chances to talk to anyone outside of my squad, either. I had a hard enough time keeping up with the training exercise… You know that, don't you, Ymir?"

"Oh… True. Unfortunately, I don't recall coming across anyone rich enough to have a 'restaurant they often patronize.'"

"Oh… So it must be for someone in a squad that helped someone out."

Krista's gentle nudging had taken the girls' conversation into a different direction.

••••••

As the group excitedly recalled their stories about the rigorous mountain training exercise, one girl raised her hand.

"Oh! I was in Reiner's squad during the training… I want to say that he was the squad leader and that he saved a civilian then."

"So the letter was for Reiner?!"

"Hmm… But if it was, that would be a little…"

"Wh-What do you mean by that? Come on, details!"

While it was only getting later, there seemed to be no signs of the discussion coming to an end. Krista simply watched them with a relieved smile, completely uninterested.

Phew… I got them to stop talking about me.

…And so she failed to catch the truth of the matter when it was revealed. While she would be fairly shocked to learn it alongside the boys a few days later, she was at least satisfied that she was now free of any suspicious.

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

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Three Viewpoints: Selected Cases

The Case of the Anonymous Invitation - File No. 12 Reiner's Side (3/3)

Dinnertime, a few days after the training corps received the anonymous letter…

The young soldiers was busy gossiping about who had the right to accept the invitation to a meal described in the letter.

"Is Reiner Braun here?"

"Huh…?"

Just then, the instructor's voice filled the mess hall, quieting it in an instant. Not only that, he had called a name that would normally never come out of his mouth.

"Come to the instructors' office after dinner."

"…Yes, sir."

Reiner stood and saluted, but he didn't understand. The Instructors ' office was normally a place where troublemakers went… He barely had any familiarity with it as someone with high marks.

"Hey, that's pretty rare. You getting called into the office?"

What could it be for…? I haven't messed up lately.

******

Reiner visited the instructors' office after finishing his meal, but his instructor's attitude was as indifferent as ever.

"I understand you rescued a civilian lost on a path during our mountain training exercise the other day," the instructor said.

"To be more precise, I made sure that it wouldn't interfere with my squad's actions… and guided someone I met while fetching water back down to the trail at the base of the mountain. I believe I included it in my report…"

Had it been determined that he'd done something inappropriate as squad leader? Reiner prepared to defend himself, but the instructor held him back, saying he wasn't blaming Reiner for anything.

"A letter of thanks from that civilian arrived addressed to the corps. It seems another one was sent to us through regular mail the other day, but that they forget to write a name on it. That's why they sent another."

The instructor produced an envelope with Reiner's name on it. He had seen the paper used for the envelope somewhere before. Reiner needed no prompting to open it.

"…Hm?! This note…!!"

••••••

"So that thing that read like a love letter from the other day…?"

"…It seems to have just meant they wanted to show their thanks. The envelope, ink, and handwriting all matches up."

Reiner returned to the mess hall, explained the entire situation to his corpsmates, then discussed the letter in his hand as well as the truth behind the mysterious letter.

"But I think that's a good thing. You're getting a free meal out of it, right? The handwriting's nice, too, so it's probably some beautiful…"

"…It was a middle-aged man."

"…Excuse me?"

"I saved an older man, about the same age as our instructor.”

After a moment of stillness, the mess hall exploded with laughter.

••••••

“…Gah hah hah, so it really was true?”

A few girls agreed with Ymir as she held her stomach laughing. By exchanging information in the girls barracks, it seemed as though they had figured out that Reiner was the one who helped the civilian.

“Oh, so the girls knew! We didn’t notice at all!”

“Still, Reiner. I’m impressed that you were able to be that kind and guide someone back despite being in the middle of that harsh exercise. If that had been me, a compass direction would be the absolute most I’d have been able to give him,” Eren said, praising him without any laughter. Reiner sounded serious as he explained why.

“We’re soldiers. No matter who it is, we can’t let ourselves abandon people in trouble,” he said.

…While he was trying to sound cool, it seemed as though his corpsmates would take a while to stop laughing now that they had gotten started.

“You might as well enjoy the opportunity, though. Have a nice private dinner with the old man who saved you,” one of them said.

“I already told the instructor no thanks… That was something any of us would have done. It wouldn’t be fair if I accepted.”

Reiner was now fed up with everyone’s reactions and tried to get them to go back to the barracks. But then, in a rare act for him, Bertolt came up to Reiner and delivered a warning as he sighed.

“Reiner… I don’t mind you being thoughtful… But I don’t want you getting involved in anything annoying because of it…”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not at all interested in being made fun of.”

Bertolt let out another quiet sigh. Reiner the soldier took the words as simple exasperation and followed him back to the barracks as he scratched his head.

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

[snk-smartpass]

Three Viewpoints Selected Cases

The Case of the Sacked Squad Leader - File No. 06 Nifa's Side (3/3)

Hange's lab had been sacked despite it being a locked room with no way in or out. Hange, who was inside, had no memories of the incident, and everyone was trying to figure out the true story behind what had gone on.

Nifa, who worked under Hange, said she had carried tools for her superior officer's experiments until moments before the room was locked.

"You can put Unit #1, the log mockup, in front of that bookshelf. Unit #2, the pendulum, goes in front of the desk, and put Unit #3, the wire trap, next to the shelf."

The room was by no means large, but Nifa brought model after model for the trap into the room.

Is it really okay to put these inside here…?

Still, they didn't have unlimited resources. They would have to run at least a few experiments using smaller mock ups before doing anything at larger scale. Nifa knew this, which is why she obeyed Hange's instructions.

******

"I want to be alone for a bit, so I'm going to lock myself in here, okay? You take care of it if anyone comes by, Nifa. Give any documents or anything else that isn't urgent to Moblit," Hange said before swapping their glasses out for goggles. It seemed like they were getting ready to hunker down and start researching.

The Squad Leader didn't even sleep last night… I don't want to leave them on their own, but…

While Nifa was concerned for her Squad Leader, she believed in Hange, someone who had made it out of more than a few life-or-death situations.

"Please don't do anything unreasonable."

"Aren't Survey Corpsmen always doing the unreasonable?"

"We're inside the Walls right now. I'll come get you when it's time to take a break."

Hange would be fine as long as they got the rest they needed. Nifa and the other squad members just needed to be on top of things. Having convinced herself, Nifa closed the door and heard it lock from the inside.

******

Petra was shocked when she heard Nifa's explanation of the prototypes and leaped to her feet.

"You tested heavy pendulums and log traps inside of a room?! Isn't that really dangerous…?"

"They're smaller because they're prototypes. At most, they were the size of this chair," Hange said while gesturing to show the size of the prototypes. But Levi was still dumbstruck.

"Why did you lock the door? Did it not strike you that no one would be able to come in and help if there was an accident?"

"That's right! You should have at least had someone else…"

When Nifa heard Petra say these words, she recalled that Petra was the type of soldier who put a strong emphasis on teamwork.

…But that wasn't to say that Nifa's corpsmates didn't think of one another, either.

"I was working with traps that can activate out of nowhere. If someone who didn't know what was going on came in and set one off, it'd be dangerous."

…Yes, that's the kind of person Hange is.

Hange may have appeared to me caught up in the experiment, but they cared about others, too. It was that kindness that lead to the accident. The rest of Hange's squad knew that, which made them share the responsibility for what happened.

"…At least one of us should have stayed."

"It's fine with me, I'm still alive. I just don't remember. So, Nifa, what do you mean when you say you figured it out?"

"Let's go back to the scene one more time."

The blame would be Hange's alone unless the truth of the matter was revealed. Nifa knew that she had to prove her hypothesis, and so she went with her officers and squadmates to the room where it all happened.

******

The room remained in shambles. Still, Nifa's eyes landed on a single piece of debris. She ran over Ang picked it up.

"Look! You changed the size of the model, didn't you!"

"Oh… Now that you mention it…"

Nifa had brought a piece of wood used to support one of the prototypes into the room, but a table was now attached to it.

"That's right, the small-scale experiment went well, so I thought I'd adjust it so that it'd reach a seven-to-eight-meter-class Titan…and put the pendulum trap on the desk…and that's when it happened."

As soon as Moblit heard Hange said this, he immediately began to scrutinize the desk and the size of the trap, compared that to Hange's height, and arrived at the same conclusion as Nifa.

"So this log pendulum must have gone swooping down and hit you in the head, Squad Leader. That's what caused you to pass out…

"…And then the base gave way, causing it to hit the shelf…"

"…Which caused the books to fall onto your test equipment, which is how we ended up with this mess… Excuse me, Squad Leader."

Just to make sure, Nifa stood tall and raised her arms, thrusting her hands into Hange's ever-tied hair.

"You have a huge bump on your head!"

"Oh, I do. Well, you know how sometimes bumps don't hurt that much depending on where you get them!"

"I guess that happens every once in a while, but…"

Hange's temporary memory loss must have caused them to forget the pain, too.

"…We'll write apologies as well. We came up with these traps as a squad, after all."

Everyone nodded at Nifa's words before moving straight to cleaning up the room.

"I'll take all the blame for this. We did learn that the weapons, while small, do at least work on humans."

"Before you do, can you please go to a doctor to get that bump checked out?"

"You never know," Nifa said, "once we start cleaning up, we might find out that surprisingly little equipment was destroyed." After that, she pushed Hange out of the room.

"Sorry, I'll get you something to make up for this," the squad heard their leader say. They only shrugged as they began the work of picking up books and gathering splinters of wood.

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

[snk-smartpass]

Three Viewpoints: Selected Cases

The Case of the Anonymous Invitation - File No. 10 Marco's Side (1/3)

Before the recruits could sit down for their long-awaited dinner, Marco was stopped by an instructor. In his hands was a wooden box filled with stacks of paper.

"Marco Bott… You're on duty today, right? This is mail for the recruits."

"Yes, sir. I'll be sure they get this."

Marco gave the soldiers their letters from family and friends as per his assignment. Just as he thought about sitting down, he noticed one letter left at the bottom of the box.

"Hm? This envelope… Where's the address?"

He picked it up and checked both sides, but it was only addressed to the recruits of the South 104th Training Corps, his own group. There was no indication of any name.

…Who could it be for?

••••••

…Maybe I should return it to the instructors. I'll bring it back to them later, Marco thought, and held on to the mysterious envelope before starting his dinner. Jean, who sat next to him, quickly noticed the item placed next to Marco's plate.

"Is that for you? It's a pretty nice envelope."

"No… I'm not sure. There's not even a sender written on the outside…"

The corpsmates were starved for a good story during their grueling days spent training, so when they heard Marco say this, they excitedly joined in.

"If it just says it's for the South 104th Training Corps, couldn't that mean it's for all of us?"

"Or maybe…it's a trap set by the instructors to see if they can spot a spy?"

"Pop quizzes even during mealtime? Give me a break."

As the young soldiers bantered back and forth, Marco was pensive.

I see… If it is part of our training… I would be the responsible party here.

He thought for a while before coming to his decision.

"Okay, let's try opening it. I'll take responsibility."

"Nice, Marco!"

Marco calmed his cheering corpsmates before slowly tearing it open. A piece of letterhead just as fancy as its envelope was inside, and it contained beautifully written words…

…What?!

What Marco saw on the letter was much more complicated than he expected.

Can I…really read this out loud?

"What's the matter? Was it a trap from the instructors after all?"

"No…it doesn't look like that, but…"

While he hesitated to read it aloud, it was something he needed them to know. He looked the sheet of paper over from corner to corner, and only when he could find nothing that would identify who it was addressed to, Marco asked everyone to be quiet.

"…No, I think I need to be serious about passing along these feelings. If anyone thinks this is for them, raise your hand, even if I'm still talking."

Marco calmed himself as much as he could before beginning to read in an objective tone.

"'You saved me during training the other day. I just had to tell you how I felt, which is why I decided to write this letter…'"

"What…?"

••••••

“‘…You must be tired from all of your training. There is a restaurant I often patronize in Trost District. I'd like to ask you to join me for meal there. I await your reply.' …That's all the letter says."

Marco looked through the crowd to see if anyone had identified themselves as the letter's addressee…but instead, all of his corpsmates were talking among one another.

"A-An invitation to a meal?"

"Doesn't that mean it's…"

"A love letter to one of us?!"

The recruits had read into the meaning of the letter, and now they all excitedly looked at one another.

"Huh? …No one knows whose this might be?"

Marco tilted his head, causing Jean to slump his shoulders beside him.

"Even if they did, they're not going to say it was them after that letter! They're gonna reply in secret, duh!"

"…Will they really?"

"…I'm at least glad to know that it's not for you."

Well…I guess it's fine so long as someone replies, even if it's in secret.

With that, Marco felt that the case of this letter was over. However, he had planted the seeds of endless rumors among the *Survey Corps.

••••

••••••

*It's likely here, the Official Translator, Ko Ransom, had made a mistake in translation and meant to say "Training Corps"! (• ε •)

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

[ PART 2 | PART 3 ]

[snk-smartpass]

Three Viewpoints Selected Cases

The Case of the Corps Tea Party - File No. 07 Oluo's Side (1/3)

"All that's left is the tea. Can you take care of it, Oluo?"

"Yeah… I got this."

It was, as always, a busy morning.

The Survey Corps Special Operations Squad, also known as Squad Levi, was working to make yet another simple breakfast from their provisions in the old Survey Corps headquarters they temporarily called home.

"…Hm?"

As his fellow soldiers carried trays to the table, Oluo began to make some tea, his superior officer's favorite…but Oluo felt like something was off as he performed this simple task.

These tea leaves… While the average person would think they're regular leaves…

He looked at the tea he had just opened with his own hands and was sure.

There's no mistaking it. This…is going to be an issue.

******

As Oluo brought the teapot into the dining hall, the "issue" was already beginning to manifest. Everyone was looking with suspicious at a sheet of paper that seemed to be from Levi, their leader.

"What's going on here, Petra?" Oluo asked as calmly as he could.

"We got a report from the Military Police first thing in this morning. It said the tea we were supplied with the other day was 'unfit for consumption,' and that we should return it all without opening it up."

"Unfit…for consumption?"

That was strange.

The Military Police had given them the notice, but they were known to hoard all the best meat and luxurious alcohol for their own use. They considered the Survey Corps utter idiots.

"They're the kind of bunch that would go out of their way to give us the bad-quality stuff…"

It seemed like they would have loved the chance to get rid of anything unfit for consumption by handing it off to the soldiers at the bottom of the totem pole. As everyone wondered why they would bother to take it back, Levi asked a question.

"Oluo, did you use the tea yet? Did you notice anything?"

The Captain's voice was calm, almost as if he knew exactly what was going on.

I knew it… That Tea…!

Oluo nodded and gradually began to give his opinion as he poured each of the others their tea.

******

"Now listen… Tea comes in different grades. But that doesn't have anything to do with its quality… It's all a matter of the size of the leaves…

Of all the corpsmen present, Oluo was the only one to see the tea they had been given. He also knew that something was different about it.

"Does that have something to do with this commotion about a recall?"

"Stay cool, Petra… The truth isn't going to sneak away from us. It's right in front of your eyes, after all."

"Stop talking like such a creep. I'm telling you to give us your conclusion."

Oluo handed his offended corpsmate her tea as he explained.

"The tea that makes it all the way down to us is a blend of late-picked, poor-quality teas. No matter how high the grade, there's not going to be any noticeable change in taste. However… This was something different. The tea had a young colour and a deep aroma… While the size and shape of the leaves is no different from our usual blend, the actual product is something entirely different. This is made from the leftovers of the kind of first-flush tea leaves that those damned aristocrats drink in the interior!"

"The colour of the tea being lighter than usual is proof of that," he proudly concluded.

******

His squadmate Eld took a small sip. He did feel like something was different about the taste, but he cocked his head to the side.

"…So you're saying they accidentally sent some high-quality tea our way, and that they're trying to take it back because we're not worthy of it?"

"It's not like cover-ups are anything new for that bunch… Someone was probably too drunk and sent us the wrong supplies by accident, and now they're trying to hide the fact and get it back by claiming the tea isn't fit for consumption."

Oluo looked to the captain he so respected for backup. Levi took a sip of the tea in his hand and seemed to enjoy it more than usual before he sighed.

"You're right… This does seem a little better than the cheap tea we always get. Oluo's reasoning must be right. But…"

"Captain?"

Everyone in the squad, including its recruit, had their eyes on Levi, who seemed to be deep in thought.

So he's saying…that's not all…?!

Oluo was on pins and needles as he waited to hear what words would come from the mouth of the man he unconsciously aspired to become.

[ PART 2 | PART 3 ]

SOURCE: Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2