In the afternoon, Ymir and Christa were walking through the vast forest near the base of the training corps.
During the next few hours after Takashi revealed his darkest secret, Ymir questioned himself many times to go far away.
Even if he acted with a tough attitude that was the result of all the terrible things that have happened to him, she thought that everything carried a balance. This time, she had someone very close to her that she actually cared about.
She had revealed her identity in the snow mountain ordeal and believed that Christa would reveal her secret to them all, but was surprised to hear that she trusted her.
"A lot has happened these past few days, I thought you would run far away and not come back." Christa looked at Ymir and smiled.
"I think the best decision is to leave this place, I can't stay here when someone else sees what I can become." Ymir said with a sad expression.
She had struggled so much to find a way out, the only reason she joined the training corps was to look for Christa. After overhearing that conversation in the church, she thought could find something similar to what she was in the past.
"Don't say that kind of nonsense, everyone in this world keeps secrets. Now that I am aware that there are titan shifters among us, I discovered many more secrets than the others in a long time." Christa was annoyed by Ymir's words, she couldn't help but complain.
"I trusted you when you helped Daniel, you risked everything just because I didn't want to leave a partner behind. I'm glad to know who you really are, the only way for us to survive in the future is to work together."
After hearing that, Ymir showed a surprised look before smiling with relief. "Alright then, let's fully trust each other and survive the future, but when I have to reveal my secret to the world you must also reveal your real name."
"It's an oath." Christa nodded slightly.
...
It has been more than ten days since the snow test was performed. Today is January 17, 848.
On this day, after Takashi got up, he took a slow shower, ate breakfast at high speed and some time later tidied up the entire room he slept in.
There are only three residents currently in the whole quad dormitory, now it was time for days off. The training corps gives recruits about a fortnight in mid-January, so many people had gone home. Thomas had left a few days ago for his hometown to spend time with his family.
Eren and Armin had no place to go, so those recruits who did not want to return could spend the time training or doing some other free choice activity.
After the conversation he had with Ymir, Takashi seriously thought that Ymir would leave the base on some later day. However, he was surprised that it was not that way.
Therefore, Takashi was a bit more reassured by her presence and shared more time with Ymir and Christa during the subsequent days. It should be said that Ymir's personality did not change, she was still a witch with a poisonous mouth.
Takashi, once he finished cleaning the room, slowly walked towards the forest, appreciating the silence of the surroundings.
As Takashi slowly strolled through the forest, he heard someone calling out to him.
"Takashi... Mmm, can we talk?" A slightly hesitant voice sounded.
Takashi turned his head and looked at an unfamiliar corporal sitting in a large, thick-looking tree. It's a pity that the voice didn't belong to a beautiful girl so Takashi felt a bit sad, but he still walked over and listened to what the person had to say.
"Do you have something to talk to me about?" Takashi asked kindly.
"It's nothing, but I would like to practice with the three-dimensional maneuvering equipment together with you. Please, I won't waste too much of your time."
Takashi is not someone cold, nor is he an emotionless thoughtless person, so he wouldn't mind practicing with soldiers excited to increase their skills.
"Sure, after the vacations you can train by my side to increase your physical and practical skills. It's up to you how much you learn, that's easy." Takashi said with a slightly surprised smile.
The corporal was a little excited and said, "Thank you very much, by the way, my name is Horatio Nelson."
Takashi nodded, sat down next to Nelson and asked, "Why are you working so hard to become better at handling three-dimensional maneuvering equipment? Are you looking to join the military police force?"
Nelson shook his head, "I want to join the Exploration Corps and work very hard with my three-dimensional maneuver team, in hopes that I can avenge my father. It's just that maybe with my skills I can never make the top one hundred of all the soldiers in the final tests."
Horatio Nelson's tone was full of hatred and unwillingness, Takashi listened to his narration and gradually understood Nelson's story.
Horatio Nelson's mother fell ill and died years after her illness. Like the original Takashi, Nelson was raised by his father.
Similar to Eren's story, Nelson escaped with his father after the Mary Wall was torn down by the Titans, being one of the lucky few to escape that hell.
However, they faced the common problems of everyone when they migrated to the inner walls, lack of food.
Because of this, many people did not have enough to eat and because of that their father was forced to participate in the first battle to retake the Mary Wall some years ago. It is known that in the end very few survived, so Nelson's father definitely died in that battle.
Nelson not only hated the titans as many thought, but also his hatred fell on the government of these walls and their absurd decisions just to keep satisfying his tastes.
Many of the nobles had food to spare, food reserves to supply many people and families affected by that attack of the Maria wall. However, the best decision they could make is to send the father and elders of affected families straight to their death.
After two years of collecting stones and herbs in order to survive, after much time and careful thought, he decided to join the training corps to become a soldier. During all these months he trained very hard, but he could not beat more than a hundred people so he thought he had no talent or was not someone special to stand out. All his results in the corps were always in the middle, no matter how strong his goals were.
Nelson didn't even dare to say publicly like Takashi and Eren that he wanted to go to the Exploration corps, because he was afraid everyone would scoff saying he would just be titan food.
After all, his partner Eren was very powerful and to speak of Takashi who was always among the first places in almost every test.
Takashi agreed, he could do it without any problems and it wasn't at all annoying or a waste of time.
When Takashi returned to the dorm, he was a little excited. Nelson wasn't even a mosquito in the original story, just a background doll. He had never heard his name, but that didn't mean there was no such person.
Nelson and Eren's experiences are somewhat similar, but he has no halo of luck, and he is not an otherworldly person, but he is still the protagonist of his life, his hatred, his reluctance and the sweat shed from his hard training are something real, nothing fake.
When he returned, Takashi was in a good mood. Today, he accepted a junior partner who would train rigorously in the future. Nelson expressed his gratitude to Takashi for his help and called him squad leader.
Takashi had always wanted to form a special group and always considered Thomas as a good candidate to start with, but Thomas was so closed-minded and fearful of the future that his ambition was to enter the military police force, so he studied hard and trained hard enough to be one of the ten candidates with those chances.
He hummed a song and, after returning to the bedroom, began practicing Chakra management. He heard from his friend Sasha that Mikasa insisted on practicing boxing every day, which was quite brutal and not at all satisfying.
Takashi felt that he did not have the destiny of a protagonist in typical xianxia stories and consequently could not open a harem, but now a boy regarded him as a squad leader who would encourage him to become a great soldier. Having a woman in the future could take it easy.
Practice hard now and he would not have to suffer a hammering in the future by the hand of a titan.