𝐀 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐕𝐄 | eren yeager

3 | Night of the Disbanding Ceremony

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Word Count: 5491

"Now that you've completed your training, you have three choices! The Garrison, which reinforces the Walls, thereby protecting all of the towns, the Survey Corps, prepared to sacrifice their lives outside the Walls by defying the titans in their own domain, and the Military Police Brigade, which exercises control over the King's subjects and maintains order."

"Of course, out of you raw recruits, the only ones who can join the Military Police Brigade are the ten with the highest scores. Soon, I'll be asking you which branch you want to be assigned to. But as of right now, the 104th Training Corps is officially disbanded! Dismissed!"

"Yes, sir!"

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The small lanterns illuminated the dark street that was now completely empty, only the stars on the sky were there like usual. The air was filled with chatter and loud laughs near the three-story building, the cadets were talking so loud that all of the noises carried out all the way.

The cadets had graduated today, and now they were eating their first dinner as real soldiers. After the Ceremony, all of the cadets had different opinions about which branch they'd join, that were now shared.

"Lucky bastards, making the top ten," a boy said to Jean, as he walked past him. "I'm sure you're gonna join the Military Police Brigade, right?"

"Huh?" Jean turned to look at him with a lazy look on his face, rocking in his chair. "That goes without saying! Why the hell else would I have aimed to crack the top ten?!"

"I'm going with the MPs too," a familiar boy sitting next to Jean said, lifting his drink to take sip from it. "Getting to work near the King... It's an honor!"

Jean gave a laugh at him, and smacked the brunet in the back of his head, making his drink splash all over his face. "Are you still playing the goody-goody, Marco?" he asked, inching closer to Marco's face with a mischievous grin. "Tell me how you really feel. You can't wait to get into the Interior, right? We can finally escape this shitty, suffocating front-line town! A safe, comfortable life is waiting for us in the Interior, right?!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist to the table.

Marco looked at him with wide eyes, his drink still dripping down his chin. "Wha... You..." he started, his gaze flickering from Jean to the surrounding people that were eyeing the two with disgust. "Sh-Shame on you! At least I'm not-"

"Oh sorry! My bad!" Jean said, rudely interrupting him. "I forgot you were a prize pupil!"

He then turned to look at the people around them, pointing at them with his drink. "But what would you do?" he asked. "I mean, getting the chance to live in the Interior, it's almost unheard of, right?! Or given the choice, would you rather stay here in this "human stronghold", or whatever they like to call it?!"

That made the cadets around them go silent. A smug smirk was present on Jean's face, as he watched them slowly turn their heads to the ground in shame.

"Well, none of us asked to be born in this border town," a boy answered, the others around him slowly backing away. "So if it meant not having to cower in fright when you hear titan footsteps..."