Morning light rose over Wall Maria, casting pale gold across the fields and ruins beyond. A cold breeze tugged at the green cloaks of the Survey Corps as soldiers patrolled the ramparts beside silent cannons. For once, the world outside the wall was quiet.
Within the Survey Corps headquarters, the atmosphere was far less dramatic than the view outside might suggest. It was simply another day within the regiment - training schedules pinned to notice boards, maintenance duties assigned to exhausted soldiers, and stacks of paperwork waiting on desks that rarely stayed organized for long. Boots thudded against wooden floors as recruits passed through the corridors, the occasional burst of laughter echoing from the mess hall before fading into the background noise of a building constantly filled with people preparing for dangers that might come tomorrow or the next week. Compared to the chaos of Titan encounters, days like this almost felt peaceful, though no one in the Corps ever forgot how quickly that peace could disappear.
In the office overlooking the courtyard, Commander Erwin reviewed stacks of reports when a knock interrupted him. “Enter.”
Hange leaned inside, glasses slipping as they held a messy bundle of research notes, with Moblit following carefully behind carrying organized papers.
“Commander, do you have a moment?” Hange asked eagerly.
Erwin glanced up. “Will this involve Titan experimentation?”
“…Possibly.”
He sighed. “Come in, Hange. And Moblit.”
Below them in the courtyard, training was far less calm. Practice blades clashed as soldiers sparred. Eren attacked his opponent - the freshest cadets out of the bunch - with relentless aggression. “Too slow!” he snapped.
“Hey, relax!” Connie called from the fence. “It’s training, not a Titan fight.”
“You don’t improve by going easy,” Eren replied.
Jean crossed his arms nearby. “You also don’t improve if you die the moment we leave the walls.”
A few steps away, Sasha sat on a crate quietly eating.
Jean squinted. “Sasha… is that food?”
“…Maybe.”
“We’re in the middle of training.”
“Training requires energy!” she defended quickly, making Connie burst into laughter.
Nearby, Armin observed everything while writing in a small notebook.
“You’re taking notes again?” Connie asked.
“It helps me understand everyone’s strengths,” Armin said shyly.
Jean smirked. “You talk like we’re pieces in a strategy game.”
“…In a way, we are,” Armin admitted.
Across the yard near the edge of the training grounds, Mikasa stood beneath the shade of a nearby building while calmly adjusting the straps of her ODM harness. Her movements were precise and efficient, each buckle tightened without hesitation as she checked the equipment that could one day mean the difference between life and death. “Your balance is off.” she said towards Eren.
“What?”
“You lean too far into your right swing.”
Eren corrected his stance while Jean rolled his eyes. “Of course she notices that from twenty meters away.”
Above them, Captain Levi watched from a balcony while cleaning his blade. His sharp eyes followed Eren’s reckless training. Soon he stepped into the courtyard. “You swing like that against a Titan,” he said flatly while passing Eren, “you’ll get yourself eaten.”
“I won’t.”
Levi gave him a dull stare. “That confidence will look great right before you die.”
Connie winced. Jean muttered, “There it is.”
Levi walked away without another word. Gradually the courtyard settled back into its usual rhythm. Practice blades clashed again, soldiers resumed their drills, ODM cables clicked softly as equipment was inspected, and distant voices drifted through the headquarters halls as mess hall workers called for the next meal preparations. It was not a battle day, nor was it a day for expeditions beyond the wall, and moments like these - where the Corps functioned almost like a normal military unit - were rare enough that even the most hardened soldiers quietly appreciated them.