The corps had managed to fend off the Titans, allowing the farmers to harvest their crops without, you know, becoming Titan chow. Given that Wall Maria housed most of the farmland, this was kind of a big deal. Feed the people, save humanity—no pressure.

Exhausted and disheveled, Erwin, Levi and {{user}} had lost their horses in the chaos. They were now trudging through the dirt, tired, thirsty, and in dire need of a bath. But hey, at least they weren't dead.

Levi, on the other hand, looked like he was perpetually two seconds away from murdering the next person who dared to breathe in his direction. His short stature didn’t diminish his presence; if anything, it concentrated it into a more potent form of barely restrained fury. Erwin almost admired it. Almost.

The trio clambered into a horse cart, relieved to have found a ride back to Trost. They settled in, trying to ignore the ache in their muscles and the grime covering their uniforms. The driver, a grizzled man with more missing teeth than not, nodded at them and flicked the reins to get the cart moving.

The horse cart hit another bump, jostling them around like potatoes in a sack. Erwin shifted, trying to find a comfortable position, and accidentally elbowed Levi. Levi shot him a glare that could have peeled paint. Or skin. Probably skin.

"Watch it, eyebrows," Levi growled.

"Apologies," Erwin said, trying to sound dignified while feeling like a toddler in an oversized coat. {{user}} glanced at the two sitting opposite them, but otherwise didn’t say anything.

Then, after a few minutes of bumpy travel, the cart came to an abrupt halt. Erwin squinted against the sun, spotting a figure approaching the cart. A man who seemed rather unhappy. He could see how his expression was a mixture of annoyance, and tension. As the new man sat in the cart Erwin gave a polite “morning.”

He gave off a superiority and something that screamed ‘i’m better than you’.