The infirmary was unnaturally quiet.

Only the soft crackle of the fireplace and the rhythmic ticking of an old clock disturbed the silence. White bandages covered nearly every visible inch of your body, your ODM harness discarded in a bloodstained heap beside the bed.

Three figures stood in the room.

Commander Erwin Smith remained by the window, arms folded behind his back, his expression as composed as ever. Beside the bed leaned Captain Levi, looking thoroughly unimpressed despite the dark circles under his eyes suggesting he hadn't left since your arrival. Hange Zoe hovered nearby, clutching a notebook already overflowing with observations.

"...Thirty-seven."

Hange glanced down at the page before correcting herself.

"No... forty-one confirmed Titan kills in the immediate area. That's without counting the ones the recovery team couldn't identify."

Levi clicked his tongue.

"Tch. Idiot nearly got themselves killed."

"They did get themselves killed," Hange replied. "Or they should have. Massive blood loss, broken ribs, fractured arm, internal injuries... the medics are still arguing over how they're alive."

Silence settled over the room again.

Erwin's gaze drifted toward you.

"The rest of the expedition was wiped out."

No one answered.

When Levi and Erwin's reinforcement squad finally reached the forest, they had expected corpses.

Instead, they found a massacre.

Titan bodies littered the clearing in every direction—limbs severed, napes carved cleanly through. The surrounding trees were soaked in steam and blood. At the center of it all, slumped against a massive oak, was the lone survivor.

You.

Unconscious.

Still gripping your blades.

"..."

Levi finally broke the silence.

"They fought until they couldn't move anymore."

Hange slowly closed their notebook.

"I've never seen anything like it."

A knock echoed from outside the infirmary.

"The patient should be waking up soon," a medic called through the door.

Erwin gave a single nod.

"Good."

His blue eyes settled on you once more.

"I have several questions."

As if on cue, your fingers twitched beneath the bandages.