Three Viewpoints Selected Cases

The Case of the Sacked Squad Leader - File No. 04 Hange’s Side (1/3)

When Hange got up in the middle of their room, it looked nothing like it usually did.

“Wuh?! What’s going on here?!”

…It was definitely the room they always used for research. But its floor, tables, and bookshelves had been changed entirely.

“I can’t believe this… The whole place has been sacked.”

The books were scattered, the lab equipment on top of the desk had met a horrible end, and fragments of wood and ropes had been scattered along the floor, leaving no place to so much as walk.

Hmm, this is bad. I don’t remember a thing.

******

Just as Hange was feeling lost, they heard a knock at the door accompanied by a frantic voice.

“Squad Leader, Squad Leader…Hange!”

“Hm? Moblit!”

A moment later, Hange’s aide broke through the door and entered the room holding a hatchet that must have come from a storehouse.

Hange noticed the broken lock on the door and realized that he must have broken the latch in order to come inside. Despite his imposing appearance, Hange’s aide let his shoulders down as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Could you please answer if you’re awake…?”

“What do you mean?”

“The door was locked and you weren’t replying at all. I had no choice but to destroy the door…but what happened here?”

Moblit had been so preoccupied with confirming the safety of his superior officer that he only now showed surprise once more, having seen the terrible state of the room.

******

“…Your books and lab equipment. What happened to everything?”

“What should I do? I wonder if I did this?”

“You don’t remember?!”

“Not at all,” Hange said as they scratched their tousled head.

They remembered declaring that they would be holing up in the room for an experiment. That must have been what they were doing, given the prototypes scattered around. While there were some half-scribbled notes, they ended with a notice that the experiment was about to begin.

“Let’s start from the beginning and sort everything out. I was passed out here for a while, right?”

“Yes. It seems like you told Nifa that you’d be in here for a while. It was quiet whenever we passed by, for quite some time.”

He said everyone had left Hange alone for a while because it was assumed they were taking a nap.

“But then we received some paperwork that needed immediate confirmation and needed to wake you up.”

That was when Moblit did everything to wake Hange up, making loud noises and beating on the door.

“I was afraid that your heart had finally exploded from all of the excitement…”

“Hah, you worry too much. I don’t even have a scratch on me… Or probably not.”

Hange finished the work given to them by their subordinates a few minutes later, then went to Erwin to explain the situation.

“And that’s what happened, Erwin, but I don’t remember doing it at all. So please, just don’t make me write an apology…”

“At the moment, I’m afraid that’s exactly what you’re going to have to do,” the Commander of the Survey Corps said after hearing Hange out, shaking his head without emotion.

“It was a room locked from the inside, with no way in or out, right? In that case, the only one who could have destroyed that room was you, Hange.”

Though it was a daily occurrence for things to break in the course of Hange’s duties, given their enthusiasm for Titan research, they were also living in a resource-starved world. The Corps’s equipment was under close management, and anything that was broken had to be procured again and taken out of the budget.

Hange knew this well enough. But there was a reason they thought this wasn’t their fault.

“Think about it. My Squad was working on new types of weapons. Even our valuable prototypes were in pieces. Do you really think that’s something I would do?”

Erwin remained calm. The order he gave was not to pin down a criminal but to find the truth.

“…Alright, then.”

Hange decided to start by going to a subordinate who might know what was going on.

SOURCE:Attack on Titan: Short Stories 2

Shelter from the Rain Vol. 06 Nanaba & Hange Zöe

A cold rain had been falling since morning.

The longer a Survey Corps member manages to serve, the more paperwork they’re expected to do. Nanaba had to suppress a sigh when she looked at the stacks of paper in front of her.

Erwin and Mike are doing even more work than this. I need to get it together.

Nanaba was a veteran member of the Survey Corps, having served for over five years. Beyond the windowpanes of her office, cloudy from the temperature difference between the room and the rain-chilled world outside of it, Nanaba noticed a familiar shape staggering about and stood in shock.

“…Hange?!”

******

“You decided to go on a walk to refresh yourself? Without any rain gear at all?”

“Well, my samples weren’t showing much of a reaction today… It’s too bad, they’re so cute.”

Hange wasn’t on a walk so much as Hange was reeling back and forth like a corpse that had just crawled out of the grave. Nanaba had caught Hange and was drying Hange off.

While Nanaba was not normally in the kind of position where she’d be looking out for Hange, the two veterans were on good terms with one another. A special kind of bond was born between soldiers just through the act of going beyond the Walls and making it back alive.

“…Honestly. You’re suppose to be a squad leader, right? You’re not going to be much of a model leader if you’re wandering around soaking wet in the rain.”

“Squad leader, huh… Yeah, I guess I am a squad leader.”

Hange got rid of the clothing being used to wipe their head, revealing hair that was even messier than usual. Hange’s head almost seemed to be drooping.

******

“Aren’t you being awfully emotional?”

“Yeah… Maybe a little.” Hange returned the wet cloth used to wipe down their body to Nanaba before walking to the window. “Making it up the ranks of the Survey Corps shows just how long you’ve survived, right?”

“Yes… That’s right,” Nanaba said, not understanding Hange’s point and furrowing her brow. Hange only turned their back to her and followed the drops of water flowing outside the window with their eyes.

“In other words, we have these positions thanks to the deaths of many of our fellow soldiers. When I act as a squad leader…sometimes I start to think about these kinds of things.”

“…That’s true.” The drops rolling down the window looked like tears coming from Hange’s eyes, though their face was hidden behind glasses. Seeing this, Nanaba stood up straight. “Of course it is. But…that’s exactly why there’s something we veterans need to do.”

“Huh?”

“For the sake of our fallen allies, too… Veterans need to properly lead the young soldiers. So that we can prevent any more meaningless deaths, at least,” Nanaba bravely said, smacking Hange on the back.

******

“Which is why, Hange, you shouldn’t do anything that makes you look pathetic. Even if we are inside the Walls. You’ll worry the soldiers in the Fourth Squad, and you’ll even worry the others a little bit.”

“…You’re right.”

Hange took off their glasses and wipe them with a sleeve. They put them on again and looked back toward Nanaba with the same curiosity-filled face as always.

“Maybe I was acting a little down. I’ll get straight back to research. Data on Titans in the rain is valuable, too!”

“Hey! You should at least put on some rain gear!”

Hange leaped out of the room and ran off to the far side of the hallway. Perhaps they weren’t listening to what Nanaba had to say.

So that’s where a veteran stands, huh. On top of the deaths of many others.

Nanaba closed the door and digested Hange’s words.

The same goes for me… I need to get it together, too. So that I can prove that their deaths and my survival weren’t all for nothing.

Nanaba nodded slightly as the endless rain beat down on the roof and window before getting back to work.

SOURCE:Attack on Titan: Short Stories

Good Night, Dear and Sweet Dreams Vol. 09 Moblit Berner

Late one night, two soldiers could be heard quickly walking down the hall of the Survey Corps barracks.

“…How long did we end up watching after the sun went down?”

“Seven hours. The Titan stopped moving after four.”

“I see… Looks like we’ve got a real night owl on our hands.”

“If anyone’s a night owl, Squad Leader, it’s you.”

Hange, busy studying the biology of a captured Titan, stretched and asked the aide by their side a question. After using the recorded data to give a reply, he warned Hange about their actions.

“But how can you not be curious…? Whoops, I need to write an action plan for the squad before sleeping.”

“I already wrote it. Please sign it and go straight to bed.”

Hange took the documents that seemed to come out of nowhere as they showed their appreciation.

“Sorry to always do this to you, Moblit.”

******

Agh… They really don’t think of themselves at all when they’re running experiments. How many times did they nearly get eaten today alone?

Now that he was in his room, Moblit drooped his shoulders, changed into his nightwear, and got into bed with a sigh. Complaints about his superior mixed together with his hazy thoughts.

The Squad Leader gets too engrossed in things, that’s what it is. Studying Titan biology is an important mission, but what good is it if it gets you eaten?

Moblit began to imagine the day’s experiments, where Hange got as close as possible to a restrained Titan and tried to communicate with it.

“Hey there! Do you understand me?”

“Squad Leader!”

…It felt like Hange was too close.

The Titan opened its large mouth and loomed close above Hange’s head.

“What are you doing?! You’re going to be…!”

As always, Moblit moved to stop whatever was about to happen by force…but for some reason, his body didn’t move.

Hange’s head then went straight into the Titan’s mouth–

“Ah… AAAAAGH!”

******

“AAAaaahh…! Ah?!”

Moblit was awakened by his own screams. When he got up, he saw he was in the same barracks room as always. He put his head into his hands and let out a tired sigh.

So it was just a dream… I always have this kind of dream when there’s a test subject.

While a common dream among Survey Corpsmen, seeing one’s superior being eaten was never a welcome one.

If we lost Squad Leader Hange…it would be a major blow to the Corps. …I need to make sure to never take my eye off of them.

A shiver went through Moblit’s Body as he renewed his determination as his Squad Leader’s aide.

“Wait… Could this actually be…a prophecy?!”

******

“Hey, aren’t you gonna get up? I’m right here! A tasty human!”

“What are you doing, Squad Leader?!”

Just as Moblit hurriedly arrived at the area where the Titan was confined, he saw exactly what he expected: Hange holding a candle and speaking to an unmoving Titan at an extremely close distance. Moblit’s scolding didn’t mean a thing to them.

“Well, I couldn’t get to sleep. I thought I might as well watch over it all night.”

“The test is scheduled for tomorrow night. That’s why you need to hurry up and get ready for bed today.”

“Is it?”

“Please don’t forget plans that you made yourself, Squad Leader.”

Moblit breathed a sigh of relief as he communicated this information matter-of-factly. At the very least, his superior hadn’t been eaten.

…There aren’t many Survey Corpsmen who have to worry about their superiors getting eaten by a Titan when they’re inside the Walls.

As he dragged Hange, still in nightwear, back to the barracks. Moblit looked into the sky and carried out his job.

SOURCE:Attack on Titan: Short Stories