"We get to fight alongside Marshal Chen Si!"
"I have to get picked!"
"Captain Levi is taking part in the raid!"
"And Miss Chris is my goddess!"
"I'm going to prove I can be stronger than the Valkyrie!"
The recruits were all fired up.
"So this is how they felt when they looked at us back then." Watching the recruits, who had never even killed a Titan, Marlowe couldn't help remembering his own brash declarations.
"Don't underestimate the young. We always think they're overestimating themselves, but it's precisely this succession of generations that makes a country stronger and stronger."
Hannes was filled with emotion too. Eren, Chen Si, and Mikasa, whom he had watched grow up, had all become leaders in their own right, and role models for so many others.
"Wow! Jean! We get to be instructors too! We actually get to watch over the recruits while they train!" Sasha exclaimed excitedly.
I'm going to make them suffer everything Instructor Shadis put us through! Connie silently vowed.
"Yeah, I really never expected this. It's been so long. Back then, I was sure I wouldn't survive. Who knew I'd live and become one of the veterans?" Jean said with a self-deprecating smile.
"Hey, brats, don't get carried away. You're only here to supervise. If there's something they don't know how to do, you teach them. You're not here to run things," Levi said, walking over and dampening their enthusiasm.
"Huh?" Connie and Sasha looked disappointed.
"Jean, come here. You'll be in charge of managing the recruits," Levi said, turning to him.
"What? Me?" Jean asked in surprise.
"Why does Jean get to do it, but we don't?" Sasha protested.
"Yeah, Captain Levi! That's so unfair!" Connie shouted too.
"Jean is better suited to it than you. Get back to work."