The next day.
Arthur and the other three arrived early to line up at the registration office.
But even though they had come early, plenty of boys and girls hoping to join the Training Corps had already gathered there.
After all, anyone who joined the Training Corps and successfully completed their training would receive a steady job and be assigned housing.
With such generous benefits on offer, people kept streaming in to sign up.
"There are so many people." Eren looked at the long line with some frustration.
"The benefits of enlisting are so good that almost everyone wants to give it a try," Armin explained.
"All right, let's wait a little and line up once the crowd thins out," Arthur suggested to the three of them.
"Okay." All three nodded in agreement.
The four of them found somewhere to sit and waited for the crowd to thin. About half an hour passed.
The crowd began to shrink, largely because the registration staff had explained that only those who completed cadet training would receive pay and housing allocations for their families.
And the number of cadets who passed each year was nowhere near the number of people gathered there now.
Most of those who knew they would never make it through selection simply turned and left rather than waste their time.
"There are a lot fewer people now. Let's go line up!" Eren called excitedly when he saw the thinning crowd, then hurried ahead of the others to join a short line.
To speed up registration, Arthur had Mikasa and Armin split up and each find a short line.
They would meet up again after signing up.
The two nodded, then turned and found two other short lines to join.
Arthur found a line of his own. Just as his turn was approaching, a commotion behind him caught his attention.
Arthur looked toward the commotion and saw a pretty blonde girl caught in a confrontation with two men who looked like street thugs.
He asked a nearby onlooker what had happened and learned that the girl had accidentally stepped on one thug's shoe. When the thug saw how pretty she was, he had started giving her a hard time.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me. I really didn't mean to!" the blonde girl apologized over and over in a sweet, lovely voice.
But the thug whose shoe she had stepped on seemed to have taken a lustful interest in her looks. Instead of accepting her apology, he kept harassing her.
"You think an apology is enough? How about this? Come have a meal with me, sweetheart, and I'll forgive you. What do you say?"
The first thug leered, his greedy eyes roaming over the girl's body.
"I'm not going." The blonde girl looked at his sleazy expression with obvious reluctance.
"That's not up to you." Seeing that persuasion would not work, the thug decided to use force and gave his companion a meaningful look.
The second thug understood. He licked his lips lewdly and reached out to grab the blonde girl.
Frightened that the two thugs were actually trying to drag her away, the blonde girl was about to dodge one of them when a tall figure stepped directly in front of her.
He blocked the two street thugs from reaching her.
The person who had come to her aid was Arthur, who could not stand thugs who only knew how to bully the weak.
"Doing something like this in broad daylight isn't very nice, is it?" Arthur said calmly, gripping the thug's arm tightly.
"What the hell is it to you?" Furious that this sudden interloper had ruined his fun, the thug swung a fist at Arthur's face without another word.
"Watch out!" the blonde girl cried. She had never expected the two thugs to dare attack someone right in the street.
Arthur regarded the incoming fist with disdain and simply raised his other hand, stopping the blow with his palm.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" With both hands caught in Arthur's grip, the thug could not move at all. He had no idea where the guy in front of him had gotten such strength; he could not break free no matter how hard he struggled.
"Scum like you are what I despise most. People like you need a lesson they won't forget." Arthur's voice turned icy, and he tightened his grip.
Crack! Under Arthur's immense strength, the bones in the second thug's forearm and fist were crushed.
"Aaargh!" The second thug howled as a wave of agony shot through him.
"Shut up!" Arthur released his hands, then slapped him across the face with enough force to knock his teeth out.
"Ooh... ooh..." The second thug collapsed in pain, clutching his mouth and whimpering over his missing teeth.
The surrounding onlookers stared in shock.
"!!!" Seeing what had happened to his companion, the first thug froze in terror, then began trembling uncontrollably as he stared at Arthur.
"Do you want me to help you, or will you slap yourself?" Arthur asked him coldly.
"I'll do it myself!" After seeing his companion's miserable state, the first thug did not dare let Arthur touch him. He immediately began slapping himself.
He had never imagined that this meddler would be so formidable, knocking out half his buddy's teeth with a single slap.
"Ah!" Seeing Arthur knock the second thug's teeth out along with a spray of blood, the blonde girl's pretty face went pale. It was the first time she had ever witnessed anything like this.
"Sorry I scared you." Seeing the blonde girl's frightened expression, Arthur realized he had been a little too violent.
"Huh? Oh, no, it's all right. Thank you for helping me. My name is Historia Reiss." Coming back to her senses, the blonde girl hurriedly shook her head and thanked him.
"It was no trouble. Arthur Ackerman." Arthur gave her a gentle smile and introduced himself.
Looking at Arthur's handsome face and gentle smile, the girl named Christa felt her heart flutter for some reason.
"Arthur, what happened over here?!" Mikasa hurried over after finishing her registration. She had noticed the commotion around his line and rushed over out of concern.
When she arrived, she saw the second thug lying on the ground with a swollen face, the first thug still trembling, and Arthur standing beside a very pretty girl.
Mikasa looked at Christa with a hint of hostility. For some reason, she felt jealous.
"Oh, these two were harassing Christa here. I couldn't stand by and watch, so I helped her out." Arthur smiled and briefly explained what had happened.
"Yes, Arthur just helped me," Christa agreed from beside him.
"So that's what happened." Hearing that the two had only just met, Mikasa felt relieved for some reason.
"Hey! What happened here?!" The large crowd of onlookers had drawn the attention of several registration staff members.
The staff members, who were soldiers from the Training Corps, pushed through the crowd and approached Arthur and the others. They paused at the second thug's miserable condition, then began asking what had happened.
After hearing the full story from the onlookers, the officer in charge gave Arthur a surprised look. He had never expected the boy before him to be so formidable that he could knock out half someone's teeth with a single slap.
"Sir, you're finally here! Please take me away." The first thug, who had slapped his own face bright red, pleaded with him.
"Take them away." The officer had not expected the first thug to be so terrified, but he also despised street thugs who dared harass young girls, so he ordered his colleagues to take the pair away.
After asking a few more questions, the officer left with his men.
"Are you joining the 104th Training Corps too?" Christa asked, looking curiously at Arthur and Mikasa.
"Yes. What about you?"
"Me too," Christa said timidly.
"Then we might be comrades in the future. Let's introduce ourselves properly. I'm Arthur Ackerman, and this is my younger sister, Mikasa Ackerman." Arthur smiled as he introduced himself and Mikasa.
"My name is Christa Reiss. It's nice to meet you both." Christa's sweet smile made her look like an angel descended to earth.
"Well, Christa, I should go register too. See you when training officially begins." Seeing that the registration office was about to close, Arthur realized he had spent too much time here and said goodbye to her.
"Okay. See you then, Arthur." Christa smiled and said goodbye as well.
After parting with Christa, Arthur followed Mikasa to the registration office, signed up, and became a member of the 104th Training Corps.