At this life-or-death moment, Arthur finally caught a faint glimpse of a house through the wind and snow.
With no time to spare, Arthur quickened his pace and ran toward it. Christa's condition in his arms was looking grim.
When Arthur reached the house, he found that it was a seemingly abandoned wooden cabin.
Arthur struggled to open the wooden door, then stepped inside.
The cabin was dark, but at least there were no drafts. It also had a stove and some firewood. It seemed to be an abandoned rest stop belonging to the Training Corps.
"Hang on a little longer, Christa. I'll get a fire going to warm you up." Arthur gently laid Christa on the floor, since there was nothing resembling a bed inside.
"Come on, come on." Arthur stuffed firewood into the stove, then took a flint from inside his coat and began striking it rapidly.
But at this critical moment, he simply could not get a fire going. Arthur tore open his padded coat and pulled out some cotton stuffing to use as tinder.
Finally, after many attempts, a fire sprang to life in the stove.
Arthur quickly carried Christa over to the stove, then began taking off her clothes, which were soaked with melted snow. After all, her body temperature would never rise if she kept wearing them.
After stripping Christa down to her bra and underwear, Arthur took off his own outer clothes as well. Still wearing his shirt, he used his body heat to warm her as much as he could.
A little while later, Arthur found that Christa's hands and feet were still icy cold, as was her face. If not for her faint breathing, he might have thought she was already dead.
Arthur gritted his teeth. He knew that with his shirt between them, his body heat could not effectively reach Christa.
After struggling with the decision for a moment, Arthur stripped down to his underwear and pressed his bare chest against Christa's.
Arthur's scorching body heat steadily passed into Christa, while he kept rubbing her hands and feet to generate warmth through friction.
He repeated this over and over, murmuring, "Christa, please be all right. If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself."
Back at the destination, the first group had already arrived, and the second, third, and fourth groups reached it in succession.
"Whew, I'm freezing to death. This damned weather." Connie kept moving his hands and feet to keep himself from getting too cold.
"I don't even know how I made it through. I never want to experience anything like that again." Jean wished he could climb into the stove as he kept rubbing his hands together for warmth.
"That was one dangerous training exercise. I nearly slipped and fell earlier. Luckily, Mikasa reacted fast enough to save me," Eren said, still shaken. He gave a grateful glance toward Mikasa, who was gazing outside as she waited for Arthur.
"Speaking of which, even the fourth group is here. Shouldn't Arthur's group have arrived by now?" Reiner asked in confusion as he warmed himself by the fire.
"Maybe Arthur and the others took it slower to stay safe," Armin guessed.
"They're here! They're here! I can see the fifth group!" Sasha, who had been idling by the window and thinking about what to eat once they got back, noticed a group of people entering the camp.
Whoosh! Mikasa saw them too and rushed straight out of the room, with Ymir right behind her.
"Seriously, they've only been apart for a little while. Does she have to be that desperate?" Seeing the girl he had a crush on care so much about Arthur made Jean burn with jealousy.
"Jean, you should just give up already. Mikasa's heart already belongs to someone," Connie said, rubbing salt in the wound.
"No one would think you were mute if you kept your mouth shut!" Jean snapped in irritation.
"Come on, let's go see Arthur and the others," Eren said, standing up.
Everyone nodded.
Once outside, they were all taken aback by how frantic the fifth group's trainees looked-and by the fact that neither Arthur nor Christa was among them.
"What did you say?!" Ymir grabbed the male trainee leading the group in disbelief.
"When our leader realized Christa was missing, he went out into the blizzard to look for her. We waited a long time, but neither of them came back," the male trainee said truthfully.
"How could this happen?" Ymir released his collar, looking utterly lost.
Mikasa, beside her, was just as shaken. She had never imagined that Arthur would risk his life to search for Christa.
The others standing nearby also grasped the situation. None of them had expected anything like this to happen. With the blizzard raging so fiercely, how could Arthur possibly bring Christa and Daz, who had already fallen ill, back here?
He would be lucky just to avoid losing his way.
"Arthur, wait for me." After a moment of stunned silence, determination flashed into Mikasa's eyes. She picked up her backpack and prepared to set out in search of Arthur.
"I'm coming with you." Seeing Mikasa ready to leave in search of Arthur, Ymir decided to join her. She had to find Christa.
"Everyone, get inside!" The instructor stationed there blocked the way out and shouted.
"There are still people out there!" Mikasa shouted anxiously.
"I know. But you can't go. The blizzard is too fierce right now, and it's far too dangerous. As soon as it eases, we'll send out a search-and-rescue team," the instructor said, trying to reason with them as he watched the raging storm.
"But..." Eren wanted to say more.
"That's an order, soldiers! Do you want to throw your lives away?!" the instructor shouted angrily.
"Get out of my way!" Mikasa's face was murderous as she stared at the instructor blocking her from going to find Arthur.
"No." Though Mikasa's stare unnerved him, the instructor stood firm and refused to give way.
"You!" Mikasa was just about to lash out when Eren and Armin grabbed her from behind.
"Mikasa, don't do anything rash. The blizzard really is too fierce right now. Once it eases, we'll go look for Arthur together."
Armin did everything he could to reason with Mikasa, who was beginning to lose control.
"That's right, Mikasa. With Arthur's abilities, I'm sure he'll be fine. He'll definitely find a way through this. If something happens to you out there and Arthur comes back on his own, what are we supposed to do?! What is Arthur supposed to do?!" Eren shouted.
Listening to the two of them, Mikasa slowly calmed down. She gave the instructor an icy stare, then turned and went back inside. Crouching in a corner with her arms around her knees, she stroked the scarf around her neck, her eyes filled with sorrow and worry.
Arthur, please be all right. I'm begging you! Mikasa silently prayed.